Hey, it’s Earl the squirrel the pre Christmas trip

[kbelle8995]

Hi there. Yes I’m back we went down to Universal for five days. We stayed at Cabana Bay. We went on Monday my sister had to look at some hotels for meeting purposes. We also went to jock Lindsey’s for the holiday treats. They were delicious bit it was very cold on the water.

We then went to Cabana Bay. My sister asked for a tower room and we got one.

what a view. We went to the Bayliner diner for dinner. We were just so tired.

i got a cabana bay burger and she got a salad both huge and delicious

 

[kbelle8995]

Solo day.

Got up early and went to Starbucks. Got coffee and egg bites. Early entry at islands. Entered via the gates. Face recognition is so much easier than the finger check. Quick and very efficient.

First ride.


It was essentially a walk on. I had brought a wand to do spells but was greeted with this


Not great. I packed my wand and left to do Kong. It didnt open until 9:30. So i visied some dinos.

 

[froggibabey]

OK But this is the best out of order message I've ever seen.

 

[kbelle8995]

OK But this is the best out of order message I've ever seen.

I know I kinda love it that they stuck to the theme

 

[kbelle8995]

Just a note. For those of you I am a Floridian born and bred. So if I complain about cold you can take that however you wish.

We went to Disney Springs on the first day and Sat on the water. It was freezing. Jock Lindsey's needs more heaters on that porch. The hot chocolate helped. It got quite breezy and cold especially at night. It warmed up in the daytime so that It was actually quite nice. We never got into the pool at Cabana Bay the whole time we were there. And according to our daily pool checks we were not the only one. It's not the getting in but getting out of the water. The Jacuzzi's were the only thing that guests seem to want to climb into.

Also it seemed like the hotels were not turning the heat on in the lobbies. We went to Sapphire falls and Royal Pacific. and neither seemed to have the heat on. Freezing cold but the restaurants were much better

 

[kbelle8995]

For the rest of my solo day. I wandered around the Jurassic park area. I wanted to ride Kong but it wasn't open yet. I like the Jurassic park area especially the Gift shop where they sell Amber jewelry. I always say I'm going to buy a necklace they have some really pretty ones that aren't extremely expensive but I never do. I also looked over the merch and meandered down to Kong.

The Kong line had been rerouted and it was dark so I had no idea where the heck I was going. I stepped aside and let other guests pass so that I could get my flashlight on my phone. I decided to just follow the other guests in. And also the ride is still not going outside in the vehicle.

After that I stopped in a marvel gift show and got my Holiday tree hunt materials only they did not have pencils. They did have the ornament which they gave to me. They were very nice about it.

I walked over to the main gift shop at Islands and they very nicely gave me one. At that point I walked over to the studios. I went to Diagon Alley and rode Escape from Gringotts. I went in the single rider line which was incredibly short and was on the ride pretty much immediately. I walked around the shops. I have to say I really love Diagon Alley. The shops are my favorite. I was trying to pin shop. But the pin stock was not there. I noticed there was not the variety that there usually is. I was really disappointed. It was mostly house pins that were available I hope this isn't a new trend. It's okay I still found things that I wanted to buy but decided to shop later. Then I just wandered around and worked on the Holiday Tree hunt. As well as going to the tribute store

 

[kbelle8995]

Another quick note I'm obsessed with the tribute stores.

 

[kbelle8995]

I did go that day to the tribute store. As I've said previously I'm obsessed with these shops. Plus I can't resist a good gift shop to save my life. Really beautiful. Especially the Harry Potter section. I wish it was a tad bigger but just. Love it so much. I'm going to miss Mardi Gras this year which depresses me more than I can say. I then went to Diagon Alley to ride Escape from Gringotts my favorite Harry Potter ride. I went in the single rider and was literally on the ride in seconds. I then spend some time in this section. I have to be honest, I love Diagon Alley more then the Hogsmeade section.

On to lunch, I noticed that Earl the Squirrel was out and had a very short line. Asked the team member and jumped in the line to take my picture. It was great. And short compared to The Grinch which 3 hours wait plus the whole time we were there.

I went to lunch at Today Show Café. If you are looking for a more healthy diet or are sick of hamburgers this is a good place to go. I got Roasted beets and Carrots salad With a yule log slice. One complaint is that they don't have an area to refill mugs from the park. Which I had purchased. I won't do that again. Not worth the money for me personally. My salad was so good and they gave me mashed avocado with my salad just delicious. The Yule log was good but I wouldn't go out of the way for it.

At this point I decided to go back to the hotel and take a nap. I took nap and then just hung out near the bowling alley soaking up Cabana bay vibes. I just love the music at the hotel and it is so relaxing here for the most part. We went to Confisco Restaurant for Dinner. It was pretty empty and because of the that the Passholder dining area was not open.

We both had pasta I had the penne Alla vodka and my sister had the Ravoli. Both were excellent and good as the day was turning into slightly chilly. We really had a great server and waitress and we will be going back another time.

We also went to go see the Harry Potter castle show. It was really crowded and then that was the end of the day. After that we were tired and ended it there. the next post will be regarding our chilly evening in the studio

 

[kbelle8995]

The next day we went to Disney springs I won't got into it too much here.

We did spend the evening in Diagon Alley and rode Gringotts again. My sister has the pass because of medical reasons she cannot climb stairs and this is what she wanted to do. I also wanted to watch Celestina Warbeck and some friends of ours who where visiting at the same time and we spent awhile talking to theme. They are also Disney expatriates who have come to Universal for various reasons. We slowly started to make our way out of the Studios.

And this is when I realized my big mistake. When we left the hotel, we left our jackets. The wind had turned extremely cold and it was gusting. We also got stuck behind the Christmas Parade which we decided to just watch. It was a good parade. They kept the balloons very low probably due to the wind. We were both (especially me) regretting that we left our jackets at the hotel. We ran out of the park. Threw ourselves into a boat and ran to Royal Pacific for Orchid Court and some sushi and some hot green tea for me. Note apparately Royal Pacific had the Air Conditions on Full. It was so cold in the lobby as freezing as the wind outside. Orchid Court was sligntly warmer. And the hot green tea was great. We had a wonderful waitress who took good care of us. Orchid Court is so relaxing for the most part. I'm sure there are times when it's crazy but it has been so great everytime we go there.

We decided to walk back to Cabana bay. We took shelter in Sapphire falls lobby which was also freezing cold. Cabana Bay same problem. So I don't know if it the weather or the air conditioning.

 

[kbelle8995]

I will be posting some pictures soon I have so many from Cabana Bay

 

[kbelle8995]

Me and Earl. I just love this photo and was glad I got it. He was just standing out there with a really short line.



Volcano Bay my favorite water park. It's just so lovely and I love this guy in the tribute store.




So many beautiful Christmas tree this years. Here's the Harry Potter tree in the tribute store. I just love it so much.

 

[kbelle8995]

More pictures of trees and garlands. It's brightening my February funk

This tree was in the Brown Derby shop. I think it is pretty and cute. The Team member in this shop was just as sweet as she could be.



My salad from the Today Show cafe. I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. I really like this quick service and it will not be my only visit during this trip.


This window did not translate how magical it really was in person.

Really was great.

And the Cabana Bay Tree, it's always so gorgeous.

 

[kbelle8995]

The next post our last full day and the invasion of the Sports Teams

Also Hagrid's revenge

 

[kbelle8995]

Our Last full day we had the Pass since my fellow traveler cannot climb stairs. We started our morning while waiting for Hagrids. It was a bit of wait so we went to breakfast at the Three Broomsticks


As you can see our light breakfast had huge pieces for fruit. After breakfast we went on Hagrid's. I don't think that some coasters are for me. I rode this side on the Motorcycle not the sidecar and on the back. Slightly terrifying. My hands were red when I got off. I think I will ride but in the sidecar not the motorcycle. It was still early and we rode it last time in the day. We slowly walked out and took a long break in Seuss landing. While there we watched the 3 hour plus wait for the Grinch and could hear him at certain times.

We did ride the Trolley in the sky. Which was fun and this time they let us take the elevator. Hooray!
Slowly we made our way over to the studios and went to the Today show café for lunch. We had a really good delicious flatbread. It was so good. We also shared peppermint tart. We had also been completing my shopping.
So it was a fun day



We went around and rode Escape from Gringotts. And wandered around Diagon Alley and went back to the tribute store to also by some things. We also went the new Minions ride. It was a five minute wait. We had a team member help us connect our laser guns with the app. We didn't feel crushed in the ride. We were able to see what we were shooting at. Much better.


We rode the boat to Royal Pacific. We wanted to go to Jake's for Dinner. Here's another lovely Christmas tree from the lobby. We also walked through the New (new to us) quick service some great options. Then we went to Jake's



I had the fish and chips they are sooo good. Also at Cabana Bay many college students had shown up. The Hot tub was SLAMMED. They were here for a football game. It was a great day anyway.

 

[kbelle8995]

As you can see I'm just wild about Cabana Bay. Love the old School Florida Hotel feel and the team members are always so nice.

This was our final day. We were checking out and going home. I was up early and not wanted to disturb my fellow traveler, I went to Starbucks and took many pictures of one of my favorite Universal resort. To Cabana bay's credit they had a section of the Bayliner Diner sectioned off with a Buffet for the newly arrived College students so they could get their food and not crowd the food section too much. It was a good selection (I could see the buffet) Bravo to the staff and whoever came up with that idea.

We walked over to Sapphire Falls and went to Amatista for breakfast. We were sure that we would not get in. We don't have good luck getting into this restaurant. But shock of shocks they seated us immediately. I had the buffet. it was a good breakfast buffet but when we go back I think I will just order the Omelet. The omelet chef was really great and this was so delicious. My fellow traveler got the Avocado Toast and raved about it. It was very good and quite pretty as well. And I got more coffee as well as one for the road. Always a nice gesture.

One visit to the Sapphire falls where I got my fellow traveler a Ravenclaw Scarf. She borrows mine all the time. The team member was really funny when I told her it was a Christmas present. Getting me through the purchase process quickly and wrapping with tissue so well that she would not be able to tell even if she peeked. We went back to Cabana Bay to get our car and a copy of our hotel bill. Hit the Cabana Bay gift shop one more time. And visited with some friends who where checking in. They had seen us walking back.

All and all a great stay. I can't wait to go back

 

[DoryGirl1963]

Love the CBBR pics! Cabana Bay is our home away from home - now I'm majorly homesick, LOL!

 

[kbelle8995]

Love the CBBR pics! Cabana Bay is our home away from home - now I'm majorly homesick, LOL!

Why Thank you. I love CBBR too. I have so many pictures. In fact CBBR is the screen saver on my phone. Can't wait to go back

 

[kbelle8995]