"You're not making good choices, Phoebe!" A July 2015 Trip Report *completed 1/2/16*
- Thread starter xlsm
- Start date
Lyricallie
Mouseketeer
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- May 2, 2015
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Really enjoying your TR your wee boys are so cute too! Love all the food pictures especially the desserts party!
Lori74
DIS Veteran
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- Aug 1, 2015
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great job on the report! we're surprising our kids in nov. with a trip to mk and epcot. we've never been before, im hoping epcot will keep my kids interest. did your boys do the perry challenge? im looking forward to getting pearls with my daughter. your setting is beautiful! cute family!
mickeyfanachey1999
DIS Veteran
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- Aug 14, 2014
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reading all about it
xlsm
Snow White
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I'm finally back to finish up the report for our third park day!
Chapter Four Part Four
This is a very quick update to finish off this chapter!
When I left you, we had just left Epcot and hopped a bus back to the Wilderness Lodge. We swam for awhile, and then I went back to the room early to get ready for our special dinner. DH and I were having a dinner alone at Artist Point!
The photos aren't great, we used DH's iphone 6 and left my phone in the room with the kids in case they needed us.
Our original reservation was for 5:30, but just before vacation started I changed it to 6:30 so we wouldn't have to rush out of the park if we didn't want to.
We ended up being ready to go downstairs pretty early, and we thought we would just get a drink at the Territory Lounge before checking in, but they were able to seat us immediately, so we went on in to Artist Point.
It's so beautiful in there! Lots of windows and light wood. Unfortunately, the windows were dirty from the rain earlier, making our nice view...not so nice.
(the following photo is NOT one of ours, I got it from the web)
We started off with drinks. I got the Lodge Fizz, which is Gray Goose vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice, and sprite:
DH got the Northwestern Exposure, made with ketel one vodka, amaretto, kahlua, and cream with a splash of coke:
both were good, and surprisingly strong. We probably wouldn't get either one again. I really regret not getting the Raspberry Rapids, but, you live and learn!
Each of us had an appetizer.
DH had the artisanal cheese plate:
From the left: buttermilk blue, Cowgirl Creamery's "Mt. Tam" (this is like a brie. By far the best of them all. It was so good!), and a white cheddar.
I took a tiny bite of each. The cheddar has a piece of honeycomb accompanying it, and the honey was great, but I felt it overpowered everything. I liked it on the bread we had!
Speaking of the bread...
I could probably gush on forever about how much I love a good salted butter and fresh bread, but I won't.
My appetizer was one of Artist Point's signature items, the Smoky Portobello Soup:
Oh. My. Goodness.
Even if you don't think you like mushrooms, you might want to try this anyway. Yes, it is that good. It was so creamy, and flavorful. Even my mushroom hating DH loved it.
The next course was our entrees.
Mine was the cedar plank roasted salmon with local potatoes, frisee, baby fennel, Florida citrus and olive tapenade. The salmon is brought out on the plank and plated tableside, which is a nice touch.
I hate that I didn't have my phone so we could have better pictures of the food!
I know the ingredients sound kind of weird, and I admit I was nervous, but by some kind of Disney chef magic, it. was. incredible. The salty olive tapenade mixed with the salmon, potatoes, the fennel frisee thing, and the citrus?? It was delicious. It was salty and bright and crisp, but the salmon was soft and cooked perfectly...I really loved it!
DH had the bison. It was a bison steak and bison sausage with a red wine reduction and mac and cheese. I tried a bit of the steak, and some of the mac and cheese and it was all very good. Not something I would order, but I liked it!
I forgot to mention this, but we both also had the suggested wine pairing with our entree.
At this point we were full to bursting, but we couldn't resist dessert!
DH chose the strawberry goat cheese cheesecake, which I liked, but I'm not a goat cheese girl, so I didn't push for more after one bite. If you like goat cheese, this will be up your alley.
It was presented so beautifully!!
I chose the cobbler:
The berries were gorgeous and fresh and perfect. The ice cream was the star of the dessert. I really liked this, but there was something about it that reminded me of Fruit Loops?? Despite that, I would eat it again! Preferably when I wasn't so full I was in pain!!
We thoroughly enjoyed our meal here, and would do it again in a heartbeat!
We dragged ourselves back to the elevators and up to our room. I turned straight to pajamas, bed, and tv, but DH was amazing and went downstairs to do our laundry. He never does it at home, so it was nice that he'd do it for me on vacation. 10 gold stars!!
the boys and I fell asleep before he got back. We were tired! We also had to get up VERY, VERY early the next morning.
We were turning to the dark side....
Coming Soon, Chapter Five, our one day whirlwind visit to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure!
Chapter Four Part Four
This is a very quick update to finish off this chapter!
When I left you, we had just left Epcot and hopped a bus back to the Wilderness Lodge. We swam for awhile, and then I went back to the room early to get ready for our special dinner. DH and I were having a dinner alone at Artist Point!
The photos aren't great, we used DH's iphone 6 and left my phone in the room with the kids in case they needed us.
Our original reservation was for 5:30, but just before vacation started I changed it to 6:30 so we wouldn't have to rush out of the park if we didn't want to.
We ended up being ready to go downstairs pretty early, and we thought we would just get a drink at the Territory Lounge before checking in, but they were able to seat us immediately, so we went on in to Artist Point.
It's so beautiful in there! Lots of windows and light wood. Unfortunately, the windows were dirty from the rain earlier, making our nice view...not so nice.
(the following photo is NOT one of ours, I got it from the web)
We started off with drinks. I got the Lodge Fizz, which is Gray Goose vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice, and sprite:
DH got the Northwestern Exposure, made with ketel one vodka, amaretto, kahlua, and cream with a splash of coke:
both were good, and surprisingly strong. We probably wouldn't get either one again. I really regret not getting the Raspberry Rapids, but, you live and learn!
Each of us had an appetizer.
DH had the artisanal cheese plate:
From the left: buttermilk blue, Cowgirl Creamery's "Mt. Tam" (this is like a brie. By far the best of them all. It was so good!), and a white cheddar.
I took a tiny bite of each. The cheddar has a piece of honeycomb accompanying it, and the honey was great, but I felt it overpowered everything. I liked it on the bread we had!
Speaking of the bread...
I could probably gush on forever about how much I love a good salted butter and fresh bread, but I won't.
My appetizer was one of Artist Point's signature items, the Smoky Portobello Soup:
Oh. My. Goodness.
Even if you don't think you like mushrooms, you might want to try this anyway. Yes, it is that good. It was so creamy, and flavorful. Even my mushroom hating DH loved it.
The next course was our entrees.
Mine was the cedar plank roasted salmon with local potatoes, frisee, baby fennel, Florida citrus and olive tapenade. The salmon is brought out on the plank and plated tableside, which is a nice touch.
I hate that I didn't have my phone so we could have better pictures of the food!
I know the ingredients sound kind of weird, and I admit I was nervous, but by some kind of Disney chef magic, it. was. incredible. The salty olive tapenade mixed with the salmon, potatoes, the fennel frisee thing, and the citrus?? It was delicious. It was salty and bright and crisp, but the salmon was soft and cooked perfectly...I really loved it!
DH had the bison. It was a bison steak and bison sausage with a red wine reduction and mac and cheese. I tried a bit of the steak, and some of the mac and cheese and it was all very good. Not something I would order, but I liked it!
I forgot to mention this, but we both also had the suggested wine pairing with our entree.
At this point we were full to bursting, but we couldn't resist dessert!
DH chose the strawberry goat cheese cheesecake, which I liked, but I'm not a goat cheese girl, so I didn't push for more after one bite. If you like goat cheese, this will be up your alley.
It was presented so beautifully!!
I chose the cobbler:
The berries were gorgeous and fresh and perfect. The ice cream was the star of the dessert. I really liked this, but there was something about it that reminded me of Fruit Loops?? Despite that, I would eat it again! Preferably when I wasn't so full I was in pain!!
We thoroughly enjoyed our meal here, and would do it again in a heartbeat!
We dragged ourselves back to the elevators and up to our room. I turned straight to pajamas, bed, and tv, but DH was amazing and went downstairs to do our laundry. He never does it at home, so it was nice that he'd do it for me on vacation. 10 gold stars!!
the boys and I fell asleep before he got back. We were tired! We also had to get up VERY, VERY early the next morning.
We were turning to the dark side....
Coming Soon, Chapter Five, our one day whirlwind visit to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure!
xlsm
Snow White
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2013
- Messages
- 4,122
I'm so glad you're enjoying it, thank you for following along!! The dessert party was great! I'm sure I'll have many more food pictures coming up, too!
My boys LOVE Epcot, so hopefully your kids will too! We've never done the Perry challenge, but they do enjoy the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game at the MK.
Glad you're here!!
I'm a professional packing avoider - I totally understand!!
/
DisFam95
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2003
- Messages
- 1,608
Oh that soup sounds good! I might just try that on Friday. My preferred drink there is the Raspberry Rapids but I've thought about that one your DH got. Decisions decisions!
Can't wait to hear about your next day. That's the day I have zero plans for except show up early! STRESSING! Can't wait to hear how it went for you!
Can't wait to hear about your next day. That's the day I have zero plans for except show up early! STRESSING! Can't wait to hear how it went for you!
Sailormoon2
DIS Veteran
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- Mar 10, 2015
- Messages
- 1,857
Hurray for Date Night! Seemed like a winning success!
xlsm
Snow White
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Ok, I thought I'd try to get ONE more update in today. If DH has to work some more after he gets home, there *might* be another. We'll see. It takes a long time for me to write these. I'm probably doing it wrong.
And now...submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I call this story...
Chapter Five...in which we experience Magic beyond compare, and discover every Uni ride involves spinning and fire.
We have made it to park day 4 of our trip, Friday July 17th. This is also L's 10th birthday!!
When we decided to go to Universal, we knew we wanted to have the Unlimited Express Pass. I priced out two options: getting an onsite room, and just buying the EPs with the tickets. We discovered that we would actually SAVE just over $100 by booking a room at Royal Pacific for one night.
Oviously, that's what we chose to do! We figured we'd have the room just in case we decided to use it for the night, or it could act as a midday break spot if we decided we needed it.
Included with an onsite stay is the one hour early opening, so that meant we would have a very, very early start to our day. On top of that, we would have to figure out transportation. My previous experiences with Orlando taxis have not been good, so we decided that we would try using Uber.
So we started our morning by waking up around 5:00am, and were outside of the Lodge waiting for our Uber driver at 6:00am.
Me with my birthday boy!
Don't we just look so...awake??
I was in need of coffee.
Our driver arrived and was very professional and polite. He was wearing a suit. At 6am. He also had the cleanest minivan I have ever seen in my entire life. He did a good job reading us, and could see that we weren't feeling super chatty, so there was no annoying chit chat to power through. It was too early for that mess, folks!
It was a nice easy drive with almost no traffic, and it was so interesting to see things outside of the Disney Bubble after a few days of Pixie Dust Intoxication. It was clear right away that our experience at Universal would be very different than Disney. Everything is so close together! It's sort of surreal.
He dropped us off, and we thought Royal Pacific was beautiful!
We checked in, and she told us they had a room ready for us, so we got our room keys, went and printed our EPs (OMG, those machines are a joke! They print your "picture" onto them. I put picture in quotation marks because everyone looked like a black smudge. There's no way you could tell who was who.) and headed to the elevator to tower 2. We wanted to see what we were paying for after all!
We were on floor 7 I think? It was not a renovated room, but it was still pretty nice. It seemed small though.
We had a great view!
I looked around the room a bit, used the restroom, took some pictures, and noticed one of the Fiji waters was missing. I glanced over at DH. He was drinking it. I said, "you know that's like $7.50, right?"
*sigh*
We used the rest to make me a coffee in the in-room keurig.
After checking out the room and accruing a charge for fancy water, we decided to take the walking path to our first destination: Universal Studios. We wanted to start our journey to the wizarding world where Harry did - Diagon Alley.
The walk was pretty nice, lots to see. The bag check people were along the path, too, so no extra stop once we got to the park.
Hey there, Islands of Adventure! We'll see you a little later!
We made it!
The CMs there (ok, i know they're not called CMs, is it Team Members?? I'll try to remember to type TM over CM, but no promises) were very friendly, but were pretty serious about keeping everyone on a forward trajectory straight to Diagon Alley.
I had to quickly say hello to Gru, though!
We also took a quick stop off to pay homage to my favorite shark:
I haven't mentioned this before, but I confessed on a thread a few months ago specifically about it, but I LOVE JAWS. I do. I really do. It's one of my favorite movies. I own a physical copy and a digital copy, I have it on our dvr and refuse to let anyone erase it, AND I watch it every time it's on tv. When there are things I love, I tend to get a little obsessy.
Here's a picture of me with my fishy friend taken at an odd angle or something, because I look like Jay Leno's long lost sister:
Finally, it was time. The moment I'd been waiting for. My heart was pounding and the guys were excited too, I'm sure. I'll be honest, I was very much focusing on myself and my own feelings at this moment, because my adoration for JK Rowling and the world she has created is second to none. I am an insane HP fan, and I am very selective to whom I share that with, because it's pretty serious.
King's Cross Station was right. in. front. of. me.
The Knight Bus was right. behind. me.
My anticipation level was through the roof.
It was time to go through the bricks.
The first thing I photographed was Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. It's not a great shot. In fact, very few of my pictures here are good. I was completely caught up in the experience!
Quality Quiddich Supplies:
And OMG.
Gringotts.
The TMs (hey, I remembered!) were there blocking the way, encouraging everyone to do the full loop of the area before going to the bank.
Our first ride of the day was Escape From Gringotts:
DH and X went through the first part of the line with us, and then left after they take your picture. I wish I'd sent my bag with them, but we got a locker. I HATED having to get a locker so often on rides. Because of that I don't have any photos of ride queues or on the rides themselves. Although after riding some of those rides, I am not sure how anyone would manage to take a pic on the rides anyway.
Escape from Gringott's was crazy! Lots of very fun moments.
We went back out to explore some more
Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream
Another dragon shot because I could not get enough
The level of detail. I can't even.
We went into Magical Menagerie and freaked out about all the awesome things inside
and out
We took a turn and wandered into Knockturn Alley
and skulked around in Borgin and Burkes
After scurrying like rats through the dark and dangerous Knockturn Alley, we walked boldly back into the light.
More coming soon!!
And now...submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I call this story...
Chapter Five...in which we experience Magic beyond compare, and discover every Uni ride involves spinning and fire.
We have made it to park day 4 of our trip, Friday July 17th. This is also L's 10th birthday!!
When we decided to go to Universal, we knew we wanted to have the Unlimited Express Pass. I priced out two options: getting an onsite room, and just buying the EPs with the tickets. We discovered that we would actually SAVE just over $100 by booking a room at Royal Pacific for one night.
Oviously, that's what we chose to do! We figured we'd have the room just in case we decided to use it for the night, or it could act as a midday break spot if we decided we needed it.
Included with an onsite stay is the one hour early opening, so that meant we would have a very, very early start to our day. On top of that, we would have to figure out transportation. My previous experiences with Orlando taxis have not been good, so we decided that we would try using Uber.
So we started our morning by waking up around 5:00am, and were outside of the Lodge waiting for our Uber driver at 6:00am.
Me with my birthday boy!
Don't we just look so...awake??
I was in need of coffee.
Our driver arrived and was very professional and polite. He was wearing a suit. At 6am. He also had the cleanest minivan I have ever seen in my entire life. He did a good job reading us, and could see that we weren't feeling super chatty, so there was no annoying chit chat to power through. It was too early for that mess, folks!
It was a nice easy drive with almost no traffic, and it was so interesting to see things outside of the Disney Bubble after a few days of Pixie Dust Intoxication. It was clear right away that our experience at Universal would be very different than Disney. Everything is so close together! It's sort of surreal.
He dropped us off, and we thought Royal Pacific was beautiful!
We checked in, and she told us they had a room ready for us, so we got our room keys, went and printed our EPs (OMG, those machines are a joke! They print your "picture" onto them. I put picture in quotation marks because everyone looked like a black smudge. There's no way you could tell who was who.) and headed to the elevator to tower 2. We wanted to see what we were paying for after all!
We were on floor 7 I think? It was not a renovated room, but it was still pretty nice. It seemed small though.
We had a great view!
I looked around the room a bit, used the restroom, took some pictures, and noticed one of the Fiji waters was missing. I glanced over at DH. He was drinking it. I said, "you know that's like $7.50, right?"
*sigh*
We used the rest to make me a coffee in the in-room keurig.
After checking out the room and accruing a charge for fancy water, we decided to take the walking path to our first destination: Universal Studios. We wanted to start our journey to the wizarding world where Harry did - Diagon Alley.
The walk was pretty nice, lots to see. The bag check people were along the path, too, so no extra stop once we got to the park.
Hey there, Islands of Adventure! We'll see you a little later!
We made it!
The CMs there (ok, i know they're not called CMs, is it Team Members?? I'll try to remember to type TM over CM, but no promises) were very friendly, but were pretty serious about keeping everyone on a forward trajectory straight to Diagon Alley.
I had to quickly say hello to Gru, though!
We also took a quick stop off to pay homage to my favorite shark:
I haven't mentioned this before, but I confessed on a thread a few months ago specifically about it, but I LOVE JAWS. I do. I really do. It's one of my favorite movies. I own a physical copy and a digital copy, I have it on our dvr and refuse to let anyone erase it, AND I watch it every time it's on tv. When there are things I love, I tend to get a little obsessy.
Here's a picture of me with my fishy friend taken at an odd angle or something, because I look like Jay Leno's long lost sister:
Finally, it was time. The moment I'd been waiting for. My heart was pounding and the guys were excited too, I'm sure. I'll be honest, I was very much focusing on myself and my own feelings at this moment, because my adoration for JK Rowling and the world she has created is second to none. I am an insane HP fan, and I am very selective to whom I share that with, because it's pretty serious.
King's Cross Station was right. in. front. of. me.
The Knight Bus was right. behind. me.
My anticipation level was through the roof.
It was time to go through the bricks.
The first thing I photographed was Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. It's not a great shot. In fact, very few of my pictures here are good. I was completely caught up in the experience!
Quality Quiddich Supplies:
And OMG.
Gringotts.
The TMs (hey, I remembered!) were there blocking the way, encouraging everyone to do the full loop of the area before going to the bank.
Our first ride of the day was Escape From Gringotts:
DH and X went through the first part of the line with us, and then left after they take your picture. I wish I'd sent my bag with them, but we got a locker. I HATED having to get a locker so often on rides. Because of that I don't have any photos of ride queues or on the rides themselves. Although after riding some of those rides, I am not sure how anyone would manage to take a pic on the rides anyway.
Escape from Gringott's was crazy! Lots of very fun moments.
We went back out to explore some more
Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream
Another dragon shot because I could not get enough
The level of detail. I can't even.
We went into Magical Menagerie and freaked out about all the awesome things inside
and out
We took a turn and wandered into Knockturn Alley
and skulked around in Borgin and Burkes
After scurrying like rats through the dark and dangerous Knockturn Alley, we walked boldly back into the light.
More coming soon!!
xlsm
Snow White
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2013
- Messages
- 4,122
That soup is insane. It's seriously so, so good!
I really, really wish I'd gotten the raspberry rapids. It's a definite regret, and is a must for next time! We both liked the one DH got, but it was a little sweet for a meal starter. I think I'd have liked his more if we were just doing drinks and not a full meal. I think it's worth trying though!
It's absolutely a fabulous perk of the boys being older! They were glad to have a night off in the room with the tv and ipad. People ask us if we'll have another child, and I just can't imagine starting all over again. I love that they are able to do things for themselves now.
Awesome that you and hubby got to have a dinner out aloneThe food looks amazing and it sounds delicious. I can't wait to hear about your visit to the dark side
It was so nice to have that moment together at Disney World. We hope to extend that in the future by taking a trip just the two of us during the F&W Festival sometime.
The dark side...well, it was an experience! We loved a lot of it, hated a lot of it, and were glad to be back home at the Lodge when it was over!
It was awesome! It was a special moment for us, for sure. And the food was SO GOOD.
Sailormoon2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2015
- Messages
- 1,857
YOur room was ready at 6am?? That it is Magical indeed. LOL!
How sensible, and convenient. US I am impressed
OH Me TOO!!!!
OH Me Three!!!
And now, I feel like maybe we were actually twins separated at birth. I am actually having "words are our inexhaustible source of magic" (Deathly Hallows) tattooed across my shoulder, because I love her work, and also because I teach English, and for better or worse, I truly believe that.
I am really loving your report. Thanks for taking the time to write.
missangelalexis
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2012
- Messages
- 7,703
Your date night dinner sounds like it was lovely!
Love your Are you afraid of the dark reference
Looks like you're having so much fun so far at Universal!
Love your Are you afraid of the dark reference
Looks like you're having so much fun so far at Universal!
xlsm
Snow White
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2013
- Messages
- 4,122
Good moring, All!!
Getting this update in early today because I have 8 million and a half things to do today! My dad, stepmom, 2 sisters, and the fiance of one sister are coming to visit. We've lived in our current area for over 3 years, and they've never been here. They only live 2 hours away.
My mom, stepdad, brother and SIL visited for the first time last December. They live 3 and a half hours away.
I've been back to visit them all more than a few times.
Where's the fairness, people??
I also have an eye appointment, need to mow our backyard, make potato salad, prep the other food for tomorrow, clean everything, drink heavily, and cry. That takes up time, you know?
Ok, here's the update...
Chapter Five Part Two
One thing I did not touch on enough in the previous update was how it felt to walk through those bricks for the first time. I had goosebumps, my skin was tingling, I had very real tears in my eyes, and my mouth was hanging open.
Guys.
It's amazing. For real.
I mean, I get emotional at Disney multiple times during our trips there, but nothing beats that first sight of the castle on your first trip ever, right? The first moment inside Diagon Alley was one of literal shock and awe. No photos that you see will hold a candle to the real thing. Diagon Alley is like a living, breathing, thing. All of the pictures fall flat. You are completely transported from the real world. Nowhere else in the two Universal parks do you get that feeling. Not even in Hogsmeade (which is cool...Come on, HOGWARTS is there!).
Just wanted to throw that out there.
Ok, so we had resisted the pull of the Dark Arts and made our way out of the dark, creeptastic Knockturn Alley. Good for us.
What to do next??
Buttah Buttah Beer, Ya'll!
This stuff is darn good. Darn good. Amen and Hallelujah.
X and DH had theirs frozen, L and I did not. We all agreed we preferred the non-frozen version. One thing we did not expect was that the Butterbeer is actually quite filling. None of us were able to finish the whole thing, which was pretty sad, because it tastes so good!! I'd describe it sort of like cream soda and butterscotch.
We stood around on the corner, looked in some windows, and snapped some pictures
(Yes, another dragon/Gringotts photo.)
before going in here:
Ollivanders!!
After opening about a zillion different wand boxes and ooh-ing and ahh-ing over all of them, we moved on to
Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.
L was adamant that he wanted school robes for his birthday, so the kids tried some on
A witch came over to help us find the sizes we would need, she was well into her character! L took this VERY seriously. He wanted the robes immediately to wear them around the parks.
Um, no. It was HOT.
He picked out his Ravenclaw robes, but we made him wait to get them until we were done for the day.
We had two more stops to make before hopping on the train to school.
First we freaked out over everything in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes
Pygmy Puffs!! Puking Pastilles!!
So much visual stimulation!!
Quality Quidditch Supplies, broom dealer extraordinaire:
We couldn't handle it anymore, it was time to go next door to King's Cross.
Hedwig!! *sobbing*
There's the Hogwart's Express!!
OH MY GOSH I AM ON THE HOGWART'S EXPRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We traveled through the English countryside, heard the Trio outside talking and saw their shadows, had our windows frozen over by a Dementor, and more.
It was awesome.
Next Part coming soon!!
I've gotta get some housework done guys, sorry!!
See ya real soon!
Getting this update in early today because I have 8 million and a half things to do today! My dad, stepmom, 2 sisters, and the fiance of one sister are coming to visit. We've lived in our current area for over 3 years, and they've never been here. They only live 2 hours away.
My mom, stepdad, brother and SIL visited for the first time last December. They live 3 and a half hours away.
I've been back to visit them all more than a few times.
Where's the fairness, people??
I also have an eye appointment, need to mow our backyard, make potato salad, prep the other food for tomorrow, clean everything, drink heavily, and cry. That takes up time, you know?
Ok, here's the update...
Chapter Five Part Two
One thing I did not touch on enough in the previous update was how it felt to walk through those bricks for the first time. I had goosebumps, my skin was tingling, I had very real tears in my eyes, and my mouth was hanging open.
Guys.
It's amazing. For real.
I mean, I get emotional at Disney multiple times during our trips there, but nothing beats that first sight of the castle on your first trip ever, right? The first moment inside Diagon Alley was one of literal shock and awe. No photos that you see will hold a candle to the real thing. Diagon Alley is like a living, breathing, thing. All of the pictures fall flat. You are completely transported from the real world. Nowhere else in the two Universal parks do you get that feeling. Not even in Hogsmeade (which is cool...Come on, HOGWARTS is there!).
Just wanted to throw that out there.
Ok, so we had resisted the pull of the Dark Arts and made our way out of the dark, creeptastic Knockturn Alley. Good for us.
What to do next??
Buttah Buttah Beer, Ya'll!
This stuff is darn good. Darn good. Amen and Hallelujah.
X and DH had theirs frozen, L and I did not. We all agreed we preferred the non-frozen version. One thing we did not expect was that the Butterbeer is actually quite filling. None of us were able to finish the whole thing, which was pretty sad, because it tastes so good!! I'd describe it sort of like cream soda and butterscotch.
We stood around on the corner, looked in some windows, and snapped some pictures
(Yes, another dragon/Gringotts photo.)
before going in here:
Ollivanders!!
After opening about a zillion different wand boxes and ooh-ing and ahh-ing over all of them, we moved on to
Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.
L was adamant that he wanted school robes for his birthday, so the kids tried some on
A witch came over to help us find the sizes we would need, she was well into her character! L took this VERY seriously. He wanted the robes immediately to wear them around the parks.
Um, no. It was HOT.
He picked out his Ravenclaw robes, but we made him wait to get them until we were done for the day.
We had two more stops to make before hopping on the train to school.
First we freaked out over everything in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes
Pygmy Puffs!! Puking Pastilles!!
So much visual stimulation!!
Quality Quidditch Supplies, broom dealer extraordinaire:
We couldn't handle it anymore, it was time to go next door to King's Cross.
Hedwig!! *sobbing*
There's the Hogwart's Express!!
OH MY GOSH I AM ON THE HOGWART'S EXPRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We traveled through the English countryside, heard the Trio outside talking and saw their shadows, had our windows frozen over by a Dementor, and more.
It was awesome.
Next Part coming soon!!
I've gotta get some housework done guys, sorry!!
See ya real soon!
xlsm
Snow White
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2013
- Messages
- 4,122
YOur room was ready at 6am?? That it is Magical indeed. LOL!
It was unexpected for sure! I didn't think it'd be ready at all, and wasn't sure I'd ever see what we'd paid for, lol! But we did, and I think we'd actually stay there sometime. It was a beautiful resort.
How sensible, and convenient. US I am impressed
Definitely!!
OH Me TOO!!!!
OH Me Three!!!
And now, I feel like maybe we were actually twins separated at birth. I am actually having "words are our inexhaustible source of magic" (Deathly Hallows) tattooed across my shoulder, because I love her work, and also because I teach English, and for better or worse, I truly believe that.
I am really loving your report. Thanks for taking the time to write.
I am so glad you are enjoying the report!! And it's nice to FINALLY find you, long lost twin!!
Although now I'm horrified that you teach English because I'm not making much of an effort to use any sort of proper grammar or sentence structure or...anything really.
Go easy on me, please, LOL!!
We liked a lot of things about Universal, but it sure wasn't Disney. But...we crammed everything into one day. We all agreed that we'd maybe go back, but ONLY if staying onsite and spreading it over a couple of days.
It was fun, and worth it, and a totally different vibe from what we're used to.
I have a LOT more to come!!
Your date night dinner sounds like it was lovely!
Love your Are you afraid of the dark reference
Looks like you're having so much fun so far at Universal!
High Five for getting my reference!! I watched that show everyday after school on Nickelodeon. I've heard rumblings that it's on Hulu, but I haven't looked yet.
jandlinz
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2010
- Messages
- 711
Great updates. So sorry your plans at Epcot got changed. It looks like everyone had a great day. Your pick a pearl necklace is beautiful. It is definitely something I want to do with my dd next time we visit.
Your dinner looks amazing at Artist Palette. What a great way to end the day!
I'm enjoying your posts about Universal. I've only been once, but that was a long time ago. I'd like to take the kids, but think they may be too young. Having to get a locker would drive me crazy and we would need a diaper bag. Can't wait to see what else you do.
Your dinner looks amazing at Artist Palette. What a great way to end the day!
I'm enjoying your posts about Universal. I've only been once, but that was a long time ago. I'd like to take the kids, but think they may be too young. Having to get a locker would drive me crazy and we would need a diaper bag. Can't wait to see what else you do.
coloredimage
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2009
- Messages
- 1,331
So, your DH and I have very similar tastes when it comes to Artist's Point lol the only difference was my dessert! And your drink sounds so good and I'm kind of sad I got a glass of wine and not a cocktail now.
Gah I'm so jealous! We may be ("we" being my mother and I) to WWoHP if we have to go down to Florida in October but it's not set in stone yet. I've been to the original section at Islands of Adventure but not the newer Diagon Alley section yet and I'm dyiiiiiiiiing to go! Also: very proud of your son's choice in robes (I may have a Ravenclaw tie with my keys on them, also may call my car a Tardis because it's Tardis blue but it may secretly be named Rowena. Y'know, secretly.)
Gah I'm so jealous! We may be ("we" being my mother and I) to WWoHP if we have to go down to Florida in October but it's not set in stone yet. I've been to the original section at Islands of Adventure but not the newer Diagon Alley section yet and I'm dyiiiiiiiiing to go! Also: very proud of your son's choice in robes (I may have a Ravenclaw tie with my keys on them, also may call my car a Tardis because it's Tardis blue but it may secretly be named Rowena. Y'know, secretly.)
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