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]

Cracker Barrel is the one and only restaurant I have ever been to that I categorically refuse to ever go in again. The food was awful! We did go for the first time to one in Wisconsin and they had some lovely hush puppies, but then another two times it was our only choice while driving home from Florida and the food was inedible. Never again.

But that sweet potato salad looks and sounds fantastic.

lol....funnily enough I forgot we asked for corn muffins, which I adore, and the other two got biscuits and they were both dreadful!! Corn muffins were like sawdust and the biscuits were bricks.....so as you can imagine, it`s not high on our list of return places.

That salad was gorgeous, I have kind of recreated something similar at home but using spinach instead of kale and came up my own dressing, not the same but very nice all the same. Tom still doesn`t like sweet potatoes......I`ve tried them every which way with him, but he`s not a fan.

I love em!!!!

 

[DisGhost]

One of the few parks we haven’t visited in our state. It’s just far enough away we’d have to stay overnight but, not quite interesting enough of an area to make it more than an overnight trip sort. Did she share her thots on it?

Well, i’m of the mind even the Charlie Brown sort of xmas trees are charming in their own right. Do think that pencil sort of tree appears to have been knocked over by club guests one too many times

Rarely does that sort look worth the calories, yum

Wow, one of the best sunrises in that area I’ve seen

even in a normally decent chain restuaurants, on holidays the staff often is unable to cope with the crush of people. Probably doesn’t help the kitchen unfamiliar with the food prep. At least club saved the day there.

= game on to dump the contents on the folding table, no questions asked Lol

We live in NY but had annual passes to Hershey Park for 3 years running before we got tired of it. Having one kid who ADORES rollercoasters and a younger kid who at the time was terrified of them, it was a great balance. We could go for 3-4 days at a time and still have fun even though it's not a huge park. Their waterpark is terrific too. We would stay in Harrisburg which has some wonderful restaurants and is a lot cheaper. We would go near the end of summer, when the college kids have gone home. They have the older people who work for the company running the rides and they were always so sweet! Lots of grandmotherly types. And they have some of the best rollercoasters! Highly underrated park.

 

[schumigirl]

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 24TH​

We were up with the larks as usual this morning after a very good nights sleep. The beds in Sapphire and RP are always amazing and very comfortable, we`ve never had a bed that we thought wasn`t up to scratch, so we do sleep very well generally.

Off for breakfast, we had our usual and the products are always very nice, replenished regularly and more than enough choice for most people, you`d need to be ultra fussy not to find something you like in the Club Lounge. I`m always amazed at what some folks do find to complain about though.

They are excellent if you have any allergies or intolerances, some folks don`t let them know in advance which is advisable, but as soon as they know they can make whatever folks need available and they`re happy to help as always.

Tom sticks to his croissants but enjoys the new addition of the turkey slices too, I do too with some grape jelly and cream cheese on toast and we do share a glazed doughnut this morning with a few cups of tea and Tom with his coffee. The machine they have does make nice coffee, I`m just not a big coffee drinker.

Once we`re done chatting we head back to Sapphire but our housekeeper is in so we wander down to the lobby for 10 minutes or so while she`s in the room. We have always had an early housekeeper, that suits us as we sometimes come back to room by lunchtime, so it`s nice it`s always done early, we wouldn`t make a fuss though if it wasn`t done the odd day.

This is still an impressive tree even during the day.

Once our lovely housekeeper had finished, we got our things and headed to get the car, today we were driving to Ormond Beach, although looking at the weather, it wasn`t the best idea but we had also arranged to pop in to see someone we know who used to be a manager in the Studios, he had left a while back but we still keep in touch. He used to live in Celebration but he hated it and his family weren`t happy living there, so he had completely moved him and his family away and no longer works in theme parks either which he loves.

It takes about an hour to get there, we do first drive to where David and his family live to make sure we know where we`re going after lunch and it is an easy find. They live overlooking water which is what they love and it is a very nice area, although not looking it`s best today, it is very drizzly and although it`s not cold, we didn`t need a jacket or top, it wasn`t overly warm either, I don`t think it got above 68F today.

We got back in the car and drove to Ormond Beach itself, but the weather was not nice at this point, the rain was steady and we knew at this point we wouldn`t be wandering on the beach.

With having so many friends that we`ve made over the years, we always enjoy recommendations for places to visit for food from them and when we said we were visiting a friend near Ormond Beach, several folks told us to visit Charlie Horse restaurant in OB itself, so we did as we were told and drove there.

It looked deserted when we pulled up, but once inside there were two regulars at the bar....we found out they come every day for a drink and a lunch before heading home!! They had several regulars it seemed we learned during our visit and they were all really friendly.

The lady who ran the bar and I think ran the whole place, yelled pleasantly for us to sit anywhere and gave us a nice welcome, it was a little odd as she immediately said she hadn`t seen us in the place before, I laughed and said yep, first timers, so we found a booth and had a glance at the menu and it looked really good!!

I immediately ordered a Strawberry Margarita....$5????? I had never seen a cocktail list that was priced so economically!!! Wish we were staying overnight now!!

We did get some attention due to our accents, several of the regulars asked where we were from and so on, but one man stopped as he was leaving and started talking to us about his time in the UK during the 1980`s and how he managed a band, well a couple of bands and he was really interesting to chat to, he was one of these guys you want to just say come and sit down and chat some more. He must have chatted for about 25 minutes and the lady didn`t come and take our order while he was talking which we appreciated. Although when she did come over she said we had met her chattiest guest which suited us down to the ground!!

It did fill up fairly quickly just before we ordered and I was glad our order was in before the crowds.

Tom decided to get the Mahi sandwich with regular fries and I went for half pound of steamed shrimp with some Hush Puppies and it did look nice when it arrived.

The Mahi and shrimp were gorgeous, the coleslaw was very nice too but I have to say the Hush Puppies were nothing to write home about, they were bland and although they weren`t greasy, they did taste oily, so we passed on them. But, the Mahi was so unbelievably perfect, it was cooked to perfection and well flavoured too, definitely one of the nicest fish we had tasted.

I had asked her for another Margarita as well as some water, but she was quite forgetful, but lovely, we ddin`t get either but it wasn`t an issue and when it came to the check she hadn`t charged for my cocktail, I immediately pointed it out to her and she said no, she left it off as I didn`t get the second one nor did we get water. Bless her, we as always, made sure we tipped well.

We`d come back here again, it looked a very local place despite being in the middle of such a touristy area, the lady who looked after us was a little quirky, but it was a lovely place and food was very good....can`t ask for more!!

We drove back through Daytona which is a little disappointing, doesn`t really appeal to us very much, but then we stopped off for some flowers, we had some wine and chocolates as a little gift already to give, then we drove to David`s house now and despite the weather, they came out to meet us with two of their kids who were both under 5 and absolutely gorgeous!!! I immediately got on the floor as I was invited to have imaginary tea with their 3 year old daughter, then thought.....heck I have to get back up now....lol.....but we had a lovely few hours with them and the kids too. I was quite honoured as they said their daughter doesn`t usually take to strangers, but as soon as we went in she took my hand and asked if I`d have a picnic with her, bless her. We had never met his wife before, she was always working when we visited him in Celebration and it was nice to finally catch up with them both and their adorable kids.

Their two older kids arrived from school mid afternoon and they were also lovely, so polite and well mannered, just like their parents, so we managed to hear from them too with what is going with their lives and it was just a fun few hours together. And maybe it would be the last time we`d see them as they were moving in the New Year to Oregon, so we wished them well, we`d at least keep in touch by email and Christmas cards.

It was around 5.30pm by the time we got home, so we got showered and changed and had a quick glass of wine before we headed out for dinner.

We had the big light on for the picture, but jeez it`s far too bright, we much prefer more subtle lamps around a room, but if you do need light, that one will work!!!

The Universal store in Sapphire is very good, it is large and carries a good amount of merchandise as well as the usual daily things you might need. The store over at RP is much smaller for sure but still manages to carry what you may need.

We ordered our Uber and it was outside in no time at all and we were headed to Nagoya Sushi tonight for dinner which is one of our favourite places in Orlando, small, family run and very personal restaurant to visit, we absolutely love this place.

We get a booth and the place was very busy tonight and they had one long table where there was a birthday celebration going on too, so they were completely full and we were glad we had booked.

The waiter we always have in here isn`t here tonight and on asking after him we find out he has left which is a shame as he was so lovely, but all the staff here are so very welcoming and friendly. We order our wine and take some time to check over the menu, although I`m sure we know what we`re having.

We ordered onion soup instead of Miso, we do prefer it and it is lovely, full of flavour and sizzling hot.

I think Cowfish need to take note of how to serve a Bento Box and how not fill it up with fries and Edamame Beans......

Nagoya`s Bento Boxes are amazing, everything is incredibly fresh and full of flavour, Tom went for the Teriyaki Chicken and I opted for the Spicy Chicken.....not as spicy as I`d like, but it is beautiful.

Everything in the boxes were amazing, the gyozos, shrimp, tempura veg and even the rice as well as the sushi and chicken were just beautiful, although we couldn`t finish either as there really is a lot to eat there.

This restaurant is just so lovely, nothing is too much trouble and they are always so concerned everything is perfect for their guests, places like this are priceless.

They cleared our table and we again declined dessert, then finished our wine, paid, thanked them for another lovely meal and ordered our Uber. Nagoya is in the middle of a shopping area and there are two possible places for the car to go to, either the front where most shops are, or to the quieter car park at the back, we see the car is heading to the back so takes us seconds to walk there and he is already waiting.

This man was very chatty for a change and insisted on telling him his life story which is always interesting, especially when you come from Somalia!!! He was funny though and wrongly guessed our accents three times, then admitted he had no clue!

Just over 5 minutes and we were back home, I did like their decorations around their Porte Cochere lighting....

Into Strong Water for me as Tom went along to the room to pick up something for Lenny as we saw he was working tonight, Maggie wasn`t back yet, but some of our favourites were in tonight including Lenny who we miss a lot, he doesn`t work every night now so it`s always a pleasure when we do get to see him, he mouthed he`d be over when he got a chance.

Demi was looking after us tonight, she is a delight, well they all are really, but she is a force of nature, full of life and so genuinely lovely.

I order a red wine as I had been drinking that earlier, I do try not to mix too much....Tom opts for a cocktail, not mine again.....it is noticed, not by me, everyone asks him why it isn`t Carole`s Punch.....lol...poor guy!!!

Lenny does come over for a chat, he is just the nicest guy and so funny, we have a lot of laughs with him and tonight, when we had handed out the tonnes of chocolate to Fernando for everyone, we kept back a bag of goodies for Maggie and large Galaxy chocolate bar for Mrs Lenny as she loves it so much, so we always bring her one just for her.

Fernando comes over too and we have a good old catch up with him too, he is just the nicest man and we love chatting to him, and could do all night!!

Tom decided he fancied some dessert, so he ordered the chocolate cake which they assure me is lovely, and when it came out Fernando had sent out some caramel ice cream for me too....bless him, I hadn`t planned on anything but it was lovely and fairly light too.

I hadn`t planned to have anything but the ice cream is lovely, well everything we`ve ever had from here has been amazing, for us it`s the best around and it would be easy for us to eat here every night, but we do like to try other places of course.

We only had one more drink, we left Strong Water around 10.30 tonight as we wanted an early-ish night, so we said our goodnights to everyone and headed down to our room.

The weather outside was still drizzly, but I still open the drapes and enjoy the twinkling lights through the raindrops on the window, I think tomorrow will be better weather wise and we have a busy day ahead with a dinner date with two of our favourite people and we have a very special job to do in the morning!!

 

[saskdw]

Maybe Tom is silently boycotting the Carole's Punch until they name something after him!!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

The SF tree really is lovely!
And the local restaurant seems to be a great find.

We are not fans of sushi, but I admit that bento box looks wonderful.

I’m going to have to try the caramel ice cream, it looks absolutely delicious The chocolate cake seems like a treat, too

You are having plenty of time to relax and chat with people.
It seems like this trip is going very well

 

[schumigirl]

Maybe Tom is silently boycotting the Carole's Punch until they name something after him!!

lol......there were some comments made at the time.....where`s Tom`s drink!!

He does like it, but I think he just likes so many of the other cocktails too, I`ll forgive him

 

[schumigirl]

The SF tree really is lovely!
And the local restaurant seems to be a great find.

We are not fans of sushi, but I admit that bento box looks wonderful.

I’m going to have to try the caramel ice cream, it looks absolutely delicious The chocolate cake seems like a treat, too

You are having plenty of time to relax and chat with people.
It seems like this trip is going very well

They do have other dishes too that don`t involve sushi, we`ve had a few things from there and everyone has been gorgeous. It is one of the best around for that type of food and the fact not too many tourists go there is even nicer, nothing like a place frequented by locals.

That ice cream looks quite innocuous, but it is gorgeous!!! Full of that gorgeous caramel that is just so rich!!! Tom and Kyle both love that chocolate cake, again another creation of the amazing Chef Carlos.

We did catch up with most of the folks we wanted to meet up with this time, a few we missed, but we just don`t have the time to meet up with everyone we`d like to which is a shame. Yes, although we maybe didn`t have the busiest trip ever, we did enjoy it and plenty of time when it`s just the two of us which we also love

 

[KathyM2]

Years ago we used to go to Switzerland every year with friends, they skied while we made use of the huge lodges with their roaring fires and open bar.....lol....that`s my idea of enjoying the cold. But these places are all stunning in the winter, especially looking out a giant window with either a hot chocolate or more likely a cocktail in hand

Yeah I hear you!! I honestly don't mind the cold that much once you are all bundled up for it - I think what I hate is that it takes so long to get out the door to go anywhere when you have to put on boots and coats and hats....so much easier to just throw on flip flops and head out!!

Yes, my imagination does go off track at times!!! But, eventually we did get that massive feeling of euphoria when we were were propelled forward and before I knew it I was back to loving this ride as it is fantastic!!!

You are a brave soul. I don't think you could pay me to go on that lol

I don`t want to get soaked when it`s not 95F outside so we never go on them, there were plenty of folks who were riding though, brave souls!!

Yup agreed!!

The food in the lounge looks so good...I often think I wonder if you added up the cost of what you'd spend on breakfast and added to the cost of a regular room...if it would make up the difference...)

 

[keishashadow]

Ormond Beach, several folks told us to visit Charlie Horse restaurant in OB itself, so we did as we were told and drove there.

Now, how did we miss this place? Exactly the type of locals’ gem that gives you a good lay of the land...not to mention a cheap buzz lol. We usually land at Hulls in Ormand or aunt catfish on the river in port orange (mostly for the included cinnamon buns that seem quite decadent with dinner)

 

[schumigirl]

Yeah I hear you!! I honestly don't mind the cold that much once you are all bundled up for it - I think what I hate is that it takes so long to get out the door to go anywhere when you have to put on boots and coats and hats....so much easier to just throw on flip flops and head out!!

You are a brave soul. I don't think you could pay me to go on that lol

Yup agreed!!

The food in the lounge looks so good...I often think I wonder if you added up the cost of what you'd spend on breakfast and added to the cost of a regular room...if it would make up the difference...)

lol....so true, I had so many layers on, and I still think I was cold up there!! Never stopped us going back though, but yes in general it`s so much easier to dress for heat.

It`s an amazing coaster, definitely the best one we`ve been on.

Yes, the food is lovely in the lounge, I`d never normally consider a doughnut for breakfast....but well....on vacation, why not!

 

[schumigirl]

Now, how did we miss this place? Exactly the type of locals’ gem that gives you a good lay of the land...not to mention a cheap buzz lol. We usually land at Hulls in Ormand or aunt catfish on the river in port orange (mostly for the included cinnamon buns that seem quite decadent with dinner)

I had the name of the places you mentioned written in my "bible". Anything recommended gets written down and we check it out, but the weather that day stopped us from wandering around as normal.

We`d both go back to Charlie Horse for sure, yes one of those classic places not to be missed.

I do like a nice cinnamon bun, would never think to have them with dinner.

 

[schumigirl]

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 25TH​

We were up extra early this morning, not for any park visits but weeks ago we had volunteered to help with Loews U.S. Hunger which they have been involved with for many years and they do their part for the campaign within the hotels themselves so volunteering has always been something staff and locals have been involved with, but this year guests could register online to help out too, we were looking forward to it.

When we spoke to Mr Beiderman yesterday, he mentioned he was doing it too and said we`d need to get on the same team, that would be nice.

We got showered and dressed quickly and headed over to the Club Lounge for beakfast which was fast, we just had some toast, tea and Tom had coffee then headed down for the event itself.

We chose to participate at RP as we would be having breakfast there, but you had the option of choosing any hotel. You could also choose a time, for example you could choose hour sections, so if you wanted to do between 10-11am, you put your name to that. We had put down 9am till 11am but you could stay longer or leave earlier if you wished, so you had plenty of options for times.

It was well signposted all the way through the ballroom and convention areas so if you had parked in the convention car park, you`d find your way easily, same with the walkways from the lobby.

This room used to be Tchoup Chop many years ago and it looks very different now, it had recently before Covid been used for the Minion breakfasts which are now a thing of the past sadly. We really do miss the character dinners the hotels used to offer, the characters including Shrek, Fiona, Scooby Doo & gang, Gru, Minions and others too used to appear at the restaurants in the 3 main hotels and they were all fabulous interactions and incredibly popular.

They had set out teas, coffees and little treats as well as cold drinks you could help yourself to before or during the event which was nice and after we signed in we had a wander round.

We had wandered over to the door and we heard the loudest and most enthusiastic OMG I have ever heard in front of us and I looked up and saw Allison who used to work in the Club Lounge several years ago and I think she was just massively surprised to see us, as we were her too, I yelled out Allison and we had a massive hug fest both saying we couldn`t believe the other was here!!!

The Concierge manager at the time she worked there said we got along so well as we had such a similar personality, which I`m taking as a compliment as she is a such a lovely lady, and completely full of fun. We had the biggest catch up as it had been a few years since we had seen her, but we had been kept up to date from others although she was now in an even different position from the last one we heard about, so we were delighted she is doing so well in life and we were so happy to see her again.

We both said we`d be on each others team too, and it is very competitive we found out in a healthy fun way of course, with every table wanting to get the most amount of bags done at the end and the tables were set out clearly, several people at one end filled the bags with five items including seasonings, you passed it along and it was weighed, it should be between two weights, if it was less you added a little with a scoop or took some out if it was too heavy, then you passed it along to be sealed then packed in the boxes, once the boxes were filled someone rang a bell and they came and took the boxes away. So everyone did their bit for the end product.

U.S Hunger is a relief organization who organised this amazing event and had designed this programme which helped feed people who are struggling to feed themselves and their family, I had never heard of it before the Loews involvment, but what an amazing charity.

The atmosphere was fabulous, they have DJ`s in all the hotels where this was going on, they not only played music which was incredible, but they shouted out encouraging statements of how well Loews were doing and how close we were to reaching the target and it was surprising how fast the line was moving although for the first hour we had a little girl who was filling the bag and maybe we could have done more, but she was so sweet and was enjoying helping the charity.

The bags were being filled with ingredients to make a Jamabalaya and some of the hotel folks had said they had made the bags up to try and said they were actually very nice and the seasonings we were putting in did smell aromatic and I cold see how they would be enjoyed.

For the first hour, Tom and I weighed the bags with us passing them to Allison and time went so fast and we managed to chat and have some laughs along the way too which was lovely. It was nice to hear about the other girls we missed who she kept in touch with and said she`d pass on our wishes to them.

After each hour we all went outside and had a picture taken with some of the boxes to celebrate how many we were doing.

Gotta love the orange caps!!!! Sapphire had a lovely blue cap that looked much better, but hey, they did a job.

The second hour after the pictures we did have Mr Beiderman on our team, and we changed positions, Allison, myself, Mr Beiderman, one of the hotel chef`s daughters and two of the managers from Orchids were all in the bag prep and filling station and boy did we go fast now!!! Our production line was like clockwork and I think we must have produced about 5 times what we did in the first hour, so it went even faster but genuinely so much fun.

We did get another picture outside with the boxes when the hour was up and strangely Allison, Mr Beiderman and ourselves were all leaving, so we said a sad goodbye to Allison, we`re sure we`ll see her again, Mr Beiderman thanked us again for joining in this morning, but it was our pleasure for sure.

There were many staff members we knew there we got to speak to, some with their family too which was lovely to see such a joint effort from so many people, this is obviously a charity that means so much to a lot of people and to come in on your day off is something special.

We said all our goodbye`s and just as we were leaving spotted Egle who is the housekeeping manager who was so surprised to see us, again, quick hug and a chat before they started up but she said she`d pop into the lounge when she got a chance and we were happy to see she was back in charge of T3 again, lovely lady who we`ve again known for a long time.

This had been a lot of fun too as well as helping out, we had enjoyed it, but headed back over to Sapphire where their event was still going on too in the lobby, we spoke to two managers we haven`t seen for a long time and it was wonderful to catch up with them, one of them got us a bottle of water each as we were thirsty at that point then we headed back down to the suite to get the car keys then we were heading out for lunch, and we were quite hungry now.

It was a beautiful day outside, much warmer than the previous day and sunnier too, so this was lovely getting out in the sun and looked like it would still be really warm tonight when we were meeting some very good friends for dinner.

Millers Ale House was again our choice today, a very lovely lady (thanks D) had given us vouchers for here, but every time we had gone in we forgot to use them.....doh!!! So this is why were going back today and it was handy as we didn`t want to go far.

The Ale House on Kirkman is a five minute drive away and we managed to get a seat at the bar today, we were a little early as we planned a nice dinner tonight and didn`t want to be too full, but seems we did order quite a large meal in the end, but I`d guess we`d be hungry by the time dinner came tonight.

I ordered a Mai Tai and Tom had coke as he was driving later, and as we sat we were quite amazed how empty this place was compared to previous visits at this time of day. We did think it wasn`t as good as it used to be on our previous visits, so maybe there was something in that, and several folks we knew who used to come here a lot now didn`t as they felt the quality wasn`t the same, so I think maybe this was our last visit here.

To be fair, we were starving by now as we`d had an early breakfast and hadn`t eaten much, so Tom had ordered the filet and I went for the filet with lobster ravioli, I will say my steak was very small but it was fine, and just enough today.

I had to send my steak back as it was completely overdone, they just took the steak away and by the time it came back I had finished the ravioli, so not the best meal. They really should have made the whole dish fresh and I think a few years ago they would have, however Tom`s was nice I was glad to say, neither of us really ate the fries as they could have been warmer, but you know when you just don`t want to complain any more and our barman was so apologetic and not his fault.

Bless him, he could see we hadn`t fully enjoyed the meal as we should have and comped mine and didn`t charge for the drink either, we paid with one of the vouchers, so we still have one, but we did make sure we tipped on the full cost of the meal as he was fabulous. Their kitchen is letting them down now, we`ve sent back several things over our last few visits, and that`s not how it used to be.

We thanked him and headed out to the car and couldn`t decide what to do now, but time wise we decided to head back to the hotel, have a snooze then get changed to head our early for our dinner with two of our favourite people.

I think everyone knows we`re not Disney going people and I always say it will take a lot for us to go back to Disney...... Not hating on Disney, there just isn`t enough there to tempt us to go back.

​

But, we do enjoy a meal or so at Disney Springs and we would always go to Disney when we`re meeting two of our favourite people!!!

 

[keishashadow]

now, that is an awesome meme, with Erika

hmm, foreshadowing

I just cannot understand how that Miller’s location has been such a dog for years. Exception being their pours and reasonable pricing…

especially, in Orlando, the chain locations strike me as offering slightly different experiences. That one’s gone thru umpteen managers, something is amiss, doesn’t seem as tho they can turn it around. The chain has a solid rep to protect, not dong themselves any favors here. Perhaps they are operating under the captive audience rule of thumb there?

love how you took the time to volunteer your precious vacation time here. It was so jarring to see the restaurant repurposed. really hope it reverts to a dining venue at some point.

 

[schumigirl]

now, that is an awesome meme, with Erika

hmm, foreshadowing
View attachment 828325
I just cannot understand how that Miller’s location has been such a dog for years. Exception being their pours and reasonable pricing…

especially, in Orlando, the chain locations strike me as offering slightly different experiences. That one’s gone thru umpteen managers, something is amiss, doesn’t seem as tho they can turn it around. The chain has a solid rep to protect, not dong themselves any favors here. Perhaps they are operating under the captive audience rule of thumb there?

love how you took the time to volunteer your precious vacation time here. It was so jarring to see the restaurant repurposed. really hope it reverts to a dining venue at some point.

Love some Erika Jayne sassy attitude!!

lol.....Tom loves that group!!

I agree about the Ale House, that one years ago was always mobbed and top notch food and service, now it`s poor at best. One of the hotel folks uses one in Winter Garden and says it`s completely different and they go to it a lot. We were genuinely surprised how quiet it was at that time on a Saturday when it used to be you couldn`t ever get a seat at the bar. Yes, they do a good pour!

Thanks, we really enjoy volunteering in our day to day life and getting the chance to do something like that in Florida was lovely, it`s always good to give something back. Yes, we miss Tchoup Chop, that space calls out to be a restaurant again, I always thought we needed a top end seafood place, would fit with the theme and there isn`t anywhere onsite that is a high end seafood place. But, doesn`t look likely now.

 

[keishashadow]

But, doesn`t look likely now

Darn it.

Yes, an anti Bubba gump sort of seafood desperately needed on-site, no deep fryers allowed. Don’t think it would compete with the existing sushi at orchards one bit.

 

[schumigirl]

Darn it.

Yes, an anti Bubba gump sort of seafood desperately needed on-site, no deep fryers allowed. Don’t think it would compete with the existing sushi at orchards one bit.

Yes, they did used to offer sushi in Tchoup Chop as part of their menu, it was nice, but Orchids was still better.

I wish there was a high end seafood place in there, but can`t see it. I know they did rent that room out for events too, we noticed a wedding a couple of times in there, but can`t see that happening too often, most times when we pass it`s completely vacant.

 

[schumigirl]

We had a nice quiet couple of hours, I read a book I had brought on that very comfy sofa in the sitting room and Tom switched between a quick snooze and some Dr Who on the tv, we did think about going and sitting down by the pool for an hour, but us and daytime pool time don`t go together at all. We were so looking forward to this meal tonight as we were meeting the lovely keishashadow and her lovely husband too!!

Once we were showered and dressed we headed to the car and drove the 20 minutes or so to Downtown Disney, even with Saturday afternoon traffic it wasn` too bad.....till we got to DTD.

I forget what time we were meeting Janet and her mister for dinner, maybe 6.30/7pm but we left much earlier as we thought we`d like another wander round to see what was happening on a Saturday night.....lol.....I should have known.

We turned into the road leading to the parking garages and they were at a complete standstill...nothing was moving at all and I had a bad feeling. Last few times we had visited we were in the lime garage, but it was always a morning and it was straight in to find it almost empty, not tonight.

We slowly edged inch by inch forward and passed the next set of garages then we just stopped completely for about 10 minutes. Tom at this point suggested we turn, go back to the hotel and get an Uber back as it looked to be quicker at this point, but ever patient me said oh we won`t be too long now.......thank goodness we were very early. We`re the type of people who loathe being late, we`d rather be 3 hours early than 5 minutes late so this was causing me a little stress by now as we weren`t going anywhere.

Eventually we started moving a little more and ended up going into the Grapefruit Garage.....never knew there was a grapefruit one, but we got in there and found a space easily, there were loads up here. This is quite a good system for parking, maybe not as easily utilised on a busy Saturday weekend, but generally it is decent.

Now we had a 10 mile hike to get to the entrance and we walked with the crowds, you do hear some funny snippets of conversations at times don`t you that you`d really love to hear the end of.....

It looked busy, but we didn`t realise just how busy it was at this point, but we did manage to grab a picture of the classic DTD picture of the famous lego structure in the water and the Buena Vista Palace in the picture as background, the very first hotel we stayed in when we visited for the first time back in 07, that seems a million years ago now.

I do like the look of this Paddlefish place, but haven`t heard great things about it whenever I mentioned to any of the locals who wander to DTD, so might not bother. I think if we tried somewhere other than Boathouse we`d probably choose Morimoto over anywhere else, the menu suits us down to the ground and looks a beautiful restaurant, but this boat does look nice, a lot of tables though!

However Boathouse was where we were eating tonight, we all love it there and were so looking forward to meeting the keshia`s later and we were starting to get a little peckish now, we were glad we hadn`t snacked during the day..we are known for being very good snack makers whenever we have people round apparently....that and huge wine glasses..... that`s what good hosts offer among other things of course!!

​

We had enough time and we planned to walk through the whole of DTD, however it was very busy.

There was a group playing some music behind us here and they were very good, and not too loud (I must be getting older) which was nice and everyone seemed to be enjoying it.

We watched the Amphicars for a time, and there were a few folks there who had never seen them before and one kid who was absolutely point blank refusing to get on it as he saw it approach and I quote.... "I`m not getting in that....what even is that" It was very funny, if he hadn`t been a child I`d have taken a picture of the look on his face!!!

Jock Lindsey`s Hangar is one place I wouldn`t mind popping in and having a drink or two in the future, it looks so nice and have only heard good reviews about it, so maybe next trip.

STK below was so mobbed, we couldn`t get near it for a good look, again, mixed reviews from people about their experiences.

This balloon we can see from the Club Lounge when it ascends, and I did at one point think I might be able to go on it several years ago, then I looked and the standing room is not the whole space, nope...there is a hole in the middle and you basically have a ring that is quite narrow to walk around when you`re up there, no thanks. If you have a genuine fear of heights, you wouldn`t be able to do it and I`m not a height person at all.

It was a beautiful evening though, warm and not overly humid, if it hadn`t been so crowded we`d have wandered further.....but...

​

We saw there wasn`t a piece of walkway visible ahead of us at this point, so we turned back.

The trees around DTD were all lovely, but they were constantly surrounded by hordes of folks, we finally managed a pic with one of them. We did get the Star Wars/Trek something or other tree but it came out kind of blurry for some reason.

We spoke to Aspen in the lounge a couple of days later and she also said she was here tonight and also noted she had never seen it so busy, even on a Thanksgiving weekend Saturday night.

I was desperate for a cup of tea and couldn`t find anywhere, I hadn`t had any since this morning and was starting to get a headache, not what you want with a lovely evening ahead of you, we found somewhere near Boathouse called Vivoli il Gelato which was a little chaotic I have to say, there were a lot of folks in waiting so Tom asked for a Breakfast Tea, she said I`m sorry.....she couldn`t make him out apparently, he again repeated it and she answered, you want a tea as though he had asked for something you don`t talk about in polite company.....at this point I thought she was being a little rude as they were all looking at each other by now so I very politely said......

​

But we got the tea, without a smile and sat on a wall outside when a couple at a table next to us said they were moving and would we like it, so we moved and thanked them. I did need that tea and the headache did start to dissipate.

It was quite nice sitting there for 10 minutes watching the never ending stream of people wandering one way or the other. And everyone looked a little frazzled to be honest.

Tom then spotted Janet among the crowds somehow as they headed to the entrance to Boathouse, so up we popped and headed to greet them!!

 

[DisGhost]

My sister-in-law got married in front of that balloon in 2021, and then those who wanted went up in it. It's a fantastic view! Then the reception was at The Boathouse and they do put on a lovely brunch.

Morimoto has been voted our family's favorite meal on every trip (well, that's all of 2 at this point lol.) It's right up your alley so I highly recommend it. We also loved Wine Bar George.

We were in Disney Springs for Christmas 2019 and it was PACKED so I know how that feels. The 2021 trip for Amanda's wedding will be our last for a very long time. Unlike Universal, they nickel and dime for everything now.

 

[saskdw]

My sister-in-law got married in front of that balloon in 2021, and then those who wanted went up in it. It's a fantastic view! Then the reception was at The Boathouse and they do put on a lovely brunch.

Morimoto has been voted our family's favorite meal on every trip (well, that's all of 2 at this point lol.) It's right up your alley so I highly recommend it. We also loved Wine Bar George.

We were in Disney Springs for Christmas 2019 and it was PACKED so I know how that feels. The 2021 trip for Amanda's wedding will be our last for a very long time. Unlike Universal, they nickel and dime for everything now.

Morimoto is a must do for us every trip.

The Pork Eggrolls are the best I've ever tasted!

 

[schumigirl]

It was so good to meet up again, it felt like it had been forever since we had seen them and it always feels like we just met them last week, Janet and I do chat of course, but as always it`s so much better meeting up in person.

Janet had made the reservation so we headed in I think we only waited a few minutes for our table which gave Tom a chance to take some pictures, but it was incredibly busy so not the easiest thing to do and we kinda felt we were in the way where we were waiting so we melted into the wall as much as we could as there was just a constant stream of folks coming and going all the time.

We had only been here for lunch and not during such a busy time, but it was mobbed, I don`t think there was a spare table that was empty for long anywhere.

We were through as far as you can go I think and our table was a little more in the walk way than we all liked, so when we were seated we kinda shuffled it more inward so folks wouldn`t be as close as they walked past, we didn`t encroach anyone elses`s space though, just gave ourselves a little more, but it was a nice table and we were settled quickly.

The menu is very nice, and we were again chatting so much we barely got round to looking at it for some time, but we did get round to ordering drinks (of course) and we met the cringiest waiter of all time who addressed Janet and I as "young ladies" Normally that doesn`t bother me and I can fake being flattered as well as the next person, but this guy was so disingenuous he was almost tripping over himself with it and I know Janet felt the same, but we laughed it off for sure. However he appeared again with some lovely looking rolls, I don`t know if any of us touched them or not, but they did look nice.

The guys had a beer and lemonade for Tom the driver, which was a shame as he`d have enjoyed a drink here, but he`s not bothered really, and Janet and I had a cocktail each, I know I had the Shipwreck which had gold and silver rum, tropical juices, fresh orange, passoa and cherries in it and it was very nice, but I forget which one Janet ordered, but she liked it too.

And a big cheers all round to celebrating with friends!!!

I think we all talked non stop but eventually our waiter came back up and took our order, we had two lobster bisques, two plates of a half dozen oysters and one gigantic shrimp which looked amazing!!!!

I was over the moon I had an oyster buddy tonight, Janet loves them too, so I didn`t feel so bad, normally Tom winces as I eat them, but tonight he wouldn`t do that....lol......I think he kept his focus on Mr Keisha and kept talking to him rather than come eye to eye with us eating oysters!!! Love em!!!!

And they were all beautiful!! The bisque was just as Tom liked it, I did get a taste, but only one spoonful....he is very protective over lobster bisque and rather conveniently, I didn`t have to share the oysters!!! I think Janet and I both said we could easily have had a dozen rather than just six. I forget which type of oysters we both ordered, but they were lovely.

There was a nice gap between appetisers and entrees so again, being able to chat was lovely and although it was very busy, it wasn`t so loud we couldn`t hear each other, so conversations were fine.

Mr Keisha`s crab cake looked amazing, Tom and I had both thought about getting it, but didn`t however we would definitely order it in the future.

I had a fish dish.....now, usually I would know exactly what I had as we keep all the receipts and I can look back at them for reference, but....there is a story as to why I don`t have a receipt!!!

It was very nice and the veg and potato were beautiful too, fish, whatever it was I really enjoyed and it was perfectly cooked.

Another dish Tom considered ordering, Janet got the filet sliders and it came with fries which I have to say, I did enjoy the fries I pinched from Tom, they were very nice too.

And last but not least Tom ordered a dish from the menu that said NY steak and fries, and he asked for that one by pointing it out on the menu to our waiter, so when the plate arrived, our waiter noticed he didn`t have the fries that came with the steak and said he`d get them, we did wonder why he got the potatoes, but assumed an oversight, he wouldn`t eat them anyway. But the steak did look a good size for the price it said on the menu.

His steak was a little overdone, but not enough to complain about, however taste wise he said it was lovely.

I think at this point, I had finished my cocktail and asked for a glass of malbec which duly arrived in nice time as I started my entree....so far so good.

I would say we all enjoyed our food immensely, everything had been lovely and it is such a lovely restaurant, so once our plates were cleared we asked for the checks.

Then the fun started.......

We had said we`d just do two checks tonight, so ours arrived and Tom spotted immediately he hadn`t charged us the steak and fries price of I think $37 but the NY Strip price of $63, so we called him over and Tom politely said he had showed him the steak and fries steak on the menu, the waiter said no, you asked for the strip, Tom said.....no, I pointed it to you on the menu so he flounced off and said he`d sort it. But Janet had spotted something with their check too, I forget what it was, then I noticed we had only half of our meals on it and some of Janet`s meals too....he had completely cocked it up!!!

So we called him back again and explained what had happened, so he took them away and came back with two new receipts and said to Tom he was only going to charge him for the steak and fries dish not the $63 one.....darn straight as that was what he ordered!!!! It was nothing to do with price, we will happily pay for an expensive steak but only if that`s what we ordered.

And to add insult to injury, the items still weren`t listed correctly in both receipts. It was becoming a little like a black comedy now, if we had seen the Marx Brothers roaming in the background we wouldn`t have been surprised!!!

They were both within a reasonable amount to each other so we all said we`ll just pay these rather than get him back and almost have to itemise each item individually for him to prepare the correct checks, so that`s why I have a receipt with Tom`s steak and the crab cake on it and not my fish dish!

We put our money in the checks and he took them away, we had given enough to include the tip, so when he brought it back and said your change, I did say no, that`s fine for us. But, I looked over at Janet and could sense there was something not right. She called him back and I was talking to Tom so missed it, but, and I don`t think she`ll mind me reporting that he had only left a few dollars in the folder when there should have been a LOT more in there.

If it hadn`t been so awful it would have been funny, a true comedy of errors but we did wonder about our waiter after that.

It was a shame as we all love this place, food had been lovely and of course the company had been wonderful even if I say so myself but I know we all felt something was a little off with our waiter and in such a wonderful place that shouldn`t happen.

None of us wanted dessert, well, we weren`t sure what we would get and what we would pay if we had ordered them!!!

Overall however, we had enjoyed the meal and atmosphere, Boathouse is a very lovely restaurant and food is good, we would definitely go back again and enjoy it when it`s probably going to be a little quieter, but we were so glad we had come here tonight.

We do like a picture of us altogether so we asked this staff member who I have to say was a little bit grumpy, but he took a couple of pics with our camera and did the same with Janet`s phone so we have a nice pic of our evening together and I really like this picture of us all!!

As we headed out, Janet mentioned she had a return time for Gideon`s Bakehouse and would we like to go see it.....hell yes we did!!!!!

A little backstory with this one. Several years ago we had seen this huge and I mean huge line for "something" here and hadn`t paid much attention to it, I later mentioned it to someone and they said oh yes that`s for a cookie. Imagine a confused look on my face.....a cookie......yes, but it`s a very good cookie was the reply. I thought she was joking, people really wouldn`t wait hours for a cookie regardless of how good it was, but seems I was wrong and that line was for GB.

In the time since, I had heard that the building itself was well decorated and the theme was very good and the rooms were something special to walk through......I heard walk through roomS....with an S on the end to insinuate there was more than one room. You can see where this is going can`t you if you`ve ever been to it before.

I will also explain, apparently, according to certain people, I`m quite hard to impress, on more than one occasion we have gone places that people have built up and I go there and Tom can tell within a micro second he`s going to hear those famous words......you`ll hear them later, the clean version!!!

So, with the return time we went behind a couple of people and waited a minute or two before we got in and I was so excited to see all these highly decorated roomS, the cookies were really a secondary for me, but I knew Tom would enjoy choosing from what I thought was a massive selection of cookies....right!!!

The bakery is uniquely themed for sure, the creator bought an old antique cookbook published in the late 1800`s that was written by a boy name Gideon who had drawn all sorts of doodles and notes in the margins and he had a dream of becoming a baker. So, in tribute to Gideon, inside is surrounded by works of art that are very odd indeed, faded aging books and little curios from the Victorian era which sounded right up my street!!!

We were let in by a lovely young lady who opened the door for everyone coming in and I was now really looking forward to wandering around and taking in the whole scene.

​

Well.

I will say I was very grateful to Janet for taking us here and she did laugh at my reaction too. Tom turned away as I looked around this relatively small room as he knew he would be laughing. One room.

Yes, very beautiful room, but it`s one room with barriers so you stay in line. People had raved about this place as though it was something rivalling the Sistine Chaple, so was I disappointed, absolutely!!!

I, in my fervent imagination had envisaged many rooms, all wandering off of each other, with secret panels and tunnels with somehow a spiral staircase somewhere leading to another floor of sinisterly decorated rooms filled with all sorts of antiquities and relics from a bygone age with a strong bakery influence of course.

Maybe not.

I was however glad we had seen it and very happy to see it with Janet who I think was tickled by the reaction and it is very pretty, but for the life of me I didn`t get why folks would line up for such a long time, especially when there`s one in Downtown Orlando you could go to.

I mean there isn`t even a Harry Potter cookie......
(just kidding honestly)

I was looking forward to seeing the selection of cookies next and Janet had forewarned me there weren`t a huge selection so I managed my expectations with those and they did look good, but not what I expected....again, my imagination!!!!

I forget what everyone got, but we each had a selection and I know I got the Kris Kringle one I think Tom might have got the Krampus one.

Tom said he was so thankful Janet had a return time for us to use and it is a beautiful room.

Would we return, no. I thought the cookie was just a cookie, but I`ve tasted better including my own, so I guess I don`t get the hype, but glad I got to try if that makes sense.

We came back out quite tickled by the whole experience, but now it was time to say our goodnights again till next time whenever that may be.

Our meets always go so quickly and we all get along so well that we genuinely look forward to being in Orlando at the same time, our chats are so free and easy and they are a couple we are pleased to call friends. We`d had such a lovely evening with a lot of laughter and chatter, catching up with each others families and time just passed.

They were off on their cruise soon so we wished them well, had some hugs and went our separate ways us to the parking lot which was the opposite way.

We did catch the balloon having ascended to it`s full height which didn`t look too high from here, but it`s way too high for me.

The walk back was incredibly crowded, never seen anything like it before we were completely surrounded by bodies. We got to the stairs and lazily decided to take the elevator and as we got on the man we thought was a little grumpy at taking our pictures got in and said didn`t I just take you and your friends pictures, lol...he wasn`t grumpy at all, he was very nice and chatted all the way back to the parking lot, nice man.

And we found our car easily and didn`t have to wait too long to get out, this was much more civilised and we were home in around 15 minutes or so tonight, I think we were lucky with the lights.

We headed into Strong Water Bar and got our usual table by the Christmas tree, and again it was fairly quiet tonight again, on Saturday`s they have a lovely couple singing and they are excellent, very middle of the road music and she does have a lovely voice so we always enjoy when they are on over the weekend.

We had some lovely folks looking after us tonight as always, Manny and Demi both took good care of us and because it was a little quieter we got to chat a little more than usual.

I had my usual Carole`s Punch and Tom changed it up and ordered a white sangria, which wasn`t for him, so he went for the Mai Tai which he did enjoy.

Tom decided he fancied a dessert, but then changed his mind, so we both got some caramel ice cream which was just enough tonight and then I got one of Manny`s red sangrias which I have to say was really lovely, never had one before, but I still prefer my own cocktail crafted by Anthony who now works for a Rum company and doing well, but we do miss him in here.

We again chatted for ages and it was late, very late when we left, we didn`t close the bar down tonight, but I think it was almost 11.30 when we got to our room and we were ready for bed immediately, no tv or pots of tea ordered from room service tonight, we were almost out for the count but we did go through our day and how we had really enjoyed it from the volunteering this morning to meeting mr and mrs keishashadow tonight which was definitely a highlight of our trip for sure.

Tomorrow we had a slightly different lunch to attend