Trip Report-->5 years since our last hurrah!!

jagafen

Wine drinker, family CEO/CFO, uber planner
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
So, we just got back (at home, 2:30 am Monday morning). Our flight back to PHL was delayed due to storms at MCO, and our plane couldn't land until the cell passed. The gate agent kept the kids (and some adults) busy playing gate games. DS was too cool for gate games, but it was fun to watch. All in all, we had a really good trip. I managed to get sick for about 1/2 a day, and the next day, DS spiked a fever with no other symptoms other than "his belly hurt". It made me glad that I had planned on the VIP tour, and that we were there for an entire week...losing a day and a half of "park time' due to illness didn't really impact us that much.

We arrived Sunday the 18th, Landed at 7:30, waited at least a half hour for our luggage (maybe longer...we were the third flight of three that landed at approximately the same time, and then they switched luggage belts on us.) Tony picked us up, and everyone is right, he's a really friendly guy. In lieu of a grocery stop, we asked if he could stop so we could get coffee...we are not Starbucks people, so he took us to a DD on the way to the hotel. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Wawa has made it's way down to FL!! If we had known that, we could have just stopped there for coffee! I don't know if Floridians have fallen in love with Wawa yet, but in PA, it's pretty much a given that that's where you go for your morning coffee. To be honest, I'm not crazy about DD coffee either, but I like their dark roast, so it's all good. We were at HRH by 9am, and of course our room wasn't ready (I wasn't expecting it to be, but was hoping we'd get lucky!). We rearranged our backpacks a bit and dropped them off with the luggage at bell services. We stayed club level, and in general, we enjoyed it. We hit up the lounge for a quick breakfast. Breakfasts and snacks among the club level hotels all seem to be mostly the same, but I think the evening selections weren't at the same level as they were at RPR the last time we went. I think the offerings at RPR are a little nicer in the evening than they were at HRH. The food wasn't bad at HR, it was just more appetizers than anything else: cheese and crackers, tomato and mozz salad with a pesto dressing, chips and salasa, fried mac and cheese balls, chicken skewers, empanadas, wings...definitely more of a finger food selection. We didn't go for the evening offerings every night, but hit it up, usually for a drink and a few nibbles before dinner, so it worked for us. Huge props to Nan, the bartender in the evenings. DS can be a bit "teenagery" at times, and is a picky eater to boot. So if there isn't anything he wants to eat, he wants to bail...which is ok, he's old enough to go back to the room. The first night, he was being especially obstinate, and I think was trying to make us feel bad by sulking in the club lobby, near the bar. Nan struck up a conversation with him (she has family that lives 10 minutes from us), and they were fast friends, and she worked him out of his little stubborn funk.

The room itself was nice (7135), 2 Queens, with an enclosed tub, toilet, and small sink behind the bathroom door, and then a larger 1 sink vanity on the outside of the bathroom. Storage space was VERY LIMITED. We usually travel with an over the door shoe holder, which didn't fit on a door, but fit nicely over the full length mirror. We keep a bunch of odds and ends in there to put a stop to the clutter on counters. We also brought 2 wire shelves from the $$ store to help with vanity storage...between our 3 toiletry cases, and my hair stuff/makeup bag , we needed to be able to "stack" things in order to still be able to get read in the morning. I should have taken a picture of the setup...it made the area workable and accessible. We did leave the $store wire shelves on the top shelf of the closet...in case they're needed (we already have a bunch at home in our linen closet, so didn't need to bring back $2 worth of shelves!). There were only 4 drawers for storing clothes (I like to unpack when I'm on vacation). The guys let me have 2 of the drawers, and kept some of their stuff under the dresser..it was on stilty legs, so it worked out fine. I will say this about the room...at first, I thought it was really far away from the lounge, but the walk wasn't that bad (comparing it to some of the walks we've had at AKL!!) The hallways are relatively short, and we were right by the fire exit, which I found comforting. Quick aside: our neighbor had an apt. fire when DS was 10 months old, and we had to evacuate through pitch black smoke...I've been a little PTSD about fires, and fire exits, ever since. I'm the type that travels with a flashlight, and scopes out/counts out steps to fire escape routes. An extra bonus in our room...there was a nest of crows right outside our window in a palm tree. Daddy did most of the feeding duty for his 2 babes (they were not itty bitty...kid bird sized) while momma kept watch. There were 2 other competing crows (not sure what they were after), but between feeding the babes, and fighting off the competition, momma and poppa had some busy days!

We wandered around Citywalk to re-familiarize ourselves with the layout. I was actually surprised DS didn't want to hit the parks, but it was his idea to walk around and get the lay of the land instead. We got the text that our room was ready about 2:30, so we headed back to unpack before dinner. We quickly got ourselves unpacked (it's great when the man child can follow directions and I don't have to do it for him). We realized we were starving, and wouldn't make it until dinner without something to nosh on besides chips and soda, so DH and I headed to The Kitchen for some appetizers and a drink. DS wasn't hungry, so he stayed in the room. We had the chicken empanadas (edible, but nothing to write home about) and the short rib flat bread...OMG...delicious!! DH actually ordered it a second time on "sick day" it was that good!

Dinner that night was at The Palm (for Father's Day), and we were really looking forward to it. I had the coconut crusted scallops for an app, and they were really tasty. He had oysters, which were gone quickly, so I guess that means they were good. I'm not an oyster eater...no need to share. We had a GREAT bottle of wine (Orin Swift, Pappilion), and the service was up to snuff. Unfortunately, we were not impressed with the steaks. For dinner, I had the filet, and DH got the waygu rib eye. My filet was a little over MR (almost a M), and DH's steak was MW-W instead of MR. His steak was really thin too, which I found surprising, and that only complicates the cooking to temperature issue. We found our steaks to be really salty/overseasoned. The sides we got were really good too (asparagus with garlic in EVOO, and garlic whipped potatoes), but they were really salty as well. If one or the other (meat vs. sides) were not as salty, I think it would have been better. I don't usually cook with a lot of salt, but we do use montreal steak seasoning and chicken salt on our meats, what we were tasting was just SALT. I'm not sure if that may have had something to do with our perception that it was "too" salty or not. Granted, we ate it...mostly because we hardly ever send food back (being ex servers ourselves), and I was watching the table across from us and next to us sending back dishes multiple times (4x, between the 8 people being served at those 2 tables). It wasn't inedible, so we made do. Not a big deal. I was just really looking forward to fully enjoying this meal! For dessert we got the creme brulee, and fresh berries to put on top. I have to admit, I like a really thick sugar crust on my creme brulee, and only one place makes it the way I like it. It was still good, but the bruleed crust was a little thin...it's the little things, I tell you! So all in all, it was not the life changing steakhouse experience I was hoping for (comparing it to Morton's which is still #1 in my book!)
 
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Monday the 19th was our non-private (group of 12) VIP tour of the parks. It was really cool to be escorted around, and brought to the front of the lines for every ride...we went on all the major rides, except for Rip Ride Rocket, since it was closed temporarily due to lightning in the area. We did Simpsons instead, which is my ride nemesis. We also skipped The Dragon Challenge, since we were the only 3/12 that wanted to go...said we'd hit it later on. This was DH's father's day gift, and both the men folk were duly impressed with the experience...me, being the planner and board reader, and information diver, had read about other's experiences, so I was a little disappointed that we didn't do the immigration or mummy tours as other groups had gotten the chance to do. Again, like the salty steaks, all in all, not a big deal, but it put a little bit of a damper on it for me, personally. It was pretty apparent that our guide's agenda was maximizing our ride count. We did do Ollivander's (there was a younger girl in our group. She didn't get picked though.) and I was glad that we were able to skip the line for this, as we hadn't done it on our last trip. Alex made a tour friend with a 15 y/o girl, and it was really nice that he had someone his age to hang out with. She seemed like a really cool young lady. We spent a few minutes chatting with her and her father, and they seemed like a good bunch. There was also a couple from England celebrating their 25th anniversary, and another couple who I don't think I interacted much with, because I can't even remember their faces! Would I spend the $$ again to do the VIP tour? Probably not, but I was looking for a "WOW" gift, and since the menfolk enjoyed it, I'm viewing it as a success. DS even turned to me and said 'Mom, you really went out of your way on this vacation for us!"...that was good enough for me. Surprisingly, for the rest of our trip, I only saw the smaller (private) tour groups, none of the en masse groups of 12...and each time I'd lean over to DH and say "$3k, minimum", like I was bragging about how much $$ I saved him by booking the non-private option. Yes, it was a vacation splurge, but I sell Alex's clothes on Ebay, and usually just throw the $$ into our savings account. Once I read about the VIP tour, and saw that it was "doable" given the funds I"m able to recoup without digging into the vacation budget, or the household budget, I knew it was something I wanted to do for them.

Lunch that day was at Leaky Cauldron (I would have preferred 3 broomsticks), but I'm blaming that decision on the couple from England. I KNOW they wanted fish and chips (because that's what they ordered) and when given the choice to the group of which side of Harrypotterland we wanted to have lunch, they were the first to speak up. We ended up banking our dining plan cards that we were given for use later on, and just paying OOP for lunch. DH got the banger sandwich, and I got the chicken sandwich. DS surprised us (saying he wasn't hungry) and then ordered the kid's fish and chips. They were good enough for what they were. I was going to try and talk DH into the ploughman's platter, but he was on the phone dealing with a school issue. I know, school it out, but there was some sort of coaching thing that had to be addressed. On the phone. In the middle of our tour. Can you tell it's a bit of a pet peeve of mine? An aside about DS: besides being a teenager, and a picky eater in general, he eats either like a bird, or like a ravenous teen boy. So, if he's "not hungry" I'll usually order a side item with my meal that I know he'll eat, and just let it sit there. You know..."If you build it, they will come". He ate 2/3 of the singled out fish log, and most of the fries. I was surprised to see him eat a fish stick, as he's never taken to them before. I think the long line made him hungry. I do have to give our guide (Michelle) props again. She managed to get us inside for lunch with only a moderate sprinkling of rain. As soon as we stepped into the Leaky Cauldron, the deluge began, and was finished by the time we were done eating!

Monday night, we ate at Toothsome. We didn't get milkshakes until later in the trip, so it was dinner only. We ordered the chocolate almond bread (I'd pass next time, it seemed as if our loaf was overbaked/dry/held too long) and onion rings for appetizers. The rings were really good, but it's kind of hard to screw up an OR. I also got the truffle fries (to die for, loved them), and the harissa basted pork kebabs for dinner. They were REALLY good, but nearly impossible to get off their skewers. As in, I splashed sauce on DH's shirt sleeve with the amount of force I had to use. I've de-skewered brochette's in my sleep, but these wooden skewers were going to be an issue. Short of picking them up and eating them caveman style, I'm not sure how else someone is supposed to eat them. They were very good, but SUPER spicy (which is ok in my book). Definitely something I would order again. They were served with a jicima and mango slaw that was awesome, too. DH had the Tour De France burger and really liked it. We skipped dessert and milkshakes (but they'll be making an appearance later).
 
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Tuesday the 20th was our first on our own day in the parks. Our typical park touring plan is a little loosey goosey. We don't usually do EE at Universal (but will at Disney), so we were getting up at 8:30, and hitting the parks at around 10 am. By 1-2pm, we were ready to go back and hang out and cool off. I have to say, having the park hoppers was a nice perk, especially with DS in tow. I learned a thing or two about my kiddo on this trip. He's a checklist kid: He had a coaster agenda, and once he had his fill, he was ready to move on. We started in Superhero Island, because he wanted to do Hulk multiple times. I think he rode it twice. I sat it out the second time. I'm afraid, due to age, I'm "one of those" now that can take only so much motion...during our tour the day before, I skipped Simpsons, and closed my eyes during Terminator and Jimmy Fallon. It was just too much movement/input too close together for me. I didn't bring motion sickness medicine, because on our last trip, Simpsons was the only ride that really did me in. After hulk, we did Dr. Doom's Fearfall, where I may or may have not used my adult language on the trip up to the top of the drop. DS really got a kick "Checking out my ride face" as he called it. And my secret wish that he would get so scared that he'd drop his own adult language did not happen. For those that read the trip report, the first time I swore in front on my father was on a pirate ship ride, I was hoping for a little "full circle" family moment. Alas, it didn't happen. After he had his fill of superhero island, we walked clockwise around the park. We were chasing down the raptor encounter. He didn't want to ride anything in between. We skipped the whole cartoon water ride section on this trip. Never got drenched to the bone. Once we got to the raptor encounter, we waited in line for about 20 minutes, only to be told that the raptor needed his break. I was mildly annoyed (as in, don't let us in line to wait if you know we're not going to get it in)...I was annoyed about the pointless wait, but not ticked, KWIM? So we kept walking around to the section where Mythos is. Checked out the fountain for a few minutes, and met a few fellow Ravenclaws. I should clue you guys into the side game we had going on. We had our own house cup challenge during our vacation with a few simple rules: Points can only be earned from members of your same house, and you must either receive a fist bump/high five/smile/or nod once you call out your fellow fraternity member. IF you get blown off, you lose a point. Whoever has the most points at the end of the week wins. (I'll keep that close to my chest for now, as well as the prize.) So, as we were watching the fountain, the two girls who were talking to him wanted their picture taken afterwards, and dad stepped up to snap it. He was a Ravenclaw, so I volunteered to take it for him, and then acted all surprised afterwards like i didn't realize it at the moment that we were in the same house. Points to mom!

Lunch was at Monster's Cafe in US...we didn't ride rip ride rocket on our tour day due to the weather when we were in that area, so that was on top of DS's agenda after we finished with IOA. But we were getting a little hungry at this point (well, DH and I were. DS "wasn't hungry"). So, we headed over that way to grab a bite to eat before going on RRR. DH got the chicken and ribs, and I got the ribs (with french fries instead), knowing that DS would eat some of both. They were really good too. And, DS had his fair share of my lunch. We had bought 2 QS dining plans that included the freestyle cup, and that was a decision I'd regret later. Not so much the dining plan, but the freestyle cup portion of it. We redeemed the cups (both of them) on our tour day, thinking that it would be a good way to stay hydrated as we toured. We had one powerade in one of the cups. That was it. All day. There just wasn't time to stop for a refill as we were being ferried from one attraction to the other. The pace was quick, but not really rushed. There was no time for dawdling, or looking at things (one of the gripes from the cool girl's father...he said he felt like he was missing the chance to check stuff out). With the way we tour (10-2) we were fine bringing a few bottles of water with us, and then drinking whatever we drank with lunch in the parks. We never paid to re-charge the cups, so all in all, I wasted $12 on their purchase (included with the QS plan). It could have been worse, but now I know for next time. On our last trip, we had a different cup, where you paid ~$1 plus tax for the refills.

We went back to the hotel to rest/relax/take naps, as is our usual MO in theme parks. We did a lot of walking, and while I never really felt physically exhausted, it seemed as if I was always hungry. So we'd hit up the club lounge for afternoon snacks, sodas, and re-stocking our water stash before heading back to the room. I usually don't keep a lot of "junky" food in the house, so DS having free access to Doritoes was a big hit. And, since I like the Doritoes, and was on vacation, it was a big hit for me too! Usually, either DH or I, sometimes both, would fall asleep for an hour or two to re-charge. DS had his phone and his touch, so he was duly occupied.

For dinner this night, we went to Cowfish, and hands down, it's our new favorite restaurant. DH and I both got Sushi. I can't remember what he ordered...something with sashimi and sushi combo, but I can't remember the name. I had the Geisha roll, and we got sides of the thai cucumbers and seaweed salad to share. DS had a grilled cheese (when he eats off the kids menu, I don't talk about it...kid's fare is for the most part, kid's fare). The Geisha roll was REALLY good. Acutally, everything there was reallly good. It was a perfect, light meal, and we felt like we had room for milkshakes....from Toothsome's....for dessert. DS was definitely on the to milkshake or not to milkshake see saw. I'm not sure what his exact issue was with not committing...I told him I didn't expect him to finish it all (we're not that kind of family anyway), and it would even be ok if he didn't like it. He's sometimes a little sensitive about us "wasting our money" (his words) if he tries something and doesn't like it...while he never came out and said it, I think this may have been why he passed on the opportunities. He'd ask if we were going to get them again, and again, on milkshake day #2, he passed. Who knows. DH went with the coffee one, and the biscotti on top were TDF. I had the strawberry cheesecake one, and while it didn't scream strawberry flavor (and in fact, once I sucked up the strawberry "syrup", it was of a more gelatinous texture than I care for, or was expecting it to be which is maybe why I didn't care for it)...the sour cream ice cream totally made up for it. It was a very unique, but delicious, taste!! DH was waffling between the Coffee creation and the Key Lime Pie, and went with coffee. His had a really intense coffee flavor too! DS decided that he didn't want a milkshake this time, and asked if he could go back to the room by himself instead of waiting for us. Good thing too, because we stood in quite the line!!!
 
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Enjoying your trip report. We'll be there tomorrow for a week -- also at HRH (second time staying there -- no club-level for us, though).

I can relate to the 14 year old DS thing -- I've got one, too. He's also moody and a picky eater. *Sigh*
 


Wednesday June 21st was our Volcano Bay day. All in all, it was a good day. We were there for early entry (must do for onsite guests) and stayed until about 1:30. We had premium seating in the wave pool area, which was nice, even though our view was mostly of lifejackets (#16), so not the most scenic. In the process of obtaining our premium seating, which I had reserved on April 21st when they started taking reservations, it seems as if the process has changed a bit. I'm not sure when it started, as I stopped reading VB updates a few days prior to our trip. I was told over the phone, and on our confirmation, to proceed to the concierge desk to be taken to our seats. Once there, they asked for my ticket, and I showed them my confirmation paperwork. They told me I needed to go to guest services (to the right of the entrance, RIGHT after they scan your ticket) to get the "ticket" to submit to them in order to actually get assigned our seating. Seems a bit silly, but since we were #s 7,8, and 9 in our line to get into the parks, it didn't take too long. Probably not even 10 minutes concierge to guest services back to concierge. A very nice worker opened up the top side of the EE line (rope partition) so I could cross back down to guest services. I had explained to him the situation, so when I returned with my magic ticket, he let me back in through the rope, so I didn't have to stand in the EE line 2x.

As far as the parks/rides themselves, we did Krakatau 2x right off the bat. In general, I would say it's mildly thrilling the first time. It was a bit of a pain finding it, and I think part of that was because we took the "long way" from the wave pool (heading around to the left), rather than going to the right. It was tricky (for us) to find. I did print out and laminate a map for us to use that day, but left it at our chairs since we wouldn't need it on the slides...I had to stop and ask for directions, and the poor employee pulled out her own map, and then couldn't find where she was on it in order to tell us where we needed to go. I did notice some temporary signs for some of the slides, but getting the lay of the land was tricky first time in the park. Once we figured out where things were, it was better. And what people say about the ride names held true for us too...it was difficult to reconcile in our minds what the rides were, and once we ditched the map at the loungers, what the name of the ride was that we were looking for. After we rode Krakatau 2x, the load line was full at the top of the platform, and filled the stairs leading up to the platform, with some overflow behind the stairs, so we decided to head in another direction.Then we headed over to the turtle and the whale in River village. Did both of those. The blue one (the turtle?) was definitely the more intense of the two. The slide loader guys have a sick sense of humor too. I ended up going backwards, up the first steep incline, and DS was thrilled when I yelled "I don't want to be backwards!!". Wouldn't you know it, I yelled loud enough for the loader guy on the green side to hear me. So, when we went back up to do that side, I purposely positioned myself "not backwards"....and then he gave me an evil smile, spun our raft, and pushed us off...I was backwards. Turns out, this was really affecting my belly, and for the first time ever in my life, I had a hard time on the waterslides with the motion....From now on, I'll be travelling with motion sickness medicine! We did the other big family slide behind Krakatau (it was yellow, or orange, I can't remember), and 1 of the 4 twisty slides--the stairs were not worth the thrill output, and then another 2 person raft slide (one half of the green and blue 2 people slides). I will admit, on this last 2 person slide I lost my cool at DS a bit. He was in the front, and I was in the back. I'm a bit pooh sized, but in general, didn't have an issue fitting on anything. Well, we got to the bottom pool, and he popped right out of the raft, tilting it backwards, and effectively dumping me in a not so graceful manner off the raft. Then the little bugger had the gall to laugh at me. I was a little ticked at him for being so inconsiderate. Granted, from his perspective, it was probably really funny to see, but from mine, he was being a little jerky arsehole. I needed to give my belly a break by this point, so DH and I headed back to the loungers. DS ended up making waterpark friends with another teen from Thailand? The Phillipines? Can't remember...but they ended up hanging out together and doing a few more slides as a pair. I really like that in spite of him declaring himself an introvert, he can hook up with random kids on vacation and have a good time. Temporary buddies.

I general, everything was ride now up until about 11:00. Load lines were taking about a half hour, maybe a little less. Hard to tell when you don't have a watch on. DS had ridden all of the slides he wanted by the time the waits started, so we broke for lunch. The servers at the premium seating (bless their hearts) were trying real hard. There were 2 assigned to our area. One was obviously newer than the other. As the newer server was taking our order, she was repeating back what we had ordered, but naming it wrong, so we repeated it again to be sure she understood what we wanted. After the 2nd person ordered, she exclaimed "I'm sorry, but I don't know this menu at all!"...good grief. I tried to order a frozen drink (I wanted a pina colada, or anything that was frozen that was available) and there was some sort of complication. Our server couldn't tell us what was available that was frozen, and I felt like this poor girl was running around the park trying to find an answer...honestly, if she took the time to learn the menu and drinks, it would probably make her job a bit easier (coming from and ex-server/bartender of about 11 years). I settled for a different adult beverage in the end. Not a big deal , but being in a serving position and not familiar with what you're selling is a bit of a peevy thing for me. The food was good (DH said the jerk wings were greasy). DS had the longboard pizza, and ate about 3/4 of it (it's huge). DH also had the conch fritters. I had the coconut chicken sliders, and we all shared the fruit salad. With the exception of DH's wings, it was all tasty. The servers were very attentive too, and we never felt like we had to chase anyone down. The one strange thing that happened was our food delivery person...brought everything with cloches over it, and in an insulated carrier. No silverware or ketchup, so as he was distributing the food, I was asking him if the servers tipped him out (NO) He said that food running isn't a tipped position, but we gave him $5 anyway when he brought back the silverware and ketchup for us. Maybe that's the ex-server in me, but the area attendants basically only take your orders and run drinks...I had a hard time with not tipping the person who actually brought around our food.

Also, I found it odd that we couldn't run a tab for our premium lounger. We had to close out every time we ordered something. We were told that it was because if the weather changed, and they couldn't come out, they couldn't close out our check, or we might leave if the weather got really bad. I don't see why they can't run it like they do at the resorts and just charge a flat 18% gratuity and be done with it. It just struck me as odd, since we've had great experiences at the pools with their servers. After lunch, DS lounged in the chairs, and DH and I went to check out the not so lazy river. We went around the loop 2x before we decided that even for a not so lazy river, it wasn't much "fun". So we headed to the wave pool to hang out there for a bit. DS wasn't interested in waiting in a virtual line for anything else (part of his checklist mentality..he had ridden what he wanted, and didn't feel the need to re-visit anything.) We did not do any of the drop slides, or Ohyeah or Ohno, so I don't have any input on that. I will tell you that as we were walking around looking for pretty soft serve (after 12:00) there were some random slides that we noticed were ride now....oh, and the ice cream adventure!! I swear, I am biologically hardwired to do things the hard way. Even after spending the morning there, we really weren't oriented to much in the park...so imagine our seating, and the park itself, as a big clock. Our lounger path was at 12:00, and we proceeded to walk around the park to 1:00, 2:00, etc...looking for the magical ice cream hut. We happened upon the social club, and I asked where to get the softserve ice cream, and was told "at the front of the park", so we kept walking. I stopped at another snack stand to double check, and was again told "at the front of the park". So we walked some more. Finally, we reached Nirvana--the magic ice cream shack...located at 11:59 on our clock. Seriously, if we would have bothered to LOOK left, we would have seen it directly to the left of our path. Like I said, the hard way.

Oh, and even though we went in with tempered expectations due to how crazy everything's been, the one big disappointment was the pretty soft serve ice cream...It was a big letdown. It's a machine that injects flavor/color into the vanilla soft serve, but for DH and I, it basically tasted like vanilla ice cream. I had the pineapple (and honestly, I was expecting dole whip pineapple, my assumption, my bad). DH had to coconut, and he said it barely tasted like coconut. So, if you're expecting heavily flavored ice cream, that may not happen. It was just a bit of a damper, as we got the ice cream to eat while walking to and waiting for the bus...you know, last impressions and all. Overall, it was a good day, and the hiccups were on the relatively minor side, and overall didn't impact our day in an overly negative way.

The only other thing that DH commented on was the lack of knowing what time it was. Neither of us were wearing our watches, and we were having to ask employees about the time. I think we left around 1;30 or so. The shuttles both ways were very timely. I don't think we waited 10 minutes for a shuttle on the way back to our hotel. It was a good day, in spite of the relatively minor hiccups. I have to say, in general, I think people make their own vacation experience...kind of like a choose your own adventure book. While returning with my magic ticket to the concierge desk to get our loungers, another family came up behind us. When the dad was asked for his magic ticket, and showed his confirmation (just like I did), he was told he needed to go get his magic ticket from guest services. (I'm the one calling it a magic ticket, not the employees, just to avoid confusion). He got REALLY indignant and rude with the employees, declaring that he was here, and he WAS NOT going to go anywhere else to do anything outside of stand in this line and get what he had paid for. Really, he looked like a big giant ***. And now everyone knew it. DH and I try to be a bit more positive about the unexpected happenings on vacation, because frankly, you can choose to get your panties in a bunch and have it ruin your vacation, or you can be mildly annoyed, embrace that annoyance, and then move on. Anything that we perceived as "negative" was really a fleeting flash of emotion or annoyance, nothing that really had a direct impact on our day. We ate our ice cream on the way out of the park. DH was finished with his before we hit the exit, mine lasted until halfway until our shuttle bus arrived.

Dinner that night was at the Hard Rock Cafe. I know we're in tourist mecca, and there are a thousand restaurants to try, but we know we can always get a really solid meal here. DS is picky (I think I mentioned that), but one of his "new foods" this year is ribs, so I tried to have us eating at places that offered ribs, chicken fingers, grilled cheese, or pizza on the menu. FTR, at 14, with a healthy caterpillar living above his upper lip, we didn't have any issues with him ordering off the kid's menu if he wanted to. His appetite is either birdlike, or ravenous, so sometimes he ordered an adult portion, other times, from the kid's menu. DS and I split the rack of ribs, and they were DELICIOUS. Fall off the bone wonderfulness. I can't remember what DH got (I think maybe a burger or sandwich)...I was too face first into the ribs. There were so many that DS and I couldn't share it (I should have taken the leftovers to go). And, I finally got my pina colada. Usually at home, I'm a beer and wine drinker (more wine than beer). This vacation, with the exception of the bottle we got at The Palm, I didn't have any wine. 1-2 beers with meals, and frozen drinks whenever I was outside dealing with the heat. The Electric Ladyland at the HRH is hands down, the best frozen drink from this vacation go around...except for maybe frozen butter beer.
 
Monday the 19th was our non-private (group of 12) VIP tour of the parks. It was really cool to be escorted around, and brought to the front of the lines for every ride...we went on all the major rides, except for Rip Ride Rocket, since it was closed temporarily due to lightning in the area. We did Simpsons instead, which is my ride nemesis. We also skipped The Dragon Challenge, since we were the only 3/12 that wanted to go...said we'd hit it later on. This was DH's father's day gift, and both the men folk were duly impressed with the experience...me, being the planner and board reader, and information diver, had read about other's experiences, so I was a little disappointed that we didn't do the immigration or mummy tours as other groups had gotten the chance to do. Again, like the salty steaks, all in all, not a big deal, but it put a little bit of a damper on it for me, personally. It was pretty apparent that our guide's agenda was maximizing our ride count. We did do Ollivander's (there was a younger girl in our group. She didn't get picked though.) and I was glad that we were able to skip the line for this, as we hadn't done it on our last trip. Alex made a tour friend with a 15 y/o girl, and it was really nice that he had someone his age to hang out with. She seemed like a really cool young lady. We spent a few minutes chatting with her and her father, and they seemed like a good bunch. There was also a couple from England celebrating their 25th anniversary, and another couple who I don't think I interacted much with, because I can't even remember their faces! Would I spend the $$ again to do the VIP tour? Probably not, but I was looking for a "WOW" gift, and since the menfolk enjoyed it, I'm viewing it as a success. DS even turned to me and said 'Mom, you really went out of your way on this vacation for us!"...that was good enough for me. Surprisingly, for the rest of our trip, I only saw the smaller (private) tour groups, none of the en masse groups of 12...and each time I'd lean over to DH and say "$3k, minimum", like I was bragging about how much $$ I saved him by booking the non-private option. Yes, it was a vacation splurge, but I sell Alex's clothes on Ebay, and usually just throw the $$ into our savings account. Once I read about the VIP tour, and saw that it was "doable" given the funds I"m able to recoup without digging into the vacation budget, or the household budget, I knew it was something I wanted to do for them.

Lunch that day was at Leaky Cauldron (I would have preferred 3 broomsticks), but I'm blaming that decision on the couple from England. I KNOW they wanted fish and chips (because that's what they ordered) and when given the choice to the group of which side of Harrypotterland we wanted to have lunch, they were the first to speak up. We ended up banking our dining plan cards that we were given for use later on, and just paying OOP for lunch. DH got the banger sandwich, and I got the chicken sandwich. DS surprised us (saying he wasn't hungry) and then ordered the kid's fish and chips. They were good enough for what they were. I was going to try and talk DH into the ploughman's platter, but he was on the phone dealing with a school issue. I know, school it out, but there was some sort of coaching thing that had to be addressed. On the phone. In the middle of our tour. Can you tell it's a bit of a pet peeve of mine? An aside about DS: besides being a teenager, and a picky eater in general, he eats either like a bird, or like a ravenous teen boy. So, if he's "not hungry" I'll usually order a side item with my meal that I know he'll eat, and just let it sit there. You know..."If you build it, they will come". He ate 2/3 of the singled out fish log, and most of the fries. I was surprised to see him eat a fish stick, as he's never taken to them before. I think the long line made him hungry. I do have to give our guide (Michelle) props again. She managed to get us inside for lunch with only a moderate sprinkling of rain. As soon as we stepped into the Leaky Cauldron, the deluge began, and was finished by the time we were done eating!

Monday night, we ate at Toothsome. We didn't get milkshakes until later in the trip, so it was dinner only. We ordered the chocolate almond bread (I'd pass next time, it seemed as if our loaf was overbaked/dry/held too long). We also got the truffle fries (to die for, loved them), and I got the harissa basted pork kebabs for dinner. They were REALLY good, but nearly impossible to get off their skewers. As in, I splashed sauce on DH's shirt sleeve with the amount of force I had to use. I've de-skewered brochette's in my sleep, but these wooden skewers were going to be an issue. Short of picking them up and eating them caveman style, I'm not sure how else someone is supposed to eat them. They were very good, but SUPER spicy (which is ok in my book). Definitely something I would order again. They were served with a jicima and mango slaw that was awesome, too. DH had the Tour De France burger and really liked it. We skipped dessert and milkshakes (but they'll be making an appearance later).

Hi I am loving your trip report:) I booked the non-private VIP tour for late July when we go. It is a surprise for my teens who love that kind of stuff. OMG I want to do that backstage Mummy thing. When I heard you didn't get a chance too I was sad. It seems so awesome and I know my family would like it. It will probably be a one time thing but I have done other tours in other parks. Any tips or suggestions? Do you remember your guide's name? I was reading that there are some that are much better at it than others.:thanks:
 
Wednesday June 21st was our Volcano Bay day. All in all, it was a good day. We were there for early entry (must do for onsite guests) and stayed until about 1:30. We had premium seating in the wave pool area, which was nice, even though our view was mostly of lifejackets (#16), so not the most scenic. In the process of obtaining our premium seating, which I had reserved on April 21st when they started taking reservations, it seems as if the process has changed a bit. I'm not sure when it started, as I stopped reading VB updates a few days prior to our trip. I was told over the phone, and on our confirmation, to proceed to the concierge desk to be taken to our seats. Once there, they asked for my ticket, and I showed them my confirmation paperwork. They told me I needed to go to guest services (to the right of the entrance, RIGHT after they scan your ticket) to get the "ticket" to submit to them in order to actually get assigned our seating. Seems a bit silly, but since we were #s 7,8, and 9 in our line to get into the parks, it didn't take too long. Probably not even 10 minutes concierge to guest services back to concierge. A very nice worker opened up the top side of the EE line (rope partition) so I could cross back down to guest services. I had explained to him the situation, so when I returned with my magic ticket, he let me back in through the rope, so I didn't have to stand in the EE line 2x.

As far as the parks/rides themselves, we did Krakatau 2x right off the bat. In general, I would say it's mildly thrilling the first time. It was a bit of a pain finding it, and I think part of that was because we took the "long way" from the wave pool (heading around to the left), rather than going to the right. It was tricky (for us) to find. I did print out and laminate a map for us to use that day, but left it at our chairs since we wouldn't need it on the slides...I had to stop and ask for directions, and the poor employee pulled out her own map, and then couldn't find where she was on it in order to tell us where we needed to go. I did notice some temporary signs for some of the slides, but getting the lay of the land was tricky first time in the park. Once we figured out where things were, it was better. And what people say about the ride names held true for us too...it was difficult to reconcile in our minds what the rides were, and once we ditched the map at the loungers, what the name of the ride was that we were looking for. After we rode Krakatau 2x, the load line was full at the top of the platform, and filled the stairs leading up to the platform, with some overflow behind the stairs, so we decided to head in another direction.Then we headed over to the turtle and the whale in River village. Did both of those. The blue one (the turtle?) was definitely the more intense of the two. The slide loader guys have a sick sense of humor too. I ended up going backwards, up the first steep incline, and DS was thrilled when I yelled "I don't want to be backwards!!". Wouldn't you know it, I yelled loud enough for the loader guy on the green side to hear me. So, when we went back up to do that side, I purposely positioned myself "not backwards"....and then he gave me an evil smile, spun our raft, and pushed us off...I was backwards. Turns out, this was really affecting my belly, and for the first time ever in my life, I had a hard time on the waterslides with the motion....From now on, I'll be travelling with motion sickness medicine! We did the other big family slide behind Krakatau (it was yellow, or orange, I can't remember), and 1 of the 4 twisty slides--the stairs were not worth the thrill output, and then another 2 person raft slide (one half of the green and blue 2 people slides). I will admit, on this last 2 person slide I lost my cool at DS a bit. He was in the front, and I was in the back. I'm a bit pooh sized, but in general, didn't have an issue fitting on anything. Well, we got to the bottom pool, and he popped right out of the raft, tilting it backwards, and effectively dumping me in a not so graceful manner off the raft. Then the little bugger had the gall to laugh at me. I was a little ticked at him for being so inconsiderate. Granted, from his perspective, it was probably really funny to see, but from mine, he was being a little jerky arsehole. I needed to give my belly a break by this point, so DH and I headed back to the loungers. DS ended up making waterpark friends with another teen from Thailand? The Phillipines? Can't remember...but they ended up hanging out together and doing a few more slides as a pair. I really like that in spite of him declaring himself an introvert, he can hook up with random kids on vacation and have a good time. Temporary buddies.

I general, everything was ride now up until about 11:00. Load lines were taking about a half hour, maybe a little less. Hard to tell when you don't have a watch on. DS had ridden all of the slides he wanted by the time the waits started, so we broke for lunch. The servers at the premium seating (bless their hearts) were trying real hard. There were 2 assigned to our area. One was obviously newer than the other. As the newer server was taking our order, she was repeating back what we had ordered, but naming it wrong, so we repeated it again to be sure she understood what we wanted. After the 2nd person ordered, she exclaimed "I'm sorry, but I don't know this menu at all!"...good grief. I tried to order a frozen drink (I wanted a pina colada, or anything that was frozen that was available) and there was some sort of complication. Our server couldn't tell us what was available that was frozen, and I felt like this poor girl was running around the park trying to find an answer...honestly, if she took the time to learn the menu and drinks, it would probably make her job a bit easier (coming from and ex-server/bartender of about 11 years). I settled for a different adult beverage in the end. Not a big deal , but being in a serving position and not familiar with what you're selling is a bit of a peevy thing for me. The food was good (DH said the jerk wings were greasy). DS had the longboard pizza, and ate about 3/4 of it (it's huge). DH also had the conch fritters. I had the coconut chicken sliders, and we all shared the fruit salad. With the exception of DH's wings, it was all tasty. The servers were very attentive too, and we never felt like we had to chase anyone down. The one strange thing that happened was our food delivery person...brought everything with cloches over it, and in an insulated carrier. No silverware or ketchup, so as he was distributing the food, I was asking him if the servers tipped him out (NO) He said that food running isn't a tipped position, but we gave him $5 anyway when he brought back the silverware and ketchup for us. Maybe that's the ex-server in me, but the area attendants basically only take your orders and run drinks...I had a hard time with not tipping the person who actually brought around our food.

Also, I found it odd that we couldn't run a tab for our premium lounger. We had to close out every time we ordered something. We were told that it was because if the weather changed, and they couldn't come out, they couldn't close out our check, or we might leave if the weather got really bad. I don't see why they can't run it like they do at the resorts and just charge a flat 18% gratuity and be done with it. It just struck me as odd, since we've had great experiences at the pools with their servers. After lunch, DS lounged in the chairs, and DH and I went to check out the not so lazy river. We went around the loop 2x before we decided that even for a not so lazy river, it wasn't much "fun". So we headed to the wave pool to hang out there for a bit. DS wasn't interested in waiting in a virtual line for anything else (part of his checklist mentality..he had ridden what he wanted, and didn't feel the need to re-visit anything.) We did not do any of the drop slides, or Ohyeah or Ohno, so I don't have any input on that. I will tell you that as we were walking around looking for pretty soft serve (after 12:00) there were some random slides that we noticed were ride now....oh, and the ice cream adventure!! I swear, I am biologically hardwired to do things the hard way. Even after spending the morning there, we really weren't oriented to much in the park...so imagine our seating, and the park itself, as a big clock. Our lounger path was at 12:00, and we proceeded to walk around the park to 1:00, 2:00, etc...looking for the magical ice cream hut. We happened upon the social club, and I asked where to get the softserve ice cream, and was told "at the front of the park", so we kept walking. I stopped at another snack stand to double check, and was again told "at the front of the park". So we walked some more. Finally, we reached Nirvana--the magic ice cream shack...located at 11:59 on our clock. Seriously, if we would have bothered to LOOK left, we would have seen it directly to the left of our path. Like I said, the hard way.

Oh, and even though we went in with tempered expectations due to how crazy everything's been, the one big disappointment was the pretty soft serve ice cream...It was a big letdown. It's a machine that injects flavor/color into the vanilla soft serve, but for DH and I, it basically tasted like vanilla ice cream. I had the pineapple (and honestly, I was expecting dole whip pineapple, my assumption, my bad). DH had to coconut, and he said it barely tasted like coconut. So, if you're expecting heavily flavored ice cream, that may not happen. It was just a bit of a damper, as we got the ice cream to eat while walking to and waiting for the bus...you know, last impressions and all. Overall, it was a good day, and the hiccups were on the relatively minor side, and overall didn't impact our day in an overly negative way.

The only other thing that DH commented on was the lack of knowing what time it was. Neither of us were wearing our watches, and we were having to ask employees about the time. I think we left around 1;30 or so. The shuttles both ways were very timely. I don't think we waited 10 minutes for a shuttle on the way back to our hotel. It was a good day, in spite of the relatively minor hiccups. I have to say, in general, I think people make their own vacation experience...kind of like a choose your own adventure book. While returning with my magic ticket to the concierge desk to get our loungers, another family came up behind us. When the dad was asked for his magic ticket, and showed his confirmation (just like I did), he was told he needed to go get his magic ticket from guest services. (I'm the one calling it a magic ticket, not the employees, just to avoid confusion). He got REALLY indignant and rude with the employees, declaring that he was here, and he WAS NOT going to go anywhere else to do anything outside of stand in this line and get what he had paid for. Really, he looked like a big giant ***. And now everyone knew it. DH and I try to be a bit more positive about the unexpected happenings on vacation, because frankly, you can choose to get your panties in a bunch and have it ruin your vacation, or you can be mildly annoyed, embrace that annoyance, and then move on. Anything that we perceived as "negative" was really a fleeting flash of emotion or annoyance, nothing that really had a direct impact on our day. We ate our ice cream on the way out of the park. DH was finished with his before we hit the exit, mine lasted until halfway until our shuttle bus arrived.

Dinner that night was at the Hard Rock Cafe. I know we're in tourist mecca, and there are a thousand restaurants to try, but we know we can always get a really solid meal here. DS is picky (I think I mentioned that), but one of his "new foods" this year is ribs, so I tried to have us eating at places that offered ribs, chicken fingers, grilled cheese, or pizza on the menu. FTR, at 14, with a healthy caterpillar living above his upper lip, we didn't have any issues with him ordering off the kid's menu if he wanted to. His appetite is either birdlike, or ravenous, so sometimes he ordered an adult portion, other times, from the kid's menu. DS and I split the rack of ribs, and they were DELICIOUS. Fall off the bone wonderfulness. I can't remember what DH got (I think maybe a burger or sandwich)...I was too face first into the ribs. There were so many that DS and I couldn't share it (I should have taken the leftovers to go). And, I finally got my pina colada. Usually at home, I'm a beer and wine drinker (more wine than beer). This vacation, with the exception of the bottle we got at The Palm, I didn't have any wine. 1-2 beers with meals, and frozen drinks whenever I was outside dealing with the heat. The Electric Ladyland at the HRH is hands down, the best frozen drink from this vacation go around...except for maybe frozen butter beer.

Hi thanks for the great information:goodvibes. I am assuming that I will have to go to guest services first for my cabana rental. I will go there first once I get through the gate. We are staying at CBBR and plan to be at the gate an hour before opening. I have loungers reserved for one day and a cabana another. After reading some other tips I think I am going to cancel my loungers and go early and look for an umbrella seating. I originally was planning on staying from open to close and figured the loungers would be good. I am not sure now if we will want to do 10 hours at the park. I will keep my cabana the kids love them and it is a treat. I am splurging a lot this trip but hey you only live once!
 


Hi how was the Toothsome milkshakes? Were they worth it? I haven't heard to many opinions on these.:thanks:
 
Hi I am loving your trip report:) I booked the non-private VIP tour for late July when we go. It is a surprise for my teens who love that kind of stuff. OMG I want to do that backstage Mummy thing. When I heard you didn't get a chance too I was sad. It seems so awesome and I know my family would like it. It will probably be a one time thing but I have done other tours in other parks. Any tips or suggestions? Do you remember your guide's name? I was reading that there are some that are much better at it than others.:thanks:

We had Michelle. She was very friendly, and in all, it was a good time. But I got the impression from her, and from the pace, that she was there to maximize front of the line ride access, and anything that was outside of that would be on an "if we had time" basis. The pace was quick, and there wasn't much time for dawdling between attractions..no time for shopping, or even getting a drink. She had us on the move. If I hadn't known that others got "Extra" opportunities, I wouldn't have felt like we were missing out on something, KWIM? The men folk were perfectly happy with the tour...
 
Hi thanks for the great information:goodvibes. I am assuming that I will have to go to guest services first for my cabana rental. I will go there first once I get through the gate. We are staying at CBBR and plan to be at the gate an hour before opening. I have loungers reserved for one day and a cabana another. After reading some other tips I think I am going to cancel my loungers and go early and look for an umbrella seating. I originally was planning on staying from open to close and figured the loungers would be good. I am not sure now if we will want to do 10 hours at the park. I will keep my cabana the kids love them and it is a treat. I am splurging a lot this trip but hey you only live once!

I don't think you'll need to be there quite that early...we were up at 7:00, dressed and sunblocked, went to the lounge for grab and go breakfast options, and just missed the first shuttle. The second one arrived within 5 or so minutes. We didn't have watches on, so it's hard to tell...but honestly, not that many people were there that morning. We were 7th in line at our line. A bit closer to 8, it started to get more crowded behind us, but I'd think that if you were there and in line by 7:30, you'd be fine, whatever your agenda for the day.

Hi how was the Toothsome milkshakes? Were they worth it? I haven't heard to many opinions on these.:thanks:

They are not thick milkshakes, but yes, IMO, they're worth it. DH had the coffee one, and the key lime one (different days). I had the strawberry cheesecake one. OMG. The sour cream ice cream is wonderful. Yes, they're expensive for milkshakes, but for a vacation splurge, totally doable. DS wanted to try the marshmellow one, but was too full whenever we were talking about getting one.
 
Thank you so much for your replies:)... I will be trying the milkshakes and for me that is good I don't like them to thick:thumbsup2
 
Thursday and Friday (22nd and 23rd). I'm going to lump these together, since Thursday was our "down day" when we rented a cabana and just lounged by the pool. Poolside service was attentive, but not intrusive, and it was a really great (and HOT) day for being poolside. This was the day I discovered the Electric Ladyland....huckleberry vodka, frozen lemonade slushie, and a raspberry puree swirl....yummy. I might have had 4 or so...but it was hot out, and I needed a frozen drink or 4! I should also mention that we got really lucky with the weather. Monday, we were almost rained on, but missed it due to a late lunch. Apparently, Mississippi and Lousiana were getting smacked with a tropical storm (maybe not officially at TS) but it pulled all of the moisture out of FL, so we didn't have the usual afternoon rains on Tuesday-Friday. What that did mean was that it was hot, and humid, and partially why we kept to the 10-2 touring plan and then came back and showered and rested. DH said that we really didn't sweat in FL...we were just constantly leaking!!. At about 3pm, we decided that we had enough of the heat, sun, and wandering from lounge chair to pool to lounge chair again, and went inside to take a break...intending to come back out to the cabana after dinner and watching the movie by the pool. However, things changed rapidly, and I was experiencing the kind of tummy issues that makes one not want to leave the comfort of their room. DS "stayed to keep me company" which means he said he wasn't hungry when DH wanted to get dinner, and he was occupied with his phone and Itouch, so he was happy where he was. DH went down to the kitchen for dinner, and brought me back some soup, and a side of white rice. DS was brought back a kid's pizza. I managed to eat (slowly), and by later in the evening, felt like I could trust my insides again.

***This part might be gross for the sensitive, fair warning****

The next day, DS was really hard to get out of bed. Typically, a 14 year old is not jumping out of bed, fully clothed while on vacation, but we could usually get him out of bed and moving on the 2nd or 3rd request. Tearing his sheets off him was also helpful at times. Friday morning, he wasn't budging, pulling out the generic "I don't feel good" card. A bit of history...DH and I work in schools, and DS has always been the kind of kid that wanted to go to school every morning (I know, right?) Well, sometime in 7th grade, he discovered that feigning sickness got his friends out of school when they'd rather just stay home. Except when you have a teacher and a therapist who work in schools, it's really hard to get one over on us. I always insist on verifiable concrete symptoms outside of I don't feel good, or my stomach hurts. That's how he ended up vomiting on the school bus 2x, and on the way into school 1x. My kid, for who my belly hurts really means I think I might hurl, just couldn't get his symptomology organized enough to hurl before I had to send him to the bustop. Sans fever, I felt that as a responsible parent, I had no other choice. After the 3rd time leaving work to go pick him up, I learned my lesson. Now, when he tells me more info, like my burps taste like puke, he gets to stay home.

So, with a general, I don't feel good/my belly hurts, I wasn't sure what we were dealing with. By the time we got to ripping off his sheets, and I felt him, I knew something was up. He had a fever, but no other symptoms. Just bellyaches. But no puky burps. So, even though he was 14...(where is Macraven?? Remember when I told you I traveled with the kitchen sink? Well, this time, I didn't have any fever medicine, or Poopourri (at DH's request after my bout), so those will be added to the list from now on!). So, even though he's 14, I went in search of kiddie tylenol, just to take the edge off so he could rest comfortably. I found it, in the HR giftshop, for $16!! Figured that by the time I paid for an uber both ways, tylenol was going to cost me $16+either way, and at least this way was quicker. But the poor kiddo ran a fever all that day, and we dosed him regularly to keep him comfortable. I know when he's sick, because he'll sleep all day. I did wake him to take his temp, just to keep an eye on it. It never got above 101.7...just high enough that he was a bit miserable for most of the day.

For the life of me, I can't remember where DH and I had lunch today. I did call DS before we left to see if he was ready to eat (he wasn't)...maybe it'll come to me. After lunch we basically just hung in the room with our sick kidlet, who was still mostly sleeping. Come dinnertime....THE NBC GRILL!! Sorry, backtracking. DH and I had lunch at NBC Grill, and again, it was a hit for us. We got the peel and eat shrimp for an appetizer. He got the lamb burger, and I got the Ahi Tuna Crunch Salad. He said it wasn't the BEST lamb burger he's ever had, but it was still pretty good. My salad was really delicious. I love an Asian inspired dish, but my food nemesis is cilantro (and avocado, but I'm getting better with the slimy green stuff sometimes.) There was barely any cilantro in my salad. I was over halfway through before I even tasted it the first time, so that's a double bonus for me. Usually, I'll try and pick it out (makes for some fun times, I tell you.). No food for DS, as he wasn't feeling up to eating. We did stop and pick up a powerade from the giftshop on our way back up to the room...have to stay hydrated!

For Dinner, since we again left kidlet in the room, we headed to Bob Marley's to get our Jamaican food fix. It's not a place that he'd be thrilled about going, well or not, and therefore, wouldn't feel like he was being left out. Our original game plan was to go to NBC for dinner tonight, but since we checked it out for lunch, we game planned a plan B. BTW, why are there so few restaurants open for lunch at Citywalk? We wanted a sit down restaurant, and Anjoito's was first on our list (kidlet doesn't like Mexican...so we figured it would be a great time to take advantage). I was really surprised to find that not all of the restaurants were open for lunch. Neither was Bob Marley's, which was how we ended up there for dinner tonight. All in all, it ended up working out. I got my beef patties (still not as good as Norman's on Negril Beach, alas) but good enough. Fried yucca was delicious, as was the callaloo...my very favorite green ever. DH got the oxtail stew, which I tried. I was surprised it tasted so beefy (I know, for as much of a foodie I pretend to be, DH is a much more adventurous eater. "OXtail" just doesn't sound appetizing to me). it was all very good, and I got to sneak in yet another (very very strong) frozen adult beverage. We called DS, who now wanted mac and cheese for dinner, but did not want us to pick up beignets from Pat O'briens. Getting better, but not yet fully mended. The rest of the evening is just more of us in the hotel room, so I won't bother.
 
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OK all...checking out of reality for another week...I'll be back to finish up the last two days after I've recouped from vacation #2!
 
jagafen said:

So, with a general, I don't feel good/my belly hurts, I wasn't sure what we were dealing with. By the time we got to ripping off his sheets, and I felt him, I knew something was up. He had a fever, but no other symptoms. Just bellyaches. But no puky burps. So, even though he was 14...(where is Macraven?? Remember when I told you I traveled with the kitchen sink? Well, this time, I didn't have any fever medicine,



hahah, i do remember that.....
so the one time you did not have the kitchen sink with you it was needed.

you'll probably be packing everything for the next trip..
 
Sorry to hear your son didn't feel well. Stinks on vacation.

With a kid having bad allergies and one who gets hives so inconsistently, I've learned to carry a bag of drugs on vacation.

Great report, thanks for writing it. And yay! for vacation number 2.
 
Thank you so much for the review!!! We are doing this tour in Sept and I've been looking for recent reviews!! Sounds great! And we are going to do Toothsome too I think! Sounds like a wonderful trip

Monday the 19th was our non-private (group of 12) VIP tour of the parks. It was really cool to be escorted around, and brought to the front of the lines for every ride...we went on all the major rides, except for Rip Ride Rocket, since it was closed temporarily due to lightning in the area. We did Simpsons instead, which is my ride nemesis. We also skipped The Dragon Challenge, since we were the only 3/12 that wanted to go...said we'd hit it later on. This was DH's father's day gift, and both the men folk were duly impressed with the experience...me, being the planner and board reader, and information diver, had read about other's experiences, so I was a little disappointed that we didn't do the immigration or mummy tours as other groups had gotten the chance to do. Again, like the salty steaks, all in all, not a big deal, but it put a little bit of a damper on it for me, personally. It was pretty apparent that our guide's agenda was maximizing our ride count. We did do Ollivander's (there was a younger girl in our group. She didn't get picked though.) and I was glad that we were able to skip the line for this, as we hadn't done it on our last trip. Alex made a tour friend with a 15 y/o girl, and it was really nice that he had someone his age to hang out with. She seemed like a really cool young lady. We spent a few minutes chatting with her and her father, and they seemed like a good bunch. There was also a couple from England celebrating their 25th anniversary, and another couple who I don't think I interacted much with, because I can't even remember their faces! Would I spend the $$ again to do the VIP tour? Probably not, but I was looking for a "WOW" gift, and since the menfolk enjoyed it, I'm viewing it as a success. DS even turned to me and said 'Mom, you really went out of your way on this vacation for us!"...that was good enough for me. Surprisingly, for the rest of our trip, I only saw the smaller (private) tour groups, none of the en masse groups of 12...and each time I'd lean over to DH and say "$3k, minimum", like I was bragging about how much $$ I saved him by booking the non-private option. Yes, it was a vacation splurge, but I sell Alex's clothes on Ebay, and usually just throw the $$ into our savings account. Once I read about the VIP tour, and saw that it was "doable" given the funds I"m able to recoup without digging into the vacation budget, or the household budget, I knew it was something I wanted to do for them.

Lunch that day was at Leaky Cauldron (I would have preferred 3 broomsticks), but I'm blaming that decision on the couple from England. I KNOW they wanted fish and chips (because that's what they ordered) and when given the choice to the group of which side of Harrypotterland we wanted to have lunch, they were the first to speak up. We ended up banking our dining plan cards that we were given for use later on, and just paying OOP for lunch. DH got the banger sandwich, and I got the chicken sandwich. DS surprised us (saying he wasn't hungry) and then ordered the kid's fish and chips. They were good enough for what they were. I was going to try and talk DH into the ploughman's platter, but he was on the phone dealing with a school issue. I know, school it out, but there was some sort of coaching thing that had to be addressed. On the phone. In the middle of our tour. Can you tell it's a bit of a pet peeve of mine? An aside about DS: besides being a teenager, and a picky eater in general, he eats either like a bird, or like a ravenous teen boy. So, if he's "not hungry" I'll usually order a side item with my meal that I know he'll eat, and just let it sit there. You know..."If you build it, they will come". He ate 2/3 of the singled out fish log, and most of the fries. I was surprised to see him eat a fish stick, as he's never taken to them before. I think the long line made him hungry. I do have to give our guide (Michelle) props again. She managed to get us inside for lunch with only a moderate sprinkling of rain. As soon as we stepped into the Leaky Cauldron, the deluge began, and was finished by the time we were done eating!

Monday night, we ate at Toothsome. We didn't get milkshakes until later in the trip, so it was dinner only. We ordered the chocolate almond bread (I'd pass next time, it seemed as if our loaf was overbaked/dry/held too long) and onion rings for appetizers. The rings were really good, but it's kind of hard to screw up an OR. I also got the truffle fries (to die for, loved them), and the harissa basted pork kebabs for dinner. They were REALLY good, but nearly impossible to get off their skewers. As in, I splashed sauce on DH's shirt sleeve with the amount of force I had to use. I've de-skewered brochette's in my sleep, but these wooden skewers were going to be an issue. Short of picking them up and eating them caveman style, I'm not sure how else someone is supposed to eat them. They were very good, but SUPER spicy (which is ok in my book). Definitely something I would order again. They were served with a jicima and mango slaw that was awesome, too. DH had the Tour De France burger and really liked it. We skipped dessert and milkshakes (but they'll be making an appearance later).
 
Good lord, life got away from me. I totally forgot that I hadn't finished this trip report. I'll do our last two days together, since my memory is a bit foggy now, but I remember the highlights well enough!

Saturday and Sunday, we followed our general park touring style...hitting the rides that DS wanted to do (basically, the roller coasters every day, as much as possible), checking off our limited shopping agendas (I think we did the bulk of our souvenir shopping this day), and then heading back to the hotel to chill by the pool before dinner. The one thing that I was DETERMINED to get to was the Raptor Encounter. We missed it the first time we were in the area. Finally, we were successful. It was really cute, and since we'd never been able to work it in, I was glad we got this one checked off our list too. We got some great pics on our photo card, plus the video (which I still have to put up on FB). After that, we went to Thunderfalls Terrace for lunch. I remember really liking this place last time, but DH wasn't liking his meal. He got the chicken platter. I got the turkey leg (my must do at least once on a trip treat). It was the only time he complained about not liking it, and it was such a big hit last time! Maybe we hit it on an off day. Dinner that night was a repeat trip to Cowfish. We were supposed to go to Emeril's for an early dinner (intending to do some in the dark park play), but honestly, no one felt like dressing nicer than parkwear, so I cancelled our reservation and we headed over there again. By far, Cowfish was the dining highlight of our trip. DH got some sort of sashimi and roll combo platter, and I got the boss roll, which I picked all the avocado off and put it on DH's plate. Again, we got the seaweed salad and thai cucumbers as sides. Again, we really enjoyed dinner, and I"m glad we bailed on Emeril's.

We went back and did most of our packing, so that we could relax and do what we wanted on Sunday. We had a late flight out of MCO (10:00), so we had plenty of time to do what we wanted on Sunday. Sunday morning, we started off with a few rides in the parks...you guessed it, roller coasters! Florean's was still on my hit list, and we hadn't made it back to HP land after our tour (I KNOW!! RIGHT!!??!!) and I was determined to try the chocolate chili ice cream before we left. OMG. So worth it, and regrettably (but better for my waistline) that was the only time I got to go. It was soooo good. One of the things I like best about going to the parks is doing the little things that make other's days...we had 1 CS meal and a few random snacks on our various dining cards, so we gave them to a lady behind us in line who had like, 4 kids with her. Figured she could use a little perk me up with so many mouths to keep happy! Once I had my ice cream, we then headed back to the pool. We had packed 2 backpacks to take into the parks with us (one held swimsuits and park stuff, the other, a change of clothes for the flight). For the life of me, I can't remember where we ate lunch today....we headed back to the HRH, and hit the gym to change into our suits to head to the pool. I have to say, it was REALLY nice being able to use the gym facilities on our last day to shower and what not, without feeling like we were intruding or "not allowed" since we had technically checked out of our room already. Once we changed for the pool, we hung out there for a few hours, until about 4, and then headed to the gym to shower and change. I was really impressed with their limited selection of toiletries they had for guest use...shaving cream, disposable razors (I passed), as well as a hair dryer (which I gave a quick run through my hair). There was also shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in the showers for guests to use. I had I known that, I could have lightened our load a bit! Dinner that night was in The Kitchen, and the food was good, but service seemed especially slow compared to other vists and restaurants. But we were in stretching out our last vacation hours mode, so as long as we weren't late for our pick up (we weren't), it wasn't a big deal.

All in all, it was a really good trip, and the hiccups were minor. With that said, I"m not sure when our next trip to Universal will be. DS questioned why we'd come back here, since we've done all the rides (now that he was tall enough). So I'm not sure what's in our gameplan. We're tenatively planning a 2019 trip to Disney for starwars land and avatar, but maybe that'll be a split trip. As far as the HRH goes, we loved it's proximity to the parks and pool area. Even though we were a bit disappointed in the evening club offerings, we'd definitely stay club level here again.
 
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Glad you made it back to wrap it up & that you made it to Florean's. I like their chocolate chile one too, it's pleasantly odd how it's cold and warm at the same time :)
 

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