"Blame it on Carole" - a Feb 2023 trip report (with some lingering Dec 2022 vibes)

[DisGhost]

This is my first trip report, so forgive me if it meanders a bit. I did not keep notes, and we got so much done plus it came only 2 months after our last trip, so things tend to blur.

Reason for the title:
@schumigirl's trip reports have been an addiction of mine for a couple of years. I now notice things that I never noticed before. Her food pictures have me drooling. I tell my husband her tips and tricks, and FINALLY convinced him to try Strong Water Tavern on our last trip (spoiler, everyone LOVED it and we went again this trip.) We had a few trips under our belt already, and we already loved UOR and RPR, but... I just blame a lot of things on Carole and many times in the past few months he has asked me, very suspiciously, "is this because of that Scottish lady?" Yes. Yes, it is.

Main characters:
Me, a mom. Middle aged (nooooooooooooooooo) mother of 2. Originally from California, transplanted to Long Island about 17 years ago. Husband and I have always loved rollercoasters and theme parks, but now that I am "old" my stomach can't take as much abuse. Known as a fuddy duddy in our family.
.Jon, my husband and dad of our two kids. A much nicer person than I am. Originally from Long Island, moved to California in order to meet me, and then I dragged him back home. Loves coasters, and will allow himself to be abused by his kids to the point of multiple coaster rides in a row, requiring much Motrin.
Anna, aka DD. 13. Adventurous. Lover of any kind of crazy coaster from an early age. Previously in possession of sole rights to ride with Jon. Deeply enjoys abusing him as much as possible. Originator of the "Daddy Can't Say No Day."
Finley, aka DS. 10. Previously unadventurous - carousels were about his speed. Used to be my "ride buddy" until last summer when we went to Cedar Point and he discovered that roller coasters are actually GREAT. The nicest person in the family. Much resented by his sister because now he also gets a "Daddy Can't Say No Day." Also loves pandas.

Peripheral characters:
Suzy and Frank. Suzy was my best friend in high school. They now live in Florida and are really big into RV life.
Amanda, Rich, Jessica, and Zach. Amanda is Jon's sister. Rich is her husband. Jess and Zach are two of their kids.
Both sets joined us at various points on this trip, which was fun but chaotic.

Dates:
Feb 18 - 21. with flashbacks to Dec 28 - 31

Location:
Royal Pacific Resort

 

[jump00]

This is my first trip report, so forgive me if it meanders a bit. I did not keep notes, and we got so much done plus it came only 2 months after our last trip, so things tend to blur.

Reason for the title:
@schumigirl's trip reports have been an addiction of mine for a couple of years. I now notice things that I never noticed before. Her food pictures have me drooling. I tell my husband her tips and tricks, and FINALLY convinced him to try Strong Water Tavern on our last trip (spoiler, everyone LOVED it and we went again this trip.) We had a few trips under our belt already, and we already loved UOR and RPR, but... I just blame a lot of things on Carole and many times in the past few months he has asked me, very suspiciously, "is this because of that Scottish lady?" Yes. Yes, it is.

Main characters:
Me, a mom. Middle aged (nooooooooooooooooo) mother of 2. Originally from California, transplanted to Long Island about 17 years ago. Husband and I have always loved rollercoasters and theme parks, but now that I am "old" my stomach can't take as much abuse. Known as a fuddy duddy in our family.
.Jon, my husband and dad of our two kids. A much nicer person than I am. Originally from Long Island, moved to California in order to meet me, and then I dragged him back home. Loves coasters, and will allow himself to be abused by his kids to the point of multiple coaster rides in a row, requiring much Motrin.
Anna, aka DD. 13. Adventurous. Lover of any kind of crazy coaster from an early age. Previously in possession of sole rights to ride with Jon. Deeply enjoys abusing him as much as possible. Originator of the "Daddy Can't Say No Day."
Finley, aka DS. 10. Previously unadventurous - carousels were about his speed. Used to be my "ride buddy" until last summer when we went to Cedar Point and he discovered that roller coasters are actually GREAT. The nicest person in the family. Much resented by his sister because now he also gets a "Daddy Can't Say No Day." Also loves pandas.

Peripheral characters:
Suzy and Frank. Suzy was my best friend in high school. They now live in Florida and are really big into RV life.
Amanda, Rich, Jessica, and Zach. Amanda is Jon's sister. Rich is her husband. Jess and Zach are two of their kids.
Both sets joined us at various points on this trip, which was fun but chaotic.

Dates:
Feb 18 - 21. with flashbacks to Dec 28 - 31

Location:
Royal Pacific Resort

What a great title!! You win hands down.

 

[DisGhost]

And just so you can see the cast of characters, here we are from our trip in Feb 2019 - we tend to go during President's week because our kids are off school and we traditionally visit Jon's dad and stepmom every February. They live near Tampa. This is our second year where it made sense to buy annual passes, so I am angling for a 3rd trip before December. The kids are much taller now!

 

[DisGhost]

What a great title!! You win hands down.

Alternate title" "Is this because of the Scottish lady?" I swear my entire family is rolling their eyes at me constantly.

 

[schumigirl]

DisGhost......you win the internet for the best title ever!!!!

I genuinely spluttered my tea over my keyboard....I love the title, although that Scottish lady works brilliantly too!

Your family are lovely, kids are so cute and I look forward to reading about your trip, sounds amazing already......

 

[saskdw]

DisGhost, things are the same way at our place except I'm the forum person not my wife.

It's quite common now when we are talking about Orlando that my wife will ask " What does Carole say about that?"

 

[DisGhost]

Flashback time:

Back in December, we went to Universal after spending Christmas with the grandparents. This was a trip planned in June. Sometime around October, Jon's sister asked if we were taking our usual February trip to Florida, and said they were going to be at Universal on the 20th and 21st. Did we want to join them? (Well, yes!)


After doing some quick calculations, I determined that it would be cheaper to buy Annual Passes than to buy two different sets of tickets. And then Jon said, let's use points and fly on Friday night instead of driving (yes, we drive from NY to FL every year, we are crazy but it's fun!) And then we can spend two extra days at Universal. (Darn!)

We had a BLAST in December despite it being crowded. It really wasn't that bad with EP, aside from NYE - we left early that night and watched the fireworks from our room.

We did decide to make dining reservations for both lunch and dinner, a first for us. We were glad we did as it was very busy. And I finally convinced my family to try Strong Water Tavern! I saw the Carole Punch on the menu but had not yet read her trip report that included the backstory. I didn't try it that trip, but definitely had it this time!

One last thing to note is that two days in a row we used early entry and sprinted to Hagrids. As previously mentioned, my son had FINALLY decided he loves rollercoasters and since that is my favorite coaster in any park, ever, we really wanted to make sure to get on. Well, both mornings the coaster broke down and we ended up not getting done until well after park opening - having woken up at an ungodly hour because Universal decided to open at the ridiculous hour of 7am that week. If it had been running we would have been on and done in about 20 minutes.

Well, I could take it once, but twice in a row was right out so I took a note from my neighbor and complained on Twitter. Just mildly. Not asking for anything just wondering what the heck was going on. I am not a complainer, so this was highly unusual for me. Within an hour, though, a lovely rep from customer service had reached out and offered us EIGHT RUBY PASSES. Well, we decided to save those for our February trip. It was amazing!

And now that you have that background, I leave you with a couple of pictures from the December trip:

 

[GoofyDad_4427]

What are Ruby passes?

 

[DisGhost]

What are Ruby passes?

It's a special pass that they give out, usually if someone is stuck on a ride that breaks down, that allows you go to the exit (which is also usually a disability entrance) of any ride at any time and bypass the line. In practice, these passes work best on stuff like Velocicoaster (which didn't open up EP until Feb 21) and Hagrids, which don't have EP and tend to have super long lines. The passes are red in color, hence, "ruby."

 

[disneyseniors]

Disghost: I am following along too. The title "got" me too. I love Carole's tR's too and am happily following along on yours

 

[Pumpkin1172]

Love the title!!!

We all love our " Carole" trip reports. She gives soooo many little things to look for, and do.

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[DisGhost]

Well I'm happy that people are following along, including the Great Lady Herself lol. I don't take NEARLY as many pictures as Carole. In fact, I've recently realized that I totally forget to take any pictures at all sometimes, when I used to take TONS of them. It means I am enjoying myself in the moment but I do miss having the memories. Particularly since I make a photo album for the grandparents every year, AND my dad is a photographer (once professional, now amateur, but I grew up watching him develop black and white photos in his backyard studio and I like to think I inherited some of his eye for composition!)

One thing I AM obsessed with is lights. I take photos of any exciting/interesting light fixtures I see, so I might just have to make a post entirely devoted to lights lol.

 

[DisGhost]

Day 1 - Saturday February 18

We arrived in Orlando after midnight and so we stayed offsite at the Doubletree - and didn't get there until 1am. We slept in until 8am, since we knew we had the Ruby passes and the kids were exhausted. In the morning, we requested a Lyft - and watched on the app as the driver got lost and turned around TWICE before cancelling! So we got another one and this time the driver showed up in 5 minutes. He said that Google maps shows the Doubletree as a UPS store, but he knows the address so didn't get confused. So strange!

Our driver tried to give us some tips and tricks about Express Pass but of course we are old hands. But he did point out a fence that he says the local high schoolers jump in order to get into the park for free!

We arrived quickly at the beautiful Royal Pacific entrance. Like Carole, I always get a feeling of joy and peace walking over that bridge. We have stayed at PBR once (in Feb 2020, right before Covid hit) and while it was beautiful, peaceful, and felt very much like a vacation, it was so far from the parks. We are just NOT cool enough for the Hard Rock, but RPR is just right. Peaceful, but with a bit of a festive atmosphere. One day we will stay at Sapphire Falls, but with 4 of us and all very spoilt for EP, it makes more sense for now to stay at a Premium resort.

And of course there are my favorite froggie friends:


We were quickly checked in by a delightful lady with gorgeous fingernails - natural nails with black tips that had little white stars. Her name was Kellie and she was just so sweet. When she told us we would get a text when our room was ready, we told her that we NEVER get those texts - but it wasn't just a Universal thing, we never get them at Disney either. Well she immediately took out a Post-it and wrote down our names and said "I will keep an eye out and make sure you get that text!"



We got our EP's, and mine was my favorite ET! Too bad I had switched out my usual ET lanyard for a Grinch one. Since we already had our annual passes from our last trip, we proceeded to the entrance of IOA. There was still quite a crowd, despite them being open already for quite some time. We needed to go to guest services to pick up our aforementioned ruby passes, but the line was probably going to be over an hour! I amused myself by listening to the cats and finding the jailbreaker sign Carole mentioned in one of her trip reports.




Jon was fed up with the long line and consulted his map and discovered that there was another guest services spot in the JP area, so we decided to ride our usual first ride, Spiderman (which in our family is called Spooderman do not ask me why) then walk around to JP. "Spooderman" was a walk on with EP and they were handing out glasses in the loading room, not at the bottom of the ramp like usual. They did it that way our entire trip. After that, Hulk, which was also a walk on. It didn't bother my stomach as much as usual, but it did give me a bit of a headache. It can be very rattley.

We wandered through Toon Lagoon and into the JP area. There was absolutely no line at guest services. I gave the team member the ticket number I was given on Twitter, as well as my ID - turns out she was originally from Garden City on Long Island - just a few minutes down the road from us! Well luckily, I wasn't scammed out of info by some random Twitter account and soon enough we had 8 Ruby Passes in hand (really, just piece of paper, unlike the ones handed out at the rides.) We did ask her about the Velocicoaster EP rumor but she said she had heard the rumor too but had no idea if it was true.

We decided to do one ride on Hagrid's during the day and one at night - we needed to use them today because we were meeting up with my friend Suzy on Sunday, and Jon's sister's family on Monday and Tuesday. But first, Velocicoaster - it's my daughter's favorite ride.

The posted wait time was about 80 minutes but we waited about an hour. Still a very long time but the line does keep moving and it was probably the shortest it would be that day - it was SO crowded! There were simply hordes of people everywhere. There was a very talkative man in line behind us. He was very nice, a doctor originally from New York (we met a LOT of New Yorkers this trip, including people from our own town as you will hear later) but now from CT. Unfortunately, he coughed quite a bit. big wet phlegmy coughs. Really, a doctor should know better.



Velocicoaster is so much fun, so many twists and upside down spots. But once you get past the first launch, you really need to keep your head off the back of the seat - I find it jostles my head SO much, and I end up with a pounding headache. I really can only do it once a day.

After that, Jon insisted we needed to go on King Kong - Finley and I had never done it, and he is very adamant about completionism - except for Rip Ride Rocket. He hates is and doesn't want to insist we ride it lol. It was fun and very different from most of the other screen rides, with the screens being on both sides, but not one I would wait for. There was a woman and a little girl in matching dresses next to us - it was the little girl's birthday, and she had just gotten her first "real" coaster ride on Velocicoaster. We told her she was a VERY brave girl. She still looked a bit petrified, but seemed to like Kong at least.

Now it was time for Hagrids! We went straight to the entrance and showed the TM our passes. He directed us to the exit line. There were a few more hoops to jump through but then we finally entered right at the final room before the loading room. Still a slight wait, but the posted wait time was almost 3 hours! The ride is SO much fun, so many surprises and launches. I just love it.



It is time for me to take a shower before the kids use up the hot water, so more to come...

 

[schumigirl]

Flashback time:

Back in December, we went to Universal after spending Christmas with the grandparents. This was a trip planned in June. Sometime around October, Jon's sister asked if we were taking our usual February trip to Florida, and said they were going to be at Universal on the 20th and 21st. Did we want to join them? (Well, yes!)


After doing some quick calculations, I determined that it would be cheaper to buy Annual Passes than to buy two different sets of tickets. And then Jon said, let's use points and fly on Friday night instead of driving (yes, we drive from NY to FL every year, we are crazy but it's fun!) And then we can spend two extra days at Universal. (Darn!)

We had a BLAST in December despite it being crowded. It really wasn't that bad with EP, aside from NYE - we left early that night and watched the fireworks from our room.

We did decide to make dining reservations for both lunch and dinner, a first for us. We were glad we did as it was very busy. And I finally convinced my family to try Strong Water Tavern! I saw the Carole Punch on the menu but had not yet read her trip report that included the backstory. I didn't try it that trip, but definitely had it this time!

One last thing to note is that two days in a row we used early entry and sprinted to Hagrids. As previously mentioned, my son had FINALLY decided he loves rollercoasters and since that is my favorite coaster in any park, ever, we really wanted to make sure to get on. Well, both mornings the coaster broke down and we ended up not getting done until well after park opening - having woken up at an ungodly hour because Universal decided to open at the ridiculous hour of 7am that week. If it had been running we would have been on and done in about 20 minutes.

Well, I could take it once, but twice in a row was right out so I took a note from my neighbor and complained on Twitter. Just mildly. Not asking for anything just wondering what the heck was going on. I am not a complainer, so this was highly unusual for me. Within an hour, though, a lovely rep from customer service had reached out and offered us EIGHT RUBY PASSES. Well, we decided to save those for our February trip. It was amazing!

And now that you have that background, I leave you with a couple of pictures from the December trip:
View attachment 742895

View attachment 742898

View attachment 742899View attachment 742900

Nice gesture with the Ruby Passes!!!

Love your pics from that trip too.....

Day 1 - Saturday February 18

We arrived in Orlando after midnight and so we stayed offsite at the Doubletree - and didn't get there until 1am. We slept in until 8am, since we knew we had the Ruby passes and the kids were exhausted. In the morning, we requested a Lyft - and watched on the app as the driver got lost and turned around TWICE before cancelling! So we got another one and this time the driver showed up in 5 minutes. He said that Google maps shows the Doubletree as a UPS store, but he knows the address so didn't get confused. So strange!

Our driver tried to give us some tips and tricks about Express Pass but of course we are old hands. But he did point out a fence that he says the local high schoolers jump in order to get into the park for free!

We arrived quickly at the beautiful Royal Pacific entrance. Like Carole, I always get a feeling of joy and peace walking over that bridge. We have stayed at PBR once (in Feb 2020, right before Covid hit) and while it was beautiful, peaceful, and felt very much like a vacation, it was so far from the parks. We are just NOT cool enough for the Hard Rock, but RPR is just right. Peaceful, but with a bit of a festive atmosphere. One day we will stay at Sapphire Falls, but with 4 of us and all very spoilt for EP, it makes more sense for now to stay at a Premium resort.

And of course there are my favorite froggie friends:
View attachment 743421

We were quickly checked in by a delightful lady with gorgeous fingernails - natural nails with black tips that had little white stars. Her name was Kellie and she was just so sweet. When she told us we would get a text when our room was ready, we told her that we NEVER get those texts - but it wasn't just a Universal thing, we never get them at Disney either. Well she immediately took out a Post-it and wrote down our names and said "I will keep an eye out and make sure you get that text!"

View attachment 743439

We got our EP's, and mine was my favorite ET! Too bad I had switched out my usual ET lanyard for a Grinch one. Since we already had our annual passes from our last trip, we proceeded to the entrance of IOA. There was still quite a crowd, despite them being open already for quite some time. We needed to go to guest services to pick up our aforementioned ruby passes, but the line was probably going to be over an hour! I amused myself by listening to the cats and finding the jailbreaker sign Carole mentioned in one of her trip reports.

View attachment 743440


Jon was fed up with the long line and consulted his map and discovered that there was another guest services spot in the JP area, so we decided to ride our usual first ride, Spiderman (which in our family is called Spooderman do not ask me why) then walk around to JP. "Spooderman" was a walk on with EP and they were handing out glasses in the loading room, not at the bottom of the ramp like usual. They did it that way our entire trip. After that, Hulk, which was also a walk on. It didn't bother my stomach as much as usual, but it did give me a bit of a headache. It can be very rattley.

We wandered through Toon Lagoon and into the JP area. There was absolutely no line at guest services. I gave the team member the ticket number I was given on Twitter, as well as my ID - turns out she was originally from Garden City on Long Island - just a few minutes down the road from us! Well luckily, I wasn't scammed out of info by some random Twitter account and soon enough we had 8 Ruby Passes in hand (really, just piece of paper, unlike the ones handed out at the rides.) We did ask her about the Velocicoaster EP rumor but she said she had heard the rumor too but had no idea if it was true.

We decided to do one ride on Hagrid's during the day and one at night - we needed to use them today because we were meeting up with my friend Suzy on Sunday, and Jon's sister's family on Monday and Tuesday. But first, Velocicoaster - it's my daughter's favorite ride.

The posted wait time was about 80 minutes but we waited about an hour. Still a very long time but the line does keep moving and it was probably the shortest it would be that day - it was SO crowded! There were simply hordes of people everywhere. There was a very talkative man in line behind us. He was very nice, a doctor originally from New York (we met a LOT of New Yorkers this trip, including people from our own town as you will hear later) but now from CT. Unfortunately, he coughed quite a bit. big wet phlegmy coughs. Really, a doctor should know better.

View attachment 743434

Velocicoaster is so much fun, so many twists and upside down spots. But once you get past the first launch, you really need to keep your head off the back of the seat - I find it jostles my head SO much, and I end up with a pounding headache. I really can only do it once a day.

After that, Jon insisted we needed to go on King Kong - Finley and I had never done it, and he is very adamant about completionism - except for Rip Ride Rocket. He hates is and doesn't want to insist we ride it lol. It was fun and very different from most of the other screen rides, with the screens being on both sides, but not one I would wait for. There was a woman and a little girl in matching dresses next to us - it was the little girl's birthday, and she had just gotten her first "real" coaster ride on Velocicoaster. We told her she was a VERY brave girl. She still looked a bit petrified, but seemed to like Kong at least.

Now it was time for Hagrids! We went straight to the entrance and showed the TM our passes. He directed us to the exit line. There were a few more hoops to jump through but then we finally entered right at the final room before the loading room. Still a slight wait, but the posted wait time was almost 3 hours! The ride is SO much fun, so many surprises and launches. I just love it.

View attachment 743438

It is time for me to take a shower before the kids use up the hot water, so more to come...

Kellie is lovely!! And yes, she is very customer oriented.

I`m glad you got to see some of the little hidden in plain view sights!

Yes, you all must have been exhausted not getting to bed till so late, but having EP certainly makes a park day much easier!!

I`m laughing at Spooderman.......lol......it`s funny how family affectations stick!!

Looking forward to reading more........

 

[DisGhost]

Nice gesture with the Ruby Passes!!!

Love your pics from that trip too.....



Kellie is lovely!! And yes, she is very customer oriented.

I`m glad you got to see some of the little hidden in plain view sights!

Yes, you all must have been exhausted not getting to bed till so late, but having EP certainly makes a park day much easier!!

I`m laughing at Spooderman.......lol......it`s funny how family affectations stick!!

Looking forward to reading more........

You should hear us walking around singing "Spooderman, Spooderman, does whatever a spooder can" as a family. What a bunch of weirdoes.

Kellie was an absolute sweetheart and started our trip out on just the right note. I need to send an email to the hotel manager about her (but I'm not sure where to find that email?)

 

[schumigirl]

You should hear us walking around singing "Spooderman, Spooderman, does whatever a spooder can" as a family. What a bunch of weirdoes.

Kellie was an absolute sweetheart and started our trip out on just the right note. I need to send an email to the hotel manager about her (but I'm not sure where to find that email?)

lol…..I can imagine! Nah, not weirdos……you’re just having fun!!

Send any comments to royalpacificcustomerservice@loewshotels.com

Or also mention her name on TripAdvisor if you use it.

 

[DisGhost]

lol…..I can imagine! Nah, not weirdos……you’re just having fun!!

Send any comments to royalpacificcustomerservice@loewshotels.com

Or also mention her name on TripAdvisor if you use it.

See, I knew you would know! Thank you

 

[DisGhost]

Day 1 - Saturday February 18 (continued)

At this point, we took the Hogwarts Express over to "the other side" and I think we poked around Diagon Alley for a bit before making our way out to the outside world. We were quite hungry and so we decided to explore the food booths a bit. This was our third Mardi Gras (we were there is Feb 2019 and Feb 2020 as well) but the first time actually trying out the food booths and I am pretty sure that in the previous years we went, they only had a small section of New Orleans food in the NY area.

They seem to really be trying for an "Eating Around the World" vibe, and of course every booth also sold beer or cocktails of some sort. Both of us enjoy our drinks but do not much like drinking in the heat of the day, so we had a beer from Germany and that was it. We tried a sampler (the Mofongo Trio) in Puerto Rico, which was near the Mummy ride, in the spot where the Christmas tree was when we went in December. It was good but had a LOT of smashed plantains. We then wandered around the lagoon. Nothing really struck our fancy (well, a couple of things looked good to me but the fam had other ideas...)

Simpsons Land was an absolute zoo at this point, so we crossed over the bridge and stopped in Germany - there was no line there for some reason so we got chicken schnitzel and kugel and the aforementioned beer. OH it was SO good. SUPER crispy and the kugel tasted cheesy and oniony and was quite good. The beer was very refreshing and cold. We were very happy with it and it topped us up nicely. We only got two to share across the family but the portions were pretty large.

It was Men in Black time and I think I won this time, and then Simpsons. at this point, we were dragging so we were VERY happy to get a room ready text around 2pm! Anna demanded coffee (well, really, some sort of super sweet caramel drink with whipped cream lol) and Jon and I both needed to inject caffeine into our veins, so we went to the Starbucks that is in the lobby. But Jon saw Kellie at the front desk, and went to thank her as we had actually gotten our text this time. When he came back, he said she had been holding that pink post-it in her hand, getting ready to make sure we had gotten our text. She definitely got a huge thank you, and I've also emailed the hotel manager to say how nice she was.

We soon were unpacked, and I'm sure Jon fell asleep for a while and the kids played chess for a while on the tablet (and probably some other stupid games, they aren't entirely cultured lol). We did discuss going back to the parks for a bit but we were honestly pooped and we did have a reservation at Bice at 5:45.

Bice is a favorite of ours - we stayed at Portofino in February 2020, right before Covid hit. We had been to Disney World for Christmas in 2019 - literally for Christmas, we ate Christmas dinner at Yachtsman and spent Christmas Eve at the same restaurant we went to on our honeymoon in 2000 - Chefs de France. Might as well put in this picture, showing us on our honeymoon as basically babies, and then again 19 years later - quite a difference!



Anyway, back to 2020 - Finley has always been a VERY picky eater. He had finally expanded past chicken nuggets but it was mostly pasta, steak, cheeseburgers, etc. But at Bice he got the chicken parm off the kids menu there (for some strange reason, it's not on the adult menu?) and he LOVED it. We all tried it and I have to agree it's quite good, with real tomato sauce and not that nasty sweet stuff that most kids menus have. We have always believed that kids can handle whatever you throw at them, and Anna will eat anything and everything, but of course then we were handed our sweet, stubborn, picky boy. I am happy to say he is well past that now but Bice was his first step into agreeing to always try new foods, so we make it a point to go there every trip now.

Portofino Bay is such a pretty resort, and feels so Italian. I love visiting there even if it's so far away from the parks. We took a Lyft there and it's just a hop, skip and a jump by car. And it was the "magic hour" of the day by now.





Our meal was delicious of course and funny story, the waiter, once he heard where we were from, said "Oh, I used to work at Louie's 15 years ago!" Louie's is a seafood restaurant in our town - a tourist trap now but when my husband was a boy, they would bring the fish to the kitchens straight from the boats and they do have a lovely bar right on the water. If you have ever seen "Meet the Parents" there is a scene that was filmed right in front of it. So he and Jon reminisced a bit, and my neighbor across the street later told me that they ate at a different restaurant (I forget which) on their trip in 2021, their waiter had also worked at Louie's - I'm sure it was the same guy!

We made it back to the hotel groaning and full, and passed out soon after.

 

[macraven]

Your pictures are wonderful!
Absolutely stunning…

That movie of meet the parents is a fun one!!

 

[schumigirl]

Day 1 - Saturday February 18 (continued)

At this point, we took the Hogwarts Express over to "the other side" and I think we poked around Diagon Alley for a bit before making our way out to the outside world. We were quite hungry and so we decided to explore the food booths a bit. This was our third Mardi Gras (we were there is Feb 2019 and Feb 2020 as well) but the first time actually trying out the food booths and I am pretty sure that in the previous years we went, they only had a small section of New Orleans food in the NY area.

They seem to really be trying for an "Eating Around the World" vibe, and of course every booth also sold beer or cocktails of some sort. Both of us enjoy our drinks but do not much like drinking in the heat of the day, so we had a beer from Germany and that was it. We tried a sampler (the Mofongo Trio) in Puerto Rico, which was near the Mummy ride, in the spot where the Christmas tree was when we went in December. It was good but had a LOT of smashed plantains. We then wandered around the lagoon. Nothing really struck our fancy (well, a couple of things looked good to me but the fam had other ideas...)

Simpsons Land was an absolute zoo at this point, so we crossed over the bridge and stopped in Germany - there was no line there for some reason so we got chicken schnitzel and kugel and the aforementioned beer. OH it was SO good. SUPER crispy and the kugel tasted cheesy and oniony and was quite good. The beer was very refreshing and cold. We were very happy with it and it topped us up nicely. We only got two to share across the family but the portions were pretty large.

It was Men in Black time and I think I won this time, and then Simpsons. at this point, we were dragging so we were VERY happy to get a room ready text around 2pm! Anna demanded coffee (well, really, some sort of super sweet caramel drink with whipped cream lol) and Jon and I both needed to inject caffeine into our veins, so we went to the Starbucks that is in the lobby. But Jon saw Kellie at the front desk, and went to thank her as we had actually gotten our text this time. When he came back, he said she had been holding that pink post-it in her hand, getting ready to make sure we had gotten our text. She definitely got a huge thank you, and I've also emailed the hotel manager to say how nice she was.

We soon were unpacked, and I'm sure Jon fell asleep for a while and the kids played chess for a while on the tablet (and probably some other stupid games, they aren't entirely cultured lol). We did discuss going back to the parks for a bit but we were honestly pooped and we did have a reservation at Bice at 5:45.

Bice is a favorite of ours - we stayed at Portofino in February 2020, right before Covid hit. We had been to Disney World for Christmas in 2019 - literally for Christmas, we ate Christmas dinner at Yachtsman and spent Christmas Eve at the same restaurant we went to on our honeymoon in 2000 - Chefs de France. Might as well put in this picture, showing us on our honeymoon as basically babies, and then again 19 years later - quite a difference!

View attachment 743724

Anyway, back to 2020 - Finley has always been a VERY picky eater. He had finally expanded past chicken nuggets but it was mostly pasta, steak, cheeseburgers, etc. But at Bice he got the chicken parm off the kids menu there (for some strange reason, it's not on the adult menu?) and he LOVED it. We all tried it and I have to agree it's quite good, with real tomato sauce and not that nasty sweet stuff that most kids menus have. We have always believed that kids can handle whatever you throw at them, and Anna will eat anything and everything, but of course then we were handed our sweet, stubborn, picky boy. I am happy to say he is well past that now but Bice was his first step into agreeing to always try new foods, so we make it a point to go there every trip now.

Portofino Bay is such a pretty resort, and feels so Italian. I love visiting there even if it's so far away from the parks. We took a Lyft there and it's just a hop, skip and a jump by car. And it was the "magic hour" of the day by now.

View attachment 743726

View attachment 743727

Our meal was delicious of course and funny story, the waiter, once he heard where we were from, said "Oh, I used to work at Louie's 15 years ago!" Louie's is a seafood restaurant in our town - a tourist trap now but when my husband was a boy, they would bring the fish to the kitchens straight from the boats and they do have a lovely bar right on the water. If you have ever seen "Meet the Parents" there is a scene that was filmed right in front of it. So he and Jon reminisced a bit, and my neighbor across the street later told me that they ate at a different restaurant (I forget which) on their trip in 2021, their waiter had also worked at Louie's - I'm sure it was the same guy!

We made it back to the hotel groaning and full, and passed out soon after.

Love the pictures with the years between them!!

Glad to hear your son is expanding his palate......it`s always good to see them try new things and enjoy them. And glad to hear you all enjoyed Bice.

Now I need to watch Meet the Parents again, it`s been years since I watched it!