Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Universal Orlando: Day 1, travel and exploring the CityWalk

We got to the airport at 6:05 am and saw a long line of people outside of the security check. We thought we were going to miss our flight! While we were in line we saw other people skip ahead to another line. It was the "pre-check" line and we decided to use it! I'm still not sure what the "pre-check" line is or how you qualify to use it but we used it anyways.

There was a few complications before we took off. The sensor on the cargo door said it was open but it was obviously closed. The pilot had to call maintenance to make sure it was ok to go. We had 50mins once we landed in salt lake city to eat lunch and find our next terminal. Every minute they took to sort everything out cut into our layover time. Once we got going we had a hour and a half plane ride to Salt Lake City. Delta doesn't provide free Wi-Fi but they had some free content that you could stream to your phone. I tried every which way I could to access that content but my device wasn't supported. My phone isn't a very common one. I decided to give up and take my tablet out of my luggage during our layover and try again on the next plane.

By the time we got to Salt Lake City we had to rush to the next terminal. Luckily we brought food so we didn't have to stop and get food and we could eat on the plane. Pre flight checks went smoothly and we were up in the air in no time. I took out my tablet and it wasn't supported by Delta's media content either! It was a 4 hr flight from Salt Lake City to Orlando. If they didn't have an in flight movie I wouldn't know what I would do! They showed the new Cinderella which was pretty cool. I liked it a lot. It was a lot like the Disney Classic Cinderella but with more realism and back story.

We arrived at Orlando on time and met up with our driver. The weather here is very humid but not as hot as I thought it would be. We get to stay on property at the Loews Pacific Resort Hotel as part of our travel package this time. How exciting! I've never stayed at a hotel on a resort property before. We had a 25min drive and we passed by a lot of theme parks and ad's for theme parks on the way. This is definitely the land of theme parks! When we arrived at the resort my mom felt obligated to tip the driver her last $5 she brought in cash because I pointed out a sign that said most of the drivers salary comes from gratuity. We need to find a bank! Not just because we forgot to get cash on the way out but I forgot my cards too! We checked into the hotel, used the ATM, my mom and I got our city passes and went up to our rooms. This hotel has a Polynesian theme to it and it's pretty cool! It's like staying in a rain forest hotel. After we unpacked we found a dead brown baby cockroach in our closet and our hot water didn't work. When we went downstairs to get my grandma and sister their city passes and head out to the CityWalk to get food we told the front desk clerk about our cockroach and the hot water they moved us to a different room. That meant we had to go back up stairs, pack and move and I was getting hungry! They moved us to a newly renovated room which is a lot nicer than the other room but a little bit out of the theme. This room was trendier.

We arrived at Universal CityWalk by water taxi. The CityWalk is a lot like Downtown Disney but smaller with entertainment options. It rained the whole time we were there. It was kind of odd because it was a warm rain. I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep my jacket on or not. There are a few surf shops, boutique shops and regular retail shops here like Fossil and Element. Emeril and Jimmy Buffet have restaurants here too. The Blue Man Group has a stage at the CityWalk! I've already seen The Blue Man Group in Vegas so if I miss them here it's not such a big deal. After we explored we decided to eat at Hard Rock Cafe. We got our picture taken in the entryway. I've never had that done at a restaurant before. This is the largest Hard Rock in the chain with lots of pop and rock memorabilia. I ordered a Hickory Barbecue Bacon Cheeseburger and it was awesome! The CityWalk also has a theatre, mini golf course and a night club. We were comp'd tickets for the night club so I might go there one night.

After dinner we took the water taxi back to the hotel, explored the hotel a little more and retired to our room for the night. The real adventure begins tomorrow!

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