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Old 10 Apr 19, 06:03 PM  
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iheartwdw
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Easter, Eats and Eggventures: Universal April 2019 *Complete*

Easter, Eats and Eggventures

Hi and welcome to my first ever food report!

First of all, let me introduce the cast

Who
Me (Laura): I love to travel and I am a true Disney addict. This will be my 11th (I think?!) trip to Orlando and I am sure that it wont be the last! I love all things about holidaying in America the shopping, the activities and of course the food.



Nathan, my husband: Also enjoys travel and is a self-confessed geek. He has grown to love Disney since meeting me, although I dont think he has reached the addict level yet. He does however love Marvel and this trip is to celebrate his 34th birthday.




Heres a few of the both of us together, from our WDW trip last October.






Where
We have less than a week until our next Florida adventure and I cannot wait - you could even say I am very eggcitied about this Easter trip! We will be spending 11 nights at the Rosen Inn on International Drive and using this as a base to explore Universal (with a bit of Disney thrown in!).

As we have two big holidays already booked for this year Japan in July and a Disney Bahamian cruise in October, this holiday was not planned. However, as all good Dibbers, I like to play with dates on holiday websites and see if there are any cheap dates available. Whilst looking after Christmas on Virgin Holidays, I spotted a great price for flights, hotel and car hire - 800pp. We dont normally book packages and instead DIY our trips, but this was actually working out more reasonable than booking things individually. As a teacher, I am restricted to school holidays, so I know there are cheaper prices available, but not during the times when I can go away.

We didnt hesitate long before booking! We also decided to purchase Universal AP, as we hope to visit again during February 2020 half term and this will help us to save money in the long run. It also means that we will not have to pay for parking, as we opted for the Preferred Pass - we can also use some of the discounts on food and merch.

My parents booked their Disney holiday for September and had some DVC points leftover, so kindly let us use these to book a cheeky one night stay at my favourite resort, The Polynesian. This means I can get a small dose of Disney. We are booked for Easter Saturday, so will wake up in the Poly on Easter Day! This is going to be our holiday within a holiday, as we will not be doing any parks during this weekend. Instead, we will be relaxing around the pool, eating at Ohana's and having cocktails at Trader Sams . We chose this weekend, as we know that the parks can get super busy over Easter and this means that we should miss the most chaotic time.



When
This is a very last minute pre-trippie, as we head to the airport on Monday 15th April and Fly on Tuesday 16th. We are flying direct with Virgin on the way there and indirect with Delta for the return leg. Our outbound flight is at 10:25. We then return via Detroit leaving Orlando at 2:00 and Detroit at 10:25. I am planning to use the layover time to eat some more and to start my trip report!

What
I have been tweaking the itinerary since January and at the moment are plans are:

Monday 15th : Packing and more packing, followed by a train journey to Gatwick and an overnight stay at the Premier Inn. As we have booked a late off peak train, we wont arrive at the hotel until 9:30, so I have been purchasing lots of train picnic goodies that we can munch on instead of dinner.

Tuesday 16th: Travel day! We have not decided if we will indulge in a Premier Inn breakfast yet or if we will get something at the airport, itll depend on how hungry we are when we wake up! Lunch will be plane food bleurgh! When we stayed on I-Drive last February, we had a KFC dinner, as this is right next to the hotel. According to Nathan, this is now tradition, so this is what we will be having when we arrive.

Wednesday 17th: We plan to make the most of jet lag and use the early entry we get with our APs to explore Universal. In the afternoon, I have popped Volcano Bay onto the itinerary, to take in the sun and relax knowing that we still have 10 days ahead of us! The evening will be spent shopping and eating at Rolling Oaks - I love the Ulta and Target there!

Thursday 18th: Today we will be off to IOA in the morning and then to Vineland Outlets in the afternoon to grab some bargains. Dinner will be on I-Drive, probably Red Lobster.

Friday 19th: I have a bit of park hopping between IOA and Universal on the schedule today, before more shopping, this time at International Drive outlets - I did tell you that I like to shop! I have also planned in some mini golf, in order to maintain my winning title and beat Nathan again. I think that we will eat offsite again, maybe Millers Chicken zinger melt drool!

Saturday 20th: Let the relaxation begin! I will be spending this day around the Poly pool, eating Dole Whips and drinking cocktails. We have an ADR at Ohanas for 8:05 and will be nipping into Trader Sams before this. Our ADR time means that we should be able to watch Happily Ever After from the restaurant.

Sunday 21st: Easter Day! Breakfast will be from Captain Cookes. I would like to see some of the Easter egg displays at the Grand Flo today, before having a mooch around Disney Springs. We have an Easter meal at Trails End booked for 5:50, however, there isnt much online about what it entails. We booked it as a new and affordable ADR and when the confirmation came through, it stated that it was a special Easter menu. We may change this if Disney charge a special price for the slightly different menu options.

Monday 22nd: Back to Universal today, before a late lunch/early dinner ADR at Beaches and Cream. We stayed at the Beach Club in October and couldnt get a reservation, so we are making up for it this trip. I have my eye on one of the ginormous milkshakes!

Tuesday 23rd: We will be returning to Volcano Bay today and taking it easy, as we will be spending the night in the parks, with a meal at the amazing Cowfish!

Wednesday 24th: A theme park day today, we will wait and see where we fancy on the day. I would like to squeeze in Millennia Mall at some point, but we also have plans to go to Port Orleans to watch the legend that is YeeHaa Bob (no Orlando visit is complete, unless we see one of his shows). We will have a huge pizza from the food court., whilst watching the performance.

Thursday 25th: Park hopping and getting on any rides that we havent managed yet or re-riding our favourites. I would like to spend the evening at Disney Springs, taking in the atmosphere and sharing snacks for our dinner.

Friday 26th: Travel home dayboo! I have planned a final IHOP breakfast, so that I can eat more cake pancakes before we head to the airport. We will be travelling for most of the day, so will be living off of airport fast food. Fingers crossed for a Panda Express, nom nom nom! We will arrive back to Heathrow at 10:25 on Saturday morning and have a taxi booked to bring us home - no doubt exhausted and ready for another holiday!

Sunday will be Nathans actual birthday. It would have been lovely to celebrate away, but unfortunately the school holidays didnt allow us to and it would have been a rubbish birthday stuck on a plane if we returned on the Saturday evening. Nathan is really excited about spending so much time at Universal as part of his birthday celebrations, as it often just gets slotted in to a Disney holiday. He is also looking forward to indulging in so much junk food and sugar! I am sure that his actual birthday back home, will be full of jet lag and even more food!

Food
We plan to eat onsite at both Universal and Disney, as well as taking advantage of our International Drive location and eat offsite also. Our wish list currently looks like this:

Universal
Cowfish - A massive favourite for both of us, the burgers are delicious.
Simpsons Food Court - We enjoyed the tacos and are looking forward to trying something new.
Panda Express - I love Chinese food!
Hard Rock - OMG, the potato skins - get in my belly!

Disney
Ohana's - My favourite restaurant ever, in my favourite hotel ever!
Trails End - A new one for us, that we have booked twice before and cancelled both times.
Beaches and Cream - Another newbie.
Port Orleans Pizza - A firm favourite of Nathans, he would eat the entire pizza to himself if he was allowed!

Offsite
IHOP - I adore the cake pancakes, I hope I get to have them more than once on this trip!
Cracker Barrel - Somewhere I have always wanted to try and hear great things about.
Dennys - We have not been yet, but hope to go for breakfast.
Red Lobster - The cheese biscuits are calling me!
Millers - We enjoyed our meal here last year and are looking forward to another tasty meal.
Longhorns - Mmmmm, steak.
Cheesecake Factory - We might just grab some cheesecake to go, as we have so many places we would like to eat.
Bob Evans - Another we havent tried yet, but always seems to get good breakfast reviews.

There is an awful lot of places on the list, I dont think my stomach will expand enough to eat them all!

Snacks
There are always so many tempting snacks to eat, I could quite easily live off of these for the whole holiday, but at the moment I have shortlisted the choices too:

Voodoo donuts
The Big Pink Donut, Simpsons.
Cheeto mac and cheese, Disney Springs Food Truck.
Fries and cheese dip, Cookes of Dublin
Menchies
Dole Whip
Mickeys Premium Bar
Tater Tots - I am not sure where I will get these at Universal, but they are my fave and a must!

I am currently in a sea of packing cubes, clothes and suitcases, but cannot wait to see all of the Easter festivities and be back in my favourite place.



Index
Pre-Travel Day: Travel, Trains and Tiredness
Travel Day: Seats, Shambles and Soaring
Day 1: Volcanos, Vineland and Vouchers
Day 2: Sprinkles, Springs and Shrimp
Day 3: Bart, Bananas and Bob
Day 4: Porches, Poly and Pools
Day 5: Tonga, Tanning and Trails End
Day 6: Shopping, Sales and Shakes
Day 7: Cauldrons, Coasters and Cowfish
Day 8: Zzzzzs, Zooms and Zingers
Day 9: Fairways, Fountains and Florian Fortescues
Day 10: Departing, Detroit and Dilly Dalliers
Highs, Mehs and Future Plans

Thanks for reading and I hope you follow along ,

Laura Xx

Edited at 07:35 PM.
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Old 10 Apr 19, 07:59 PM  
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orlandoamber
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A food report with Red Lobster! I cant wait for it. We love Red Lobster but it never seems to feature in many food reports.

Hope you have a great time. 😊
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Old 10 Apr 19, 09:03 PM  
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theCMG
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theCMG's Reviews
Hotel Reviews: 8
Restaurant Reviews: 1
Thanks for sharing, looking forward to the report
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Dining & Trip Reports:
50 Shades of Beige (2022) xxl rated food
DLP, EuropaPark & Efteling Roadtrip (2019) 3 parks, which is best?
The Prisoner of Vineland Mall (2019) Orlando passion, romance and fine dining...ok so it's mainly eating
Scream if you want to go Fatter! (2018) This report contains images some dieters may find distressing!
The 12 Days of Easter (2015) Rumoured to contain up to one good joke. Let me know if you find it
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Old 10 Apr 19, 09:38 PM  
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Disney Planning
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You got a great price on the holiday. Looking forward to your updates.
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Old 11 Apr 19, 07:28 AM  
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16offtodisney!
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Ohh looking forward to this
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DLP Newport bay Sept 2008,DLP Santa fe April 2010, Emerald Island Easter 2012,Indian Creek May 2014, Rosen inn @Pointe, Royal Pacific, Springhill Suites Christmas 2015,Port Orleans French Quarter October 2017,Cabana Bay, Doubletree @Seaworld, Allstars Movies Christmas 2018
Sarah xx
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Old 11 Apr 19, 10:18 AM  
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Cha cha
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Look forward to it too - it'll be here before you know it! 😊
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Old 11 Apr 19, 06:59 PM  
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iheartwdw
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Originally Posted by orlandoamber View Post
A food report with Red Lobster! I cant wait for it. We love Red Lobster but it never seems to feature in many food reports.

Hope you have a great time. 😊
I can't wait to eat there!

Thanks, I can't believe there are only 5 days until we fly

Laura Xx
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Old 11 Apr 19, 07:00 PM  
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iheartwdw
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Originally Posted by theCMG View Post
Thanks for sharing, looking forward to the report
Thank you! Looking at your countdown it looks like we might be there at the same time... Have an amazing holiday too!

Laura Xx
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Old 11 Apr 19, 07:02 PM  
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iheartwdw
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Originally Posted by Disney Planning View Post
You got a great price on the holiday. Looking forward to your updates.
We're really happy with it

Thanks for following along ,

Laura Xx
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Old 11 Apr 19, 07:03 PM  
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iheartwdw
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Originally Posted by 16offtodisney! View Post
Ohh looking forward to this
Thank you, I am fit to burst with excitement!

Laura Xx
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