"Guess who`s back"...3 Return for 3 Weeks @ RPR. Parks, KSC with lots of good food and fun...A May 2023 TR

[EllNat11]

Yay! I usually lurk but I love your trip reports! We are going on our first trip in May for 8 days and prior to reading your reports I’ll be honest I was concerned on how the heck I would enjoy just 8 days of theme parks every day , but your reports have helped me find so many things I was unaware of to try! Thanks for sharing your adeventures!

 

[schumigirl]

Yay! I usually lurk but I love your trip reports! We are going on our first trip in May for 8 days and prior to reading your reports I’ll be honest I was concerned on how the heck I would enjoy just 8 days of theme parks every day , but your reports have helped me find so many things I was unaware of to try! Thanks for sharing your adeventures!

EIINat11……thank you for the lovely comment, I do appreciate hearing that!


First time to Universal?? I’m actually quite envious going as a first timer again, seeing it all brand new is something special.

I think 8 days will be fabulous, you’ll be able to relax, chill out, smell the roses and generally take in more as you have the time. Citywalk has some fun options too as well as pool time and exploring. I’ll be honest we never tire of wandering round the parks and hotels too. We do spend a lot of time offsite but we could pass 8 days without leaving UOR easily.

I’m glad you’re not lurking anymore……any questions feel free to ask, if I don‘t know someone else absolutely will……

Hope you enjoy this one and I look forward to your posts along the way…..

 

[JaxDad]

back to you JaxDad......I hoped you`d pop along!!

Good to hear you enjoyed Rodizio, so far it`s all been positive from anyone I`ve asked. Kyle has never been to one before so we hope he likes it, I think he will. We went to one in London a few years back, it was not good!

You know that is a cocktail I`ve never had, Tom just said there had to be one cocktail out there I hadn`t tasted..... cheeky beggar. I will have to rectify that this trip.......

Glad to see you, hope you and the kids are doing well

My son is doing well at the University of Florida. He had a bit of a rocky start, but is finding his way. His girlfriend that you met is also doing well at the University of Miami. My daughter, who you still haven’t met, is having a great 10th grade. She’s definitely a nerd, like me, but is at a school full of other nerds, so she fits right in! She’s going to an engineering and construction camp this summer in Colorado. I’ll be there too as a counselor.

I would love to get together again sometime! It would be nice to meet Kyle. Someday I’m going to surprise you guys at Strong Water. You’ll walk in, and I’ll just be sitting at the bar drinking a Carole’s Punch!

 

[EllNat11]

EIINat11……thank you for the lovely comment, I do appreciate hearing that!


First time to Universal?? I’m actually quite envious going as a first timer again, seeing it all brand new is something special.

I think 8 days will be fabulous, you’ll be able to relax, chill out, smell the roses and generally take in more as you have the time. Citywalk has some fun options too as well as pool time and exploring. I’ll be honest we never tire of wandering round the parks and hotels too. We do spend a lot of time offsite but we could pass 8 days without leaving UOR easily.

I’m glad you’re not lurking anymore……any questions feel free to ask, if I don‘t know someone else absolutely will……

Hope you enjoy this one and I look forward to your posts along the way…..

I went to universal studios for a few day trips as a child (20+ years ago! ) but have never stayed at one of the resorts. Citywalk wasn’t really a thing last I went, and the Harry Potter areas didn’t exist! It’s so different! I have an 11 year old daughter, who is a huge Potter fan, she and my husband have never been at all, so a whole new world for us!

Thanks for the warm welcome and I look forward to hearing about your trip!

 

[Raeven]

Following along!

 

[macraven]

In for this read!

 

[schumigirl]

My son is doing well at the University of Florida. He had a bit of a rocky start, but is finding his way. His girlfriend that you met is also doing well at the University of Miami. My daughter, who you still haven’t met, is having a great 10th grade. She’s definitely a nerd, like me, but is at a school full of other nerds, so she fits right in! She’s going to an engineering and construction camp this summer in Colorado. I’ll be there too as a counselor.

I would love to get together again sometime! It would be nice to meet Kyle. Someday I’m going to surprise you guys at Strong Water. You’ll walk in, and I’ll just be sitting at the bar drinking a Carole’s Punch!

I`m so glad to hear he`s doing well and his girlfriend too, they were a lovely couple! And I always think I met your daughter for some reason, but maybe it was just in pictures??? Well it must have been....lol.......

Nothing wrong with being a nerd......we`re a family of nerds.....and nerds will rule the world one day!!! Sounds like a wonderful summer for you both in Colorado, I`m sure you`ll both love it.

Would absolutely love to say hello again one day. I would laugh if I walked into Strong Water and you were there.....lol.....you`d like the punch I`m sure!! And you`d adore Kyle, of that I am certain!!

 

[schumigirl]

I went to universal studios for a few day trips as a child (20+ years ago! ) but have never stayed at one of the resorts. Citywalk wasn’t really a thing last I went, and the Harry Potter areas didn’t exist! It’s so different! I have an 11 year old daughter, who is a huge Potter fan, she and my husband have never been at all, so a whole new world for us!

Thanks for the warm welcome and I look forward to hearing about your trip!

Oh my goodness, you are in for a a treat!!!

I always think it`s changed massively in the last 5-6 years but after 20 years it`ll be like visiting a whole new destination, with some familiar sights of course.

I`m guessing your daughter will absolutely love everything Potter there, well, you all will I`m sure!

 

[schumigirl]

Following along!

back Raeven....

Always good to see you posting too.....glad you`ll be along for this one as well as your own trips too

 

[schumigirl]

In for this read!

You know I always enjoy seeing you post here!!

 

[I-4Bound]

We have been to Texas de Brazil and Fogo de Chao and like them both very much. We will have to try Rodizio. I think you will love a Caipirinha! I had never had One before last year‘s trip to Fogo, and I was hooked!

 

[schumigirl]

We have been to Texas de Brazil and Fogo de Chao and like them both very much. We will have to try Rodizio. I think you will love a Caipirinha! I had never had One before last year‘s trip to Fogo, and I was hooked!

I Googled it to make sure I hadn`t tasted one, I haven`t, but Tom says he had one when him and some guy friends went out to a Brazilian restaurant a few years ago, yep, he agreed I`ll like them!!

I`ll absolutely try one for sure.....it sounds lovely......

Yes, we`re looking forward to Rodizio.......

 

[schumigirl]

​

It`s just over 7 weeks now till we go, and it`s about now everyone is asking me what our plans are!! I do wonder if they know me at all sometimes, we never plan......much.

But this time I`m starting to think....maybe we should as this is probably the last time we`ll visit as just the three of us so maybe I need to put a little more effort into some plans.

As of now we have the basics of flights, hotel, airport hotel and luckily our car service to the airport which could have been a disaster if we hadn`t called them! They`re a small firm but they do fill up quickly with work, so we might have ended up going with someone else or the train which is tricky with changes, but we`re sorted.

This week we did manage to organise our rental car and thankfully prices are seemingly starting to come back down to more realistic pricing.

We do like Alamo and tend to stick to them over the other companies, they`ve always been reliable and haven`t tried to stick us with dodgy charges when we return the car to them, Dollar who we used once, tried every trick in the book and if we hadn`t been on our toes they would have managed it.

Tom did his usual mooch around and looked to see who was offering what and we ended up with a full size SUV which is a Tahoe or similar and seems a very good price for 3 weeks and costing $1,200. And the site we went through means we can change it if it does drop by anything significant to get the better price.

The Tahoe is one I quite like driving, it`s not bad, but not great. Would we choose those cars given the choice? No. Someone once mentioned to us they were surprised by the cars we rented.....well, we don`t really have many options as a renter. We don`t want a cabriolet type of car as it would be pointless for us and sporty cars are not ideal for carrying our luggage either.

And this year Kyle wants to drive in the US, so I think he`ll enjoy that one, or similar, whatever we end up with I`m sure he`ll have fun. And it means we can both have a drink if he`s driving which will be nice.


Restaurant choices are always a topic we enjoy chatting about, all 3 of us like most places from snacks to high end options, so there are plenty of places we have to choose from over our 3 weeks.

Margaritaville is a cheap and cheerful place that is a lot of fun to be in and food is decent. Sure it`s not gourmet, but I don`t think we`ve had a terrible meal here and it`s somewhere Kyle always enjoyed.

Tom and I usually sit at the bar now when we eat in here, but I doubt Kyle will want to with it being 3 of us, so we`ll get a table unless we need to wait of course, then we`ll go somewhere else, or we`ll go for a lunch instead of dinner.

Most of you know we hate making reservations unless it`s for a special meal out and I stuggle to even know what I`m making for dinner tonight never mind planning a few nights ahead!!

​

Margaritaville has the nicest cocktail (outside of Strong Water of course) which is the Blackberry Margarita, it`s one of their nicest offerings and I`m sure I have at least three every trip. It`s sweet, but not cloying and packs a punch!! I have tried all of their other Margaritas, but none come close to this one.

Tom however, likes most of the drinks on offer and does like to vary his choices every visit, including of course he does take a Landshark for a change every now and again.

The menu is a varied one and it`s one of these places that genuinely does have something for everything.

There was a period of time we avoided it, but that was years ago and it has come back up since then, we just felt it changed too much from what it had been and things weren`t great, but we did go back around 2013 and it was back to being good again.

It`s hard to go wrong with ribs, and these don`t disappoint and we love their coleslaw too which can be a hit and a miss in some places.

Coconut shrimp was nice, but far too much batter and they needed the dips on the side as they were on the dry side, but......coconut and shrimp are about two of the nicest ingredients ever!!

I always tell Tom he shouldn`t order the same thing all the time.....as I order the same cocktail most of the time..... but he loves their Beach Club sandwich and it really could feed two people easy as it is huge and generously filled to the brim with meats, cheese and salad!! He does order it a lot and I do like to "share" and enjoy some of the turkey as it is always gorgeous!

A firm favourite of mine is a dish called Lava Lava Shrimp. It is an appetiser but it`s quite filling and very nice. Me being me.....I`d prefer a much spicier sauce and probably not deep fried as I prefer my shrimp without batter and such, but it`s actually very nice with a good squidge of lemon over them.

I`m looking in the background too as the crab cake sandwich is there and they haven`t offered that on the menu for quite a while. They also used to offer a crabcake dinner many years ago that I did enjoy often.

I think between us we have tried almost every drink on the menu since 2007 and we haven`t found a bad one yet!

But a good way to try their Margaritas is to have their sampler which offers you four samples and they`re a decent size so you get a good taste of each.

The Blackberry is still my favourite

More to come.......

 

[disneyseniors]

Hi Carole:
It's great that Kyle is going with you! I probably wouldn't change the way I do things. You enjoy deciding what to do each day, but probably with some idea. I'm sure he will love whatever you do

I must admit that I do like crabcakes, but that's the only seafood I like. I just remembered when I saw your picture of the crabcake sandwich. The only ones I've had were at seaside in Charleston, SC while on a girl trip.
Roger, however, loves seafood and especially the coconut shrimp. I believe he had a dish with coconut shrimp at Yak and Yeti which he liked.

I can't figure out why you all like to drive in the US, especially Florida? It's been a mystery to me, as our other friends from the UK are the same way. They love to rent a car and drive about. To us, the traffic around Orlando is horrific and we avoid it at all cost. It is very crowded compared to where we live, and even more crowded than in Minneapolis. I'm just curious is all.

$1200 sounds like a good price for 3 weeks on an SUV! It seems like your plans are going well.
Today we are having a snow storm (another one with about 2 inches of snow so far. Then a Big snowstorm hits tomorrow and Friday/Saturday. Not looking forward to that. About this time of year we are really tired of snow and cold and we usually take our vacation to Florida in March. I hate missing it this year, but we are going to Tennessee either end of this month or next month, depends on what the weather is like. We are flexible and can travel when we want.

Have a good Wednesday

ruth

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

One day I will get it margaritaville…one day


Our local Brazilian steakhouse closed and I can’t find Brazi Bites (the pao de queho/cheese bread) anywhere it’s horrible I miss it so much

 

[Worfiedoodles]

We have a local Margaritaville if it would just open! It's been "coming soon" for at least six months.
I'm so glad I tried their blackberry margarita based on your recommendation. It is a winner for sure!

The food is lovely. I like getting the fish sandwich and asking to have it baked rather than fried, eliminating the batter.
When you enter Margaritaville, you know you are on vacation!

 

[saskdw]

In some ways I feel like we are living parallel lives to you and Tom. We are about the same age and both have an only son about the same age. The boys seem like they have similar personalities as well.

Our son Brandon is 27 and has a great career in software development and support. He's working for a great company that absolutely loves him. He's moving up through the ranks quite quickly.

He came with us this December in what will probably be the last time just the 3 of us as well. He's now moving in with is girlfriend and they will have their own life to lead.

We pretty much built the entire trip around his wants as it will be a while before he comes back to Orlando. We had a great time. A lot faster pace than when its just the two of us. He got me to ride things I wouldn't normally ride such as Velocicoaster. Might be my last chance to ride with him so I didn't want to miss out.

Of all the time we have spent in Orlando we had never been to Margaritaville. He wanted to eat there so we did. We really enjoyed it. The food exceeded my expectations, drinks were great, and our waiter was fantastic. We will definately return there next trip. We didn't get the nachos, but watched a family at the next table destroy that humongous mountain that you get.

Anyway it was a great trip and a little emotional at times. Our little boy is all grown up!

 

[schumigirl]

Hi Carole:
It's great that Kyle is going with you! I probably wouldn't change the way I do things. You enjoy deciding what to do each day, but probably with some idea. I'm sure he will love whatever you do

I must admit that I do like crabcakes, but that's the only seafood I like. I just remembered when I saw your picture of the crabcake sandwich. The only ones I've had were at seaside in Charleston, SC while on a girl trip.
Roger, however, loves seafood and especially the coconut shrimp. I believe he had a dish with coconut shrimp at Yak and Yeti which he liked.

I can't figure out why you all like to drive in the US, especially Florida? It's been a mystery to me, as our other friends from the UK are the same way. They love to rent a car and drive about. To us, the traffic around Orlando is horrific and we avoid it at all cost. It is very crowded compared to where we live, and even more crowded than in Minneapolis. I'm just curious is all.

$1200 sounds like a good price for 3 weeks on an SUV! It seems like your plans are going well.
Today we are having a snow storm (another one with about 2 inches of snow so far. Then a Big snowstorm hits tomorrow and Friday/Saturday. Not looking forward to that. About this time of year we are really tired of snow and cold and we usually take our vacation to Florida in March. I hate missing it this year, but we are going to Tennessee either end of this month or next month, depends on what the weather is like. We are flexible and can travel when we want.

Have a good Wednesday

ruth

Yes, I think for the most part we`ll wing it, there will be a lot of park time, more than we usually do so that`ll be a case of waking up and deciding which park.....but we do need to plan which days we want to visit KSC and we have some local friends to fit in for meets too.

I love crabcakes too!! Good ones though that are basically all crab and no filler, we have some local crab that is gorgeous but I rarely use it for crabcakes as we like it just to eat on it`s own. But, any seafood, you name it we love it......although Tom rather hilariously turns his nose up at oysters, and I love them!!!

Driving is something we love, but I agree around the Orlando area it`s not much fun, but once you get away from that it`s usually much better. I think it`s the open driving we enjoy so much, no roundabouts and no tight winding country lanes!!!! We do have motorways of course, but there`s just something about driving in America.

Yes, that is an excellent price for our rental, even if it doesn`t come down, we`ll be happy with that. It`s much better than the prices since we`ve been back after covid, one price we were quoted was $4,000!! Er, no not even I would pay that. That`s just slightly less than our flights!!

I think we are having your weather but in miniature....lol......snow has to hit us Thursday and Friday........just as I look outside it`s started snowing now. We had a little overnight but not much. I hope yours is not as bad as predicted and of course I hope you manage to get to Tennessee, I know how much you want to get to visit them and yes, you must be so ready to get away from that weather for a while!!

Will catch up soon......

 

[schumigirl]

One day I will get it margaritaville…one day


Our local Brazilian steakhouse closed and I can’t find Brazi Bites (the pao de queho/cheese bread) anywhere it’s horrible I miss it so much

You`ve never been to Margaritaville? I think you`ll like it, quite a fun place and music is always good too.

I don`t know many dishes from Brazil but I can imagine how you miss some dishes. Not many places here make hush puppies, but one seafood place did and they were very good as the owner lived in Alabama for 15 years, but they closed through all the lockdowns we had, shame, but I can get my fix in Florida!!

 

[schumigirl]

We have a local Margaritaville if it would just open! It's been "coming soon" for at least six months.
I'm so glad I tried their blackberry margarita based on your recommendation. It is a winner for sure!

The food is lovely. I like getting the fish sandwich and asking to have it baked rather than fried, eliminating the batter.
When you enter Margaritaville, you know you are on vacation!

It is a gorgeous drink!!! One is never enough........ or that might just be me!

I hope the one near you opens soon, I imagine it`ll be very good considering the location.

Yes, I prefer baked fish as the batter in Florida is just not how it should be, I`m not sure why but it`s never the way we get it here, always seems a little soggy.

Definitely vacation time there!!