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

[natebenma]

Continued from previous post

We debated about whether we wanted to brave the rain, which was coming down pretty hard, and head back out to the theme parks anyway. We talked about buying ponchos (who knew we would need these in the winter!), but ultimately we decided to stay put.

We camped out in the lobby - here are some pictures of the cool memorabilia


Love this Saxophone Chandelier









We had a deck of cards. We played BS and poker. A waitress came around and we ordered drinks- Ben got a Shirley Temple and Nate had a soft drink. I think Mark and I just had water. We eventually ordered some food from the bar menu:



Fried Alligator




Pot Stickers




When we were done eating and playing cards, we stopped back in the lounge for dessert and drinks on the way back to our room: churros, rugula and cookies











All in all, we actually had a pretty enjoyable family night, kicking back and playing cards together.


We just hoped the rain would stop by morning so we could hit the parks once again.

.

 

[Wood Nymph]

That sounds you had a very nice night. it is nice to have some down time sometimes.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Sounds like a great evening. Sometimes the rain can work wonders for simply slowing the pace of things so you get to enjoy the unexpected pleasures like a game of cards. Bit weird about the kids in the corridor- who does that- locks their youngsters out of the room??
While I've heard of poker I've never heard of the other card game but sounds like you all had fun

 

[Disney before Sally]

I would have had a few French Kiss drinks. Did you enjoy the fried alligator? Yum!

 

[pas130]

I like the idea of being stuck inside with the family for a little, snacks and dessert SCORE! Fried alligator, hmmmm. Looks yummy. The last storm that hit when we just got off the boat from PBH we hit the movie theater. It was DHs idea, but an awesome one...we saw Despicable Me 2 and had all you can eat popcorn, plus my bag was stocked with cans of soda and bottled water. When the movie was over the T-storm was gone! LOVE HRH and all the memorabilia!! Can't wait to go back (except arriving at HRH means our BC trip is over)

 

[pas130]

I just realized I didn't comment on the girls being stuck in the hallway, UGH why were they alone!

 

[KatMark]

Sounds like a perfect way to spend a rainy night (well except for the kids pounding on the door).

Did they replenish the offerings at all?

 

[afwdwfan]

The lounge, and even the hallways, were very crowded. We were able to sample a few meatballs and fried macaroni and cheese, but then those selections were wiped out by the crowds. They switched over to BBQ chicken skewers, but I’m not sure we had an opportunity to try those. The crudité platter and cheese and crackers were all gone. There were corn chips, but the salsa was empty

That would be disappointing. I mean, it isn't like you paid for Club Level just to get some snacks, but the fact that you're paying extra for it and not getting it would be a disappointment. I get that the rain likely caused more people to head to the lounge, but you'd think they'd see that happening and be a little more prepared.

As we were walking back and forth to our room with our plates, we encountered 3 kids who looked to be about 5 years old. They were banging on a bunch of doors saying “I think these are our rooms” There were also some older girls, about 9-10 years old, eating outside in the hallway. I got the impression that they were locked out of their rooms. No clue where any of the parents were.

Who do you think locked them out???

When we were done eating and playing cards, we stopped back in the lounge for dessert and drinks on the way back to our room: churros, rugula and cookies

Well, at least they had the important things!

All in all, we actually had a pretty enjoyable family night, kicking back and playing cards together.

Not bad at all. Good way to salvage a wet evening.

 

[SarahDisney]

Walk through the parking lot, until you spot a 'break' in the trees/bushes on your right. There is a pathway hidden at parking spot #627. A short path to the parks comes out near the bus stop at City Walk.

Good to know! But now I'm wondering if there's a significance to the fact that it's spot #627 ... (at Disney there would be, at Universal I'm not as sure)

The lounge, and even the hallways, were very crowded

Well ... rain.

As we were walking back and forth to our room with our plates, we encountered 3 kids who looked to be about 5 years old. They were banging on a bunch of doors saying “I think these are our rooms” There were also some older girls, about 9-10 years old, eating outside in the hallway. I got the impression that they were locked out of their rooms. No clue where any of the parents were.

Because leaving your kids unsupervised in a hotel is a great parenting move ...

Ben got a Shirley Temple

Man, I haven't had one of those in years! At my friend's bat mitzvah party (15+ years ago) that was the specialty drink for the kids ... I must have had like 3 or 4 of them.

All in all, we actually had a pretty enjoyable family night, kicking back and playing cards together.

Sounds like it! I find that on family vacations you're sometimes trying to fit a lot in and you don't always have time to kick back and spend time as a family, so I'm glad to hear the rain gave you that opportunity!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I am finally finding time to get caught up on my subscribed threads. I just realized that I read your update on the school trip but I forgot to comment. Come to think of it, I don't know if I commented on the Hawaii trip report either. Dang it! Oh well, know that I'm caught up on those two as well.

You know that I have problems/issues with doing nothing or having down time. But, with a nice resort like the Hard Rock to spend that time in, I would probably be good with it.

 

[natebenma]

That sounds you had a very nice night. it is nice to have some down time sometimes.

We enjoyed the quiet evening much more than I thought we ever could.

Sounds like a great evening. Sometimes the rain can work wonders for simply slowing the pace of things so you get to enjoy the unexpected pleasures like a game of cards. Bit weird about the kids in the corridor- who does that- locks their youngsters out of the room??
While I've heard of poker I've never heard of the other card game but sounds like you all had fun

The part of the evening with the lounge was kind of annoying. We don't really enjoy crowds (yes, but we still vacation at theme parks) and especially crowds made up of rude and/or misbehaving people.

Finding a quiet place in the lobby to play cards really helped salvage the evening.

BS: Use a deck with all cards including Jokers. Deal out to everyone playing. The goal is to discard all of the cards in your hand. The person with the Ace of Spades starts. Then you go around in order and put down the number of cards you have in sequence. Player two puts downs 2s and says how many they are setting down. If you don't have 2's, you set something down and lie. If someone calls you on it (by saying "BS!"), and you did not put down what you said, you take the cards in the pot. Otherwise, the person who called you on it has to take the pot. You can put down more cards than you say if you sneak them in. You can't end with a Joker. It has to be the actual card(s) that are next.

If you do put down the wrong cards, or more than you said, once the next person has played, you say "Peanut Butter" to let everyone know you lied. I don't know why "Peanut Butter"

I would have had a few French Kiss drinks. Did you enjoy the fried alligator? Yum!

The French Kiss did sound good, but I am not much of a drinker.

Yes, the fried alligator was tasty. Yummy sauce, too. The boys really enjoyed trying it.

I like the idea of being stuck inside with the family for a little, snacks and dessert SCORE! Fried alligator, hmmmm. Looks yummy. The last storm that hit when we just got off the boat from PBH we hit the movie theater. It was DHs idea, but an awesome one...we saw Despicable Me 2 and had all you can eat popcorn, plus my bag was stocked with cans of soda and bottled water. When the movie was over the T-storm was gone! LOVE HRH and all the memorabilia!! Can't wait to go back (except arriving at HRH means our BC trip is over)

I just realized I didn't comment on the girls being stuck in the hallway, UGH why were they alone!

Wow! I took so long with my response that you are no longer at HRH (and have an extra stop after BC)

Great idea to dodge the thunderstorm! How was Despicable Me 2? I actually haven't watched all of the original yet. Tried to watch before one of our trips, but kept falling asleep.

I really dislike the families who think that going on vacation means a vacation from parenting! Not cool!

Sounds like a perfect way to spend a rainy night (well except for the kids pounding on the door).

Did they replenish the offerings at all?

We had a surprisingly great night!

Well, they replaced the meatballs with chicken (I'm guessing they ran out of the meatballs that were on the menu) but we didn't hang out to see what else they might have restocked. Too crowded in there!

I am finally finding time to get caught up on my subscribed threads. I just realized that I read your update on the school trip but I forgot to comment. Come to think of it, I don't know if I commented on the Hawaii trip report either. Dang it! Oh well, know that I'm caught up on those two as well.

You know that I have problems/issues with doing nothing or having down time. But, with a nice resort like the Hard Rock to spend that time in, I would probably be good with it.

I'm with you! It is really hard to settle down when you are on vacation. I don't sit still well at home and I certainly don't like to have down time on vacation. But sometimes you really have to go with the flow, and man was it ever flowing that night!!!

All good!

 

[natebenma]

That would be disappointing. I mean, it isn't like you paid for Club Level just to get some snacks, but the fact that you're paying extra for it and not getting it would be a disappointment. I get that the rain likely caused more people to head to the lounge, but you'd think they'd see that happening and be a little more prepared.

We never did make it to the lounge for appetizers when it was nice out so we don't know how they did stocking with regular crowds. Fortunately, the snacks were not the most important thing for us about club level- the breakfast is, and as long as we were there right at opening we were able to get seats and there was plenty of selection then. At least for the first 10 minutes. Then they ran out of chocolate frosted donuts.

Who do you think locked them out???

Good point!

Well, at least they had the important things!

Always nice to have some sugary sweets before bed!

Not bad at all. Good way to salvage a wet evening.

It was a very good night! Better than being soaked and cold!

:

 

[natebenma]

Good to know! But now I'm wondering if there's a significance to the fact that it's spot #627 ... (at Disney there would be, at Universal I'm not as sure)

I hadn't thought about that! No, I don't think there is a significance. I don't even think it is a Universal-sanctioned shortcut. I think people have just worn a path there over the years.

Well ... rain.

Yeah, rain. Or as I like to say "Instant idiots. Just add water!" But that usually is when driving.

Because leaving your kids unsupervised in a hotel is a great parenting move ...

Always!

Man, I haven't had one of those in years! At my friend's bat mitzvah party (15+ years ago) that was the specialty drink for the kids ... I must have had like 3 or 4 of them.

The boys really like Shirley Temples. When we are at an all inclusive resort, that is the drink of choice when they get sick of the virgin frozen stuff.

Sounds like it! I find that on family vacations you're sometimes trying to fit a lot in and you don't always have time to kick back and spend time as a family, so I'm glad to hear the rain gave you that opportunity!

It was a nice change for us.

:

 

[pas130]

Wow! I took so long with my response that you are no longer at HRH (and have an extra stop after BC)

Great idea to dodge the thunderstorm! How was Despicable Me 2? I actually haven't watched all of the original yet. Tried to watch before one of our trips, but kept falling asleep.

I really dislike the families who think that going on vacation means a vacation from parenting! Not cool!

See what happens when I am left unattended Dee I am somewhat rethinking the GF stop....but as my DH says...."Let it Go" or what that Elsa? Hmmm Am I rethinking the switch from HRH...ummm of course...but I do love PBH so it's all good Despicable Me two was just as good as the first. They play the first one on Disney XD sometimes which cracks me up. My father actually bought us the DVD from the first movie because he said "this is my girls" and they are! Looks and personality, it's like I should be asking for royalties. Here's a pic from 7/2013 at the character breakfast (I was chasing my littlest down the hall)

 

[natebenma]

See what happens when I am left unattended Dee I am somewhat rethinking the GF stop....but as my DH says...."Let it Go" or what that Elsa? Hmmm Am I rethinking the switch from HRH...ummm of course...but I do love PBH so it's all good Despicable Me two was just as good as the first. They play the first one on Disney XD sometimes which cracks me up. My father actually bought us the DVD from the first movie because he said "this is my girls" and they are! Looks and personality, it's like I should be asking for royalties. Here's a pic from 7/2013 at the character breakfast (I was chasing my littlest down the hall)

That is a GREAT picture! Thanks for sharing and I'm so glad you didn't crop it!

I'll try to check out the movies before we return to Universal at the end of August. We have only been on the Minions attraction once. I really want to check it out again, and it would be even better if I was familiar with the movies!

 

[natebenma]

Wednesday February 18

The rains that came through the previous night cleared out, but brought the COLD!

After breakfast in the lounge, we used our newly discovered shortcut to City Walk. I'll have to time it door to bag check when we are there in August.





We made it to Islands of Adventure for 8 am "rope drop" and once again, the line through the turnstiles was looonnnggg and slowwww!













We headed right to Forbidden Journey, and just like every morning the wait was about 30 minutes.




Notice in the above picture that Ben is the only one not wearing a jacket or sweatshirt.

We all rode Flight of the Hippogriff
















Continued in Next Post

 

[natebenma]

Continued from Previous Post

Mark, Nate and Ben wanted to ride Dragon Challenge, but this is not one of my favorite rides, so I sat it out. But I did go through the line with the boys, because there are spectacular views of Hogwarts castle and there is some really some neat Goblet of Fire theming.

















But then I waited at the area that overlooks the ride and watched and took pictures.

Here's my guys:






When we were done with the rides in the Wizarding World, we went to check on the Hogwarts Express to Universal, but alas, it was not running. So we exited out of the WWoHP via Jurassic Park.





As we were walking through this area, Ben realized he was cold. We passed by a stand that had Jurassic Park sweatshirts, and after getting a promise from our soon-to-be high schooler that he would indeed wear a jacket with the JP logo, I shelled out the $46 for one. He has continued to wear it after returning home.




Continued in Next Post

 

[natebenma]

Continued from Previous Post

We walked right through the Toon Lagoon area- no way were the water rides attractive to us this morning.

Since I didn't ride Dragon Challenge, I was up to riding Hulk. Ben was not. He stayed behind and took pictures of the ride, and then a few from the nearby Picture Spot area.






























Continued in Next Post

 

[natebenma]

Continued from Previous Post

We circled back to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and finally the Hogwarts Express was running.











We did not have a private train car like we had before. Instead, we were paired up with a couple of women who instead of sitting on the same side in the car, sat in the two seats closest to the window screen. And they were talking during the ride while simultaneously videotaping the ride.



Next Up: Universal Studios and Burgushi for lunch

 

[MEK]

The sun did not shine
It was too wet to play
So we stayed at the Hard Rock
The rest of the day

Bummer to the cold and rainy day! We had a Disney day like that. If I'm not mistaken you were there during some really cold weather. I remember it was really cold the morning after I arrived and then gradually warmed up a bit, but was persistently overcast all week.

So I guess the concierge's lounge turned into feeding time at the Costco sample booths. Glad you were able to find something to enjoy.

The next morning after the rain looks lovely, even if it was sweatshirt weather. I ended up buying not one, but TWO sweatshirts when I was there.

I see the Hulk and I wonder if I will be up for that challenge when I finally make it there next February.

Fun pictures!