wilma-bride
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- Joined
- Jul 13, 2005
- Messages
- 22,681
Friday 27th August 2010
Firstly, an apology. Unfortunately, I forgot to take our camera charger on holiday with us so my camera battery died early this morning and we had no method of charging it. Clearly, we couldnt spend the rest of the holiday not taking photographs so we had to rectify it (which we did later today), however I dont have many photos from today, Im afraid.
Thanks to a busy day yesterday and plenty of alcohol last night, I slept straight through until 6am, a veritable miracle for me.
As Gary was still sleeping and we were in no rush this morning, I got dressed and wandered down to the lobby, where I left a message at reception for my friend, Margaret, who was arriving today.
I got an OJ and croissant in the Orchid Lounge, where they serve continental breakfast items and tea/coffee from 6am, and sat to enjoy my breakfast and read some of my book.
Here are some bonus pictures of the hotel (taken during our stay) to make up for the lack of other photos. Normal service will be resumed in the next episode.
Hotel lobby
The entrance to Tower 1
Jake's Bar
Islands Dining Room
Fountain area at the back of the lobby
Tower 1 from outside
At 7.30 I went back to the room and woke Gary. We showered, dressed and wandered down to the boat dock around 8.45 to catch a water taxi.
Our plan for today was to visit Universal, then head off to do a bit of shopping.
At the gate, we were held up by a man in front of us who was clearly trying to use someone elses ticket (he admitted it wasnt his) and kicking up a fuss. Sensing it was going to take some time, we decided to use a different turnstile (not before waiting a little while to enjoy the entertainment though
).
Once through the gate, we went straight to Rip Ride Rockit and rode twice with no wait. I was mortified when, on the second time round, I had a major wardrobe malfunction while the coaster was upside down (embarrassed smiley). Gary wanted to watch the video to see if it was shown but I wouldnt let him.
Just as we were exiting the ride, a man stopped us and asked if wed been at Velvet Sessions the night before. Turns out we were stood next to him and he recognised us. He was just about to buy the video from his ride and I prayed that he hadnt been sat sat anywhere near us
From RRR, it was on to the Mummy and, again, we rode twice with no wait. After a quick breakfast for Gary at the San Francisco pastry company apple Danish and a diet coke it was on to Jaws. We didnt know this at the time but this was to be our last ever experience of the Jaws ride as they have since removed it
Carrying on around the park, we rode MIB twice and I whooped Garys butt both times. Apparently, the second time, I just got lucky. Whatever!
As wed done everything we wanted to for now and it was getting really hot again, we decided to skip over to Islands of Adventure. Dont worry, we didnt literally skip that would have been strange and highly embarrassing and I had already done a good enough job of showing myself up for one day.
I really liked the fact that the FOTL (that isnt really but is actually) was allowing us to do our favourites at each park and just hop from park to park. Without it, we would never even think of trying to do the two Universal parks in one day.
In IOA, we rode Dudley Do-Right and Jurassic Park River Adventure. Once we were nice and wet, we took a couple of trips up on Dr Doom for a bit of a blow-dry.
We left IOA and wandered through CityWalk, deciding to have lunch at the BK Whopper Bar. Gary had a Pepper Bacon XT - not sure what the XT stands for? Xtra Thick? Xtra Tasty? I had a chicken tendercrisp. It was pretty expensive for Burger King, I thought, but very yummy all the same.
After lunch, we caught the water taxi back to the hotel. There was a family on the boat with a young girl (about 3) who was having the absolute screaming ab-dabs. Seriously, everybody on the boat was muttering to each other and I had one of my thank goodness its no me and my kid for a change moments. A lady next to Gary nudged him and said Theres an advert for birth control if ever I saw one.
By the time we got back to the hotel, I had a raging headache so I took a couple of Tylenol. We got changed into our swimming stuff and went down to the pool again.
As my headache didnt appear to be dissipating, I decided to try the kill or cure method a cocktail. They were running a special where you could get a double-size cocktail for only 50% extra of the price, if that makes sense. So, essentially, four cocktails for the price of 3 (I think)
We decided to have a couple of Royal Rip Tides and then, when we saw the bill for $40.21 (inc 18% gratuity), we decided to make them last an awfully long time
It was getting gradually more overcast and, around 3.30, it started to rain so it seemed as good a time as any for an afternoon nap. I have to say that, although Im very
fond of an afternoon nap at home, I dont like to do it on holiday as I always feel like there are better things I could be doing. However, we really were getting the best of both worlds we were managing to do what we wanted in the parks in the morning, having a couple of hours of pool time and still had time for a snooze. As it was, I read while Gary napped and, a couple of hours later, we were ready to shop.
After quick showers and a change of clothes, we drove down to Premium Outlets where we bought some trainers for Daniel. Although we wandered around and went into every single beauty/perfume shop, I still didnt manage to get my perfume. A lot of people we asked said they thought it had been discontinued and I began to think I would probably never get it.
By now, we were a tad peckish and decided to try Bob Evans, recommended to us by our friends Tony and Theresa. We located the nearest one, on the 192, and were soon seated in a little booth.
There was so much choice on the menu, we couldnt decide what to have but decided to start with some apple pie fries and cheddar bites.
Gary ordered the pot roast sandwich for his main and I decided to have the special, Memphis spice chicken.
The food was lovely but Tony was right the apple pie fries were too sweet for an appetiser and would have made a better dessert. Gary thought the pot roast sandwich was too cheesy but he doesnt like melted cheese so it probably wasnt
After wed paid the check ($38.57 inc tip), we decided to drive just a bit further down the 192 to the camera shop where Natalie bought a new camera the previous year (after she sat on it at Busch Gardens). As luck would have it, he had a universal charger which my camera battery fit perfectly into so that little problem was solved. We happily parted with the best part of $40 in cash and took the charger out to the car. Handily, it had an in-car charger lead too so we put the battery on to charge straight away.
Next, it was time for this evening's mission - 'Mission Dooney and Bourke. I had fallen in love with the Disney D&B bags after seeing them on the DIS and decided I had to have one. I had set aside some money, before the holiday, specifically to buy the bag and Natalie had given me some money towards it for my Birthday too, so I was so excited now the time had come.
We drove to Downtown Disney and went straight into Tren-D, where I chose THE bag. It did take a bit of time, trying to decide between the smaller and larger of the two I liked and checking the placements on them, however I eventually settled on this one:
I loved it and the girl behind the counter assured me Id made a great choice. Gary just stood to the side, shaking his head and muttering Its just a bag. The girl gave me a sympathetic look and said Guys just dont get it, do they? [rotfl]
Once I had handed over my credit card and signed my life away, the bag was mine. We popped into Guest Relations to check the remaining days on our tickets and then decided to have a celebratory sundae at Ghirardelli. This proved to be a great choice as the heavens opened literally the second we walked through the door. We quickly ordered Mint Bliss, no cream for me and Gold Rush for Gary and tried to find seats. Of course, because of the rain, the place was rammed. As I was looking around, I spotted a lady sat at a table with 3 seats waving me over. There was a gentleman sat at the table too. I went over and she said I was more than welcome to join them. When I explained that there were two of us, they moved the table so it was next to a little ledge inside the window where one of us could perch. It was really very nice of them. They were a lovely couple, from Sarasota, who were there to celebrate their 45th Wedding Anniversary. We ate ice-cream and chatted for a while and then they decided to brave the rain and go off to do some shopping. Andrew, the husband, gave Gary his card and asked him to look us up if youre ever in Sarasota.
We finished our sundaes and then went to World of Disney, where we (predictably) lost each other several times and (sadly) bought nothing.
Back to the car, it was time to head back to the hotel and watch telly for a bit before lights out at 11pm. I am now the proud owner of a Disney Dooney and Bourke bag!!!
Firstly, an apology. Unfortunately, I forgot to take our camera charger on holiday with us so my camera battery died early this morning and we had no method of charging it. Clearly, we couldnt spend the rest of the holiday not taking photographs so we had to rectify it (which we did later today), however I dont have many photos from today, Im afraid.
Thanks to a busy day yesterday and plenty of alcohol last night, I slept straight through until 6am, a veritable miracle for me.
As Gary was still sleeping and we were in no rush this morning, I got dressed and wandered down to the lobby, where I left a message at reception for my friend, Margaret, who was arriving today.
I got an OJ and croissant in the Orchid Lounge, where they serve continental breakfast items and tea/coffee from 6am, and sat to enjoy my breakfast and read some of my book.
Here are some bonus pictures of the hotel (taken during our stay) to make up for the lack of other photos. Normal service will be resumed in the next episode.
Hotel lobby
The entrance to Tower 1
Jake's Bar
Islands Dining Room
Fountain area at the back of the lobby
Tower 1 from outside
At 7.30 I went back to the room and woke Gary. We showered, dressed and wandered down to the boat dock around 8.45 to catch a water taxi.
Our plan for today was to visit Universal, then head off to do a bit of shopping.
At the gate, we were held up by a man in front of us who was clearly trying to use someone elses ticket (he admitted it wasnt his) and kicking up a fuss. Sensing it was going to take some time, we decided to use a different turnstile (not before waiting a little while to enjoy the entertainment though
).Once through the gate, we went straight to Rip Ride Rockit and rode twice with no wait. I was mortified when, on the second time round, I had a major wardrobe malfunction while the coaster was upside down (embarrassed smiley). Gary wanted to watch the video to see if it was shown but I wouldnt let him.
Just as we were exiting the ride, a man stopped us and asked if wed been at Velvet Sessions the night before. Turns out we were stood next to him and he recognised us. He was just about to buy the video from his ride and I prayed that he hadnt been sat sat anywhere near us
From RRR, it was on to the Mummy and, again, we rode twice with no wait. After a quick breakfast for Gary at the San Francisco pastry company apple Danish and a diet coke it was on to Jaws. We didnt know this at the time but this was to be our last ever experience of the Jaws ride as they have since removed it
Carrying on around the park, we rode MIB twice and I whooped Garys butt both times. Apparently, the second time, I just got lucky. Whatever!
As wed done everything we wanted to for now and it was getting really hot again, we decided to skip over to Islands of Adventure. Dont worry, we didnt literally skip that would have been strange and highly embarrassing and I had already done a good enough job of showing myself up for one day.
I really liked the fact that the FOTL (that isnt really but is actually) was allowing us to do our favourites at each park and just hop from park to park. Without it, we would never even think of trying to do the two Universal parks in one day.
In IOA, we rode Dudley Do-Right and Jurassic Park River Adventure. Once we were nice and wet, we took a couple of trips up on Dr Doom for a bit of a blow-dry.
We left IOA and wandered through CityWalk, deciding to have lunch at the BK Whopper Bar. Gary had a Pepper Bacon XT - not sure what the XT stands for? Xtra Thick? Xtra Tasty? I had a chicken tendercrisp. It was pretty expensive for Burger King, I thought, but very yummy all the same.
After lunch, we caught the water taxi back to the hotel. There was a family on the boat with a young girl (about 3) who was having the absolute screaming ab-dabs. Seriously, everybody on the boat was muttering to each other and I had one of my thank goodness its no me and my kid for a change moments. A lady next to Gary nudged him and said Theres an advert for birth control if ever I saw one.
By the time we got back to the hotel, I had a raging headache so I took a couple of Tylenol. We got changed into our swimming stuff and went down to the pool again.
As my headache didnt appear to be dissipating, I decided to try the kill or cure method a cocktail. They were running a special where you could get a double-size cocktail for only 50% extra of the price, if that makes sense. So, essentially, four cocktails for the price of 3 (I think)
We decided to have a couple of Royal Rip Tides and then, when we saw the bill for $40.21 (inc 18% gratuity), we decided to make them last an awfully long time
It was getting gradually more overcast and, around 3.30, it started to rain so it seemed as good a time as any for an afternoon nap. I have to say that, although Im very
fond of an afternoon nap at home, I dont like to do it on holiday as I always feel like there are better things I could be doing. However, we really were getting the best of both worlds we were managing to do what we wanted in the parks in the morning, having a couple of hours of pool time and still had time for a snooze. As it was, I read while Gary napped and, a couple of hours later, we were ready to shop.
After quick showers and a change of clothes, we drove down to Premium Outlets where we bought some trainers for Daniel. Although we wandered around and went into every single beauty/perfume shop, I still didnt manage to get my perfume. A lot of people we asked said they thought it had been discontinued and I began to think I would probably never get it.
By now, we were a tad peckish and decided to try Bob Evans, recommended to us by our friends Tony and Theresa. We located the nearest one, on the 192, and were soon seated in a little booth.
There was so much choice on the menu, we couldnt decide what to have but decided to start with some apple pie fries and cheddar bites.
Gary ordered the pot roast sandwich for his main and I decided to have the special, Memphis spice chicken.
The food was lovely but Tony was right the apple pie fries were too sweet for an appetiser and would have made a better dessert. Gary thought the pot roast sandwich was too cheesy but he doesnt like melted cheese so it probably wasnt
After wed paid the check ($38.57 inc tip), we decided to drive just a bit further down the 192 to the camera shop where Natalie bought a new camera the previous year (after she sat on it at Busch Gardens). As luck would have it, he had a universal charger which my camera battery fit perfectly into so that little problem was solved. We happily parted with the best part of $40 in cash and took the charger out to the car. Handily, it had an in-car charger lead too so we put the battery on to charge straight away.
Next, it was time for this evening's mission - 'Mission Dooney and Bourke. I had fallen in love with the Disney D&B bags after seeing them on the DIS and decided I had to have one. I had set aside some money, before the holiday, specifically to buy the bag and Natalie had given me some money towards it for my Birthday too, so I was so excited now the time had come.
We drove to Downtown Disney and went straight into Tren-D, where I chose THE bag. It did take a bit of time, trying to decide between the smaller and larger of the two I liked and checking the placements on them, however I eventually settled on this one:
I loved it and the girl behind the counter assured me Id made a great choice. Gary just stood to the side, shaking his head and muttering Its just a bag. The girl gave me a sympathetic look and said Guys just dont get it, do they? [rotfl]
Once I had handed over my credit card and signed my life away, the bag was mine. We popped into Guest Relations to check the remaining days on our tickets and then decided to have a celebratory sundae at Ghirardelli. This proved to be a great choice as the heavens opened literally the second we walked through the door. We quickly ordered Mint Bliss, no cream for me and Gold Rush for Gary and tried to find seats. Of course, because of the rain, the place was rammed. As I was looking around, I spotted a lady sat at a table with 3 seats waving me over. There was a gentleman sat at the table too. I went over and she said I was more than welcome to join them. When I explained that there were two of us, they moved the table so it was next to a little ledge inside the window where one of us could perch. It was really very nice of them. They were a lovely couple, from Sarasota, who were there to celebrate their 45th Wedding Anniversary. We ate ice-cream and chatted for a while and then they decided to brave the rain and go off to do some shopping. Andrew, the husband, gave Gary his card and asked him to look us up if youre ever in Sarasota.
We finished our sundaes and then went to World of Disney, where we (predictably) lost each other several times and (sadly) bought nothing.
Back to the car, it was time to head back to the hotel and watch telly for a bit before lights out at 11pm. I am now the proud owner of a Disney Dooney and Bourke bag!!!
