Hello and welcome to my runDisney Princess Half Marathon Weekend 2025 trip report! I’m returning to the blow-by-blow diary format for this trip. Today we make a pretty significant shift as we leave WDW behind and say hello to Universal Studios! Read all the posts in this report here. Onward!
And you thought this was just a Walt Disney World trip report!
While I originally intended to leave Monday evening, I wound up changing my flight and tagging along with Becky and our friend Kristin for a couple days at Universal Studios. YOLO, as the kids say. (Do the kids still say YOLO?) Thus this morning dawned not at a Disney resort but rather at Universal’s Cabana Bay.
UNIVERSAL CONCEPTS
Becky and I were still playing a bit of sleep catch up after our spectacular race triumphs, but we still had our sights on rope drop. Kristin was up a bit earlier than us, and was kind enough to skip down to Bayliner Diner (Cabana Bay’s quick service restaurant) to get us coffee that was definitely not worth the $5 a cup they charged. Still, it was delightful to rise to a ready cup as we prepped for the day.
We were staying in a family suite facing the pool, a short and reasonable walk to the main building. This location was a marked improvement over last time I stayed at Cabana Bay, when we were in a regular room in a tower clear across the resort. Plus the family suites have little kitchenettes, which is nice. Consider this my endorsement of the category.
Our first order of business upon leaving the room was to swing by the lobby to pick up our tickets, which needed to be activated before we could hook them up in Universal’s app. Under normal circumstances we would have taken the walking path to the parks next – except we happened to look up and see that a park bus was just pulling into the bus stop. We jumped in and found ourselves at the entrance to the complex in no time.
HARRY POTTER & THE EFFICIENT UNIVERSAL TOURING PLAN
We were just in time to skitter into the parks for the 30 minute head start afforded to those guests staying at Universal resorts, and we took up a position in the lengthy line for Islands of Adventure. Luckily it started moving pretty quickly, and we were inside and on our way to Hogsmeade in short order.
And then quickly found ourselves in another line as we filed into the queue for Hagrid’s Magical Motorbike Adventure. It was to be my third ride lifetime! But I’ve still only see the preshow once; the time previous I used the single rider line, and in this instance the preshow wasn’t running at all. Why? Context is such a story enhancer! They could at least have it running on a loop and let people walk through at their discretion.
On the other hand, this was my first time riding the bike as opposed to the sidecar – Becky was kind enough to cede her spot for me. Tragically I kinda needed to pee after the hour-ish wait, and leaning over the handlebars was not a comfortable feeling. (I stupidly assumed there would be a bathroom somewhere in the queue as has been the trend lately.) A good time all the same! And then I went and peed in the Moaning Myrtle bathroom, so that was fun.
BEER. BUTTER. HOT.
We followed up our Care of Magical Creatures lesson with a quick spin on Harry Potter & The Forbidden Journey, aka The Hogwarts Ride. I have never known a ride more universally (rim shot!) panned by motion sickness sufferers. Or non-motion sicknesses sufferers, for that matter. Just about everybody I talk to says something to the effect of “It’s great but it makes me queasy.”
It doesn’t get me too bad, but even I occasionally step off feeling not quite right in the gut. And yet I continue to ride it because I just love a good dark ride hybrid. The speedy bits over the lake are my favorites!
By now we were hurtling into mid-morning, and the weather was not warming the way previous predictions had promised. I had worn a sweatshirt expecting to take it off later in the day, but the sun never really came out to warm us. The periodic wind didn’t exactly help matters.
None of which makes for the most pleasant park touring, but it did present me with an opportunity I’d never had before: seasonally appropriate hot butter beer. We all picked up cups inside the Hog’s Head Pub and enjoyed the respite from the comparative cold.
ALL ABOARD THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS
Neither our touring plans nor our ticket types confined us to Islands of Adventure. We also had big goals for Universal Studios proper, and we slid onto the Hogwarts Express to execute them.
We wound up in a train car with a French family with an unruly father who kept standing up during the ride in an effort to take photos. Luckily it was more amusing than irritating; you didn’t have to speak French to understand that his wife and daughter were frantically instructing him to knock it off. 
Since the Hogwarts Express dumps you out by Diagon Alley anyway, we figured we might as well start there. We first wiggled into the queue for the Gringott’s ride, where for the first time since my inaugural ride (literally 2015) they forced us to take our “bank identification” photos before the elevator bit. To distract you from the wait time like a preshow, maybe? Do that many people really buy their photos?
HARRY POTTER & THE ESCAPE FROM HARRY POTTER
After this we left the Wizard World of She Who Must Not Be Named (JK 
) and sauntered into the “real” world of the OG Universal Studios.
Our first order of business was to rustle up some lunch. We happened to be at UO during their Mardi Gras festival, which includes such exciting attractions as merchandise, a bead-heavy parade, and – you guessed it! – food booths.
Unfortunately, the weather had failed to improve. In fact, for a little while there it started sprinkling, and poor Becky didn’t even have a sweatshirt or anything. Rather than continue our booth snack pursuits, we decided to head indoors and ride Revenge of the Mummy.
NOT EVEN THE MEDJAI CAN SAVE YOU NOW
This was fine with me, because fun fact: I LOOOOOOOVE The Mummy. Heck, I might go so far as to call it my favorite movie. Is it a cinematic masterpiece, perfectly crafted and full of deep insights? Sure isn’t! It is, however, a whole lotta fun. This is peak Brendan Fraser, when he was such a box office draw they told him to keep being sexy but also let him be weird. A key factor in my undying love for Brendan Fraser is that he is irrepressibly offbeat. You would not believe how often I describe my wine as chewy.
Where was I? Oh, right, The Mummy! I love The Mummy and also I love Revenge of The Mummy, which crucially includes segments where Brendan Fraser gets to be kinda weird. I bet we would all enjoy this trip report a lot more if we had GOTTEN OUR CUP OF COFFEE!!!!! Remember when it was rumored they were going to retheme the ride to the Tom Cruise remake? I would’ve LOST IT. You know me; I care about the issues.
Much like the movie itself, is it the best storycoaster of all time? Sure isn’t! But it’s fun and once again combines a dark ride with a roller coaster, and I’m always a sucker for that combination. And it’s based on a movie I adore? Let’s go again!
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS TRUSTS US
By now it was mid-afternoon, and the chill in the air still lingered. We decided to head back to our room… but not before making a pit stop in the Villain-Con Minion Blast, which in addition to be on the way out had absolutely no line.
This is a shooter a la Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger spin et al, but there’s an interesting twist. You pick up your E-Liminator blaster gun in the queue, get your color assignment, and then stand on that dot… on a moving walkway. There’s no ride vehicle. You’re just standing there the whole time. Ten out of ten for efficiency, but minus several million for trust in the behavior of the public, don’t you think?
Maybe I’m being overly cynical, but we all stood on our assigned colored dots as honor required and aimed our E-Liminators at various screens. Oh, yes, this was a screen-based shooter a la Toy Story Mania rather than something more akin to a traditional dark ride like Buzz or Men in Black. I actually did pretty well for me, although like most rides of its ilk I wound up with an increasingly fatigued hand about halfway through.
NOW BEGONE BEFORE SOMEBODY DROPS A HOUSE ON YOU TOO
Also on the way out and blessedly indoors? The new Wicked display, an exhibition of prop replicas from the new movie and of course an assortment of merchandise. I’m more an original Wizard of Oz fan, but it was still fun to see some of the callbacks. Pink does go well with green.
After a brief spin through the main Universal gift shop, we exited the part and took a shot at a bar spot at Toothsome Chocolate Emporium. Tragically there was no room to be had – I am now 0 for 2 at Toothsome attempts. Well, whaddya gonna do. We instead walked back to Cabana Bay and grabbed some lunch at the Bayliner Diner before heading back to our room to chill.
Becky and Kristin had their sights set on some time in the hot tub, an activity I have made no secret of my enthusiasm for. I did wander over there with them to check it out. Unfortunately it was full (specifically full of small children, for some reason), so I bid them good luck. I had a different late afternoon plan in mind…
AS THE SUN SETS OVER UNIVERSAL STUDIOS…
Becky and Kristin had one more day in Universal than I did, so I wanted to spend a little more time in the parks on day one. I also wanted to do something I had been pondering for quite some time: a Theme Park One Girl Dance Party.
What’s a One Girl Dance Party, you ask? It’s almost exactly like it sounds. I, the One Girl in question, put on headphones, crank some music, and dance around. Unless – and this is where the almost comes in – I wish to move locations, in which I kinda bounce-walk around. And with the walking path between Cabana Bay and the parks, I knew what I had to do: slap on some headphones and bounce-walk to Islands of Adventure.
While it was still a touch chilly, the wind had slacked and the skies had cleared. I passed a wonderful mile or so walk to CityWalk and continued into IoA with my own little soundtrack blaring. Yes, admittedly the park designers put time and attention into designing themed soundscapes for the various areas, but it was nice to have an extra control over my environment. I was in my own little world in its own little world. Microcosmic inception!
ONE GIRL PARK PARTY
My first trick was supposed to be the Hagrid’s Magical Motorbike Adventure single rider line, but the guy manning the queue said it was being calibrated or something and the single rider line was closed. I recommended I come back in thirty minutes or so.
I knew just how to kill the time: I sidled into the Hog’s Head pub for another round of delicious Fire whisky. Do you like the idea of Fireball but not the execution? Then Fire Whisky might just be for you! I came dangerously close to finding my plan thwarted as the bartender carded me and couldn’t take my on-phone ID. Thankfully they took pity on my tricenarian self and sold me my double shot and cider anyway. 
I spent fifteen minutes or so happily wandering the Wizarding World solo, bopping to my music, sipping my cocktail, and observing the details of the land.
Sadly the Hagrid’s single rider line never did open up again. On the other hand, the Hogwarts ride was a complete walk-on. I briefly pondered heading over to Velocicoaster on the off chance that single rider line was open, but I didn’t care to ride without my glasses. Ultimately I chose one more spin through Hogwarts before Islands of Adventure shut down for the night.
THIS TRIP REPORT INSTALLMENT IS ALMOST OVER, I PROMISE
Since I had my music to accompany me, I took the long way out of the park, stopping here and there to take pictures (some for me and some for others!).
I was arguably running a teensy bit late for our dinner reservation at Strong Water Tavern, but through my incredible powers of speed walking I made it to Universal’s Aventura Hotel at 7:30pm on the dot. I am sure you will be relieved to hear that I will be covering this meal in a separate post.
And that was game! We enjoyed a nice meal, made the short remaining walk back to Cabana Bay, and unwound in our room a bit before heading to bed. For me, only one day remained in my beloved Orlando…
Don’t forget, you can follow FRoA on Threads @fairestrunofall and on Instagram @fairestrunofall. If you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment or email fairestrunofall@gmail.com. See ya real soon!