If you are a regular reader of this blog I know what you are thinking,
“Mrs. Modernlifeisgood’s birthday, surely not! She has more birthdays than the Queen.”

While it might seem she has several each year, she does genuinely only have one. However, they do seem to fall regularly when on our vacation. This year we extended our vacation by a day, so she did not have to travel on her birthday.
This year her birthday was when we were visiting Universal Orlando. We have never stayed in Universal when celebrating a birthday so was interested in how it would compare to Walt Disney World. Overall it was better.

Like Walt Disney World you can collect a free Birthday Button at Guest Services, but the Hard Rock Hotel also provided a free birthday pin. We found that Universal Team Members provided more birthday greetings and interactions than Walt Disney World cast members. Various interactions we received included:-
- Free birthday drink at the Hard Rock Hotel.
- Birthday Cake when dining at The Kitchen.
- Offer by a Team Member that we could have our own raft on Jurassic Park River Adventure.

It was very rare for any team member not to provide at least a birthday greeting. I suspect this might be down to fewer guests having Birthday Buttons at Universal, but it did make you feel more special.
Our day was spent mainly in the parks starting at Universal Studios Florida. We discovered Chez Alcatraz, which serves some fantastic cocktails, but they were unfortunately not getting given away as a birthday gift. However, they were very refreshing in what must have been the hottest day of the vacation.

For dinner, we went to The Kitchen at the Hard Rock Hotel. Food was excellent, and there was an extensive gluten-free menu. The birthday cake was an unexpected surprise, but the waitress had forgotten Mrs. Modernlifeisgood was gluten-free. She amended this by bringing out an additional gluten-free dessert as we ate the cake.

In the evening we visited Islands of Adventure, including getting wet on the water rides. Unfortunately for the first time, we missed evening beverages at the Rock Royalty Lounge.

Tomorrow is our final day at Universal Orlando before we catch an evening flight back home. You can catch up with all our Orlando Live Blogs for 2019 by clicking the link.
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