Great – We Are Upside Down Again!
Vacations can be many different things to people; relaxing, adventurous, luxurious, therapeutic or all of the above.
And in some cases, they can be opportunities to bring your inner child to the surface and experience all the wonder and amazement of being swept away in a fantasy world.
That was what my trip to Universal Studios in Orlando was like, but incorporating all the glamorous elements of being an adult as well. Joining my escapade were my friends Adikus Sulpizi and David Chase as we rolled up on Orlando like a Category 3 Gay Hurricane. I also saw the world from a different perspective on this trip and that was upside down. Which became my catch phrase at the park. “Oh, Look! We are Upside Down Again!”
For me, I believe the journey is just as important as the destination itself. I like to make the airport an integral part of my travel experience. I hate to stress over small things so I always arrive at the airport with lots of time to get through check in and security, then off to an adult libation.
I adore our new airport and all their new offerings for food and beverages, and one of my favorite spots is Emeril’s Table. They have great food and lovely libations. So the three of us arrived early, and got ourselves a table, ordered lunch and started enjoying cocktails. We ordered champagne and were off and running. We flew Frontier, which was not a horrible experience, but they do charge you for literally everything. Did you know they even charge to talk to the person behind their check-in counter? I actually think that I am going to adopt this concept in my job. If anyone needs my help, they need to pay me for it.
After a smooth and uneventful hour & a half flight to Orlando, we got to our hotel very quickly from the airport. I cannot say enough good things about our hotel – Aventura located on the Universal Studios property. The place was fabulous from the ambiance and atmosphere to the service. It was centrally located to all the parks which you could walk to or take free water taxi or shuttle to.
The hotel has a sort of retro mod feel. The rooms were great and it offers so many other amenities such as free transportation to the parks, great food & beverage outlets, great park & hotel package pricing, early park admission to the “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” and “Jurassic World” at the Island of Adventure Park, ability to use your key card for purchases in the park and also the ability to have those park purchases delivered back to your hotel so you do not have to carry bags around all day. Convenience, affordability, luxury and a very attentive and friendly staff will keep me coming back.
We arrived at the hotel about 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, got checked in, changed and then met up for a cocktail in the lovely lobby bar aptly titled barVentura. After our libation, we Ubered to Disney Springs for a night of entertainment and the only Disney thing we did on this trip.
There were many firsts for me on this trip starting with going to Disney Springs. I have been to the Disney Parks several times, but I had never been to their entertainment complex. It is an incredible mixture of shops, stores, restaurants, bars, movie theater, a bowling alley, live music venues and even a Cirque Du Soleil show entitled Drawn To Life. It is like an outdoor mall on steroids, and I loved it!
Talk about “Shopped till I dropped!” I definitely helped the Orlando economy. There were so many choices to spend my money from a plethora of Disney shops to national and local stores.
For dinner, we ate at the delightful Polite Pig restaurant. The Polite Pig is owned by James, Julie, and Brian Petrakis, Disney Springs’ only local chef presence. The restaurant features a variety of wood-fired smoked & grilled items, Florida craft beers, drinks on tap, a bourbon bar featuring 60+ selections and a menu bringing new twists to BBQ.
The food was delicious as was the service. I can recommend the Butcher Board which gives you a sampling of all their smoked meats such as pulled pork, smoked chicken, prime brisket, chicken & jalapeño sausage, smoked turkey, and their special ribs. With an array of delicious sides to choose from, this is a fabulous feast especially if you are a BBQ lover. Their cocktail menu was very impressive, but I am a Bourbon Boy so I had to go with their Nearest Legacy Old Fashioned that has Uncle Nearest whiskey, angostura and Peychaud’s Bitters, absinthe, maraschino liqueur and bourbon soaked maraschino cherries as a garnish.
The next day, we were up and moving early. A Starbucks in our hotel lobby proved very convenient to get my caffeine fix at seven in the morning. We took the water taxi, which left from the Sapphire Falls Hotel right next door. This mode of transportation was like a ride itself taking you directly to Universal CityWalk which is located in the middle of the two park entrances, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventures. The ride over has lots of gorgeous flora and fauna to admire as well as views of the parks and rides as well as some props just to add to the atmosphere. Our first day, we headed to Islands of Adventure. It definitely lived up to its name.
David and Adikus are pros at theme parks and had the Universal Studios Park app downloaded which is a handy technological tool. In addition to giving you park details, maps and other helpful hints, it tells you all the ride wait times which proves beneficial if you don’t like waiting in lines like me.
Since we were going during the week, we did not buy the fast pass which was fine since the lines move pretty fast; in most cases if it said “30 minutes wait”, it tended to be more like 15 to 20 minutes. The longest line we waited in was one hour, but otherwise, we never waited more than 20 minutes. Also, there are things to see, read and experience while in line that prepare you for the ride and keep your mind off the wait.
The first land we experienced in the Harry Potter World was Hogsmeade which in the books is described as a small all-wizarding village in Britain where the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is situated. It is a totally immersive experience, I was transported to the world of Harry Potter and loved every minute of it. I have read all the books, seen all the movies and love everything Harry Potter. I am truly a big kid at heart.
The noteworthy rides in this area are Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, which is listed as one of the top ten roller coasters in the United States. I went on it twice during my stay–it is so much fun. Guests are given the choice to either be seated on Hagrid’s motorcycle or in the sidecar; I rode in both and they’re equally enjoyable.
This coaster has many unique features such as more launches than any rollercoaster in the world, the first coaster in the U.S. to feature a free-fall vertical drop, and the longest rollercoaster in Florida measuring nearly a mile in length. Plus it will catapult you 65 feet in the air at a more than 70 degree angle and then drop you backwards in one swift movement.
Another noteworthy ride and one of my favorites was Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey which you enter through towering castle gates and then go into the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where see Hermione, Ron and Harry using the Cloak of Invisibility. As you fly around on your broom in the Forbidden Forest, this ride is non-stop excitement.
We ate lunch that day at Three Broomsticks which was a fabulous restaurant with a full bar. The British fare served there consisted of Fish and Chips, Shepherd’s Pie, Beef Pasties and Turkey Legs. You can also get Butterbeer there. And if shopping’s your fancy, there are plenty of places to spend your money like Honeydukes Sweets Shop, Dervish and Banges, Owl Post and Fitch’s Emporium of Confiscated Goods.
Our next land to explore on Island of Adventure was one of dinosaurs. This is where Adikus and David tried to kill me on the VelociCoaster in the Jurassic World area. This ride from hell (just my opinion) speeds through the jungle, rising high above the terrain; it’s the apex predator of roller coasters. After a high-speed dash through the park’s raptor paddock, you then race alongside these nimble predators, twisting and soaring above land and water. I think I let out one long scream from the moment I got on the ride till I got off. I went on many rides several times, but this one was a one’n’done.
Two other great rides in the area were the Jurassic World River Adventure which is a great water ride that brings you into the land of dinosaurs with lifelike animatronics. The other ride was Skull Island: Reign of Kong. Getting up close and personal with King Kong was breathtaking.
The next world to explore was the Comic Strip area with favorite funny page characters like Betty Boop, Cathy, Popeye, Brenda Starr and a lot more. My favorite ride in this area was the Dudley Do-Right Rip Saw Falls Ride. Part roller coaster, part water flume, this adventure with Royal Canadian Mountie Dudley Do-Right includes a 75-foot drop that gets you soaking wet.
The next area we went to was Marvel Superhero Island which was very cool. My favorites here were The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk Coaster. The Spiderman ride was non-stop excitement and such an engulfing experience. The Hulk Coaster makes you scream – a lot! From Black Panther to the X-Men (some of them at least), most of your favorite superheroes are here.
Our final land in this area, and the one that brought the kid out in me, was Seuss Landing which is all about Dr. Seuss. This area was just plain magical; the decor & atmosphere immediately returned you to your childhood and right into a Dr. Seuss book. I loved this place and went on all the rides which were more kid-centric but still an incredible amount of fun like Caro-Seuss-el, The Cat in the Hat, One Fish Two Fish and, my favorite, The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride! which gives riders two choices of experiences as well as great views of the park. I loved this ride so much, I went on it during the day and at dusk to get different views of the park. After Day Two, we went back to City Walk for dinner. We ate at a delicious hot spot, Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar which was quite the dining experience. My favorites were the Crab Rangoon Dip, the All American Bacon Double Cheeseburgooshi, and The High Class Hillbilly – Southern Style Bar-B-Q-Shi. It was a perfect way to end a full day at the park.
