2022 Summer Disney and Universal Trip (and FOOD) Report

[mariaCD]

Day 8: Transfer to Universal (Hard Rock Hotel and USF)

We ended our Disney stay with a bang by having brunch at Homecomin’. I don’t think my family would’ve forgiven me if we skipped Homecomin’. After checking out of our room, we left our luggage with Bell Services before walking over to DS. I would’ve liked an earlier ADR than our 10am so that we could’ve eaten first and then checked out of the Hilton (therefore avoiding having to deal with leaving our luggage at Bell Services) but alas, staying at a non-Disney hotel put me at a disadvantage when booking ADRs. I was lucky to have gotten even the 10am ADR and it was only due to TP’s Reservation Finder (thank you!).

Moonshine Mash (Watermelon-infused moonshine, fresh watermelon, lime juice and simple syrup)

Fried Chicken & Doughnuts

Braised Short Ribs with a side of mac and cheese

Hallelujah Biscuit (Open-faced biscuit topped with Chef Art’s famous fried chicken, two over easy eggs, pimento cheese, pecan-smoked bacon and smothered in sawmill gravy)

Hush Puppy Benedict (Chef Art’s spin on the classic, with house made hush puppy cakes topped with fried chicken tenders, poached eggs, griddled country ham and pimento hollandaise)

And what I was most looking forward to: Mini iced doughnuts piled with pecans, bacon and drizzled with house-made caramel!

Sadly, we had to pass up on dessert (goodbye hummingbird cake!). We walked around DS a bit and picked up a few last minute items from World of Disney and the Star Wars shop. We then returned to the Hilton, picked up our luggage, and Lyfted over to Universal’s Hard Rock Hotel.

Pros of the Hard Rock Hotel:

• Easy and scenic walk to USF/Citywalk/IOA.
• Unlimited Express Passes were provided for our entire stay at no extra charge. 5 days of Unlimited EP for a 4 night stay. Sweet.
• The Deluxe Queen Room had a good amount of space. We had 2 Queen beds (DH reported they were more comfortable than the Hilton beds but not as good as the Dolphin ones) in addition to a pull-out sofa. There was also an alcove where the closet and 2 waist-high shelves shelves were. That area could’ve technically been an additional dressing area. In addition, we had a long table/dresser to also store stuff on/in.
• The pool was decent but we forgot to try the slide. The kids reported that they could sort of hear the music underwater
• On-site Emack & Bolio’s ice cream!
• Really cool decor and rock memorabilia throughout the hotel
• A chance to borrow various Fender guitars. However, we were too scared about our own clumsiness to try. But you could if you wanted to! There isn’t a fee if you return it unharmed but they make you put a $1000 deposit or something like that when you borrow it.

Cons of the Hard Rock Hotel:

• Just ok pizza from the grab and go spot, Emack & Bolio’s Marketplace. I didn’t really scope out the sandwiches in detail but the food options looked pretty basic.
• Price. I paid considerably more for the Hard Rock than when we stayed at the Loews Royal Pacific in 2019. But then again, that was 3 years ago and we had had a standard room. I tried out the Deluxe Queen this time because I was scared that my family would find a standard room cramped after we had spent a week in a junior suite. Next time, I may try the standard room as I had read that the Hard Rock’s standard rooms are bigger than their counterpart at the Loews Royal Pacific (which felt CRAMPED with 5 people and a rollaway bed).
• Lack of a drying line in the shower. It made it difficult to dry our swimsuits since the 5 of us were already maximizing the use of any towel racks with wet towels.

After storing our luggage at yet another Bell Services, we walked over to USF. We arrived a bit after 1pm and headed to the photo store at the front of the park to activate my Universal Photo Package. I had originally purchased a 3 day package (as the website only showed 1 and 3 day packages) but when I was at the photo store, I saw that there was a 5 and 30 day package! I explained to the team member that those options hadn’t been available online and asked if I could pay the price difference to upgrade to the 5 day package. Since the prices for the packages are different purchased beforehand vs while in the parks, he very nicely just upgraded me to a 5 day without charging me anything extra. Universal MAGIC!!! This was a super great way to start our Universal vacation!

Since our EP worked for every attraction at USF, we browsed the park at a leisurely pace. We spent quite a long time at the main gift shop at the front of USF before proceeding to Despicable Me and Transformers. Sadly, the Mummy ride was still closed for refurbishment. We then spent some time laughing at the Hello Kitty versions of famous movies.

I was also sad to have missed the Summer Tribute store that had showcased items from Jaws and Back to the Future. We then made a stop at the Darkroom on Hollywood Blvd to take pictures that were included with our photo package. As we made our way to the Woody Woodpecker’s Kidzone, we made a stop at Central Park Crepes.

Cookies and Cream Crepes

After that delicious snack/late lunch, we attempted to ride E.T. Adventure but the attraction broke down shortly after we got on line. After waiting a few minutes, we decided to leave. On our way out, we took photos at the Toy Closet before riding Woody’s Coaster. We then proceeded to the Simpsons area to ride the Simpsons Ride and laugh at the items in the Simpsons gift shop. By this time, we were exhausted from the heat so we returned to the Hard Rock, where our room was ready. We unpacked and I briefly contemplated walking over to Citywalk to pick up a pie from Red Oven Pizza for my family but I was just too tired. So we made do with the basic cheese pizza from the hotel counter service. Not memorable but it served its purpose. Plus, DS10 and I had some Emack & Bolio ice cream!

Mint Chocolate Ice Cream with Oreo Pieces

That capped off our first night at Universal.

Day 9: IOA

Early Entry at IOA started at 8am and we arrived at the gates about 10-15 min before then. When team members let us in, we headed straight towards Hogsmeade with most of the crowd. We got on line for Hagrid’s Motorbike (as EP doesn’t work for this ride or the VelociCoaster) and we wound our way through a very long queue that started in the Lost Continent. We did not finish with Hagrid’s till about 10:15am so that sort of sucked. DH and DD13 went ahead to ride the VelociCoaster while the rest of us tried to explore the very crowded Hogsmeade. DS10 decided to forego doing the wand spells that morning (my kids had brought their interactive wands from 2019 with them). He also wanted to wait to ride both FJ and FotH with his sister. So we just explored the shops while waiting for DH and DD13 to return. While waiting, I had my first Frozen Butterbeer of this trip.

Once DH and DD13 finished with the VelociCoaster, the kids used the EPs to ride FJ and I then rode FotH with both of them.

I have to admit, although I love the ease of using EPs at Universal as opposed to managing LLs at Disney, the bag restrictions on many Universal rides was annoying. I also hated that I often had to wait on line after attractions to link my ride photos. On one hand, Disney makes obtaining your photos much simpler (either via a simple tap with the MB or it happens “automatically”). On the other hand, a lot of the “automatic” Disney ride photos did not work for us this year, requiring me to fill out many Missing Photos forms online.

After finishing with all of the HP rides in IOA, we ate at the Three Broomsticks.

Mushroom Pie Platter and Chicken Fingers

Spareribs Platter, Fish and Chips, Butterbeer Ice Cream, Hog’s Head Brew, and Pumpkin Fizz

On our way out of the Three Broomsticks, DH made a stop at the Hog’s Head and tried the Dragon Scale beer also.

After lunch, we continued on in a counterclockwise direction and rode JPRA and spent a bit of time at the JP Discovery Center. After Kong, I cooled off with a Banana Slush from the Mess Tent.

Then onward to riding Spider-Man and the Seuss Trolley. We took AC breaks in the infrequent shops as we walked through the classic cartoon area, Marvel area, and then Seuss Landing. It really felt like there were large spots in the parks where there weren’t any shops/AC areas to duck into to escape from the heat. I find that Disney is generally better at that but I’m pretty sure I’m biased. We were all pretty tired and hot so interest in rides was at a low point. We skipped most of the Seuss rides but I requested that we ride the Trolley in the sky as we had skipped it during 2019. Plus, I figured it should be a relaxing and somewhat cooling ride. After Seuss Landing, we exited to head to our 5pm ADR at Toothsome Chocolate Emporium.

Confetti (Vanilla Ice Cream, Confetti Cake, Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, Rainbow Sprinkles, and Whipped Topping)

Cookie Jar (Vanilla Ice Cream, Oreo, Oatmeal, and Chocolate Chip Cookies, Whipped Topping)

Espresso Buzzzz (Coffee Ice Cream, Espresso, Chocolate Espresso Beans, Whipped topping, Maraschino Cherry), It also had some kind of cookies on top.

Unfortunately, my pictures of the food were pretty dark and blurry due to the lighting inside. We had the Pork Belly Sliders, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Truffle Fries, Pub It Up Burger, Fork & Knife Grilled Rib Eye Steak Sandwich, NY Strip Steak, and Waffles. I also bought the following treats from the adjoining gift shop:

Assorted macarons, Pink Himalayan Salt Chocolate Bacon, and a Salted Caramel Apple Pie Lollipop

Tomorrow: Volcano Bay!

[mariaCD]

Day 10: Volcano Bay

We were on day 10 of our trip so it was definitely taking longer to have everyone up and out the door in the mornings. I tried to tamp down my rope drop enthusiasm to avoid having a riot on my hands.

It took us a bit to find the Universal bus stop at our hotel but when we did, we found ourselves on a LONG line. Judging from the abundant flip flops and beachwear, everybody was waiting for the VB bus. We missed boarding the first bus that came along by 10 or so people as the bus was already pretty crowded with guests from Loews Portofino Bay. I didn’t think Portofino Bay and Hard Rock should’ve shared a VB bus, especially for park opening times, as both hotels are pretty big and the second hotel guests will always lose out when trying to board the bus.

After boarding a second bus, we arrived at VB and were through the turnstiles around 9:15am (15 min after Early Entry). Since it was our first time at VB, we were floundering a bit as we looked for the lockers at the back of the park in River Village (recommended as they are less crowded). However, I jumped the gun and grabbed lockers at a spot too early. No matter, it wasn’t too crowded at the West (something) Village lockers and it wound up being a decent spot for us as it was close to both Waturi Beach (where my kids spent most of their time while waiting for their Tapu Tapu times) and the place we wanted to eat at for lunch. However, the locker attendant told us that each Tapu Tapu only opened 1 locker. But an hour later, I overheard her explain how to link several Tapu Tapus to one locker. That was annoying that she told me misleading info- it caused me all sorts of irritation throughout that day since DH and I could only open our respective lockers.

Even though it was still Early Entry time, the Krakatau already required a Tapu Tapu to ride. After tapping for a time, we walked over to the milder ika Moana Slide to ride it as a family. After exiting, my kids expressed an interest in riding the more intense Honu but it already required a Tapu Tapu by then and they didn’t want to give up their Krakatau spot. They then elected to wait out their Tapu Tapu time by enjoying the waves at Waturi Beach. Back we trudged.

The Tapu Tapu concept was cool in that it freed you up to enjoy other things but all the walking back and forth sucked as our feet were hurting by day 10. Plus, my water shoes had broken mid-trip so I was breaking in new flip flops (NOT fun). It would’ve helped if the Universal app displayed what was “Ride Anytime” so we could easily see what ride attractions were available without Tapu Tapu. Instead, we had to trudge to the infrequent ride boards.

BTW, the Universal app also sucks in that it resets back to the homepage at the drop of a hat. I was always having to re-navigate back to the page I was looking at and I found the app cumbersome. Not that MDE is perfect- it frequently didn’t load properly for me this trip but thankfully not when I was grabbing LLs.

While my kids played in Waturi Beach, I wandered around trying to look for an entrance into the Volcano as I had read that it’s fun to explore the caverns. I finally found an entrance but my prescription sunglasses worked TOO well as everything was pitch black with them on but blurry (and gave me a headache) if I took them off. Conundrum. I wound up guiding my way by looking through my phone camera.

After DH and my kids tapped into and rode Krakatau, they tapped for Honu. While waiting for the Honu return time, we decided to eat lunch at Kohola Reef Restaurant & Social Club. Mobile order saved me from waiting in a pretty long line. I’m always dumbfounded when I see people wait in a 20 person deep line when they could do mobile order instead. But then again, Universal sometimes handles mobile orders strangely (more on that tomorrow).

Coconut Crusted Fried Chicken and (Blue) Raspberry and Watermelon Icees

Kohola Burger (Crispy fried onions, pickled jalapenos, fresh cabbage, mango basil slaw, and avocado mayo)

After lunch, DH and the kids rode Honu as their Tapu Tapu time was up. We then went counterclockwise and they rode the green slides of Taniwha tubes as Ride Anytime. They then walked over to get a Tapu Tapu time for Punga Racers. Afterwards, a board said that one version of the Round Raft Rides were Ride Anytime so we walked over. But by the time we arrived, both had switched over to needing Tapu Tapu. But the attendant hinted that Maku could return to Ride Anytime any moment so we stuck around. Sure enough, within a minute, it turned back to Ride Anytime so I hustled the kids over to enter the queue before it changed again. DS10 was none too pleased as he was in the process of laboriously donning one of his water shoes and I hustled him through the entrance with him hobbling with only 1 shoe on. But I was right to hustle him through as Maku turned back to needing Tapu Tapu a few people after us.

After the three of us rode Maku, the kids expressed an interest in riding the Puihi version. So after they completed Punga Racers, they tapped for a time on Puihi. While waiting for their Tapu Tapu times, the kids elected to try the TeAwa Fearless River. I was initially too scared to go with them (despite the life vest) as I don’t know how to swim and I read that there are areas where it’s 6 feet (way over my measly 5’4" height). But after they did one round around the river and excitedly asked to go again, I spoke to a reassuring team member and joined them in TeAwa. It was SO MUCH FUN! I actually kept my feet elevated for half the ride, not wanting to know when it became too deep to touch bottom. After 1 round around the river, my kids’ Tapu Tapus were ready so we left. I was a bit sad as I had wanted to coast along the TeAwa one more time.

After Puihi (which the kids said was a “weird” experience as they were made to ride with another party), they chose to tap for a time on the Ohno (6’) drop slide. Back to Waturi we went to wait out the Tapu Tapu time. In the meantime, I went to the photo kiosk to add my VB pics to my account as it won’t do it automatically. Yet another oddity of Universal photos.

I also excitedly went to the nearby Koka Poroka ice cream stand to obtain the popular Waturi Fusion (swirls of banana, blue raspberry, orange and strawberry soft-serve). Sadly, the team member reported tech issues with the machine and said they were waiting for IT to fix it. Boo. I decided to drown my sorrows at the Dancing Dragons Boat Bar. Plus, more importantly, I badly needed to recharge my phone in a dry spot.

Toasted Coconut Pineapple (Siesta Key Coconut Rum and Fresh Pineapple Juice)

DH came over to join me so I also bought a Wai-Watermelon (New Amsterdam Vodka, Watermelon Syrup, Fresh Raspberries, and Watermelon)

When it was time, I took the kids over to finish up their last water attraction at the Ohno. I wish they had an automatic camera there to capture their drops. I would’ve tried to capture it on my phone but by the time you process it’s your family member/friend coming down and press “record”, it’s already over. It was about 4:45pm by the time we changed out of our wet suits and were waiting at the bus stop. We had a 5:30pm ADR for Cowfish (or so I thought) but I had to cancel it as my family needed to return to the hotel first and timing would’ve been impossible. It was just as well- I discovered the next day that I had accidentally made a reservation for a Cowfish in the Hampton Bays, not Citywalk.

After we dropped off our considerable water park bag in our hotel room, we took a perfectly timed boat to Citywalk. I wasn’t too broken up about missing Cowfish as I was looking forward to trying my “backup” last minute place, Red Oven Pizza.

Prosciutto & Arugula

Roasted Chicken (basil pesto, sweet corn emulsion, roasted tomatoes, crescenza, provolone, red onions, oven roasted chicken, and arugula)

We also ordered a basic cheese pizza. We were all pretty happy with Red Oven. Afterwards, we went to Voodoo Doughnuts for dessert. However, it wasn’t a great experience. I ordered and paid for 6 doughnuts via the app. However, I was only given 4 doughnuts. The worker at the outdoor mobile order kiosk who gave me my pink box said nothing about the missing doughnuts and I only realized it because I peeked inside the box. When I asked about it, he directed me to go into the store to talk to the manager. When I went inside the store proper, the worker stated, “Oh yeah. We ran out of all the old-fashioned doughnuts. You can pick 2 to replace them.” No apologies for not being upfront about the missing doughnuts, which really irked me. I can understand certain flavors running out towards the end of the day but they should then refund people their money if the order can’t be completed.

Since the missing doughnuts were flavors chosen by my family members who were not with me when I went into the store, I had to call them to ask what they wanted instead. The worker was then joined by a manager who gave a very perfunctory apology and seemed impatient for me to pick the replacements. So overall, this was not a great experience. Maybe the ordering process colored my perception of the taste but I was not that wowed by the doughnuts we did get.

Mango Tango, Glazed, Universal Orangesicle, Sprinkle Cake

Chuckles (raised yeast doughnut with chocolate frosting dipped in mocha powder and topped with peanuts, caramel, and chocolate drizzle)

Sorry, Voodoo, but you don’t hold a candle to my hometown favorite, Doughnut Plant!

DMIL and my kids then took a boat back to the Hard Rock while DH and I walked around USF as I wanted to see it lit up at night, especially Diagon Alley. It was relatively uncrowded in the side streets of Diagon Alley. We took the opportunity to visit an empty Fountain of Fair Fortune to obtain yet another Frozen Butterbeer and a Wizard’s Brew.

We walked through the rest of USF, certain areas being blissfully uncrowded. I loved having the time to take in small details without rushing to anything. I usually try to spend at least one evening doing so when I’m at Disney/Universal. I also took the opportunity to shop in the less crowded DA shops and to buy the edible souvenirs from SugarPlum’s without having to worry about them melting in a park bag all day.

At 8:45pm, an overhead announcement reminded guests that the nighttime water show would occur shortly. I had forgotten they had one and may have stayed to watch it but DH was exhausted and I could tell his feet were killing him even though he didn’t complain. Mine weren’t doing great either (Eeek! Old age is catching up to me! My feet had never hurt like this on previous trips!!!) so we left and walked back to the Hard Rock.

Day 11: USF and IOA with a Harry Potter focus

We arrived at USF around park opening time at 9am and headed to Diagon Alley, wands at the ready. My kids spent about an hour doing the spells in a relatively uncrowded DA. Once they exhausted all the spells in the area, we rode Escape from Gringotts. Afterwards, time for breakfast at Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour!

I had Strawberry Peanut Butter while DH enjoyed the Earl Grey & Lavender. I had wanted to combine mine with Butterbeer ice cream but apparently, Butterbeer can’t be combined with other flavors due to trademark rights or something like that.

After our ice cream break, we went to King’s Crossing and boarded the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade. Once there, the kids enacted more spells. After they were done, we took the return trip back to DA so that we could eat lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. En route, I placed a mobile order, thinking that would save time. Universal had other plans. Once I arrived at the doors of the Leaky Cauldron, I hit “I’m here, place my order” and joined the line that the witch stated was for mobile orders. It was a very long and slow moving line. One, because it was taking time to wait for available tables. Two, because most of the people were still filling out their mobile order while on line! I had assumed that the mobile order pick up queues were for people who had already placed an order. The line for people ordering in person turned out to be MUCH shorter. So in this case, the mobile order line seemed to be at a disadvantage. I was afraid that since I had clicked on the “I’m here” button already, my food would be prepared and just sitting there, getting cold, while I waited for a table. But thankfully, that wasn’t the case. They must not fulfill the order until you enter the Table Number you are seated at.

The kids and DMIL split 2 platters of Fish & Chips while DH and I tried some traditional British fare.

Lemon Tongue Tying Squash and Peachtree Fizzing Tea

Toad in the Hole (English sausage baked into a Yorkshire pudding and served with onion gravy, minted peas, root vegetables, and roasted tomato)

Beef, Lamb, & Guiness Stew

A side of Scotch Egg (a boiled egg wrapped in sausage and then deep fried) with a side of apple beet salad

After lunch, we browsed the DA shops a bit more before heading back to the Hard Rock around 2pm to finally try out the pool. My kids only got to cool off in the pool a little over half an hour before everybody was called out due to lightning in the area. This turned out to be more than a brief afternoon shower and it was grossly rainy for the next few hours. That decided our dinner plans for us- we had been playing around with the idea of heading to Citywalk but the rain changed our minds and we did a walk in at the Kitchen of our hotel instead. This turned out great as the food was good and the restaurant was quiet and uncrowded, making it a nicely serene last evening meal at Universal.

Sweet Corn Bisque (poached shrimp, grilled sweet corn, heirloom cherry tomatoes, and bacon powder). OMG, this was AMAZING. It was poured tableside and tasted like butter. In a good way.

The crowd-pleasing Fried Calamari

Both kids opted for the Skirt Steak.

I had the Uncut Gems Caesar Salad with Chicken

DH ate the Hand-Cut Seafood Linguini

DMIL couldn’t stop raving about the Half Pound Kitchen Burger. It came with Black Angus beef, white cheddar cheese, caramelized mushrooms and onions, Applewood smoked bacon, crisp lettuce, and Secret Sauce #17.

I would’ve LOVED to try the Kitchen Sink, which is a 7-layer behemoth comprised of brownie, peanut butter crunch, chocolate chunk cookie, pecan pie, vanilla cheesecake, devil’s food chocolate cake, vanilla chiffon, chocolate sauce, and vanilla bean ice cream. But even I wasn’t hungry enough to tackle that. Maybe if it had been towards the beginning of our trip.

DMIL and DH split the Spiced Rum Bread Pudding (served with toasted nuts, tropical spices, Guatemalan rum spiked dulce de leche, candied pecans, banana brulee, and vanilla bean ice cream.

I chose the Flourless Chocolate Crunch Cake (60% Dominican chocolate mousse, pistachio ganache, sweet whipped cream, and candied pistachios)

I had chosen a light entree for myself, thinking I could try out the intriguing bar bites at the Velvet Bar later that evening but I was too lazy to leave the hotel room after settling the kids in for the night. I think 11 days of touring and eating was getting to me.

Day 12: IOA and Departure

On the day of our departure, we did pretty well as we had squared away our luggage with Bell Services and were in IOA by around 8:30am (30 min into Early Entry). DD13 wanted to ride VelociCoaster again so that’s why we chose to go to IOA. While she and DH headed there, the rest of us opted to enjoy Hogsmeade rides. DS10 and I rode FotH and then I drank my third Frozen Butterbeer. I think it’s delicious but the rest of my family thinks it’s too sweet. Heathens.

DH and DD13 were back from VelociCoaster by 10am. Since the kids didn’t have any strong feelings about re-riding anything, I proposed we wait a bit on the line for the still closed Hagrid’s Motorbike. (DS10 actually had chosen Hagrid’s this morning when I asked them both what they wanted to re-ride but I had told him it was unlikely as we wouldn’t be able to make rope drop and I didn’t want to wait almost 2 hours again). However, it had been closed all morning and I saw that many people had abandoned the queue. Plus, the now very holey queue (haha) started in the Lost Continent, meaning there weren’t actually that many people in line that would be in front of us. Definitely vastly less than when we joined the queue the other day. I proposed we sit on the ground in the queue for 30 min or so and try our luck. They had phones to play their games on so I figured they would be reasonably occupied/distracted while waiting.

JACKPOT! After sitting for 15 minutes, Hagrid’s re-opened! I threw my bag at DH when we passed him (he was sitting on the benches with DMIL near the lockers) to save us time messing with a locker and we walked without stopping until right before the final room (where you hear motorcycles roaring overhead)! I was so happy that both kids wound up getting one last ride of their favorite Universal attractions.

Feeling upbeat after our surprise ride on Hagrid’s, I chose to join my kids on FJ. Since I knew what to expect from my 2019 ride, I closed my eyes during the visually troubling spots and was able to tolerate the ride with only a tiny amount of discomfort. Win!

We then proceeded to make a final lap around the park and I stopped by the VelociCoaster photo kiosk . I wanted to try looking for the image from when DH and DD13 rode it as I had forgotten (again) to give them the myUniversal photos card to scan with. Luckily, the team member was able to pull up their image quickly since I was able to give her an approximate time. Plus, they were probably easy to identify as they were two of the few people wearing masks on the ride. So all is not lost in getting ride photos if you know the approximate time!

During our stop in the Jurassic Discovery Center, DD13 decided she wanted to try edible bugs. Ew. More power to her.

As our final Universal activity, we browsed the main gift shop at the front of the park to shop some more before we headed to our 1pm ADR at Toothsome Chocolate Emporium.

This time, DH and I tried the That’s Mint (minty chocolate ice cream, Andes mints, and a mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwich) and Heavenly Hazelnut (Nutella ice cream, hazelnuts, Nutella, cocoa powder, and whipped topping)

My pictures of the food were again not so great due to the dim lighting. We had the Warm Chocolate Almond Bread (mostly so I could put it in a ziplock to take home as another edible souvenir), Truffle Fries, Red Reuben, Pub It Up Burger, Braised Short Rib, Waffles, and the Shrimp Macaroni and Cheese.

The food was good (but heavy!) and a great way to end yet another fun vacation. Can’t wait to go back!

[LTinNC82]

Another delicious couple of days in the book!

[NaviHeart]

Thanks for the trip report! My UOR/Disney trip is in 5 days! It looks like you had a fabulous time. We will also be doing IOA on our departure day and I’m hoping VB will be more like a rest day as we won’t try to get on too many rides.

[motherofdaughtersthree]

@NaviHeart

My UOR/Disney trip is in 5 days!

5 days!! Yay!!

[mariaCD]

Have a great time!!! Let me know if they have the Waturi Fusion!

[NaviHeart]

It looks like a fun treat!