HO-HO-HO..We`ll put the RUM in Pa-Rum-Pum-Pum-Pum! 16 holiday nights at SF & RPR. A Nov/Dec 2023 Trip Report

[schumigirl]

Indeed, a real Dr Zivago vibe going on there I could never pull that hat off.

Kyle way to leave them in the dust!

lol....he did too!!! After the race he chatted to some of them and the first two behind him laughed and joked they wished he had stayed home.....lol.......

Love my Dr Zhivago style hat!!! I don`t know, I think you would suit that style of hat......next time you`re in Macy`s or similar, they`re bound to have some to try!!!! We need pictures

 

[schumigirl]

​

Can anyone quite believe it`s Hogmany already....or more commonly known as New Years Eve to the rest of world outside of Scotland.

We`ve had a lovely day so far, had 8 friends rounds from about 3pm this afternoon, ordered Chinese food for us all and as usual, it was gorgeous and we always think we order too much, but today everyone almost cleared every last morsel. Less for the trash bin of course.

Quiet night for us though, some were going to their family for midnight, but most are the same of us, jammies, snuggling on the sofa, movie, bottle of champagne and then open our Ne`erdy bottle as is supposed to be good luck just after the "Bells" at midnight. Then, again like most folks......bed.

Breakfast tomorrow will be poached eggs, bacon and either pancakes or French Toast....smoked salmon and shrimp for lunch then New Year`s Day dinner is turkey again, we love it!!! Almost identical to our Christmas dinner, but just us. Although we do get drop ins throughout the day, so the bar is always open and prepped!!!

But, for tonight, it`s around 3 hours till our midnight so I`d like to wish you all a very Happy New Year and hope 2024 is a prosperous one full of health and happiness for you and yours

​

 

[DisGhost]

Yay Kyle! That's amazing.

I got a new smart watch (after being jealous of my husband's) and while it is giving me some super cool data about sleep, and I can turn off my lights with it and text people, it keeps yelling at me for sitting down and I'm like, YOU WEREN'T AROUND WHEN I WAS RUNNING AROUND LIKE A CRAZY PERSON IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS.



Happy New Year's to all (though we still have a few hours left.) We are awaiting our ham to finish cooking (will be made into beans tomorrow) and then it is family game night, because our kids still want to hang out with us for some reason. I have a bit of a scratchy throat the past several days but it hasn't turned into anything worse. Maybe just dry air. It was 60 degrees F here two days ago which is unseasonably warm. I am happy with this, but a lot of people are not.

 

[schumigirl]

Yay Kyle! That's amazing.

I got a new smart watch (after being jealous of my husband's) and while it is giving me some super cool data about sleep, and I can turn off my lights with it and text people, it keeps yelling at me for sitting down and I'm like, YOU WEREN'T AROUND WHEN I WAS RUNNING AROUND LIKE A CRAZY PERSON IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS.

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Happy New Year's to all (though we still have a few hours left.) We are awaiting our ham to finish cooking (will be made into beans tomorrow) and then it is family game night, because our kids still want to hang out with us for some reason. I have a bit of a scratchy throat the past several days but it hasn't turned into anything worse. Maybe just dry air. It was 60 degrees F here two days ago which is unseasonably warm. I am happy with this, but a lot of people are not.

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lol....I got fed up with mine telling me to "move" all the time....sometimes I had just sat down!!!! Nothing like being hassled by technology. I also gave up wearing it during the night....I don`t need a watch telling me my body is running at 10%.....I know!!!! Hope you enjoy the watch now crazy season is almost over!!

It is lovely when kids still want to hang with us, sounds like a fun night and ham.....mmmm......although you lost me at beans....beans of any kind!!!

Hope you have a lovely New Years Day though and hope that throat doesn`t get any worse, so many folks have something nasty right now. Yes, mild is good, although I worry we`ll pay for it during January and February!!!!

 

[schumigirl]

​

Yes, Happy New Year to everyone....hope it`s a wonderful one for all of us!!!
And hope the lovely @SCDizFan enjoyed her flight over to the UK on Virgin Atlantic and hope they have a wonderful trip to Great Britain. The weather today is cold but sunny, it`s a very beautiful New Years Day!!

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[disneyseniors]

Happy New Year to everyone!
It's good to see Carole back on the Dis. I love your memes Carole

Keisha: I was surprised to see that you do the traditional saurkraut and pork roast on New Years! My Mom and Dad always fixed that on NYE, and I usually fix it too. They told me it was a German tradition, but I have no clue??
However, Roger and I seem to have caught a flu bug for the past couple of days. He is now doing fine, but, as usual, I am not yet! I haven't fixed anything for New Years day so we will probably have left over peppersteak and rice. I don't know if I;m up to that kind of meal or not, but at least Roger can feast, LOL. Last night it was chicken noodle soup and crackers!

Here's hoping you all have a great New Years Day

ruth

 

[keishashadow]

next time you`re in Macy`s or similar, they`re bound to have some to try!!!! We need pictures

Lol from early age warned not to try on hats in a store…lice & all One of those silly warnings that ridiculously took deep root with me. All hats ordered online here still

your NYE celebration sounded lovely & chill

Hogmany

need the background on that, sounds interesting.

Ruth - the homes that don’t serve pork & kraut in my neck of the woods are in the minority here. Most of us have Eastern European in our heinz variety of heritage. I’m of first generation in family not to have a crock of Kraut fermenting in the basement.

Funny enough, the Mr, who is of mixed German stock but, southern mother; wasn’t fed pork or kraut as a kid and never developed a taste for it, other than occasional piece of ham & lots of bacon.

 

[schumigirl]

Happy New Year to everyone!
It's good to see Carole back on the Dis. I love your memes Carole

Keisha: I was surprised to see that you do the traditional saurkraut and pork roast on New Years! My Mom and Dad always fixed that on NYE, and I usually fix it too. They told me it was a German tradition, but I have no clue??
However, Roger and I seem to have caught a flu bug for the past couple of days. He is now doing fine, but, as usual, I am not yet! I haven't fixed anything for New Years day so we will probably have left over peppersteak and rice. I don't know if I;m up to that kind of meal or not, but at least Roger can feast, LOL. Last night it was chicken noodle soup and crackers!

Here's hoping you all have a great New Years Day

ruth

Thanks Ruth!!! Nice to be back......getting back to normal after Christmas is never easy!!

I do enjoy a good meme too. They say so much at times

Can`t go wrong with chicken noodle soup, does you the world of good even just inhaling mine makes folks feel better.....ok, I can`t back that up but it`s a good story....lol......

Take it easy today, chill out and snack the day away, watch some tv and relax.....and yes, we did have a lovely New Years Day....lots of friends popping in and we ended up having guests for dinner, only two of them, but nice all the same. My friends granddaughter and her dad, always a joy to see them. Finally gave Elise her Christmas present that Father Christmas left here for her......

 

[schumigirl]

Lol from early age warned not to try on hats in a store…lice & all One of those silly warnings that ridiculously took deep root with me. All hats ordered online here still

your NYE celebration sounded lovely & chill

need the background on that, sounds interesting.

Ruth - the homes that don’t serve pork & kraut in my neck of the woods are in the minority here. Most of us have Eastern European in our heinz variety of heritage. I’m of first generation in family not to have a crock of Kraut fermenting in the basement.

Funny enough, the Mr, who is of mixed German stock but, southern mother; wasn’t fed pork or kraut as a kid and never developed a taste for it, other than occasional piece of ham & lots of bacon.

lol......I never think about that when I try hats on!! I might now though.....

Hogmany is simply the Scottish name for New Years Eve, harks back to the French word for Gala Day...."Hoginane". A lot of our words are based in France due to the Auld Alliance we have with them, the French and the Scottish get on just fine apparently, we never had any issues when we used to go to France regularly and said we were Scottish.

We also have First footing, that`s a tradition when you visit friends or family immediately after midnight in order to become the first person to visit them and go into their house in the new year. In years gone past they would carry a piece of coal so your house would never be cold and black bun which is fruit cake or dark rye bread so you`ll never be hungry.

Your very first foot - the first person to visit you in the new year - should traditionally be a tall, dark-haired man. Said to go way back to the Viking invasions, as Vikings were typically fairer haired, so the arrival of a blonde man could have meant trouble and danger! Although Kyle was our first footer this year and is neither blonde nor dark.....so who knows!! I don`t know anyone who still practices these traditions today.

Short story is we all yell Happy Hogmany on NYE at each other

I have German heritage and although I`m sure they cooked it, I never once tried it, I know we`ve chatted about my disdain for kraut before, but they do some nice sausages.....although not a fan of the plain boiled ones...not for me!! But, I do have nice memories of a lot of strangely spiced food when we went there, strange because so many folks say older style food is very bland, we didn`t find that.

Hope you`re doing better today too, so many of us are dragging something around with us!!!






It really has been a nice day today, as I said several friends popped in, we had some company for dinner, we always have plenty so no worries there and it was nice having a little one around for dinner too, she eats well and isn`t fussy thankfully.

Tonight we are snuggling (there`s that word again) up with a bottle of wine and watching I think maybe a scary movie on the big screen.

Tomorrow we try to get back to normal although not going to be easy with a houseful of goodies and treats still to enjoy!!!! We`ll donate some to the hospice and some to the playgroup in our village, but even at that.....boy there is a lot to get through!!!

Hope you all have enjoyed some lovely treats over the holidays and find it easier than we will getting back to normality!!!!

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Happy New Year! We never go out for New Years eve anymore so I spent some time this weekend cleaning out my pantry, I live in a very humid climate so dry goods can spoil even if decanted and stored in airtight canisters. Marie Kondo says that folks who tidy their kitchens end up losing weight so here's hoping! I stepped on the scale for the first time in ages yesterday and let me just say that all the Butterbeer and Florean Fortescue ice cream I had over the holidays did me no favors! Perhaps I should have only gone in once instead of 3 times, but I love that strawberry peanut butter too much!

Disney is offering free dining for guests making bookings this summer, and luckily the dates of the promotion don't work for me and WDW's hotel rates have gotten too stratospheric for me to even seriously consider booking there anyway. I was telling my friend yesterday that Universal has me so spoiled I don't think I can ever go back to the house of mouse. It's just so much more relaxing even with all the running around my kids make me do. Hoping to book the new hotel when Epic Universe opens in 2025.

 

[schumigirl]

Happy New Year! We never go out for New Years eve anymore so I spent some time this weekend cleaning out my pantry, I live in a very humid climate so dry goods can spoil even if decanted and stored in airtight canisters. Marie Kondo says that folks who tidy their kitchens end up losing weight so here's hoping! I stepped on the scale for the first time in ages yesterday and let me just say that all the Butterbeer and Florean Fortescue ice cream I had over the holidays did me no favors! Perhaps I should have only gone in once instead of 3 times, but I love that strawberry peanut butter too much!

Disney is offering free dining for guests making bookings this summer, and luckily the dates of the promotion don't work for me and WDW's hotel rates have gotten too stratospheric for me to even seriously consider booking there anyway. I was telling my friend yesterday that Universal has me so spoiled I don't think I can ever go back to the house of mouse. It's just so much more relaxing even with all the running around my kids make me do. Hoping to book the new hotel when Epic Universe opens in 2025.

lol....I`ve never heard of Marie Kondo...but I am one of those who has to have a neat and tidy everything, especially my kitchen.....and really I should be skinny if that were true but, hey....worth trying!!!

That is nice ice cream, I do like the orange marmalade one, but haven`t had it for a while as we prefer Haagen Dazs, but I can see why you`d be tempted to go more than once.

I think we`ll give the nicer hotel inside the park a try out when it opens, the budget ones outside I doubt we`ll stay there, but the inside one sounds incredible, that park is going to change Universal beyond recognition in Orlando.

No, Disney has nothing for us, no reason to go back at all.

 

[angryduck71]

It has been an insane few months for us, so I have not been on here as much as I should have. Getting back to it. We just got back on the 30th from our trip! Will start a trip report too! But, want to enjoy yours as well. I have been so bad about reading these.

 

[schumigirl]

It has been an insane few months for us, so I have not been on here as much as I should have. Getting back to it. We just got back on the 30th from our trip! Will start a trip report too! But, want to enjoy yours as well. I have been so bad about reading these.

Happy New Year Alice!!!

It`s always good to see you post and hope you had a wonderful trip!!! I couldn`t remember when you got back, but look forward to your trip report.

Yes, I think we all have those periods where life is a little wacky.....hopefully the New Year will be a little more peaceful for you and yes, look forward to seeing you post more too....

 

[schumigirl]

More from Monday November 20th, we ventured into the dark and mysterious area of Potter known as Knockturn Alley, not a place where the kids in the movies are encouraged to visit in Diagon Alley, more for the seedier side of the amazing Wizarding World, but for us, it`s a cool place to see and not only because it does actually take you out of the heat for a time as it is nice and shaded and definitely a good few degrees cooler than outside it is amazingly themed in a manner suitable for the dark side.

Considering how busy it was outside it was surprisingly quiet today so we managed to get some pics without crowds and manage to get a look at some of the relics and artefacts they host here like the Hand of Glory, Vanishing Cabinet and the cursed opal necklace, all heavily involved in the movies along the sequence of films produced but there are so many more items to view around the store, it`s not just merchandise.

I have a thing for spiral staircases and I`d love to have one in a future home we may have, maybe not the most sensible of staircases as one gets slightly older, but they do trigger memories of an much older great aunt`s home when I was very young. I found it very creepy and wouldn`t climb it for the longest time, along with my brothers trying to scare me along the way I did end up braving that steep almost vertical climb into a rather desolate and neglected rooftop balcony area, it was a delight for curious children who enjoyed exploring and I vowed one day I`d have one, but as yet, I haven`t managed that. Tom tends to do a rather elaborate eye roll whenever I mention it.....

Many a scary movie involves a broken porcelain doll and they certainly are a little more than sinister when you really look at them.

The window with the Singing Shrunken Heads has a kid doing a spell when we wander over, so we wait till he`s done and his little face was adorable when he managed to make them sing. We don`t have a wand, so never do spells but it is fun watching little ones master making the spells come to life.

The Shrunken Heads sing various songs including Show me the way to go home which of course is an Easter Egg towards Jaws where the guys on the boat sing it.

Our timing is off for the shows today, we don`t wait if they`re not on, as we have seen them all so often, but if the ladies are singing we`ll watch, The Beedle of the Bard show we`re not really fussed on too much, however it is impressive to watch if you`ve never seen it.

Diagon Alley is beautiful, and they do make little changes now and again, the biggest one being the introduction of the Globus Mundi Travel Agency which opened it`s doors in DA in October 2018.

It was previously part of the Ollivanders Wand Experience that had a facade of a House Elf for hire business, but as demand for the interactive wand experience diminished, the space behind was repurposed for the Travel Agency and another shopping experience was created.

This was the facade up till Oct 2018.

And of course it is always beautifully decorated in almost every corner for Christmas, I loved this wreath!

The view of the wall and above is something that looks much better at night when you can clearly see the chimney smoking away and the lighting is strangely eerie, but still looks good in the daytime.

We head back into the most gorgeous sunshine and it is HOT!!! I think we had 86F today and it felt like it, there`s nothing quite like the heat of the sun like this when it`s almost December, we were loving this!!

We wander round by Lombards and take the walkway to the rear of the building and enjoy some time enjoying the peaceful view and also with a relic of the Amity days where this fisherman was in situ for many years with pride and place in the very centre of the old Jaws area before Potter came to fruition. It was displaced for many years but we were delighted to find it back on display several years ago, even if it tucked away where not may folks see it or even know it`s there. Of course many won`t even know anything about it if they`ve not been visiting since before Potter arrived at Universal, but long term visitors will certainly remember it.

It seems fitting that it sits quite close to where Bruce actually lives now in the park, directly opposite Chez Alcatraz.

Rides aside, our favourite thing to do is just wander, take everything in and soak up that wonderful atmosphere and wandering into stores is part of the fun and experience we enjoy especially when it`s so quiet.

I think we have bought almost every tee shirt from this store, mainly Ghostbusters and Psycho memorabilia, some for Kyle and friends kids and I do have to say the quality of the shirts are very good and always have been, we have some shirts including HHN shirts from way back that have been washed so many times but still look amazing.

We don`t buy anything today and instead wander round to Delancey Street to see the decorations haven`t been put up yet, I know they are going up now the boards are down from where they were doing previously, general repairs and touching up decor, but we`d have to wait a few more days yet to see the street turn into a festive delight.

Before we have lunch we wander round to the park area and just sit and enjoy some sunshine on one of the benches, surprisingly we are not in the slightest bit tired thank goodness, although if we had sat much longer I might have just dropped off in the heat!!

We pop into the smaller of the Christmas stores that resides in The Studios, the larger one being in IOA but this one still manages to sell a lot and has that unique aroma when you enter it, doesn`t take long to look around it and there are one of the ladies working on a personalised item which is very pretty.

Right about now one of our tummies starts rumbling.....it might have been mine but I was certainly ready for some food now and definitely a nice cocktail or two with lunch.

We were going back to Finnegans as we knew there is an old school cocktail we wanted to enjoy again and hoped Jan and Juan would be working, they are the mainstay of Finnegans now after Jim being the longest serving barman for so long, it was a shame when he retired, but hopefully he is enjoying a much more placid lifestyle now.

Jan however knows all the old school cocktails and our favourite is the Rum Neuralyser and her and Glenn seem to make the best ones. We grab a seat at the bar which can be tough at times as it is one of the busiest bars around, but we get lucky and find two seats and plonk ourselves down and Jan remembers us immediately and asks with a questioning smile if indeed we do want the same drinks as before.....yep, she guessed correctly!!!

And the bar staff here do a very good pour, but it is the fruitiest of drinks and doesn`t feel too heavy for lunchtime and I`m sure we won`t stop at one today!

Being honest, we aren`t the biggest fans of Finnegans food, we`ll always found it lacking, overly greasy and not very flavoursome, not fond of Irish theme pubs either, but their Cobb salad minus blue cheese is lovely and very fresh. The salad is usually served with a mustard ale dressing, but she remembered I really love honey mustard, so brought one of each to see which I preferred and surprisingly I did prefer their own.

It comes with diced corned beef, turkey, bacon, tomatoes, apple beet salad and a Scotch egg split in half served over mixed salad leaves and as we had omitted the blue cheese, the chef had popped some shredded cheddar in case we wanted it, I think Tom ate a little but it is enough without the cheese and a good size plate to share.

It was lovely, although I`d usually prefer a much runnier egg, this one was cooked through but it was nice enough. We did order another Rum Neuralyser each and I swear this one was even stronger, but so lovely. And sitting at the bar here is a lot of fun, the bar staff are brilliant with everyone who is there and they do make it a nice experience.

It was mid afternoon now so we were about ready to head home with a little detour to ET which didn`t take long at all. This is such a cute little ride and who doesn`t love ET, it`s one all the family can go on and maybe a little bit odd too once you get ET back to his home planet!!!

We head out of the park and we do admire how beautifully the park is decorated all around, this little area below sometimes has the squirrel roaming around for pictures, much as though we tend not to stop for character pictures, I wouldn`t mind one with the little guy himself.

Up next.....Tribute Store and dinner

 

[MadHatterBrooke]

And the bar staff here do a very good pour, but it is the fruitiest of drinks and doesn`t feel too heavy for lunchtime and I`m sure we won`t stop at one today!

Your drinks look delicious.

 

[schumigirl]

Your drinks look delicious.

It really is a lovely cocktail. Very fruity but it has a kick for sure

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

HAPPY NEW YEAR! (Also I’m part Scottish you’d think I know about Hogmany yet I don’t lol)!


Finally caught up! I love looking at how the different areas and resorts do decor! Halloween might be my fave holiday, but it doesn’t compare to the holidays with decor!


Lovely pictures! The ones of Tom in the minion blast and with Bruce the shark were hilarious!

I also loved the picture of you on the water for Xmas!

 

[schumigirl]

We wandered into the Tribute Store and it is very pretty with some of it themed beautifully, but what is obvious now, is it`s basically another merchandise plug. I thought previous years Tribute Stores were more about theme and less about merch, something we`re not fussed about generally, it is laid out nicely and we were lucky to be able to visit a few times and it wasn`t too busy at all so we did get to see everything on display.

I did buy this shirt below, two of them, I got an extra one of them for a friend who loves the Grinch and yes, probably more than she likes some people at times, she did love it though in with her Christmas presents. She`s lovely, just has a very short tolerance for certain folks and isn`t shy on telling them.....lol....I`m glad she`s my friend!

I actually can`t find mine, have looked for it since we got home but it seems to have vanished into thin air, so who knows, I know I did come home with two of those so they weren`t left behind.

One of life`s little mysteries I suppose.

We did pick up a couple of Christmas ornaments and we didn`t get them sent to the room as we were just heading out the park anyway so took them with us, but it is a wonderful perk of having items purchased sent to your room, you`ll get them the next day usually.

Cute little homely Christmas scene...

Back out into the sunshine and it is gorgeous!!! We went into Five and Dime for a look and it`s not the most inspiring of displays this year, it looked very bare and scantly designed, but to be fair, I don`t really want to see Frankenstein`s monster wearing a Santa outfit!!!

They do a much better display in here when HHN is on, they really shine then.

Heading out of the park, it was so quiet and the Universal Globe still wasn`t moving which is unusual to see as it normally turns constantly, but folks were still getting pictures beside it. I don`t think we saw it move the whole trip so I`m guessing some kind of issue with it.

We decided to walk today, something we don`t normally do when we stay at Sapphire Falls, but it really was a truly gorgeous day and we always enjoy the walk to and from the parks and there sometimes aren`t as many boats in the middle of the afternoon, not a peak time so they won`t need as many. And it is a beautiful walk.

Back home, we ran into Mr Beiderman who is just the nicest man and is always so kind and considerate, it`s always lovely to chat to him and he always takes the time which is lovely as he is incredibly busy. We chat for a time and then we run into Andrea who we always love to see too and again, catch up on a few things.

Back to our suite, we both showered, I think Tom may have snoozed for half an hour first, then we poured a fake Bailey`s which was very nice of an afternoon treat.

Once we were ready, we headed over to the Club Lounge and we finally got to meet a couple we had heard so much about over the years, another family who come often and have done since the hotel opened all those years ago. The staff often spoke of how much we had in common and told us we`d really like them.....so it was lovely to finally meet up and they were the nicest couple who had one of their lovely daughters and their cute little grandson with them at this point, later their other daughter and granddaughter would join them, but it was a real pleasure to meet them finally and we did have many lovely conversations in the lounge over our trip, a genuinely beautiful family who were so close to each other which is always nice to see.

As is usual for us, we were heading out for dinner but they did have Jerk chicken on tonight, so we had a taste and it really is one of the nicest dishes they serve up here. Chicken is not spicy so everyone can enjoy it and there was a nice little pineapple salsa topping over it which I did taste too and it was lovely. Neither of us touch the rice as we don`t really eat it, but seems to go down well with guests.

Passing time in the lounge is really easy, we know the staff so well and chat a lot to them and tonight we also got to chat the, I`ll call them the JP family so that was really nice. It`s always lovely when you meet someone and staright away find it comfortable to chat away like old friends. Aspen stopped by and said, I knew you`d all get on

We head down to the lobby just after 7ish and get some pictures by their new and stunning tree....Tom wouldn`t give me the camera for a picture of him so it`s just me again, but the tree looks so beautiful.

Our Uber arrived within a minute or two after we booked it, we did enjoy using Ubers and have always found them to be incredibly reliable apart from the one last May who turned up with her little dog in the car too taking up the whole front seat!!!! It was nice as it meant Tom could enjoy a drink too because if we took the car the driver wouldn`t have anything at all to drink, usually Tom.....no surprises there.....

The Ale House on Kirkman was our destination tonight, only a few minutes away by car and when we got there we were surprised to see it wasn`t as busy as we thought it would be as it was Monday night, nice surprise though. We hopped on seats by the bar and ordered a couple of drinks, I asked for a Mai Tai and Tom got a beer of some kind and it is really nice sitting at the bar here. We knew one of the guys who was working tonight, he apologised for not remembering Tom`s name but got mine first time, we never expect folks to know after each visit, but it`s nice when they do.

That Mai Tai was stronger than I expected, so definitely only one tonight as I`d had some wine in the lounge earlier.

Tonight we each ordered the dish the other would usually get....I got the ribs and Tom got the filet medium rare and both dishes looked lovely when they arrived, but Tom`s steak was weirdly cold. Cooked perfectly, just cold.

Our barman asked if he wanted a new one, or just pop that one on the griddle to heat it, he said just to give it a quick sear and it would be fine, which it was and meant we would eat together rather than have me finish mine before his arrived back.

And it was lovely, those ribs though are just too much. A half rack is more than enough, but it was the special tonight where you got the full rack for the price of a half....or something like that.

We finished, paid and got an Uber back home where we popped on a boat to head to Citywalk where we were meeting our mate Sean for an hour, he had some time off and wanted to grab a chat, so we did just that and had a nice catch up and had a cocktail from Fat Tuesday`s......I wish I hadn`t though, it was nice enough, but we were so full from dinner we really didn`t have the room for anything else!!

By now I was yawning my head off, so we said our goodbye`s for now, hopefully we`d pop into where he works at some point during our trip, but for now I needed to sleep.

There was a boat going to Sapphire but the line was huge, so we hopped on the RP boat which had a much shorter line and we`d get on this one rather than wait for the next, then we`d just walk the rest of the way over.

By the time we got back home the boat still hadn`t arrived, so I was glad we weren`t still waiting, it arrived as we got back into our room.

I feel like I`m 145 year old at this point, as it was barely 10.30 and we were ready for bed, I think my eyes were closing as I was brushing my teeth tonight!!!

We were looking forward to a quiet day tomorrow and meeting someone very special to us for lunch!! But, for now it was lights out without my usual time where I just look out the window and the view and enjoy it, tonight I barely hit the pillow before I was out for the count!!

 

[schumigirl]

HAPPY NEW YEAR! (Also I’m part Scottish you’d think I know about Hogmany yet I don’t lol)!


Finally caught up! I love looking at how the different areas and resorts do decor! Halloween might be my fave holiday, but it doesn’t compare to the holidays with decor!


Lovely pictures! The ones of Tom in the minion blast and with Bruce the shark were hilarious!

I also loved the picture of you on the water for Xmas!

I think everyone is part Scottish somewhere!!! We got around apparently.....lol.....

The Christmas stuff is the nicest of the year for us. We`ve done HHN many times and Mardi Gras several times too, but Mardi Gras just doesn`t appeal to us much so I doubt we`d ever do that again, twice was enough. But it is impressive throughout the parks and even the hotels look nice.

I do like those pictures too....Tom trying to be nasty or mean for a picture just doesn`t work, he really has the nicest nature of anyone I know...but he tries.....lol.....

Hope you`re doing ok

 

[saskdw]

Well at least you have a spiral staircase at your second home SF!!

We ate at Finnegan's for the first time ever in December. Not sure how that's possible

The food was "ok". I've heard numerous people rant about them having the best fish & chips on Universal property for years so we gave it a go. They were ok, but IMO Lombard's and Jake's were both better.