OI Share: The Marvel Super Heroes join a Navy family for a special “shout out”

We are a proud Navy family! But, because we are a Navy family, deployments are a part of our lives. My husband, Tom, has been in the service for over 26 years and continues to love it every day, but deployments stink. The one he is current on is particularly hard as he left prior to Christmas, and he will miss our oldest son’s 18th birthday and possibly even his graduation from high school. Like I said, they stink!

That being said, we do what we can to make the time go faster and the separation not so hard. One of our favorite things to do is visit Orlando, especially Universal Orlando Resort. We are Annual Passholders and are able to go quite often as we only live a couple of hours away. So of course what better way to “ease” the sadness than to go visit Harry, Spidey and friends, shoot some aliens and become a minion all in one day!!

Marvel Super Hero Island at Islands of Adventure.

On the way down I was thinking of my husband and the fun he was missing while on deployment, then it hit me. What better way to send a special message to Tom and all the heroes of VP 45 than to have the Marvel Super Heroes give them a “shout out.” I stopped by a pharmacy and grabbed some pens and poster board.

After checking into our favorite on-site hotel, the Royal Pacific Resort, we headed to Islands of Adventures. I stopped by Guest Services and inquired about setting up a meet and greet with the Super Heroes. I explained that my husband was deployed and I really wanted to do something special for his squadron as well as our boys. The agent (I really wish I could remember his name!) was very excited to help set it up. He immediately left to speak with someone from SHIELD. A few moments later he returned with instructions to be in Marvel Super Hero Island at the 3:00 meet and greet and someone would direct us to a special area for one on one time with the characters. (That someone was Luke, who was absolutely incredible!)

Marvel characters meet with guests in the streets of Islands of Adventure.

After the characters finished with the guests in the public areas, they met us backstage.

The experience was a one of a kind event. Even Avery, who is impressed by little other than big bucks, big bass and his girlfriend (that’s the cute blonde, Kendall) was a bit awe struck. The Super Heroes were just wonderful and expressed genuine, heart -felt sympathy due to the deployment. They spent quite a few minutes interacting with the kids, especially with Jacob our 7-year-old, who, by the way is completely impressed by Spider-Man! They all took the time to say thanks to us for our sacrifice and wished for Tom’s safe return. Luke took all the pictures and captured what was truly an awesome event that meant so much to us all. His photo gallery is below, but here’s a group shot to get started:

Special meeting with the Marvel Super Heroes.

Universal has always been a special place for me and my family but it means even more now. I can’t thank them enough for such a special memory.

- Kim A

Special meeting with the Marvel Super Heroes – photo gallery

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About this post

The story you just read is part of the OI Share project. It was contributed by a fellow OrlandoInformer.com reader who wanted to share his or her experience visiting Central Florida. This is an awesome way to relive the magic of your vacation while helping others plan similar trips to the world's number one vacation destination. View more stories just like this or find out how you can be part of the project.