Players:
DH - On the late side of 40's
DD - Turning 13 this week - loves all the rides
myself - trip planner - also on the late side of 40's
Left Boston at 6:30- on JetBlue - good flight - like having my own TV though when the person in front reclines the seat it's abit close for comfort. Arrive in Orlando at 9:40. Take shuttle to baggage claim and get bags fairly quickly. First time using National rental car - using Emerald Aisle option - worked out really well - enjoyed just walking over and picking out a car - though line to get out was slow - only 2 cars ahead of us but at least 15 minute wait - better than waiting in a line inside right?
Get to HRH about 11:30 and was able to get right into a garden view room 5129. Almost at the end of the second corridor away from the elevators and ice machine - long walk but found it to be very quiet. Room had 2 queen beds, small table with two chairs, chair/foot stool with it's own light, dresser with 6 draws, large closet with hangers and TV on top with remote. Bathroom with separate vanity area outside of area with toliet and bath/shower. Had good built in hairdryer - ammenties included shampoo, rinse, body lotion and bath/shower lotion. Everything was clean - towels were pretty good - bed was comfortable though pillows were too big and very puffy. Got a cooler from Pubix for $4.99 before checking in and kept drinks for before and after parks using ice from ice machines.
After checking in went to IOA for the afternoon. Took the water taxi over since we knew where that was located but wasn't sure where the walkway was at this point. Had lunch at Margariteville first - pretty quick server - food was decent. Got to see the volcano go off and that was fun to see. Had gotten tickets through RCI - 7 days for the price of 2 - took awhile to figure out which window to hit to redeem the certificate. Was able to walk on to all rides. Hulk and Dueling Dragons were good but not as good as the first time we had visited. Hulk seemed kind of slow actually. Had a good 10 minute wait for the front seat at dueling dragons. Again not as good as the first time but still fun. Maybe because we were all pretty tired. Went on a couple of the water rides before leaving the park so that we wouldn't be wet for too long. Left park by 4pm and went to sit by pool since we were very tired after getting up so early. The weather was cool after 5pm but the water in the pool was pretty warm. My daughter enjoyed the slide and played basketball with some of the other kids. I tried the slide once and it wasn't bad - good way to get right into the water. Pool had two hot tubs - one was crazy hot but it was nice coming out and actually feeling warm in the cool air while we ate dinner. The other hot tub was not as warm but had alot of very small kids in it. Though they were all so cute it didn't bother me other than trying to get around them on the steps into the hot tub. Had chicken fingers and popcorn shrimp from beach club. Chicken fingers were good but popcorn shrimp was just ok. Went to bed early. Had a good nights sleep in a quiet comfortable bed.
Day 2 - luxury - no rush to get to the parks because we had that room key - yeah. What a difference it makes. Decided to have a real breakfast this morning and ate at The Kitchen. Breakfast buffet was pretty good though alittle slow going through the lines. Waiter was great with keeping drinks filled. Food was average but it had just about every type of breakfast food - you could have any type of egg made for you but that seems like it would have taken forever and there was enough other good things to eat. Decided to hit US today and since we had found the walkway after visiting the pool area we walked this morning. Got to the park a little after 9pm after the rush of the crowd. Hit shrek-4 first - loved it - thought it was great - funny and entertaining. Loved the Mummy ride - don't read up on it - just go - a couple of nice surprises. My husband did better than myself or my daughter on MIB. Did this over an over again but never got above 200,000 - my husband was close to 400,000 one time. I guess I should have read the hints for getting a higher score!! We would try to do funny faces for the camera so we could see our pictures. Last time we had visited I loved IOA better but this time US was much better. I guess I like hitting the new rides. Left the park again by 4pm and sat by the pool for a couple of hours. My daughter had the chicken fingers again. I got a frozen drink that I didn't care for - didn't taste right - strawberry margaritta. Got washed up and my husband and I decided to go out and visit one of the other hotels. My daughter wanted to sit in and watch TV instead. Took the water taxi to city walk and then another one to PBH. Was a very cool evening - only high 50's. People getting on water taxi from parks were cold since they had dressed for the warm day. PBH was very nice - seemed so quiet at 6pm or so - they have a very nice pool area (not the main pool area - can't remember that one much - seemed nice for the kids). But I loved the quiet pool area - nice thick cushions on the lounge chairs - I know I would have loved sitting there but not my 13 year old. Wanted to eat at the Italian restaurant but my husband wanted to try city walk. Took the water taxi back and got there around 7:15. Had a fun group on the boat and when celebration started playing some of them starting singing to it so I joined in. We weren't screaming it so I hope we didn't annoy anyone!! It turned out to be a bad time to go since the park closed at 7pm. Everything was crazy. In the end decided to go back to the hotel. Had a nice dinner at The Kitchen. I got a pasta dish that was just ok. My husband had the filet and crab cake. Both were very good. He let me have most of the steak and mashed potatoes and he ate part of my pasta dish. Thought the staff was very good here. Though with 2 beers, one mixed drink and the two dinners and salads before the dinners it was $75.00. I guess not bad for what we got. Went off to bed by 9pm - we are early risers and early to bed people.
Day 3 - decided to go to the deli on the first floor and just get bagels/donuts this morning. Wasn't crowded and had a great selection. I was up early around 6am and at the deli by 7am. Still felt like a luxury since we are usually pushing everyone to get going by 7:30 so we can get parked and over to the park early. No need with the room key!! I think we took the water taxi over this morning - can't remember. Went to IOA again and did the hulk and dueling dragons again and saw the Alantis show - it was ok but alot of walking/standing and we were getting abit tired by then. Had to go to back to US to do MIB/Shek and Mummy one more time. I think we did Margaritta ville again for lunch. Never was near Mythos near eating time so never did get there - my only regret! Again go to the pool by 4:30 or so. Very crowded today with it being Friday - what a difference in the lobby and halls. Had to take some used towels off a couple of chairs to get a seat. No one seemed to take their towels off the chairs when they left.
Got my daughter chicken fingers again since my husband and I wanted to go visit RPH and do a dinner out. My daughter choose to sit in again. Took the water taxi to city walk again and then the water taxi to RPH. We enjoyed the ride and it was usually fairly quick. I wasn't as impressed with this hotel compared to PBH but it still seemed nice. Even though again it was a cool evening there were still families at the pool. As we walked by the restaurant we saw a belly dancer at one of the tables. I think it might have been fun to eat there. I got a frozen drink at the outside bar in a fun plastic cup but it had the same strange taste as the one a HRH. Just something I didn't care for - might have just been me. Actually can't remember what we did for dinner that night - think it was something quick since he had already spent alot of money on food. Back to bed and another day in Florida.
Day 4 - check out day - took our time getting ready - got breakfast at the deli downstairs again. Packed our bags and took a couple of trips down to the car with everything. We were not going to the park that day since we were moving to a timeshare near Disney. It was Saturday and they were going to have the Madi Gras parade so my daughter wanted to come back. Well we go to the timeshare around noon and the condo was not ready. We got the room number (Orange Lake Resort) and went to check it out - seemed like it was the next condo to be cleaned. Went to sit at one of the pool complex. After calling the front desk a few times finally got in a 4pm. Got cleaned up and out the door again by 6pm (had to wait for others that were meeting us to stay in condo). Hoped to grab a quick takeout at taco bell but that turned into 20 minutes in the drive-up. No way to get out of line with cars in front and back of us. No idea what the hold up was. Anyway parked back in the HRH lot by showing the room key. Walked over to the park and tried to go MIB but even the FOTL could not help us - it was a good 15/20 minute wait even for that line and it was only about 40 minutes before the parade - wanted to stake out a good spot. So after switching places 3 times ended up near Jaws in front of a flower pot. It turned out to be a great location (though I'm sure they all were). We got over 105 beads between the 3 of us. Had alot of laughs and really enjoyed ourselves. So even though I didn't want to go all the way back and even though it killed us to hake over 20 minutes to get a 'quick' meal it was worth the effort to see the parade.
DH - On the late side of 40's
DD - Turning 13 this week - loves all the rides
myself - trip planner - also on the late side of 40's
Left Boston at 6:30- on JetBlue - good flight - like having my own TV though when the person in front reclines the seat it's abit close for comfort. Arrive in Orlando at 9:40. Take shuttle to baggage claim and get bags fairly quickly. First time using National rental car - using Emerald Aisle option - worked out really well - enjoyed just walking over and picking out a car - though line to get out was slow - only 2 cars ahead of us but at least 15 minute wait - better than waiting in a line inside right?
Get to HRH about 11:30 and was able to get right into a garden view room 5129. Almost at the end of the second corridor away from the elevators and ice machine - long walk but found it to be very quiet. Room had 2 queen beds, small table with two chairs, chair/foot stool with it's own light, dresser with 6 draws, large closet with hangers and TV on top with remote. Bathroom with separate vanity area outside of area with toliet and bath/shower. Had good built in hairdryer - ammenties included shampoo, rinse, body lotion and bath/shower lotion. Everything was clean - towels were pretty good - bed was comfortable though pillows were too big and very puffy. Got a cooler from Pubix for $4.99 before checking in and kept drinks for before and after parks using ice from ice machines.
After checking in went to IOA for the afternoon. Took the water taxi over since we knew where that was located but wasn't sure where the walkway was at this point. Had lunch at Margariteville first - pretty quick server - food was decent. Got to see the volcano go off and that was fun to see. Had gotten tickets through RCI - 7 days for the price of 2 - took awhile to figure out which window to hit to redeem the certificate. Was able to walk on to all rides. Hulk and Dueling Dragons were good but not as good as the first time we had visited. Hulk seemed kind of slow actually. Had a good 10 minute wait for the front seat at dueling dragons. Again not as good as the first time but still fun. Maybe because we were all pretty tired. Went on a couple of the water rides before leaving the park so that we wouldn't be wet for too long. Left park by 4pm and went to sit by pool since we were very tired after getting up so early. The weather was cool after 5pm but the water in the pool was pretty warm. My daughter enjoyed the slide and played basketball with some of the other kids. I tried the slide once and it wasn't bad - good way to get right into the water. Pool had two hot tubs - one was crazy hot but it was nice coming out and actually feeling warm in the cool air while we ate dinner. The other hot tub was not as warm but had alot of very small kids in it. Though they were all so cute it didn't bother me other than trying to get around them on the steps into the hot tub. Had chicken fingers and popcorn shrimp from beach club. Chicken fingers were good but popcorn shrimp was just ok. Went to bed early. Had a good nights sleep in a quiet comfortable bed.
Day 2 - luxury - no rush to get to the parks because we had that room key - yeah. What a difference it makes. Decided to have a real breakfast this morning and ate at The Kitchen. Breakfast buffet was pretty good though alittle slow going through the lines. Waiter was great with keeping drinks filled. Food was average but it had just about every type of breakfast food - you could have any type of egg made for you but that seems like it would have taken forever and there was enough other good things to eat. Decided to hit US today and since we had found the walkway after visiting the pool area we walked this morning. Got to the park a little after 9pm after the rush of the crowd. Hit shrek-4 first - loved it - thought it was great - funny and entertaining. Loved the Mummy ride - don't read up on it - just go - a couple of nice surprises. My husband did better than myself or my daughter on MIB. Did this over an over again but never got above 200,000 - my husband was close to 400,000 one time. I guess I should have read the hints for getting a higher score!! We would try to do funny faces for the camera so we could see our pictures. Last time we had visited I loved IOA better but this time US was much better. I guess I like hitting the new rides. Left the park again by 4pm and sat by the pool for a couple of hours. My daughter had the chicken fingers again. I got a frozen drink that I didn't care for - didn't taste right - strawberry margaritta. Got washed up and my husband and I decided to go out and visit one of the other hotels. My daughter wanted to sit in and watch TV instead. Took the water taxi to city walk and then another one to PBH. Was a very cool evening - only high 50's. People getting on water taxi from parks were cold since they had dressed for the warm day. PBH was very nice - seemed so quiet at 6pm or so - they have a very nice pool area (not the main pool area - can't remember that one much - seemed nice for the kids). But I loved the quiet pool area - nice thick cushions on the lounge chairs - I know I would have loved sitting there but not my 13 year old. Wanted to eat at the Italian restaurant but my husband wanted to try city walk. Took the water taxi back and got there around 7:15. Had a fun group on the boat and when celebration started playing some of them starting singing to it so I joined in. We weren't screaming it so I hope we didn't annoy anyone!! It turned out to be a bad time to go since the park closed at 7pm. Everything was crazy. In the end decided to go back to the hotel. Had a nice dinner at The Kitchen. I got a pasta dish that was just ok. My husband had the filet and crab cake. Both were very good. He let me have most of the steak and mashed potatoes and he ate part of my pasta dish. Thought the staff was very good here. Though with 2 beers, one mixed drink and the two dinners and salads before the dinners it was $75.00. I guess not bad for what we got. Went off to bed by 9pm - we are early risers and early to bed people.
Day 3 - decided to go to the deli on the first floor and just get bagels/donuts this morning. Wasn't crowded and had a great selection. I was up early around 6am and at the deli by 7am. Still felt like a luxury since we are usually pushing everyone to get going by 7:30 so we can get parked and over to the park early. No need with the room key!! I think we took the water taxi over this morning - can't remember. Went to IOA again and did the hulk and dueling dragons again and saw the Alantis show - it was ok but alot of walking/standing and we were getting abit tired by then. Had to go to back to US to do MIB/Shek and Mummy one more time. I think we did Margaritta ville again for lunch. Never was near Mythos near eating time so never did get there - my only regret! Again go to the pool by 4:30 or so. Very crowded today with it being Friday - what a difference in the lobby and halls. Had to take some used towels off a couple of chairs to get a seat. No one seemed to take their towels off the chairs when they left.
Got my daughter chicken fingers again since my husband and I wanted to go visit RPH and do a dinner out. My daughter choose to sit in again. Took the water taxi to city walk again and then the water taxi to RPH. We enjoyed the ride and it was usually fairly quick. I wasn't as impressed with this hotel compared to PBH but it still seemed nice. Even though again it was a cool evening there were still families at the pool. As we walked by the restaurant we saw a belly dancer at one of the tables. I think it might have been fun to eat there. I got a frozen drink at the outside bar in a fun plastic cup but it had the same strange taste as the one a HRH. Just something I didn't care for - might have just been me. Actually can't remember what we did for dinner that night - think it was something quick since he had already spent alot of money on food. Back to bed and another day in Florida.
Day 4 - check out day - took our time getting ready - got breakfast at the deli downstairs again. Packed our bags and took a couple of trips down to the car with everything. We were not going to the park that day since we were moving to a timeshare near Disney. It was Saturday and they were going to have the Madi Gras parade so my daughter wanted to come back. Well we go to the timeshare around noon and the condo was not ready. We got the room number (Orange Lake Resort) and went to check it out - seemed like it was the next condo to be cleaned. Went to sit at one of the pool complex. After calling the front desk a few times finally got in a 4pm. Got cleaned up and out the door again by 6pm (had to wait for others that were meeting us to stay in condo). Hoped to grab a quick takeout at taco bell but that turned into 20 minutes in the drive-up. No way to get out of line with cars in front and back of us. No idea what the hold up was. Anyway parked back in the HRH lot by showing the room key. Walked over to the park and tried to go MIB but even the FOTL could not help us - it was a good 15/20 minute wait even for that line and it was only about 40 minutes before the parade - wanted to stake out a good spot. So after switching places 3 times ended up near Jaws in front of a flower pot. It turned out to be a great location (though I'm sure they all were). We got over 105 beads between the 3 of us. Had alot of laughs and really enjoyed ourselves. So even though I didn't want to go all the way back and even though it killed us to hake over 20 minutes to get a 'quick' meal it was worth the effort to see the parade.
