So sorry the day turned out the way it did! I’m glad the CM went way above and beyond for you, though. Being sick on vacation is the absolute worst.
@missoverexcited I’ve heard from other people the food was at POFQ. Maybe it was just an off time for them.
@SallyEppcot You are absolutely right!
@sarahraegraham I agree! My wife did 2 tours in Iraq and 1 in Afghanistan, so she’s definitely accustomed to the heat and sun. This was so weird. She didn’t believe me that is was sun poisoning because she doesn’t burn like I do, but I reminded her that I’ve had it before.
@potternut2001 It was. I was so happy he gave us the park hopper even though I wasn’t expecting it because we missed Happily Ever After. They were really great.
My wife just said, “Thanks Disney fam for the concern.” 
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Thanks for a great trip report so far. I have loved reading it. Sorry that your MK day did not work out as planned and that your wife got sick. So glad though to hear that the CMs dealt with it brilliantly!
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@suebedoo Thanks!
Sorry for the delay on day five. I started back to work today with professional development, so I had to take care of a few preparations. Anyway, on with the show…
Day Five- Hollywood Studios on a very modified plan
Day five started with breakfast at the Poly at Ohana. They have changed how you meet Stitch. You now have a photo opp with him before you’re seated. Mickey, Pluto, and Lilo still make the rounds at the table. The meal began with Ohana bread which is a pineapple sweet bread and it was very good. Our server greeted us and returned with POG (passionfruit, orange, & guava) juice and assorted fresh fruit. The rest of the food is served in a giant skillet, family style. It included scrambled eggs (meh, liquid eggs), fried potatoes (really good), pork sausage, bacon, and ham with pineapple. The ham was great and was what I was expecting with breakfast at Kona when SPAM was served. The platter also included Mickey waffles. I read where the Mickey waffles had previously been brought out separately, but they are now in the skillet. The food was fine for what it was, but if I’m going to do a character breakfast buffet again it will be the GF.
After breakfast, we headed back to the room because DW was still in recovery mode and we had to take it slow. Her system was still trying to get back to normal. We were headed to HS, but we didn’t have to be there until 12:45 for lunch at Prime Time. We decided to go check out PO-Riverside since we had time. It’s a pretty resort and it would definitely be a consideration if it was available at the time of booking. We finally headed to HS about 11. Because of the previous day’s events, my wife was not getting back on a bus. Therefore, we drove to HS. Since she has DV plates, we decided to use her handicap parking privilege. Her stamina was still low, so it was best for her. Once in the park, Trolley Car for coffee. Yes, I know. We knew we weren’t going to ride much because she wasn’t sure how she would handle it. We ended up trying to get a return time for Star Tours. The system was down, so the CM just sent us on. It’s our favorite ride at HS, so I was really hoping it wouldn’t bother her so we could ride it again. Since it’s a variable ride, we’ve never been on the same “ride” twice in 5 rides. Thank goodness it didn’t bother her. We stopped by Great Movie Ride on our way to lunch to get a return time. We then headed over to 50’s Prime Time Cafe for lunch.
We love 50’s Prime Time. We ate there in March and made sure to include it on this trip. We only had to wait many 5 minutes after checking in. The host at the door was very happy to hear we had reservations. He said we were good kids who knew how to follow directions. I laughed and said, “I’m a teacher, so that is only true part of the time.” He laughed and said, “I’m a retired principal.” Now I know my retirement plan, be a hostess at Prime Time. LOL Anyway, we ordered the crab cake as our app. DW liked it more than I did. I thought it was way too heavy on the binder/filler. For our entree, we ordered the fried chicken. Back in March we ordered Mom’s favorite and the chicken was our favorite. This time the chicken didn’t disappoint. It was delicious. It was fried like what you would expect from “homemade” fried chicken with a crispy, but not overly crispy batter. It was seasoned well without being too salty. Highly recommend it if you are a fan of fried chicken. Mashed potatoes and corn were good, but the chicken was the star. For dessert we ordered the warm apple crisp a la mode because really who orders it without unless you’re lactose intolerant or something. It was excellent. Great cinnamon flavor and the apples weren’t too mushy.
After lunch, we headed to the Great Movie Ride. We wanted to make sure we got to ride it before it closed. Robert Osborne was a family friend, so it was nice to have one last good-bye to Bob. After GMR, we went over to Beauty and the Beast. It was nice to sit because it was really hot. I was able to get a Frozen sing along FP, so we headed over there after grabbing large powerade to re-fill the camelbak. We ended up getting 2 while at HS because we had to keep her hydrated. After Frozen, we went back to Star Tours. We headed to Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre for a snack. The original plan was an early dinner, but we decided to just do an app as a snack out of pocket. We ordered the spinach and artichoke dip. It was very good. Sci-Fi is a really cool experience. Not only are you eating in a car, you get to watch 1950’s bad Sci-Fi like “Attack of the 50 ft. Woman.” It reminded me of watching t.v. with my grandfather. If you need an escape from the park, it’s a great option. It’s dark and cool as well as quiet believe it or not.
After our snack we tried to get over to Pixar Live, but we were literally 2 minutes late. UGH! I don’t remember what we did between this and dinner. It wasn’t much because I can’t remember it. I know the heat was really zapping DW’s energy. We had a 7:30 dinner reservation at Hollywood Brown Derby. We ordered the local greens salad with champagne vinaigrette for our app. It was good. I liked it more than she did. She had a textural issue with the super soft goat cheese and soft peaches. For our entree, we decided to go safe for her and ordered the Bell & Evans chicken breast. It was stuffed with pancetta and had a delicious sun-dried tomato sauce. The roasted fingerling potatoes were a great side. The chicken seasoned well, but not to crazy for her. It was a great choice for dinner. For dessert we ordered the mini grapefruit cake, banana toffee cake, and the cappuccino brule. Not a huge fan of the grapefruit cake. It needed more sweetness in my opinion, but I know it’s iconic. The other two were delicious!
After dinner, we had a FP for Fantasmic, but DW was spent. We decided to head back to the room to get some rest. Day Six brings us to a pool day and a MK night.
Thanks for reading!
TBC
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I’m looking forward to hearing more @kadmgs. MK, then Universal? I’m really hoping you made it to Emerils Orlando!! Our fav. at USO.
I just got back from vacation and am getting caught up on the days I missed! Keep 'em coming!
When we went for DS’s first trip when he was 5, I definitely didn’t drink enough water and moved at a pace that just wasn’t feasible. I was queasy the entire time (every photo of me has me draped in a Frogg Togg - at one point, I was buying a water at one of the outdoor carts and the CM must have thought I was ready to keel over. She asked for my Frogg Togg, dunked it in the icy water with the cooling fans and ordered me to stop in a First Aid!). I’m glad they were so helpful for you. It really takes a horrible experience and makes it just a little bit better.
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I love these reports, @kadmgs - thank you! There’s definitely some food items and reservations in your that we haven’t tried yet (particularly the Brown Derby, and Epcot’s Via Napoli that I’m interested in… also 1900 Park Fare at GF where I dropped the reservation for another at California Grill).
So sorry your wife wasn’t feeling well on day four. I’ve been there, and it’s no fun to be sick on vacation.
Also, you’re 100% correct - Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory is pretty meh overall. We enjoyed the omelets at Riverside’s food court when we stayed at Riverside, but I don’t remember omelets on the Sassojoula menu at all… mostly liquid eggs, like you say.
I can’t wait to ride SDMT for the first time! I hear it’s a challenge if you’re a bigger person… fingers crossed.
@Disneydaddio We are headed to Universal. We didn’t make it to Emeril’s. I’ve heard it’s very good, though. It’s on our “list.”
@FindMeAFishingSpot I hope you had a great vacation! I’m glad to see the CM helped you out as well.
@imaginette I didn’t ride SDMT before I started my weightloss journey, so I can’t say for sure, but I can see how the cars could be tight. However, I don’t think they are any “tighter” than BTMR. Fingers crossed for you!
On with the show…
Thanks for reading everyone!
Day Six was originally planned to be a pool/resort day with dinner at Disney Springs. Due to the issues on day four, we modified the plan to include the evening in MK.
The day began with breakfast at Olivia’s at Old Key West. This was our first time to be at Old Key West and it definitely makes DVC membership enticing. Still too expensive for this teacher’s salary. Anyway, because we had meal credits we needed to use due to the missed dinner at CRT, we each ordered our own breakfast. She ordered the crabcake eggs benedict and I ordered the sweet potato hash. Both were excellent. Both had a key lime hollandaise on them and it was delicious. The addition of key lime added a slight sweetness to the sauce that’s not normally present with the traditional lemon. I also ordered a side of cheese grits because our server and the menu said they were famous. They were excellent. My wife’s mother was from Georgia, so she grew up eating sweet grits. Of course, she didn’t like them. However, I thought they were amazing. They were a course ground and were seasoned well. I only added a little salt and a little pepper. I normally have to salt and pepper the hell outta grits to get them to my liking, especially if I don’t have bacon to add to them. After breakfast, we walked around the resort for a bit to see what all the “DVC” fuss was about. We both realized how you could stay at the resort for several days without ever going into the parks. It was a really pretty property with lots to keep one entertained.
After heading back to POFQ, we headed to the pool. One nice thing about staying at a moderate or deluxe, pool towels are provided. We hung out at the pool for a couple of hours. It was pretty busy when we got there about 10:45, but by 12:30-1:00 it started to empty out. You could tell it was starting to warm up or it was nap time. We decided to grab lunch at Sassagoula and it was a not a good choice, again. I ordered the Muffaletta or what they call a Muffaletta. Let me preface this critique of this sandwich by saying before I became a teacher, I was a catering manager for Jason’s Deli. If you know Jason’s, you know why I’m saying this. They are famous for their Muffalettas. They order their sourdough bread from a very famous bakery in New Orleans. We that being said, I considered myself somewhat of an expert on how a Muffaletta should be constructed and served. First of all, a Muffaletta is supposed to be served hot. This one was stone cold. The sourdough bread is thick, so by serving it hot it it softens and makes it dominant. On this one, the bread was cold and dense. The meat to bread ratio was terrible. On most Muffalettas there’s more bread to meat, but the meat/cheese/olive salad usually are thick enough to not be lost on the sandwich. This was not the case on this one. It had a thin layer of each. You could tell it had been made for a while as well because the dressing in the olive salad had soaked into the bread, making it soggy right around the meat and cheese. The olive salad had good flavor, but it was about the only thing that made the sandwich worth it. I do not recommend this sandwich at all. My wife ordered an individual pepperoni pizza. She said it was good, but it was swimming in sauce. She said if she were to order another one, she would ask for light sauce. My wife was determined to get a “boat drink” from the pool bar. We shared the Gatta-melon, but she didn’t really like it. I thought it was fine, but definitely light on the alcohol content.
We headed back to the room to get cleaned up and head to MK. We drove to MK as my wife was still not willing to get on a bus. When we got to the TTC, the monorail was down so we had to ride the ferry. It wasn’t too crowded, so it was fine. I almost lost my #### at the tapstiles. I don’t understand why there aren’t dedicated lines for people who have magic bands/tickets and ones for people who need to activate an online purchase of tickets. We were in line behind a family who didn’t understand the concept of a line first of all. Then, CM was slow AF getting people through the stiles. The family was just standing there while the mom is messing with her phone. So, my wife taps her band. I start to tap mine and the mom hands her phone to the CM, he stops me so he can activate their tickets. The CM didn’t explain to the little girl how to do her fingerprint, so it took multiple attempts to activate her ticket. It was just really frustrating. Once through, we headed to Starbucks. Yep! We both needed caffeine. We wanted to ride SDMT, Space Mountain, and Haunted Mansion which we had a FP for. We went and got a return time for SDMT and walked toward Rapunzel’s restrooms as the bottom fell out. It wasn’t raining very hard as we went into the restroom, but it really started coming down. We had ponchos with us, so we headed to Haunted Mansion since the line is covered and the ride is of course indoors. We got almost to the doors when they had to shut the ride down. It was raining so hard that water was pouring into the exit. After standing there for almost 2 hours, we decided to take the paper FPs the CMs offered us because had a dinner reservation at Skipper Canteen. We walked over and they sat us a little early.
Skipper Canteen was a lot of fun and the food was very good. We both really enjoyed it. The restaurant of course has a back story around the Jungle Cruise ride. We were seated in the S.E.A. room and it’s really cool. The servers tell cheesy jokes just like the boat captains on the ride do. We needed to use meal credits, so we ordered our own meals. I ordered the cachapas and they were delicious. The menu describes them as corn pancakes. They were basically open faced pork tacos on a soft, thin corn cake. They weren’t as thick as an arepa if you are familiar with that Venezuelan food, but they were not as thin as a corn tortilla. It also had whole corn kernels in it as well as corn meal. The pork had great flavor and the black bean salad and avocado cream added texture and acidity to the dish. My wife ordered the S.E.A. Shu Mai. It was an open gyoza or pot sticker dumpling. It was very good. They were pork, shrimp, and edamame beans, which isn’t normally in a gyoza. I’m not a fan of edamame. I feel like they are flavorless and I don’t like their texture. However, in this dish they were ground just like the pork and shrimp. The dumplings were seasoned well and the soy based dumpling sauce had great flavor and kick. The salty, sweet, heat flavors were very balanced. For our entrees, I ordered the head-on shrimp and she ordered Dr. Falls Signature grilled steak. The server said, “Do you want the shrimp head on or off, off right?” I replied, “I’m Cajun. Give me the heads!” I know some people can’t handle seeing the eyes of the creature they are about to eat, but in the case of shellfish, it doesn’t bother me. Plus when cooked with the heads on, they taste better. I won’t gross people out with the particulars as to why that is the case, but I promise it’s true. LOL The shrimp were very good. They were tossed in a chili-garlic sauce which was hot, but sweet. The jasmine rice was a great break from the heat. The chinese broccoli was meh. It needed seasoning. My wife loved her steak. It was cooked perfectly and the pesto was delicious. For dessert, we just split one as I wasn’t really wanting anything else by this point. We ordered the coconut bar with pineapple-basil compote and vanilla cream. She’s a huge coconut fan, me not so much. I love the flavor and even like it toasted, but I don’t like the flakes. I feel like I’m chewing on grass. I took a few bites of the cake and it had a great coconut flavor. The Pineapple basil compote was a lovely addition. The basil was chopped extremely small and there were wasn’t a ton of it, so it didn’t overwhelm the other flavors like it can do if you go crazy with it. Overall, we really like Skipper Canteen and would recommend it as an option at MK. In fact, we have a reservation for there when we go back in November.
After dinner, we headed over to the hub to find a place to “camp” for Happily Ever After. We were able to get on the rail just inside the garden on the Adventureland side in front of Crystal Palace. It’s a great viewing spot if you can get it. We had to wait about an hour, but it was worth it. We are both short, like just over 5 foot tall. Therefore, we struggle to see if we have to stand behind people. With the railing in front of us and the sidewalk directly in front of the rail kept clear by CMs for people to be able to exit during the show, we had a great view of the castle and the fireworks. The first word that comes to mind to describe HEA is magical, cliche I know, but it truly was. I don’t want to go into too much detail about it in case you are wanting to be surprised the first time you see it. I was that way. Just like I did with FoP, I purposely didn’t read reviews or what previews of it before we went. I did hear the song, but that was it. I should have packed little packs of kleenex to sell after it was over because I could have made a fortune off all the girls in tears. Like bawling tears. I completely understand though. I got choked up as well.
After HEA ended, we “swam upstream” to get to SDMT. We used our return time and got on it pretty quickly. We still had the paper FPs from Haunted Mansion, so we headed over to Space Mountain because we only had about 10 minutes before the park closed. We were able to get on it before it closed. We then made our way toward Main Street. We were about half way up the “street” when the Kiss Goodnight played. We didn’t get to see it when we were there in March, so we were happy to see it. It’s neat, so if you have time check it out.
Believe it or not, we were hungry when we left, so we drove to Disney Springs to see what we could find. The Boathouse is open late, so we decided to eat there. It was a bonus meal and we still had meal credits to use. We split the lobster cocktail as our app. It was very good. We really liked the Lady Rose cocktail sauce. For our entree, we split the 8 oz. filet mignon oscar style. The steak was cooked perfectly and the lump crab and Bearnaise were delicious. They have live music until midnight, so we were able to catch a couple of songs before they quit. Because there were so few people in the restaurant, it was freezing in there. The other table of people had given the teenage daughter their napkins so she could cover her shoulders. I heard their waiter in Spanish ask her if she was cold and she said yes. I said, “me, too!” They were kinda taken back by this white girl understanding I think, but the waiter brought both myself and the girl a tablecloth to cover up with. LOL I put mine on my legs because that’s what was cold for me. We decided to skip dessert because we were over it by this point. We headed back to the room to pack up because Day seven had us saying “Bon Voyage” to WDW and heading over to Universal for a few days.
Thanks for reading!
TBC
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Enjoying your report.
Thank you very much for being so detailed about each meal.
I plan to go to Boathouse in my coming trip.
@NoCapes Thanks!
@ruyiy Thanks! I really think you will enjoy it!
On with the show…
Thanks for reading!
Day seven brings us to the end of our stay at WDW and moving over to Universal. The morning began with the new character breakfast at Trattoria al Forno at the Boardwalk. It’s called the “Bon Voyage” breakfast and is intended to be at the beginning of your time at WDW. However, “Bon Voyage” to me is like “aloha.” It can mean hello or good-bye. Therefore, we did it at the end. Anyway, it’s breakfast with the royal couples, Ariel & Prince Eric and Rapunzel & Flynn Rider, or as my wife purposefully calls him, Eugene. LOL Let me start by saying this was our favorite character breakfast out of all the ones we’ve done so far. Minimal wait to be seated once we checked in for our reservation. We were sat by a hostess who shared the same first name as myself. We had a nice chat about growing up with a common first name. I could immediately tell the staff enjoyed working at this restaurant. Our server came over and she seemed happy to be at work. We even watched the two “guys” interact with the staff and they seemed to be having fun. Each of the characters took their time with the tables, especially Eric and Flynn. Both guys were very funny and had fun picking on each other. Flynn told us about his theory that Eric was actually a pirate, referencing the whole “wants the redhead” and said look at his wife. Then he said that he couldn’t sail considering he’d wrecked his boat 3 times. LOL The meal began with an assortment of pastries that followed the theme of the characters. There was a sun shaped puff pastry, “clam shell” filled pastry, supposedly raspberry filling but it didn’t have a strong raspberry flavor, a “dinglehopper” which was a chocolate chip braided pastry, vanilla “muffins” that were really just a cupcake. The pastries were good, but we didn’t try the cupcakes because we didn’t want to fill up on them. The appetizer was the choice of a small fruit salad or a berry yogurt parfait. We both chose the fruit salad and it was very good. Nice assortment of melon, pineapple, and strawberries. For our entrees, I ordered the golden frittata and she ordered the royal breakfast. My frittata was good, but a little on the salty side. It wasn’t to the point that I couldn’t eat it, it just seemed they salted the eggs in the manner that one normally would but didn’t take into consideration the saltiness of the prosciutto and pecorino. Her steak was cooked perfectly and she really enjoyed the cheesy egg torte. We were both really interested in the shipwreck al forno which is a breakfast calzone, but we knew it would be way too much food for us since we were not sharing this meal. Overall, the food was very good and the experience was excellent. We highly recommend this character breakfast. If you can snag a reservation, do it. It would be a great way to start the morning of an EPCOT or Hollywood Studios day. Here’s Disney Food Blog’s review of it with pictures, Review: New Rapunzel Bon Voyage Character Breakfast in Disney World | the disney food blog
After breakfast, we headed out of Boardwalk Inn and a “Minnie” van was parked in the drive. We got to take a look at it, not inside of it but at least the outside. It’s pretty cool! We then headed back to POFQ to pack up and head out. We were able to get bell services to help us this time. Originally, our plan for this day included spending the afternoon at Volcano Bay. However, when we found out it was reaching park capacity by 10 am everyday, we changed our minds. I was willing to eat the cost of the tickets and even the reserved seating we had already paid for to keep from dealing with a packed park. By this point in the trip, we were really needed some down time. We headed over the Doubletree at Universal’s Entrance where we were staying for the next 3 nights. Universal does have a military resort package, but it couldn’t beat the deal with got at the Doubletree. The Doubletree is in theory close enough to walk to Universal. We decided to chill at the pool there for a little while.
We still had 3 dining credits and 1 snack credit on our DDP to use, so we decided to go back to WDW for dinner since they didn’t expire until midnight. It’s a good thing we skipped Volcano Bay because about 4, the heaven’s opened up and it stormed for about 2 hours. We got an 8 pm dinner reservation at Trattoria al Forno because we were really interested in their dinner menu after tasting the steak at breakfast. They cook over wood grill and the steak had a great smoky, oak flavor. Plus, we are both huge fans of good Italian. We headed over to the Boardwalk after the rain stopped and we get to Trattoria. They were closed. The storm had caused them to lose power and they had to close for the night. That whole side of the Boardwalk was affected. It seemed lightning had hit or something. We were very disappointed and even a little mad when I attempted to make a reservation at Disney Springs. MDE wouldn’t let me have overlapping reservations and Trattoria couldn’t cancel our reservation because their system was down. Sometimes, technology is not our friend. Anyway, we headed over to Disney Springs to see where we could get into. The rains had thinned the crowd out there, so we walked right into Paddlefish.
Paddlefish is the restaurant in the paddlewheeler boat. They specialize in seafood, especially boiled/steam pots. We were seated in the boiling room/bar area. It smelled good, but after watching the chef prepare the boils we knew it wouldn’t be enough seasoning for our tastes. I’ve had discussions with a friend from New England about how we season seafood in Texas/Louisiana and how they do or don’t do it in New England. I get it, but I don’t like it. We ordered the Lobster Corn Dogs for our app. They were very good. Small like a mini corn dog or corn dog nugget, but still on sticks. I was worried they would be greasy or the breading would overwhelm the lobster, but it stood up to it and the sweet chili aioli well. We ordered the prime strip for our entree and subbed (unknowingly) the brussel sprouts for the mushrooms and onions. We thought we were getting them in addition to, but it was in place of. Whatevs. The steak was cooked to the correct temp, but had no flavor. We even had to ask for A1. We both salted the steak. I’ve never salted a steak in a high end/signature restaurant in my life. It was very disappointing. The sprouts were nicely roasted, but needed help flavor wise. The entire dish was very flat in flavor. We ordered the strawberry shortcake for dessert. The berries were good and it wasn’t swimming in “glaze.” It was a pretty good option for dessert. In short, if I was headed to DS for dinner and wanted to eat at a signature, I would choose Boathouse.
After dinner, we headed over to Goofy’s Candy Shop to use up our snack credit and convert the last meal credit. We were able to get some trail mixes and a lollipop for a friend to bring home. We were very happy with how the DDP worked out for us. We were able to eat some amazing meals and have some really cool experiences even with missing CRT that we wouldn’t have done had we paid OOP. We have weighed the options for the November trip and discussed the reg. DP or the DDP. We realized the guaranteed time to sit and rest alone knowing the parks will be packed with people is worth it to us to go ahead with the DDP for the trip, especially after doing the math on this trip to see we would have spent about $400 more OOP eating what and where we did. We are using the DDP in November for both CRT and Candlelight Processional, so that alone is worth keeping it. There are some really good quick service options in the parks, but the idea of standing in line for 30 minutes to order/get the food, not my idea of fun. The parks were packed when we were there in March, so we’ve seen what QS restaurants look like on busy days. The DDP isn’t for everyone, but it does work for some. I’ve read so much negative about it that I wanted to show how you could use it to your advantage if you don’t eat huge meals and are willing to share. Never did we walk away from a meal wishing there had been more or remotely still hungry. We did spend a lot of time in restaurants, but it was ok because we weren’t trying to ride/see everything there was to ride/see. It’s definitely not the way to go if this is a “once in a lifetime” trip, but it does work if you want to take it slow and have several “rest” opportunities.
We left DS and headed back to the Doubletree. By the way, this is a nice hotel, but the beds were way too firm. I felt like I was sleeping on the floor. I had to get housekeeping to bring extra pillows to tuck under my hips since I’m a side sleeper. Anyway, day eight brings us to Universal.
Thanks for reading!
TBC
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Thanks for sharing! We are looking at deluxe DDP for a trip in November with the idea of sharing with another party. Glad to hear it was a good deal for you. Did you have any trouble with staff letting you share?
I agree completely @kadmgs, Boathouse is a spectacular restaurant. Its a must do for us. You should also try Morimoto, and Homecomin’ at DS next time. Both excellent. We too feel the DDP is well worth it, as we save money on amazing food, and build in a rest after a long day of walking.
@BoilerMomPharmD We didn’t have any issues with staff when we told them we were sharing. The only places we knew we could not share were character meals, buffets, and Via Napoli, so we didn’t even ask at these places. The day we went to EPCOT, we ate a character breakfast, Via Napoli for lunch, and Akershus for dinner. Out of pocket, it would have been approximately $298. The DDP is around $106 per person per day, so we definitely used the credits wisely that day because the $298 doesn’t include the money we could have spent on snacks that we used snack credits for. It’s not smart to use DDP meal credits for QS restaurants because you don’t get an app or dessert at a QS location.
@Disneydaddio Morimoto and Homecomin’ are both on the “list” for future visits. We were going to Homecomin’ in November, but have decided to spend 2 evenings in MK. I’m trying to figure out how to get in a meal at DS, but I don’t know if I can make it work this trip.
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Thank you @kadmgs - I’m really worried about being embarrassed if I try to ride, and I don’t fit well into the car. I have long legs to begin with, and it’s a bit of a “freak me out” experience to have come so far, and still not be able to experience the park(s) like a normal person.
While I’m at it, since you’ve been through the weight loss transformation experience, I’m curious how much you were actually able to eat during this trip with your deluxe dining plan. I’m trying to imagine the amount(s), and since I have friends that have done the whole Gastric Band / Sleeve / etc, I know it’s a challenge to not only eat regular foods with folks (some bubble back up), but there are things you can’t really enjoy anymore (like soda).
You can private message me if you prefer, but I’m just curious how you were able to enjoy the park(s) food plan with the smaller amounts, and what a plate would have looked like for you.
I’m an intermittent faster, and a LOW CARB, HIGH FAT person. When on our Disney vacation, the food plan is pretty much whatever I want to eat (aka - gonna put on 10 pounds fo-sho), but I’m still kinda into the idea of intermittent fasting through, say, breakfast (Starbucks only) to give my body a chance to digest all of the food(s) we are going to enjoy on this trip. More time for the body to take care of business, and also we’re eating our table service meal(s) earlier in the evening to give us time to digest and walk after enjoying ourselves.
That heat though - dang… not sure how I’m going to hang with the heat. Hearing about your wife and the overheating made me think a little more about my prevention plans. Cooling towels, changing socks and probably clothes at the mid-day nap, hydration, etc.
I have issues with overheating particularly when I use sunscreen (I can’t find one that works well with me to date) as well as when I apply bug spray (which you really need in the Florida summer, particularly around all that water in Epcot, etc). I can use an umbrella to keep the sun off of me while I walk around outside for the most part, but I need to have multiple coping plans for the sun and the bugs. 3/4 sleeve cover ups help, but you know… the sun finds you… lol.
Yay trip review! Thanks!
~ Josie ~
aka - Imaginette
Hey @Disneydaddio - we loved MORIMOTO for the desert, believe it or not. Last year, last day, we had an excellent meal there, but the chocolate churros served with vanilla pudding was AMAZING and plenty for two to share.
We also got another dessert there (it was enormous, had gelato and ice cream and all kinds of amazing things inside), but it really was so sugary that we had to have a protein snack to calm down our sugar rush afterward. You could have shared THAT dessert with THREE to FOUR people… huge!
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@imaginette I apologize for my delayed response… School started yesterday, so my world has been quite hectic this week. I don’t mind answering the “food” questions at all. It might help others understand, especially those who have had gastric surgery or are considering it. Since I was a full year from surgery, my recovery was essentially complete when were at WDW. Even by the time we went in March, I was at the point that I knew what I could and couldn’t eat. You are correct in that there are few things that I cannot eat at all like I will never drink soda again, but for the most part I can eat whatever I like. Of course there are calorie consequences, but as far as it making me “sick” I’m past that stage of recovery. With gastric sleeve, you don’t have the throwing up issues like you do with bypass or even lap band. With the sleeve procedure, the only time you get sick is if you over eat. Basically, I have to eat small portions and I get full much faster since my stomach is physically only 30% of what it used to be. Even a kid’s meal is too much for me at times. My meals now are really what you would call a “tasting menu.” For example, at Via Napoli I had 3 or 4 bites of the app. 5 or so bites of the salad, 1 slice of pizza, and 3 bites of gelato. This was a huge meal for me, but I was able to do it because the courses were spaced out with a good 7-10 mins. between the time I finished eating and the next one arrived. Because I eat such small portions, I do have to eat more often to maintain my energy levels. I have to eat a protein rich snack or meal every 2-3 hours. Granted they are less than 6 oz. total. This is why the DDP worked for us. We split almost every meal, so we used all 6 table service credits in one day. However, instead of it being 3 table service meals it was 4 with one being a signature. I did not limit myself on what kind of food I ate, I only limited the amount I ate. I literally ate whatever I wanted, I just took a few bites of it. The physical feeling of being overly full is painful for me and usually results in hiccups, so I stop myself before I get to that point. Even with all the desserts, junk, & bad stuff I ate, I lost a pound because we walked so much.
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And I’m Back! Sorry this update has taken so long. School is back in full swing for me, so I’m trying to get back into my routines. Needless to say, my energy is zapped in the evenings. Thanks to those who are still reading this. I will say that my details for Universal will not be what they were for WDW. We didn’t eat like we did while at WDW. Universal does have a dining plan and there are some positives that I will discuss.
On with the show…
We slept in, so got a late start. We started the morning with a Starbucks (imagine that). There’s a location inside the Doubletree, so it made it convenient to just charge it to the room. We decided that walking to Universal was just too far considering we were going on day 6 in a theme park. Both Lyft and Uber are in Orlando. We haven’t ever used either of the car services, but have friends that Uber all over Houston and one that drives for them. However, Lyft is not in Houston yet. So, we decided to give it a try. The app is pretty easy to use and I like the fact that I could tip the driver from the app and didn’t to have cash. The ride from the Doubletree to the guest drop-off for Universal was about 5 minutes and we paid $8 including tip and I was perfectly fine with that. It saved time and money considering how expensive it is to park at Universal.
Once we got to Citywalk, it was already 11am and we knew we needed to eat. We are huge Jimmy Buffett fans! Hello fellow Parrotheads if you are reading this! We saw him back in early June on his annual tour stop in Houston and we are faithful listeners to his SiriusXM channel, Margaritaville, so we had to make a stop at Margaritaville to grab lunch and to see J.D. Spradlin in action. We ordered the club sandwich to split. It came out quick and was good. Plenty big enough to share for us. Our timing was great because J.D. was on-air and we got to see the Volcano “erupt.” It’s really just a waterfall, but it’s still kinda cool. It’s funny to sit in there and watch people to see who’s a true Parrothead and who are the ones that just know “Margaritaville” and “Cheeseburger.” It’s the same way at his concerts, though. Anyway, once we finished lunch we headed to Guest Services at Islands of Adventure to get our tickets activated and get their version of DAS. We bought the tickets earlier in the trip at Shades of Green, so just like WDW military tickets, they have to be activated. It took 45 minutes in line at GS. Needless to say by this point in the trip, we were not happy campers about standing in line that long, but it is what it is. Once we got to the window, the GS rep., was very accommodating. There wasn’t an argument this time over my wife’s need for the Attraction Assistance Pass as they call it. Maybe it’s because we said up front that it was needed due to anxiety and PTSD from combat or maybe it’s because they aren’t as strict about it as WDW. I don’t know. I do know that it’s easier to “game” the system at Universal when it comes to return times because they don’t have an electronic method of tracking it. They give you a card that has a barcode on one side and spaces on the back for a team member to write your return time down. The process is the same, though. You go to the team member at the entrance to the ride you want and ask them for a return time. They write it on the back of your card. You return to the express pass entrance when it’s time. They scan the barcode on the card like it’s an express pass and you go on in.
Once we got into IoA, we headed to Hulk to get a return time. The Team Member didn’t have a pen, so they just sent on in right then. We had to jump over to the lockers and put up our bag since weren’t expecting to get on immediately. If you’ve never been to Universal, you are not allowed to take your bags &/or electronics any rollercoaster. They even go as far as making you pass through metal detectors before getting on the ride. With that being said, you have to put your stuff into lockers if you don’t have a non-rider to hold it. The lockers are free for the first hour and then charge you something like $4 an hour, I think. We didn’t leave it long enough to worry about the charges. Anyway, the lockers at Hulk are different than the others in both IoA and UOR. These required you to scan your ticket, so don’t put your ticket into the locker. We only had to wait in line maybe 15 minutes to ride. The queue was pretty cool. You can tell it’s an older ride, but it was full immersive. You enter the “facility” and see the way people get exposed to the radio activity. The ride itself is one of my favorites. It’s a very smooth coaster with an electromagnetic propulsion (at least that’s what it felt like to me compared to other coasters I rode that used it a la Rockin’ Rollercoaster) and lots of twists, inversions, corkscrews, and loops. Hulk is much smoother than Rockin’ Rollercoaster. After Hulk we headed to Spiderman. With the AAS card at Universal, if the wait time is less than 20 minutes, they send you on without the need of a return time. Spiderman was less than 20, so we walked right in. The wait time in queue was less than 10 minutes. The ride was cool. It’s a 3D dark ride. I can’t think of a WDW ride to compare it to. The only thing I can think of is the Gringotts Harry Potter ride and if you haven’t been to Universal, my comparison will be lost on you.
After Spiderman, we headed over to Hogsmeade. We walked past all the water rides, but decided we didn’t want to spend the afternoon soaking wet. The 3 water rides at IoA get you soaked! We are both huge Harry Potter fans, so we love this ride. (Proud to be Ravenclaws! The “sorting hat” on Pottermore sorted both of us into Ravenclaw.) We are both amazed at how immersive the Harry Potter areas are. You truly feel like you are on the set of the movies. When we went in March, all we did were the Harry Potter areas and we didn’t get to see it all in one day. Even if you aren’t a HP fan, you can appreciate the level of detail put into these areas.
We both love the Dragon Challenge coasters in Hogsmeade and are very sad to see them go, so we were really glad to get to ride them one last time. The wait time for it was less than 20 at the time, so we walked up the exit to the “disability” entrance, aka the back door, to where the exits split for both coasters. The team member asked to see the pass and then asked which one we wanted to ride. We said both, so she suggested the blue one first. After we rode blue, we exited and got on red. It was really quick. No queue at all. We literally walked through a door and stood to the side until the team member who was counting off and directing people to the loading lines saw us. She immediately put us into a loading line. When we were at Universal back in March, my wife really struggled with her anxiety due to the queues. This pass really saved us.
After Dragon Challenge, we went over and got a return time for Forbidden Journey. It was an hour wait, so we headed to Three Broomsticks for some food. We made the mistake in March of ordering the pasties there. They were flavorless and disappointing. We saw others eating the roasted chicken, so we knew when we were back that we would go with the chicken and that’s what we ordered. It did not disappoint. The meal comes with a half of a roasted chicken, roasted corn on the cob, and roasted red potatoes. It was a hearty meal, but it wasn’t so heavy that it was too much for July heat. I highly recommend it if you are going to eat at Three Broomsticks. We decided to go ahead and get the Universal Quick Service Dining Plan with this meal. The plan is similar to QSDP, but you don’t have to buy it ahead of time nor do you have to have it for everyday you are there. Also, you don’t have to be a resort guest to get it either. You can buy it from any of the participating restaurants in either IoA or UOR. The plan includes an entree and non-alcoholic beverage as well as an additional snack credit and n/a beverage credit to be used later. All for the price of $22.99 plus tax. Our meal without the plan was $12.99 for the entree plus $3.49 for the drink. So, it would have been $16.48 plus tax. Therefore, for $6.51 more, we got a snack credit and a drink credit for later. Since they don’t have magic bands, they put your credits on a plastic card. What’s nice and different from WDW is that if you don’t use your credits, they don’t expire at the end of your trip. You can return within the year (I think… not sure if it’s calendar year or within 365 days) and use your unused credits. We ended up using our’s so it didn’t matter. I think in total we probably saved a dollar or two. We used our beverage credit on a bottle of powerade that was $3.99 and our snack credit on popcorn that I know was at least $3.00.
We headed back to Forbidden Journey for our return time and only had to wait in queue maybe 10 minutes. After we got off FJ, we headed to Hogwart’s Express to go to UOR. Even though Diagon Alley only has one ride, it is flipping amazing! When you turn the corner through the Tube entrance, you are “in” the movie. We usually end up watching Deathly Hallows when it’s on Freeform, every time it’s on Freeform. Which it tends to be at least once a month. It was on last weekend and we both are still amazed at how accurate Gringott’s Bank at UOR is compared to the movie. It’s freaky how accurate it is. Like to the point that you almost want to ask the animatronic trolls for their autographs! LOL Once we got into Diagon Alley, we got a return time for Gringott’s and it started to rain. We left Diagon Alley and this is when we got our snack. We found an entrance to one of the “buildings” in San Francisco to escape the rain and eat our snack. We waited out the shower and then headed back in Diagon Alley. We waited in line maybe 20 minutes for the ride once we entered the queue. We chatted up the family in front of us. They were British and the little girl who was 7 hadn’t seen many of the movies because Voldemort’s face freaked her out. I was worried about her on the ride because he’s in it. They were in the row in front of us, so we could watch her reactions. It was great. It did scare her a bit, but in the end she loved the ride and wanted to go on it again.
We were starting to get tired, but we wanted to ride the Rip Ride Rockit coaster, so we headed up there to get a return time. This was another case of the team member not having a pen, so they sent us on in. This a good coaster. Completely vertical ascent and descent, aka straight up and straight down! What’s really cool is that on your safety bar is a little menu where you get to pick your ride music. I think I chose “Bad Girls” by Donna Summer. I really didn’t have time to look at all my options before it was “take-off” time. After we got off, we headed out of the park and back to the hotel via Lyft.
One thing I did notice about both IoA and UOR compared to WDW is the amount of stairs. There are lots more you have to climb at IoA and UOR to get to the loading areas of the rides. If mobility is an issue for you, you can ask to use the elevator with the AAS. We didn’t use it on every ride, but for Rockit, she needed it. At that point in the day/evening, her knees were spent.
After we got back to the hotel, we needed dinner. We were over “tourist” food by this point. We were spoiled with the DDP and really didn’t want to spend the money at Citywalk. I know there are some really good options, but the budget was starting to cry a bit by this point. We opted for some Chic-Fil-A. We ended up at the one on Lake Buena Vista after riding around trying to find something that sounded good. We were tired and when I’m tired, I struggle with food decisions. Anyway, we get inside and it’s like the World Showcase was there eating… no, seriously. There were two tables of CMs from Germany, still in their lederhosen and fraulein dresses. A couple of CMs from China still in their costumes at another table and 3 CMs from the UK in line in front of us. It was hilarious.When we left, we saw 3 girls from Japan still in costume walking down the sidewalk. The World Showcase Cast Members must live in the apartments there on Lake Buena Vista behind the outlet mall.
We headed back to our hotel to get ready for our last day in the parks. Day nine brings us to day two of IoA and UOR.
I guess I wrote more about Universal than I expected to. Thanks for reading!
TBC…
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Great post, thanks! Appreciate the UOR tips, hope to be able to take my Potter-crazy DD10 soon!
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I love Universal so much! I’m also a Ravenclaw 
I am so sad that Dragon Challenge is going, I really hope they replace it with something equally good.
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