Fun, Sun & Strong Water Rum...*Yo-Ho*...23 Nights @ Sapphire Falls...A May 2022 TR

[schumigirl]

This is the best thing ever!! So nice of you to do this for her! Also, what a cool service at Walmart!!! I will have to check that out.

Your teppenyaki looked good! I never thought to sit away from the tables though lol I think I might like it better too!!

We were impressed by his art work, and all in a few moments!! Very talented guy, I assume all the franchise guys have the same high standard.

Oh we`ll never go back for the tepenyaki now, if you`ve seen it once, you`ve seen it all. We much prefer sitting at a regular table. Yes, the food was delicious!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

That salad at Kobe was the smallest I've ever seen! Everything looks absolutely delicious.
I do have to say, Celebration looks a bit...sad. I shouldn't say that as I've never been, but just seems off somehow to me.

I do admire your restraint in the Christmas store. I am a sucker for most Christmas things and have a lot that never makes it out each year.
There are worse hobbies

I really think you can't get too much relaxation on a vacation. Isn't that the whole point of going?!

 

[schumigirl]

That salad at Kobe was the smallest I've ever seen! Everything looks absolutely delicious.
I do have to say, Celebration looks a bit...sad. I shouldn't say that as I've never been, but just seems off somehow to me.

I do admire your restraint in the Christmas store. I am a sucker for most Christmas things and have a lot that never makes it out each year.
There are worse hobbies

I really think you can't get too much relaxation on a vacation. Isn't that the whole point of going?!

lol.......yes, teeny tiny salad, but the dressing was lovely.

Celebration is sad.....that`s probably what I was trying to say but failed badly.....it is a weird place, too many tourists for sure. The guy we know that lives there wants him and his family to move out, but just not possible right now. For us, we may go back at some point for a wander, but it`s not high on our list for places to go back to visit.

I was soooo tempted in that store......Tom admired my restraint!!

Yes, we loved how relaxing this trip was overall

 

[Cara]

Still very much enjoying your report. Side note: I DESPISE potatoes in my Hibachi dishes. I have no idea why, but just BLECH. I always feel it is a cheap and out-of-place filler.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I am back and all caught up and also hungry (between work and me having a big birthday its been a chaotic week and change since I last was on the boards!)

First off: stop making me hungry lololololol! Seriously though I love reading and seeing the food photos!

Secondly: as always beautiful photos!

I am so sorry to hear about you horrible meal at BigFire! It was one of our best meals on our most recent trip (and my sincere apologies to Tom as that mussels appetizer is AMAZING!)

Gotta love a Worfiedoodles couple cameo!

Also love what you did with the shirt for Lindsay! So thoughtful and you can tell from the photos she appreciated it!

As for the nosey woman in the lounge: why?!?!?!?!

Can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip!

 

[schumigirl]

WEDNESDAY MAY 18TH​

Today was the day we took the least amount of pictures ever!! I was amazed as even when we don`t do much, we always seem to still have loads of pictures!

This morning we headed over as usual for breakfast and yes, I am a creature of habit and did enjoy some champagne along with toast and cream cheese with grape jelly and fruit....weird mix with champagne, but pleasant all the same.

We headed out after breakfast to meet up with a friend for a couple of hours, just to chat and catch up and then we were fortunate to be meeting up with the lady we ran into a few nights ago in Sapphire.

Tatiana had been one of the supervisors in the Club Lounge for a few years before leaving Loews and we had always got on so well with her and kept in touch, but email mix up meant we had lost contact but we were sorted now as we had the correct ones and phone numbers too. So today we were meeting her for lunch in her favourite Peruvian restaurant, and we were so excited to try this place. We had studied the menu and knew exactly what we were having. Neither of us had been to this type of restaurant before, so it was all new to us.

This view from the bridge over the I-4 has changed so much over the last years, the skyline looked very different in 2007. For the better of course.

The best laid plans.

We had agreed to meet Tati at 11.30 and as is usual, we were early and when we pulled in to the parking lot the restaurant looked closed and one man was there with his daughter looking in the window and trying to see if anyone was around, and the place was deserted.

There was a sign on the door that seemed to say it had closed down which wasn`t good.......lol.......I sent Tati a txt to ask if this was the right place, it was and she said she`d be there in 2 minutes. She pulled in almost immediately and said yes, the place had closed down........she had checked and they said they`d be open, but it wasn`t. So, we had a last minute decision to make as to where to eat and we both suggested Hash House a Go Go, purely because it was so close, so we both drove up there and parked.

I have to admit, we really don`t like this place a whole lot. For us, it`s portion size over substance and not much more, but it is very popular.

Some of the staff were lovely, the lady who took us to our booth was nice and of course we did get a picture of us together before we studied the menu.

Tati and I both ordered different Margarita`s with an extra shot and Tom got his favourite strawberry lemonade.........

I`m not thrilled with the food here generally, and again the food is secondary when you`re meeting up with friends, chatting, laughing and having fun is much more important.

Tom went for some Chorizo Hash with over easy eggs........not something I`d ever order so he was safe from me wanting a taste!!! The melon seemed a little lost in there somehow.

He didn`t touch the tortilla as it was just too much food. He struggled as it was with the portion in front of him.

Eventually I decided to have the Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich, there wasn`t much else I would have opted for on the menu as the portions are just mahoosive......Tati ordered the same dish as me as she did like the sound of it too.

The chicken was nice, it was spicy for the parts of the chicken that had the coating on it, it was well cooked I have to say but the size of it put me off.

Yes, you can eat what you want and leave what you don`t want, and we don`t ever take away leftovers, but this place is not somewhere we`d go back to again. However, this chicken was nice, fries were ok and drinks were decent.

Tom did enjoy what he ate of his.

We sat well over the 2pm closing time......oops.......they were nice though and said if we didn`t mind them cleaning we were ok to stay and chat which was fine by us, although a couple of members of staff were clearly annoyed which is fair enough.

Eventually we did say our au revoirs for now.

We`d had a lovely time chatting and catching up with Tati......and we`d make sure we saw her in September too. She is so much fun and I`m sorry she is not with Loews anymore.

We headed off to ABC wines in LBV now as we wanted to buy a gift for Chef Carlos for preparing the lovely tasting menu from last week, we had asked Fernando to find out what he liked, if there was any particular thing he liked to drink and we`d get him something special if we could.

This is a very nice store and the staff are incredibly helpful if you need anything. We had a good old wander around and picked up what we hoped would be a good gift for such a lovely man.

By the time we got home it was almost 4.30pm, so we dropped some stuff off in the room, Chef wasn`t working tonight so we`d give him the gift another evening.

We wandered over to the Club Lounge and sat there for a couple of hours and Tom could get some wine as the weather had changed and didn`t look good for tonight, so we would stay onsite and eat later in Strong Water again.....always a pleasure for us to eat there.

Around 7.30 we went back over to Strong Water and we got a table tonight and the lady who seats you made sure we were in Maggie`s section which is our favourite section to sit in as she is so lovely.

We opted to have some wine tonight as we`d had a few over in the lounge, so chose two glasses of Cabernet and ordered the BBQ pork dish we love so much, we planned to share it and have desserts later.

Maggie also brought out a dish that was a special that night from the other Chef who was on tonight, it was Yam based and Maggie said we had to try it and it came with the same garlic mojo sauce the bbq pork had.

The Yam dish was incredibly dense and very filling. I`m not sure I`d order this one, purely for how filling it was as it was rather tasty, but the bbq pork is absolutely wonderful.

The evening was passing so nicely, we got some chats with several of the staff and heard one of the ladies who has worked there for ages had left.

Brittney had told us she was thinking of changing careers and she did. We would miss her a lot, but she pops in now and again, so hopefully we`ll see her at some point. Then the lovely Maria who is the manager in Orchids came over to see us and told us she was leaving too!!!! Now that was a shocker. Never expected that and we would miss her a lot too. We hadn`t managed to get over to Orchids again this trip, and she had looked to tell us earlier as she didn`t want to tell us in an email.......so sad face emoji`s all round there. She will do very well where she is going. She said she`d see us before we left regardless.

So many losses of good folks.....

And it was getting busier as there was rain and lightning going on, so no-one was sitting outside tonight.

Dessert was shared between the two of us......the white chocolate ice lolly and the Tres Leche cake......

We both enjoyed dinner and dessert tonight and once we had said our (long) goodnights to everyone we headed back to our lovely room and again, watched the weather, caught up with some emails and internet while we watched some tv.

This had been a very low-key day......we had met up with two friends and enjoyed some good food and I think we were beyond relaxed right about now.......

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Sorry you ended up at Hash House, I agree they give you too much of something you don’t want a lot of…but so glad you had that lovely meet up!

Everything at Strong Water looks so delicious! I did love that white chocolate treat, I ordered it after your recommendation

It is a shame when people move on, so nice to see some of the same faces every time.

It was a lovely relaxing day

 

[schumigirl]

Still very much enjoying your report. Side note: I DESPISE potatoes in my Hibachi dishes. I have no idea why, but just BLECH. I always feel it is a cheap and out-of-place filler.

Thanks Cara.....appreciate that.

Yes, potatoes have no place on your plate with Japanese food.......I agree, it`s a cheap filler I can well do without.

 

[schumigirl]

I am back and all caught up and also hungry (between work and me having a big birthday its been a chaotic week and change since I last was on the boards!)

First off: stop making me hungry lololololol! Seriously though I love reading and seeing the food photos!

Secondly: as always beautiful photos!

I am so sorry to hear about you horrible meal at BigFire! It was one of our best meals on our most recent trip (and my sincere apologies to Tom as that mussels appetizer is AMAZING!)

Gotta love a Worfiedoodles couple cameo!

Also love what you did with the shirt for Lindsay! So thoughtful and you can tell from the photos she appreciated it!

As for the nosey woman in the lounge: why?!?!?!?!

Can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip!

Belated birthday wishes BH.......hope it was a good one

Food pics at the wrong time of day can be a nightmare.....but, love em!!!

Yes, we should have listened to friends about BigFire, it`s just not for us and we can get good mussels anywhere so it`s not essential for us to go back. I`m glad you enjoyed it though.

She did love the teeshirt! I was so happy to see her reaction, she was genuinely shocked by it and loved the sentiment behind it.

Oh nosey folks......we`ve met more than a few people who we don`t know or barely know who think they can ask us anything, then get offended when we don`t answer them! Rude. But, you can usually spot them a mile away.

Thank you for the lovely comments, I`m glad you`re enjoying it and will pass on the comment on the pictures to Tom......

 

[schumigirl]

Sorry you ended up at Hash House, I agree they give you to much of something f you don’t want a lot of…but so glad you had that lovely meet up!

Everything at Strong Water looks so delicious! I did love that white chocolate treat, I ordered it after your recommendation

It is a shame when people move on, so nice to see some of the same faces every time.

It was a lovely relaxing day

Yes, we would loved to have tried the Peruvian place, Tati has mentioned it several times and how authentic it was, but we will try it at some point as it is open again. Hash House is another place we won`t return to. But, we`d have been happy meeting her anywhere.

I`m so glad you enjoyed that dessert, it`s so gorgeous!!

Oh we have seen so many folks come and go over the years from the hotels, but fortunately we keep in touch with a good few, and we`re happy about that. At least they`re usually moving on to something better for them.

It was another lovely day for us for sure

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Belated birthday wishes BH.......hope it was a good one

Food pics at the wrong time of day can be a nightmare.....but, love em!!!

Yes, we should have listened to friends about BigFire, it`s just not for us and we can get good mussels anywhere so it`s not essential for us to go back. I`m glad you enjoyed it though.

She did love the teeshirt! I was so happy to see her reaction, she was genuinely shocked by it and loved the sentiment behind it.

Oh nosey folks......we`ve met more than a few people who we don`t know or barely know who think they can ask us anything, then get offended when we don`t answer them! Rude. But, you can usually spot them a mile away.

Thank you for the lovely comments, I`m glad you`re enjoying it and will pass on the comment on the pictures to Tom......

Thank you! It was a big one (though to most people i probably still look like I'm in college/grad school-blessed with good genes and great skin!)

Nightmare but love em is right!

I can totally see how BigFire is not for everyone! My dad has been finding it hard to find good seafood dinners as well (though my bday dinner he was very happy he got to have a salmon dish which he said was delicious-salmon is the one fish i consistently try and consistently hate!) It is one of our faves though, and I know many of my friends would enjoy that food. Sadly we never got to try the smores platter that night as we were stuffed and tired!

Surprise gifts are often the best!

Was once in Six Flags for a day trip when some guy got really nosy and weird with our group-very bizarre.

You're welcome! and hi Tom!

 

[schumigirl]

THURSDAY MAY 19TH​

We were both up very early this morning, not Early Entry early hours.....that`s a little much for us as we have never wanted to do EE in all our visits, with EP for us, we just don`t need to do it, and being brutally honest, never, ever wanted to do it.

With EP the guide is, you should wait no more than 20 minutes, of course exceptions can happen like a ride breaking down, protein spill where cleaning is necessary or it`s an extremely busy time and for the most part we have never waited longer than 10-15 minutes unless the cause was one of the previous reasons. So, we are more than happy with using EP to get through all the rides without having to get up ridiculously early. Obvious exceptions are Hagrid`s and Velocicoaster for now.

We showered quickly this morning and headed over for our breakfast.....couldn`t start the day without eating something, I`m always amazed when folks say they can do 3 hours before wanting to eat.....wow!! I`d be chewing the walls after that length of time.

Sapphire has the brightest and lightest of all the hotel lobbies, and it`s very rare you see it as empty as this, usually there are several folks wandering and more waiting on either checking in or their transport away, so we grabbed a couple of pictures as it was almost deserted.

Once in the lounge we enjoyed some of the lovely fruit kebabs on offer again today, everyone seemed to enjoy them instead of regular diced up fruit, although there was some diced up melon too below.

And yes, champagne too for me!! I think everyone was surprised how early we were compared to usual, not that we`re late, but this was not our usual time.

We didn`t stay for very long in the lounge this morning and walked to IOA. We had to go round the outside of th epool instead of cutting through it and going out the gate onto the walking path as the pool didn`t open till 9am this morning, so we walked towards the boat dock and cut onto the pathway from there.

Always a beautiful walk to the parks, and it was boiling this morning!!! This almost felt like September temperatures and certainly there was a little bit of humidity in the air as we walked.

One of the benefits of staying in the closest hotels is being able to walk gives you a security check on the path, or before getting on a boat which saves a lot of time over folks who walk from the parking garage. The one on this path is right before the side of Margaritaville and only takes a few minutes to put your bag or whatever you are carrying through the scanner and you walk through a metal detector.

There were lines for the main gates and they were quite long, so we were very glad of the seperate EP entrance off to the left of the main gates as there was no-one there apart from us and the three TM`s operating the scanners.

Once in I am already feeling the intense heat.....and of course I can`t complain darn it!!! Even Tom admitted this morning was a roaster and more akin to what we`re used to in September as opposed to May.

Port of Entry, as I`m sure folks who read most of these knows I love this area......it`s beyond colourful and full of intricate detail that I`ve posted so many pictures of over the years and not least the little turtle doves near the window sign mentioning David Codiga who among others oversaw the design, development and construction of both parks and so much more over the years, another nice nod to folks who are responsible for these amazing parks.

We head straight into the store today, mostly to cool down....this was going to be uncomfortable this morning, but we did want to purchase a few things and get them sent back to the room which is another perk we love of staying onsite, and they do go straight to your room the next day, not just to the resort. So, we picked up what we wanted, mainly gifts for others little ones and also Kyle wanted a hat......lol.....simple ask, so we bought him the dark blue hat with Universal embossed into it, he likes plain things not anything with too much detail. I have the white one but not for him. The TM will take your details and hotel and ask if you`re leaving the next day, if you are they won`t allow you to send it to the hotel as they can`t guarantee it won`t be there by the time you leave.

We do like a good wander round the store and they do have a very good Potter merchandise selection.

Tom wanted to go on the Hulk this morning, I would usually walk through the line and take the chicken exit if I wasn`t riding. I do like this ride and have been on it many times, but a little like RRR, that last part knocks my head a little funny. It`s annoying as I do love that ride.....that take off is exceptional!!

But today I tell him I`ll take the camera and he tootles off on his own, with EP there was barely a line to be seen.

I love these flowers......they are in several areas around the parks and when they are in full bloom, they are stunning.

I do just manage to capture Tom on the Hulk today......I really hadn`t expected him to be on the ride so quickly, but I was pleased all the same.

But, this was the new beastie on the block we just wanted to ride whenever we were in this park now. We couldn`t wait to ride again today and had decided to ride it regardless of the length of the line.

When Tom found me he asked if I wanted to go on Dr Doom, and chicken that I had become I said no. I did want to, but couldn`t, I was going to have to get over this fear......I thought if I could ride the Velocicoaster, I could ride Dr Doom??

Instead we played it safe and rode Spider-Man. I was surprised to see the regular line was as long as it was since it was still fairly early, but we hot footed it into the EP line and we rode this one twice before moving on. This is a fun ride. There is one part, maybe two where if you suffer from motion sickness it might hit you, on these parts I focus my eyes on one spot on the ride vehicle, or if there`s someone in front of you, focus on the back of their head and do the old ballet/ice skater trick of just focussing on that one spot as you spin.....works for me. Some folks can close their eyes, but that is the worst thing to do for me, everyone will deal with vertigo/motion issues differently.

But, we won`t miss this ride for anything. Transformers is a similar ride, but the pixellation is different and I cannot ride that without feeling nauseated, so I don`t do it anymore. It`s not the throwing you around that causes dizziness and so on, it`s the movement on the screen itself.

Toon lagoon is another colourful place filled with little gems I have often missed, some of them in my face, but they`ve still eluded my line of sight somehow....I do think at time I`m not the most observant walking round the parks

As a child in the UK, growing up I had never heard of Dudley or Bullwinkle for that matter until we first went to Universal. I have no memories of these shows ever being shown when I was a child, I have lots of memories of Scooby Doo and so on, but these, nope and no-one my age has any memories of them either. So I have no real affinity to the ride or memorabilia surrounding them, we do enjoy Dudley as a ride though......it has a very good drop!

Again, Betty Boop.....we know her, but I don`t think I`ve ever seen a cartoon of her. Funnily enough I woud say almost the same of Mickey Mouse....we did have the Wonderful World of Disney on tv once a week in the UK, but have no memories of his cartoon being shown, only the classic Disney movies of course. So, no affection there either for us.

Flash Gordon sign.........this always makes me smile for a couple of reasons.......

This was the sign I didn`t notice till we had visited about 178,000 times!!! It was one of those moments, a bit like the balloon in the store in POE I hadn`t noticed.......I pointed and said, oh that`s new......lol.......

My other reason is, I adore Freddie Mercury and Queen, but Flash Gordon is my least favourite song of theirs......but, whenever I see or hear Flash........this comes to mind!!!!

What a superstar Freddie really was

We were in the parks too early to head down to behind Bluto`s barge ride this morning and I was disappointed as we love going down there, first watching folks get drenched on the barges, and also just seeing and hearing that amazing coaster we`d soon be riding again today. You are so close to the ride there, you can make out individual faces as they either contort in complete happiness or in complete terror......and you can hear the screams and sometime curses of the riders which is so funny, but overall you can see and hear the excitement of everyone. Other closest place to do this is behind the 3 Broomsticks where you can sit and just watch and listen too. It`s a lot of fun!!

Today we made do with a picture with Popeye in it and a picture of Blondie`s which we still hadn`t managed to eat in this trip either....I doubted we`d do it now.

I completely forget if we just didn`t go on Kong this morning or if it was one of the days it was down for a while as we were passing, regardless it was a pass for us today again. I do think once a trip is enough for us on this ride. It is good, certainly better than F&F or Jimmy Fallon, but then that wouldn`t be too hard......dreadful rides.

Right about now I wondered if my husband had ever met me before as he made an off the cuff comment.........

We had stopped and had sat down to have a drink we had bought, I was commenting how much I was loving this trip and how it was wonderful to be back and generally praising the hotel/ parks/food and everything inbetween, when my ever loving husband remarked we only had 5 full days left before we went home...........

Why???? Seriously, this was what you were telling me right now!!!!! I almost went speechless for a nano second!!

He excused himself as having a senior moment and forgot his audience ......yeah, we don`t need any reminders like that!!!

The reality was he was right, 23 nights sounds a lot, and it is, but it was now passing quicker than we`d have liked and it was getting nearer to getting home. I did give him a disapproving scowl now and again after that.......he thought it was funny!!!

We moved along and realised just how much many little areas in the park were changing slowly from what they had been previously.

Burger Digs is a place we don`t eat in either, food just never made the cut for us, but they now have extra seating outside so it must be popular enough I`m glad to say.

I don`t like these fairground type stalls that for me are out of place in the parks. I`m sure they are moneymakers for them, but I wish they weren`t situated around certain areas, although to be fair, some folks do like them as you do see plenty of folks having a bash....and usually failing badly!!!

Coming up......Potter and we ride the Velocicoaster again!!

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

I love the Spiderman Boyfriend tshirt you gave Lindsey!!! It was the perfect gift and very thoughtful!!!

 

[schumigirl]

Thank you! It was a big one (though to most people i probably still look like I'm in college/grad school-blessed with good genes and great skin!)

Nightmare but love em is right!

I can totally see how BigFire is not for everyone! My dad has been finding it hard to find good seafood dinners as well (though my bday dinner he was very happy he got to have a salmon dish which he said was delicious-salmon is the one fish i consistently try and consistently hate!) It is one of our faves though, and I know many of my friends would enjoy that food. Sadly we never got to try the smores platter that night as we were stuffed and tired!

Surprise gifts are often the best!

Was once in Six Flags for a day trip when some guy got really nosy and weird with our group-very bizarre.

You're welcome! and hi Tom!

I must admit to usually getting seafood in specialist restaurants only, generic places tend to serve frozen which is not the best. We love Scottish salmon, very biased towards that of course!!

I do wonder what makes folks not realise they are crossing boundaries.....as Joey would say "you`re so far over the line, the line is a dot to you"...only if you know Friends quotes of course......lol.....but people amaze me constantly what they think is ok to ask and it is a little creepy.

We`ve met folks in the lounge for example who we have clicked with immediately and a natural conversation emerges and we all share info, and we love that, we`ve made some very good friends that way. But that`s different from creepy, I know what you mean.

Tom says hi back.....

 

[schumigirl]

I love the Spiderman Boyfriend tshirt you gave Lindsey!!! It was the perfect gift and very thoughtful!!!

Thank you Nancy!!! I did enjoy how happy she was with it......

Hope you`re doing ok, good to see you....

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I must admit to usually getting seafood in specialist restaurants only, generic places tend to serve frozen which is not the best. We love Scottish salmon, very biased towards that of course!!

I do wonder what makes folks not realise they are crossing boundaries.....as Joey would say "you`re so far over the line, the line is a dot to you"...only if you know Friends quotes of course......lol.....but people amaze me constantly what they think is ok to ask and it is a little creepy.

We`ve met folks in the lounge for example who we have clicked with immediately and a natural conversation emerges and we all share info, and we love that, we`ve made some very good friends that way. But that`s different from creepy, I know what you mean.

Tom says hi back.....

Love Friends-was watching friends when I probably shouldn't have lol-it ended when i was in middle school! Its so horrible with the boundary crossing! And yes I love having little random polite conversations-when i go to the theatre alone I have always met some lovely humans who are usually also seeing the play alone or their spouse and their friends are down in the orchestra and they are the designated driver and got a last minute ticket in the mezz next to me!

I do not blame you for being biased-some of the best seafood i had was when I was in Ireland (take me back someone please)!

Hi Tom!

 

[schumigirl]

Friends is certainly an institution we all quote far too often.......lol.......that and the Big Bang Theory.........bazinga.......

I love chatting to folks, everyone has a story and it`s so interesting to chat to folks from all over the US and beyond, and I do believe most people are genuinely nice...there`s always the odd one who isn` t though, but you can spot them a mile away usually.

The UK waters have some of the best seafood around, but I`d love to try some seafood from Maine.........those "lobstahs" would tempt us........lol......love that Boston accent!!!!

 

[schumigirl]

Heading round to go on the best coaster in Orlando, we always stop for some pics of the castle from most angles and this is one that really needs the trees cut back a little, but it`s a nice view heading out of the Jurassic area and into Potter.

At this point we heard a woman yelling out "leave it alone".......we turned around and saw this beautiful bird being harrassed by an overexcited toddler who surprisingly, the parents were laughing.....I`ll bet they wouldn`t have been laughing if the bird had pecked the kid. The woman was irate and had a go at the parents for allowing it, they didn`t seem overly bothered I have to say, but we kept walking at this point in case this intesified into somethign more......it`s always uncomfortable seeing any altercation.

Who doesn`t love this view of the Castle!!!

I always wish they had put in a special suite of rooms, like Cinderella Castle in MK has.

I imagined a suite of rooms for special occasions or special guests that you can`t book, you have to be chosen and it was all Hogwart themed just like the books. The bedroom would be a lot nicer than the one they shared in the movies, there would be a huge traditional four poster bed and matching furniture that would have a warm and cosy look, and the Gryffindor common room with the huge fire would make a lovely sitting area......but, they didn`t, so I would just have to imagine what it could have been.

Hogsmeade was busy, as in really busy this morning....we just weren`t used to seeing crowds like this but we managed to navigate them just enough to see the line for Hagrids was over 100 minutes, guess we wouldn`t be riding that today.

So, we wandered a little around Hogsmeade and got some pictures, albeit quickly as there were just so many people around and everyone wants pictures, so we don`t hang around long at each picture op.

We risk the wrath of the Gatekeeper who was the same man who was on the door on our last trip and bellowed at us we couldn`t sit down inside the 3B`s....not that we were planning to anyway......

​

This was rather unusual for a Universal TM to be honest as we never come across TM`s who are grumpy, but this guy broke that rule.

We hurtled round to the Velocicoaster at this point as we just couldn`t wait any longer, we`d head back to see the new Halloween boutique that had opened a few days before after we had been on the coaster......

The line was around 35 minutes and it was almost exactly a 35 minute wait. The slowest time was at the lockers where folks just didn`t seem to have a clue today and the poor TM`s who were trying to keep everything flowing and then at the scanners, there were a couple of men who had items in their pockets they shouldn`t have including a phone.....he argued he wanted a picture from the ride apparently.......lol........he lost that argument.

You have to feel for the TM when they have to waste time arguing with folks who think the rules don`t apply to them.

But, we were off up the stairs and the line did move well for the ride.....we do like the pre show with Chris Pratt so that helps it pass too and you don`t notice waiting really.

I`m not as nervous going on the ride today, it always seems to be the first time after a gap of riding I do tense up a little, but today I just wanted to get on it. No front row for us but we did get the back again and on asking the folks behind us quickly asked us if the back row was fun and worth doing.......

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They were first timers I think, but hope they asked for the back at some point as it is completely breathtaking. Yup, the front is also good, and to be fair there isn`t really a bad seat....but the airtime on the back is just incredible!!

I do love that tense few moments when you have pulled the harness down and know you can`t back out now......and it does cross my mind on occasion that I really do want to get off, but before you can actually try to escape you are being propelled forward and then in another second or two, you are off and flying with the wind around the most amazing ride in the parks, maybe even in Orlando.......

The exhileration never fades and each and every twist and turn still brings on that high you experience as you come out of your seat dropping or be out of that same seat as you are completely upside down facing the green of the water which is probably the biggest scream from all riders....even more than the part it revs up before we go over the top hat!!!

There isn`t a single part of this ride we don`t love. Except the part we stop and have to get off.

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You come off this ride so completely euphoric all you want to do is ride it again and again....and then some more!! But, sometimes I can only do these rides a few times, so twice was enough this morning....and it was also hotter than hades so we knew we wouldn`t be in the park for long today......and of course neither of us could complain.......lol......

We reluctantly walked away and headed round to the 3B`s to get a Pumpkin Fizz to share.....it`s a little too sweet to drink one on my own, so we always share it, and we go and sit round the back of the 3B`s to watch and listen to everyone enjoying that amazing ride.

This is one of the best places to see the close up reactions of riders......and hear them having so much fun too!

The newest addition to IOA was the ever changing spot beside the Mystic Fountain that was once the dreadful magic show that thankly is no more......but last week it had reopened as a Beach themed Halloween Boutique......we had passed it and hadn`t gone in, but today we needed to see it for ourselves.

It certainly was beach themed in the weirdest and most wonderful way!!!

I envisaged Boris Karloff turning in his grave if he could see this display....or then again, maybe he`d love it.......

They do these themed areas so well......once your eyes adjust to just how dark it is in there there are some cute little details.

I do regret we didn`t buy any of the sauces or seasonings they were selling in here. I think we`ll get some in September to try them, we did pick up some candles with the preverbial Halloween theme of course. One or two weren`t pleasing, but we got two we liked.

And then I had one of those moments.....it was a weird déjà vu moments.....well, it was only weird to me really.......and now I think on it, wasn`t that weird at all.......

The whole place had a funny sort of retro vibe and as I was looking around I spotted something that took me right back to my childhood.

When I was around 9, someone gave us this exact tray with Florida on it......I hadn`t thought about it or even remembered we had one way back then, and didn`t even remember knowing anyone who had gone to Florida back in the late 70`s......and it was just odd seeing something so nostalgic I had completely forgotten about after all those years.

I asked my mum if she remembered it and she did, but like me had no clue who gave it to us. It had obviously been discarded many years previously but it was just funny seeing something so obscure from my childhood. I can still see it sitting on the counter top in the kitchen from one of my childhood homes .....mum used to bring us mugs of hot chocolate with that tray, I`m sure she used it for other stuff, but that memory sticks more than others.

We did eventually remember an aunt and uncle had given it to us......took a while though to think about that!!!

More to come.........

 

[Minnie17]

Hi! Still here and have so enjoyed reading about your most recent travels. Hope you are doing and planning more travels!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Frank and his bride soaking up the sun was one of my favorite store displays! I also bought the candles -- a few more than 1 or 2 as I found some in other areas I liked as well. You might think I have a candle problem, but I figure there are worse things to hoard

I love that you found that nostalgic Florida tray! How fun that you had one growing up! I thought for sure you were pointing to the old-fashioned scuba helmet. I remember seeing those on Scooby Doo

Hogsmeade seemed to be so very crowded this time. It's like everyone in the park had to get their Potter on at once. That makes me think an OI event would be a great opportunity to feel fully at ease in the area.

I love how happy you are coming off of Velocicoaster! I'm afraid that would not be my reaction, but I'm a big chicken

And I completely understand skipping the 100-minute wait for Hagrid's. I do love that ride, but No, Thank You. I think once they make it Express Pass eligible I will be riding it regularly