Nov. 2016 Solo (not solo) girls birthday weekend adventure--Update 12/6

[J'aime Paris]

Introduction:

I'm Lori from Wisconsin.
Loves all things Universal and Disney!
Hates winter...ironic, huh??

This trip to Universal was an extension of another trip. My DH and I own two condos in gorgeous Orange Beach, AL. I was heading down to Alabama for our annual HOA meeting. I decided to book an extra 3 days in Orlando as a birthday present to myself.
DD cannot take off of school, as she's busy as can be in her senior year of high school. DH couldn't get away from work, as he was leaving one day after my return for hunting. Hey, we all have our hobbies!!

A solo trip was officially booked!



Orange Beach, AL November 11, 2016 Glorious sunshine!!







WELL.......I mentioned to my DD's BFF's mom, Brenda, about my trip to Alabama/Florida over a glass (or two) of wine. Later that night, my solo trip became a girls birthday weekend adventure!

And what a grand time it was!! Here is a photo of my partner in crime.
Brenda is on the left, and I'm on the right.










We flew from Milwaukee to Pensacola, FL and drove our rental car to Orange Beach, AL. We spend 3 fun filled, crazy nights in Alabama from Nov. 11-14. That adventure is a whole other trip report!!

Ridiculously early on Mon. Nov. 14th, we flew from Pensacola to Orlando for Part II of our vacation and 3 nights at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Our laughs, silliness and general good times at Universal and HRH will be the focus of this adult only trip report.
Please feel free to follow along and ask any questions about our adventure!!

 

[macraven]

First in line to join the club for this trip report!

Op, are you from
Southern part of Wisconsin?

 

[J'aime Paris]

First in line to join the club for this trip report!

Op, are you from
Southern part of Wisconsin?

Thanks for reading Mac!
Yes, I'm from a suburb of Milwaukee

 

[J'aime Paris]

Day 1--Mon. Nov. 14th Arrival and check-in

We flew from Pensacola to Orlando on a direct flight through Silver Airways. Smallest plane i've ever been on. It had 36 seats and propellers instead of jet engines. It was quite loud, maximum cruising altitude was 17,000 feet and the flight lasted 1h30min. I was a nervous flyer on that plane and was thrilled when we touched down safely at 11:55am.

I had arranged our r/t ride through Tony Hinds with our 30 minute grocery strop. Cannot say enough good things about Tony! He's a super nice gentleman, and we will always use his services when in Orlando.

Our check-in at the Hard Rock Hotel was wonderful! There was no line at the front desk, so Robert was able to help us immediately and our room was ready. He was pleasant and engaging, told us about all sorts of adult activities we could participate in---since we were smart enough to leave the families at home. I knew I liked this guy!
My birthday was noted in the reservation and he produced this little gem! Brenda was quick to add that her birthday was only a week before mine, so Robert generously produced a second card. This was one of many kind gestures we received on our trip!!
Needless to say, we did not get ice cream!!

We were assigned room 5151. The... very... last... room... at the end of several long hallways.
Guess what??? That location rocked!! Pun intended!
No running, screaming kids past our door...no yelling, frazzled parents chasing the kids past our door. We were planning late nights and sleeping in. This was a mom's vacation/girls birthday bash!!
We realized that taking the stairwell, which was right outside our door, was a huge advantage!! This stairwell let us outside directly on the walking path to the parks, and right next to the pool gate! It was a superb location! (If two old ladies like us can hoof it, so can you)

Next up........we drop our bags and head to the parks!

 

[macraven]

I bet you redeemed the bd card for the beverage .....

 

[Raeven]

Following along! We're staying at the Hard Rock in May for my birthday, it's good to hear such positive things about the hotel.

 

[schumigirl]

Yay........looking forward to reading along with you........sounds like a fabulous trip planned!!

And yep, I wouldn't have gone for the ice cream either........lol......

 

[J'aime Paris]

I bet you redeemed the bd card for the beverage .....

Very, very yummy drinks poolside!

Following along! We're staying at the Hard Rock in May for my birthday, it's good to hear such positive things about the hotel.

Thank you for reading!
I was able to get a really good AP rate for the Hard Rock. Had also checked RPR because it's a stellar place to stay as well, but they only had club level left at AP rate when I booked my room. In essence, HRH had the cheapest rate...by availablity. Please ask any questions you may have about HRH.

Yay........looking forward to reading along with you........sounds like a fabulous trip planned!!

And yep, I wouldn't have gone for the ice cream either........lol......

Thank you for reading! I'm not a strong writer (like you!), but I hope to provide a bit of fun!!

 

[J'aime Paris]

Day 1--Mon. Nov. 14th We hit the parks!

We bought adult beverages during our grocery stop, so we decided to make a "roadie" for our walk to the parks. This is an adult trip after all...
No line at security, breezed on through with little more than our lanyards and cell phones. It was so pleasant to be bag free!

We decided to go to US as our first park, mainly because it's the closest to the HRH.
No line to enter the park, and we couldn't believe how uncrowded it was for the middle of the afternoon.
Seriously, it was DEAD! This would be the common thread to the entire trip. Maybe because HHN were finished, maybe because Thanksgiving is near, we didn't know for sure. But the secret is now revealed...this is the week to go to Universal Orlando!!! Holy awesome!!

Our first ride was Mummy. Used EP and was a walk-on. Probably a walk-on without honestly.

WARNING! Most pictures are silly! Sent/texted loads to embarrass our kids, haha!

Then stopped to watch the Blues Brothers performance for a bit.
Made our way to Diagon Alley. Brenda was BLOWN AWAY by the whole area! It's so much fun experiencing all of this through the eyes of a newbie.
We went to ride Gringotts. Single rider line was supposed to be 15 minutes, and we were on the ride in 8 minutes. This would be our longest wait of the trip! Told you...it's the greatest week to visit...

We wandered around DA a bit more, and decided, Hey, it's time for another beverage! We had a fire whisky and apple cider concoction. Tasted like apple pie and was fantastic!! We also snacked on Cheese&Onion flavoured crisps. Delicious!! I have a serious potato chip addiction, and English crisps are my absolute weakness.

At this point, we exited DA, and were stopped near the Fear Factor area. Representatives wanted to give us free tickets for Blue Man Group, but we had to leave the Universal "bubble" to listen to a presentation. NO WAY I politely proclaimed! We only have 3 precious days for our adult-only birthday bash. Guess what??????? Ended up with some celebration bday buttons. Gosh, people here are so cool!!!









Next up... Men in Black...No wait with EP or without. I think we had our own vehicle to ourselves actually.
I pushed the red button and smoked Brenda! Sorry, Brenda....sucks to be a newbie. Ha Ha!









Rode the Simpsons Ride, again no wait! Hope this doesn't end up sounding like a broken record...cuz it was damn fun for us!!





Selfie with the Simpons ride attendant! Said he wanted a bday picture with funnest moms he's ever talked to...what a charmer! We happily obliged!
We had great conversations with just about everyone we encountered. Since the crowds and lines were non existent, we had time to chat with anyone and everyone. So we did!


Cannot seem to add more photos....to be continued in the next post.

 

[macraven]

Here waiting

Ready when you are
Lol

 

[Tink2Day]

Yay! Love Universal Trip Reports!!!

 

[J'aime Paris]

Yay! Love Universal Trip Reports!!!

Thank you Tink2 Day! We had more fun than should be legal, lol!

I'm having technical difficulties.....ugh!
When I try to upload any photo,
it's saying that the following error occurred...The uploaded file is too large for the server.
Not sure how to fix it!

 

[Tink2Day]

Thank you Tink2 Day! We had more fun than should be legal, lol!

I'm having technical difficulties.....ugh!
When I try to upload any photo,
it's saying that the following error occurred...The uploaded file is too large for the server.
Not sure how to fix it!

macraven can help you out. Yoo Hoo macraven!

 

[macraven]

I'm thinking.......

Too large for server is the message?

Can you click on the file and resize it?

 

[Raeven]

Ok if I think of anything I'll ask you! We plan to see the hotel in person when we go in December so I'm excited for that.

No lines sounds awesome! And you gotta love the red button!

It's a pain when pictures won't upload. I either resize them or upload them to something like Photobucket and then I can just put the link in and it doesn't matter what size they are.

 

[macraven]

Glad you posted that!

Uploading to something like photo bucket is the easiest way for me too

 

[Raeven]

Glad you posted that!

Uploading to something like photo bucket is the easiest way for me too

Me too! It would take me forever to resize them all.

 

[J'aime Paris]

Back to your regularly scheduled TR! I've downloaded photobucket, and fingers crossed, some pictures will appear!

Day 1--Mon. Nov. 14th We hit the parks, part B

After riding the Simpsons Ride, we had a bit of a photo session in Springfield.
Pictures with Sideshow Bob and Krusty
Pictures at the "arrested wall" or whatever it is called
Pictures with Duff beer grass hedges
Pictures with the Duff beer guy
Pictures with the pink donut
Pictures drinking Duff beer

Here are a few of them...

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So, with a Duff Octoberfest beer in hand, we wandered over to ride ET.
You guessed it, NO WAIT!
And our "names" that ET would speak at the end of the ride was
Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday

In the gift shop, you can opt to have your picture taken on a green screen back drop riding a bike with ET. Or you can go into ET's closet. You are supposed to pay for these opportunities. However the amazing gift shop attendant took pix with our phones for free since it was our birthdays! These super kind gestures certainly added to our enjoyment!!





We then decided to back track a little bit. We wanted to head over to IOA. So of course we needed to take a train trip on the Hogwarts Express! We were able to be the last 2 that boarded the train ready to leave the station.
Our timing for rides was unprecedented so far. Brenda was going to be spoiled---she had no idea what a line or crowd could actually be like at these parks!


Official conductors....or total mom geeks?? We didn't care!

Brenda was once again AMAZED by the HP themes in the parks. It was getting dark, and she loved the ambiance that added. We looked around for a bit and decided to ride Forbidden Journey. Walked right on....it was almost too quick! We didn't slow down to enjoy the castle as we should have.






But we were women on a mission! We needed to hit Tri Wizard Dragon Challenge coasters next!
No waits here either....
First we rode red, then blue. We both agreed that blue was our favorite!!


We had more time before the parks closed, but we realized that we were quite hungry, so off to Citywalk!

 

[schumigirl]

Yay.......it worked! Hope my description wasn't too confusing.........I'm rubbish at describing instructions.......

But, like the pictures.......glad Brenda was spoiled and you guys didn't have to queue......that's good to hear......and like the geek pictures........always popular!!!

Love Dragon Challenge.....both sides......can't choose........lol......

 

[J'aime Paris]

Day 1--Mon. Nov. 14th Citywalk for supper and goodnight!

The Citywalk area was about as dead as the parks. I kinda was missing the electricity of nights when it's more hopping. I know, first world problems and all.

We knew we could pick anywhere to eat with little to no wait.

We chose COWFISH! And we were immediately seated. Which was good, because we were starving by now!!

Brenda and I both chose the Bento box as our meal. Delish!!
I had a glass of pinot noir, and Brenda had a cocktail with grapefruit, ginger and cracked black pepper. (I forget the name of it.) She enjoyed the cocktail----I took a sip and did not!





After dinner, we thought about hitting a bar. But we'd been up since 4 something am, and feeling quite tired. We strolled on back along the river on this gorgeous evening to the HRH.


And here was what was waiting in the room for us...



And fresh ice in our ice bucket! Could this day get any better? So we fixed a nightcap. I mean, someone went to the trouble to get us fresh ice... We sipped on a gin and tonics (don't judge, birthday bash and all) to enjoy our cake.
What a glorious end to a super 1st day!!

Up next...what will day 2 have in store for us??