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.

August 16th - 17th Universal Studios

We finally headed over to Universal Studios to check out the new Diagon Alley at Universal Studios.  I have to say - I was very impressed. I really appreciate Universal Studios' ability to create incredible lands that really embrace a theme. The detail is really incredible. 

We also had a lot of fun heading to our favorite areas of the Park. Glenn tried out the Dudley DoRight Falls. 

This trip we stayed at Loews Portofino. We loved it!! It is the cutest resort. 

We love being on property plus when you stay you get the Fast Pass that gets you to the head of the line. We took advantage of being close to hang out at the Piano Bar at Pat O'Briens. 

Sunday - we had a wonderful day at the pool. The service, food and drinks were fantastic!! 

May 24 - 26: Laurie, Kate, Rays and Disney

For Memorial weekend, Glenn's sister Laurie and her roommate Kate came to visit and see the Red Sox play the Rays. It was so much having them and introducing them to Tropicana Field. 

The game was crazy! Red Sox scored 5 runs in the first inning, but then ended up losing in extra innings. We left at the top of the 13th inning. It was just too painful to watch! 

On Sunday, we headed over to Disney since Laurie and Kate were staying there for the week. We had cocktails at Narcoosee's right on the water. It's a great bar with fantastic mint juleps. A huge rainstorm hit while we were there and the power went out. Then we met Kate and Laurie for dinner at Citrico's. The food and service were great! 

This fish dish was very good! The highlight of the meal was the soft shell crab appetizer and charcuterie plate - both of which I did take a picture of. 

Glenn had the pork loin which was very very good. It's the best pork I have tasted in the restaurant. 

After dinner, we headed back to Narcoosee's to watch the fireworks:

On Memorial Day, we had breakfast at Olivia's Cafe at the Old Key West Resort. I love the grits and shrimp and avocado omelet. And Glenn had his first smoothie. 

Then we headed over to Universal Studios to get a sneak peak at the new Harry Potter world and ride our favorite rides. 

A fantastic weekend! 

8.18.13 Riding all the rides

We got up early to take advantage of the early entry for hotel guests. We headed straight back to Harry Potter. I had illusions that I would go on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Ha! Ha! I was so nervous I barely made it through the line. I chickened out at the last minute. Waiting in the line is worth it though. It is rrally incredible what they have done! Glenn said the ride was fantastic!!

We headed over to ride Spiderman two more times. Then Glenn rode The Hulk. His quote when he got off: "You don't realize how many times it goes upside down." After that we had ridden all the rides and seen all the shows at Islands of Adventure so we went back to Universal Studios. Glenn finally got to ride Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster. He said it was good.  It starts by climbing straight up and then drops you.

We grabbed a snack - a turkey leg for Glenn and a korean beef taco from Bumblebee Man's tacos. It was really good. We decided to go hunt some aliens on Men In Black. You shoot aliens and rack up points but there is A LOT of spinning. We got a Squishee and a Buzz Cola to rehydrate after all that shooting. Then we went over to Disaster! It is a fun tour similar to the Backlot Tour at Disney Hollywood Studios. With that ride, we had done almost everything and decided to call it a weekend.

Glenn: I liked the parks a lot. I thought it was well run and the people are friendly. The express passes are a huge benefit. The food overall was just okay. The pizza and rotiessiere chicken were good. The meal plan is not necessarily a real deal. Favorite rides: Spiderman, Simpsons Krustyland and Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. I thought the Shrek movie was clumsy and the moving chairs weren't used to their full potential. Men in Black was fun, but the guns weren't accurate.

Angie: I was impressed with how friendly and helpful the employees were. I was also really impressed with the Harry Potter world and the Simpsons area. Disney really doesn't have anything like that where a particular place is completely recreated down to the smallest detail. Even the napkins in the Simpsons land said Welcome to Springfield USA. My favorite ride was SpiderMan. I thought it was just awesome. I was also impressed with the Fury of the Poseidan as a walk through special effects attraction. The hotel was fantastic. The unlimited Express pass makes for a fantastic experience. Because Universal is smaller, I really like that you can walk to everything an an here there so many options for dining out side of the park. We will be back.

8.16.13 Universal Studios and The Killers

Seeing The Killers live was on my bucket list. Glenn had been checking the website for years looking for a North American tour. Finally, the dates lined up, we bought tickets and planned a trip to Orlando.  Since the concert was at Hard Rock Live in Universal Studios Citywalk complex, we decided it would be a great chance to explore Universal.

Friday we both took half days and hit the road. It took us about an hour and 15 minutes to get here. We checked into the Loews Royal Pacific Hotel. We were really impressed with the hotel and staff. Everyone was very friendly. The hotel is beautiful.  The greenery in the lobby and around the front of the hotel remind us of Hawaii. After checking in, we headed down the walkway for a 10 minute walk to Universal Studios Orlando.

We purchased seasonal passes through AAA. So we stood in line to redeem those and pick up a meal plan for Saturday. The meal plan is 29.99 for dinner and lunch. Since one quick service entree is around 10 dollars, we thought this be a good deal.

Our first attraction was the Terminator 2: 3D show. It is a mix of live action and 3D movie. I thought it was really well done and a lot of fun. We walked out of the show just as the Simpsons were walking out for photos so we got our picture taken. Inspired we went to explore the Simpsons area. It is so cool. They recreated the businesses from Springfield. We then headed into Krustyland for the ride. It is very well done. The wait is part of the attraction with lots of tv screens and funny announcements. For the ride, you get into a 2 row capsule with four people per row. It then moves in coordination with the graphics on a huge surrounding screen. It is an awesome ride. It was a little too intense for me. I was a bit shaky afterwards so we walked around the park and grabbed a burger.

After refueling, we went to the Twister attraction. It shows how are you teens use special effects to create the twister in the movie Twister. It was funny when we walked out because this could turn dark and it was very windy. We joked that Universal was really bringing its a game for this attraction. To avoid the rain, we grabbed a bar stool at the Irish pub and listened to the guitar player. It was a lot of fun. The rain let up so we headed to the Beetlejuice Graveyard Revue. It was a lot of fun and featured all my favorite songs.

Then it was time to head to the Hard Rock Live for the concert. The crew did a good job managing the line and we were inside in about 30 minutes. We had floor access so we grabbed a couple beers and went to protect our spot. The opening band start promptly at 8. They were boring. The Killers came on at 915 with an incredible performance of my favorite song Mr Brightside. It was the bucket list moment. The concert was fantastic with incredible special facts and even a confetti drop. After the show we headed next door to the Hard Rock Cafe for a nightcap and a snack. It was one of those nights where you can't believe you're so lucky that this is your life.