3.28.18 Universal Studios and Spring Break with the Dircks family

We love visitors!! The Dircks family decided to spend their Spring Break with us. We spent two days at Universal Studios and then 4 days at our house. 

Tuesday night, we drove over after work. We stayed at the Residence Inn near Universal Studios. It was brand new - only opened the week before. We googled restaurants nearby and found a well-reviewed Indian restaurant (Tabla Restaurant) in a Clarion Suites lobby. It was fantastic!! The manager came over to explain a dish we ordered, but weren't sure what to eat. We'll definitely be back. 

Wednesday morning, we met at Portofino bright and early and hit the Parks. It was a fun day. We had lunch at Toothsome - my favorite Super Foods salad. Then we headed back to the Parks. Leo, Amy and Rob headed back to the resort to rest. Julia, Glenn and I stayed for our alien adventures. We went on Men in Black, the alien saucers and had ice cream. Then,  we headed back to Portofino for swimming and dinner. We had terrible service at the front desk, trying to get drinks, and trying to get water and order at dinner. It became comical. Like we were in some sort of weird game show. We ended up having fun playing cards by the pool while Julia swam and performed shows in the pool.

Thursday, we took a later start - about 10 am. We had a great day riding the rides. We had a great spot for the Mardi Gras parade. Glenn and I drove home.  Friday, the Dircks enjoyed Volcano Bay and a little more time at Islands of Adventure. It gave us time to clean. 

Saturday, the kids loved the pool. We escaped from an Escape Room. Amy and Rob had a date while us and the kids went grocery shopping and went swimming. Sunday, we had a great egg hunt. Then, we made an epic pancake bar. Blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream, sprinkles, cherries, and syrup. Plus bacon and eggs. We all enjoyed pool time. We also spent a lot of time playing Rock Band. Leo was great on the drums. Julia sang and played guitar. 

2.8.18 - 2.13.18 Universal Studios Mardi Gras

Glenn and I love staying at Universal Studios. We hadn't been to the Mardi Gras celebration together so we carved out five nights to go visit. As passholders, we got the chance to ride on a parade float and throw beads to the crowd. So much fun! 

Friday night ,we attended the Wine Riffs dinner at Hard Rock. We were really impressed with the event. The food was very good and paired well with the wine. Each course had its own play list. This really livened up the event. They even had dancers come out at one point. Glenn won a bottle of wine at trivia. We ended up giving it to a family entering the hotel when we couldn't get it through security. We had great meals at Cowfish and Toothsome - the kale salad is the best! The Beach Boys featuring John Stamos had a great 90 minute concert. We went to the Captain America dinner and met all the characters. We absolutely loved this trip. 

11.6.15 - 11.8.15 Universal Studios

November is such a fun time to head over to Universal Studios since the crowds are lower. On Friday night, we went to Hollywood Studios to meet up with Laurie and Kate and attend the Dessert Party for the last season of the Osburne Dancing Lights. It was a great way to send off this amazing light show. Then we headed over to Universal Studios. We stayed at the Royal Pacific and did our regular route of rides and attractions. We tried Emeril's Tchoup Chop and the food was fantastic. We also found our way up to the bridge over the entrance to Islands of Adventure - a little trick Glenn had read about online. Super fun!

 On

Lusk Spring Break 2015 - Universal Studios

On the Wednesday after Easter, we picked up my cousin and his family at Disney World and all of us headed to Universal Studios. We stayed at the Cabanna Bay Resort. I was very impressed. The pools were amazing and the rooms were great. They really embraced the retro vibe even down to the shampoo and soap. We headed over to Universal Studios so that the Lusk family could get their first look at Harry Potter. We went to the wand store and Jack was picked and got a special one chosen just for him or actually I think they say the wand chose him.

On Thursday we had a leisurely  start to the day since we were able to see so much the night before. We had another great day exploring all that the Harry Potter world had to offer. Then had a nice afternoon by the pool. Again Thursday night we got to see a lot of the park and go on several rides. Friday we spent a little more time in the park and then drop the Lusk family off at the airport. It was great to be with people who really appreciate all the work in detail that went into Harry Potter. Plus the Lusk family is super fun.

8.17.13 Islands of Adventure

We started the day at Islands of Adventure. Like all visitors, we lg World. Even though I have not read the books, the World is impressive. The attention to detail is exceptional. Glenn rode the Flight of the Hippogriff and Dragon Challenge. And we had to sample the butterbeer.

We continued to make our way through the park. Glenn rode the Jurassic Park River Adventure. It is a flume ride through Jurassic Park after the dinosaurs have taken over. He got a little wet which was a nice cool down. Then we had a lot of fun taking pictures in Toon Lagoon plus a fun ride down the rapids on Popeye and Bluto's Blige Rat Barges. We got soaked! We headed to Seuss Landing to ride some Angie friendly rides and dry off. 

The caro-Seuss-el, Cat in the Hat, and trolley train ride were fun. We grabbed some lunch and went to see the Sindbad stunt show. The show was heavy on hand to hand combat. We like the Indiana Jones show at Disney Hollywood Studios much better. We took a walk through the special event show Poseidan of Fury. That show was very good. We both had a "Wow!" Moment so that is a win. 

We headed back to Marvel Super Hero Island to try the Amazing Adventures of Spider Man. That is an awesome ride!!! You are on a track and move through a series of 3D IMAX screens. It was fantastic! 

We said goodbye to Islands of Adventure and went back to Universal Studios. We found a secret entrance behind the Hard Rock Cafe so we had a shorter walk and no line. First stop was Despicable Me Minion Mayhem. This is another simulation with a 3D movie except this time we were in a large theater. It was very cute and fun. Keeping on the 3D Trend, we went to Shrek 4D. It was a fun 3D movie and the seats move. We took a snack break and then hopped on Transformers 3D. It is very similar to Spiderman. Very cool, but we both liked Spiderman better. We walked over to ET. Still a fun classic. 

I took a Guinness break at the Irish Pub while Glenn rode the Mummy. He said it was really fun. The ceiling catches on fire right above your head! Then we headed back to the Simpsons to drink some Duff beer.  It was very good. We also has to try the Flaming Moe. It was so fun and a tasty orange soda. We walked back over to Islands of Adventure for dinner and then returned to our bar stools to view the night time show. The show features film clips from 100 years of movies plus lights, fountains, lasers, and firworks. It is pretty good. We think the Disney shows are better. Overall - a fantastic day!