Sounds like everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves today!
2 Likes
My DH is a hufflepuff!
4 Likes
My niece is a Hufflepuff. I definitely think Hagrid’s is better than anything else at WDW or UOR.
5 Likes
See? This is why my plan two weeks ago to quit my job and not start my new one until after I got home was so brilliant. Four stars. Highly recommend.
12 Likes
Up and Atom! #RadioactiveMan
Today is Volcano Bay day, so updates will be sparse for obvious reasons. I’m hoping we are able to take some pics though.
I seriously considered this at one point! 
But ultimately decided to stay with my job for at least another year.
15 Likes
My view right now:
I will love Volcano Bay more the further removed we are from this morning. Quite the hassle getting in which was exacerbated by the two younger DDs being in a MOOD. But now everyone is happy and we’re just waiting for the food I ordered to be delivered to our premium seating.
Details:
We arrived at the bus stop before 9, just in time for a short wait and arrival at the security checkpoint at 9:15. There might have been an earlier bus and if so we should have gotten on it cause everything else spiraled because of it. The security line was quite long and DD4 was scream crying because she “had an itch on her head.” 
She is the one with the most unpredictable tantrums, but the only thing to do with her is wait it out.
We made it through the tapstiles and entered the park for Early Entry. Then we had to wait in line for Concierge to get our Express Passes linked to our Tapu Tapu bands and also to get our premium seating. This line was WAY too long. I’ve heard there are other concierge desks in the park but I was told this was the only one that was open (could have been a lie). In any case, the line was nowhere near as long as it took for them to link our bands. Apparently since I bought my tix separately from Express Pass, it wasn’t linked automatically. That was unpreventable for me due to the pandemic, but in the future I would definitely buy direct to save that hassle.
Then we had to wait again to be assigned our seats. At this point, DD2 was also having a good cry for no reason (she has had crowd anxiety this whole trip - that’s what happens when you live your formative years in lockdown and no crowds!).
So it was almost 11 before we were finally able to do anything. I find that whole situation unacceptable. They are selling too many tickets and / or don’t have enough staff to handle concierge in the morning. You completely miss out on the “no wait” period in the morning. I would almost recommend going straight to the regular seating, ride some rides, and THEN go to concierge later to claim premium seating.
Anyway, thankfully we have Express Passes so we don’t have to worry about Tapu Tapu availability. With four kids, two of whom can’t ride any rides, it would be impossible to do everything otherwise with having to scan for a wait time then come back later. Even as it is the adults have to take turns riding so we can watch the kids.
We have only done one ride so far (Ika Moana). The older kids liked it but they were very scared on their way up! The stairs are intimidating.
The kids love the reefs. I think this will be their favorite day after they forget all the waiting this morning. Me too.
14 Likes
Holy cow that stinks!
Agreed, completely not okay.
May it be fully in your rearview momentarily. Perhaps a beverage? 
5 Likes
I don’t drink but a chocolate shake is on its way! If I was going to start drinking, this morning at about 10:30 would have been the time. Lol
17 Likes
My DW’s favorite alcoholic drink of our entire WDW/UOR trip was at VB. I think it was at the boat bar.
4 Likes
There’s a short cut for an easy fix for that.
Select your first unread email in your inbox. Then press Ctrl+A then Del.
And tada…done.
6 Likes
5 Likes
Pizza was very good - they were flatbread style. We got Pepperoni, cheese, and Hawaiian. The Hawaiian had diced jalapeño or some other spicy green pepper. The shakes were frosty-style, just like at Mel’s Diner last night. Service took a while but just sitting at my seat was better than standing in a line!
9 Likes
Did you bring the Lucky Charms with limited availability pebbles from yesterday to tide you all over?
7 Likes
Your report and others I have read have reinforced everything I hated about my one and only trip to USO in 1996. Now it’s just bigger.
(At least I have USH I can go to if I really want to - I would like to at least see the Harry Potter stuff at some point)
1 Like
Agree, some of the best pizza I’ve had at a theme park.
3 Likes
Harry Potter is soooo much better at UOR than at USH. I’m not a huge Universal fan in general, but the Diagon Alley (and Knockturn Alley) is amazing!!
6 Likes
Thanks for the heads up! I figured that was probably the case. Much like Disneyland they are very restricted in their expansion possibilities at USH.
I have heard some good things about the USO resorts so I would maybe go just to stay in one of them for something different. And I’ve always enjoyed CityWalk. But the parks, just mostly a big NO to me. 
1 Like
I’m going to need more photos of volcano bay. That one picture of is not enough for me to use for research. I know you’re busy “having fun” and “vacationing”, but us liners have needs too.
I really do hope you are too busy, having too much fun, and/or too relaxed to be able to post anything live.
10 Likes
What more could you want than a picture of his leg?
8 Likes
In the meantime, I can’t help but imagine worst-case scenarios at play, until we hear otherwise.
Such as…
…after climbing the stairs to one of the slides, @Jeff_AZ wanted to demonstrate how safe they all were to alleviate the fears of the younglings. But in doing so, he leaned over too far, and plummeted to…an unfortunate end.
…or perhaps…
…while everyone has always assumed the Volcano was constructed by Universal, it was actually a live and active volcano Universal carved into and which, while the family was ready to tackle, erupted, showering everyone in lava and ash.
5 Likes