Deja vu at Hogsmeade...then hello to Epcot and Magic Kingdom again!

Friday - May 5, 2017

As early entry is scheduled at the ungodly hour of 7 am (why??!!) we were up by 6am to get ready.  The plan was to hit early entry at Hogsmead, them do breakfast at Croissant Moon Bakery before hitting other rides with EP.

Yeah...this day did not turn out at all how we planned.  We originally thought to spend the day at Islands of Adventure, then, because it shut down early (7 pm I think?) we were going to Lyft or Uber over to Epcot for dinner. At 6 am, we trudged out of our room, sleep deprived like zombies.  The thing about Hogsmead is that we have it here in LA, so other than the Dragon Challenge coaster, it was all the same.  The same I tell you!

So, yeah, we weren't too excited.  We were the only people not bright eyed and bushy tailed at 7 am on a Friday morning, and we slowly wobbled out way back to Hogsmead, dutifully did Forbidden Journey (we've been on it about 29 times at this point) and then did both sides of Dragon Challenge, which is admittedly fun.  But maybe not at 7:20 am.  Once it hit 8 am and the general public was admitted, we walked over to Croissant Moon at Port of Entry and ate delicious, delicious food.  Raymond and I had done Starbucks for breakfast after early entry the last time we were at Universal, but after we found Croissant Moon, we both agreed that it was so much better (food wise) than Starbucks.  We still went to Starbucks for coffee, but the baked goods and sandwiches are Croissant Moon are the same price as the crappy sandwiches Starbucks sells, but so much more delicious.

We eat deliciousness, then I look at JK, who looks the way I feel, and I propose that we go back to our room and nap because being this tired, I just don't think either of us would be able to really enjoy the day.   Plan in mind, we go back to our room (taking the boat of course) and proceed to nap until about 11.  The best is all the people streaming excitedly into the park as the two of us are trudging out.  Like we'd had such a hard morning. 

As befits the theme of this trip, we ended up napping with Blackish playing in the background.  We woke up feeling SO MUCH BETTER.  We head back over to IoA to finish out the rest of the big rides - and while waiting for Posieden's Fury, we decided once we hit all the big rides, we wanted to go back to Epcot since we wanted to spend more time in the World Showcase and we wanted to check out the Flower and Garden Festival food booths more thoroughly.  

we're excited about Epcot already

Poseidon's Fury = meh.  It was fine.  But we hit the Hulk Coaster (so awesome!), Spiderman (also fun, and we gotta do that since we don't have that here) and King Kong (it's ALMOST the same as our tram ride here, except for some exposition).  Of all the things we waited forever for it was King Kong.  Now, the ride building and queue were amazing, and there's that funky half life size Kong at the end - but the people who didn't have express pass were saying that they waited over an hour for this...and that's just sad.  Because it's NOT worth waiting that long for.  But I guess because I've been on it so many times in our tram ride here I'm all meh about a wait for this.

Goals accomplished, we ran back to our room, Disneyfied ourselves, and called a Lyft to the Beach Club so we could enter through the IG.  

Being at the Beach Club made us so nostalgic...you know, because we've been away for all of 2 days by then.  Even though the room wasn't luxurious, and it was the smallest bathroom of our trip, there was something so homey and comfortable there that it was our favorite of the three resorts we stayed at.  Even more so than the Waldorf, which smelled of rich people.

we finally made it onto the beach of the Beach Club

Because we are big dorks, we tried to do selfies around the world.  You know, the magical world of Disney.  And to pretend we are world travelers.

we go to France

We tried to hit some of the food stands that looked interesting.  I can't remember what we ate now, but what we tried all ended up being pretty tasty.  Expensive, but tasty.

something expensive and tasty

Then we go to my favorite pavilion: because it's freaking gorgeous!

We cooled off for a little bit inside their little museum thing.  It has a/c and some benches!

Then we went to the Japanese Pavilion, which made Johanna sad, even though she grudgingly purchased the best packable Hello Kitty tote ever, which she loves, but hates to admit to.

Then Italy (or more specifically, Venice) where we ate a delicious cannoli.

And Germany, to honor her mom who spent a chunk of her youth there.  Also, we bought ornaments there.

We wander through all the different pavilions and try to figure out where we want to have our last dinner in Orlando before going home (sob!).   We snag fastpasses for Soarin', so we head over to Future World for one last hurrah on a ride that's "a lifelike illusion filled with majesty and sensory delight" (Blackish anyone?  Only my favorite line ever) and I come up with a revolutionary idea: (okay, it's not that revolutionary, I just wanted to feel special) why not take the express transport that we paid for and go to Magic Kingdom for dinner???  Also, MDE shows that a reservation for Crystal Palace is available - and who doesn't want to dine with Pooh Bear???  Once we're off Soarin', we book it over the other side of Future World to catch the express transport and happily ride over to Magic Kingdom.  We grab FP's for Haunted Mansion after dinner, and eagerly head to Crystal Palace to eat like the gluttons we are.

hello Crystal Palace!

It's at the location where Jolly Holiday Bakery would be in Disneyland, but Crystal Palace is so big!  I know it gets kind of mixed reviews, but I liked it - they had southern food with collard greens and chicken - and they had bread and dessert - what's not to like?  Also, the people who worked there were super cool and nice - and after a 15 minute wait, we got a pretty good window seat where we could see the castle...which meant that we could see Wishes!  🙌

The characters roamed around meeting people, and we told that handler it's okay if they don't come and hang with us, because we just wanted to eat and the little kids were the ones looking forward to meeting the characters.  When the fireworks started, Eeyore came and said hello anyway.

Then I made a new friend - Tigger decided to watch the fireworks with me.  

After dinner we went and grabbed seats to watch Once Upon A Time.  Still awesome!

We do the Haunted Mansion, and on our last night, we wander around the park to take it in for the last time (not forever, just this trip) and snap some photos.

the back!

and the front of the castle

view of Main Street from the castle

We head out reluctantly, even though we're kinda tired.  As usual, we avoid the Lake of Evil and walk over to The Contemporary to grab a Lyft.

The ride back to Royal Pacific was uneventful...except when we got into Universal...ALL THE ROADS AROUND OUR HOTEL WERE CLOSED.  The driver looped around and around and just couldn't get in, so he finally just dropped us off at Sapphire Falls.  Meh.  Sapphire Falls is a huge ass convention hotel - we wandered and wandered and wandered and in oh...15 to 20 minutes?  we finally stumble our way to Royal Pacific.  So we took the long and convoluted and expensive way home.  But we made it!

We (with Blackish on, of course) packed up our bags - with all our dirty laundry and unbreakables in our packable totes we were going to check - and all of our preciouses (cups.  Lots of cups.  And perfumes) in our carry on suitcases to be protected from the vigors of airline travel.

The next day, we go home :(

Hello Diagon Alley!

Thursday - May 4, 1017

For the very first time in 10 days (because you can't get up when you want to during a work day) we slept in and woke up when we got enough sleep.  Which was around 9 am.  NOT 6 am.   That's just unnatural.  We're both almost done packing except for some odds and ends, so we could take our time before our 11 am check out.  

We had a coffeemaker in our room, which we never used since we're lazy, and instead we walked over the Beach Club Marketplace and purchased a cup of coffee each.  They actually had a lot of quick options for meals and I wished we had checked it our earlier instead of our day of departure.  They also had a pretty nice gift shop there, which we decided to come back to after we loaded our car and checked out.  Highlight: they had flavored creamer for coffee!  Win!

But back to our room we went, where we INHALED not only the leftover pizza (hey!  we had a microwave to heat it up) and all of our delicious pastries.  

The napoleon and the citrus tart were my favorites, though the big macaron and the eclair were both good.  Really, how can you go wrong with French pastries???

We packed up, I couldn't figure out how to check out other than walking to the lobby, loaded up our car, and went and spent more money in the gift shop.  Because that's how we roll.  But hey...considering how expensive these hotels are...why don't they have express checkout on their TV's????  I mean, even the $90/night Courtyard Marriotts have those.  Why don't fancy deluxe Disney hotels???

Then we head for Universal.  We roll up to the valet at Royal Pacific (the most affordable option that still gave us express passes) because I'd rather pay the extra $5 a day than have to lug our stuff from self-parking, and we check in...except our room isn't ready yet.  That's okay - we drop our stuff off with their bell persons and we grab our express passes and head for USF.

I'm excited about USF because of Diagon Alley.  It's so big and detailed with so many things to look at!  Yes, there's only one ride compared to the three at Hogsmeade, but there are more stores, there's Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour, there's Knockaturn Alley, and the freaking breathing dragon (which having just watched Deathly Hallows a month before our trip, I FINALLY understand).  Also, USF had the new Jimmy Fallon ride, and I also very much enjoy E.T, MIB and Revenge of the Mummy, which is much longer and way better themed and more fun than our version in Hollywood.  

Instead of walking (which we thought about doing, but never did during our two nights at Royal Pacific) we took the boat over to City Walk.  We walked by City Walk a lot, but never actually went over...because we actually ended up NOT spending a whole lotta time in Universal.

It's after noon by the time we roll in, and of course, we have to get the globe shot!

The first ride (after we refresh ourselves with soda) is the Jimmy Fallon ride as this one is new.  I didn't know Express Passes (EP) were good for these, so my dumb ass made a reservation for us using the Universal app.  Turns out we just needed to scan our EP's.  

We go in, walk through some displays highlighting each host of the Tonight Show (including Conan! 💗) and head to a waiting room.  When you enter, they give you a color coded card - and when your color is called,  you head over and line up.  There are TV's, games, and it's a nice place to sit in the air conditioning to wait.  Beats waiting in line!

Was this brilliant?  No, but it was fun and entertaining!  A little crazy, but I still liked it.  Didn't re-ride it, but it's something I'd go on again the next time we go back to USF.

While strolling towards the back of the park, we hop onto Revenge of the Mummy (so, so, so much better than ours!) and then...it's time for...Diagon Alley.  But first, we admire "London" and King's Cross.

While hanging out here, we actually notice that the wait for Hogwart's Express @ King's Cross is only set at 15 minutes...which is almost as good as it gets, so we jump in line (the lavishly themed line) and line up for the ride.  I've probably done it about 4 times each way by this point, but I still love it.  It's done so freaking well!  I didn't record the ride, but you can find it here if you want to see/relive the ride.  

We get to Hogsmeade and because we were going to head over the next day (and we have it at USH anyway) we hop right back into the line for Hogwart's Express heading to London.  Again...fun!  

So, the last time I was here I hadn't watched the Order of the Phoenix HP movie yet, so I didn't know the significance of all these buildings. I saw people taking photos of them, but didn't know - or pay attention to - why they were.  Now I get it!  It's Grimmauld Place!  Where Kreacher (the ugly elf) lives!

So of course now we need to take photos, and stand there and wait for gross ass Kreacher to peek out.

hello ugly Kreacher!

And we need some pictures with No. 12 of course.

And we enter through the front into Diagon Alley - because for your first time, you gotta go through the front where you can hear the bricks grinding.

And it's still amazing :)

there's nothing here I want to buy, but so much fun to look at and in!

We also wander through Knockturn Alley because it's awesome.  And shaded.  With air conditioning. I love that it's always night in there - the effects and detailing and atmosphere are done so well.  If you can find a bench, it's a great spot to cool down while eating an ice cream cone 😃

It's Borgin and Burke, which apparently is a real shop in the books.  And maybe the movies?  I"m so bad at Harry Pottering!

By this time it's getting close to 3 pm and we're getting hungry.  We don't have a Leaky Cauldron in California, so of course (duh) we're going to eat there.  

It looks just like the movies!

Of course we need Butterbeer.  Please.  Being super British, we also go the bangers and mash and we got the mini pie combo that had the cottage pie and the fisherman's pie.  I've never had bangers and mash before, but these were surprisingly tasty.  I'd order them again.

The pies are small, and we had half each - not bad, but I prefer the meat and potatoes.  :)

We then head over to look at Gringotts.  We didn't want to wait an hour, and had decided to look and admire the dragon before coming back in the evening when most of the kids are too tired to play.  Except...there was the single rider line just beckoning us, so of course we succumbed just so JK could experience the ride first, before we did it again later so she could experience the awesome queue.  As always, phenomenal and crazy fun. 

By this time we were tired.  AND our rooms were available (yay!), so we wander out to City Walk, hop on a boat back to Royal Pacific, and get our keys for our room.  Because we are lazy old ladies, JK and I just had to bell man (he looked too old to be a bell boy) wheel our luggage to our room for a tip and we threw ourselves into our beds.  We spent a very pleasant afternoon alternately napping, watching Blackish, and stuffing ourselves with snacks.  

Then, it was time for Gringotts! (the complete version that is) Yay!  I LOVE this ride.  The queue for this is gorgeous.  I've had the good fortune that I've never been in line longer than 20 minutes for this, but I think this would be one I wouldn't mind being in line for.  The goblins, that chandelier(!), the marble floors...just the detailing is AHMAZING.  

Hello fancy lobby!  Why doesn't my Chase Bank branch look like this? 

I feel like they should have a line in Gringotts just for people who want to wander and look in the bank and experience the queue like they do for Hogwarts at Forbidden Journey.  It's just so freaking gorgeous! 

And of course we have it get ice cream.  I've been dreaming of the Florence Fortescue ice cream for the last 18 months.  Who would ever think anyone could make lavender ice cream delicious? Because it's amazing!  (I can't stop saying amazing, it's like a sickness.)  I also really like the Earl Grey, and the Sticky Toffee Pudding is tasty too. 

Being fobby Asian people (even though JK is not a fob, but I deem her an honorary fob) we have to take a glamour shot with the ice cream cones.  Context, ya know? 

I don't know if it was a secret password, but JK was wearing a Star Wars shirt because it was Star Wars Day (May the Fourth), but the Gringotts people let us into a third queue both times we rode it.  I guess we should've come during the day to experience this secret queue I had no idea existed.  Hmmm...something to keep in mind next time we come back in May. 

We wander through Diagon Alley and admire it at night, then it's time for bed because we are crazy and want to make the 7 am early entry.  

Of course, we haven't had dinner yet, but we were lazy and tired and decided to get room service.  Because we fancy.  JK was going through kimchi withdrawals and needed spicy stat, so we got a big ass order of hot wings.  Which were so freaking tasty!  I don't know if being room service made them tastier or it was the fact that it was late and we were in PJ's, but it was really good (and uh, we still snacked on our kettle corn and chips and candy) and we were so happy.   Full, sated, and happy, we fall asleep to (what else?) Blackish playing in the background so we canvisit Hogsmead the next morning.