Cruising with a Toddler. Our Photo Intense Trip Recap of the 9-7-13 Carnival Dream

[TeknikDC2]

 

 

 

 

 

And that is all for today. Each update gets this closer and closer to completion. Only 1 update for Day 12 left and then I will start on our final day of vacation. Thanks to those still following along. I appreciate it.

 

 

 

 

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[jenseib]

I didn't realize they has another entrance there...learn something new every day!!!!

Seeing your pictures makes me want to go again. I just don't have time to fit it in on our trip at the end of the month though.

[TeknikDC2]

I didn't realize they has another entrance there...learn something new every day!!!!

Seeing your pictures makes me want to go again. I just don't have time to fit it in on our trip at the end of the month though.

 

I know what you mean. Its getting hard to finish this review with it so close to being done. But its making me excited to go back. Especially since we have now officially booked our trip in June where we will be spending 2 weeks between Disney World and Universal.

[Name Of The Game]

You really have a good memory to recall so many details from months ago.

 

Thanks for sharing all the photos.

[HarperSays]

I have enjoyed your review and I love to see other families that take their little ones on big adventures. We are booked next month for a Caribbean cruise with our 2.5 year old DD. Her first cruise was last year to Alaska when she was almost 2 and she did fantastic. It's a little more work vacationing with a LO, but so worth it to share these experiences with them. You have a beautiful family.

 

Megan's Bay is probably our favorite beach so far. And Puerto Rico has a special place for us. DH and I sailed out of PR back in 2009 and fell in love with the island. We spent a week there for a babymoon before DD was born. Not the best beaches IMO, but so much to see and do. The forts are amazing and I love all the history.

 

Thanks for a great review!

[TeknikDC2]

Day 12, Part 3: Universal Orlando Resort

 

Steps away from the Delorean we once again entered Springfield USA. There was one noticible change though from when we were here the previous day. Chief Wiggum's Police car was missing. I feared for a moment that it would be gone for good since it had been fenced off earlier in the trip however it would return a few weeks later with a different paint job matching how it looks in the TV show.

 

[TeknikDC2]

There was one thing I wanted to do while in Springfield that I hadn't done yet earlier in the trip. I wanted to get a Flaming Moe. The new signature drink of Springfield and the Studios park in General. And it wouldn't feel right getting in any other place that wasn't Moe's Tavern.

 

 

You've seen the pictures earlier in this trip but once again Moe's makes you feel like you've entered the cartoon world of the Simpson's more then any other building or attraction in this Mini-Land. Thats because everything about Moe's is built to scale and exactly as it should be in the show. In the corner is the Love Tester (that actually works for free). Theres the pool table in the middle and all sorts of different beers behind the bar. You can even find Barney in here. Really the only complaint I can give about Moe's is that it isn't as dark inside as its portrayed in the show.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

The drink is served in a suviouneer cup that you get to keep. Thats because its the cup design that allows the drink to "smoke" as if its on fire. This effect is achived by dry ice. The cup is designed to have dry ice in a lower chamber that makes the drink bubble and smoke. I thought the drink taisted very good. It wasn't as good as Butterbeer but it beats out Universal Studios Hollywood's Transformers drink called Energon (which is actually kinda similar to a Flaming Moe) and diffenitly beats Disney's Red's Apple Freeze or Le Fou's Brew (name dependent on which coast your on). The drink is more of a carbonated beverage then a frozen slush like the others. I would compare it closely to Mtn Dew Livewire.

 

 

As I said the drink was very good but its unfortunatly not something I will likely be buying again. The taist would bring me back again. But not the price. This drink sells for about $8 even with the Annual Pass Discount. Which is alot of money for a drink (butterbeer sells for only about $4.50). Because of the nature of achiving the smoking effect you are required to get a new cup each time. And there are no discounted refills offered if you already have a cup. I wish they would change this as it is pretty good. Just not $8 good.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

With the drink in hand we left Moe's and Springfield all together and made our way back around to the other side of the park. We once again walked thru the Diagon Alley construction and then passed thru the San Fransisco part of the Park. We continued on past the New York section as well and made our way back to to Transformers to begin our last run of rides for the day. Transformers was once again a walk on thru the Single Riders line where Kiera and I did Child Swap. The ride was great and perfect once again and this would be our final ride on it this trip.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

After Transformers we walked just down the street to my favorite rides in the Studios Park which is Revenge of the Mummy. As with pretty much all the other attractions in the parks today (with the exception of Forbidden Journey, Transformers, and Rockit) the Single Rider Line was closed so we had to go thru the standby line. Which was fine as there was still pretty much no wait. Our final ride on the Mummy was another great one as well. Although the Que did scare Daniel a little.

 

[TeknikDC2]

Making our way towards the exit of the park we still had one more ride to do tonight. We would be ending the night with the first ride that started our vacation. Despicable Me. This would probably end up being our longest wait of the day as we waited about 15 minutes to ride it.

 

 

Inside the first Preshow Room we again lined up to just do the non moving seats since Daniel is still too small to ride the simulators. Right after getting in line here though Kiera told me that I could go ride one of the simulators if I wanted so I told the attendant that I wanted to switch and he put me in a row for the Simulator.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

After the 2nd preshow room we boarded the ride vehicles and the ride would soon begin. Although this is a very simple simulator feeling the movement to the screen made the ride significantly better then sitting in the stationary seating. I wish we had time to do the ride again so that Kiera could ride the simulator as well but I guess she will have to do that on our next trip. If possible do the actual ride and not the stationary seating. Stationary is great for little kids but thats about it.

 

 

I meet back up with Kiera in the post show dance floor area where once again another Minion was out dancing. And this was yet again another one that we had not seen yet. So we stopped to get a photo with him and by this point Daniel was finally warming up to the characters better.

 

[TeknikDC2]

The park was nearing closing time when we finished with Despicable Me so we walked in to the Studio Store to look around. This was when we planned to buy any last Universal Studios suvioneers so that we could pack them tonight in our Luggage. There was a shirt that I saw earlier in the trip that I really liked. But we couldn't find any of the other items that we were looking for in the Studios Store. We wanted to buy everything all together at once as there was a promotion going where if you spent $50 you would get a $10 gift card for free. We needed to buy everything at once to get over the $50.

 

 

We ended up not buying anything in the Studios store in the park as I figured that perhaps the Universal Store in Citywalk would have a larger selection. That was until we got to the Citywalk Store and I realized how much smaller it was then the Park store. Then of course I couldn't find that shirt that I wanted here. Although we did find a shirt for Daniel and everything else we wanted.

 

 

We again left this shop empty handed as we made our way back to the parking garage. We knew we would be back again tomorrow before our flight out and figured we would check the Islands of Adventure store to see if they had everything we wanted there so that we could take advantage of that promotion.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

We had another great time in the parks today and especially loved the low crowds. We were able to do everything we wanted and did it at our own pace. It was great and I wish there could be more days like this. Back at the Hotel we got all of our bags packed up and ready to go since we would be going home tomorrow. It was bittersweet to think that our vacation would be over in less then 24 hours from the time we went to sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

And that concludes Day 12. This recap is almost done with only 1 day left to report on and it will be a two part update. Thanks again for following along as this recap has taken forever to do. I appreciate the support and thanks for being patient with me.

 

 

 

 

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[jenseib]

I know what you mean. Its getting hard to finish this review with it so close to being done. But its making me excited to go back. Especially since we have now officially booked our trip in June where we will be spending 2 weeks between Disney World and Universal.

 

 

Yay!!! That will be so much fun!

 

The flaming moe looks interesting, but I don't like Mountain Dew, so probably a wasted $8 for me. That does suck that you have to get the cup every time and can't get it cheaper.

[reyesj226]

Really enjoying your review as I'm planning a similar trip July 2015.

How many full days did you visit Universal? I'm planning to fly in on a Wednesday, go to the parks Thursday & Friday and then head out on our cruise on Saturday. Is this realistic?

Also, was there a fee for the shuttle bus from the rental place to the cruise terminal?

[Cruiser IMA]

Really enjoyed your entire review. My wife, our 5yo daughter and myself will be taking our first cruise in July. Loved seeing Universal as it brought back memories of our trips there.

[TeknikDC2]

Wow sorry for the late replies everyone. Life caught up to me and I didn't have time to get this thing finished off. Now with my next vacation finally starting again this coming Monday (a 2 1/2 week trip to Disney World and Universal Orlando) I figured I should probably get this one finished off. Sorry for how long it took. The final update is for the whole day so that I can officially cap it off.

 

Really enjoying your review as I'm planning a similar trip July 2015.

How many full days did you visit Universal? I'm planning to fly in on a Wednesday, go to the parks Thursday & Friday and then head out on our cruise on Saturday. Is this realistic?

Also, was there a fee for the shuttle bus from the rental place to the cruise terminal?

 

I think that can be doable. If at all possible look in to staying at one of the Deluxe onsite hotels as a one night stay will give you 2 days use of Unlimited Express Pass use. I think you will need that in July with the Potter expansion open. And yes the rental car shuttles are free to use.

 

Really enjoyed your entire review. My wife, our 5yo daughter and myself will be taking our first cruise in July. Loved seeing Universal as it brought back memories of our trips there.

 

thank you for bumping this back up and reminding me to finish it. Theme parks are fun but Cruising is where my heart is when it comes to vacations. you will have a great time.

[TeknikDC2]

Day 13: Travel Home

 

After a rough night our final morning of vacation was upon us. I say rough night as Daniel woke up in the middle of the night having major night terrors. Just screaming and crying and there was nothing we could do to calm him down. Eventually though we did get him calmed down though and went back to sleep.

 

Once the morning came we took our time getting ready and eventually checking out of the hotel. Our flight would be leaving out of Tampa just as it was when we arrived. But we had a later flight so we would head over to Universal one last time before heading home. But first we grabbed some lunch thru the Chick-Fil-A drive thru.

 

 

At the Resort we parked and again made our way towards Universal Studios Florida. Today our goal was to try and find some more characters to get Daniel some photos with. At the gates of the studios though there was some additional themeing added to the arches for Halloween Horror Nights which would be starting in only 4 days.

 

 

Right inside the park we found many characters to be out and greeting right where you turn on to Rodeo Drive. By this point in the trip Daniel really was doing great with the Characters and was starting to love them. First we saw Curious George, Then Woody Woodpecker, and finally Bart Simpson. The Men in Black agents were also out. This was actually the first time i've seen the MIB agents before.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

After stopping by Guest Services to get Daniel a "Happy Birthday" pin (yes Universal has them like Disney does) we continued towards the back of the park passing by Despicable Me, Transformers, Thru Central Park, and eventually in to Springfield.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

We came to Springfield to look for Characters. We already got a photo with Bart but I hoped to find the rest of the family or perhaps even the newest Meet and Greet Characters Krusty the Clown and Sideshow Bob. We did find the whole family out meet and greeting but the line got cut off before we were able to get in it. Krusty and Sideshow Bob would be coming out about 15 minutes later but we didn't have time to wait since we were pressed with time.

 

[TeknikDC2]

[TeknikDC2]

Across the Lagoon we looked at the London Facades one last time before we will see them completed. Its crazy to think that as of this writting we will see them again in about a week and hopefully see the area soft opened in 2 weeks.

 

 

After leaving Springfield we made our way toward the Studios exit the same way as we arrived. When we got back to the Hollywood area though the Dora the Explorer parade floats were out and the characters were out meeting so of course we had to stop so that Daniel could meet Dora, Boots, and Diego.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

As we made our way down Hollywood Blvd towards the park exit we spent nearly and hour in the studios without doing any attractions. Well that was until we stopped in to the "Lucy: A Tribute" attraction. In all our years going to Universal we have never actually stopped in here before. Its a small exhibit and museum set up as a tribute to Lucielle Ball and here show I Love Lucy. Inside are many of the props and wardrobe worn during the shows production. Its a nice little diversion if you liked the show but honestly i'd rather see it turned in to a more encompassing exhibit like the one at the Hollywood Park.

 

[TeknikDC2]