A Birthday Trip without a Birthday - 2/16: Conclusion and Bonus Birthday Tea

[nodnol]

Hi Katharina! It truly is a small world if we can be reconnected after 20 years on the Disboards! And it was you, not Magdalene, that I recognized right away! (well hoped it was you! )

I guess I should have a look at our pictures from that trip to the US, I can't imagine I still look like I did then

 

[marvali]

Hi there, I just wanted to remind a certain someone that there still is a TR to write
And I wanted to share with you that I had to mark today in our calendar (we do that when one of us does or says something very much contrary to what he or she did or said before). When I told my DH tonight about a close friend who is planning a trip to Paris and DLP, he said in a kind of jealous voice "Oh, I want to go to Eurodisneyland too" THAT was the first time ever he said he would really want to go to a Disney park Okay, a bad day at work might have helped the wish to just be somewhere else...

Hi ladies! You both have been very quiet lately on email and the DIS, so you must both still be very busy!

Katharina, such great news on the DLP trip and hubby! I know you are excited that he is finally coming around!

 

[lovealldisney]

Hello??? Anyone there???? Hope everything is alright??? We miss you ......

 

[brookelizabeth]

Well, we already have a plan - but very much in the future. We plan to go to France 2013 in the summer, to Normandy and Bretagne with a stop at DLP.

Sounds LOVELY! We hope to be there, and in Germany eating brats and pretzels with you and Magdalene, in 2014. It will be a multi-country trip hopefully!

I hope you are both doing well!

 

[Poolrat]

Hope all is good but just busy.....

 

[englishrose47]

Hope all is good but just busy.....

Me too!!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Hi everyone, I am just busy - and mainly with good stuff. Like right now I am packing because I am going away on vacation!!

 

[englishrose47]

Hi everyone, I am just busy - and mainly with good stuff. Like right now I am packing because I am going away on vacation!!

Glad you are okay !!Enjoy your vacation Details PLEEEEESE!!!

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

I just read your entire TR. Joining in, can't wait for more!

 

[tiggrbaby]

Hi everyone, I am just busy - and mainly with good stuff. Like right now I am packing because I am going away on vacation!!

Have safe and magical travels!

 

[glennbo123]

Hi everyone, I am just busy - and mainly with good stuff. Like right now I am packing because I am going away on vacation!!

Have a great time Magdalene! Check back in here when you can.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Hi everyone, I am just busy - and mainly with good stuff. Like right now I am packing because I am going away on vacation!!

Have a fantastic time!!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Ok, it has been ages, but I think I should not just leave this sitting here... There are still a few things that I want to talk about and I certainly want to finish the report about our day at Universal! But, first replies:

Your Universal updates are getting the boys really excited for a visit!

Thanks a whole lot!

So, are you going to Universal?? I know that we talked about and I am afraid that I forgot. I know Glenn and family are going.

Also, I just noticed your ticker says 0 days until your trip - are you at WDW now???

You had a great experience. Low crowds in the AM and then going back later in the afternoon for another low crowd time.

I may have to add some Universal/ IoA time soon. :

I think you would love Universal/IoA. I have heard wonderful things about the nighttime show they added at Universal for the summer, so that would be an additional incentive to go there. Also, I think you like your thrills and those parks certainly deliver on them...

LOVE the pictures of Honey Dukes! I think I would spend a fortune there! Nice update and I was thinking you would eventually get rain

Got your email and will reply post haste

Yes, it was really difficult not to spend too much at Honey Dukes, there were so many cute things. But then I did not want too much candy which I would end up eating... And knowing that you have to transport it all back to another continent is also a good way to not go crazy...

But I think in the end both Katharina and I spent more money at Universal on souvenirs in that one day than we did at WDW during the rest of the trip.

 

[Flossbolna]

Okay, now that I've finally finished my New Years TR I guess I should get on to my other two trips last year. I don't want you finishing this one before I can post about at least some of the common parts of our trip! I already let jenbear get ahead of me on hers..........

Hmmm, I was going to say at the rate of my speed over the last months, you are not in danger of me finishing before you. But then you weren't the fastest writer either...

Better safe than sorry. Still, given the stories I've heard about the crowds, it's amazing you had such a great experience!

And I admit it: the puking guy in the window made me laugh.

It seems that crowds really vary at Universal. I have read the board for Universal here on the DIS quite a lot before the trip and it seems that in the off season you can get days nearly as empty as ours regularly during the week. Also Sundays are supposed to be pretty good. And the common tip is to do WWoHP last as everyone goes there first when they arrive and it then empties out towards the evening.

The puking guy was hilarious!

Fun update! How magical really, with the low crowds, just wonderful that you were able to go back and experience so much.

There are other refreshments though...pumpkin juice...hog's head red and a slew of other things on tap, beer wise. Interesting tidbit. Apparently when the Hogs Head opened, they had a full bar. People apparently imbibed too much or overstayed their welcome so they got rid of all the bar stools (looks like they've since come back in your picture but there were none there when we went) and changed it to beer (and I assume wine) only as the alchoholic offerings.

We truly had a fantastic time at WWoHP due to the non existing crowds!

Interesting what you say about the Hogs Head. Maybe the other drinks will return at some point, like the bar stools did? I think there is a great opportunity for fun creations of mixed drinks!

 

[Flossbolna]

I am still here and reading along! I had slowly caught up over the past few weeks, reading when I could. Loving your Universal/IoA report! I really want to try this park sometime soon, I know Henry would adore the Dr. Suess area.

Hope you get to go there soon! I am sure that Henry would love Dr Seuss. There is also a ride in the Jurassic Park section that is only for kids which sounds very cute. You actually need to bring a kid along to be allowed to go on it as an adult.

This isn't all that uncommon of a sight here in Queens! It usually isn't that much stuff, but I can think of 3 locations, right off the top of my head, that I walk past often with stuff chained to a pole. A grocery cart in one of them, and a stroller in another! The other one is just a bunch of junk. It's a homeless persons' stuff, and they want to keep what they do have as safe as they can. Kinda sad... but interesting that Universal has it as part of their theming! I do wonder if that is there all year long...

I still don't know whether it is for Halloween Horror Nights or permanent... Thanks for the explanation that it is actually not totally out of the extraordinary.

Thanks for the great thought on IoA. It would definitely be a "conflicted" trip - both of my boys would be absolutely gung-ho to get on every ride ... so would I ... so would Jamie ... but my daughter would be a "no" to a LOT of them. So we'd definitely end up with some "juggling" on our hands. I'm going to check-out Cynthia's experience ... thanks for the referral.

Glad that you are enjoying the pictures! So, have you made up your mind whether to take the family there or not? I guess it can always wait a few years. The older the kids get, the more likely they will enjoy all the thrill rides.

Wow, looks like a lot of fun! I can't wait to visit!

Thanks for all of your pictures and posts.

Yes it is lots of fun - and now your trip is just around the corner!! I am really looking forward to hearing your thoughts about it!

 

[Flossbolna]

Hello??? Anyone there???? Hope everything is alright??? We miss you ......

I am here!!!

Sounds LOVELY! We hope to be there, and in Germany eating brats and pretzels with you and Magdalene, in 2014. It will be a multi-country trip hopefully!

I hope you are both doing well!

I am really looking forward to your trip to Europe!! I just had two friends from the US visiting here and it is always great to be able to help people visiting Germany! Be sure to get in touch once you start planning, I can certainly help with coming up with an itinerary that makes sense (as in seeing interesting stuff without tiring yourself out).

I just read your entire TR. Joining in, can't wait for more!

Great to have your here. Unfortunately you signed up when things were very slow, but I hope to get the speed up now again!

 

[Flossbolna]

Glad you are okay !!Enjoy your vacation Details PLEEEEESE!!!

Have safe and magical travels!

Have a great time Magdalene! Check back in here when you can.

Have a fantastic time!!!

Thanks for the good wishes! The trip was great. Getting back into normal life was a bit hard, especially since I started with a stomach bug...

But now summer has started (even though the weather is a mixed bag here) and I think before the trip is one year ago, I really should get this TR here finished!

 

[Flossbolna]

The last update ended with us spending the time before park closing enjoying a deserted WWoHP...

And then when we left it started to sprinkle again and then it changed over into rain. It still wasn't 7pm, but we decided that we still wanted to have another look at the Christmas shop so, headed back to the Port of Entry in the rain...

There I got a huge shock because the one ornament I had really liked had sold out. But luckily, I found another very cute one. It was really cute on my tree last Christmas!

And then it was time to leave the park. However, that still wasn't the end of our Universal day. We still had a dinner planned at Tchoup Chop at the Royal Pacific Resort – one of Universal's resorts themed of South Pacific Islands.

But first we had to get there. We had retrieved our bags with our change of clothes from the lockers at the entrance and by now it was park closing, so a lot of people were coming out of the park, but it was also raining very heavily. I knew that we could walk and we had seen the start of the foot path this morning. It was also rather warm still. But it was definitely pretty wet. We also knew that we could take a boat (with a roof) to take us to RPR and we kind of knew where the boat would leave from. We kind of guessed that quite a few people would want to get on the boat... So – we decided to brave it and walk through the rain. We knew that we would get into our nicer (and dry) clothes at RPR anyway before dinner. So we took our umbrellas and walked along a very lovely path. At one point we met a very lonely guard (the bag check point for those coming from RPR) and he told us that it wasn't very far to the hotel. And it really wasn't. It would have been a beautiful walk if it hadn't been so wet. But even in the rain it wasn't too bad.

We did feel a bit awkward to walk into the lobby dripping wet, but immediately disappeared into the ladies room and when we reappeared we did look much more appropriate for the lovely hotel!

Up Next: Dinner at Tchoup Chop

 

[lovealldisney]

Hi Magdalene!

Glad to see you posting again... Bummer about the rain it's no fun when you're on vacation. Looking forward to your restuarant review.

 

[nodnol]

I'm so glad you decided to finish the report. It is now so lang ago, I have the feeling I don't remember very much and I'm quite anxious to read the report and what YOU remember!