Ashley Foley Travels: On the Blog

It’s no secret that this park got roasted during previews. I made the trip for opening day, and spent 2 nights in the hotel and 2 days at the park. Here is my honest opinion… THEY WERE WRONG!

Sure, if you are expecting the Universal Orlando experience, you are going to be disappointed. But for a park that starts at $56 per person/per day you are going to have a great time… if you are their targeted audience.

So who is this park best for? First and foremost, this park is best for families with kids ages 2-8… maybe 9. That being said, if you have older children tagging along with your younger kids, they aren’t going to have a terrible time.

Let’s break it down, land by land. I’ll give you the good, the bad and the super cute! Plus, I’ll give you my thoughts on the hotel (spoiler alert, they made some CHOICES here).

At the entrance of the park you are met with a brightly colored sign that is a super cute photo spot. I loved how they made the letters open so you can hop right in. There is a photographer there to grab your shot, but just be aware they will not take a photo with your device in this location. We had a family behind us help us out.

Security was a breeze. It is the same process as Universal Orlando. All your things go through the scanner, and then you walk through the metal detector. They will scan your ticket and then take your photo to make re-entry a breeze. And I do recommend taking a break midday if you are staying at the hotel. Boy, was it toasty.

Isle of Curiosity

I wil say, this was the saddest land. There was a little Gabby-themed cupcake truck, a shop, and then a Gabby show… but that’s it. My thoughts are that they are possibly seeing if Gabby continues to be popular before going all in.

My friends tried two of the cupcakes at Cakey’s Cupcakes. They loved the Cakey Cat cupcake, but found the Pandy Paws cupcake a little dry. I did not partake because fun fact… I hate cake.

There is also the Universal Kids Cafe in the front of the park. Parents, this one is for you! This is where the Starbucks is housed. They also have a few menu items, like an Asian Chicken Salad which looked fabulous in the photo, but they did appear to be premade in a container, which was a let down.

SpongeBob Squarepants Bikini Bottom

Truth time… I have never been a fan of SpongeBob. I kind of think he is a whiny jerk. But this area is super cute, even if you aren’t a huge fan.

The Goofy Goobers ice cream and restaurant is a win. I couldn’t resist The Triple Gooberberry Sunrise. This one was around $20 with the collectable bowl. Did I need it..? No. Did I struggle to get it home..? Yes. The sundae was okay. It wasn’t life changing but I do think kids will enjoy it throughly.

We also had the Humala Bebuhla Zeebuhla Chop Salad from here. It comes with grilled chicken, but we ended up swapping that out for chicken tenders, which honestly was the move.

There are 4 attractions, a meet and greet, and then a splash area in this land. Plus a shop and a snack bar with 2 SpongeBob Cheesy Presses that were really tasty!

Illumination’s Minions vs. Minions: Bello Bay Club

This land is my FAVORITE. Between the meet and greets (hello EVIL MINION), Bello Bay, and the adorable photos ops, I spent the most time here.

Bello Bay was so fun and you get SOAKED, which is perfect when you are melting.

The other ride here is the Bello Bay Golf Cart Derby, plus there are interactive play/water areas for everyone to cool off.

For food here, you have a snack cart called the Bello Bay Boutique and Bites. This was not my favorite, but I can see kids loving the banana and grape flavored popcorn and the shaved ice. They also have a Mac and Cheese cone that we thought was bland. They need to meet up with Epic on that front.

Jurassic World Adventure Camp

Want to meet a baby Dino… they got you. Besides meeting a baby Raptor. We have 3 rides here. The Cretaceous coaster is super fun, but too short. Plus, there is a great ropes course style play area.

For food, the Jurassic World Canteen offers some really different options than traditional theme park food. I really enjoyed the Carnivore beef bowl. At $15 I thought the price was great. We also tried the Dinosaur Bites, because who can pass up a Dino nugget with a mashed potato volcano???

Puss in Boots Del Mar

The theming is a 10/10. The show is a 2/10. Alright, the kids around us loved it. But Mama Luna’s Adopt a Kitty Day show really did not do it for me. The other attraction here was the Swings over Del Mar, plus there is an interactive games area. There is also supposed to be a meet and greet with Puss in Boots, but we did not see him meeting in our two days.

Let’s talk about the food at Comidas y Leche. Everyone LOVED their meals here. I have the Big Jack Horner’s Wrap (this is basically a crunch wrap from Taco Bell). It was so tasty. But the real star of the show was the elote. I could have eaten about 20 of those corn ribs.

Shrek’s Swamp

This may be harsh… but what is that ride? This is the one place I agree with the negativity. The ride is lame. I love a good ol’ Old Timey Car ride (I’m looking at you Santa’s Village iykyk). But this one was lame. They could have done so much more here.

The meet and greet was cute. Fiona was super interactive and chatting with all the guests. There is also a splash area. Swamp Snacks is the food venue here. You can get the infamous Shrekzel, as well as a turkey leg (barf), and Donkey’s Cookies and Cream Waffle.

I think they really missed the mark here not having Donkey.

TrollsFest

Besides Spongebob, this area had the most to do in my opinion. There are 2 rides, a meet and greet, and two shows. Plus, a play area and you can get a Troll makeover!

Both shows are super cute. King Trollex Techno Dance Party is great for the kids to get their wiggles out. The Trollstastic: Concert Countdown has some great music and dancing. Plus, my favorite troll Guy Diamond makes an appearance. Now if they could just add a meet and greet with him!

We really enjoyed the pizza at Troll Eatz. We had the Cooper’s Funky Cheeseburger Pizza. The nacho cheese sauce was a great addition to the pizza.

The real highlight of this area is getting Trollified. It was just about $25 a person. We opted for the partial face paint instead of the full face. They also offer some cute non-troll options!

The Hotel

Okay, we have some things to work out here.

First and foremost the hotel is cute. How can you hate a hotel where the lowest level room sleeps families of 5. That is a win right there.

Let’s talk where they fell short. No food available after 9pm except the very over priced snack “closet”. You can’t even refill your cups after 10 because the entire food area gets barricaded.

The other real miss is the pool. Don’t get me wrong… it’s fine. But if they had made it a little bigger, perhaps added a water feature or lazy river and a snack bar, they could absolutely make people want to stay more than a night. It would be perfect of those people staying 2 nights to cool off and hang mid-day when Texas is literally on fire.

Final Thoughts

I truly do not believe this resort is getting a fair shake on social media. It is perfect as a short trip for semi-local families. Would I fly from the East Coast just for this park… negative. But if you are already in the area with younger kids, this is a perfect addition. They really keep kids in mind while designing every aspect. The toilets are low with a kids seat, the colors are vibrant, and the snacks are definitely kids-approved.

The real highlight here is the characters. For a relatively small park there are plenty to meet. We found if you went first thing, wait times were low. And even later in the day. The days we were there, the park cleared out around 4ish. That still gives you 3 hours of low waits. Perfect for those who opted for 1.5 day tickets.

I know there is so much more I didn’t cover here. There were so many snacks I just couldn’t try in 2 days.

Ready to brave the park yourself? Leave a comment and I’ll send you my quote form or click the button below!