Lets just do everything... Sept 2015 TR WDW, USO, HHN, CBBR - updated 31/10 Day 6

[BagOLaughs]

Day 4 - HHN part 2 - Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace

We waited until 9:30pm (so it was dark and we wouldn't have to queue) before venturing back. We headed to the area where the mummy is and I took some photos of the escaped mental patients.



Also the "DIE - IN" oh yea... puns all around!



We headed over to the simpsons area as we wanted to eat there. It was on our Universal bucket list. A photo across the lake for you...



We had come in here on Thursday but the queue had been 45 minutes! This evening however the queue was 0 minutes... much more reasonable. We ordered our food and went to sit in Moe's tavern. I loved watching people order the flaming moes. Martin had the clogger. He enjoyed it and survived to tell the tale.



Oh Martin... my eyes are rolling so far into the back of my head.



I got the chicken waffle burger. I wanted to try the slightly sweet waffle with the chicken. It was nice but I wasn't sold. The chicken its self was really nice and moist. The batter was crispy without being soggy... but I just missed a regular burger bun. The waffles I feel, didn't really add to it much.



Those little potato things though. Oh my gosh they were amazing!

After our food we went for a wander and ended up here. Oh yes people the insidious house! This was the maze I was most dreading. For some reason that black and red faced dude just haunts my dreams! He creeps me the heck out and I knew if I saw him in this house (which was more than likely) I was going to freak!



I did see him, but I didn't freak. Unfortunately all the scares happened to the people in front of us. We didn't get jumped at once. boooo However the house was still fun. The scenes were really well put together and I did get a really what the flip moment in this maze.

It was a freaky baby in one of those walker things. I must admit I haven't seen the movies, so if there is a reference I don't get it. It was on the floor at the end of a corridor. We were walking towards it along the corridor and it was all ready creeping me out. But then, as we got close, it started to move towards us and I just ran into the next room. haha! So not a total bust.

I wanted to see the jack show next so we headed this way and walked through the one remaining scare zone we hadn't done yet. Again I really enjoyed the little shows that happened now and again. The story teller was entertaining a young man in this one...



We popped into the area in front of the stage to get a good spot for the show and to have a little sit down to rest our feet. I passed the time by taking photos.



Including silly ones of my face... haha. I needed to prove I was there too!



What happened next totally blew my mind in big bloody chunks all over everywhere... (see I'm in the spirit of this show)

 

[BagOLaughs]

Day 4 - Jack, Jack, he's our man... er clown... er undead clown?

It was Saturday September 19th when I fell in love... Nope, not my partner... This person is a bit more dramatic and has an interesting skin type... but I shan't spoil anything yet.

Because 1st there were dancers... great fantastic creepy dancers... on bungees...



and a creepy sexy clown woman



Then my love appeared... JACK!!!



Hello Kids! Long time no see!



God his character was great.



In fact this whole show as great. The writing, the acting, the visuals, the gore. All of it hilarious brilliant fun.

Ta Da, the wheel of terror!



Awww. he got the "easy way out"



The dancers were really good. And usually I think dancers are just annoying filler. Here I was spellbound.



I'm so glad martin got some photos because I was just stood with my mouth agape transfixed.



More jack and Chance photos coming up!

 

[BagOLaughs]

Day 4 - everyone say... hell yea Jack!

Some more photos of the show...

Everyone say "Hello Chance"... hello Chance!



The premise of the show is Jack and Chance are are "torturing" people they've found including a newly married couple and an internet troll. Lets just say a very large blender was involved.



Look at little Chance, she's just so happy.



And the finale was of course the BIG A$$ SAW!



Haha! You should have kept your hands and arms inside the ride vehicle!



And that's all I've got for the show. I know I'm gushing but I really really really enjoyed this show. I just ticked all the right boxes for me.

We explored around the area some more after the show to see what else was there. The rat lady of course. I like rats so this doesn't gross me out too much.



Grim reaper dude on stilts creeping up Martin's face but darn it he wouldn't hold still! So blurry reaper dude on stilts it is!



My flash went off for this one.. but I kinda like how its picked up on the fog in the area. It looks even more spooky.



Creepy Usher dude... creeeepy!



And me and a day of the dead/sugar skull/voodoo guy?



Thats all I can type for tonight, I'll finish the HHN night next update. (Bill and Ted will be included!)

 

[BagOLaughs]

Oh I love Pop Tarts... can't have them any more because of my Celiac Disease, but I miss them so much!!!

Awwww, having celiac's must really suck (which is probably a major understatement).. if its any consolation the cinnamon roll flavour wasn't that great haha.

 

[schumigirl]

Love the Icons zone........think it was my favourite zone being a huge fan of most of them.........loved them all though this year, yes my least favourite was Scary Tales too......but was still fun........the suit of armour got me good twice........lol

Love Jack!! One of the best horror nights ever was Jacks carnival of carnage theme in 07...... It was amazing. I loved his house this year and got some good scares.......same with insidious......it's not so much fun when folks in front get all the scares.........I think they target me....lol.....

45 minute queue for Simpsons food???? Crikey.......apart from year it opened we've never seen that! Yeah I'd have went somewhere else too.........

Nice update!

 

[KYfriedPanda]

You are so right about the candy - Every time I'm in Europe I have to stock up on Mars bars!

 

[Jon84]

You are so right about the candy - Every time I'm in Europe I have to stock up on Mars bars!

Mars Bars are basically what you guys call Milky Way though right?!

Our Milky Way is not like yours!

 

[JustCor]

You are so right about the candy - Every time I'm in Europe I have to stock up on Mars bars!

Thank god for Publix. They keep a nice stock of Mars bars, as well as some other european candies!

 

[BagOLaughs]

Mars Bars are basically what you guys call Milky Way though right?!

Our Milky Way is not like yours!

I think our Milky way's are pretty similar. its just milk covered whipped fondant stuff? Where as mars bars have caramel on the top too and a layer of dense fondant on the bottom... I'll get a picture

 

[BagOLaughs]

 

[Jon84]

US Milky Ways have caramel in too, thats where I thought they were similar, but not exact!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way_(chocolate_bar)


EDIT:

View attachment 131102 View attachment 131103

Aha! Good photo!

They are similar-ish lol I remember being disappointed at the Space Center that it wasn't a 'proper' milky way!

 

[schumigirl]

I love the American Milky Ways.........

 

[KYfriedPanda]

I love the US Milky Ways as well, but I've always found the quality of the UK Mars bars to be higher. Maybe it's the absence that makes the heart grow fonder. Maybe it's the fact that I can't get a gigantic bag of "fun size" versions of them for less than 10 bucks. Who knows.

 

[BagOLaughs]

Day 4 - Harry Potter & escaping from Gringotts

I'm back for another update. When I left off we'd just watched Jack's show again. After this we decided to head for Escape from Gringotts as it would be closing soon and there was 0 mins queue (not kidding!)

The main bank area is just so amazing and the chandeliers are really huge!



Hopefully all these goblins will continue to work. It would be very disappointing Universal if they were to stop and you were to leave them frozen... wink wink.



But really these animatronics make this bank feel alive. They really bring an extra bit of depth to the place.



Convoluted door to open... but look at all the gold.



The moving photos are still so impressive.



They make use of the holographic projection here and it looks very convincing.



I also think this spiral staircase section just before loading onto the train is amazing.



And of course the themed loading area is detailed and amazing.



I was in a selfie mood tonight it seemed. Love the goofy glasses... sexy. ha!



Martin, how did to get to Leicester square? Its 4,336 miles away from Orlando!



Once we'd finished at Gringotts and I'd take the photo above we were just in time for a showing of Bill and Ted so we headed that way.

 

[BagOLaughs]

Day 5 - An excellent end to the evening.

As this was our 1st year of HHN this would also be our 1st Bill and Ted show. I did take some pictures but then got told off and so I put my camera away. I don't understand why... they said no FLASH photography and video. As you'll see from these photos I wasn't using flash... oh well. Its a good reason to put the camera away and just enjoy the show.





I did get a picture of the Delorean however!!! How awesome. I love Deloreans. I've got two small model ones and a back to the future 2 model. I really like that rectangular 80's car design and the brushed stainless steel.



Hey guys!







Even Doc Brown is there. yey!



All in all, we both really enjoyed the show. There were some real funny moments especially the part when they make fun of Disney for using Hocus Pocus as their main show for the Halloween season... they say "who would use a 20 year old movie as a stage show inspiration." and then they look at each other and the joke dawns on the audience... it was funny!

After this show it was past mid night again so it was time to head back to the hotel for some much deserved sleep. There was something Martin really wanted to do the following morning which meant more driving for me (yey) but it would make him exceptionally happy.

 

[BagOLaughs]

Day 5 - A rootin' Shootin' good time

We were up bring and early on this Sunday morning (and by bright and early I mean 9am) and we bundled into the car and headed for this place...



Martin had really wanted to shoot some guns. I personally have no interest in guns what so ever, I really don't want to shoot one or even hold one. Its not that I'm afraid its just I really don't see the point. Martin on the other hand likes to shoot and he is very good at it too. So its pretty novel for us to visit a range. I was a little bit grumpy this morning as I was really tired and I tried to convince Martin to visit in the afternoon but he was adamant it had to be the morning as he'd been looking forward to this so much.

I relented and here we were. We'd reserched gun ranges on the internet and this one had good things said about it so we chose it. It took about 25 mins to get there. Martin filled in the paperwork and soon had a box of ammo and a gun. (oh and a paper target)



The range was reasonably small and Martin told me it was very warm inside. I stayed behind the (hopefully bullet proof) glass. Martin is wearing ear defenders if anyone is worried, he likes the in ear ones.



And so I just let him do his thing for a bit while I looked round the shop and watched him through the window.



Martin fired a variety of guns. I couldn't tell you what they were I'm afraid though.



Some of this signs gave me a chuckle. Its the sort of thing you'd expect to read on Grand Theft Auto.






Look at him. He's so happy!



An hour later and $108 lighter Martin was done. He chatted with the range owners for a bit and then we thanked them and were on our way. Next up it was time to visit a shop I have visited on every vacation I've ever done to Orlando...



Pro Bass shop. This mall used to be called Paradise mall but now its got a new name which I can't remember. Its obviouslly undergone some serious remodelling in the past two years and the pool and turtles are now gone awwww poor turtles but I do guess this place needed something. It always had a empty apocalypse kind of feel to it becuase 80% of the shops were empty. Its in a kind of intermediate stage now, Ron Jon surf shop and Pro Bass are the same (pretty much) as they were before and the rest is just kind of there.

We also spotted these creepy things. You could hire them and scoot around the mall. Very odd...

 

[BagOLaughs]

Day 5 - A shop for the rootin' shootin' type

I really love looking around the Pro Bass shop, so lets start with some funny hot sauce/bbq sauce labels.



I almost purchased some of these for my brother but I found something better for him.



When naming hot sauce ensure ones label has at least two references to the butt.



They were feeding the fish in the big tank which had drawn quite a crowd. This shop is awesome.



More guns! But these ones you can buy. It strikes me as funny that you can buy a gun for less than an ipad. haha. I liked the handle of this one.



I mean this just blows my mind. You would never see anything like this in the UK... of course you wouldn't.



Ah this is my sort of thing. A quad bike!!! I had to pose with it, I just couldn't help myself.



There were some food stands outside the store and Martin had a good old american corn dog. I wish I'd got one too as later on in the week I was craving a corn dog but alas, in the parks they always come with fries... you can't buy one on its own.



I did buy some cool gifts for my dad, brother and step dad (john) from pro bass. For my dad i got him two massive bags of beef jerky. For my brother I got some more beef jerky and a steel printed sign for his new house. For John I purchased yet more beef jerky (US beef jerky is like 1000 x better than UK beef jerky) and another printed steel sign for his garage with some tackle on.

After this we drove back to the hotel because I was still knackered and it was time for pool time!!! The weather was amazing on this day with blue skys and hardly any clouds. So we spent the next 4 hours sun bathing and spending time in the pool. Lovely! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures as I'm too paranoid about having my camera nicked while I'm in the pool.

coming up... bubba gump shrimp!

 

[BagOLaughs]

Day 5 - shrimp is the fruit of the sea

It was time for Bubba Gump! This was something on our bucket list and we were both really excited to eat here! We arrived at about 6pm and booked in. It was about a 10 minute wait which was really quick. We hadn't even finished looking around the shop. I think the wait jumped really quickly because when we booked in there was hardly anyone else around and when we were called in 10 mins later there were loads of people! Lucky!



And all are delicious!



We followed the smiley faces down to the counter.



We were sat at our table which was a nice little booth. It was by the restrooms but having a little booth it really didn't bother us at all. In fact we didn't even notice the other people walking past half the time. Our server was amazing! She was really fun and her energy level was through the roof. She definitely got a good tip after.



There is so much to look at in the restaurant. Who knew you could make so much from just one movie!



Our drinks arrived... Martin got an alcoholic cocktail and mine was non-alcoholic as we had a really early rise tomorrow morning and I didn't want to be groggy. Martin was super happy with his selection!



Mine was lemon/lime thing... I can't remember! but it tasted great!



Some props from the movie.



Our food arrived in good time after our little quiz with the server. We were pretty darn knowledgeable if I do say so my self. I had the bucket of boat trash and Martin had the shrimp selection. Both were excellent in our eyes. There was so much food and we really enjoyed every bit of it!



I especially liked my crab which was moist and really flavourful!

 

[BagOLaughs]

Day 5 - You can boil it, fry it, bake it, BBQ it....

Of course I was dead happy with my mock-tail...



While Martin was eating I saw my opportunity...



Mwhahahaha... Sharing is caring!



After our meals I was stuffed! I couldn't move a muscle until Martin decided to order dessert... (I just don't know where he puts it all)



Upon seeing the plate I couldn't let Martin have all the fun and our server had brought us two spoons so I did have a nibble of each of the offerings. There was bread pudding, strawberry shortcake and a cookie... all three were delicious!



I just don't know where he puts all that food!?



And so ends our meal at Bubba Gumps. I really enjoyed it and it will go down as one of the best meals we had on the holiday. Overall I was super impressed.



After stuffing ourselves I really needed to walk it off so we went for a shop around city walk. I dropped my fossil watch off for a new battery ($12 is very reasonable especially as they gave it a clean too).

We looked in the shops but there was nothing that I really wanted to buy as I'd done most of my shopping at the outlets and at Ron Jon earlier in the day.

 

[BagOLaughs]

Day 5 - snooping in the hard rock cafe

I'd never been inside the worlds largest had rock cafe so we went and did a bit of snooping. We walked past the entrance for the Blue Man group.. maybe another year. This twisted section of Rip Ride Rock It is really fun to photograph.



The Hard Rock shop was OK... and there were some interesting things to look at. I liked the pink car above the bar... very cool



Motley crue guitar... nice.



Selfie time... gah too washed out. I don't know why I bother.



It is a very big restaurant. I could imagine it would be fun to sit on that balcony on the 2nd floor.



Giant guitars!



Martin really wanted this picture and I think I managed to compose the picture pretty well.



A photo of me with city walk in the background and the Margaritaville plane too.


I love fairy lights. There's something just awesome about them. In any situation fairy lights on trees will always make it look pretty at night.


So with that we headed back to the hotel. A photo of the cute themed bus for cabana bay... little touches like that make all the difference I think.



It was an early night for us as we had a SUPER early rise the next day because we were going to the Magic Kingdom!!!