Happy Anni-birth-aversary...A 33 night Celebration & HHN too.....SF & RPR September 2022 TR

[BroadwayHermione5]

And I am all caught up! I always love when you go to Mount Dora-reminds me of Mystic, CT.

Also what is up with HHN this year I’ve heard so many things including last night there was apparently a 4 hour wait into the parking lot?!?!? Shame because those scare actors and those who create this don’t deserve this.


And-most importantly- ALL HAIL CAROLE’S PUNCH!!!! One day I shall get there to try!

 

[disneyseniors]

Carole, I cant wait to hear how your ghost tour of the Donnelly house goes. I think I saw that house on the TV show Ghost Hunters, but not sure. Let us know if anything paranormal shows up. As always, loving your reports
ruth

 

[schumigirl]

And I am all caught up! I always love when you go to Mount Dora-reminds me of Mystic, CT.

Also what is up with HHN this year I’ve heard so many things including last night there was apparently a 4 hour wait into the parking lot?!?!? Shame because those scare actors and those who create this don’t deserve this.


And-most importantly- ALL HAIL CAROLE’S PUNCH!!!! One day I shall get there to try!

That`s a crazy time to get into a parking lot. Yes, it`s a shame. Some SA friends are saying they`re selling too many tickets....we certainly had some nights where it was beyond crazy.

lol......Hope you do get to try it, it`s a gorgeous drink Anthony created.

 

[schumigirl]

Carole, I cant wait to hear how your ghost tour of the Donnelly house goes. I think I saw that house on the TV show Ghost Hunters, but not sure. Let us know if anything paranormal shows up. As always, loving your reports
ruth

I think the guide mentioned being on TV....can`t remember which show it was.

Er, there might have been one thing happen that was slightly odd.......

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Mr. Worfiedoodles is also a firm member of the non-button wearing club. That’s ok, we can be twice as happy for them

I really appreciate all the in-depth detail, it’s like trailing behind you throughout your day

I will be ordering Carole’s Punch in December! Can’t wait to proudly request it with a huge smile on my face

I agree that Raphael’s smile in your photos just lights up the room. He is clearly quite fond of you!

It is so nice you have options and can skip HHN on nights when you know it won’t be as rich of an experience.

That bubbly in the morning is a brilliant start

 

[schumigirl]

Mr. Worfiedoodles is also a firm member of the non-button wearing club. That’s ok, we can be twice as happy for them

I really appreciate all the in-depth detail, it’s like trailing behind you throughout your day

I will be ordering Carole’s Punch in December! Can’t wait to proudly request it with a huge smile on my face

I agree that Raphael’s smile in your photos just lights up the room. He is clearly quite fond of you!

It is so nice you have options and can skip HHN on nights when you know it won’t be as rich of an experience.

That bubbly in the morning is a brilliant start

lol....yes, seems more women are happy to wear buttons than men are....yeah, that`s ok.

I think you`ll love it Maria......it has everything I love in a cocktail......fruity and full of flavour!

Raphael is a star, most of them in the lounge are and it was very sweet of him to make up a little gift package, he`ll go far in the future.

I have no desire to trail around the parks during the day or at night when the rain is pouring down.....that`s just not fun and yes, being able to go so many nights is a luxury, so we were happy to miss a few nights. Down side is once the rainy evenings stopped, the real crowds arrived.

I remember you enjoying a little fizz in the morning too when you were there......yep, it is the best way to start the day.....I`ll say only on vacation though, as I do think it would be suspect if I began opening bottles of bubbly for breakfast every day at home......

Glad you`re enjoying it Maria....

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

That`s a crazy time to get into a parking lot. Yes, it`s a shame. Some SA friends are saying they`re selling too many tickets....we certainly had some nights where it was beyond crazy.

lol......Hope you do get to try it, it`s a gorgeous drink Anthony created.

I saw on Twitter that Monday night a scare actor (unsure if HHN or Howl o scream) got punched in the nose and had to leave to get it taken care of by a medical professional!

 

[macraven]

yup
things like that have happened before
and they usually are then banned from the park

 

[schumigirl]

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9TH​

I wish we could sleep late, but as always we are both awake, some more than others I`ll hasten to add......but we headed over for our usual breakfast in the lounge and we were having another, yes another lazyish day. Breakfast was lovely, and yes, some champagne for me, and as Tom was driving at lunch, no champagne for him.....what a shame.......

Before we left in May we missed one of the girls as we didn`t get back over to say goodbye, and she had left to start a new job in the HRH the day before we arrived which was a shame as she had been so lovely to get to know in May. But, she had left us a lovely card explaining where she was and what job she was moving to and would love to see us if we had time. Well, one thing we do have is time. We found out from our friend Samuel whose partner is now working with Bri that she would be working this morning so we were going to wander over to the HRH to say a quick hello.

Hopped on the boat and we were lucky the HRH boat was just leaving......empty. It`s not often now you get a boat to yourself, but we did it twice today.

The exterior of the HRH is very pretty and probably the only thing I do like about this hotel.

The grounds looked very lush, as did everything this visit as there had been so much rain this summer, so the landscaping in all areas looked beautiful.

We spoke to one of the ladies on the desk and she said Bri was due in within the next couple of minutes and she`d tell her we were there, we`d wait in the lobby for her, this was just going to be a quick hello and not a long meet up.

This area really needs a revamp. It`s dull, lacks any atmosphere and as we sat there was a smell of damp around the place. It felt depressing sitting here and to be honest, we`d be happy when we would be leaving. I`ve never liked the HRH though, it doesn`t feel like a resort, more like just a hotel and we`d never stay here. It also has the tiniest Club Lounge of all the hotels and unlike many, I don`t like the pool.

It does have a nice pool bar for food though.

A few minutes later we saw Bri come through and it was lovely to see her....and she is thriving in her new job, it`s perfect for her and she will enjoy it a lot I believe.

We didn`t keep her too long, as she was working so we headed off back to the boats and back home.

Citywalk is very pretty and on a day like today it`s especially lovely and so quiet. We again got a boat to ourselves.

Once home, our housekeeper was a little late and was just leaving, we were usually done before 9.30 or 10am, but it was nice to chat to her when we did see her. Everything was clean as a new pin, not that we ever leave the place untidy, I could never do that, but it`s nice when they`ve been in.

We left to get the car and drove the short distance to Nagoya sushi, about 10 minutes away in Dr Phillips area. This is one of our favourite places to eat....very small, family run and very authentic food, one of the friendliest places around and food is exceptional. And best of all we were meeting Lindsey and Devin for lunch.

We were a little early as they don`t open till midday, they couldn`t let us in as they were doing a final clean...the place is immaculately clean.

I sat on a bench and Tom stood in front of me chatting when all of a sudden Lindsey had come up behind me without me seeing and grabbed me by the shoulders and the biggest fright I`d had for the longest time.......

Lord....she got me good, I jumped about 10 feet in the air!!! And they found it hilarious too.....she`d have made a brilliant SA if she hadn`t become the best RIP tour guide they have.....

It was so good to see them both....emails are always nice, but nothing like meeting up in real life.

They had opened the doors now so we got the lovely big table by the window which was nice and we were chatting away like crazy trying to catch up on everything over the last few months.....poor guy asked us about 3 times if we were ready to order and we had barely looked at the menu yet! Lindsey hadn`t been here before and we had said we wanted to take them since May, so we were delighted we were here on their first visit, I knew they`d love it.

Eventually we did order.....Lindsey had asked if she could have the sides as veg only, but he misheard and brought us an appetiser of Gyoza`s which were very nice and we all shared a little of them.

We all either got miso or onion soup to start as part of the meal, this was the onion and it was our favourite, it`s very moreish despite being so light.

We thoroughly recommended the Bento Box......a real Bento Box not like the ones that come from Cowfish with fries!!! These are delicious, full of flavour and have a lovely variety of food in them.

Lindsey chose the Teriyaki Chicken Bento Box which looked amazing.....I wished I had ordered it!

Devin went for the Teriyaki Chicken as a meal, not box.....

I opted for the Spicy Chicken Bento Box that wasn`t really spicy, but it was delicious and yes, very filling!! The sushi while lovely, was a little too plain for me, I prefer a spicy sushi or one with more exciting ingredients, but I didn`t leave much!

In all our visits here, we had never opted for the Sushi, and their sushi menu is rather large and varied.....and some very exotic creations too.

Tom however decided to go for their Volcano Roll as he enjoys the one in Orchids a lot.

The food had been amazing I was glad to say, there`s nothing worse than taking someone to a place you love and have raved about and it`s disappointing.....this did not do that, it was lovely and service here as it always is.

It`s a busy little place, even at lunchtime, most are walk ins but you can book easily.

Time passed so fast, it always does when you`re having fun, but soon it was time to leave and say our goodbyes once again. I hoped we`d be able to meet up again before we left, but both are very busy with their respective jobs.....Lindsey was heading into Universal after we left here as she was working that night doing her RIP tour guide job. It suits her a lot.

The waiter insisted on taking a group picture when he saw our camera.....he pounced on it with delight murmuring it was lovely to see a real camera and not a phone......he`s not wrong.

How much do we adore this lovely couple!!!

I lost count of how many hugs we shared before finally getting into our cars.......and noticed this ominous sky ahead of us!!!

Surely not another HHN ruined with rain!

What to do now.

I had thought of going to the Mall but by now, we just wanted a sit down and get ready to go to HHN tonight......hopefully!!

Between 2 and 3pm we had our storm, thunder, lightning and heavy rain and we did get caught in it coming home this afternoon.

We got some boiling water from the Dutch Trading place and used some of our teabags to make a nice cup of tea and we watched some tv before getting changed and headed over to the lounge.

We wouldn`t be eating anything else tonight as we were so full from lunch, it was a lot of food.....but we always like a glance at the offerings for the evening.

The salad, well except the blue cheese one, is always fresh and tasty and very tempting, but not tonight.

The main offering tonight is chicken empanadas, which are not for me at all.....not a fan of them, but they are again, very popular.

Despite being very full I am always tempted by chips and salsa......hard to resist......and this salsa was nice, but made better by the addition of those cute and tiny little bottles of tabasco.

We enjoyed a couple of glasses of fizz each tonight and yes, some chips and salsa all the while watching the skies and listening to the continued rumblings around us although we were assured the rain was going to stay off for most of tonight.

I forget what time we left tonight, but we did head off on the boat and we were grateful for the slightly cooler temps tonight due to the rain.





More to come........

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Loved that you got to have your lunch with Lindsey and Devin!


And it’s so refreshing to see a sushi place have great options. Where I am it’s usually sushi and nothing else. I don’t like sushi at all, but I would’ve loved to have tried that teriyaki chicken and the soup!

 

[kbelle8995]

That's it. I am going back to Strong Water on my next trip and getting Carole's Punch. It looks yummy

 

[schumigirl]

I saw on Twitter that Monday night a scare actor (unsure if HHN or Howl o scream) got punched in the nose and had to leave to get it taken care of by a medical professional!

I hope the people who did it were caught and properly dealt with, that is dreadful, what lowlife would do that to someone.

yup
things like that have happened before
and they usually are then banned from the park

I remember the lovely girl who played the Cyborg Ballerina a couple of years back, she only had one full arm, the other arm was only down to her elbow, she had water thrown on her and someone else (might have been her too) was attacked by some idiot. They were banned for life, I`m sure they were arrested but not sure what happened to them after that.

 

[schumigirl]

Loved that you got to have your lunch with Lindsey and Devin!


And it’s so refreshing to see a sushi place have great options. Where I am it’s usually sushi and nothing else. I don’t like sushi at all, but I would’ve loved to have tried that teriyaki chicken and the soup!

It was lovely to see them both, adorable couple who both work incredibly hard and are so good at what they do!

Yes, I like Nagoya for that, I tend not to order sushi from them as their other dishes are so good....hard to choose which ones we want as everything we have had has been so beautiful.

 

[schumigirl]

That's it. I am going back to Strong Water on my next trip and getting Carole's Punch. It looks yummy

Oh you have to!!

Their food is always so wonderful and I do think you`ll love the drink, it`s very, very good....I know I`m biased, but it really is

 

[disneyseniors]

I think the guide mentioned being on TV....can`t remember which show it was.

Er, there might have been one thing happen that was slightly odd.......

Confess!!! Can't wait to hear about it!

ruth

 

[KathyM2]

Another great round of updates!! I love reading about the food the most lol!!

Your pics of all the Harry Potter areas are lovely - I know what you mean about the memories coming back when you get great shots yourself...makes you feel like you are back there a lot more than looking at stock pics.

Have you been to the HP experience in the UK? I always wonder if it's worth checking out someday when I manage to get over there!

 

[shh]

And I am all caught up! I always love when you go to Mount Dora-reminds me of Mystic, CT.

Also what is up with HHN this year I’ve heard so many things including last night there was apparently a 4 hour wait into the parking lot?!?!? Shame because those scare actors and those who create this don’t deserve this.


And-most importantly- ALL HAIL CAROLE’S PUNCH!!!! One day I shall get there to try!

Don't mean to hijack the TR thread, but Monday night was genuinely a mess. Somewhat of a fail on several levels. But kudos always to the wonderful SCs and the TMs - none of it was their fault. And now back to the regularly scheduled TR.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

What fun you had meeting up with that sweet couple!
I love to be inside and enjoy a good storm outside.
I can imagine it is extra lovely from the club lounge.

I agree wholeheartedly about HRH. we had to wander in there a few times and it just seems like a place we do not want to stay. It may be physically the closest to the Parks, but it’s miles away from what I like.

I have to compliment you and Tom again on the quality of your photos, really immersive!

 

[schumigirl]

Confess!!! Can't wait to hear about it!

ruth

lol.....it wasn`t a huge thing, just a little odd......coming up soon......

 

[schumigirl]

Another great round of updates!! I love reading about the food the most lol!!

Your pics of all the Harry Potter areas are lovely - I know what you mean about the memories coming back when you get great shots yourself...makes you feel like you are back there a lot more than looking at stock pics.

Have you been to the HP experience in the UK? I always wonder if it's worth checking out someday when I manage to get over there!

So many love food pics......it`s worth getting odd stares from folks when Tom does take the pictures......lol. It`s not too bad as so many folks are doing the same thing now.

I agree, personal memories are worth their weight in gold. To look back and remember the emotion in a picture......wonderful.

No, we`ve never gone. Many folks that have say it`s fabulous, but not sure we`ll ever go to Leavesden be honest.

But, if you`re travelling all the way over here, absolutely go and visit it.