Trip Report: Universal Orlando, (Part 2) Day 4

152/365

It’s our last day in the parks. There’s so much that we haven’t done yet! You can read about our budget and deals in this post here, Day 1 here, Day 2 here, and Day 3 here.

Packing Once More

Since we were only at the Royal Pacific Resort for one night, we had to pack up and store our bags with bell services before taking the ferry to the park. I packed our bags strategically so that we could break from the theme parks midday to try the water park since our tickets include it, and today was the last day!

Back to Universal Studios

I don’t even know what Islands of Adventures looks like from the front because we’ve never entered that way! Instead, it was back to Universal Studios because Maggie and I wanted to try the Rip, Ride, Rock It! I picked the song, “I Will Survive” and it gave me hope that I would make it off the ride alive. You don’t have a shoulder harness, just a large lap contraption, and I was sure I was going to slide right out. We watched our video, and it was weird to see the look of terror on my face during most of the ride!

KidZone

Next, we finally relented to Carter who kept wanting to see the Shrek show, which was the same as the one they just took out in Hollywood. Then we took a different turn to check out Woody Woodpecker’s KidZone. We flew on bikes with ET, rode the little coaster that was reminiscent of Gadget’s Go Coaster at Disneyland, and the kids played on the two playgrounds in the area. Meanwhile, a squirrel wondered why I hadn’t refilled my popcorn bucket.

Animal Actors

The kids love this show, but it was getting to be late. The next show was for 1:30pm, so I told them we would head out to the water park afterwards. In the meantime, they got to try out the Twirl ‘n’ Hurl in the Simpson’s area, but the line to the Simpsons Ride was too long. We were the first in the theater and sat dead center in the hopes of getting picked to participate in the show. That was a no-go. I think you have to be higher up for the adult volunteer, or on the side for the kids.

“Just One More Thing…”

We kept getting distracted on the way out. First, it was the Minions ride. I sat out of that one. Then it was a Despicable Me parade/show. Then it was a photo studio. Then Carter decided he wanted to try the Rip, Ride, Rock It! with Maggie. They ended up riding it three times. We finally got back to the hotel well after 3:00pm, and the water park closed at 5:00pm.

One Ride Ticket

After waiting for the shuttle, we finally made it to the water park at 4:30pm. So much for our three park ticket! It would have made more sense to schedule a specific day to do the water park separately than try to squeeze it into theme park days, especially with such limited hours. After taking a short trip on the not-so-lazy river, we frantically searched for a line to get in, found the longest one, and realized that we were only going to get in this one ride before the park closed. Maggie did manage to climb the volcano and try out the body plunge. She literally thought she was going to die, from both the drop and the plunge into the pool of water in the tube.

Back to the Royal Pacific

Even though we had two more hours in our day at the theme parks, we decided to cut our losses and just hang out by the pool for a bit before heading to our next hotel. Plus, we had put off eating all day, so I jumped on a tip I had overheard at the hot (cold) tub that the pool bar’s nachos were the best. They did not disappoint!

“Surprise, We’re Going to Disney!”

Well, sort of. The Uber guy gave away our destination, but I was prepared for this. I could hear the kids when he said, “Headed to Disney?” become incredulously silent in the back seat. I told them to open the duffle bag I had put on the seat between them that had Disney shirts and ears in it that I had secretly packed. I had to clarify that we were just staying the night there and doing a character breakfast in the morning, not going to the parks.

Unfortunately, they were either unimpressed, or too tired to care. They liked the resort, were surprised that we got MagicBands, and enjoyed the cute Mickey decor in the room, but mostly they just wanted to veg out when we got settled in. I was hoping we’d venture out to see the rest of the resort or even check out fireworks or the water pageant, but they decided to call it a night.

Stay Tuned Tomorrow…

Come back tomorrow for the conclusion of our trip and how we spent our last day in Orlando!