(Updated 1/7) How Bougie Can We Be? - Nov 2024 TR

[Araminta18]

All the Coasters! - Friday Nov 15, 2024 (part 2)​

We were also a little bit hungry so we grabbed some popcorn:

Nothing special, just good. I wasn't supposed to be eating popcorn - I had a temporary crown put on the day before we flew down and technically you're not supposed to eat popcorn with a temporary crown but man I'm just a rebel.

We used the dryer and I think it helped - I always thought those were basically scams and while it wasn't crazy effective it did help a bit, so that at least I wasn't actively dripping water. I mostly just didn't want to get ride seats all wet, cause we were planning to do Velocicoaster next, but sadly it was down. Womp womp. So we kept going into Hogsmeaded, though we did pass the Jurassic Park jeep photo op.

No idea why it looks so dark! But it is during the day cause we changed clothes for the nighttime event and you can kind of see that we're still wet in the picture.

Into Hogsmeade!

So cute.

We went over to Hagrid's just to try the test seat and see if I could fit - and I could! If i pulled the bike down really hard I got the green light. The Team Member came over and said that should be ok, but since I was on the edge she could have someone take me to the test seat inside the ride cause that was more accurate, and of course we said yes to that. They took us in through the exit and we tried that test seat and that one was also tight but I got the green light! Woot! And BEST OF ALL: they just let us get right on - we didn't have to wait! That was super exciting, and super nice of them. I was so nervous I wouldn't fit and to be able to try it and get the green light without having to wait? *chef's kiss*

Poor Trevor had to ride in the sidecar but still - yay! I didn't have any issues fitting on the ride itself, just pulled it SUPER tight.

Such a fun ride! I'm so glad I was able to ride it. At some point I'd love to get back down to a weight where I can try the sidecar but the bike is so fun - I'm just glad I can ride it. And just such an extra bonus that they let us get on right away.

So with that, the only coaster left for me to try was Velocicoaster. Yay! Too bad it was still down. In the meantime, Trevor had brought his interactive wand so we went off doing spells in Hogsmeade!

We also ducked into Honeyduke's to do some shopping - Trevor got some stuff for his office (and again, yay for sending it back to the room! ) I got another no-melt ice cream.

I may have a problem.

After a little bit of doing spells, I checked on the app and saw that Velocicoaster was back up, with a posted wait of 15 min! So we hustled over there. The test seat was a bit close - the TM couldn't get it to the green light but Trevor leaned on it and it worked so the TM said to try it and ask for row 12. So off we went - it had just opened so there was basically no line. And soon enough we were up there and I asked for row 12 and then we were on and I fit! They didn't even have to push hard - woot!!!

That ride is awesome - you get so much air time, even me with being squished on it. Trevor got his heart rate up to 118 bpm - much better than when he first rode it and got up to 140.

We immediately turned back around to get back on.

Definitely a bit more folks in line now!!

 

[Araminta18]

Comic Book Sandwich Comes to Life! - Friday Nov 15, 2024 (part 3)​

Quick selfie to commemorate being able to ride all the coasters

(those are my Platform 9 3/4 earrings there )

Trevor and the raptor!

This time it took about 30 minutes for us to get through the line and ride, but still worth it. We did row 12 again.

Yay! So fun. And by now I was mostly dry! Only took about 2 hours...LOL

The plan now was to head back to Hogsmeade to ride Forbidden Journey. It was cool - not a long line, and they did have some decorations for Christmas!

And I didn't have any trouble fitting. Yay!

And this time I remembered to get our ride photo! Yay! I do think they sharpened the projections or something - I didn't get motion sick at all and I normally get a little bit motion sick when I ride Forbidden Journey (it's the only ride that gets me - something about the transition into the screens), so that was nice. But unfortunately Trevor felt a bit more motion sick than he normally does - bummer!

We did spend some time in the gift shop - I got some more Platform 9 3/4 souvenirs (I swear that whole ticket aesthetic is my aesthetic - I've never read the books and I've only just seen the movies, but that Platform 9 3/4 ticket design I love!) and Trevor got a card holder themed to the Marauder's Map. As we headed out, we took some pictures with the castle:

At this point it was about 1:20, and we were getting hungry and starting to flag a bit, so time for lunch! Don't laugh at me, but the place that looked the best to me was Blondies - that Dagwood sandwich looked good! And it was one of the things not available during the Informer event so we went for it. Nothing had particularly caught Trevor's eye so he was good with the sandwich. So off we headed towards the comic area (the name I don't remember right now).

On the way over the bridge, we passed a photographer, so of course we stopped and took some pictures. The photographer was great and took lots of photos with us!


Castle!

We did get an icee on the way, cause I wanted one.


We made it over there and mobile ordered the sandwich, and while we were waiting I saw a family with curly fries! I haven't had curly fries in forever - they looked so good! So I asked them where they got the fries and they said they got them at Wimpys, and because Trevor is an awesome person (and I promise I try very hard to not take advantage of his good nature) he offered to go and get them while I waited for the sandwich and grabbed a nice table outside.

After a few minutes, the sandwich was ready!

This was surprisingly good! The bread was soft and the flavor was good, and it was pretty big. We really enjoyed it!

(picture limit)

 

[Araminta18]

So Many Comic Book Characters! - Friday Nov 15, 2024 (part 4)​

It took Trevor a little bit to get the fries from Wimpys, which yes made me feel a bit bad. I did eat some of the sandwich before he got back.

Fries were worth it though! So good.

The sandwich also came with coleslaw which was pretty good. I like coleslaw.

Overall, a surprisingly good lunch! I want more of that sandwich now, not gonna lie.

At this point, we were indeed flagging. The original plan was to ride Kong and check out Suess Landing before heading back to the room, but we decided we could do those as part of the even tonight, so we'd head back to the hotel and take a nap. We also did a bit of scrutinizing the event map/food and plan out some of the food we wanted (spoiler alert - I wanted some of the food from Seuss Landing and to try all the Harry Potter ice creams and all the butterbeers).

So we started to head out of the park. I did tell Trevor that I was fully dry now - not even damp! And in true Trevor fashion he took some of the condensation off the drink cup and put it on my arm and was like "you're not dry anymore!" #nerd

As we started out of the park, we passed the Spiderman meet and greet and realized there was no line! So of course we had to stop and meet him.

They had a few other characters out as well - Trevor got to meet Captain America!


And Wolverine!

There were like no lines, which was really nice.

That continued when we saw a photographer out - he took some fun pictures with us, and there was no line!

We're doing the Spiderman pose right here.

I know you're shocked, but we ended up doing some more shopping at the shops there at the exit. These we didn't bother to send back to the hotel cause you know, we were heading there. The one shop right at the exit has a bunch of sales - Trevor got a Hufflepuff spirit jersey-type shirt for $19 instead of $60, so there you go!

But by 2:45, we were waiting for the boat. Guess what boat we got?

Isla Nublar!! Yay Jurassic Park. Not gonna lie, this was the first boat name I'd noticed - are they all themed like this?

By 3 pm, we were back in the room, and it was time for naps! We fell into bed and took a nap for a couple hours. I woke up a bit earlier than Trevor, so was hanging out on the internet and saw that the Wicked store had soft opened that day! So when Trevor got up I was like "soooooo should we go see if the Wicked store is still open before we check into the event?" And Trevor was like "uh heck yes!" So we got changed, and got ready to head out.

We were feeling festive:

Trevor was wearing his Christmas in Hogsmeade spirit jersey, and I wore my Scarlet Witch spirit jersey (cause it's Marvel so it kind of fits, right?)

See? My selfie game is not strong but you can kind of see it.

We left the room at about 5:10, and were walking into Universal Studios at 5:23. Was the store open?

YES!

OK I have like 30 photos of the store - the costumes, etc. Before I post them - do you want to see all of them, or should I just show a couple?

 

[Araminta18]

Oooh I figured out how to do a poll! Fun - vote and let me know! Or you can just comment. either way

 

[bettertheangel]

Post them all!! Haha.

 

[Mary Pops In]

Delivery Already?! - Thursday Nov 14, 2024 (part 13)​

We needed only two more trees, so we cheated a bit and stopped in at Arribas brothers to get our "treat" for completing the map - it was a button. And we had to ask for some help - we could find one of the trees that was supposed to be by World of Disney, and when we asked a CM, it was because it was a tree IN ONE OF THEWINDOWS. Cheating! How were we supposed to know?
View attachment 926579
Cute but not what I was looking for when I saw the spot on the map!

We kept going and got the last tree:
View attachment 926580
Pretty! I think this one was just like toys/traditional, but I'm not sure. And the map doesn't tell me beyond the picture.

This was right by the shipping station so we ducked in there and GUYS. I can't even - instead of the normal flat fee shipping that Disney used to use, they now use UPS if you're shipping from Disney Springs, and it is EXPENSIVE yo. For the wreath (and ONLY the wreath) they were like "it'll be $42 plus the box (which will be around $15), but don't worry, you get an AP discount". How much is the AP discount? 5%!!! Are you kidding me? The flat fee shipping used to max out at like $40. So yea at that price I was like "nah, we'll fit it in the suitcase". Though I did start googling on the way back to the hotel and found that while Disney Springs has abandoned the flat free shipping, you can still do that through the parks or the resorts. So I was like we'll just wait til our last day and then we'll ship everything too big to pack in one big package. That's what we did - get your guesses in now for how much it ended up being to ship home the wreath plus several other large items!

We ended up being 10 minutes too late to make our own rice krispies at Goofy's Candy Kitchen, but that's ok, we got our Gideons. And since Goofy's Candy Kitchen is RIGHT by the uber pick up area, it wasn't out of our way to check. But it was our last thing and Trevor (and me really) were exhausted, so back to the hotel we went. The uber came at 10:24 (thanks uber receipts) and by 10:46 we were back at the hotel! It was a bit of a walk back to our room but when we walked in the room guess what we found? ALL of our purchases from earlier in the day! That was a pleasant surprise - they told us not to expect anything until at least the next day, but all the purchases, even the ones from like 3 pm at CityWalk, were already in the room. Brilliant.

Also, I forgot to say that despite wearing a Tower of Terror shirt, I was wearing Harry Potter Platform 3/4 earrings and I got so many compliments on them - not at Universal, but at Disney Springs! So that was kind of fun.

So yea, overall a very busy/tiring first day, but also lots of fun. I usually do good at not pushing us super hard but some days I kind of forget. This was one of those days. Poor Trevor! But the plan was to sleep in the next day, cause it was the first day/night of our Orlando Informer event!

Fun with Metrics:
Steps walked: 23017 steps (8.7 miles)
Ride count: 6 for Tiffany, 5 for Trevor) (Trollercoaster x2, Gringotts, Revenge of the Mummy, Rip Ride Rocket for Tiffany, Villain Con)
Savings at Universal (fancy gift card): $101.18 from AP renewal then $44.25
Savings at Disney (AP): $139.60

Holy moly, you covered a lot of ground in one day! Before popping on your Croc's, what shoes did you wear? I'm looking for something, other than Hoka's, to wear later this month.
Besides the outlets, it seemed like you had a near perfect day. Bravo to Universal for delivering your packages to your room!

 

[Mary Pops In]

Swimming in Our Clothes - Friday Nov 15, 2024 (part 1)​

Friday morning dawned lovely. We did sleep in a little bit, and despite our plan to do Islands of Adventure today, we didn't rope drop - sleep is important! We ended up leaving the room a little after 9:30 and a boat pulled up right as we got there. Woot!
View attachment 926835

20 minutes later, we were on our way into Islands of Adventure, for adventure!
View attachment 926836
I do think its cool that you see the lagoon and the coaster and then the castle peeking up there.

We decided to go to the left, and start with Hulk! I tried the test seat (well the modified one) and had no issues, so off I went to try the real thing. Trevor was not interested. That express pass is awesome - I was up there pretty quickly, and just asked for a modified seat and got direct to row 4. The only complaint I have is that it's just one seat in the row that's modified - it'd be nice if the whole row was, cause smaller folks can still ride just fine in a modified seat. Oh well!

Once on, I realized that the seat portion of the test seat was a bit bigger than the actual seat. Like I didn't have any issue getting the restraint down or buckled, but the part you actually sit in was a bit smaller - had to like really shove my hips in. But once in I was all good.
View attachment 926832
It was a lot of fun! It did make me a bit dizzy with all the rolling but I had fun. I did think that maybe Trevor should try it - it's definitely not as fast as Veloci-coaster and not worse than some of the Busch Gardens coasters he's ridden. But also maybe not. They also have modified seating in row 1 so I figured during the even that night maybe I'd try row 1 later that night.

We kept going and ran into Dr Doom and the Green Goblin!
View attachment 926840

I was wearing my "Agatha All Along" shirt and it was purple so the Green Goblin was like "we match!" Dr Doom however was asking Trevor if he trained up/bulked up. Yay for no line character meet and greets.

Next up, we ran into the Spiderman ride! I honestly have no memory what any of the wait times were because we just used express pass and had super short wait times. I didn't really know what to expect with this ride, beyond knowing there were screens.
View attachment 926837
But I was pleasantly surprised! It was fun! The sync between the movement and the screens was really good, and I liked the mix of practical sets with the screens. The bit at the end where you go up was cool - I think you actually do go up. Trevor was laughing a lot at my reaction - I guess I had super low expectations and so was very pleasantly surprised.
View attachment 926833

We looked in the gift shop a little bit and kept going.
View attachment 926838
Had to take a pic here as we headed out of Superhero Island.

The next ride we ran into was Bilge Rat barges - we figured it was a lovely warm-ish sunny day, let's ride the water ride! That is also a VERY long queue:
View attachment 926839
But some fun theming.

We did see the signs saying you may get wet, but figured it was like the "you may get wet" on Splash Mountain signs. We should have realized something was up when we saw literally NO ONE else in line, and then we got our own barge. We'd wised up a bit and realized we may be getting VERY wet so we took a "before" picture.
View attachment 926841
We got SOAKED. At one point we went under a pipe that was like a foot in diameter that just DUMPED water on us. Like I have NEVER been this wet in real clothes before - it was like we'd jumped in a pool! Crazy!
View attachment 926842
The "after" picture. Trevor was all "i'm gonna dry off!" cause he had water-wicking shorts but mine were a bit more intense at retaining water. Normally I think those dryer things at theme parks are scams but we were definitely looking to use one here.

 

[Mary Pops In]

Love that you're still smiling after being soaked!
Thank you for sharing your experiences on the seat sizing. I'm a pooh sized person who loves thrill rides.

 

[cassidy57]

Oooh I figured out how to do a poll! Fun - vote and let me know! Or you can just comment. either way

I would love to vote, but I am sorry did I miss the poll? I LOVE YOUR REPORTS !!!!!!!

 

[alohamom]

POST THEM ALLLLLLL!

I actually didn't know there was even a Wicked store/experience at Universal until I read your report and now I think I might try and suprise my daughter with a quick visit to it before part two of the movie comes out.

 

[Araminta18]

Post them all!! Haha.

LOL you've convinced me!

 

[Araminta18]

Holy moly, you covered a lot of ground in one day! Before popping on your Croc's, what shoes did you wear? I'm looking for something, other than Hoka's, to wear later this month.
Besides the outlets, it seemed like you had a near perfect day. Bravo to Universal for delivering your packages to your room!

Yea we did a TON! Poor Trevor lol. So, good question on shoes. My absolute favorite sandals are water sandals I got from costco that I just used as regular sandals and I'm really sad 'cause they died and the company made a new model that isn't nearly as good. Anyways that's not your question - right now I have a couple of Teva sandals that I cycle through. I hate wearing actual shoes with socks, so I do sandals year round at Disney. They're kind of expensive but you can often get deals on them via amazon if you don't mind the weird colors. I have the Teva Hurricane 4, the Teva Verra, and the original universal. I wasn't sure which one I would like best which is why I got a couple, and while I still don't like them as well as my original water sandals from costco, they work. I just like to cycle through and wear a different one every day.

 

[Araminta18]

Love that you're still smiling after being soaked!
Thank you for sharing your experiences on the seat sizing. I'm a pooh sized person who loves thrill rides.

aw thank you! We were just so surprised there was nothing left to do but laugh!!

You're welcome! I'm glad it's helpful - if you have any questions let me know, happy to answer anything more specific.

 

[Araminta18]

I would love to vote, but I am sorry did I miss the poll? I LOVE YOUR REPORTS !!!!!!!

ooh it's at the very top of the page right under the title - i couldn't figure out how to embed it. also, THANK YOU!!!!

 

[Araminta18]

POST THEM ALLLLLLL!

I actually didn't know there was even a Wicked store/experience at Universal until I read your report and now I think I might try and suprise my daughter with a quick visit to it before part two of the movie comes out.

LOL you've convinced me!

Oooh you definitely should! I don't know if they have a closing date or anything but it's super fun if you get to!

 

[Araminta18]

Ok, since so far the answer was overwhelmingly yes and I figure anyone who doesn't want to see the photos can just skip, here they come! It'll be about 3 posts cause 10 picture limit... *sigh*

The Wicked Store! - Friday Nov 15, 2024 (part 5)​

I was super excited to see this open - it was supposed to open a few weeks earlier but it hadn't for whatever reason. So I was really excited to see it open while we were here. Woot!

Trevor grabbed a photo of me in front of the store...not the best but what can you do.

Inside, you walk into a little round area without anything there, though the wallpaper is gorgeous.

I liked this photo and the detail on the wallpaper.

You go to the left and it's all pink - decorated a bit like Glinda's suite, and with her costumes and props!

Bubble dress!

Bubble shoes and crown.

Bubble wand!

Glinda's peignoir for the "Popular" scene.

Glinda's bed and trunks, and Elphie's hat there on the bed!

Elphaba's costume for the "Popular" scene:

I like how the mannequin is green.

Nessa's costume:

Sparkly silver shoes!


Shiz!

 

[Araminta18]

More Wicked Store Photos - Friday Nov 15, 2024 (part 6)​

Into this middle room that's a bit bigger, there's more costumes from Shiz.

Elphaba's costume for the OzDust Ballroom scene.

I'm a sucker for fictional maps - I love this map of Shiz!


One of Elphaba's school costumes.


Fiyero's costume.


Madame Morrible's costume.


I also like in-universe posters and this one is great.


Gilnda's arrival day at Shiz costume.


Galinda's Training Wand


I had not idea what this was but after seeing the movie I realized - it's supposed to be a photo op of you in Glinda's bubble. Not great, honestly, but the others were pretty cool!

Glinda's Oz Dust Ballroom costume. I love this one!

 

[Araminta18]

Final Batch of Wicked Store Pics - Friday Nov 15, 2024 (part 7)​

One more in-universe poster:

especially love the "I heart EC" sticker up there - nice.


Model of the train to the Emerald City


The Grimmerie - the spell book Elphaba uses.


The Wizard's costume.


This was a photo op of the Wizard's console. The photo ops weren't super well marked or highlighted, and since this was before the movie came out, it was a bit confusing. Still looked cool though.


This photo op I got! Elphaba's broom.

Elphaba's cloak and hat:



Model of the Wizard's mechanical head.

All throughout there were small shop stands with things for sale, and then it dumps into a larger gift shop area:

I liked the "Everyone Deserves the Chance to Fly" over the doorway.

There actually wasn't a ton of merchandise - a lot of it we saw the day before in the Universal Studios store in Citywalk. But it was cool to see in this particular setting, and with the costumes and such all around. Though I will say it all makes a bit more sense now having seen the movie, since we went through the store before it came out LOL.

We bought several things (shocker, I know ) and had them send the stuff back to the room. The TM almost didn't want us to do it, since we were checking out on Sunday and it was Friday night and she said there wouldn't be enough time. But considering our luck so far with the packages being delivered so quickly, we decided to risk it. You'll have to wait til Sunday to see if that was a good choice or not bwahahahahaha.

As we exited we helped a family take a pic in front of the store so they did the same for us:

This one turned out better.

 

[Araminta18]

The Orlando Informer Event Begins! - Friday Nov 15, 2024 (part 8)​

Oh I lied - two more poster pics:


Ok that's the actual last of them, I promise. It's a fun store - if you get a chance to go, go!

All right! Wicked cravings all satiated, it was time for us to check in for the Orlando Informer meet up! The event was from 8 pm to 12:30 am - if you're not familiar with the Orlando Informer events, it's like a Disney After Hours event, but instead of just some desserts included, a BUNCH of food (including iconic dishes and savory entrees, etc) is included. We saw it on a couple of the vlogs we watched and since this was Trevor's birthday, he decided he wanted to try it, and I was up for that - do the parks with food and rides and basically no lines? Yes please! They tend to do it with an event on Friday and an event on Saturday, and you can buy slightly discounted tickets to attend both nights, which we did 'cause we're crazy. This being our first time, we were nervous but excited.

Anyways! Check in was from 3 to 8 pm in one of the soundstages, with the entrance being between Universal Studios and Hard Rock Cafe. There was supposed to be a way to check in from inside Universal Studios, but when we went to where it was supposed to be, it was gated off and the TM there directed us out of the park to the normal check in. It was kind of irritating but luckily we weren't toooooo deep into the park (we were over in that little alley in front of Despicable Me). So out we went and by 5:51 we had found this sign:

By this point there was no line to actually check in, so we waltzed right in and got all checked in and our wristbands put on, and got maps and a "I'm Celebrating" button for Trevor.

Next, they had a soundstage with some food! The parks closed at 7 pm, and while there were some places in the park that would open up to give food at 7, most of the food places wouldn't open til 8 pm, so this was to tide you over, I guess? They had a cute little set up at the entrance:

Adorable!

The food in here wasn't super exciting - we ended up each getting a hot dog:

And then I saw a waiter walking around with chicken spring rolls so I grabbed those:

These were pretty good - not amazing, but not bad.

Then lastly I grabbed a pretzel for Trevor.

This was a bit cold and soggy, so that was a bit of a bummer. Overall the food in here wasn't great. We figured we'd save our stomach space for the real food later.

We headed out into the parks - you could go either into Islands of Adventure or Universal Studios, and we decided to go into Islands of Adventure - but there was snoap!

Snoap in the sound stages!

Anyways. The exit from here into Islands of Adventure dumped us out into Seuss Landing, which was convenient for our plans! Our tentative game plan was to ride Seuss Trolley, and then go over to ride Hulk (Trevor was feeling up to trying it), then get garlic knots from Superhero Cafe (which was supposed to open at 7 pm), then do Kong, maybe River Adventure (but probably not cause night and dark and wet), then Velocicoaster, Hagrids, and see the nighttime show on the Castle at some point in there. We also wanted to get the different types of butterbeer there, and then head over to Diagon Alley via the Hogwarts Express to get ice cream, and then back to Seuss Landing to try the food there (their food didn't open til 8 pm, which is why we were circling back for that).

That was the plan at least - we'll see how it actually goes!

Anyways over to Seuss Landing! We used our express passes on the Seuss Trolley and had a slight wait:

About 10 minutes and then we were on the ride!

This ride was cute! I'm glad we got to do it and get the overview of the land and the whole snitches/sneetches thing - I liked it.