July 2020, that's right, we had a vacation during the pandemic. Originally, we had planned on a Disney vacation during this time. In fact, we had a DVC studio booked at the Polynesian Resort and Patrick's parents were going to join us. This was going to be our first time renting DVC points and we had decided to spend time at the resort, with only a 3-day park ticket purchased. When the pandemic hit and the parks shut down, no one knew what to think. At the time, we held on to all our reservations waiting to see what would happen. Eventually rumors started to fly about the parks reopening.
Before our trip, we learned that our hotel would be open for our stay, but the parks would not open until the day we were scheduled to check out. When this info came out, we made the choice to not go to Disney this year. Instead, we chose to keep our vacation days and go to Universal. We debated changing the dates of our Disney trip and even vacationing someplace else entirely. Ultimately, we decided we would be more comfortable going to a city we already were familiar with and I was doing tons of YouTube research watching vloggers who were returning to the parks before us. Universal Orlando reopened to the public on June 5. From that time until we left, I probably watched YouTube daily watching videos of others in the parks. During this time, procedures were changing daily, but most people all said they felt safe, while they explained what steps Universal was taking to give them that security. So, with our decision made, we did some Universal research and ended up becoming Universal passholders and booking a room at the new Endless Summer Surfside hotel. It had been 5 years since Patrick, LittleCJC, and I spent a long crazy day going through both parks, so we were all excited to return.
Our check-in day wasn't until July 5, but if you've read any of my first day trip reports before, you know that we of course left early. In fact, we actually left July 3 thinking we would just drive as far as the girls could handle, but they were troopers and made it all the way.
Since we were early, we booked two nights at the Holiday Inn Express on Palm Parkway. We had never stayed here before, so I'm not sure why we chose it this time. It's not one I would recommend if you want a great pool, but it was clean and mostly empty so it was perfect for this stay.
Another positive is that parking was free and breakfast was included. With the pandemic, the usual breakfast wasn't available, but instead we were given grab and go bags which worked great for us the two days we were there.
I don't think I would have wanted this for a week straight, but for our two days it was perfect.
Our first day in Orlando, was July 4th, so we weren't really sure we wanted to go to the park. We figured it would be pretty crowded, so we weren't sure we were ready for that. So, we decided to start our day at Disney Springs instead.
It was so empty that it was almost more sad than anything else.
We walked through the World of Disney store for some Disney feels. The girls also loved the Lego Store.
We also found this great photo wall where the girls decided they needed to get pictures taken.
For lunch, we checked out the new Chicken Guy restaurant.
It's safe to say, the girls approved. With no crowds and several stores still closed, we felt like we had done everything we could here. So, when we were done eating, we decided to leave. We discussed our options and we decided to head to Universal. Seeing how empty Disney Springs was, we were feeling better, but to play it safe, we decided to drop Patrick off first. This was done for a few reasons. One, LittleCGC fell asleep in the car so it gave her more time to nap in the AC. Secondly, and let's be honest, probably the main reason, by dropping Patrick off first, he was able to walk through City Walk, stop by Guest Services to collect our annual passes, and enter Universal Studios gate which activated his pass. When he returned to the car he was able to tell us that crowds were not bad and now with his activated card in hand we were able to leave the drop off/pick up area and reenter the parking lot without paying, one of the benefits of annual passes. So, that's exactly what we did.
Once we entered the park, we were greeted by King Jullian.
At this time, guest had to go through a temperature check before going through security. While on property, everyone age 3 and over were required to wear a facemask at all times unless in the designated U-Rest areas. Spacing markers were also placed on the ground both in ride queues and in front of the socially distanced characters as you can spot in the above picture.
The first ride of the trip ended up being one of the few rides at Universal that LittleCGC could actually ride.
I think we moved straight from here to Diagon Alley. LittleCJC was so excited and amazed as she entered. We had previously read the first two books and watched those movies before this trip. In Diagon Alley, we rode Escape from Gringotts.
Both girls loved walking through the bank. LittleCGC was enthralled by the goblins. Unfortunately, all the ride preshows weren't happening and we simply walked through all those rooms following our social markings. This even included this elevator, that I guess doesn't move? It has been too long since we were here so I don't really remember where the elevator drops you off, but it made sense how we entered the ride while just walking straight through it as we did on this trip.
Shortly before getting on the ride, LittleCGC and I seperated ourselves from the others and waited in the rider swap room. When Patrick and LittleCJC were done, we switched and LittleCGC was able to ride again with me.
Once we had all ridden the ride, we exited the bank to discover it had begun raining. We took shelter as best we could and put the rain cover over the stroller.
LittleCGC was not fond of the rain cover.
It really was a good little storm that popped up, but thankfully we were close to some Butterbeer.
Butterbeer is so yummy! It made the wait not so bad. After a while, the rain slowed enough that we were able to move on to another inside attraction, Fast and the Furious Supercharged.
The girls loved the party feel of the line and it was great with a socially distanced line since it gave them plenty of room to dance.
I understand why this ride gets a bad rep. Honestly, I think the line was more exciting than the ride. Don't get me wrong, LittleCJC thought it was fun, and it didn't help that LittleCGC was still too short for this one. If we're being honest about the least appreciated rides in the park, LittleCJC liked the next one much better, the Jimmy Fallon ride. In fact, she really liked this one.
LittleCGC found some puddles to stomp in while she waited.
As we suspected, this was the busiest day in the park, but it was still very empty.
This wasn't a planned photo, I just thought they were adorable holding hands and snapped a picture. It wasn't until after the fact that I noticed no one was in the background. We were able to pick up a virtual queue pass for Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure, so at this time we were ready to switch parks. Of course, we had to use the Hogwarts Express.
I think disappearing through the wall is awesome, but I think LittleCJC was more excited to see Hedwig.
LittleCGC was excited once she spotted the train.
My little wizard was in heaven.
After entering the virtual queue and riding Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure, I was in heaven.
This ride was awesome! LittleCJC was a little too short unfortunately, but on the bright side, again with social distancing, Patrick and I both got to ride on the bike side instead of the sidecar.
This was the perfect way to finish off our first day at the park. When we got off the ride, we left the park and found a Mod Pizza that we picked up and took back to our hotel room to eat for dinner.
