April 2013 - Our last hurrah!

[Hannikins]

As it wasn’t anywhere near closing time we decided to catch a boat over to the poly so joined the short queue already waiting. Sure enough just as the boat arrived a scooter and extended family in tow came pootling up the side of us all.

And then I heard the captain..

“I’m sorry, we can’t accommodate scooter on this vessel, you’ll need to catch the monorail”

HAHAHA! A small victory against scooter users everywhere!

We were soon on our way, scooter free, at the Grand Floridian we were joined on board by some seriously dressed up guests, who got off with us as the poly, eek had I completely misunderstood the dress code for Kona Café?

From the beach I couldn’t really see the castle, there were lots of trees in the way, hopefully we’d find a good spot after dinner. We were still a little early so we had a mooch in the expensive art store. Look who I found!

and with her manatee friend to!

We spotted our dressed to impress guests as they entered OHANA… I know relaxed family dining…. in a cocktail dress! Oh well some people clearly have too much relaxing time on their holidays to get that dressed up… we are not those people… so we took our sweaty themepark clothed behinds over to Kona.

We were seated straight away at a table for 4 by the entrance. Kona certainly feels a lot more relaxed than everywhere else we’d been so far. Our server was rather ‘brisk’ and unfriendly on this visit, I couldn’t work out why ☹

We explained to our server we were on the dining plan and she advised on some drinks which were included.

We went with a virgin colada daiquiri mix

Yummy!

They had a cocktail menu but neither of us were feeling it so instead we moved straight to main course options.

While waiting they brought out some bread with macadamia nut butter

Adam wasn’t keen but I managed to polish off the whole thing! The butter is heavenly!

For mains Adam had the Teriyaki Style New York Strip

and I had the coconut almond chicken with seasonal salad

this was a stunning dish, one of my favourites of the holiday in fact. The strawberry, mango and almond pieces in the salad made it really interesting.

I don’t want to go on and on about HOW AMAZING it was…. as it’s no longer on the menu!... but it was, really it was EPIC gig:

By now the stress and strain of the day was taking it’s toll. Well that and the serious lack of rest so far this holiday. We made the decision at this point to cut out losses and call it a night, missing out on fireworks from the beach in favour of an early night. We got desserts to go (you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out what we had!) and head out to the monorail back to mk and finally the bus to SSR

So and interesting day all round…. We perk up soon I promise!

Ooo and look who we found waiting for us again!

Spends Recap

Breakfast – Crystal Palace - $58 (paid OOP)
Lunch - Columbia Harbour House - $33.81
Dinner – Kona Cafe - $72.79 + $12 tip
Snacks – Nothing

Total for the day = $176.60
Total out of pocket - $58
Total saving – $106.60

NOM OF THE DAY

The Coconut Almond Chicken! Sucks that it's no longer on the menu Although the new scallop dish sounds nice to!

 

[Hannikins]

AUTHORS NOTE:Firstly an apology, I realize how late this is in coming! I’ve been waist deep in stationery orders this month and just haven’t had any ‘me’ time to sort it. ANYWAY, thanks for sticking with me and for all the lovely comments and thread ratings you’ve given me so far, it’s been lovely.

Sooo, onto day 7.

Despite an early night yesterday we were still pretty zonked this morning, groggy more than anything! The planner said that today was supposed to be Hollywood Studios EMH at 8am but we both knew that wasn’t going to happen. We need to chill, collect our thoughts, and move on from yesterday. Adam wanted to spend some time speaking to colleagues at work to find out what had actually been said yesterday so I took last nights dessert out onto the balcony to take stock

Unfortunately with Adam panicking about work I started to think about mine… and checked my emails…

NEVER DO THIS!

EVER!
Nothing good can come of it. Panicked email sent to work, to which I received a polite one back saying all is fine now sod off and enjoy your holiday (or words to that effect) and I decided to give Adam his marching orders before we both went stir crazy!

The bus stop was quiet today, probably because it was a rather obscure 9.45 in the morning so we were neither part of the keen morning rush or the late morning lazy people (yes LAZY, you’re not on holiday to relax and should be in a park by 11am otherwise it’s a WASTE people! ;P )

Despite the odd time the buses still seemed to be frequent and we were soon on our way. As the bus pulled up to Hollywood studios I realized my mistake, it was now after EMH and we were somewhat late to the party, the place was HEAVING!

Well by our standards anyway!

We wandered first towards the customer relations desk by starring rolls, I was keen to see what we had left to spend as today was our last day on the plan.

11 SNACK CREDITS!?!

I had no idea we had so many! We were going to have to do some serious noshing and nomming in the next two days to get through that lot!... but I was up for the challenge gig:

A quick look at the wait times showed that TOT was at 30 mins, Toy story mania at something frankly laughable that was never in a million years going to be entertained by us so we opted instead for RandR, which was also at 30 minutes.
We grabbed a fast pass and decided to try the same tactic as our previous trip, the single rider line, We were in luck! Straight through and on the ride in 5 minutes. So quickly in fact we ran round and did it again for good measure.

On our second ‘trip’ I was moved to sit next to a little girl, as apparently a cast member thought I ‘looked friendly’ (nice to know). The girl was with her older sister and dad and she was terrified. I kept talking to her to try and distract her from the wait and we were soon on our way. She screamed the whole way round and looked stunned at the end. I asked her if she wanted to go again… HELL YES!

And so a new coaster fanatic was born

Two rides was enough for us though and we made our way over to check on TOT, alas no single rider queue but a reasonable 15mins wait so we grabbed a tot fastpass and jumped on

Fun and a slightly different seat position for once!

Next we headed back to RandR but instead of using the fast passes we used the single rider queue because it was always far quicker.

On the way out I scouted around looking for someone to give my two fast passes to. I eventually found a young couple and offered them to them, they blatantly didn’t have a clue what they were holding but I’d done my bit for the day! I always seem to end up giving them to people who don’t understand the value. I think if I had given them midday fast passes for toy story their expression would have been just as blank *sighs*

We now had a bit of a wait before we could use our TOT fast pass so we headed in search of food. The snack credits had been burning a hole in my pocket since I discovered I had them!

We headed into Sweet Spells and purchased a carrot cake cookie and some cookies and cream fudge. The lady behind the counter asked if we were sharing, I think the filthy look on my face answered her question quite nicely.

What is the fascination at Disney about sharing food? I rarely share food in the outside world, and with all the delights of Disney I’m hardly about to share now. Besides I had 11 credits to burn, sharing would not be an option!
We did let each other have a begrudging nibble of each others though for my food report of course!

Here’s the fudge

nice but HUGE, I would have asked them to cut it into slices for me, this was waaaaay to much, how Adam managed to eat it all I have no idea, it’s like a solid lump of fat and sugar… and it was sooooo goooood

My carrot cake cookie definitely won though!

It’s more of a whoopie pie than a cookie and again, massive. I managed half and stored the rest in my bag so I could nibble on it throughout the day.

Full of sugary goodness we headed back to use our fp’s on TOT, stopping for some photopass pics on the way.

We made it onto the front row this time and were stood in line with a fabulous lady from Brooklyn, she said she’d been on every coaster at Disney apart from this one. We explained it wasn’t a coaster to which she looked puzzled, after we had explained further she was terrified. As we got in she kept asking Adam if this was it, threatening to kill him if he was lying, followed by hysterical laughter. God did she scream. I think the picture says how much she enjoyed the experience

can you guess which one teehee!

After TOT I suggested we see when the next mermaid showing was, turns out it was now and we were the last ones though the door.

I refrained from singing this time, I didn’t want to show the poor girl up ;P

I do wish they would sort out the 90’s laser bits, it would be far better without that completely, it just doesn’t work for me.

Show over we decided to check out the new pirates ‘ride’. It’s described in the park map as;

“An immersive, theatrical adventure in the world of “Pirates of the Caribbean.””

So clear as mud yes?

The sign said 20 minutes so we joined it, however we just missed the next showing so had another 20 minutes. On the positive side this meant a nice sit in the shade but the negative was it gave Adam time to think about work, which wasn’t great. We weren’t getting very far on the info front so all he could do was vent his frustration. Not nice really ☹

Anyway we were soon off on our “immersive theatrical adventure. “

Well we were led to a door and told to look at it…

then we were led into another room…

full of lighting and laser effects, and Jack on a projector of course!

A few more flashes and a sing song and we were lead through yet another door..

THE EXIT!

Ok… well it was pleasant. Did it live up to it’s description?

no.
Well maybe if it had been the preshow to an ’immersive theatrical adventure’.

It was all very odd! Definitely check it out if you need the shade and the wait is indeed 20 minutes but dear lord don’t wait hours for it. The queues on previous days had been 60 minutes! Still I think if you were to grab a seat at the exit the looks of those leaving would be rather funny to watch. One kid came out and asked his mummy where the ride was!

Next we thought we’d check out midway mania on the way out… 80 minutes

NOT. A. CHANCE.

Instead we headed towards the studio tour.

Since visiting the west coast and doing a few tours they all seemed to blend into one so we’d completely forgotten what was on this one, All I could remember was last time thinking it was better than the one at DLP (it’s not hard, even our pirate ‘adventure’ could be described as more interesting than the dlp ‘tour’).

And yes it was better than DLP, I love the drive through the costume area, I just wish they would go a bit slower. The guides obviously learnt to drive at the same school as the Animal kingdom safari drivers!

By the exit we saw a very small queue for mike and sully. We’d missed sully last time so we headed in and got our piccies taken.

they were both really good and Adam got a great high five from Sully.

 

[Hannikins]

We wandered next through the streets of new york until on turning a corner Adam’s face looked something like this

I knew instantly what he had seen

HE LOVES IT, he likes to sit inside with the aliens but I found a nice spot outside instead, spoilsport that I am

It was always really quiet whenever we walked this way, I think people forget it’s there, tucked away behind the muppets.

We were out of quick service credits now, needing to keep two for tomorrow. I wasn’t that hungry so we shared a meal. I had the salad and a tiny piece of pizza, Adam ate the rest

I know it’s just rubbish pizza but I do love it.

Although ! love the really cheap frozen cheese and tomato ones for kids, you know, the ones sold in a stack? So really I’m not a good judge of quality pizza.

Adam loved it, and I think it made up for ‘the one that got away’ at Via Napoli ;P

We’d managed to do everything we could be bothered riding now apart from star tours so we headed over there, I love the new upgrade, I loved having the different ‘worlds’ each time, it makes things a little more fun on repeat rides.

Now we were done I decided now was probably the best time to break the bad news to Adam, we were going to Epcot again, and I was doing world showcase… ALL OF IT! However I did have a plan to make the experience more enjoyable…

I was going to do it ON MY OWN

Adam seemed unsure but when I said this meant he could ride test track as often as he liked he perked up a little.

So off we headed to the boat dock, stopping for another topiary picture on the way

There was a boat already docked with room for two people, however a little girl in front was in hysterics because she wanted on but her mother was miles behind.

First come first served I though but Adam took pity and waited, he’s far to soft

We watched the fish nipping the ducks for a bit and soon enough another boat arrived.

I’d never been to epcot this way but it was rather handy, we arrived in no time and right at the edge of world showcase by the UK, great planning on my part!

As soon as we neared france Adam had a ‘funny turn’. He claims a headache but I’m calling in “antishowcaseitus”. This didn’t annoy me as much as usual, oh no, because I could leave him, and I did, on a bench in france, waving as I went.

I was free!

Free to wander grumble free through world showcase, and I had 2 hours in which to do it!

Having not had lunch I decided to start on the snack credits and headed to America first for something on my must do list

FUNNEL CAKE

but I was disappointed, funnel cakes aren’t a snack credit here! I thought about buying one but knowing I could get one elsewhere on property with a snack credit annoyed me so I left it.

I did catch the marching band while waiting so not a completely wasted journey

Instead I headed here:

It was by far the nicest food booth and after reading reviews I really wanted to try something here. I opted for this:

There weren’t many seats so I headed to Japan and sat by the gardens instead,

The pulled pork itself was delicious; I could have eaten a bigger one easily.

I wasn’t done yet though! I wasn’t in Japan for just any old reason, oh no, I was here for one of these:

I went for the rainbow version but melon was a clear winner for me. All were very nice though. I had a stroll with this and once finished I headed into the Italy shop to look around. I love acqua di parma fragrance and I wanted to see what they had, the answer was everything, but it wasn’t any cheaper than I pay back home so I decided to leave it.

Next I wandered around Germany

I managed to resist the urge to head in here again

which I found VERY difficult!

As I reached China a show was about to start so I took a seat to watch.

WOW these kids were impressive!

Past Norway I made a beeline for Mexico, there was one more thing to tick off my list here… TEQUILA

Margarita’s to be exact!

 

[Hannikins]

I had added the flight to my list but they weren’t doing it today so instead I had a look at the menu to pick something

In the end I went for the Pomegranate. Here’s a better description.

It was a cosy little place inside and I was ID’d for only the second time on Disney property… so I love them even more!

Here it is:

Nom nom nom!

Jeez it was strong. Well it was $15 worth of marg so it shouldn’t have surprised me. In hindsight I should have had the $9 rose one from the food booth outside but it didn’t occur to me until it was to late. Thankfully I’d paid for it using our freebie giftcard so I didn’t feel that bad ;P

I had 30 mins before I had to meet Adam so that’s 30 minutes to ‘get rid’ of the boozy evidence.

I decided to head back to out meeting spot outside spaceship earth.

On the way I stopped for a photopass.

why not? Nothing says family Disney holiday more than a lady on her own with a cocktail wearing a happy anniversary badge surely!

I soon found a nice spot and slowly sipped away at my drink, trying not to rush in case it went to my head, bit late for that but still…

While all this worldshowcase tour action was taking place I though I’d share some of photo’s from Adam’s afternoon…

no surprises so far then…

nice arty shot… then…

FAR less boring than world showcase I’m sure you’ll agree…

Anyway back to me..

I did manage to finish my marg but only just as I saw Adam. I thought about denying my covert marg but from the look he gave me I was obviously a little squiffy so I owned up. As revenge Adam made me ride spaceship earth, which was fun! Being squiffy adds a certain liveliness to the experience I feel

We had a bit of time to spare so I let adam play on some of the games. We did some together, including one which involved, sweeping, such fun!

Adam really liked the racing games, although I think they were meant for smaller guests…

We decided to finish our trip with one final ride on nemo, I wanted to see the turtle, alas he was hiding again and we were running out of time.

 

[Hannikins]

We said goodbye to epcot and headed again towards world showcase. I think Adam thought it was a cruel joke until I explained we were walking to dinner. We headed off towards the gateway and came out at the boardwalk in a matter of minutes. It was certainly A LOT closer than I was expecting!

My the boardwalk was pretty, I would LOVE to stay there one day, maybe on some rented DVC points next time who knows!

The bakery was due to open the following day so I had a little nosey inside. I spotted lots of new items and so posted some updates on the food thread, it all sounded YUMMY!

We had a stroll, soaking up the atmosphere before heading in for Dinner

On our last trip this place was closed for it’s transformation from spoodles so I was eager to try it. We were seated by the door with a nice view outside.

Still full from my trip around world showcase and a bit of a belly ache we were going to pass on apps but the grilled cheese caught my eye to we ordered that.

While waiting the bread arrived with olive oil dips. There were two varieties but the one tasting of apples was a favourite

and then the cheese. Being greek themed I had been expecting halloumi or some other salty hard cheese but this had a tang to it… in fact it tasted just like cheddar so who knows what it was!

A bit disappointing in fact

I had always planned on having the tasting trio but Adam seemed to have his heart set on that so instead I ordered the steak.

well it was awful ☹ by far my least favourite dish of the trip. It was far too spicy and the cut of meat was as touch as old boots. I wasn’t expecting fillet but this was worse than frying steak!

Adam seemed to enjoy his a little more, he liked the burger best.

Sadly not only is my picture awful I also didn’t try it, my stomach really wasn’t happy ☹

While pondering dessert a cupcake arrived! I couldn’t face it so Adam ate some of it so as not to appear rude!

Both full we ordered the doughnuts. We order one for now and another to go, we thought they would make a nice breakfast!

they were rather bland. It said they were coated in honey and spice but you could barely taste either, another disappointment ☹

Bad meal over we decided to head back early via downtown Disney. Tomorrow was our last day and I really needed to pack

I suggested heading to the beach club but instead Adam took us towards the swan and dolphin. We couldn’t see any bus stops so we headed through the swam towards the back. In fact I wasn’t even sure if they had buses here.

We eventually found a deserted bus stop and waited..

And waited…

Finally another couple joined us and said they had asked at reception and one was on it’s way, Phew at least we were no longer waiting for a bus that may never come.

It arrived and we were greeted with the stern and scary bus driver, by her accent I think she was from down London way. We went to several other resorts and god help ANYBODY who tried to get on the bus before everyone had left, especially those trying to board through the middle doors, oooo she had it in for you then! It did make the journey rather amusing, but I couldn’t help thinking the damage she was doing in transatlantic relations each time she shriek at an unsuspecting guest gig:

 

[Hannikins]

We finally made it to downton Disney and Adam adopted the usual stance to shopping he does everywhere else, get it and get out.

We headed in a few shop for a mooch but I could tell I was trying his patience each time we left without a purchase so instead we headed to the BIG Disney store, there was no way I was leaving here with nothing!

I bought some ariel nail varnish (no mermaid should be without her green glitter polish!)

Minnie mouse paper clips for the ladies at work.

Some Mickey waffle air fresheners for friends back home

some ariel pins, a soft toy stitch

AND a mickey necklace. Like this but with a H”

at around this point, while stood somewhere in the middle of the labyrinth that is the Disney store, my stomach decided it was good and ready to tell me EXACTLY how it felt. I threw everything at Adam explaining I need the ladies room, could it wait? No it bloody couldn’t! I legged it outside but had no clue where to go. I tried round one side, nothing. A tried another, nothing. As the seconds passed I starting to find walking every so slightly difficult, until finally! I found mecca! A restroom.

I won’t go into to much detail other that to say this was the start of a regular and frequent trip to Floridian toilets, to the extent that I think I became an expert by the end of the trip.

I don’t think I ate anything bad, it went on far too long for that, 3 weeks in fact. Instead I’m blaming my diet, on previous trips I’m been fine, only now was it a problem.

Today was the first day I ate A LOT of sugar. My fasting diet back home doesn’t really prepare you for this level of sugar, fat etc and I think 7 days in it decided enough was enough…. And argued it’s point for the next three weeks.

So dieting, fasting, whatever YOU’VE BEEEN WARNED.

I eventually managed to find Adam and we paid for our purchases using the $75 left on the gift card

Shopped out we made our way back to our room, choosing to walk back via congress park. It was only 10.30 but I couldn’t face packing tonight, I’d do it in the morning instead… famous last words!

Spends Recap

Breakfast – nothing
Lunch - pizza planet meal=$13.30
Dinner – kouzzina =$104 25.50 out of pocket
Snacks – fudge=$4 cookie=$4 pulled pork=$5.50 kaki gori=$3.50 Marg=$17.45 TOTAL = $34.45

Total for the day = $151.75
Total out of pocket - $56.25 (included the marg here, even though I paid using a giftcard.
Total saving – $95.50

NOM OF THE DAY
Has to be the carrot cake cookie, it was everything I was hoping it would be!

 

[Chilly]

So sorry about Adam's job how ****ty for that to happen on holiday, I hope he has got a new and better job now.

 

[Hannikins]

April 2013 - Our last hurrah! - Day 8

NOTE: After rereading today’s report I have realised I come across as a complete grump today (and that’s putting it nicely!) instead of rewriting it I’m leaving it, rants and all, I think it sums up the mood as it was our last Disney day :*(

I woke and instantly regretted having not packed the night before. I always envision these hotel changeovers to be completely stress free. Imagine the scene, the evening before I would get back early, pack and get an early night, I would rise in the morning to birdsong after a slight lie in, before grabbing the already packed cases and breezing through the door!

This obviously NEVER happens, EVER! And I should know this by now, still it will be different next time…

On this occasion I woke earlier than I wanted, and in a VERY BAD mood, mainly because it was the last day at Disney and also because I hate packing. I emptied everything out and started to refold everything. Giving Adam strict instructions to change, make me a brew, don’t try and be ‘helpful’ and above all else keep the hell out of my way. He knows this drill by now and did all of the above with minimum fuss. The hotel room being only so large the fourth ‘rule’ was occasionally not followed, which was met with a steely glare and on occasion, a growl.

Finally, after much folding and refolding I was done!

Knowing what a complete pain the walk over from reception had been we called baggage services to get everything picked up instead. We had a 20 minute wait so we busied ourselves eating the remaining contents of the fridge.

The guy arrived and took care of everything, even driving us to reception, it was easily the best $5 we spent all holiday!

We headed into reception to check out, which was also painless. There were cast members stood around with ipads ready to sort you out. We confirmed we were leaving, checked our snack credit totals and headed off, saying one final goodbye to a beautiful resort

We went and joined the bus queue for magic kingdom and it was here I encountered one of the most disturbing things of the whole holiday.

“THE UBER DISNEY MOM”

On this occasion travelling in an extended family group, complete with long suffering husbands (you could see it in the eyes, a silent cry for help), mother and a gaggle of loud and pretentious children.

Not that disturbing you say? Well no not really, apart from the aura of superior parenting radiating from them, nothing too scary there, it was what they were WEARING that was the most disturbing. Each mom (just the moms, the children were all perfectly normal looking) were dressed in a different Disney princess outfit! There was a belle (in pinny outfit), a Cinderella, a fairy godmother and a Rapunzel. All were clearly handmade and painstakingly put together (as only a stay at home mum could manage) but the general result was very disturbing. On a party night, fine, at a family party, fine, on a day trip to Disney? just plain bizarre, would they even get in I wondered! I mean there was no way any princess loving girl was going to mistake these middle aged moms as the ‘real deal’ but still, at best they would serve as a fantastic reality check of what happens after the ‘happily ever after’

It was however a very amusing wait for the bus. While waiting Cinderella ‘had words’ with her fairy godmother for not packing spare shorts for her offspring. And Rapunzel nearly had a domestic with her ‘prince’ for not pinning her hair flowers securely enough.

I thought that was where the bizarreness would end, it didn’t…

They got on the bus for EPCOT!

Rather sad we would miss the rest of the Disney princess mom saga not to mention the faces on other guests our bus finally arrived and it was an uneventful trip to Magic Kingdom for us.

We arrived at around 11am and saw instantly why we like to get there early, the hub was heaving!

Having learnt our lesson from our last visit we headed straight to splash mountain the grab a fastpass for later in the day.

While in the area Adam wanted to do big thunder mountain. The wait was 30 minutes. I pointed out that we were having lunch as Be Our Guest today so we should really eat now as we were having an early dinner. At this point Adam said something truly unforgivable “oh well, it won’t matter if we miss it, IT’S ONLY LUNCH”.

What followed was a stony silence while I let him consider the enormity of what he’d just said….

5 seconds later and we were retracing our steps out of the big thunder queue on our way to BOG

We arrived and were greeted by a queue just spilling out onto the path. I explained to Adam that the wait would be around 35 minutes from here, but from the look on his face I instantly suggested that perhaps it would be more like 15…

We had probably picked the worst day for this, the bridge offers no sheltered and the sun was beating down with some serious heat!

After 10 minutes of this Adam resembled something like this

Finally we were handed menus, we ignored it like everyone else and instead started frantically fanning ourselves with them.

While queuing we noticed several people try and leg it down the exit line to get inside ‘just to have a look’. Those people were promptly removed so I wouldn’t suggest this method! They also had a disability policy that didn’t seem to go down very well. They wouldn’t just ‘let you in’ instead the disabled party could wait with one other in a shaded seating area, but the rest of your party are forced to wait in the hot sun until they get to the front and you join them, bit harsh I thought, splitting up the parties that way but I guess it’s a fair system over all.

As we waited the door got closer and closer

Until FINALLY, we were there!

Which basically meant we were waiting in another queue, but inside so a slight improvement.

I busied myself taking lots of photos

You were presented again by electronic menus, just in case you still hadn’t decided.

Finally we were presented with the holy grail

A naff plastic rose! Hurrah!

Then we were shown to a numbered booth and stood behind a family in front.

and we waited, and we waited.

And we waited some more!

Here I am… waiting!

They must have restarted the order several times, eventually the mother turned round and said to me, “these things are very complicated aren’t they!”

I smiled pleasantly, while I seethe inside. They are not ‘complicated’ fellow dissers, once you’ve worked out how to scan the rose it’s a simple case of pressing a big dobbin button to select what you want, even if you are unable to READ you could place an order, that’s how not complicated they are!

I looked around trying to see a cast member to help the family in front, but like the attendants at supermarket self checkouts they were nowhere to be seen! Sensing that I was about to ‘help’ them myself Adam started to back away from me, so as to appear as a completely separate party. However he was saved from further embarrassment by them finally having cracked it themselves!

I managed to press the 6 corresponding buttons and print my receipt without effort and then we were in!

 

[Hannikins]

We wondered through the ballroom and into the west wing, which was VERY dark. I left Adam and wondered off to take some photos.

I came back to find that the food was already there, service here is QUICK!

I had the turkey sandwich

and Adam had the steak sandwich

for dessert I had a strawberry cupcake

and Adam had a chocolate cream puff

Overall we really enjoyed the food, it was definitely a step up on the usual counter service fare. I liked the fact that you got your own drinks as well, although it doesn’t say anywhere you can/can’t everyone was refilling them.

We didn’t feel rushed but the west wing wasn’t really somewhere to stick around, apart from the dark it’s the area with the best ‘special effects’ which means large groups of people stood around waiting, not the most pleasant atmosphere to eat in really!

While Adam visited the little boy’s room I took some more pictures

It really was stunning

I also stopped for a quick piccie by the window on the way out, as did everyone else so it does become a bit of a bottle neck, bad planning by Disney that really

Our splash mountain fast passes were now ready for use so we headed over, grabbing big thunder mountain passes on the way (using them like a pro today!). I wasn’t best pleased about getting wet as I wanted to look my best for the princesses later today but it was boiling so needs must.

We weren’t disappointed, I was soaked ☹

 

[Hannikins]

Next we headed to big thunder mountain, we were a little early for the fast pass so we grabbed a seat in the sun to dry off.

While there we watched as a film crew started setting up ready for a shoot. We watched as a troop of children in brightly coloured t-shirts were briefed in. From what we could gather they were going to be riding big thunder mountain repeatedly while the camera crew filmed from outside.

Finally our fast passes were ready and we headed off for our ride. Turns out they really did mean repeatedly as the kids were still on it! It’s a wonder they weren’t sick! I can only assume they were chosen not only for their cuteness but their iron stomachs!

We ended up riding two rows in front so who knows, we may make it onto a promo videos somewhere in the world!

There was no possibility of a repeat ride, today was the busiest we had seen so far. Instead we decided to head for some of the ‘lesser’ attractions like the hall of presidents. Just as we were heading over my phone rang, it was Adam’s work.

So far that day we’d managed to not think about the lack of a job but that ringtone brought us back to reality with a thunk. I left Adam to chat and went for a wander around the shops. I didn’t want to go far in case he finished, but each time I wandered pass him he was still deep in conversation. I decided to leave him to it and instead do some rounds of sorcerers of the magic kingdom. I still had the cards in my bag from the day before and as my ‘mission’ was in Frontierland it seemed like the ideal time. I headed to the first one and watched two other groups of people run through it. Just as I was about to step forward a young boy came running over and dashed in front of me. His dad looked quizzically at me and said “Oh I didn’t think you were waiting” when what he clearly meant was “this is a kids game, what on earth are you doing, you’re a grown woman!” I stood to one side, avoiding all eye contact pretending instead that I was indeed watching. I waited a good while after they had gone before I gave it a try.

Ok, so it’s better than Agent P in epcot, mainly because it doesn’t waffle on endlessly, there’s more ‘doing’, however the doing seems rather pointless. A baddie would appear and none of my cards would vaguely relate to the baddie’s attack. I’m an 80’s child, I was brought up on Final fantasy, I know how the elements work, but this game and attack sequence just appeared completely random!

After trying to fight off some dogs with a bear and some blue fairies I finally won, no idea how, and I moved onto the next ‘portal’.

This one was more difficult to find since it was hidden in bushes, but find it I did… eventually. Nobody else was about so it was easy and I made quick work of fighting off a baddie with another completely unrelated spell, go me! As I turned to leave the area I noticed movement and a shadow over my shoulder, I turned and out of the bushes (literally the bushes, I’m not kidding!) came a man, his most noticeable features being the large collection of pins on his person and the large stack of cards he was carrying. He stepped closer and whispered…

….”anything to trade”

I won’t lie, I was slightly scared, I stated ‘NO’ very firmly… and legged it.

Now he was probably a very charming man, but any man crawling out of bushes and whispering is going to give anyone the heeby jeeby’s especially one as bedecked in mickey paraphernalia is this one. Feeling I’d experienced the darker side of Disney I gave up on my pointless quest to save the kingdom and went to find Adam. He was exactly where I left him so I went to find a seat on a wall to wait. The wall just happened to be by the Tiana meet and greet, now she’s a princess I’ve never met so I thought it worth waiting for. 40 minutes after the call started Adam finally finished his phone call and came to join me. He seemed a lot happier about the situation now. He was still jobless but at least he understood his options for when he returned!

To celebrate we grabbed a coke float each from Sleepy Hollow.

I should have used this time to tick some more items off my snack list but we were completely stuffed from lunch. Besides Adam looked so happy with his coke float

I don’t blame him, they were good!

We had a bit of a wait for Tiana, she was in the parade and obviously couldn’t be in two places at once!

Finally she arrived but the photopass guy had no battery and so left just as we got to the front. Typical! We had to make do with Adam’s attempt instead.

She was a great princess. She asked if Adam was my prince, to which I told her yes but I’d had to kiss lots of frogs to find him. Realising that made me sound like I’d ‘been around a bit’ I made a rather swift exit!

The cooling effects of the coke float were wearing off now so we headed towards tomorrowland and went to see the comedy show one last time. We weren’t picked but the guy in front was which meant my ‘frontage’ played a very prominent role, Adam and I found it rather funny, which made me giggle, which kinda made the situation ever so slightly worse!

ANYWAY

Next we headed over to space mountain, it was showing a 45 minute wait so we grabbed a fast pass and went on Buzz

I think we’ve been spoilted by the DLP version, this one is just a bit naff in comparison. Next we headed for the people mover, I don’t know why but this was the best new discovery of the trip for us, great way to rest up and keep cool! Beats sitting on a bench for a bit that’s for sure!

After two rides it was time to use the space mountain fast pass one last time.

We didn’t have long until dinner so instead we decided to do some shopping. We headed first to new fantasyland. The shop there sold a jigsaw I wanted. This was it

Really regretting that I hadn’t eaten all the snacks I wanted I headed into Gaston’s to see if I could get a cinnamon roll ‘to go’ you can’t ☹

Saddened we headed into a few shops by the castle, mainly so I could pickup the ariel pins I hadn’t been able to get the night before at Downton Disney. I found them quickly enough and then finally it was time to meet Cindy!

We checked in and headed through the mysterious doors. Cindy was there to welcome everyone and we had our photos taken. It was around this time I regretted our trip on Splash mountain, I was not looking my most regal!

We sat a while, waiting to be announced but I didn’t mind, I was to busy watching all the little princesses meeting Cindy, they were all so cute! This is definitely a restaurant where a courtesy would be acceptable!

Finally we were seated and given our wand and sword

I think Adam was secretly pleased with his sword

Drinks were served and the bread arrived

I opted for the cheese plate

and Adam had the soup

Both were nice and we finished them just as the first princess was announced, Aurora.

She came prancing in and headed to the opposite side of the room.

Then the main courses arrived, we both went for the beef tenderloin

this was a very nice dish but I ate very slowly, not wanting to finish before we’d met any princesses.

During the main course Snow white and Ariel were both introduced. Adam thought it was cute that my face lit up each time, especially when ariel came in.

Next came the desserts,

Adam went for the trio of desserts

While I stuck with a cheesecake

Just as we finished dessert Jasmine, the final princess was announced. Now by this point not a single princess had been over to our side of the room. It seemed like a really bad setup. Each princess headed over to the right side, and started at pretty much the same table. In the time we had eaten a 3 course meals they had covered less than half the room. Now I’m a full grown woman but there were kids near us who were NOT happy, I mean, they were pretty much been asked to sit there for over two hours and watch while the princesses worked the rest of the room, it wasn’t on. It meant you saw all the princesses in very quick succession and sat around for the rest of the time, much better to spread them out. I know we were lucky at crystal palace but at least there they spread out! I don’t think I could have sat here with children.

 

[Hannikins]

By this point I to was also starting to panic. The taxi was picking us up at 8 from SSR but it was now 7.15, and I was yet to meet a single princess! We’d been seated since 5.50! I called our server over and explained it was our last day and we needed to go, did he have a rough idea of how long we’d need to stay for. He hadn’t got a clue but said he’d see what he could do. I called the taxi company to move the pick up from 8 to 9 to give us some time, it wasn’t ideal and the paperwork said they might charge, but it was either that or leave having met no princesses!

We seemed to have started a trend and our server seemed to be getting an earful from several other tables and eventually a few princesses broke off to join our section.

Ariel was first. As you can see by his smile, she’s still Adam’s favourite to.

She looked a bit like Kirsten Dunst so for him it was a double whammy of sorts ;P

Next came snow white, she wasn’t very good, I think Adam’s face says it all!

Aurora was lovely but, scarily vacant….

Finally Jasmin arrived. Adam found it hilarious as I insulted her by accident. The conversation went something like this

Jasmin: Where are you from?
Me: The UK
Jasmin: Oh did you come here by magic carpet?
Me: No plane, but a carpet might have been quicker
Jasmin: Oh…. Silence

At the time I thought it was odd. I didn’t think I’d said anything wrong but Adam later informed me that my tone gave the impression that I thought a carpet maybe might have brought her to our table quicker!

I still don’t see how he came to that conclusion but the reception afterwards was frosty so who knows! We still got piccies!

Having met all the princesses we were ready for the off! I got Adam to take a photo by the window

and then we headed out.

We took a final photo of the castle

and because Adam was in charge of the camera, the local wildlife as well

We had some snack credits left so we spent up in the candy store on main street

Stocked up on Disney candy we bid the magic kingdom a fond farewell and headed to the exit. I’d remembered doing the same thing back in 2009 and thinking 2013 was so very far away, it hurt more this time not knowing when we would be back.

The bus journey back to the hotel was a sad one and we waited with our bags at the taxi rank discussing our favourite bits of the holiday so far.

Finally a big black car arrived and a guy in a suit got out, this couldn’t be for us could it? It was far too posh! But no it was!

Our posh car took us to the publix near vista cay and let us loose for 30 minutes!

Now Adam and I both had very different reactions to this, Adam wanted a ‘grab and go’ approach, I wanted to explore and take our time.

We went for a mixed approach with my mooching until Adam hurried me along. The Ethnic food aisle was the most intriguing.

Any ideas?

…

...

…

SPAM

LOTS OF SPAM!

And oddly, canned chicken. I can only imagine that’s not a UK food, I have never even SEEN canned chicken let alone considered it a food of our nation!

The UK wasn’t just resting on the success of spam though, on no, hob nobs and club bars were doing their bit for Britannia as well!

Laden down with Oreos, cherry coke, cheetos and muffins we headed out. We’d only been 15 minutes what a waste!

As we headed to Hard Rock hotel things started to look very familiar….

… and then we pulled into the Enclave Suites!

Noooooooo please no, not yet! I explained this was our second stop and could he please take us to hard rock first, he apologised and we were soon on our way again, PHEW!

When we arrived the drop off area was packed. It turned out there was a performance on. This was all very atmospheric but it made checking in during a rock concert very hard work. Once checked in we used the kiosks to print out our express passes before heading through the concert towards the lifts.

We entered one and were joined by some rather worse for wear guests who really should have called it a night hours ago!

We reached our floor to find it was indeed party time, I’ve never known a more noisy hotel! However once inside our room we found peace.

The room was lovely, much bigger than I was expecting

It was already late but it had been a hot day so we both showered, ate cheetoes (we couldn’t wait any longer!) and jumped into bed just before midnight YAWN.

Early start tomorrow, we arrive at universal in moonlight!

NOM OF THE DAY

ooo hard one! I think it has to be the strawberry cupcake, it was the best I’d had so far!

SPENDS RECAP
Breakfast – nothing
Lunch – Be Our Guest - $37.20
Dinner – Cinderella’s Royal Table - $134
Snacks – Coke Float $9.56 & 4 bags of sweets $21.25 = $30.81

Total for the day = $202.01
Total out of pocket - $0
Total saving – $202.01

 

[laurab84]

While eating lunch I had finally gotten the mydisney app to work and found out that a flight of wonder show was due to start in a few minutes so we headed over.

We weren’t planning on doing any other shows apart from this one on the trip, well maybe festival of the lion king if we had time (we didn’t) but this one we’d missed last time so it was very firmly on the “to do” list.

They were just starting the preshow as we arrived so we settled down with our ‘desserts’ to watch before going in to see the show.

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We thought it was very good! It’s only a small show and rather hidden away so it probably plays second fiddle to the likes of nemo and simba but it’s definitely worth a watch in our option.

Another area we’d not made it to on the last trip was rafiki’s planet watch so that was next on the list.

Oh course we passed more photopass ops on the way

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I have no idea what Adam thought we were holding. I’m guessing a human baby by the look on his face. That’s his usual expression when I hold one, it’s a mixture of fear and revulsion all rolled into one.

We got to the train area just as one left so I was able to find a seat to catch up on my trippie notes.

Adam took this picture, which he find hilarious

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…. Yep, exactly I cant think what’s hilarious either

When we arrived I realised there was a good reason why we hadn’t been here before…. It’s rubbish.

There’s nothing here! Well not NOTHING! There was a very dishy doctor giving a talk, you know, all bronzed with golden blonde hair, obviously played on his school football team….. but I couldn’t stay staring at him for very long, Adam was getting suss

I did manage to get a photo with the man himself though

IMAGE#5

I guess this is the only reason people come over here!

We did go outside to see the pigs, donkeys and goats but quite frankly why would you want to while in florida, in fact anywhere? I guess this area may be more fun with the kiddies…maybe

Rather underwhelmed we headed back on the train (on which you see very little!)

In need of some serious entertainment we headed to pangani forest trail to see the gorillas.

I LOVE these guys, they have such fascinating facial expressions and some of their mannerisms are so human

“The Thinker”

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In the outside area this guy was having great fun guarding with his bin lid!

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Having fun on the trails is one of our favourite parts of the park so we headed next towards the Maharajah jungle trek in Asia.

Time for the tigers!

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They were stunning as always.

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After a look around the rest of the trail we headed back out and watched the gibbons for a little while to rest our legs!

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While stood there the sky started to get VERY dark and a big blob of rain hit my arm…

Nooooooooooo

We stuck it out for a little while but decided instead to join the 20 minute queue for Everest, it was bound to stop soon, just in time for us to ride hopefully!

But the queue wasn’t 20 minutes, it was 5 minutes and we jumped on the carriage just as the rain started to get a little bit heavier.

We got SOAKED!

Standing in the everest store waiting for the rain to stop we made a VERY bad decision, we decided to ride again, determined that rain was not going to stop our fun. I mean, we couldn’t get any wetter really!

There was now no queue, not surprising considering, so we jumped in and sat in the puddles from the rides last victim. I also popped on my sunglasses so I didn’t get too much rain in my eyes, and off we went…

DO NOT DO THIS!

EVER!

Rain is bad! And when it is torrential and it hits you in the face at 60mph it bloomin well HURTS. A LOT!

We were soaked before we got on but now rain had embedded itself into ever possible crevice we had. I’m convinced had I showered that morning fully clothed I would be drier than after that ride.

The woman at the photo bay thought we were barmy! I really wish I’d bought the picture. Adam with his face screwed up in pain, and me with my sunglasses on giving a thumbs up while also getting pelted with rain.

So in conclusion, a fun finger up to the rain…. But not advised.

As ‘luck’ would have it the rain stopped pretty much as soon as we left the gift shop, so we found a seat to observe the aftermath

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It also gave Adam chance to let his socks drip dry.

I was wearing my crocs so not an issue, clever me!

Posted from DISboards.com App for Android

 

[Chilly]

I know what you mean about being sad in MK and not knowing when you'll be back.

 

[Hannikins]

April 2013 - Our last hurrah! - Day 9

Despite yet another late night our alarm was set for 5.45am…. yes, you read that correctly, AM. Now we’d been up bright an early most days but this was a new experience even for us, we weren’t even up this early for the flight!

When booking in at HRH I’d thought how wonderful it would be to get that extra hour to explore the wizarding world of HP, what I hadn’t considered was that the days we’d booked it opened to general riff raff at 8am… which meant a nice 7am opening for us.

We were low on conversational skills this morning but we managed to articulate the need to get our skates on. As I take longer to get ready, (especially since my belly stopped playing ball!) Adam concentrated on making coffee, which was ready in the handy to go cups just as I’d finished lathering myself in suncream.

It was now 6.40 so we power walked through the empty halls giving fellow guests far more consideration than they had the night before, lets face it, they had probably only been in bed a matter of hours. They were clearly all sleeping off the festivities of yesterday’s concert and the only evidence of the nights recent activity was the faint smell of weed in the corridor, NICE!

As we didn’t think it worth getting a boat and in need of a brisk walk and fresh air we made our way to the footpath, which we had to ourselves apart from two dog walkers.

We stopped on the way to take a picture of the famous gates

Yes ladies and gents that is in fact THE MOON! How daft are we!

It was getting close to 7am now and I kept trying to get Adam to hurry up and stop taking pictures, looking back I have no idea why, the place was DEAD! But I was determined to get the full hour we were entitled to… even if we were the only ones!

I still had our tickets to exchange and at first I was a little worried as all the ticket booths appeared closed, but then I spotted one open and hurried over. Virgin paperwork must be rather routine as it took less time than usual to convince them they were in fact ok. We flashed our passes and new tickets and joined the throngs for park opening.

Ok it wasn’t really a ‘throng’, it was us, an elderly couple and a family of Harry potter nutters. I knew they were of the HP variety because they were wearing cloaks and wands, I knew they were nutters as they were also wearing scarves. I’m all for authenticity but the dank and drafty halls of Hogwarts this was not, it was 23 degress in the shade today!

Finally we were let in. I knew we could take the elderly couple in no time but the family looked keen. Sure enough once through we all headed off at a quickened pace. At Seuss landing they took a left at green eggs and ham but we carried on round, only to come round a corner and see then way in front! Ah ha! A short cut, we’d remember that one tomorrow.

Finally we got in, not overly concerned about the queue of four people heading to the main attraction I allowed Adam to take some photos.

this gave a few more people the opportunity to get ahead, but again, I thought our chances of a small queue were still good!

It was BRILLIANT!

I thought the themeing was fantastic! Luckily Adam has seen the first 5 films (he’s not seen the last 3, the need to be a considerate boyfriend who watches films because his girlfriends wants to had worn off by then ;P) so he kinda ‘got it’, even if he wasn’t as enthusiastic as me.

We headed to the lockers and threw our stuff in, I honestly don’t know why some people have such problems with these things *cough cough Jameluk cough cough* it’s so easy! ANYWAY ;P

I was right, there was no queue and we got straight on. The problem with that was we missed a lot of the queue, oh well, next time

The ride itself was superb, it’s a great tame ride but certain bits scared the absolute pants out of me!

Obviously we rode it again…. and again. It really is something you need to ride a few times to appreciate. I won’t spoil it but the photo bits they do are brilliant!

After a few times it started to get a little busier so we headed out and decided on a ride of dragon challenge. This is where the express pass really comes into play, not because there was a huge queue but because you get to cut out the MASSIVE queue lines you have to walk round to get to the ride!

We did fire first (or whatever they are called now!) then ice. Fire was my favourite and ice was Adams. The express pass and reride lane meant we got both done in less than 20 minutes woohoo!

Next we headed towards the wand shop and joined the queue, this ended up being one of the longest queues of the holiday. It was clear a few people didn’t have a clue what they were queuing for!

We were finally ushered inside and watched the ‘show’. It was all very well done. Afterwards the young ‘wizard’ was led away into the store with his wand towards the cash registered. BRAVO Universal, you’ve made pressure selling into an ATTRACTION, and I thought Disney were cunning ;P

I did have a wonder around the store, and I made a mental note of all the things I was going to buy my cousin. She’s just finished book 5 and she’s obsessed with anything Harry Potter related. We are both on Pottermore, different houses (she’s in hufflepuff, I’m in ravenclaw) but we still talk, you know

There was only flight of the hippogriff left so we took a few more photos of the castle now the sun was out and headed over.

So flight of the hippogriff, hmmmmm, yes, all I can say is Adults be warned! Especially if you are tall. Adam and I managed to climb into one carriage and quickly realised this was the barmstormers universal cousin.

The cast member must have seen Adams look of terror as he laughed on his way by. What I was expecting was a jolly jaunt through the woods and a possible glance of hagrids hut. However the ride went something like this

Me: weeeeeeee! Ooo look hagrids hut, look Adam!
Adam: AHHHHHh my knee, %#$* my Elbow and Bloody #?! £* my other &$#?!&$£ knee!

I think it’s safe to say Adam didn’t see hagrid’s hut, and he certainly won’t be repeat riding to see it either. I’m not tall but even I took a bashing!

People were now streaming towards Hogwarts so we decided to head elsewhere, stopping for a quick gander in honeydukes, and the first of many loo trips for me.

I have to say my current state was a blessing in some ways, I experienced a lot of toilets on this trip and I can safely say the ones in HP are definitely the best, the soundtrack help to

We saw these little guys on the way out

Mum was in the shade, you’d think she’d be more careful leaving them without sun protection!

We cut through the lost continent, or what’s left of it anyway,

and headed for Marvel.

 

[Hannikins]

We both opted to head for spider man first and as the wait said 25 minutes we used our express passes again.

We were keen to see it re mastered but unfortunately the sound wasn’t working on the first trip in the scoop so instead we re rode.

I can honestly say I couldn’t tell the difference, although my eyesight is pretty bad!

We decided to jump on doctor doom’s free fall next, I’m not a fan of these drop rides… although TOT is my favourite, I think it’s because I can SEE on this one.

However I need not have worried, after the build up to the ride I was left with a “was that it” feeling, it was in two words, complete pants. No wonder it was quiet everytime we walked past, knowlege of it’s pantsness must be well known!

Now it was getting on for 10.30 and having spent the last week eating my way through a list of Disney must eats I was now getting peckish! Adam wanted to go on hulk first but no, my belly wanted food NOW!

There was only really one place I could think of….. Cinnabon!

Not wanting to overdo things we decided to share one. Service here was AWFUL. They had two staff and one window but the woman serving, well, I didn’t know it was possible to move so slowly, it must have HURT!

20 minutes later (we were second in the queue!) we got this beauty

and oh was it good! Ok it didn’t make up for the lack of the one at Gaston’s but it was still GOOOOOOOD!

We finished it off in super quick time before jumping into the express line for Hulk. This was a bit pointless as the queue was still very quiet.

This was Adam’s first proper coaster on our last trip, you could say it cured his coaster phobia, so naturally it’s his favourite!

Next we headed over to Jurassic Park and took the required photo to add to the collection.

Next we wondered over to the river adventure, we took a quick peak at the drop and decided it was hot enough to give it a whirl!

Now the ride fits 5 to a row so when our boat arrived I saw I was number four and jumped in, but adam didn’t follow, saying there was no room. What he actually meant is “there’s not enough room to leave a gap so my pants don’t get wet” he was right it was a bit of a squeeze since the gentleman next to me was a little larger than the seat proportions, but by this point I couldn’t get out, the guy kept offering to move but I was very clear he should stay and kept moving up. By then the boat was setting off so the choice was done. So off I went, on my own, me and the ‘wide guy’, Adam took a photo as we set off.

see the guy isn’t fat, he was just BIG, I look like a child next to him!

It was as good as I remembered, although I got a lot wetter than I remembered as well! Adam soon followed and he was in stitches, apparently I had missed out. The young guy behind him couldn’t separate fact from fiction and he genuinely thought it was real, then things started to go ‘wrong’ he had apparently gone a bit nuts and kept trying to get out as he didn’t want to be eaten. Obviously when he got inside and was almost eaten he completely lost it, I was bummed I’d missed it

Already soaked we made the decision to get another water ride out of the way so headed for the falls

I’m not a fan of this one. Not only are you soaked but it’s rather uncomfortable!

As expected we were soaked!

It was now lunchtime and my belly knew it so we headed towards Captain America Diner. Now I wasn’t expecting great things from universal quick service food, Disney had spoilt us. Still it was rather depressing…

YUM!

No I lied, it was as boring as it was beige, but it filled a spot… at least for the next 5 minutes anyway ;P

The big positive here is the view

so we sat for a while in the shade enjoying it. We decided we’d done everything Islands of adventure had to offer for one day and so made the plan to head on over to the studios instead.

I love being able to park hop like this without the need for transport, it’s like being at DLP

We headed first for minion mayhem

The queue was 25 minutes but with the express passes we were in in less than 5. This is a GREAT ride, we especially loved the preshow!

As we passed shrek we noticed the transformers meet and greet so decided to get a few photos.

it was megatron, it’s a fabulous costume!

I was still very soggy from the water rides so didn’t really want my photo taken, but Adam dragged me in anyway, I look… pleased

Next Adam decided it was time to tackle rip ride and rocket, it was one he wasn’t looking forwarded to but had decided to force himself onto anyway..

Another great thing about the express pass is that it doesn’t give you any time to think about your decision and before you know it you’re on the ride and there’s no turning back. That was the exact position we found ourselves in anyway!

It’s….. different, I love it and hate it for different reasons. I love it because if you get the smooth coaster it’s one hell of a ride. I hate it because of all the coasters it’s the one I feel least safe on. Mainly because of the lap bar, because that’s ALL THERE IS, and sometimes they have to release them to sort people out, and like on manta, they are all released. On our second ride this happened, just before we started climbing!

But hell, the danger of falling out just makes it better right?

 

[Hannikins]

Now for another of our favourites, the mummy! This was one of our favourites on our last trip and as we had been disappointed with the Californian version of the ride we were really looking forward to this one.

Again the express passes came in handy, yes the queue was only 10 minutes but using them meant cutting out a whole load of walking!

On leaving we stumbled into the next showing of the disaster movie. Luckily we werent picked and really enjoyed the show, its one of the better show type rides we thought.

As we left I noticed we had WIFI!

I had read online before the trip that wifi was in place around the san francisco area because of the interactive posters on the walls. We sat for a few minutes and we checked out a few things and Adam sent a few emails about the job situation. Since leaving Disney this was the first access wed had, which considering Im online 24/7 at home was a biggie for me! While Adam sorted things out I sat and watched the fake tourists interacting with guests, they were rather good!

Next we headed over to men in black and the Simpsons.

The Simpsons wasnt as good as we remembered but we loved men in black so we rode it twice! Afterwards I started to feel really tired so we sat outside and shared a slushy. Id been nagging since we arrived that I needed a drink but Adam kept ignoring me. It came back to bite him though as now he had a tired, dehydrated and grumpy wife on his hands!

We finished the rest of our slushie outside the transformers building, looking for signs of life& there were none. Adams hopes of a soft opening during our stay seemed slim!

The slushie did help little but I was pooped. We decided to head towards the exit and see how I felt. I still felt rubbish but my notes say we went on the mummy& TWICE so it cant have been that awful.

As we passed sherk we notice a different transformer was doing the rounds so I sat while adam got his photo taken.

Just as I thought we were heading out Adam decided he wanted to go on rip ride and rocket once more. I agreed as it wasnt busy and took a seat& I waited. And I waited. 40 minutes later I was worried and ever to slightly more grumpy. I noticed that the ride had broken down, surely he wasnt WAITING. After 10 minutes more the ride started up again, and I waited&. And waited, FINALLY he arrived and I was not pleased. He tried to tell me that hes been next in line but as I had watched 6 full coasters since it restarted I informed him this was complete ?!$£>! Grumpy today, much? ;P

We had planned to head back to the hotel to change but I knew if we did that I wouldnt want to leave the room again so instead we headed straight for some dinner. The venue of choice for the evening had always been Bubba Gumps so we stuck to the plan.

We were seated in the outside area, which was great as the cool air was very welcome!

While looking at the menu I suddenly thought& we didnt have the credit card! Id been using the room charge card all day but I had no clue whether you could use them in citywalk!

This picture was taken during the realisation

Luckily we checked with our server and we could use the charge card so we were good to go!

Adam wanted a cocktail&

So he ordered the most girlie looking one on the menu& as always!

I ordered the same one I had ordered in San Francisco. I had been suffering from jet lag at the time and it had worked a treat, I hoped the same would be true this time!

I ordered extra fun sized, because I needed the liquid obviously!

We passed on starters as I didnt think I would make it through three courses.

I ordered the fish and chips as I had loved them last time. These were just as good!

And Adam ordered the shrimp platter, all to himself!

He did manage most of them and said they were delicious, they must have been, I only got chance to try one!

As we didnt have a starter I suggested we share a dessert, we both agreed it had to be the key lime pie.

Unlike Cindys this was the real deal, YUMMY!

We had planned to stick around for more cocktails but I was completely pooped. Instead we paid up and made an uncharacteristically early return to our hotel.

I mean it was still LIGHT!

I managed a quick shower but fell asleep before getting chance to dry my hair, I was that pooped!

SPENDS RECAP

Snacks - Cinnabon - 4.25 slushies - 7.44
Lunch - Two chicken strips meals & 1 drink - 20.85
Dinner - Bubba Gumps- 78.51 (included tip)

TOTAL - 111.05

NOM OF THE DAY

Hard one, nothing was AMAZING. I guess the Key Lime Pie!

 

[Tony Bush]

Phew !!!!!! Made it through this marathon..... Has to be the most detailed fab trip reports I've read !!! It stops at day 9 !!! Is there more ????? I hope so !

Tony

 

[Hannikins]

Phew !!!!!! Made it through this marathon..... Has to be the most detailed fab trip reports I've read !!! It stops at day 9 !!! Is there more ????? I hope so !

Tony

yes there's more on it's way! almost finished on day 10! thanks for reading

 

[Chilly]

You fitted tons in today, I felt tired just reading it.

 

[Tony Bush]

yes there's more on it's way! almost finished on day 10! thanks for reading

Yay !!! looking forward to it.... I only stumbled across your trippie by accident as it wasn't in the UKDIS trip reports section.
I started primarily because you stayed at SSR, where we are staying next year

Tony