Travel

39 Reasons Spring Break At Universal Studios Was Our Best Vacation To Date!

posted on : May 3, 2019 0 Comment
We’ve never taken a vacation like this. . .
A week-long getaway with all four boys, an incredible theme park hotel, and multiple days at the three Universal Studios parks. Whew. We had high hopes, but also knew from previous vacations how family getaways can quickly turn sour.
But guess what? It was phenomenal.
I don’t know how to describe it all. So I’ve narrowed it down to 39 reasons this was our best vacation yet.
  1. Lazy Rivers–Because we all need more lazy rivers in our lives. Our hotel (Cabana Bay Beach Resort) has one and there is also one (with a few “rapids” along the way) at Universal’s water park, Volcano Bay. *Tip: Bring your own float for the hotel lazy river or you can buy them from the pool hut. (If you buy floats from the hotel, you can give them the ones you used and they’ll give you unwrapped ones to take with you when you leave. Very nice!)                                                                                                                                 
  2. Lifeguards–Along with those lazy rivers, the Cabana Bay Beach Resort and Volcano Bay have some of the most attentive lifeguards I’ve ever seen. We witnessed several of them jump in the water while we were at the hotel–and then help the person, console them, hop out and change clothes, and then get back to work. It made this mama’s heart a little less stressed while poolside with all my busy boys.
  3. City Walk–We love the activity and energy of City Walk. So much to do and see and eat! We ate dinner at Pat O’Brien’s one night (Dueling Pianos!) and Margaritaville another. The food and service were great, prices were reasonable (yay!), and both were extremely family-friendly. (Kudos to Margaritaville for the Wikki Stix–best kids’ menu entertainment ever.)                                                                                                     
  4. Butter Beer–When in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, you try the Butter Beer. Ten out of twelve thumbs up! 🙂                                                                                                                                            
  5. Universal Express Passes–These are like having the Golden Ticket. They cut our wait time TREMENDOUSLY on every ride and allowed us to experience so much more of the park’s attractions than if we’d spent the day in long lines. No brainer for our next visit to Universal Studios. 
  6. Meeting Blue–The Raptor Encounter at Islands of Adventure is worth every minute of the wait. See the video below. . .
  7. The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman–This 3D ride was a favorite of all my boys. It’s so exciting and makes you feel like you’re a part of the action! It was high on everyone’s must-do-again list.
  8. Characters–There are tons of characters roaming around the parks all day to mingle and take pictures with guests, and they are the friendliest, most fun-loving people. Green Goblin made my 12-year-old’s day with his witty conversation and ultra fun personality.                                                                                                                   
  9. Dr. Seuss–We rode the train at Seuss Landing in Islands of Adventure twice. Yep. We all rode it, loved it, and went back for a second ride. Each time was a different track, but the same stunning views of the park and a fun, quirky Dr. Seuss rhyme to entertain us as we traveled over guests, past a lake, and through a Dr. Seuss-themed dining hall.
  10. Shuttles–Having free shuttles to take us back and forth between our hotel and Universal Studios/City Walk was heaven. We parked our car at the hotel and didn’t use it again until we headed home.
  11. Pizza–My boys could eat pizza for every meal (OK, I could too), so we found ourselves trying several different pizzas at the parks throughout the week. All were yummy, but the winner goes to Volcano Bay’s Whakawaiwai Eats. #salivating                                                                                                       
  12. Early Admission–Guests staying at the Universal Studios Florida hotels are allowed to enter one or more of the parks an hour early, depending on the hotel. Our hotel gave us early admission to Volcano Bay and a private walkway directly from the hotel into the water park. It was a nice perk that made us feel like we were getting an extra “thank you” for staying at one of the Universal Studios hotels.
  13. Hands-on Activities at Jurassic Park Discovery Center–This was a perfect break from the heat and was filled with fun games and activities for everyone. We even had the chance to see a dinosaur hatch and Carson got to name it!                                                                                                             
  14. Marvel–While two of my boys are just learning about the Marvel characters, all of them LOVED the Marvel area of Islands of Adventure! It has so much fun entertainment everywhere you turn. We had to promise we’d come back so they’d move on to the next area!
  15. Walk-in Pools–Having this wading feature in each pool at our hotel was perfect for relaxing in the shallow water with our little guys while they played (and played and played) near us.                                                    
  16. Happy Music–There are Hawaiian tunes playing at Volcano Bay, live music at City Walk, show tunes streaming around Universal Studios, and themed music on every ride. You may catch yourselves singing along and having impromptu dance parties without even thinking.
  17. Minions–Despicable Me Minion Mayhem was the first ride of our first day at the parks and it kicked off the week perfectly!                                                                                       
  18. Icees–What counts as your drink with your meal AND as dessert? The Icees that came with our pizzas at Volcano Bay were a much-needed afternoon refreshment and made four little boys (and Mommy) VERY happy!                                                                                                    
  19. Parades–There are numerous parades and celebrations happening during the day and evening hours at Universal Studios Florida. We had a great view of the Superstar Parade from Mel’s Diner before we went inside for lunch. My boys’ favorite was the “Despicable Me” float with Gru and the girls!                                                   
  20. Flip Flops–Any time I can wear flip flops for the. entire. vacation. I am a happy girl. #florida
  21. Roller Coasters–I looove roller coasters and Universal has some of the best roller coasters around. Our favorite was The Incredible Hulk Coaster at Islands of Adventure. It was the perfect mixture of speed, loops, swirls, surprises, and oh-my-God-am-I-smiling-or-puking moments. Awesome.                                         
  22. Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls–Only two out of six of us braved this flume ride (and got soaked!), but we all talked about it for days.                                                                                                         
  23. Indoor Entertainment–Florida is hot. And rainy. And hot. So the fact that Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure both have numerous indoor rides and shows is HUGE. Our first day was a wet one, but it didn’t matter. Almost everything on our agenda was inside a building or had a cover over the arena.
  24. Waturi Beach–The huge (and gorgeous) wave pool and beach at Volcano Bay is the perfect place to play and relax with your family. We even enjoyed the sunset on our last day in the parks from our chairs on the beach.      
  25. Pool Towels–When a hotel provides guest towels by the pool, and you don’t have to remember your own, and don’t have to bring wet towels back to your room, it’s glorious.                                    
  26. Jimmy Fallon–We didn’t know what to expect when we climbed onto this ride. How do you make a ride after a talk show? It. Was. Awesome. We all laughed our way through the whole thing and wanted to ride it again, but something made us crave pizza. (You’ll understand after you ride it!)                       
  27. E.T.–We all rode this ride and every one of us left smiling. It was nostalgic for those of us old enough to remember seeing E.T. in the theater so many years ago, and it made my littles beg to see it now. Brilliant move, Universal.
  28. Runamukka Reef–The kids’ area at Volcano Bay is a perfect spot for hours (literally HOURS) of fun with your littles. And you and your big kids can climb and play with the little ones too!                                                         
  29. Clean Bathrooms–I know every parent out there will appreciate this. From the theme parks to the hotel lobby and all the restaurants to the water park locker rooms, every single bathroom was meticulously clean and maintained. I don’t know how they do it, but from this mother of four who visits A LOT of bathrooms wherever we go, thank you.
  30. Mardi Gras–Spring Break is also Mardi Gras at Universal Studios! Think Cajun food, beignets, and an incredible parade with music, performers, and boatloads of beads. *Tip: Watch the parade in the New York area–we were on the corner right past Jimmy Fallon’s ride and there was room to spread out and catch SO MANY BEADS!         
  31. Nice People–Twice we lost something (my sunglasses and Finley’s hat) and both times someone set them up near where we dropped them so we could find them. Nice people rock, and often keep vacations from getting spoiled.
  32. Kong–I thought Kong might be too scary for our littles (ages 5 and 8), but they LOVED it. It was thrilling and captivating, and I kinda wanted to hug Kong at the end.                                                    
  33. Animal Show–We asked the boys what their favorite thing was from the first day. It was petting the dog after the “Animal Actors on Location” show. Of course it was. 🙂                                          
  34. Play Areas–Camp Jurassic in Islands of Adventure and Fievel’s Playland in Universal Studios are both fun playgrounds where the boys could climb, run, and slide–and not wait in a line or be told to hold my hand.  
  35. Package Pickup–All the shops in the parks will hold your purchases in Package Pickup at the front of the park so you don’t have to carry (or lose!) your goodies while you’re playing all day. Love love love this service!
  36. Transformers–Not only is the 3D ride fantastic, but there are several Transformers at a photo op/meet-and-greet station outside the ride! They are huge but friendly!
  37. TapuTapu–Every guest at Volcano Bay receives one of these waterproof bands to wear while visiting the park. You can check in to a virtual line for the slides/attractions you want to go on and the TapuTapu will tell you when to come back to jump on. Genius.                                                                        
  38. TeAwa The Fearless River–For some reason, I was nervous to go on this attraction at Volcano Bay. It’s a river rapids ride without a raft. You put on a life jacket and jump in, then let the river guide you as you bounce/swim/float along. This is NOT a lazy river. You’ll get soaked, splashed, and squirted, but you’ll also laugh your butt off and want to go again. 
  39. Those Smiles–When you look back and realize there were 10x more huge smiles than frowns, you know it was a good week.                                                                                                      
Family vacations are never perfect, we all know that. But this week at Universal Studios Florida was the most FUN we’ve had as a family on any Spring Break yet! And I’m so ready to go back for another scream session on The Incredible Hulk!
Love (and ride the coasters!) more,
Dana
*Sponsored post with Universal Studios Florida, but all statements, photos, and opinions are completely my own.*

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