Escaping Snowy New England for Freezing Florida Feb 2015 Final Hours 11/17 p. 23

luvpoohandcompany · Mar 20, 2015

Well as you know I did write a huge post earlier before I ran out to try and catch the Solar Eclipse this morning but like the sun - poof- it disappeared

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I love the look of HRH but was wondering do you just check-in in normal spot with all the non-clubbers or do you get taken upstairs to the concierge desk like royalty? Showed my youngest son all the photos and guess which one I had to go back to for him? Yup the one with with Fruit Loops in it! :rotfl2:

He so misses those cereals when he's not in Florida :rotfl:

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What is up with the bloody mirror :scared1:

but love that I'm a Debbie Harry in the other one :thumbsup2

I really don't get why anywhere would want empty tables in their restaurants? Do they think all of the bookings will arrive at once? Still at least you had a Plan B which actually was Choice 1 for you so :banana:

natebenma · Mar 20, 2015

luvpoohandcompany said:
Well as you know I did write a huge post earlier before I ran out to try and catch the Solar Eclipse this morning but like the sun - poof- it disappeared.
I love the look of HRH but was wondering do you just check-in in normal spot with all the non-clubbers or do you get taken upstairs to the concierge desk like royalty? Showed my youngest son all the photos and guess which one I had to go back to for him? Yup the one with with Fruit Loops in it! He so misses those cereals when he's not in Florida .
What is up with the bloody mirror but love that I'm a Debbie Harry in the other one
I really don't get why anywhere would want empty tables in their restaurants? Do they think all of the bookings will arrive at once? Still at least you had a Plan B which actually was Choice 1 for you so

Sorry about your reply!!!

Did you catch any of the eclipse? :sunny:

We had a beautiful sunrise here, but I missed most of it until I caught the pictures on Facebook. My computer is in the kitchen and there is no east-facing window in here. Gorgeous sunsets though!

No special check-in desk

I think the boys would have been a little more excited if we had been whisked away like royalty!

Too funny with the Fruit Loops!!! :rotfl2:

You could do worse than Debby Harry.

Perhaps they had a lot of bookings for the Cinematic Spectacular dinner.

Plan B coming right up!!!

:goodvibes

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natebenma · Mar 20, 2015

Plan B: Leaky Cauldron

In my last installment, we had just been turned away from an empty Lombard’s Landing because we didn’t have a reservation.

Whatever!!!

We were right across the street from Diagon Alley. I wanted to eat at Leaky Cauldron and this was secretly my first choice for a meal on our arrival day. I explained to my family that it was the same set up as The Three Broomsticks. You order at a counter, and after you have your food, a house elf will help you find an open table.

Miraculously, my family agreed with my suggestion!

I love it when a plan comes together!!!

We ordered our meals-

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We were seated near the restaurant’s namesake:

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Ben and I shared the Ploughman’s Dinner- English Cheese, Crusty Bread, Field Green Salad, Roasted Tomatoes, Cornichon Pickles, Apple and Beet Salad, Branston Pickle and Scotch Eggs

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Mark got the Bangers and Mash

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Nate ordered the Fish and Chips

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We had 2 Frozen Butterbeers and 1 Hot Butterbeer, and two cups of water.

The total for the meal, after applying a 10% AAA discount, was $60.34. I thought this was totally reasonable for a delicious and filling meal. We shared everything and it was all great. My favorites were the Scotch egg and the bangers and mash. The hot butterbeer was a BIG hit with Nate and me, but Mark and Ben still prefer the frozen.

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natebenma · Mar 20, 2015

Continued in Next Post- First Look at “Diagon-al” Alley

With a delicious dinner under our belts, the boys were itching to shoot some aliens over at Men In Black.

But first, let’s do a very quick tour of the newest land at Universal Studios.

“Diagon-al” Alley (get it???)

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Here is a quick overview of pictures from the area.

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Back in “London”

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eandesmom · Mar 20, 2015

Omg I am dying to go!!!!!!! I am really not sure how I can wait till 2017 and definitely can't show the boys these pictures. That meal looked outstanding!

luvpoohandcompany · Mar 20, 2015

Ah good to see we've both had trips to London recently

Saw a wee bit of the eclipse but unfortunately some clouds rolled in just before it was due (Murphy's Law really). They did blow on before the end so at least I got a sneaky peek :goodvibes

Love the diagonal view of the alley :rotfl2:

. Leaky Cauldron's menu and food looks lovely :thumbsup2

I could totally eat there anytime and the decor/themeing is cool too. I've yet to taste butterbeer so can't comment on preferences but it looks good all the same :goodvibes

caralyn817 · Mar 20, 2015

I'm hooked and can't wait to see what happens next.

Disney before Sally · Mar 20, 2015

Wow. Diagon - al alley looks splendid! : o ) The food on Leaky Cauldron menu sounds devine. We would not leave that part of the park. Now I just need to get us there.

natebenma · Mar 20, 2015

eandesmom said:
Omg I am dying to go!!!!!!! I am really not sure how I can wait till 2017 and definitely can't show the boys these pictures. That meal looked outstanding!

Once again, really great theming in the Harry Potter areas! I hope you do get an opportunity to visit before 2017.

Here is one meal I can recommend to YOU! It was really good, I think my second favorite of the trip. I have already suggested Leaky Cauldron to one friend who was there last week (they loved it) and to my brother and niece, who are there now.

::yes::

luvpoohandcompany said:
Ah good to see we've both had trips to London recently
Saw a wee bit of the eclipse but unfortunately some clouds rolled in just before it was due (Murphy's Law really). They did blow on before the end so at least I got a sneaky peek
Love the diagonal view of the alley. Leaky Cauldron's menu and food looks lovely I could totally eat there anytime and the decor/themeing is cool too. I've yet to taste butterbeer so can't comment on preferences but it looks good all the same

Probably fairly similar weather in our two Londons! :lmao:

Too bad your view of the eclipse was, well, eclipsed. :sunny:

I swear we actually heard someone call it "Diagonal Alley"

The two Harry Potter restaurants are brilliantly themed and the food is really good. I'm glad that they are counter service style, but you are seated by house elves so you don't have to fight for a table.

My butter beer preference is 1) hot 2) frozen 3) regular. We didn't try the ice cream on this trip. No desire to for some reason.

caralyn817 said:
I'm hooked and can't wait to see what happens next.

and thank you so much!!!

:goodvibes

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Disney before Sally said:
Wow. Diagon - al alley looks splendid! : o ) The food on Leaky Cauldron menu sounds devine. We would not leave that part of the park. Now I just need to get us there.

Well you have to leave that area sometime- to go to the Wizarding World over on Islands of Adventure.

Great theming in Diagon Alley and the food was fantastic!

:thumbsup2

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Grumpy's Wife · Mar 20, 2015

Dee I just stumbled on this report. I've read several of the others and will be tagging along.

SarahDisney · Mar 20, 2015

Diagon Alley looks amazing!
And I love the "Diagonal" Alley picture

disny_luvr · Mar 21, 2015

The food at the Leaky Cauldron looks really, really good and Diagon Alley looks awesome!

natebenma · Mar 21, 2015

Grumpy's Wife said:
Dee I just stumbled on this report. I've read several of the others and will be tagging along.

So glad to have you back on one of my reports!!!

:goodvibes

:

SarahDisney said:
Diagon Alley looks amazing!
And I love the "Diagonal" Alley picture

Universal did a great job on this area! And so quickly, too. We were there in 2011, when Jaws was still in place. Then 2013, we could see the construction over the walls. And in 2015, we got to experience it ourselves.

So I noticed going back that my "Diagonal" pictures are less blurry than the others in that post. I took those two pictures on our last day. The boys were all waiting in a butterbeer line, so I went off to take a few pictures I wanted. I actually was able to stop and take the pictures, unlike the ones from our first day there, when I had to snap while walking because my family apparently has a motto

"Will NOT stop for photos!"

:lmao:

disny_luvr said:
The food at the Leaky Cauldron looks really, really good and Diagon Alley looks awesome!

The food at Leaky Cauldron WAS awesome! I got to taste a little bit of everything and enjoyed it all. So many incredible details in Diagon Alley. It was crowded though, throughout the entire trip.

:crowded:

MEK · Mar 21, 2015

If I ever get to Universal will you please remind me about the 10% AAA discount. Love your choice for lunch. Glad you got to eat where you secretly wanted to!

Love all the great detail pictures you took. What a super cool looking area! If my plan goes as intended I think I should make it there for a few days NEXT February, after the PHM and after our APs expire!

DisneyKid4Life · Mar 21, 2015

Haha, I never did get into the Leaky Cauldron. The seating is... interesting. I have to admit, this would HAVE to be a better choice for an arrival meal. The fish and chips definitely look good. I never tried the hot Butterbeer. I imagine I'd like it. I tend not to like hot beverages with a meal though.

Seriously, how could there be any thought in not exploring Diagon Alley at least a little?

pas130 · Mar 21, 2015

Oh Dee! I love the looks of the food at Leaky Cauldron. I can't wait to see Diagon Alley!!! So excited! My DH loved the Simpsons area to eat, so many choices. Of course it way his 40th birthday trip and the manager brought him a giant Lard Lad's donut (she said they usually do a cupcake but we are a huge family so he needs to share). I love you back up plan! Strong work Mom! Sorry this pic is HUGE

Wood Nymph · Mar 21, 2015

The food looks really interesting at the Leaky Cauldron. It is nice to go to a restaurant that doesn't have the standard hamburgers and fries. It is nice when the fates intervene and you get to eat at the restaurant that you wanted all along. ::yes::

natebenma said:
“Diagon-al” Alley (get it???)

Diagon Alley looks great and I can see that they matched the way it looks in the movie. The book didn't have crooked buildings in it, at least I don't think it did, but I guess it looks more like a magic world this way. I think my favorite feature is the dragon. :goodvibes

Wood Nymph · Mar 21, 2015

luvpoohandcompany said:
Well as you know I did write a huge post earlier before I ran out to try and catch the Solar Eclipse this morning but like the sun - poof- it disappeared.

Do you look to see if a draft was saved of the post you were writing? The new software saves drafts of your post after a certain amount of time, and you can access the drafts by clicking on the icon that looks like the save icon, the icon located between the camera and the back button. Just go down to the bottom of this thread and click on the icon to see if a draft is there.

ProudMommyof2 · Mar 21, 2015

WOW! I really can not wait to see Diagon Alley!
The Leaky Cauldron looks excellent. I was not that impressed with Lombardi's when we were there.

natebenma · Mar 21, 2015

MEK said:
If I ever get to Universal will you please remind me about the 10% AAA discount. Love your choice for lunch. Glad you got to eat where you secretly wanted to!

Love all the great detail pictures you took. What a super cool looking area! If my plan goes as intended I think I should make it there for a few days NEXT February, after the PHM and after our APs expire!

I will totally remind you about the AAA discount, and even suggest that you put your AAA card in front of the credit card you will be using so you remember. This is my #1 tip for US!

It was a great lunch (well, dinner, I think it was around 5 or 5:30). And everyone loved it, so that made it even sweeter!

Sounds like a plan! Looks like Cynthia is looking to get back there before 2017... If you and Denny are staying on site, perhaps Cynthia could also "stay" in your room (an extra adult charge would apply), and you can all express your way around the parks.

:scratchin

DisneyKid4Life said:
Haha, I never did get into the Leaky Cauldron. The seating is... interesting. I have to admit, this would HAVE to be a better choice for an arrival meal. The fish and chips definitely look good. I never tried the hot Butterbeer. I imagine I'd like it. I tend not to like hot beverages with a meal though.

The tables are a bit close together, but I don't think it is as bad as it appears in the picture. Our seating wasn't too bad.

It was a GREAT arrival meal!!!

pixiedust:

DisneyKid4Life said:
Seriously, how could there be any thought in not exploring Diagon Alley at least a little?

Helloooooo!!! There were aliens that had to be shot! I'm lucky I got the time in Diagon Alley that I did that evening.

On a related note, I seriously considered calling my TR "If I never shoot another #$%@ alien again, I'm good!"

:sad2:

pas130 said:
Oh Dee! I love the looks of the food at Leaky Cauldron. I can't wait to see Diagon Alley!!! So excited! My DH loved the Simpsons area to eat, so many choices. Of course it way his 40th birthday trip and the manager brought him a giant Lard Lad's donut (she said they usually do a cupcake but we are a huge family so he needs to share). I love you back up plan! Strong work Mom! Sorry this pic is HUGEView attachment 83583

You will all love Diagon Alley. Leaky Cauldron was a keeper.

We didn't eat at the Simpson's area, but we stopped for a break at Moe's one afternoon.

Great picture of your DH's birthday gift.

How was the donut?

:goodvibes

Wood Nymph said:
The food looks really interesting at the Leaky Cauldron. It is nice to go to a restaurant that doesn't have the standard hamburgers and fries. It is nice when the fates intervene and you get to eat at the restaurant that you wanted all along.

Diagon Alley looks great and I can see that they matched the way it looks in the movie. The book didn't have crooked buildings in it, at least I don't think it did, but I guess it looks more like a magic world this way. I think my favorite feature is the dragon.

I was much more excited to go to a new and new to us restaurant, and one that was Harry Potter themed, than to go back to Lombards.

The crooked building were my own special touch. :rotfl2:

Yes, the dragon is the awesome! And even better when the fire-breathing effect works. Which apparently is NOT when the dragon is too cold.

ProudMommyof2 said:
WOW! I really can not wait to see Diagon Alley!
The Leaky Cauldron looks excellent. I was not that impressed with Lombardi's when we were there.

We have had hit or miss meals at Lombardi's but really, what better way to start a trip than eating at Diagon Alley!!!

:thumbsup2

Escaping Snowy New England for Freezing Florida Feb 2015 Final Hours 11/17 p. 23

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