Last night was the grand unveiling of the all new Jurassic World The Ride at Universal Studios Hollywood. The stars and media were out in full force to cover the opening of this new attraction. 

​Let's check it out!! 

Welcome to Jurassic World

It's a bit warm but we're ready for Jurassic World

The ride looks amazing after dark

A brief opening ceremony (be sure to check out the video of the opening celebration below) 

And of course Fireworks!! 

Blue was also out to greet people

Chris Hardwick and Blue coming to a prom near you

Enough of the heat, it's time to cool down!! 

Kersplash!! 

As we mentioned last night, videos and pictured don't do the additions to this ride justice. You have to see it in person. 

Some fun B-Roll sent to us from the park. Everybody kept asking if we were going to live-stream riding last night, we were under strict instructions to not film on the ride (although some others were). We like the good relationship we have with the park. =) 

Even though we only saw it at night, through the magic of email (from the park) we also have some daytime images. =) 

The Aquarium scene was AMAZING

Got a chance to say hi to Colton Dunn from Superstore. Super nice guy. 

Bryce Dallas Howard

Our old pal Yvette Nicole-Brown

We of course had to take a look at Isla Nu-Bar

We'll definitely be getting these on our next visit to the park

We also got a chance to check out the new menu at the Jurassic Cafe

We did try the Guava Glazed Pound Cake and the Tres Leches Cake. Both were fantastic. 

There's also some great merchandise to add to your Jurassic collection

These things are super cute

You can also get some collectibles 

Funko Everywhere!! 

You're my boy blue!!! 

A behind the scenes shot from our buddy Matt. Glamorous no? 

Thanks to Universal Hollywood for having us out. We had a great time!! Can't wait to get back to the park and ride some more!! 

Today we have a quick look at the "now open for technical rehearsals" Jurassic Park the ride. 

Media Night isn't for another 12 days but we're glad to show off some pics of the ride courtesy of Andros. 

Pics by Andros Gonzalez

Welcome to Jurassic World! 

‪Only a 10 minute wait for Platinum passes. Otherwise, it's an insane 180 minute wait! ​

Ahh, so good to have you back!! 

The new indoor portion of the ride

The ride has been getting pretty rave reviews so far 

Still some things left from "Park", which is great!! 

Could you always see the top of the show building when it was Jurassic Park: The Ride? 

Anybody catch any other park references yet? 

That's not good

Definitely not good

Oh, we should be safe in here!! 

Danger, Danger, Danger!! 

Welp, that's our preview. We will be at media night on the 22nd, we'll definitely remind you before then. Hoping we will be able to get some POV's, etc to share. We've been avoiding them pretty well so far. 

​Thanks for reading!! Have a great Thursday!! 

Last week I was out in Orlando for a training conference. As luck would have it, the most inexpensive conference hotel happened to be Cabana Bay. So I figured I'd take advantage of my surroundings to explore some of the non-park offerings of the resort. 
I had hoped to head into the parks one day, but given that I only had a few hours on one of my days it wasn't meant to be. But I had a great time exploring what the resort has to offer away from the parks. Let's check it out! 

After taking the red-eye from LAX I arrived at Cabana Bay around 7:30am last Monday. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to check in that early but that turned out to not be an issue at all. I was able to check in, get something to eat and head up to the room to take a bit of a nap before my first training session at 1:00pm. 

​Hi Orlando!! 

The first day of the trip was obviously catching up on sleep, but I did make my way to/from the Convention Center for some pre-conference sessions. I utilized the I-Drive Trolley on the first day since there was no shuttle on Monday. It took me a couple of trips to figure out where the closest place to catch the Trolley was from the hotel. Something that won't be a problem when Universal opens their two new hotels (more on that later). 

The first day I took a bus to CityWalk, then a boat to Portofino (as I thought the easiest place to catch the trolley was at the DoubleTree). 

On the way back that afternoon, I took the shuttle back to the DoubleTree but made my way to the Water Taxi by way of the Hard Rock. 

I then transferred to the next WaterTaxi to Sapphire Falls. Which meant I was able to get Water Taxi POV for pretty much the entire route. Check it out below, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. 

LOVE the spiral staircase at Sapphire Falls

The trek back from Sapphire to Cabana was a bit longer than I anticipated, but after a day of traveling and training, it was nice to stretch the legs a bit. 

Love the Cabana Bay merchandise! 

Also made sure to take advantage of the free-refill cup for the duration of my stay. This came in very handy as I ate more meals in the hotel than outside of the hotel. 

Morning two, as I headed out to the shuttle to OCCC. 

The hotel shuttles didn't quite fit my conference schedule on Tuesday, so it was back on the Trolley. Which allowed me to get a couple of good looks at the two new Universal Hotels (and I figured out that the actual closest trolley stop was here and not the DoubleTree). 

I know some are asking why I didn't just Lyft/Uber (trust me, I did), but I always love exploring a city on foot. It just gives you a different feel. 

After a bit of a rest in the room, I met up with Sean from California, Florida, European Coaster Kings for dinner at Cow Fish and a visit to both Fun Spots. But that's a different update. =) 

Day 3 was about a 12 hour day at the convention center, but I did take the time when I got back to do a bit of a tour of the hotel. 

Let's Bowl!! 

I ate breakfast, dinners and snacks pretty much exclusively at Bayliner Diner, I was very impressed with the food choices and the staff was spectacular. 

The pool area's are kind of amazing. If it was a different kind of trip I can imagine spending a lot of time in the lazy river. 

What's up Volcano Bay

Cabana Bay Lobby 

More pools. 

I didn't realize that the hotel had interior and exterior corridor rooms, I had just asked for "whatever is available" when I checked in. 

​So if you have a preference, be sure to request it. Personally, I was happy to have a room with an interior corridor, away from the pools as that's not what I was there for. 

My last stop before heading up to the room to pack was the store to do some shopping. They had Hagrid's merch out. 

I was very tempted to buy this hat, but have a rule that I don't wear merch until I can ride the ride. 

​Plus, I prefer fitted hats. I wish more parks would have them as an option. 

Phone cases in a variety of styles 

And of course, lots of Magical Creatures 

Thanks Cabana Bay for a fantastic stay. 

I was totally blown away by Cabana Bay. I knew I would love it, and it's retro style, but I wasn't sure how much. Sure, I wasn't really there for relaxing and enjoying the hotel, but even as a conference goer it fit the bill. 

We're talking about a family trip to Orlando in the near future, definitely think Cabana Bay will be where we stay for our Universal portion. 

Stay tuned later this week for additional updates from both Fun Spots and SeaWorld Orlando where we discover there are still good people in the world.