To Hogwarts we go---The Hat Returns

samheatherwhite · Jul 17, 2016

Thanks for following along. Sorry to be m i a so long but my computer finally completely kicked the bucket. We got a new one and now I need to reorganize all my pics. I haven't forgotten my report and should be back in business soon.

macraven · Jul 17, 2016

Take all the time you need

We all will wait patiently for you

Your trip report is well worth waiting for

samheatherwhite · Jul 18, 2016

Thanks, Macraven

MrsNesbet · Jul 18, 2016

Love your trip report!! We are going the same dates, next summer. It's our first time. Any advice? I *think* we are staying at Port Royal to get the express passes. How were the crowds? Our kids will be 16, 11 <-- getting her hogworts letter, and 8. Thanks

samheatherwhite · Jul 19, 2016

MrsNesbet said:
Love your trip report!! We are going the same dates, next summer. It's our first time. Any advice? I *think* we are staying at Port Royal to get the express passes. How were the crowds? Our kids will be 16, 11 <-- getting her hogworts letter, and 8. Thanks

Thanks for the kind words! The crowds weren't bad at all in the mornings, we noticed an increasing number of people starting at about 11ish. EE was a lifesaver with both crowds and heat. Eating at early/off times also kept the restaurants from being crowded at all. We always ate, enjoyed some pool time in the afternoon and then went back to the park for supper and more fun.

belle92471 · Jul 22, 2016

I love your trip report! We are going for 2 days in August and your info and insight are fabulous! I have a quick question, love your dd's hedwig shirt...where did you get this? Thanks again!

samheatherwhite · Jul 23, 2016

Thanks for the kind words, I promise that I will finish as soon as my computer issues get straightened out! I got G's shirt from teeturtle.com. It is a cute website that introduces new shirts often.

disneychelle · Jul 27, 2016

Love your trip report. My daughter is a huge Harry Potter fan and is also collecting the Chocolate Frogs. She has gotten the Helga Hufflepuff card 3 times and is looking for ANYONE else. LOL.

Dinohood · Jul 27, 2016

love your trip so far can;t wait to read the rest. I know how you feel my computer hard drive is dead so I have to get a new computer but I don't know when or what i want now.

samheatherwhite · Jul 28, 2016

Sorry for the long break but I think that we are back in business!

I think that we left off playing in the Jurassic Park area on Tuesday morning, June, 7th. B loved the amber mines and cell phone pics do not do it justice.

The kids weren't done exploring so we played in the caves for a while longer.

G wanted to ride the water rides next so first she and Sam went to ride Jurassic River Adventure. B still wanted to play so he and I did. Then he saw the carnival games as we went to meet Sam and G so we stopped and he hatched a baby dino.

This was a really good game for little guys. You scoop an egg out of the water and then the guy x-rays it to see the species. Different species denote different prizes and everyone is a winner.

He loved doing this and still talks about how fun it was. The tm really made it fun and made a big deal out of it.

He had a velociraptor baby which was the smallest prize.

He chose a green camo frog which he named Jurassic Frog!
It was n ow about time to go meet the other two in the exit gift shop.

The line to Ripsaw Falls was very short and I had promised G a water ride day so we hopped on while the boys hung out in the little splash area in Toon Lagoon. I wasn't paying enough attention and accidentally ended up in the front of our car and got drenched. I am not a fan of water rides at all! G loves them so I'll do them for her but I super hate wet clothes.
Sam volunteered to ride Bilge Rat Barges with both the kids so I let them and I hung out in the warm sun and dried off a bit. The kids loved this one and by now G looked like a drowned rat!
She was dying to have Sam ride Ripsaw so they went there while b and I got some waters to drink. B wanted to do the dino game again to show G how cool it was so I agreed. This time we paid a bit more and he could get 3 eggs and was guaranteed a middle sized prize. That worked out perfectly so that he didn't get another frog. (There was only pink and green and he didn't want a pink one)
G had her eye on one of the carts that sold engraved leather bracelets and she chose one of those over playing a Jurassic game.

B chose 3 eggs with input from older and wiser sisters, lol.

b was thrilled and and chose a triceratops hatching from an egg.

He chose red and named him Eggy and he often uses him as a pillow when he reads.

g chose a red bracelet and had her name put on it. she was very pleased with her purchase.

macraven · Jul 28, 2016

So cute!

I could feel the excitement the kids had

Love the name eggy your son used

schumigirl · Jul 29, 2016

Aww.....nice update!

Kids really enjoyed that little game!

I hate the bigger water rides too.......hate wet clothes........but gotta do them!

Glad you're back with us.......

samheatherwhite · Jul 29, 2016

It was nearing lunch time and I hadn't made any reservations. G and Sam especially were still damp so we needed somewhere without super air conditioning. We knew that the Three Broomsticks was a must so we chose to eat there but out back on the patio instead of on the inside.

It was right about 11am and there was no wait. We walked right up and ordered.

The atmosphere in there is so fun.
We had a wonderful meal by ourselves on the patio. The weather was perfect, the food was very good, and the view was spectacular.

B went with the kids mac and cheese. It came with a side of grapes and the tiniest cup of applesauce I've ever seen. The mac and cheese wasn't fancy but it tasted fresh and hot. B loved it and the rest of us thought that it was pretty good. Then grapes were ripe and he ate them all.

G and I chose the chicken and ribs platter. I will cut in here to mention that I bought and used a dining plan just for this. We paid for the other food out of pocket. The ribs were ridiculously good for a quick service. Tasty and hot and fall off the bone tender. The chicken was very good as well. G ate the corn on the cob and said that it was good as well. She finished it all. This was also served with roast potatoes which were the same as the ones that are served in many breakfast venues around the park. They were well seasoned and hot. G loved these and ate most of them. This was a massive plate of food and even after we shared a bit with Sam we didn't quite finish it all.

Sam went with the cornish pasties. He liked, not loved them. I tasted them and agreed. It was also a pretty small serving for Sam. There were 3 small pasties and a decent sized, plain salad. Everything was fresh and he ate it all. He was full after he shared some of our ribs and mac and cheese.

A drink came with our dining plan credit so G and I chose a pumpkin fizz so that we could compare it with the pumpkin juice. It was awesome as well. It tasted very similar to the juice, just not as thick and with a bit of carbonation. We both liked it a lot. Sam doesn't really care for what he calls weird drinks so he didn't weigh in. We also got 4 ice waters to drink with our lunch to make sure we stayed hydrated.

We had the patio to ourselves so we enjoyed a leisurely lunch and then the kids ran around and watched the fish swimming in the water.

After we were done the others humored me with a Hogwarts mini photo shoots.

My view during lunch.

I assume someone feeds these fish. As soon as the kids started peeking at them around the railings they followed them wherever they were.

G insisted on a castle selfie, lol.

schumigirl · Jul 30, 2016

You do take really nice pictures!

I enjoy the pumpkin fizz too.......a bit more refreshing than the other stuff. Can never get used to seeing their version of Cornish pasties served with salad.........odd.

Nice update.

samheatherwhite · Jul 30, 2016

schumigirl said:
You do take really nice pictures!

I enjoy the pumpkin fizz too.......a bit more refreshing than the other stuff. Can never get used to seeing their version of Cornish pasties served with salad.........odd.

Nice update.

Thank you! Just curious what is normally served with the pasties?

schumigirl · Jul 30, 2016

samheatherwhite said:
Thank you! Just curious what is normally served with the pasties?

Usually nothing........real Cornish pasties are huge and a meal in themselves and very much a winter food......not something I personally would eat when it's warm weather.....and never in Orlando......

Maybe, on occasion would have some real chunky home made chips.......fries to Americans.....but, not skinny ones either.......lol......real comfort food........

samheatherwhite · Jul 30, 2016

Thanks for clarifying Schumigirl. One of my favorite things about the DIS is hearing all the different perspectives from people from all over. This Texas girl has very little insight on food from England.

samheatherwhite · Jul 30, 2016

After a great lunch at the Three Broomsticks, G wanted another ride on the Dragon Challenge. Sam said that he wasn't up for looping roller coasters so soon after lunch so she and I went while the boys held our stuff. The wait was nonexistent so we weren't gone long.

It was getting really hot and B was dying to go for a swim so we headed back towards the park entrance through the Jurassic Park area. B wanted to stop and check out the little pond with the lily pads.

We leisurely strolled toward the entrance, enjoying the park atmosphere.
G occasionally doesn't hold up well in the heat and I think the Dragon Challenge/heat/just ate lunch combo got to her. She wasn't feeling great, a little light headed, so we decided that she needed s cold drink asap. I knew that there was a stand selling frozen lemonade near the Confisco Grill so we headed that way to cool her off.

We ran onto these guys right before the stand and she couldn't pass up the meet and greet. This was a really good one. The Genies(?) chatted with the kids for a while since there was nobody else in line to see them. They were a brother and sister duo too.

Immediately after we got G and drink and she perked up right away.

The lady running the drink stand was really nice and gave the kids two spoons so they could share. There was no way B was going to eat anything lemon as he detests sour things of any sort but it was really sweet anyway.
The frozen lemonade was really good. I don't really like sour either but this was not overly tart. Very refreshing on a hot day. G drank the whole thing before we even got off of the bus at CBBR.

We headed back to the room to change for the pool. I did not take my phone down with me so no photos of this afternoons activities. G and Sam spent forever floating around the lazy river. B wanted to play in the sand so I staked out a nice seat and grabbed a starbucks to enjoy while he played. We joined the other two in the lazy river and spent a lovely afternoon cooling off.
After our pool time we got redressed and headed back to the park. We heard Donkey talking and headed that way. One of my favorite memories of our couples trip was that meet and greet. Donkey was hilarious and really liked Sam's hat. This one was fun and Princess Fiona was these too!

This is an awesome character interaction that we would highly recommend stopping for if time permits.

macraven · Jul 30, 2016

samheatherwhite said:
After a great lunch at the Three Broomsticks, G wanted another ride on the Dragon Challenge. Sam said that he wasn't up for looping roller coasters so soon after lunch so she and I went while the boys held our stuff. The wait was nonexistent so we weren't gone long.

It was getting really hot and B was dying to go for a swim so we headed back towards the park entrance through the Jurassic Park area. B wanted to stop and check out the little pond with the lily pads.

We leisurely strolled toward the entrance, enjoying the park atmosphere.
G occasionally doesn't hold up well in the heat and I think the Dragon Challenge/heat/just ate lunch combo got to her. She wasn't feeling great, a little light headed, so we decided that she needed s cold drink asap. I knew that there was a stand selling frozen lemonade near the Confisco Grill so we headed that way to cool her off.

We ran onto these guys right before the stand and she couldn't pass up the meet and greet. This was a really good one. The Genies(?) chatted with the kids for a while since there was nobody else in line to see them. They were a brother and sister duo too.

Immediately after we got G and drink and she perked up right away.

The lady running the drink stand was really nice and gave the kids two spoons so they could share. There was no way B was going to eat anything lemon as he detests sour things of any sort but it was really sweet anyway.
The frozen lemonade was really good. I don't really like sour either but this was not overly tart. Very refreshing on a hot day. G drank the whole thing before we even got off of the bus at CBBR.

We headed back to the room to change for the pool. I did not take my phone down with me so no photos of this afternoons activities. G and Sam spent forever floating around the lazy river. B wanted to play in the sand so I staked out a nice seat and grabbed a starbucks to enjoy while he played. We joined the other two in the lazy river and spent a lovely afternoon cooling off.
After our pool time we got redressed and headed back to the park. We heard Donkey talking and headed that way. One of my favorite memories of our couples trip was that meet and greet. Donkey was hilarious and really liked Sam's hat. This one was fun and Princess Fiona was these too!

This is an awesome character interaction that we would highly recommend stopping for if time permits.

Again, awesome pics!

I adore the Shrek meet ups
Especially fun when donkey joins in

samheatherwhite · Jul 30, 2016

Thanks, Macraven. We enjoyed him so much that when Sam bought a donkey after we got home the kids named him Waffles in honor of Donkey's favorite food.

To Hogwarts we go---The Hat Returns

Mouseketeer

Proud Redhead

Mouseketeer

Earning My Ears

Mouseketeer

Earning My Ears

Mouseketeer

Earning My Ears

Mouseketeer

Mouseketeer

Proud Redhead

It's a bit of a roodie doodie word for lady parts

Mouseketeer

It's a bit of a roodie doodie word for lady parts

Mouseketeer

It's a bit of a roodie doodie word for lady parts

Mouseketeer

Mouseketeer

Proud Redhead

Mouseketeer

Share this page