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

[TeknikDC2]

We may have been done with the Studios park as we made our exit but we couldn't leave the resort without another Butterbeer. So across Citywalk we again made our way to Islands of Adventure.

 

[TeknikDC2]

Our First stop in the park though was at the main shop right in the Port of Entry. If you recall I found a shirt the night prior at the Universal Store in the studios and a shirt for Daniel at the Citywalk Store. Prior to buying these though we decided to wait until we could see if the Islands store sold both of them. Well unfortunatly for us though the Islands shop didn't sell ether of them. Being pinched for time Kiera took Daniel over to Suess Landing to take him on the Cat in the Hat ride while I ran back out to the CityWalk store to buy the shirts. I was able to find Daniels but they didn't carry my first choice. Still they had another I liked so I bought those and was able to score the $10 gift card as well for spending $50 to buy us our final Butterbeers.

 

 

I reentered Islands of Adventure and made it to Suess Landing as Kiera and Daniel started ther 2nd ride which was the Caro-Suess-el. Basically a Dr. Suess themed Marry go Round. Unfortunatly Kiera and Daniel were pretty far on the inside so I couldn't get any good photos but Daniel really liked it. After they were done we quickly made our way thru the rest of Suess Landing and the Lost Contenant and in to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

 

[TeknikDC2]

[TeknikDC2]

 

Before grabbing our Butterbeers though we made our way to Hogwarts Castle to take one final ride on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Although wait times were once again very short for practically everything we were still on a time crunch and so we again utilized the Single Rider Line which was practically a walk on. The rides were great and flawless yet again and it was sad to think that we just made our final ride of the trip.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

Since this was our final visit to Universal on this trip we also took a last look around all of the Wizarding World shops to make sure there wasn't anything else that we wanted to buy. We checked out Felches Emporiam and then stopped by the Owl Post where Kiera ended up picking up some more postcards to get the Hogsmead Post Mark.

 

[TeknikDC2]

[TeknikDC2]

After a stop in to Honeydukes to get some treats and look around Zonkos (which would be the last time we ever would as it has been closed and Honeydukes expanded into the space) we finally stopped by the Three Broomsticks and grabbed our final Butterbeers of the trip.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

It was then time to make the sad walk back thru the rest of the park to the exit. Our time was officially over at Universal on this trip. We had a ton of fun and visited the Parks so much and not once did we ever get bored of them. They keep bringing us back year after year and we always look forward to it. Espcially since we will be there again oh so soon and look forward to the Wizarding World expansion being open then.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

We quickly got the vehicle loaded up and started the drive back to Tampa. The drive was obviously pretty uneventful but at least it was poaring rain like it was when we arrived 2 weeks earlier. Shortly before arriving to the Airport though I recieved on of the phone calls from Southwest that I dread getting. Although our flight would leave Tampa as scheduled it woud be delayed nearly 2 hours in Pheonix. Oh well there wasn't anything we could do about it.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

After getting the car checked back in we made our way to the check in counter and got our bags checked pretty quickly. We even made it thru the Terminal and Concourse fairly quickly as well which suprised us. We then had over an hour wait until our flight. As we sat and waited I saw numerous people getting upset at the counter over the delay in Pheonix.

 

[TeknikDC2]

[TeknikDC2]

The flight from Tampa to Pheonix was long and uneventful and we again passed the time by watching Videos and playing games. Daniel took a nap at some point during the trip too. Soon enough after nightfall though we finally arrived in to Pheonix.

 

 

This was actually our very first time to the Pheonix airport and even the Phenoix area period. Its too bad that it was too dark to really see anything. Although we were excited to see a new airport we were dreading the fact that we would now be stuck here longer then originally anticipated. However those fears went away when I had a voicemail from Southwest saying that our original departure time had been restored. When checking the stroller in at our gate we overheard them saying that they got the ok to bring an extra plain for us instead of making us wait. Now thats customer service.

 

[TeknikDC2]

We now only had about 45 minutes to kill. We were hungry so we got some sandwiches from the only food location in the concourse. It was good but very expensive. I guess when your the only option you can charge whatever you want though. Soon enough though we were again boarding the plane where we finished our dinner as we made the flight home to Salt Lake.

 

 

The flight was quick and we were finally home where Kieras Mom picked us up after we retrieved our luggage. It was a fun trip but it felt good to be home.

 

 

 

 

And that officially concludes this trip recap. A big thanks to those who followed along at any point of the recap. Without your support I couldn't have found the effort to do this. Its been fun reliving these memories with you.

 

Dispite my family starting our next vacation adventure in less then a week I regret to say though that this may be my final in depth review that I write. Its not that I don't enjoy doing it its just i've found that its incredibly difficult to find the time to do them. Instead for my coming trip I plan on turning my focus to video instead of photos and try to put something together with that. If I do return to do a written review it likely won't be nearly as detailed as my past reviews have been.

 

Anyways thanks again to those who have followed me for all these years. Its been fun. And I will be sure to share with you wherever you can find a recap of our next adventure. No matter what format the ends up being. Thank you

 

 

 

 

 

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[Cruiser IMA]

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.

 

No problem, I just found this thread last month and I wasn't in a rush as it took me about a month to read through everything anyway.

[dafoester]

I really enjoyed your review!!

 

Me and my fiance are taking our first Carnival cruise in August, in addition we are bringing our 21 month old daughter with us. Do you have any tips for us regarding cruising with a toddler?

[wrigley80]

I've followed along from the beginning. Thoroughly enjoyed your review. Enjoy your next vacation in Orlando

[PathfinderEss]

Totally enjoyed your review, thats for posting it.

Edited May 29, 2014 by PathfinderEss

[jenseib]

I just loved your report! We went to WDW and a Disney cruise in March. We stayed on night extra after the cruise and did legoland the day we got off. Our flight the next day wasn't till late in the day and I had just planned on hanging out and letting our daughter swim. My husband decided that morning we need to get to Universal. LOL. We only had a few hours, but we went over bought 1 day tickets and spent about 4 hours in the Studios park and had a great time. I was excited to see the addition to the Simpsons area and sneak peeks of Diagon Alley.

We tried to ride transformer, but it was down most of the morning and didn't come back running till it was close to our leaving time.

We did get to do Dispicable me for the first time and we enjoyed that.

I understand about the writing. It takes a lot of time. I went to Disneyland in Feb for a work conference and I am writing a review for that still and haven't even started anything with our March trip yet. not enough house in the day!

If you write anything in the future, please post a link in this thread so we have a heads up!!

I really have enjoyed reading about your families travels.

[TeknikDC2]

Hey everyone. Just wanted to stop back in and share with you the video from our recent Orlando trip. I mentioned that I may take a break from written recaps and give a video a shot instead and well that's exactly what I did. So here is a link to the said video. There's event a slight nod to cruising in it. I can't wait to get back on a ship and do another video. Thanks everyone.

 

http://vimeo.com/100929998

[jenseib]

I watched a little bit of it now and willl watch it off and on during the day.

 

It looks like you had a fun time and had extended family with you too! Too bad you just missed the Diagon alley opening. I am going one day in Aug and I hope I can get through the crowds and see at least a little bit of it.

[slord12]

Thank you for posting the video! I have never been to Universal, and me and a friend are going in August. We will be there on a Monday and Tuesday and have opted for the 2 day park to park pass with unlimited express. We KNOW there will be huge lines and waits for the new HP attractions so we figured we could use our express passes for other rides that take express. I looked at the list and there seemed to be a good number of rides that accept the express pass. I went back through your review to get an idea of your "must-do" attractions. I am very excited. Thank you again for your detailed reviews, it has helped me tremendously in planning this trip, even though it's not a cruise!

[TeknikDC2]

I watched a little bit of it now and willl watch it off and on during the day.

 

It looks like you had a fun time and had extended family with you too! Too bad you just missed the Diagon alley opening. I am going one day in Aug and I hope I can get through the crowds and see at least a little bit of it.

 

Yeah we were sad to miss the opening. Especially since that was what we were shooting for to see. Unfortunatly do the the Gringotts Ride delays (which is still having issues) the opening was pushed back further then all the insiders predicted. It was hard seeing that Diagon itself as well as the Hogwarts Express were ready to go the whole time we were there and we even saw employees just standing around in uniform but since Gringotts wasn't ready they couldn't open any of it.

 

Thats why we have plane tickets already to go back in December lol. Plus it gives a reason to also see the Universal Parks decorated for Christmas which we've never seen before. We may even try to sneak in a night at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom as well before heading to my parents in South Carolina.

 

Depending when you go in August you should be fine. Even now it seems that the waits to get into Diagon has minimized. Gringotts is really whats pulling the big waits due to running at only half its capacity and constant breakdowns.

 

Thank you for posting the video! I have never been to Universal, and me and a friend are going in August. We will be there on a Monday and Tuesday and have opted for the 2 day park to park pass with unlimited express. We KNOW there will be huge lines and waits for the new HP attractions so we figured we could use our express passes for other rides that take express. I looked at the list and there seemed to be a good number of rides that accept the express pass. I went back through your review to get an idea of your "must-do" attractions. I am very excited. Thank you again for your detailed reviews, it has helped me tremendously in planning this trip, even though it's not a cruise!

 

So are you staying onsite? We stayed onsite at the Royal Pacific one night on this trip and those Unlimited Express passes are amazing. We were very spoiled and it will be hard going back without them lol. If you are staying onsite you also get the early entry perk for the Wizarding Worlds as well which should help you get on Gringotts fairly quickly if your at the park right when early entry starts.

 

Pretty much every ride in the parks accept the Express Pass. I think the only ones that don't are Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, The Hogwarts Express, and Ptaradon Flyers which is a ride you likely won't do anyways.

 

If you have any other Universal Questions just let me know.

[slord12]

So are you staying onsite? We stayed onsite at the Royal Pacific one night on this trip and those Unlimited Express passes are amazing. We were very spoiled and it will be hard going back without them lol. If you are staying onsite you also get the early entry perk for the Wizarding Worlds as well which should help you get on Gringotts fairly quickly if your at the park right when early entry starts.

 

Pretty much every ride in the parks accept the Express Pass. I think the only ones that don't are Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, The Hogwarts Express, and Ptaradon Flyers which is a ride you likely won't do anyways.

 

If you have any other Universal Questions just let me know.

 

We aren't staying onsite, we are just gonna fork over the money for the 2 day park to park bundle with unlimited express. We figured we are only gonna be there for 2 days so we might as well not spend our whole time waiting in line! My parents just built a beach house about an hour away from Orlando - so at least our place to stay is free, we don't mind the drive either. We are both early birds!

 

Our plan is to start at the new HP addition in the mornings - then make our way over to IOA by means of Hogwarts Express. Since we will have the unlimited express passes we aren't too concerned with wait times for everything else that afternoon/evening. Our main purpose is for the Wizarding World anyway!

 

I am very excited to try the butterbeer. Do you have any favorite restaurants there? We are going to plan on eating lunch and dinner in the parks those 2 days.

 

Thanks for your help!

[TeknikDC2]

We aren't staying onsite, we are just gonna fork over the money for the 2 day park to park bundle with unlimited express. We figured we are only gonna be there for 2 days so we might as well not spend our whole time waiting in line! My parents just built a beach house about an hour away from Orlando - so at least our place to stay is free, we don't mind the drive either. We are both early birds!

 

Our plan is to start at the new HP addition in the mornings - then make our way over to IOA by means of Hogwarts Express. Since we will have the unlimited express passes we aren't too concerned with wait times for everything else that afternoon/evening. Our main purpose is for the Wizarding World anyway!

 

I am very excited to try the butterbeer. Do you have any favorite restaurants there? We are going to plan on eating lunch and dinner in the parks those 2 days.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Well that works too. What dates are you planning on going? I asked about the hotel mainly because sometimes that can be swung cheaper then the ticket with unlimited express. Many people don't know that a 1 night stay at one of the deluxe hotels gives you 2 days worth of the Unlimited Express.

 

Depending on the dates you go staying at the Royal Pacific (The cheapest of the Deluxe Hotels) would run you an extra $53-$98 for 1 night. Its a question of if the onsite perks (in addition of the Unlimited Express) of Early Entry both days, Transportation thru the Water Taxis, and being literally just minutes from the parks are worth the extra cost. There is also a $20 a night resort fee however that covers 2 days worth of parking. And with parking for the parks being $17 a day now thats an extra $14 of savings.

 

 

That Sounds like a good plan. Especially if you haven't seen the original Wizarding World. Start out in Diagon first thing and see that whole area. Then take the Hogwarts Express to Islands of Adventure and do all of Hogsmead. You only need to visit the Olivanders in Diagon Alley as the show is the exact same in both areas. Diagons just has a much higher capacity so the line moves quicker. Once done with Hogsmead you can make your way around the rest of Islands of Adventure doing the other stuff until park close. There are 3 water rides that are fun but depending on if you want to get wet or not you may skip them. We found the water rides to be fine staying onsite though as after being soaking wet we were back at our hotel in no time and could change or go down to the pool. The 2nd day you could then focus on everything else in the Studios park which has more to do then islands.

 

 

Butterbeer is amazing. I like both versions but I prefer the frozen over the regular. To make matters worse in Diagon Alley they introduced Butterbeer Ice Cream which i'm sure will make me even poorer. Favorite places to eat for me would be Fast Food Blvd in the Simpsons area in the Studios. Its a food court style with tons of different options for food. Plus its the only place you can get a Krusty Burger or try Duff Beer from Moe's Tavern. My favorite restaurant in the Studios is a Irish Pub type place called Finnegans. The Leaky Cauldron is the Restaurant in Diagon Alley but I can't say how good that is since I haven't seen it yet. Over in Islands we make it a point to eat at the Three Broomsticks at some point each trip. For smaller meals we always hit up Burger Digs which has your general burgers and chicken type items. Theres a restaurant called Mythos that is raved to be the best Theme Park Restaurant there is but i've never actually ate there.

 

 

I think that answers your questions for now. If you have any more just let me know.

Edited July 18, 2014 by TeknikDC2

[slord12]

Well that works too. What dates are you planning on going? I asked about the hotel mainly because sometimes that can be swung cheaper then the ticket with unlimited express. Many people don't know that a 1 night stay at one of the deluxe hotels gives you 2 days worth of the Unlimited Express.

 

Depending on the dates you go staying at the Royal Pacific (The cheapest of the Deluxe Hotels) would run you an extra $53-$98 for 1 night. Its a question of if the onsite perks (in addition of the Unlimited Express) of Early Entry both days, Transportation thru the Water Taxis, and being literally just minutes from the parks are worth the extra cost. There is also a $20 a night resort fee however that covers 2 days worth of parking. And with parking for the parks being $17 a day now thats an extra $14 of savings.

 

 

That Sounds like a good plan. Especially if you haven't seen the original Wizarding World. Start out in Diagon first thing and see that whole area. Then take the Hogwarts Express to Islands of Adventure and do all of Hogsmead. You only need to visit the Olivanders in Diagon Alley as the show is the exact same in both areas. Diagons just has a much higher capacity so the line moves quicker. Once done with Hogsmead you can make your way around the rest of Islands of Adventure doing the other stuff until park close. There are 3 water rides that are fun but depending on if you want to get wet or not you may skip them. We found the water rides to be fine staying onsite though as after being soaking wet we were back at our hotel in no time and could change or go down to the pool. The 2nd day you could then focus on everything else in the Studios park which has more to do then islands.

 

 

Butterbeer is amazing. I like both versions but I prefer the frozen over the regular. To make matters worse in Diagon Alley they introduced Butterbeer Ice Cream which i'm sure will make me even poorer. Favorite places to eat for me would be Fast Food Blvd in the Simpsons area in the Studios. Its a food court style with tons of different options for food. Plus its the only place you can get a Krusty Burger or try Duff Beer from Moe's Tavern. My favorite restaurant in the Studios is a Irish Pub type place called Finnegans. The Leaky Cauldron is the Restaurant in Diagon Alley but I can't say how good that is since I haven't seen it yet. Over in Islands we make it a point to eat at the Three Broomsticks at some point each trip. For smaller meals we always hit up Burger Digs which has your general burgers and chicken type items. Theres a restaurant called Mythos that is raved to be the best Theme Park Restaurant there is but i've never actually ate there.

 

 

I think that answers your questions for now. If you have any more just let me know.

 

LOL - so after reading your last post we started investigating the vacation packages. We were able to get a room at the Hard Rock for 2 nights with 2 day park-to-park, unlimited express, early entry to Wizarding World, and some other stuff for a whopping $94 more than it would have cost us to drive! We decided to go for it! We are arriving Monday Aug 18 and are doing the early check in so we can enjoy the parks and use our early admission since the room won't be ready anyway. I just can't believe the pricing - it blew our minds!! We priced all 3 of the deluxe hotels and for our dates the Royal Pacific was most most expensive, and Hard Rock was the cheapest (plus we realized how close it was)!

 

We are dressing accordingly for the water rides, we go to six flags here in GA alot so we are prepared for that! We always wear bathing suits under our quick drying athletic shorts and t shirts with teva sandals that are attached to the foot but can be wet.

 

Thanks for the food information - we have a whole other list of options now that we've thrown the hotel stay in the mix!

 

I am so excited, thank you for bringing up the hotels. I really think I got a great deal, and just can't believe it was only a little bit more for all of that than tickets with express passes! I will be sure and take plenty of pictures of the new areas and post them somehow! I have a gopro I will shoot some video with too. I'm sure I'll have more questions, lol!