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

[angryduck71]

Yay for your trip! I am pretty sure at least once you told Tom to smile "for Alice!" Love it! Looking forward to reading the rest!

 

[saskdw]

After all your wonderful tales about Strong Water Bar we are really looking forward to spending an evening or 2 there on our upcoming trip!

My son is a big rum guy so he's pretty pumped to try the different rum drinks.

 

[schumigirl]

A celeb sighting, drinks and a gorgeous looking spread of food all in one night?!?!? That’s amazing!


Also I’m so sorry about the car. That’s insane!

lol…..not so sure I was thrilled with the celeb sighting…….but the food was wonderful.

We have got to the point where after our next trip I think we might not bother with a car for most of the trip.

 

[schumigirl]

I love a hotel stay the night before travelling. It always feels like I’m stealing an extra day’s holiday. After reading your intro I now think all trips should start with a wee bit ( or maybe a lot) of prosecco and pampering

Not too cold here yet thankfully. I love bright autumn days just despise the rain so as long as that stays away I’m grand.

We are so alike! Why is it the minute you get into bed it’s like you’ve joined the wide awake club!

No better feeling!

If we fly out of Dublin we clear immigration there and it is so heavenly to just skip past those horrendously long lines. If our next trip is out of Belfast I may just look into the whole GE thing. Anything beats queues after a long 9 hour flight.

So happy for you.

How lovely was that. You and Tom are clearly loved very much by the resort staff. Such a nice thing to do.

Looks beautiful.

Oh my goodness I know that feeling! I have had kids order dinner and fall asleep before it arrived and I have to admit there have been times when just walking back to my room on that first night has felt like climbing Everest once that tiredness hits. Unfortunately for me it is usually followed by waking at scary-o-clock before sunrise the following morning

Loving your report so far. So glad you got to see everyone at Strong Waters and boy hut that food looks delicious especially dessert.

I would go with a lot of Prosecco and pampering…..worked for me lol…..oh I’m glad it’s not too bad where you are too. It’s mild here, but there’s a dampness setting in.

It is the worst feeling when you want to sleep but just can’t!

Yes, Dublin is ideal, but yes, if you can get GE it would be worth it, it is nice not joining the main line.

Staff in Strong Water are the most amazing people. We are so fortunate to be able to spend time with them and get to know them, and we have a couple of lovely surprises coming up too later in the trip…….

Jetlag is one of the worst feelings. There’s no getting away from it no matter how long you can sleep on the plane. Not sleeping the night before makes it worse. And yes, early mornings follow……lol……

The food is amazing there.

 

[schumigirl]

Yay for your trip! I am pretty sure at least once you told Tom to smile "for Alice!" Love it! Looking forward to reading the rest!

lol…..I did! He mentioned the first time when he pretended smiling was a trial……

Glad you’re here and hope it’s a fun read for you……

 

[schumigirl]

After all your wonderful tales about Strong Water Bar we are really looking forward to spending an evening or 2 there on our upcoming trip!

My son is a big rum guy so he's pretty pumped to try the different rum drinks.

Your son and you too, will love Strong Water.

They have Anthony who is an amazing Rum Captain and Lenny who only works now and again and Sattina who all do fabulous rum flights. They do know their rum!

I’m sure you’ll love it, it really is the best place around.

 

[Robo56]

I’am here for your trip report. Looking forward to more.

At one point we noticed a woman who was wearing dark sunglasses when she got up from her table where she was sitting with her family, we didn`t give her a second glance to be honest but more folks noticed her when she did wander around, at night, inside with huge sunglasses on.

It was Baby Spice, Emma Bunton. No one really had a clue who she was.

LOL…..it‘s pretty much a give away that people are going to stare a little at the person in a bar with low lighting wearing shades. It makes me think they want to draw attention to themselves more then not.

I have read there were a few celebrity sightings at HHN this year. Not sure if that’s unusual or not. I don’t remember hearing about any last year.

Carole`s bathroom......

LOL…..a woman needs the biggest bathroom for sure.

 

[margareton27]

That dessert looks delicious!

 

[schumigirl]

I’am here for your trip report. Looking forward to more.



LOL…..it‘s pretty much a give away that people are going to stare a little at the person in a bar with low lighting wearing shades. It makes me think they want to draw attention to themselves more then not.

I have read there were a few celebrity sightings at HHN this year. Not sure if that’s unusual or not. I don’t remember hearing about any last year.

LOL…..a woman needs the biggest bathroom for sure.

There were a few celebs around opening night for sure apparently, we heard later but didn’t notice, you don’t do you. Yes, wandering around in dark shades and they were large ones, is always going to attract attention.

We‘re thinking our next home instead of having a large bathroom with separate sinks areas, we should have a bathroom each…….lol……his and hers……..actually the more we joke the more appealing it becomes…… Tom could use our main family bathroom for his own and leave me the master bathroom, but it’s too far to walk apparently from our bedroom……lol……men.

 

[schumigirl]

That dessert looks delicious!

It really was.

Tom is more of a dessert fan than I am, but certain things hit the spot now and again and that was one of them. Sweet, but light at the same time.

 

[schumigirl]

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 2ND



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We slept really well last night, but nothing unusual there as we always sleep well even on vacation and the beds here are so comfortable. I did wake around 4am, and thought.....oh no that`s me awake, but I went through looked out the sitting room window for 10 minutes or so then got back into bed and slept till around 6ish. Not too bad considering my brain thought it was 11am.

Tom was still sleeping, but he could sleep through an earthquake, so I went into the bathroom and slid the door over as quietly as I could, although that barn door style isn`t the quietest to close. I enjoyed my second shower of the trip in the lovely cubicle that although it has a bench to sit on, I`ve never been tempted as it looks very cold!!

Once I had dried my hair, Tom dragged himself out of bed and grabbed a towel and it wasn`t long till we were heading out.

That walk over to the Club Lounge in the morning is one we really enjoy and it does wake us up a little as we wander through the corridors and we always meet someone we know along the way.

I didn`t get any pictures of the lounge this morning as we were so taken up with catching up with some of our "American Kids". Some we knew from May, like Raphael and Alex who are two of the sweetest and kindest folks you`ll ever meet. It`s like we only saw them yesterday when we walk into the lounge.

They look after everyone so well in there, nothing is too much trouble and they are incredibly professional, but they also have a very loving and considerate way about them.

They were still doing the morning Mimosa`s....I stuck to "Carole`s Mimosa" no fruit juice in the fizz.....so much nicer than mixing it!

We sat and we chatted with everyone who was working this morning and this was a habit we would enjoy every visit, and we were so lucky to be again given the chance to get to know our kids all over again.

Eventually we left, after having enjoyed a couple of prosecco`s.....another habit that would continue......cheers!!

Our first day is usually shopping at Walmart or Publix for sunscreen and some goodies for the room, but we were meeting someone who has become a very good friend since we met for the first time in May. They were only here for a short visit and leaving around 1.30 today for their flight, so we were meeting for lunch in Amatista before they set off and we were going to meet her husband too who was here for this trip, and we were really looking forward to it.

So we passed the morning chatting to one of our friends who works behind the front desk as rooms controller, always good to see him too and then we walked back over to Sapphire and chatted to Kyle on Facetime.....although we didn`t have a whole lot to share as we only spoke to him on Wednesday night. Tonight he was running a 10K in a town near us, and on Sunday he was doing a half marathon so we were excited to hear how both those races would go, he was looking forward to them a lot.

Around 11.45 we headed down to Amatista to meet D and her husband J, we got a table by the window and Jimmy was our waiter today. If you`ve never met Jimmy you are missing a treat. He is the master of waiters and his manner is always friendly and helpful. The first thing he said when he saw us was, didn`t I just look after you last week? I laughed and said no, that was May....lol....he asked if I was sure as it just felt like he had just seen us.

We ordered a glass of wine each and at that our friends appeared and it was so nice to spend this time with them.

D and I email a lot since we got to know each other. She is the lady who has the Johnny Depp tattoo on her leg!!!! Coolest thing ever and she has purple through her hair which I am so jealous of!!

Lunch was good and passed far too quickly, but we had a lot of chatter and a lot of laughs with some good food.

D and I both had the chicken sandwich, Tom had the fish sandwich and J had Meat lovers pizza.....everything was very nice and fresh as always.

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Before they left, which came around all too soon, we did say we`d have to get a picture of all four of us, which Jimmy was kind enough to take for us. The light behind did affect it a little, but it`s such a nice picture, even if I do say so myself!

We regretfully said our goodbye`s, D would be back down for another visit at some point we had still to arrange, so we`d see her then, but no idea when we would see J again.

Jimmy at this point had our camera and asked if he could take some more pictures of us outside, well of course......

He took a load and moved us around to get the best picture.....bless him he is so kind.

We had a very lazy afternoon after that. I think some tv time and snoozes were in there somewhere. Usually we wouldn`t spend our first day in the room, but this is such a nice room and jetlag was absolutely kicking our butts. And the weather wasn`t that great anyway so we were in no rush to go anywhere.


We got changed and headed over to the lounge a little early as we knew a couple of folks would be there we wanted to chat to....Alex was working tonight.

This was us with Alex in May......

We enjoyed catching up with her and others, we met the couple of new folks over the next few days which is always nice to see the new additions to the lounge.

The food tonight was Chicken Empanadas, as most of you know we don`t eat dinner in the lounge. Many folks do of course make their meals out of it, but we have so many places we want to eat in around the parks, Citywalk and Orlando that we don`t use this for our main meal.

It is nice enjoying a glass or two of wine and maybe a nibble or two of something, but the lounge for us is very much a more social place. We have met some lovely folks in the lounge over the years, it`s always lovely to chat to new folks too.

Tonights offerings......

We laughed and chatted a lot and the weather outside was concerning as it was raining heavy....last thing we want on opening HHN is rain, and heavy rain at that.

The event had started, but we never go in for opening time nor do we do Stay and Scream, it just takes up so much time, it`s not worth it for us. We can use the Hotel Guest Entrance till around 8pm, that`s quite a handy perk as it saves going through the main lines which can get busy, there is virtually no one around whenever we go through the quiet way.

We have the Rush of Fear ticket, with EP, same ticket we`ve bought for years. For both of us, it`s just over $900 for the event, a good buy for the amount of nights we could actually go over the month. So we are never in any rush to do a lot over any night as we can go so often.

However, we were excited to get back to this event as we had missed two years with the travel ban, so looking at this weather we were a little annoyed that rain might affect play tonight.

Around 7.30 the rain looked as if it had gone off, so we headed out to get the boat and enjoy our first HHN since 2019.

It was exciting heading to the event itself, we were so looking forward to just being in the parks with the SA, houses and the amazing atmosphere the event has every time.

The gates to the park looked fabulous....I did wish they had an Icon this year as it works better when they do. The Pumpkin Lord had never been considered as the Icon according to those that know......but it has worked several times without an official icon.

Not sure I don`t prefer this weirdly spooky image of the main entrance below....must have been the camera as I took them all at the same time.

Tom with his Jack shirt on. Anyone who is old school HHN knows you don`t wear merchandise from the year you are in. You always wear older merchandise including shirts and lanyards otherwise people will throw rotten fruit and veg at you......


Hey.....I don`t make the rules!!!

The first thing we do see is the Pumpkin Lord.....he is a good addition to the event and hope he does come back in future years.

This was a very pretty scare zone, not a lot of scares though, but the theme was good and well executed which was a term we used a lot this year.

And we could see what was in the zone tonight as it wasn`t mobbed as it would be on upcoming nights.

The EP lines tonight were decent. I can`t remember waiting longer than 15 minutes and that was for Dead Man`s Pier, but we started at the beginning and went in Coven which disappointed as it was so short, they did lengthen this house on future nights but for a first house that had a wonderful back story to it, it let us down.

Hellblock was a complete failure to us. I did get one good scare, but it felt shoddy and I know it was a last minute addition, in the grand scale of things, but it didn`t work for us at all.

Halloween was exceptional. I really enjoyed the scares from Michael and even the asylum at the beginning was really spooky and one of the guys who plays Loomis was on point more than the other actor. We both enjoyed this house a lot, Tom especially as he got to see me jump 6 feet in the air all the way through.

The last room with all the Michaels was a good one.....one of the things we learned from our SA friends is one of the dummies was a little loose, so the last SA Michael would very gently move the dummy so you thought that was a real Michael, then he would pounce as you thought you were safe......classic!!! And I got to see him do it one night.......loved this house.

Chupacabra was hopeful for us. I knew the back story of the house which is one things we do love to know before hand, otherwise what`s the point.....the story had potential but the execution just didn`t always work. Didn`t enjoy the aroma either. But, it did have some good visuals in there and a couple of times I got a scare, but many nights we were there while they were changing SA and we missed several of them. That`s not good planning and maybe it`s down to being understaffed as they never used to have you walk through the houses while they changed teams.

Dead Man`s Pier was the house of the event for us. It did have a few moments where it got me, but visually this house was haunting, stunning and beautifully executed in every way. The siren and the man on the rope were amazing and we landed lucky with the scares a few times. We did get stopped in the room with the siren lady for a few minutes and it was very refreshing as the rain and wind still lashed against us and the siren stayed in character the whole time. Amazing house that excelled in so many ways. This was HHN at it`s very best.

Some of the lines from opening night......

Yes, we were glad of EP from the get-go...no way do we want to stand in those lines.

One other good thing about the rain hitting earlier was it felt a lot cooler than it had been earlier in the day. It was much easier to rumble around the park when it wasn`t 95 degrees.

And it was busy for opening night. We do remember years ago when the first couple of weeks in September weren`t so mobbed, I miss those nights sometimes.

Sweet Revenge was a colourful and nice scare zone, but it wasn`t really a scare zone. It was like selfie paradise. Many folks we spoke to said the same thing, not one of their best.

Now, I do like pictures with the SA, but it felt like that was all they were doing at times. Other SA didn`t want to be in pictures, so it was a little disjointed that way and it felt a little more like a Mardi Gras display than something for HHN.

We were having fun though.

More to follow......

 

[macraven]

super pictures!!
many thanks!

 

[schumigirl]

While we were wandering into the EP line for the houses, we were scanning the RIP tours coming in and going out, as our little Lindsey had become a RIP tour guide!!!! And she was going to be fantastic.....that girl has amazing HHN knowledge and loves the event so much, so this was going to be a perfect job for her.

I think we saw every single tour guide except her!! Of course we had no idea which side of the park she was in at any time, but we watched them like a hawk as we were so desperate to see her. We were meeting them later in the trip, but to see her dressed in her scrubs and waving her light, well, we just wanted to see her and get a hug!

Wandering into Sweet revenge, it did get busier, but there were still pockets of clear space you could get some images without too many people in it.

It wasn`t the scariest zone by any manner, but it had some charm and we`d wander through it on other nights too, it wasn`t as bad as to be avoided, but it was low on the scare spectrum. I just didn`t get the whole thing as a whole as a HHN scare zone.

This lady was lovely at letting folks take good pictures of her.....then we saw an asp take a picture of her with full flash.....idiot!! No wonder they don`t want pictures at times.

We tried a few food items here tonight, the zombie brains although vegetarian, were very nice, we both enjoyed that. The spicy fried chicken was also just ok......but the sour gummy heart......holy moly.....it was so sour we couldn`t eat it.

I wish we had a picture of them, but they didn`t really picture well anyway. I didn`t think we`d stand in line to wait for anything from here again.

We did try a few food items tonight, some we didn`t get a picture as we were standing to eat it as in Meetz Meats, but this one I liked the sound of the pork, not so much the mac n cheese. But, we tried it and wondered who had stolen my pork!! It looked nothing like the picture....it never does though does it.....but the meat was small and the mac had been slopped into the bowl with an ice cream scoop and it plopped down before they sat the tiniest pieces of pork on top.

The pork was actually quite nice, but the mac n cheese was dreadful. Completely bland and we did wonder if there were any cheese in it at all. 3/10 and that was for the pork only.

I didn`t realise we had been there so long tonight, but it was getting late so after we watched the Ghoulish show which was just ok.....nothing special and not as good as the last year they did a similar show, we headed out past the Graveyard scare zone.

This was the best scare zone for us, not only in theme, but the attentions from the SA`s were second to none. One of our friends was working this zone, but we didn`t see him tonight, although we might have done and not known.

We loved this SA character......there was something a little unsettling about the way they moved around.

The little pictures that have been placed around the displays in this zone are all members of the Scenic Decor Team. They took their pictures in many poses and aged them so they all looked like they could have been alive in earlier times. When you see them during the day, you get a better idea of how well they were done.

Loved this guy too.....he did seem a little maniacal every time he popped out of his hidey hole.

This lady is cool.

She has a real air of serenity about her and she exudes tranquility......then she pounces......lol.....and she does it with aplomb.

Right about now I was starting to fade quite a lot.....I had a headache which I put down to tiredness, but then again.....and I must be getting older as I did wonder......has it always been this noisy!!!

Some say yes, some say no........but I did find in certain areas there was no time to take a couple of minutes and just chill as the music was so overwhelming.

​

At least that`s how I felt tonight with the loud music and being so darn tired all of a sudden.

There were some very good SA in this zone, they were excellent in keeping in character and they did manage to give many folks a good scare.

It was time to head out now, it had just past midnight and I was flailing now, I needed to get some pain relief and sleep.

We did stop by the store and grab a couple of images of their main display, it`s always well done too.

We trundled out, Citywalk was still busy with some folks coming in, but we headed down to the boats where there was no lines at all for the boats.

I think we only waited a couple of minutes for our boat and I was glad to sit down when it did arrive.

I took some pain relief and jumped in the shower before crawling and I mean crawling into that lovely big bed.

We were both shattered, we had only planned to stay until around 10pm or 10.30 not midnight, but we just kept wandering and it was fun especially as it wasn`t as busy as it was going to get later in the event.

The attention to detail from the amazing Scenic Decor Team is always impressive and we knew a couple who work there this year so we know exactly the sheer amount of dedication that goes in as well as talent, and so many things were amazing as always.

Always impressed with our wonderful SA, but there was something missing even from tonight.

Still we`d had a lovely opening night, we had missed the event a lot over the last two years and we were sure we`d enjoy some more nights wandering around.

And almost 22,000 steps.......not bad for being jet lagged!!!

 

[schumigirl]

super pictures!!
many thanks!

Thanks mac....I`ll share your comments with Tom!!

 

[KathyM2]

and it always makes us smile when folks line up expecting to get on first when they do have a routine for boarding.

This is the stupidest thing. I like to hang out as long as I can before boarding, I hate sitting on the plane waiting for everyone else to get on!

I ate half of the white cream cheese and dill sandwich and part of the scone,

I just love that they have "tea" on the plane. And individual servings of clotted cream!

thankfully we don`t have to deal with any lines they may have as we still have Global Entry.

Nice. I have to re-apply for this since it expired during covid.

spacious and has plenty of space for all my "stuff" beside the sinks.

This bathroom is awesome. I hate when there isn't enough counter space in hotel bathrooms.

Camarones which comes with the nicest bread

Yum...this looks so good.

It was Baby Spice, Emma Bunton. No one really had a clue who she was.

Too funny! I think I would recognize her but...she has probably aged a bit like all of us lol.

Love the HHN pics. Who know about not wearing this year's shirt lol

 

[iona]

Just caught up (starting with the pre-trip!). Sounds like a great start to your trip - I can’t believe that you made it past midnight on night two! We‘re still quite proud to make it to 9pm at that point Looking forward to reading the rest.

 

[disneyseniors]

I'm following too Carole
I typed a post but it must have gotten lost in the ether???? I don't know where it went, so if it shows up just ignore this one, LOL.

I just wanted to say that I have never met anyone else who loved to do ironing like myself! We live in the country and I hang clothes out to dry on the line. I also love to do ironing, but sadly most of my clothes now are the perm press type! I really don't know Why I love to do this, but there it is, LOL. It's rare to hear of anyone else who likes to do this.

Just starting your TR but am enjoying it immensely.

Ruth

 

[schumigirl]

This is the stupidest thing. I like to hang out as long as I can before boarding, I hate sitting on the plane waiting for everyone else to get on!

I just love that they have "tea" on the plane. And individual servings of clotted cream!

Nice. I have to re-apply for this since it expired during covid.

This bathroom is awesome. I hate when there isn't enough counter space in hotel bathrooms.

Yum...this looks so good.

Too funny! I think I would recognize her but...she has probably aged a bit like all of us lol.

Love the HHN pics. Who know about not wearing this year's shirt lol

I`ve never understood what mad rush to get on board. We do quite like being among the first to board, but only because we get some fizzy......lol....

Yes, it`s quite a nice cup of tea going out, coming back not so much, but it does feel very civilised having afternoon tea up in the air.

The bathroom is a good one, I have plenty of space for all my bits and bobs and it doesn`t feel cluttered.

The food is so good in there and those Camarones are just gorgeous!! And who knew simple bread could be so good.

She does look good, but you`d never notice her if you didn`t look directly at her, she is tiny.

I often wonder who makes up these rules we all follow.....who decides.....lol......

 

[schumigirl]

Just caught up (starting with the pre-trip!). Sounds like a great start to your trip - I can’t believe that you made it past midnight on night two! We‘re still quite proud to make it to 9pm at that point Looking forward to reading the rest.

lol....we were more than amazed we manged it!!! I will admit to being completely whooped by the time we got back home, forcing myself to shower was hard, but I`d have regretted if I hadn`t.

Yes, 9pm is more our kinda time usually......if we`d been sitting in a restaurant I`m sure our eyes would be closed way before then!

More coming up soon.........

 

[schumigirl]

I'm following too Carole
I typed a post but it must have gotten lost in the ether???? I don't know where it went, so if it shows up just ignore this one, LOL.

I just wanted to say that I have never met anyone else who loved to do ironing like myself! We live in the country and I hang clothes out to dry on the line. I also love to do ironing, but sadly most of my clothes now are the perm press type! I really don't know Why I love to do this, but there it is, LOL. It's rare to hear of anyone else who likes to do this.

Just starting your TR but am enjoying it immensely.

Ruth

Glad you`re still here Ruth.......

lol....I adore ironing!! I hang my washing out every chance I can and I love that fresh air smell off them. Even if they`re tumble dried, I still iron.....I`m fussy like that. People might think I`m nuts, but not really bothered, I enjoy it.

My mum, 87 years old and still loves to iron and do all housework.....she always ironed socks......yes, socks. I don`t do that I have to say, but I do iron everything else......I agree there aren`t many people who enjoy ironing like we do.......we must be quite unique!!

Glad you`re enjoying it though.......