 That
was it for us. It was finally getting a bit more crowded, and we
still
had to return to Beach Club, gather our luggage and move over to the
Hard Rock Hotel. The bus worked out nicely since it was waiting
there
as we approached the bus-stop. The girls and I stood the whole
way
back, but it was better than waiting for another bus! They
quickly
brought out our luggage and the rental car and we were off!
Goodbye
Disney World! We had a great time!
Headed up I4 and soon we arrived at Universal and quickly found our way
to the Hard Rock Hotel. It was a bit after 5 so it was nice
having the
room ready and waiting. Checkin was fairly painless.
They had us
down for two connected rooms somehow (have NO idea how that
happened)
but it was quickly corrected. I showed my preferred annual pass
for
the discounted rate, and our host even went back and brought us back
'kids eat free' certificates for lunch and dinner during our
stay.
Nice!
 Off to our room which was on the third floor, which
happens to be the
same as the main floor. No elevators required, but we are WAY at
the
end of a hall - quite a walk! But very close to the stairs so
pool
access is quick and easy as is walking to the parks. Our pool
view is
a bit blocked by trees, but we can still see it a bit. Its
a nice
standard room, but the sound proofing could be better. Its easy
to
hear the music and goings on at the pool, and people in the hallway
come through loud and clear.
We were all starving, so after unpacking quickly we decided to use a
couple of those free kids meal tickets, and went to The Kitchen here in
the resort. It's a nice place, and was fairly empty even though
it was
about 6:15pm or so. We were seated immediately, and soon a
magician
stopped at our table before we even placed our drink order. He
was
very good and made several stops by our table while we were
there. He
was great and we are still trying to figure out how he did some (or
even ALL) of those tricks!
 Kristen picked a pizza for dinner and I had the Crab
cakes. We both
liked our choices very well, and the girls had grilled cheese that were
OK, but pretty skimpy. But the meal came with a big cookie so
they
were happy! :-) And it was free, so I'm not complaining
either! ;-)
We'll probably try some other places during the trip even though the
kids will be free here at the resort. Too many good choices
around the
parks and at City Walk.
OK - after dinner we wanted to hit a park for at least a little
while.
I have to activate my Annual Pass, and get the girls power passes as
well. There was a security guard doing bag checks as we went from
the
resort walkway to Universal. At Universal I went over to the
Electronic Ticketing section and with the swipe of my Visa card and
entering my confirmation number it kicked out the three Power Passes I
had purchased for Kristen and the girls a month or so ago.  Very easy
and convenient. After entering at the main gate using all our
tickets,
we had to go over to Vacation Services to have real Annual Passes
printed with our pictures. That went quickly given that there was
NO
line at all. We headed out with our new passes and went off in
search
of The Mummy ride. I've wanted to try this one since it opened
last
year, so it was high on the list. The park closed at 8pm (WAY too
early for a Friday night in August in my opinion!) so we ended up
only
having time for this one ride. But what a great ride! loved
how it
was done, and my only complaint would be that its pretty short.
The
coaster isn't too crazy, but still fun and the effects are
awesome. I
loved it. Kristen liked it too, and Brinn kind of liked it.
Maddy was
scared though. The Mummies and scary parts did her in. The
coaster
was tame in her opinion, but the effects were TOO well done! ;-)
After that we soon found out the other rides were closed. So we
did
just a bit of shopping and headed back to the hotel. We had time
to
hit the pool, and that was a great idea. It was very refreshing,
and
still pretty busy. We all did the slide (which is a lot of
fun by the
way!), and the girls did it MANY times. We played tag, and just
enjoyed swimming around until a bit after 9pm. Then it was time
for
bed. We headed inside and crashed. Tomorrow we are going to
hit
Universal again and really get some use out of that Front of the Line
perk for staying at Hard Rock Hotel. |
|
We got a great shaded spot right near the left entrance
and waited until about 7:55 when the entrance show started, and they
quickly let us inside. It was much shorter than the 9am
one. I had to make a quick pit stop in the City Hall to
sign us up for the Virtual Magic Kingdom (VMK) tour. We get to do
this because we completed the three VMK quests last week. I think
they take up to 20 people and it looked like our tour was going to be
pretty full. I signed us up for the 12:30 tour and it lasted
around 2 hours.
On to the Speedway (which I despise waiting for) and
even that had a short wait! :-D Brinn was tall enough to
drive herself this year (good thing since Kristen isn't here!) and
thoroughly enjoyed it! Maddy drove while I pushed the gas
pedal. Let's just say it was a bit of a bumpy ride!
;-) I was surprised though to see how well Brinn was
steering behind me. She did great! 
Next I said we were doing Space Mountain. Brinn did
NOT want to do it again. Sigh.... After a bit of back and forth,
I agreed and she waited in the Arcade. Since I knew it was a
walkon, I knew we would be right back. Maddy was actually a bit
nervous this time for some reason. I think she was picking up on
her sister's fear. As the ride ended she was back to loving it
again! ;-) We found Brinn right at the exit, and off
we went with 
As
we rode the train past Big Thunder, there goes the train up the
hill!
It must have reopened right after we left! Oh well, we'll be back
later.... We got off in Toon Town, and headed into Mickey's house
first. I think they did a great job in here. I like his
house.
Outback through the garden and into the Judges tent for some pics with
the main mouse himself. Wait was about 5 minutes or so. 
Then it was off to Minnie's House. Pluto was out
back but we just
missed him. And then on to the Barnstormer. This was also
about a 5
minute wait. Very nice! The girls rode together and I was
behind
them. They loved it as always. Its a fun little coaster,
but short!
Around then Kristen
called - she was on Main Street. I told her to
head back and hop on the train and we'd meet her in
Frontierland. We
jumped on the Train in Toon Town and soon met her at the exit in
Frontierland. She was feeling much better. I ended up
grabbing just
two fast passes for Splash Mountain so Maddy and I could return after
the VMK tour. We all went on Big Thunder Mountain which was
about a 5
- 10 minute wait after 11am! Nice! We decided to head up to
the front
of the park for our tour and stopped for an Ice cream break on the
way. We arrived at the Main Street Cinema at12:15 and soon
met Ryan
our Tour Guide. He gave each of us VMK nametags, and handed out
little
intercom boxes/earphones so we could hear him as he walked and
talked.
This was a nice improvement from the Keys to the Kingdom tour I
took.
It was tough hearing the guide during that tour. 
The tour was filled with lots of VMK trivia and
info. Ryan had a flip
book with tons of pictures showing where certain things came from in
the game, as well as ideas for new lands like Frontierland (due to open
in late December!) We got LOTS of special VMK item cards during
the
tour. These were passed out for answering questions about the
game or
other questions. We got to ride three attractions going directly
to
the front of the line - Jungle Cruise where we had our own boat and
talked VMK all the way. Then we did Big Thunder followed by
Haunted
Mansion. We got a special tour only quest for the Haunted mansion
for
several new item cards. We filled them out right after riding the
ride
to find the answers.