18 Wonderful nights at RPR.....Michael Myers too!! (2014 Trip)

[schumigirl]

Monday 22nd September

For some reason we didn`t have the best sleep last night, I think we all ached still from HHN somewhat. But we were up with the larks this morning again, so all showered we headed up for breakfast. As usual we took our time and chose our usual cereal for Kyle and Tom and I had a mix of fruit, meats and pastries......lush!! Then we headed down to get sun cream and outside for the walk to IOA.

Oh my goodness, as soon as we stepped outside the wall of heat hit us....it was so oppressive and we knew we were going to be ultra hot today......but we would make sure we drank plenty of water and went in the shade where we could. The walk this morning was slow and we just took our time and got to the gates and saw it was fairly busy. But as usual it didn`t matter with EP.

I didn`t feel like going on The Hulk this morning so I sat in my usual spot in the shade at the tables at Cafe4. I had just sat down when I saw another dreaded tour guide looking for his group.........again, when I saw them they were more of a family group rather than young teenagers......but they still now how to take over an area!! Just as they came off I thought I recognised someone and asked Tom if it was her. It was Rebecca Adlington, who was a British Olympic gold medalist for swimming.....I always like to see someone famous in the flesh. I think the most famous person we ever met was Eric MacCormack from Will and Grace. We met him in 07 at Magic Kingdom. He was just standing in front of us, we hadn`t noticed, just saw it was a man with his son. Anyway, he heard our Scottish accent and turned and spoke to us.....I was smitten immediately, he saw my birthday button and wished me a happy Birthday too........he was so lovely and we chatted for about 5 minutes just about Scotland, why we had come and this and that.......sounds silly but it was a real highlight of the trip for us as we love Will and Grace, but he was just so nice. We wished we had asked for a picture but didn`t like to really as he was with his son and didn`t look to be looking for attention. So he was the most famous person we encountered.

Anyway it was her, pretty girl, but again she was trying very hard to be invisible so we carried on with our day. We did all our usual rides and drank plenty of water. I always read in wonder when people say they are done with the parks in 2 days....and that was enough for them. I know everyone`s different, but we never tire of these parks......I suppose because we are only here once a year we try to take total advantage of every second.

We go up on Me Ship The Olive and hit a few people with the water jets on the top deck.........they are ok, not very powerful but still fun......it`s nice up on there.......and fairly peaceful too.....why do people get annoyed when you hit them with a jet of water when they are already soaking wet....lol.....most people laugh with you, but today we had a mrs angry who yelled up when we hit her with the tiniest jet of water imaginable......who I made sure Kyle got with next jet.......lol......he did........

We spend a bit of time here and then we wander around to JP.

We stop off for a bathroom break in the JP centre, we have never actually gone down to Discovery centre for some reason, and we don`t go today either.......but take a couple of pics inside

.......today we want to get soaked on JP.....not Dudley or Bluto wet......but just cooled down a bit as it was incredibly hot, and when we got there it wasn`t very busy so got straight on. We came off bone dry. Not a spot of water on any of us.....even the water magnet Kyle!! We got a bit wetter second and third time but couldn`t believe it how dry we were.

So around to FJ today and again I don`t feel like going on it. I can do it once or twice without feeling nauseous, but any more and I`m feeling not so good....so today i do feel like missing it out.....would rather do Duelling Dragons. So they go on it and I wander on towards my favorite fountain.

It was fairly quiet around this area as usual....the fountain was snoring gently so passing travellers were disappointed he wasn`t partaking in fun today. So i sat in relative peace until they wandered around and we went back and did Duelling Dragons a couple of times.....we all love this ride, more so than The hulk as we love the feeling of your legs dangling........2 rides was enough for me today so we come off and head for lunch as our tummy timer Kyle tells us he`s hungry and would like to eat in Mythos. We weren`t going to argue.

As we go in Kyle tells us he`s really feeling the heat today, so we plan after lunch to head back to hotel and do something else in the afternoon. But first we get a table with no wait and we order, two sprite and Kyle a Virgin Daiquiri.......he arrives back with the bread and drinks........

It`s such an unusual and beautiful restaurant and we never tire of eating in here.....food is so good and service is always good. But to be honest, we never really have poor service anywhere we go thankfully. So Kyle takes a sip of his drink and hands it to me to taste......he thinks there`s alcohol in it.....so I take the glass and before I even take a sip I can smell it.......I take a sip and boy is it strong!!!! lol.........Kyle chooses not to drink even though in the UK it`s 18 the legal age, he just doesn`t like the taste. We always said for him to try it but thankfully it didn`t appeal to him. So here he is with this alcoholic daiquiri......we wait till our waiter is close and discreetly tell him there is alcohol in it....he apologises and wonders how that happened as he watched him make it up.......anyway, he comes back with another minus the alcohol and we wonder is there someone sitting somewhere in the restaurant drinking a strawberry daiquiri and thinking it wasn`t very strong in alcohol.......lol.........

So we order our usual.......cheese pizza, meat pizza and Asian Chicken Salad and again they were all lovely. We didn`t take lunch pictures today as they were identical to another day.

We really enjoyed our meal again today. Plus it was lovely and cool in here as usual and we did feel like we were melting.......he very kindly gave us some water away in cups with straws....we must have looked like we needed it, but it was a nice thought. So we didn`t plan to stay long, went round and did CitH then went into the Christmas shop and stocked up on some tree decorations and walked back to the hotel. Slowly.

Oh my goodness you could cut the humidity now.....the sky is getting very dark and we think we have quit at the right time today.......one minute it looked very pretty......then it was just downright gloomy.........

When we got back to our room and showered and got changed it became very apparent we were in for a storm. A big one. And much as though we do love to watch the storms here we had plans. We thought we would go to MaM then over to LBV for the Crab Shack then minigolf at Citywalk, but if it was going to be bad we would be going nowhere. It got so bad at one point we couldn`t even see Dr Doom from our room and even T1 was a bit hazy!! So we headed up the Club Lounge around 3.30......it`s so quiet when they don`t serve anything.....and we sat and watched the storm....it`s so heavy.......

It really was incredible how much rain was falling, but we passed the time easily, chatting and soon it started to fill up with people wanting to eat. Tonight was a bit of a rush for the food, which was a rather bland looking veg pasta dish......I was glad we didn`t eat the main meal offerings seeing tonights dish. But I was shocked at the people tonight, it seemed like they were scared someone would eat more than them or there wouldn`t be any left. Surprising really as it wasn`t usually as bad as that. But we didn`t have anything except I had some wine, Tom had coffee and Kyle had his usual water.

It was starting to ease off now so we thought we would make a move for the Mall. Tom went and got the car while we waited we wondered how long it would be before it rained again. Minigolf looked unlikley at this point. So as we headed to the Mall, there is a Mercedes garage to the right as you drive to the Mall. We had always meant to pop in and have a look around but never got around to it. We have driven Mercedes for years at home and Kyle got a new one this past August, partly for his 21st Birthday which is in January coming and because he really needed a more grown up car than the Volkswagon he had. So, we do love Mercedes and just wanted to have a look around. We went in just as the rain was coming on, just made it as it was heavy again........staff were very nice and we explained we were just looking around.

Although we don`t like white cars, this seemed to be popular in their showrooms.......we had a good look around and one salesman was happy to just chat about the differences in models and prices. Think we could have been there all night, especially when he asked if we wanted to drive one out........I think we would have if the weather had been better but it was torrential at this point. We then went into the accessory area. Kyle had been looking for a keyring for his car key fob, but hadn`t seen one he really liked at home. But here he saw in the cabinet an unusual Mercedes design of keyring that he liked, he hadn`t seen it in the UK so he got it and was really pleased with it. That was an easy sale!! We mooched around abit more then headed out for the short drive to MaM.

I love it here. I really do. It is the most pretty mall and it never feels overcrowded or too busy. Kyle was looking to add to his collection of watches, so he had an idea of what one he wanted and had looked around and eventually he got it tonight in Macy`s. It`s another Bulova and very handsome it is too. I think this is the male equivalent of handbags as Tom loves watches too. We wander around a while and don`t pick up a whole lot tonight. But it`s apparent Kyle is hungry so we decide to eat in the food court as the wait for The Cheescake Factory is huge and we don`t want to wait so we head back upstairs.

For dinner we all had variations of this dish. Kyle had Bourbon Chicken and noodles, I had bourbon chicken and Orange Chicken with noodles and Tom had Spicy Prawns and Orange chicken with noodles

It was lovely and won the award for the cheapest dinner we ever ate.....ever!!! And some of my friends say I can`t do budget food.....lol......we do enjoy the food court here and don`t think we ever had anything we didn`t like. Except maybe Johnnie Rocketts last year, that was a bit disappointing. It was quite filling and none of us fancy an ice cream from Haagen Daaz tonight. So we head out and plan to head to the wine shop near Target opposite the mall.

It`s such a pretty Mall and more so in the evening when all the lights are on, looks very colorful!! The rain is still on at this point so Tom goes and gets the car for us and we head over to Total wine. I think I mentioned before this place is wonderful. I think you can get any or all the alcohol you ever need in this place. We spend about 45 minutes looking at all the products and musing how we don`t get a lot of the choices offered here. The size of the bottles also is amazing and I can see Tom debating how safe would a bottle of Tequila or Bourbon that was the size of a small child be in our suitcase all wrapped up........we decide against it. But as it looked like we were not going to be doing much tonight, we picked ourselves up a rather lovely bottle of Chardonnay....we hoped it would be nice as we had heard the winemaker was good, but had never tried one of theirs.

So wine purchased we headed off and it was pouring down again. The roads were awful tonight, although it`s only a short journey we had a few near misses......I laugh and say it`s probably tourists!!!!

We get back into the hotel, buy some chips and dips from the shop in the lobby and head up to our room. Orchids we knew was closed or we would have just sat in there and head some cocktails so got in the room and I went for ice for the wine........came back and got into my jammies. We were looking to see what movies were on as we thought we might as well pay for one and just chill in the room. Tom went to open the wine, and we realised we didn`t bring the bottle opener this year!!! Doh!! We laugh then I tell him to go up to the Club Lounge and ask to borrow theirs!!! Brilliant idea. So he heads up, they laugh and say of course we can. He opens it and says thank goodness Lounge was still open or he would have to have hoofed it down to Jake`s Bar.........all for a glass of wine!!! He takes it back up and thanks them very much......

The wine was beautiful I`m glad to say. So we had paid to watch Chef, which had Sofia Vergara in it so Tom was happy........we had a lovely night actually. Kyle was eating Lindt Chocolate and we were having chips, dips and wine........it was an unusual night and not something we would usually do on our trips is spend an evening in the room watching tv, but when the weather is like this you just do it. Kyle said he was tired anyway, so laying in bed watching a movie turned out to be an alright choice after all.

 

[mrsabbott]

Any vacation that we have ever taken (and it hasn't been many), there is always this urgency to stay busy, busy, busy! While it is awesome and fun, I usually come back from our trips feeling exhausted and needing a vacation to recover from the vacation! Sometimes, it is nice to have a day to kick back and relax! I imagine you were nice and rested up for the next day!

 

[macraven]

Any vacation that we have ever taken (and it hasn't been many), there is always this urgency to stay busy, busy, busy! While it is awesome and fun, I usually come back from our trips feeling exhausted and needing a vacation to recover from the vacation! Sometimes, it is nice to have a day to kick back and relax! I imagine you were nice and rested up for the next day!

i never feel like that on my darkside vacations.
i make it a good number of stays onsite and don't feel i have to rush at all.
in october i had 12 days there and never made it to early entrance once.

for me, this is THE vacation.
it's relaxing, no rushing, no schedule, no stress, totally refreshing!

 

[schumigirl]

i never feel like that on my darkside vacations.
i make it a good number of stays onsite and don't feel i have to rush at all.
in october i had 12 days there and never made it to early entrance once.

for me, this is THE vacation.
it's relaxing, no rushing, no schedule, no stress, totally refreshing!

Exactly this!!

Especially the no schedule part........that is NOT a vacation

 

[mrsabbott]

I just meant that having an evening in just relaxing might make up for your lack of sleep and achiness from the busy day before.

Last vacation, we had to do a lot of driving to get there, had something planned for each day that we were there, and only 2 days at the park to try and see everything.. Not to mention, travelling with 4 children adds a little extra exhaustion! This time, we are purposely scheduling "do nothing" days where we sleep in and hang out by the pool. And we will have 4 days in the parks so that we are giving ourselves more time to see and experience things.

Having fun is hard work!

 

[schumigirl]

Tuesday 21st Sept..........

The days are flying past now, and I can`t quite believe how close we are coming to the end of our trip. However, I`m not thinking about that just yet, although that niggle is starting to creep into my mind as I try not to think of it. We were tired this morning, but with our usual alacrity we were up, showered and up for breakfast all before 8.30. We had a quick light breakfast as we were having a fairly early dinner tonight, we planned an early lunch too. So just fruit today for me......and a tiny little muffin crept on to the plate too.

By 9.00ish we were headed into Studios today. As we joined the queue for the boat Kyle somehow or other managed to leave without his hat. This is very unusual for us to forget hats as we just always wear one, sunburn on the head is not fun. So we get on the boat and he goes back for his and says we`ll meet up in the shop after you go in the park.

This was the busiest day we had seen so far on our trip. There was a queue to get in through the turnstiles, which we hadn`t seen yet. But no sooner had we gotten through the gate when I saw Kyle in the distance. He was quick. he had walked as it is really sometimes quicker to do that than wait if there`s no boat there, especially if you`re going to IOA which is so close to RP.

We go straight on Shrek first this morning then over to DM where the regular queue is already one hour!! There`s a few people in Express queue so it`s straight on for us......but again we get a person who thinks it`s ok to take flash pictures in the inside room.......they get told to stop and then takes some more without the flash........I forget the rules don`t apply to some people!!! This is such a cute ride, it`s so much fun and never get any motion sickness issues on it at all. On the way out for some reason there`s no minions for pics, so we wander into the store where I purchase the purple minion.....because it`s purple, a nightshirt I probably won`t wear and a few other items like fridge magnets and trinkets. We get them sent back to the room and Kyle reminds me we had stuff sent back yesterday too from IOA so hope they arrive today.

We go on RRR 3 times, all front 2 rows each time, then Kyle goes back on his own more time.......3 is enough in a row for me......we tell him to wave his hands up and we`ll get a video of it which Tom does with the other camera.

We buy some water, but it`s not just as hot today but we buy two bottles between us and head round to The Mummy, we stop as there`s no one around at this point and take some pics.........

The Mummy is as usual excellent........one TM we spoke to first or second day looks at us and asks if we`re back again.......lol......we tell him we haven`t left yet. We do this a few times then head round to DA again. We go straight to Gringotts and do single rider as there`s no-one in there today for some reason, regular queue is long, I`m sure I wrote the time down but can`t find it. But we knew we would never wait that long. We manage to do Gringotts 3 times with no issues. We had a mooch around the shop today, although busy we get to see some more of what is for sale in there, trying to avoid the usual backpacks.

We make a quick visit into the shop in KA and buy a couple of mugs and a few bits and again get them sent to the room. This really is a bonus of the onsite hotels, buy anything and next day they are waiting for you in your room, and sometimes they have been delivered before we leave in the morning. So we get them packaged up and head round to do MIB and Kyle wants to eat in Simpson`s area again today.

I can`t be bothered doing MIB today so I tell them I`ll meet them outside twist and hurl.......I wander round and see a lot of staff outside Moe`s and KwikeMart stopping people going in. So I sit on the bench and wait......I`m so hungry at this point......fruit for breakfast is not filling.

It turns out the whole area had a power failure......so no food for us today in there. I waited till they came to meet me then we decided to walk back to Louie`s for pizza. We headed back and another annoyance kinda became ultra annoying......why do people look at their phones and keep marching on......I got fed up so I stopped moving out of their way......you don`t look where you`re going isn`t my problem any more. I thought last year it was ipads that were prevalent, but this year we saw many more people on their phones, one boy about 8 amazingly in the queue for Gringotts was playing a game on his, parents were on theirs too........I don`t understand that.

So back to Louie`s it is then. Tom did ask if we wanted to eat in LC......but it doesn`t appeal at all, nice place though, maybe next year. On the way round I popped into the bathroom and as I was washing my hands the swimmer we saw yesterday came out to wash hers too.......I said hello in a fairly regular way and she said hi back, she said was I enjoying my day and I said oh definetely and she said they were leaving next day........and we left. DH was gutted I never asked for a picture.....yeah in a ladies bathroom, he was a bit awestruck we came walking out together saying enjoy the rest of your day to one another.

Anyway, I was starving now.......so into Louie`s and we each got a supreme slice and Kyle got two cheese slices despite asking for one......when I told her she said we would only pay for one as chef had cut it wrong......looked ok to us.......so he ate both. Tom and I decided to share a slice of cheesecake as we had never tried it in here.......it was nice, just nice.

Kyle went over and got some B&J ice cream so we felt quite replenished after our lunch. We went on Transformers which the regular queue was 45 minutes, this is an ok ride but I prefer Spiderman, I`m not a fan of TF movies, but it`s still a good ride. For some reason I now think it`s a good idea to head back to RRR..........no. I go on once and tell them to carry on however many times they want, I`ll go and sit down. Now, all the benches were quite full.......apart from one which had one woman and about 10 bags that were sprawled out and covered the bench.......I asked very politely if she could move the end bag, she turned her head away and ignored me........OK, I was polite and asked.....now I just moved the end bag and sat my very ample backside down and looked at her. She didn`t say anything but looked very annoyed......I didn`t care one bit.....I had a bit of a sore foot today and I prioritise myself above a backpack. So as I was waiting, her daughter appeared and she started talking to her in Portuguese......the daughter didn`t look one bit bothered to be honest.

Tom and Kyle appeared at this point and we left. We went back into DM once more, bought some jelly beans and started to walk out of the park when the rain came on........luckily we just make a boat before we get too wet. We get back to the hotel and head up to room to get showered and changed before we have to leave to meet Todd at Teak Neighborhood Grill. So, we get into room and I spy 3 bags worth of goodies we bought yesterday on the bed......Yay.......so I start opening up the bags and am eager to see our purchases when I realise the two of them are just looking at me and Tom asks if I`ve noticed anything........I hadn`t. Then I look again and I see...............this.............

It`s huge! How did I not see this.......we hadn`t ordered a fridge, so I called Star Services and told them it may have gone to the wrong room. She said she would make sure there were no charges put on our room for it and someone would be up to remove it soon. I thanked her and hung up.....about 5 minutes later a man appeared and took it away. It really was massive.

So after opening our bags and getting stuff put away, we got ready to meet Todd. Kyle had bought a Heisenberg/Popeye tee shirt previous day so he wanted to wear it tonight. I usually wash everything before we wear it but this was fine........he had gotten a few teeshirts this trip, all nice, even the Myers one. Now we were heading off for Teak.

It`s only a 5 minute drive from Universal, we discovered it years ago before there were as many tourists going to it. It was always mainly locals, but a lovely place to eat. We arrived at around 4.15 and you could see the rain was starting. Typical, every time we eat here it rains.

Todd arrives a few minutes after us as he was coming straight from work and we head inside. It`s fairly quiet and we sit down and order drinks. I order a raspberry sparkler as it sounds lovely, and it was couple of pepsi`s and water for Kyle. It`s so nice to catch up with Todd again away from HHN which is always so busy.

We all seem to know what we want to order tonight. Todd is going to have the french dip sandwich with garlic fries which he had before and said it was lovely, Tom has Kobe Burger with garlic mash, Kyle has Chicken breast, fries and a portion of teriyaki sauce. Now every time we come here I`m always planning to have the donut burger......and everytime I get something else. But today I order it, without cheese and with jalapenos and grilled onions........girl smiles and says thats a first for the donut burger...........we wait and chat and notice there is a mini monsoon outside......it is torrential again and so dark outside........no mini golf again tonight. But then our food comes out and we forget about the weather

The food was all gorgeous and it looks good........except my donut burger......it was amazing, really gorgeous......very unusual, sweet, hot, spicy and tasty all in one bite.......the burger itself was perfect too.....but I don`t know what happened to the picture I took but it didn`t take........don`t know what I did with the camera but no picture anyway which is a shame.....will have to have one next year.

Tom and Kyle both order dessert, they had different names but were ostensibly the same dessert

Todd and I had a little ice cream off both plates, but we had no real room for dessert. They enjoyed them both, well It`s chocolate Kyle was always going to love that. The owner came over at this point and asked if we were from the UK, just chatted a bit and then said one of the desserts was complimentary, which was nice. We sat a bit longer and chatted some more....couldn`t believe how quick the time went. But soon it was time to say our goodbye`s again......we wouldn`t see Todd again till next year and that is always sad.......but we set off back to the hotel as there wasn`t much point in going anywhere else.

Tom dropped us off at the door and then we headed upstairs to drop some things off. We thought about what we wanted to do and decided Orchids Lounge it was. Kyle took his tablet down and we planned to just sit and have a couple of drinks.

Lounge wasn`t too busy at all, so we sat in those big comfy seats and ordered two cocktails.........Kyle wanted another dessert amazingly.......he`s not a greedy kid but this dessert was something else and he wanted to have it as often as he could......so we got it for him.........

I had two of these and I can`t remember the name, but it was lush........

Tom had two different ones and as usual they were all gorgeous. It`s so nice in this lounge to just sit, nice relaxing way to end any day. We sat till around 10.30 then paid the check and headed upstairs and plan to watch some tv then sleep. But there`s nothing on apparently, which I don`t remember as I had conked out as soon as I got into bed. Trying not to think we only have 3 full days left before we leave.

 

[snoopboop]

I love this photo! There's just something about it that's dreamy and magical.

 

[schumigirl]

I love this photo! There's just something about it that's dreamy and magical.

Glad you like it........I took a fair few pics that day.......it was eerie watching the sky getting blacker and blacker over a very short period of time.........

We were very much over the sky and rain after that storm though.......we were ready for sunshine again..........

 

[LuvEeyore]

Loved the updates especially the photos of the rain and the hotel... the grounds look beautiful.

 

[schumigirl]

Loved the updates especially the photos of the rain and the hotel... the grounds look beautiful.

Glad you`re enjoying reading along........

 

[schumigirl]

Wednesday 24th Sept............

Woke up this morning with a gnawing feeling of trepidation today. I knew it was Wednesday and tried to dismiss that sinking feeling that the trip was running away from us now. So I turned and just got up with the biggest sigh I could muster and headed for the shower and began to think of the day ahead instead of maudling over the events looming on Saturday.

I think we all felt it a bit today, breakfast was quite sombre and we ate quickly and had a small chat with CL staff and headed for IOA. We always walk if we`re going there, just over 5 minutes and you`re at Margaritaville. It felt cool today, and they agreed too it was not as warm. We had thought of just doing the water rides today, but soon changed our minds when we felt the temperature outside. Few minutes later and we were through the turnstiles and walking into Port of Entry.

I have to admit......walking into Port of Entry always makes us smile. I go on a lot about the theming here, and it is so good. Listening at upstairs windows will always have you hear something you don`t expect. The colors and perceptions are wonderful to see. It is very well done. And it was empty today........we wondered where everyone was as we entered the park. Kyle and Tom went to The hulk, but I wanted to spend some time taking lots of pictures so I hung back and told them i`d meet them at Doom in 10 minutes or so.

So, we met up and went on Doom a few times, then our usual Spiderman. We always bought water from the place across from the shop and today was no different.....we were on first name terms with the lady who worked here now as she was here every day that we were........we chatted a bit with here and wandered around to HP. It was just too cool today to go on JP in case we got soaked........because I`ll bet you a pound to a penny today would be the day we did get soaked when we didn`t want to. So round to FJ it was. I wasn`t really feeling like rides today, so I wandered around and took a bajillion more pictures. I know we have almost every area covered for pics over last 8 years, but I can`t resist and love to have thousands to look at when we come home. It did feel like we had the park to ourselves at some points.

As usual I ended watching The Talking Fountain...........I had bought a lemonade from one of the counters so I sat sipping that while watching the fantastic interaction between the Fountain and his numerous encounters. So funny. I think I could sit for hours and let the day just drift away watching this......but sitting on rocks is no fun. So I move and head back to meet them outside the station as we plan to take the HE to Studios again.

I finally manage to capture them on Duelling Dragons.......not that you can make them out, but I know it`s them.

We meet up about 15 minutes later as they went on so many times as you could just walk straight back on.......wish I had done it now, but we were heading for HE and it looked quiet there too. It really was so quiet.

We had the carriage to ourselves again today which was nice and as it had started to get hot outside now, it was lovely and cool to sit in for a few minutes. I think it`s better to watch the window if you are sitting back a bit from it, might just have been me, but Kyle said he preferred to sit back from it too. Doesn`t cause us any issues with motion, just a preference. In a few minutes we have arrived at Kings Cross.

Didn`t take a lot of pictures here today, we already had so many from previous days and we planned to take more next few days so we headed straight for Gringotts and single rider. As it gets near the end of our trip I seemingly take less and less notes, so some is from memory.......but I can`t remember what the queue was today but it was long enough for us to go single rider anyway. Kyle went into one car, Tom and I were in same car but not together.....we could wave to one another though.......half way through it broke down......so when we made it back they put us on again and we got to sit together in the front row this time. I do think that`s my favorite row.........I don`t feel that there is a drop as such on this ride, it`s far too small to be a drop, but the girl behind who was about 18 began screaming for her life the drop was coming up.......yeesh!!!!! She pleasantly screamed the whole way around.....even at the bits that weren`t anything at all. Really?? We got off and met up with Kyle who hadn`t bothered to go round again and was waiting in the shop. Today was our star day for photo bombs.......we lost count of how many, harmless fun.......we did laugh when someone photo bombed us back......it was an older couple and quite funny as they told us they were doing it........didn`t want to tell them that wasn`t the point......but they were lovely anyway.

We didn`t hang around today in DA, but headed to Simpson`s area where they did MIB, Simpsons then we went to Moe`s for lunch. We all had pizza which I didn`t take pics of, but we bought a Flamin Moe to try.......we had never tried it before for some reason........when we tasted it we wished we still hadn`t. What a disgusting drink!!! It looks so refreshing and nice even, but yuk......we didn`t even finish it and it`s quite a small drink. Glad we only bought one as the other would have been thrown down the sink!! Yuk. Kyle didn`t even want to try it. Pizza`s were nice though, and again duly replenished with food and water we headed round to do ET and headed out of the park, but not before some photo opportunities again.

This guy was soo good and never left character once...........he kept us talking for ages and he was funny as heck........

We always say we aren`t going to bother with character pics any more......but Scooby Doo is one I can`t walk past.....and apparently Dracula either!! Shaggy and Scooby have always been among the best characters to interact with. Whether it has been in the hotel for dinner or in the parks, the time they spend with you and the fun you have is immeasurable. Top class and they never leave character.

We head into the store to buy a couple of bits again including the Michael Myers full face tee shirt......he does taunt me with that when he wears it!

I hate that tee shirt!!!!

We head back to our room, we walk as a boat has just left, and get showered changed and head out to Wal-Mart for our last visit this year. We grab a cart and proceed to the electrical department where we say a sad goodbye to our friend Roslyn again. Such a lovely lady and we so look forward to seeing her again next year. We then proceed to pick up stuff we don`t really need but like to take home anyway. I do stock up on Aussie shampoo, conditioners and anything they sell in hair care to be honest. Few other bits and we head back to Florida Mall. I truly can`t remember why we went there or what we bought now but we got somethings......definetely M&M`s for gifts............and I`m sure some purple things from Charming Charlie and some gift items. Didn`t take notes of what we bought!!

We drive back to the hotel and deposit our haul from today. Our parcels from yesterday are awaiting us on the bed, so we gleefully open and inspect them before putting them past for the imminent packing that would have to be considered. We had bought a lot of stuff this year, but apart from bedding and towels nothing was too big so we wouldn`t have to worry about space or weight. Particularly as we had deposited a large number of clothes and washed socks we brought in the goodwill place by Wal-Mart.......saves taking them home. So we were ok for space for the first time I think. It was handy as a friend had sent me some lovely gifts for my birthday to the hotel and in there were some things for the boys......it`s nice getting packages!!!!

There was a letter addressed to me on the table and it was from the club lounge.......I opened it and the couple we had gotten friendly with had contacted the lounge and asked them to pass on their email to us as we had forgotten to do that. I was so pleased as I was annoyed we hadn`t done that before we left. Least I had it now and would contact them when we got home.

We headed up to the lounge now and sat for ages just relaxing and chatting to staff. And of course wine. We planned to use the ODC tonight that sit outside, just for a change. When we were talking to Thomas, we saw a new lad.....I said he looked so young....so Thomas asked him what age he was as he was sure he was older than him.......I thought about 20-21.....he was 33.......oh dear.......but he said he was used to it as everyone thought he was younger. He was married too. I grumbled I must be getting old!! It was lovely in there tonight, fairly busy when they brought the food out but soon died down after 6.30. We sat till around 8pm then went down to get a car and headed to Red Lobster at the convention centre again. We had to call the driver and he would come back for us, as we don`t carry a phone with us we would ask the restaurant to call, which has never been a problem. Driver is very friendly, he looks about 8 feet tall and very broad shouldered, almost like a body guard, but super friendly and very soft spoken.

We are seated with a 10 minute wait tonight and we take our time and peruse the menu......there are so many things we like in here, it takes us a while to finally order. We have a lovely waiter who is German, so I speak a little German with him which is fine to begin with but he gets too complicated for me......I`m more of an intermediate....lol........we order some drinks and he brings us those gorgeous cheese biscuits..........we both order strawberry lemonade and I order a daiquiri...with alcohol and one for Kyle without......we won`t mix them up!! Tom orders a beer too as he is not driving tonight.

Finally decide on usual maple chicken for Kyle, I have stuffed flounder with snow crab on the side and Tom orders, I think, King Crab.........

The food was so good again. I had asked for a small portion of flounder as I know it can be huge and with having the crab I thought it might be too much and it was just the right amount. I expected to pay full price, but he only charged me just over half, which we made up for on the tip. As usual they had a dessert each.........I just didn`t have the room although I would have loved their key lime pie as it is lush!!! But I contented myself with some ice cream from their plates. I didn`t take the picture as they had eaten more than half before I remembered.

We paid the check and said goodbye to our waiter and they had already called the guy to come get us. He was waiting as we went outside which is nice. We were back in the hotel around 10 minutes later as traffic and lights were in our favor on IDrive tonight. I think it was around 10.30pm by the time we got back, so it was straight up to our room and we all got ready for bed. I did notice Tom had surreptitiously brought the suitcases out of their almost 3 week hideaway. Well, I would think about that tomorrow....or Friday. Now, we just wanted to get to sleep as we had HHN again tomorrow night.

 

[ArwenMarie]

All caught up! Great updates as usual. Love Port of Entry, I got reverse homesickness just seeing those pictures.

Any vacation that we have ever taken (and it hasn't been many), there is always this urgency to stay busy, busy, busy! While it is awesome and fun, I usually come back from our trips feeling exhausted and needing a vacation to recover from the vacation! Sometimes, it is nice to have a day to kick back and relax! I imagine you were nice and rested up for the next day!

We're the same way. I always say I'm going to take it slower, but I can't relax in Orlando, too much to do! Our trips aren't long enough either lol

 

[LuvEeyore]

All caught up. I am with you about sometimes being in a mood to ride rides and other times taking photos. Love the photos!!

 

[schumigirl]

All caught up! Great updates as usual. Love Port of Entry, I got reverse homesickness just seeing those pictures.

Aww thanks...........yes I get very homesick towards Universal and RPR........

All caught up. I am with you about sometimes being in a mood to ride rides and other times taking photos. Love the photos!!

Glad you like the pictures and still following along..........hope to have it completed soon

 

[Bluer101]

Just got all caught up been busy. As usual nice TR, love all the photos. We can really tell you don't like universal either like us.

 

[schumigirl]

Just got all caught up been busy. As usual nice TR, love all the photos. We can really tell you don't like universal either like us.

lol.......yes isn`t it an awful place to spend time

Glad you`re enjoying it.......working on finishing it before the weekend......I hate when trip reports drag out!!!! Like mine seems to be doing

 

[schumigirl]

Thursday 25th September...........

Jumped out of bed this morning with a total start!!! I had no idea where I was.........I`m a dreamer and my dreams are very vivid at times....my memory of this one was I had gotten off a plane somewhere and didn`t know where Tom and Kyle were, or even where I was, hence the jump out of bed with a yell. Well, everyone was awake now....lol.......it was early, very early but we got up as we had two full days left in the parks and we were going to make the most of them.....and do a bit of packing too unfortunately. We all quickly showered and headed up for breakfast as we were starving this morning. We filled up on all the usual offerings and looked out of the window. No it wasn`t raining, but very misty and looked cool.

It was cool when we made it outside. But we knew it wouldn`t be long before it warmed up for the day, well, we hoped so. We got the boat as we were headed for the Studios first today. On our last two days we gorge on park time and take in and do as much as we possibly can, because a year is a long time between visits. I can`t remember if it was busy today or not, I take a lot less notes as we near the end of trips......so it`s down to memory for bits of it. I do notice by the time we reached RRR it`s getting warmer.....yay!!! I even considered buying a Universal top as we were on the boat today. I hate the cold......I may have mentioned that once or twice.

DM had a fair queue already, but for EP it was straight on. In all our days even when the queue was in excess of 90 minutes we have never waited longer than 5 minutes to get on this ride. And we have seen it really, really busy for regular queue. But today we did it once then went on RRR 3 times then Kyle went on his own twice without us........it is such a cool ride!!!

We do our usual Mummy then head to DA as we want to spend some time in here today. It was fairly busy as usual and we looked straight away to what the queue for Gringotts was. 75 minutes. So we head into single rider and again, it`s queued up to past where you get the glasses.......to be honest it`s a fantastic ride but we won`t spend that time queuing for anything especially when we have ridden it so many times already. So we head back out into the now warm sunshine and just wander around. Today was ridiculous for backpacks and phone users not looking where they were going. If someone bumped us and didn`t at least attempt an apology I yelled Hey at them and pointed out what they were doing......I was getting grouchy as we were leaving soon, so had little tolerance of rude people. Was I being rude yelling??? Well, don`t bash me with your mountainous backpack I won`t yell. Simple really. I don`t like rudeness at all.

We went in to the money exchange place, it was fairly empty and it was fun. I had forgotten Bluer had told us to have a question ready to ask the big guy himself in there.......so I didn`t ask him anything!! But we exchanged $100 of our money for Gringotts money......some of the notes were for gifts for my nephew who was heading to Universal in November/December and we would keep some ourselves. It is a nice thing to do and you can buy mugs and other things in there too. He is also very realistic too!!

We head to get the HE to IOA after we do this. It`s not very busy at all and we realise we have been very lucky when we have done this most days as it`s usually a carriage to ourselves which is nice. Today is no different and we are soon at IOA. Looking at my pictures now I realise I musn`t have downloaded them all as there are lots missing. They must be in DH`s camera and I have not a scooby how to find them or upload them!!

Anyway, we get to IOA and there is a lot of people waiting to get on but there`s no-one around so we get to take some pics at the front of the train.

As we headed out we heard something we hadn`t actually heard the whole trip. There was a family in front of us as we exited the station.....we heard one woman shriek back to her family how Disney would have done it a whole lot better......we howled with laughter. She was dressed head to toe in mickey mouse clothes as were most of her family........lol.......some people make you laugh so hard at times.

So now we did our usual tour of IOA........duelling dragons we did first about 10 times in a row before I announced I had to quit or I would collapse.....it`s much smoother than The Hulk which I can only do 2 or 3 times, but 10 times was my limit today and I still wanted to do other rides too. I did decide after that to give FJ a miss as that one can be bad for nausea with me, so they went round to do it and I headed to my old friend the Fountain.

It was so peaceful as he was sleeping today, so no-one was around. I sat for a little while and then Tom and Kyle appeared and we headed off for lunch at Confisco Grill for a change. This was our favorite place last couple of years for lunch but this year Mythos topped that one by a country mile. Not that CG was bad in any way, just Mythos was better. But we had eaten there 3 or 4 times so CG it was today.

It was already fairly busy and the blast of cool you feel as you enter is always appreciated after the heat outside. We get seated and order drinks and peruse the menu, although Kyle knows he is having the cheese pizza already. I go for the chicken and beef fajitas and Tom has the chicken sandwich. I ask for mine without cheese again and he double checks it`s not for allergies which it isn`t, I`m just not a huge fan of cheese......I do ask for extra jalapenos which he is happy to comply with. Our food is out in no time at all and it is so nice as usual.....not sure what happened to my lunch pictures but they`re gone for some reason. We did enjoy it a lot and soon we are heading back out into the sunshine. It is so beautiful now, really, really hot so we head round and on to Hulk and Dr Doom a few times. Well, I do them a few times then head back to sit outside cinnabon while they ride some more.............. I want to keep my lunch and if I do the Hulk again I won`t!!

It is so peaceful sitting at the tables, park seems very quiet at this bit. I get chatting to a couple from Canada at this point and we chat away for ages about one thing and another. I love talking to people, everyone has something to say and for the most part most people are nice. So that passes half an hour or so while I wait. But as soon as they arrive, I say goodbye and we head out of the park. It`s a shame as it`s such a beautiful day now, but we have to start packing at some point and this afternoon it is. Kyle decides he`s going to stay for a few hours and do some more rides. He had made friends with some of the TM at a few rides so he always enjoyed chatting to them too. So we headed back to the hotel and packing.

NBA and HHN to follow today........

 

[schumigirl]

More of Thursday 25th.........

When we got back to the hotel we had more purchases delivered to the room. So we opened them to check they were ok, which they were and then began the process of packing up. We still had to leave us enough for the next couple of days and although we had bought a lot of stuff this year again, we seemed to have plenty of room for it all........we would even be underweight with our luggage for the first time ever. But it didn`t take long to get sorted and by the time Kyle got back we had more or less done it all. So we all showered and changed and headed up the lounge for a drink before HHN.

There wasn`t many of our regular staff on tonight in the lounge, but the guy we thought was about 18 was on, turns out he was 33......lol....and we got to know him a bit better tonight too. Our glasses were never empty.......lol.......as we were chatting Tom mentioned his beads that he was wearing and he had got them for being employee of the month......next thing he is taking them off and gave them to Tom.........we said was he sure and he said no have them. Nice. Another souvenier from our trip

He did keep them on for a while....I think he liked them!! So we sat for another little while and then headed off for dinner. We decide to try NBA again for dinner. We had gone last year, and while the meal wasn`t bad in any way it`s just not our favorite place. I find the atmosphere to a bit lacking, but we would give it a go again.

Place was not busy and we had a lovely lady taking care of us tonight. So we ordered drinks and got them in the souvenier glasses....we forgot we were going straight to HHN after dinner!!!

So we ordered surprise surprise....cheese pizza for Kyle, Tom orders Ribs and fries and I order New York strip, medium rare with sweet potato fries.........our food does seem to take a longish time, but eventually it comes out and looks great. I cut into my steak..........and again, it`s cooked through. Not one bit of pink never mind red. I can`t believe this is the second time I`ve had to send a steak back because it`s overcooked. But I call her over and show her it`s brown all the way through and looks really dry. Very poor. So again, they are tucking into theirs while I wait. I order another drink while I wait and the manager comes over and apologises. So eventually it comes out and this time it`s perfect.......so lovely. She gets me to cut it to see if its what I want and it is........warm red centre......almost rare so it`s perfect.

Kyle of course had dessert. The food was nice, just not great. I don`t see any excuse for a steak not being cooked right and this will kind of put me off going back somewhere, but that aside there`s just something about this place that is missing for us. I think that was our last visit. But service was good and they corrected their mistake. The gave us my second drink free as compensation which we weren`t looking for, but nice gesture. They gave us new glasses and boxed them for us as we were leaving. We would have to hand them in before HHN.

So fully replenished we headed over to hotel guest entrance for horror nights. We asked if there was somewhere we could leave our glasses and pick them up later, they pointed us to a bit after the entrance where we left them and got a ticket to pick up later. If we forgot it wouldn`t matter, they were only glasses. But we headed in and began to enjoy our night.

There was a really good atmosphere in the park tonight. Weather was superb, really hot and more importantly it wasn`t raining. We headed round to Face Off.....we really liked this bit.....not very scary but good characters and good interactions.......

There`s an awful lot of pictures with just me in them??? Tom loves taking pictures and always tries to capture me being the most terrified I can be. He has got some corkers over the years. On of the funniest ones was our first or second HHN.......I didn`t know there was anything in the mist behind me......there was!!! It was funny........then I stood beside what I thought was a pumpkin head......didn`t realise it was a man resting his pumpkin head and then he turned towards me......didn`t know I could run, never mind run that fast!!!!

We did all the house again tonight. Dollhouse was first I think..........the smells were very prevalent tonight........no real queue for Express, maybe 10 minutes max.....we had a nice crowd of people in the queue with us tonight for this house and we all ended up taking each others pictures. We were all in each others too, but won`t post as some folks don`t want to be on forums....but it was the best bunch of people ever....we kinda followed each other around for a few of the houses.......

Then Halloween...........

The regular queue was 90 minutes tonight at this point, with Express we were less than 5 minutes......which is why we didn`t get the Halloween house with the display on the front, we were in too quick........not a complaint though..........this house was phenomenal again tonight.......you can see the differences of the 2 teams at times......they were still fantastic whoever you saw but marked differences int eh way they approached Michael Myers......still scared my butt into next week!!!! I wanted to do this house again but much as I love MM....... no way were we standing 90 minutes for anything.

We left and did every other house tonight again. We did Bill and Ted too.......We loved it in 07/08 but it just hasn`t been as funny since then. This years was funny in bits but wouldn`t watch it twice.

The longest queue we had tonight was AVP which was just under 15 minutes for us, regular queue was 90 minutes, TWD had a 75 minute regular queue we were in with no queue. The highlight of the night apart from Halloween for us was Dracula.......it was a 30 minute queue so we got in immediately. This house the first night we thought was incredibly lame. But tonight it was longer and so much better, some really good scares were had in that house. I think I was disappointed when I knew it wasn`t based on the more recognisable Dracula......that we all know and love.....but it was still good and tonight it was a lot of fun.

We went around and did the giggle and gore and the other one that the name escapes me........we spent some time in The Purge zone.......not really a fan of this at all, but it was ok. All of a sudden we hit a wall. We had been drinking lots of water all night as it was hot, but we looked at our watches and it was nearly midnight. We ached a bit again tonight but wanted to spend as much time as we could tonight as tomorrow night wouldn`t be as late......well, we hadn`t planned to be late. We sat down at the benches beside RRR, had some more water then headed out to walk home. It was a lovely walk, warm and we were glad we did as no boats passed us the whole time.

We got back into our room and got ready for bed. We were tired. We chatted for a bit and eventually I realised I was talking to myself. Hint taken, so I snuggled into my pillow and I was sleeping before I knew it. Last full day tomorrow.

 

[angshewas]

Schumigirl, I'm mostly a lurker here, but I wanted to let you know that I drank in every bit of your trip report last year as I was eagerly anticipating our first trip there this March. Now that I've been there, I'm enjoying this one just as much because I can picture it all! (Minus Diagon Alley, of course.) I love all the detail and obvious love you put into this. Thank you!

I'm really hoping to visit again in the next 2-3 years. We just loved it so much. I was worried our sons wouldn't remember much of it (they were 3 and 6 when we went), but we still talk about it all the time, and even watch ride videos on YouTube. It's not the same, obviously, but a nice reminder of how much fun we had.

 

[schumigirl]

Schumigirl, I'm mostly a lurker here, but I wanted to let you know that I drank in every bit of your trip report last year as I was eagerly anticipating our first trip there this March. Now that I've been there, I'm enjoying this one just as much because I can picture it all! (Minus Diagon Alley, of course.) I love all the detail and obvious love you put into this. Thank you!

I'm really hoping to visit again in the next 2-3 years. We just loved it so much. I was worried our sons wouldn't remember much of it (they were 3 and 6 when we went), but we still talk about it all the time, and even watch ride videos on YouTube. It's not the same, obviously, but a nice reminder of how much fun we had.

Thank you so much for the lovely comments, I'm so glad you enjoyed previous trippie and this one too

Oh I'm sure your sons will remember the trip......it's such an amazing place and watching ride videos will keep their memories fresh till you get back. When you do you'll have DA to see and any other new stuff by then........I'm sure it'll be even better when you next go.

Hope to see you post some more