Disclosure: A group of bloggers recently got together (with their +1) accepted the challenge to face their fears together. We were hosted by Universal Studios Orlando to experience Halloween Horror Nights 25, City Walk, The Cowfish, and both parks. This is our story.
City Walk Food
Since we don’t live too far from City Walk we are lucky enough to have tried a couple of the restaurants here. One of our top 2 Mexican restaurants of all time is located here, Antojitos Authentic Mexican Food. We shared a bunch of information on the blog the last time we were here so I encourage to check out here. We’ve also be lucky enough to eat a Margaritaville several times over the past year. But since we are a big sushi family it’s the Burgushi spot that has our hearts. We were there for the grand opening of Cowfish Sushi Burger so it was great to go back almost a year later to see how it is doing. We are happy to report it was just as good this time as it was the first. It looks like The Cowfish® is going to be around for a long time and definitely one of our favorite choices at City Walk.
City Walk Fun
City Walk nightlife isn’t just about bars, but boy are they fun. We stopped into CityWalk’s Rising Star one night to watch some karaoke and it was a blast. I loved watching the host – he almost reminded me of Justin Timberlake (that was one of the jokes of the evening, they called him Justin Timberfake). I wouldn’t recommend this for children earlier in the even was pretty PG in my opinion, at least the night we were there. But like I mentioned the fun at City Walk goes beyond bars because you can also find some great movies playing at the AMC® Cineplex 20 with IMAX® for more interactive fun there is also a sweet Hollywood Drive-In Golf™ that the kids are sure to love! Since we are relatively local we try to get there at least a few times each year. Finally, if you haven’t seen the Blue Man Group this is where you can catch their daily shows. I still haven’t seen them yet but it is on my bucket list!
Universal Studios Amusement
So I would be horrible if I didn’t mention this trip was based on Facing Our Fears Together and we got to ride and experience all types of rides and Haunted Houses at Halloween Horror Nights 25 and as part of this we spent the day at Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Island of Adventure. It was a great day filled with LOTS of twists, curves, silliness, upside downs, drops, and scares. We got to me a real dinosaur from Jurassic Park (please DO NOT tell anyone about this secret part of the park), faced the Fear Fall, explored Diagon Alley, and my favorite thing – rode Hogwarts Express!
If you haven’t been to Universal Studios Orlando you are definitely missing out. It’s my favorite Orlando, Florida theme park for families with children around my son’s age (11 and 22). They offer a little something for everyone. If you want to be where all the action is I totally recommend Hard Rock Hotel too!
The Hard Rock Hotel
It was awesome staying right on property at the Hard Rock Hotel! Getting to the parks and/or City Walk was a 10 minute walk or a quick Rickshaw but after a long day there is nothing like relaxing on the Water Taxi and enjoying the colors of the neon as you relax on your way back to the hotel. Since we were there during the start of #Pinktober they had a concert scheduled featuring Brett Michaels so we got to watch them transform the lobby into a classy private concert space but we weren’t able to stay for the concert because we were out enjoying HHN25.
From the time you check in though you feel like a Rock N Roller or at least a groupie. I kept thinking everyone was someone famous as I have never seen so many piercings, hair colors (on men), tattoos, and cool looking musician looking people in one place. Even the employees looked rockin’! I love the music they played everywhere from outdoors in the pool, the lobby, the pool bar, out near the volleyball court, in the arcade, and everywhere else. It was truly a fun hotel that I plan on visiting again soon!
The beds were totally comfy and I loved the decor in the room. I especially loved the drumsticks hanging on the wall near the bathroom and I had a hard time not sneaking the throw pillows into my luggage (not really, but they were really cute). The rooms were nice size and I loved that they included Keurigs in the room. The small fridge came in handy too. I only wish they had microwaves in the rooms, but they are available for a fee I found out. The meals at the bar and in The Kitchen were huge and we always had leftovers (try the Elvis breakfast).
Facing Fears Together was such a great event at a wonderful location. I can only hope we get to go back next year…
Have you ever experienced all that Universal has to offer?
