HO-HO-HO..We`ll put the RUM in Pa-Rum-Pum-Pum-Pum! 16 holiday nights at SF & RPR. A Nov/Dec 2023 Trip Report

[schumigirl]

My sister-in-law got married in front of that balloon in 2021, and then those who wanted went up in it. It's a fantastic view! Then the reception was at The Boathouse and they do put on a lovely brunch.

Morimoto has been voted our family's favorite meal on every trip (well, that's all of 2 at this point lol.) It's right up your alley so I highly recommend it. We also loved Wine Bar George.

We were in Disney Springs for Christmas 2019 and it was PACKED so I know how that feels. The 2021 trip for Amanda's wedding will be our last for a very long time. Unlike Universal, they nickel and dime for everything now.

Aww, how lovely must that have been getting married there! And I can imagine Boathouse putting on a lovely spread, you`re braver than me going up in that.

The crowds were crazy busy, worst we`ve ever seen since HHN 2022, not fun at all.

I do need to put Morimoto on our list of places to go and yes, WBG is another that everyone tells us we have to visit....so many places!!

 

[schumigirl]

Morimoto is a must do for us every trip.

The Pork Eggrolls are the best I've ever tasted!

Oh we do like a good eggroll!!!

I haven`t heard anyone say anything negative about the place at all which bodes well.

 

[saskdw]

I was already giggling as soon as I saw you went to Gideon's as I knew where this story was headed!!

Although I am probably easier amused than you with most things I'm totally with you on this one. I don't understand who in there right mind would wait in line or book an appointment to buy a "decent" cookie and look around that small room.

Especially when there are probably 30 places with in 15 mins that have as good or better cookies!!

My wife really wanted to go in there, but fortunately she hates lines as much as I do.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Well you had quite the Disney Springs experience.

We’ve eaten at The Boathouse a few times.
I would go back but I did find it a bit loud and crowded.
The waiter seems like he wasn’t actually paying attention, which is so frustrating. There’s nothing worse than having a lovely meal and then the waitstaff ruining it because the bill is wrong.
Plus, Disney Springs in general can be a madhouse!

The hype around Gideon’s cookies is next level. I haven’t had one so I can’t comment on the quality, but those lines seem ridiculous

I’m glad you ended your evening in SW, where everyone knows your name

 

[schumigirl]

I was already giggling as soon as I saw you went to Gideon's as I knew where this story was headed!!

Although I am probably easier amused than you with most things I'm totally with you on this one. I don't understand who in there right mind would wait in line or book an appointment to buy a "decent" cookie and look around that small room.

Especially when there are probably 30 places with in 15 mins that have as good or better cookies!!

My wife really wanted to go in there, but fortunately she hates lines as much as I do.

lol……we all had a good laugh that’s for sure, I got the serious giggles which is better than other reactions…lol

I am on board with a return time for things, but this was just hilarious…..honestly, my expectation's were through the roof, I wish I had expressed them to Janet before we went in as she could have told me what it was really like, but I kept my yap shut…..for once!

It was not my favourite cookie by far, so no, I don’t get the love this place gets.

 

[schumigirl]

Well you had quite the Disney Springs experience.

We’ve eaten at The Boathouse a few times.
I would go back but I did find it a bit loud and crowded.
The waiter seems like he wasn’t actually paying attention, which is so frustrating. There’s nothing worse than having a lovely meal and then the waitstaff ruining it because the bill is wrong.
Plus, Disney Springs in general can be a madhouse!

The hype around Gideon’s cookies is next level. I haven’t had one so I can’t comment on the quality, but those lines seem ridiculous

I’m glad you ended your evening in SW, where everyone knows your name

lol…..we really did, it’s a good job we all have a good sense of humour!

I think we all wondered if he was up to a scam of some sort, it all seemed a little suspect to say the least. Yes, The whole place was a madhouse, Boathouse itself wasn’t too bad where we were sitting.

The cookies are average at best, not awful, but nothing to write home about, but the funniest thing according to Tom was knowing my face would tell him how I was feeling…….




We really were grateful for Janet having a return time, and it was nice to see what it actually was after hearing about it for so many years!

Now I’m hearing the Cheers theme song in my head……lol……it was just a lovely day overall from start to finish.

 

[schumigirl]

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 26TH​

Another amazing sleep last night, I did get up to watch the sunrise but the exterior of the windows were full of condensation so I didn`t get a picture, but again, it was beautiful and the perfect way to start the day.

We didn`t rush this morning as we were in no rush to go anywhere as we had plans for a Brunch today, but not any plain old Brunch, we had booked to go to Hamburger Mary`s which was a Drag Show Brunch and we had heard so many good reports about it from so many people and we were so looking forward to it.

Usually when you book you have to put down a deposit but I had emailed John the owner and said we were coming from the UK and I would prefer not to give my CC details over the internet so he very nicely said he`d book us in without the usual deposit, but to please let him know if we weren`t able to make it, which we would have of course, but we didn`t want to miss this for the world as we had wanted to go see it for a couple of years now, and finally we would see the show.

We got showered and dressed and headed over to RP for breakfast where we had some laughs with Aspen and Jessica, such lovely girls, and we discussed how busy DTD had been last night with Aspen and agreed it had been mobbed, I think they gave up too and went home eventually.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from the beautiful Yas Marina was on tv so Aspen very kindly put the tv on that channel and we saw the second half of it, a couple of folks watched for a time too, but didn`t hang around as one woman reluctantly dragged herself away as her husband wanted to go to the park....lol....we told her to stay and let him go on his own, she did actually look at him hoping he`d say yes.....lol.....he didn`t!!

One of our guys won so it was worth watching, not the worst race we`ve ever watched but glad we did.

We didn`t have much to eat but did enjoy a tea and coffee and a slice of toast, that would do for now.

Headed slowly back over to Sapphire and our suite had already been done and sparkling. We tend to leave the place almost perfect, I`d hate to leave the room a mess for them, so they have as little to do as possible, but we do like our room done daily despite that.

We headed to the lobby and ordered our Uber to take us to Downtown Orlando and it arrived in a few minutes, our driver was one of the ones that felt the need to tell us his whole life story which is nice, but a few things he could have missed out, but basically he never stopped talking the whole 20 minutes or so it took us to get to Hamburger Mary`s.

The place was open and you had to be seated by 11am to get your food because the show started at 11.30, we saw a couple of women walking through the doors as we arrived so we grabbed a couple of pictures before we went in.

This whole area used to be an amazing place for nightlife many years back, but it`s not half the place it used to be, but the basis of the architecture was still around and you could see what it once was and would be lovely if they did regenerate this whole area for nightlife in the future or certainly more restaurants would be nice.

In complete contrast, you are surrounded by modern apartment buildings that make up today`s Orlando City Centre.

You`re also a stones throw away from the Amway Centre here, many park over here and walk over to whatever they`re going to see and get some food first.

There were several different type of shows to see and as a first timer we chose the Broadway Brunch which as I said, we had heard good things about. This one was family friendly and there were a couple of kids around 11 or 12 there and it really was as advertised, family friendly.

The welcome from the ladies was lovely, we knew instantly we were going to enjoy this show today, and I was already envious of their make up!!! It was immaculate and in my wildest dreams I could never do make up like that.

We were shown to the table which was right beside the stage, we had a nice circular one against the wall and looking around it was a decent place and the bathrooms were immaculate which is always a good way to judge a place so it was my first port of call.

Our waiter was Errick who was lovely and made us feel very welcome, I did like his shirt which claimed Drag wasn`t a Crime and there was very much a very welcoming atmosphere like that throughout the place, I knew we`d like it here.

The cocktails were amazing!!! Errick explained for every cocktail if you paid an extra $2 (I think) you could "Mary size" it and have the large 20oz (again I think) well, you couldn`t turn that down!!!!

I opted for the Mary`s My Tie and Tom got the Mango Margarita and they were two of the nicest cocktails we`d had outside of Strong Water Bar and they did a very good pour!!

The menu is excellent, they have a huge variety of options for everyone and we were torn with what to order to be honest as we had heard the food was wonderful, eventually Tom decided on the Eye Opener breakfast which came with toast as well and it was sizzling hot which we like, he really does like a good breakfast dish!!

I opted for the Nashville Chicken Hottie.....I asked him if it was as hot as it claimed, he checked if I did like it hot and I assured him I did, he said I`d love it!!! I asked for Mary`s Tata`s to go with it and I had been told they were very nice!!!

Both dishes were beautiful, the Nashville Chicken I ordered was the nicest one I`d ever had, the chicken was large and thick and the spice was full on spicy whilst being full of flavour!!! Cooked perfectly and the Tata`s were as nice as I`d been told, but the chicken was the star of this dish, absolutely perfect.

They cleared the plates and asked if we wanted another drink, well of course the answer was yes and we ordered exactly the same again as we prepared for the show to begin!!

The place was full now, every table was filled up and we were now very excited to see the start of the show!!

​

 

[keishashadow]

If you have a genuine fear of heights, you wouldn`t be able to do it and I`m not a height person at all.

110%. I’m told for some reason it’s uncomfortably hotter when on the balloon too. Not sure if some sort of mysterious physics thing or people are just nervous and sweating

if you look off to the right of the balloon in distance, can see SSR. That section is considered “preferred”…any easy walk. Nope, it is not. thankfully the boat launch is usually running. Hmmph as if you need to walk just a few more miles the end of what is usually a disney park 8 - 10 miler

We saw there wasn`t a piece of walkway visible ahead of us at this point, so we turned back.

That pretty much sums it up. Have to laugh, that’s my standard disney gauge of how crowded a park is…if walking into any of them after rope drop and I can’t see the ground, know we are in for a slog

I was desperate for a cup of tea and couldn`t find anywhere, I hadn`t had any since this morning and was starting to get a headache

Plenty of southern and other wise iced tea lol. Know not your jam. Their sweet tea there is so sweet…

how sweet is it? Instead of my usual half sweet, half not, go for 1/3 sweet.

Morimoto is a must do for us every trip

Never dined there. What do you like?

for us, the appetizers, small plates would probably suffice for lighter meal.

However, the limited entrees just not among our favs in RL. Orange chicken, Peking duck & ribs, no thank you. Maybe the filet but, after last few trips to WDW so sick of paying $60+ for a steak at & it being nearly inedible and usually of that non seared, mushy texture.

it was incredibly busy so not the easiest thing to do and we kinda felt we were in the way where we were waiting so we melted into the wall as much as we could as there was just a constant stream of folks coming and going all the time.

Haha like the Homer Simpson hedge meme. They need to really work on holding area there, even if it’s just a section of the dock they aren’t using for seating purposes. There’s been plenty since post covid, assume due to server shortage

I forget which one Janet ordered, but she liked it too

Blueberry lemonade, my go to there for lighter drink. I was surprised yours had such a light pour, usually knocks one’s socks off. Evidence it’s all in the crafter

normally Tom winces as I eat them

Dave too, mostly due to paying $5for one Ouch. I then point out the sea of Cortez shrimp is priced accordingly. Likely, the better value as so tasty and large.

Mr Keisha`s crab cake looked amazing, Tom and I had both thought about getting it, but didn`t however we would definitely order it in the future

It is among our fav there. Steakhouse 71 has a solid one too We enjoy for lunches when at MK. anything is better than the restaurants inside the park there lol

Janet got the filet sliders and it came with fries which I have to say, I did enjoy the fries I pinched from Tom, they were very nice too

They are usually excellent. Did seem a bit smaller than usual this go-round, still tasty.

It was becoming a little like a black comedy now, if we had seen the Marx Brothers roaming in the background we wouldn`t have been surprised!!!

Oh, that is being kind. Unacceptable service from start to finish. You’d think they’d have servers lined up outside the door to work there as pricing equates to higher tips???

But, I looked over at Janet and could sense there was something not right

kind understatement. I’m sure my eyes were bulging. Shorted us pretty much as close to $100 as possible. then, nothing more than an oh, is there another issue. Why, yes there is young man. can you hear your tip sliding from the mr’s normal 30% lol

We do like a picture of us altogether so we asked this staff member who I have to say was a little bit grumpy

you’d think they’d be used to it or have one of the hostess’ ready to comply

As we headed out, Janet mentioned she had a return time for Gideon`s Bakehouse and would we like to go see it.....hell yes we did!!!!!

Believe it or not, was a score as so crowded there lol

I will say I was very grateful to Janet for taking us here and she did laugh at my reaction too. Tom turned away as I looked around this relatively small room as he knew he would be laughing. One room.

It was funny, as you would say….the look on your face was gob-smacked.

I don't understand who in there right mind would wait in line or book an appointment to buy a "decent" cookie and look around that small room.

Said in a tiny voice…me. Well, only if I had ‘fast pass via a reservation’

Especially when there are probably 30 places with in 15 mins that have as good or better cookies!!

Thing is, there is such a large portion of onsite guests who wouldn’t dream of stepping foot outside the bubble. Have another glass of Kool-aid and step on up.

toss in that FOMO phenom in life in general. too many bloggers who love everything, spin doctors

My wife really wanted to go in there, but fortunately she hates lines as much as I do

I would go back but I did find it a bit loud and crowded.

We had a real dog of a table. In walkway & near kitchen door. Anywhere else I’d have been complaining. Have requested table changes in the past there…it’s always been another 20 min, in not longer. Welcome to all things Disney .

Hate to say it, many U regulars may be in absolute shock when they encounter what I expect will be epic, Epic Universe Throngs. Especially, if no on-site FOTL.

 

[Minnie17]

Woo! Caught up again. Haven’t been to Boathouse yet, but we did try Paddlefish and enjoyed it. We had no idea where we were going into just needed out of the rain. They sat us at a table near the bar and shared some appetizers(tuna poke, ceviche, calamar, and fried shrimp). We planned to return our last trip but never made to Disney Springs. We also tried gideons over the summer barely a line so why not, we enjoyed the cookies but loved the peanut butter cold brew and if I went back it would be for that drink.

Hamburger Mary’s looks so fun can’t wait to read more

 

[schumigirl]

110%. I’m told for some reason it’s uncomfortably hotter when on the balloon too. Not sure if some sort of mysterious physics thing or people are just nervous and sweating

if you look off to the right of the balloon in distance, can see SSR. That section is considered “preferred”…any easy walk. Nope, it is not. thankfully the boat launch is usually running. Hmmph as if you need to walk just a few more miles the end of what is usually a disney park 8 - 10 miler

That pretty much sums it up. Have to laugh, that’s my standard disney gauge of how crowded a park is…if walking into any of them after rope drop and I can’t see the ground, know we are in for a slog

Plenty of southern and other wise iced tea lol. Know not your jam. Their sweet tea there is so sweet…

how sweet is it? Instead of my usual half sweet, half not, go for 1/3 sweet.

Never dined there. What do you like?

for us, the appetizers, small plates would probably suffice for lighter meal.

However, the limited entrees just not among our favs in RL. Orange chicken, Peking duck & ribs, no thank you. Maybe the filet but, after last few trips to WDW so sick of paying $60+ for a steak at & it being nearly inedible and usually of that non seared, mushy texture.

Haha like the Homer Simpson hedge meme. They need to really work on holding area there, even if it’s just a section of the dock they aren’t using for seating purposes. There’s been plenty since post covid, assume due to server shortage


Blueberry lemonade, my go to there for lighter drink. I was surprised yours had such a light pour, usually knocks one’s socks off. Evidence it’s all in the crafter

Dave too, mostly due to paying $5for one Ouch. I then point out the sea of Cortez shrimp is priced accordingly. Likely, the better value as so tasty and large.

It is among our fav there. Steakhouse 71 has a solid one too We enjoy for lunches when at MK. anything is better than the restaurants inside the park there lol

They are usually excellent. Did seem a bit smaller than usual this go-round, still tasty.

Oh, that is being kind. Unacceptable service from start to finish. You’d think they’d have servers lined up outside the door to work there as pricing equates to higher tips???

kind understatement. I’m sure my eyes were bulging. Shorted us pretty much as close to $100 as possible. then, nothing more than an oh, is there another issue. Why, yes there is young man. can you hear your tip sliding from the mr’s normal 30% lol

you’d think they’d be used to it or have one of the hostess’ ready to comply

Believe it or not, was a score as so crowded there lol

It was funny, as you would say….the look on your face was gob-smacked.


Said in a tiny voice…me. Well, only if I had ‘fast pass via a reservation’

Thing is, there is such a large portion of onsite guests who wouldn’t dream of stepping foot outside the bubble. Have another glass of Kool-aid and step on up.

toss in that FOMO phenom in life in general. too many bloggers who love everything, spin doctors



We had a real dog of a table. In walkway & near kitchen door. Anywhere else I’d have been complaining. Have requested table changes in the past there…it’s always been another 20 min, in not longer. Welcome to all things Disney .

Hate to say it, many U regulars may be in absolute shock when they encounter what I expect will be epic, Epic Universe Throngs. Especially, if no on-site FOTL.

I can imagine I`d completely melt then up there, yes, I think you`d sweat buckets if scared!!!

Yup, don`t need to be walking any more than the million miles you already do, I have seen the boats but assumed they were from PO resorts, I do remember using them from FQ a billion years ago when we stayed there.

I think the appetisers look good for us too at Morimoto, several sprung out straight away, we will go at some point.

Ah Tom said it was blueberry lemonade.....lol.....my idea of a heavy pour might not be normal though!!! Years ago when we first went to NY my cousins and aunt took us over to Fire Island and they told me of a cocktail called Rocket Fuel (I think) and said no one could drink 2 as they were so strong and I think you could only order two max.....Janet, I drank it and felt nothing, their faces were like mine when I saw the one room in GB....gobsmacked..... It was a nice cocktail but definitely not rocket fuel.

Yes, our not so friendly waiter might have been trying to be sly there, and yes, for a substantial sum of money!! I know we didn`t give as good a tip as we`d usually give. And I agree I think the bakery has been so hyped by bloggers and so on. Tom said he actually did enjoy his more than he thought he would. I always forget there are many who don`t leave the Disney bubble either.

And you are spot on with your thoughts on how busy Universal will be once EU opens, it will be completely Epic!!! I think Universal in general has got so busy last 10 years or so compared to before and keeps getting busier......I wish they would ban those darn wagons though, they take up more room than people and usually just filled with stuff!!! And some are double deckers, there`s just not enough room in some areas.....imagine we all started bringing one of those!!

 

[schumigirl]

Woo! Caught up again. Haven’t been to Boathouse yet, but we did try Paddlefish and enjoyed it. We had no idea where we were going into just needed out of the rain. They sat us at a table near the bar and shared some appetizers(tuna poke, ceviche, calamar, and fried shrimp). We planned to return our last trip but never made to Disney Springs. We also tried gideons over the summer barely a line so why not, we enjoyed the cookies but loved the peanut butter cold brew and if I went back it would be for that drink.

Hamburger Mary’s looks so fun can’t wait to read more

Good to see you again!!

Paddlefish looks beautiful, and your choices there sound right up our street!! Oh you lost me at peanut butter anything....lol.....I can`t imagine that in a drink????

Hamburger Mary`s was amazing, I wished we had gone long before now!!!

Hope things are good with you

 

[bobbie68]

Hello Carole

I have been enjoying your report. I think I might have told you before so apologies if I did but I so look forward to all your restaurants you visit. It is nice having recommendations being a local now. I have to say none have disappointed.

We frequent Hamburger Mary’s and love the food and atmosphere there. We have done the bingo show and a few others glad you enjoyed it.

I saw you mentioned trying Morimoto at Disney springs. We have been there and the food was really nice. Their ribs were amazing. We will go back there again. We enjoy the boathouse but last time I went had some problems with a dish but would go back and try again.

Brian went up in the hot air balloon there it was a one and done. He said it was hi, this chicken stayed on the ground.

Glad you had a good trip so far from the report. We try to go a few times a month to the parks and do an overnight once in awhile when life isn’t getting in the way. I agree I love the parks at the holidays.

We have been to Strongwater once but hope to get there again. I do enjoy Sapphire.

Look forward to reading more.

 

[MadHatterBrooke]

U.S Hunger is a relief organization who organised this amazing event and had designed this programme which helped feed people who are struggling to feed themselves and their family, I had never heard of it before the Loews involvment, but what an amazing charity.

That sounds like a lot of fun and for a good cause! If we are ever there when they do it, I would love to sign up to help out. Thanks for sharing about it!

Their kitchen is letting them down now, we`ve sent back several things over our last few visits, and that`s not how it used to be.

So sad about Miller's Ale House. It's our favorite off property restaurant, though we haven't been in awhile.

It was a shame as we all love this place, food had been lovely and of course the company had been wonderful even if I say so myself but I know we all felt something was a little off with our waiter and in such a wonderful place that shouldn`t happen.

Glad you loved the food at the Boathouse, but oh boy... What a way to end the night. Definitely sounded like a mess.

 

[schumigirl]

Hello Carole

I have been enjoying your report. I think I might have told you before so apologies if I did but I so look forward to all your restaurants you visit. It is nice having recommendations being a local now. I have to say none have disappointed.

We frequent Hamburger Mary’s and love the food and atmosphere there. We have done the bingo show and a few others glad you enjoyed it.

I saw you mentioned trying Morimoto at Disney springs. We have been there and the food was really nice. Their ribs were amazing. We will go back there again. We enjoy the boathouse but last time I went had some problems with a dish but would go back and try again.

Brian went up in the hot air balloon there it was a one and done. He said it was hi, this chicken stayed on the ground.

Glad you had a good trip so far from the report. We try to go a few times a month to the parks and do an overnight once in awhile when life isn’t getting in the way. I agree I love the parks at the holidays.

We have been to Strongwater once but hope to get there again. I do enjoy Sapphire.

Look forward to reading more.

along Bobbie, it`s good to see you, it`s been a while!

I`m so glad you have enjoyed some of the places we`ve gone and yes Strong Water Bar is one of the best for sure, Sapphire is an amazing hotel too and being local it is fabulous you can visit the parks so often, yes, the Holidays are amazing to visit when everything is decorated.

Hamburger Mary`s was somewhere we`ll go back to, we loved it and glad to know you`ve been before and it`s always been good, it had such a lovely welcoming atmosphere and taught us a couple of things I didn`t realise were happening to the people involved in Drag.

I`m glad you`re enjoying reading along, it is good to see you post and hope you enjoy the rest of the TR

 

[schumigirl]

That sounds like a lot of fun and for a good cause! If we are ever there when they do it, I would love to sign up to help out. Thanks for sharing about it!

So sad about Miller's Ale House. It's our favorite off property restaurant, though we haven't been in awhile.

Glad you loved the food at the Boathouse, but oh boy... What a way to end the night. Definitely sounded like a mess.

Oh you`d enjoy it, it really was a lot of fun and such a lovely atmosphere of everyone coming together no matter your walk of life just helping out for such a good cause.

We used to love the Ale House on Kirkman, but we`ve heard several folks mention things not being as good as it once was for various reasons not just food and service, so I doubt we`ll go back to that one which is a shame as it`s so handy for us.

lol.....to be honest we did kinda laugh about it after, not the money issue, but he was a bit of a characature and I think Janet and I know someone who is trying to schmooz us, nah, didn`t work on us at all. But, overall we had a wonderful night with good food and company, we would go back to Boathouse, just not have that guy looking after us........

 

[saskdw]

Never dined there. What do you like?

for us, the appetizers, small plates would probably suffice for lighter meal.

However, the limited entrees just not among our favs in RL. Orange chicken, Peking duck & ribs, no thank you. Maybe the filet but, after last few trips to WDW so sick of paying $60+ for a steak at & it being nearly inedible and usually of that non seared, mushy texture.

Everything you listed there is great!!

I had the Orange Chicken the first time we ate there and loved it so much I've been scared to try something else and not like it as much. However after 3 or 4 times now I think I will try something else next time.

My wife has had the duck and ribs. She liked them both.
Service has always been top notch.
The Egg Rolls are the one thing that really jumps out for me.

They do have a take out counter outside if you want to try something with out sitting down to an expensive meal.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

And all caught up!


So glad you got to pack the boxes of food-I remember the Tim Tracker and Jenn doing it a few times! Such a fun way to give back!

Also my family and i tried the boathouse on our most recent trip and loved it!


As always, lovely photos and cant wait to read what is next!

 

[schumigirl]

Everything you listed there is great!!

I had the Orange Chicken the first time we ate there and loved it so much I've been scared to try something else and not like it as much. However after 3 or 4 times now I think I will try something else next time.

My wife has had the duck and ribs. She liked them both.
Service has always been top notch.
The Egg Rolls are the one thing that really jumps out for me.

They do have a take out counter outside if you want to try something with out sitting down to an expensive meal.

We both love Peking Duck and ribs too but he’s, a good egg roll is a joy to behold!!!

There’s a Thai Restaurant here we go to and I’m guilty of getting the same dish every time….its gorgeous and everyone makes fun of it, but when you find a dish you love, it’s hard not to get it!!! I do plan to get something else but end up ordering it all the same….

 

[schumigirl]

And all caught up!


So glad you got to pack the boxes of food-I remember the Tim Tracker and Jenn doing it a few times! Such a fun way to give back!

Also my family and i tried the boathouse on our most recent trip and loved it!


As always, lovely photos and cant wait to read what is next!

Nice to see you back again…..I’ve never watched the Trackers, well I did once to see what the fuss was about, but, yes, it was nice doing the charity event.

Boathouse is very good and hopefully next post coming up soon!!

 

[schumigirl]

We were so excited for this show!!

So far we had found the staff to be very friendly and so helpful if we needed anything, I did like the way they brought the check for us, in a very elegant red maybe not so high heel shoe, but very cute.

The food was very reasonably priced and wonderful, included in the check and you were made aware of this when you booked, there was an entertainment fee of $7 per person which we would find was tremendous value and also stamped across the check was the info that gratuity was included which was nice, but they did warrant an extra gratuity as they only added 18% which is less than we would have tipped normally.

​

I do forget their names, but the show opened with the young guy who was almost like a compere and he brought people out of the audience and their involvment was so funny and added a lot to the show in the end.

Everyone got into the spirit and not a single person was offended with the jokes including how one of the guests on stage resembled a certain type of actor from a certain genre of movies not discussed in polite company and he did announce he had been told that many times before, he was very funny too.

They did a quiz and most of the questions were about Broadway Shows naturally, some I didn`t have a clue about as my Broadway shows knowledge is limited to say the least. Wicked I could probably answer most things about it as I`ve seen it a load of times, but jeez....the woman in the red in the picture below knew the answer to every single question no matter what the question was and let everyone know it........and she did win!

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This was an advantage at being so close to the stage, we almost felt part of the show!!

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We had mentioned to someone we have only known a couple of years at the hotel we were coming here and he completely blew us away by letting us know that him and his husband are also in this business and he showed us some videos of them both dressed up and in shows and I can honestly say they were both fantastic and I honestly would never have known it was him in some of them, at one point I asked who we were watching and he said....me!!! Completely and utterly impressed beyond belief at the talent they have and how completely different they looked in their personas. I told him we were so looking forward to coming here and he said, we`d love it, I believed him.

The lady who was almost like the mama of the group came down and gave an introduction to what the show was, how we would enjoy it and gave a lovely heartwarming speech as to the community they are in and touched slightly on some issues, but basically it was how everyone regardless of who or what you are, you would be welcomed and respected and that`s all they asked too. She got a well deserved round of applause and cheers for her lovely speech.

The audience were a complete mixture of everyone you could imagine, couples, groups of friends, older ladies in a group and a couple of families too and everyone was enjoying it so far.

The acts began and all were singing songs from Broadway shows and each was more magnificent than the previous one, it was quite simply a whole lot of fun!!

And one thing you do need to know before you go, in case anyone doesn`t.....take plenty of notes!!! Each singer goes around with each song and will happily take your donation, and some will even blow your husband a kiss....

Each and every act that came out was slightly more flamboyant than the previous but all were amazing.

The mama of the group had some lovely costume changes and when she spoke in between the acts you could see she is very funny and we laughed a lot throughout the day.

I will say we immediately said next time we will go and see the more adult version of the show as I think it would be hilarious, at times you could see she was having to think carefully at times before speaking as there were some kids present, not too young but still young enough she was being very careful and they didn`t hear one inappropriate comment throughout the whole show.

Our favourite star of the day was this lady in purple....my favourite colour of course, but she sang one of our favourite songs from The Greatest Showman....This is Me!!

It is an incredible song if you don`t know it, and so full of emotion and very apt for these ladies to be singing it, so yes, this one was our favourite of everyone today.

There were some group performances and the show included three naturally born women who were also very good and added a lot to the show too.

This was a phenomenal show, we were so glad we had seen it and it is so full of life and energy you can`t help but feel incredibly happy seeing it, there is a genuine feeling of warmth from these ladies and we absolutely loved it.

Once the show was done you were invited to get some pictures if you wish, and of course I was first up. We got several pictures as they chatted and they really did keep the show going till the very end. They were all surprised when they asked where we were from and I said Scotland, always a talking point with most folks.

I love this picture!!!

We thanked them for such a wonderful show, they were incredibly gracious, I am absolutely the plain Jane of this wonderful group of ladies for sure

There were some other acts, but the pictures from them were a little blurry to post, they move very quickly, but were all fabulous. We completely lost count of how much money we passed over to the ladies during their acts, but whatever it was, it was worth it!!

I truly don`t think I have done this show justice with either pictures or writing about just how good it was. All I know is we can`t wait to come back and see these ladies in full flow and definitely want to see the adult only version of what the show can be, I think it would be hilarious!! And that`s not even considering how good the food was, it was lovely and everything we saw pass us looked just as good too.

We left and ordered our Uber to come pick us up and it was there in no time at all. Someone asked me what the Uber was from the hotel to Downtown Orlando, I`m sorry I forget who asked me, but it was $14 each way before tip, so an absolute bargain.

Home to Sapphire, we planned to get packed up this afternoon for our move over to RP tomorrow and hopefully some park time later tonight. But, looking at the weather we didn`t think it was going to happen.