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

[schumigirl]

Carole what a lovely trip report again! I always love reading along - you put such detail and thought into them, you make us feel like we are right there on the trip with you!

I'm so happy the different flight times worked out well for you all. Its so nice to find new things like that after years of travel that make the experience even that much better. Can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip!

Thank you Elsa.....I think this one might be a little low key compared to others as we didn`t do most of the things we planned, but we still had fun!

Yes, we were so happy the flight times worked out for us, I was Mrs Doom and Gloom convinced it was going to be awful....but I`m always glad to be proved wrong!

Good to see you, hope you`re good......

 

[schumigirl]

I take the holiday weekend off from the boards (minus a mild panic attack as I dyed my hair and wasn't sure about my passport!) and miss so much!

All caught up-what a lovely travel day (also I will never know why airlines don't have enough of everything! That pulled pork would've been what I wanted too!)

Glad you`re back on the boards and hope you like your hair!! As long as your face is the same, you should be fine

We should have got the email to reserve our meal ahead of time, which saves worrying about whether you get the meal you want....no one wants to end up with the veggie pasta dish!!! So prebooking usually works but not this time for us, it worked out though.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Glad you`re back on the boards and hope you like your hair!! As long as your face is the same, you should be fine

We should have got the email to reserve our meal ahead of time, which saves worrying about whether you get the meal you want....no one wants to end up with the veggie pasta dish!!! So prebooking usually works but not this time for us, it worked out though.

I love the hair! Finally a ginger!

And yes that’s what everyone is saying in regards to the passport!

I was about to say there is usually prebooking!

 

[DisGhost]

lol.....funny thing is, Tom watches nonsense movies, even if they are dreadful and I`m always telling him he should just switch them off......I shake my head when he says no, he needs to see how it ends......well, now I know!!!! Yes, I invested in it so I was darn well going to see it through!!

Yes, nothing beats that feeling, even after a long flight it`s still wonderful.

Oh we`ll see you then ......we`re there till Dec 3rd, I think we`re doing one of the OI events but I`m not sure which date has been arranged...but we`ll get to say hello finally. We`re staying at Sapphire first then over to RP.....already counting the days!!!

My husband watches the WORST movies. The more explosions and unbelievable nonsense plot points, the better. He also loves incredibly stupid schlocky Christmas movies as well as really bad movies that used to be known as "made for TV" but now they are just streaming filler. He fully acknowledges this is weird though.

So excited for your trip report. I have not been "reading you since the beginning" but clearly I am fully up on my Carole-trivia (see my last trip report lol) and I am just a bit verklempt at how Kyle is a grown man now. I love that he still wants to vacation with you (and it seems, not just because he gets to go to Universal lol.) It's off to a good start!

 

[schumigirl]

I love the hair! Finally a ginger!

And yes that’s what everyone is saying in regards to the passport!

I was about to say there is usually prebooking!

A redhead?? I imagined you very dark haired for some reason........

I had heard they were starting to do pre booking for everyone on the plane and not just Premium/Upper, but it hasn`t happened so far. At least then folks would get their first choice.

Glad you like your hair......

 

[schumigirl]

My husband watches the WORST movies. The more explosions and unbelievable nonsense plot points, the better. He also loves incredibly stupid schlocky Christmas movies as well as really bad movies that used to be known as "made for TV" but now they are just streaming filler. He fully acknowledges this is weird though.

So excited for your trip report. I have not been "reading you since the beginning" but clearly I am fully up on my Carole-trivia (see my last trip report lol) and I am just a bit verklempt at how Kyle is a grown man now. I love that he still wants to vacation with you (and it seems, not just because he gets to go to Universal lol.) It's off to a good start!

lol.....it`s a man thing!!! With Tom it`s usually sci fi movies that are truly abysmal....but yes, they can be about anything!!! I usually give a movie 10 minutes max, if it doesn`t grab me I`m out. Made for tv movies are the worst......lol......

Thank you and glad to see you back again......

Yes, we are very lucky we enjoy each others company a lot, we get on well and thankfully we never had a cross word the whole trip which helps......lol......some friends still take their adult kids on trips to Florida and some wish their adult kids would still go with them! So, yes, we consider ourselves very lucky.

Hope you do enjoy this one too.....

 

[schumigirl]

MONDAY MAY 1ST​

We slept till around 6am which for a first night isn`t too bad, no waking up at 3am wide awake thinking it`s time to get up, I think I slept the best out of all of us as Tom said he just couldn`t get comfortable but for me it was fine!!!

We get into a morning routine where I usually shower first as it takes me longer to get ready with having to dry and straighten my hair....it works for us and having the sink area separate from the shower and toilet is ideal. It doesn`t take us very long to get organised and soon we`re heading down to the lounge where we are excited to see our Alex this morning!! We adore Alex and keep in touch with her throughout the year, as well as being the nicest person, she is an incredibly hard worker and this is the first we`ve been here since she was promoted to supervisor and well deserved it is too! I knew she was working this morning so I was keen to get down there to see her.

And it was so lovely seeing her again. She looks fabulous and is doing well in the job, she is wonderful with people and everyone likes her. We had the biggest hugs and again she had spoken to Kyle on Facetime several times, but they could finally meet in person, it was just lovely seeing her again.

We sat down and chatted for a bit, she had to go to a meeting but said she`d be back soon, so we each sorted out our own breakfasts with me having white toast, cream cheese and grape jelly with some fruit, Kyle had his usual cereal options and Tom had two croissants with honey and some fruit too. Not a bad way to start the day.

About half an hour later I heard what sounded like bottles clinking down the hallway.......I would recognise that sound a mile away!!! And there was Alex carrying a crate of sparkly........lol.......

They have stopped doing the breakfast mimosas since we were last here which is a shame as they were very popular.

We took our time this morning as we were heading to Publix for some things including sunscreen, something we really need before heading to the parks. We sat far too long though as we usually do but chatting to Alex was just so lovely but, we had to head downstairs to get a safety deposit box from behind the front desk where we keep some stuff like passports and anything else we need to store. The room safe is very small but holds the basics.

We got the box and the girl on the desk asked if we could wait a minute, Elida, who we knew from the lounge several years back and is now a supervisor behind the front desk that came out to say hello....she is so lovely and is a dark haired version of my niece Joanne, it is so good to see her and we have a good chat. She introduces us to Andy who is new to the hotel and is working with two lovely ladies we know well, very nice guy and nice to meet the face of someone who had sent us an email asking if we needed anything and I thought....who is this guy?? lol......now we knew who he was and he is very nice.

After we had a chat, we headed off to Publix where we stocked up with everything we needed, which isn`t much really, just some snacks and goodies for the room, but having the lounge means we don`t need to buy water for the room. We do like a wander round, same with Wal-Mart, always good to wander. I also buy a bottle of grape jelly and the staff in the lounge keep it in the fridge for me, they used to have pots of it alongside the jams, but no one really ate it so they stopped getting it in. Alex had got me a couple of pots to start off with though which was kind of her.

It is so lovely to be out in the warmth of Orlando, before we left the UK it was so cold, I think it was the coldest April.....ever!!! Or maybe it just felt like it, but this is perfect for us.

Lunchtime was upon us and we gave Kyle a couple of options and he chose Beth`s Burger Bar which was opposite the Publix we were in, ideal. I thought he`d really like this place.

We had met Beth herself on a previous visit and she is very nice, she has a good brand going here, it is a bar, but fairly quiet during the day. At night it is a little more lively.

Staff are very nice and the menu is large with so many options from toppings to various sauces.....it does take a while to make up our minds, but eventually we order and Kyle asks for water while we go for soda, there is a machine you just help yourself to the side of the counter.

Tom ordered a single with swiss cheese, onion, jalapeno and some kind of spicy sauce I forget what it was, it was lovely and quite spicy! Yes, we share.....whether he wants to or not at times!

Kyle is plain and simple with burgers, single with cheese, lettuce and tomato and he really enjoyed it, the fries too.

I went for the single, no cheese with double jalapeno and maybe a honey mustard sauce on top, I forget what I actually ordered, but it was nice.

The food is gorgeous here, some of the nicest fries around and everything is incredibly fresh, I was glad he had chosen here.

We went back to the hotel and couldn`t believe it was already 2pm, we went down to the lounge to get some tea and came back to the room after taking a couple of pictures.

We just got back to the room when the phone rang and it was Marian who we have known for many years and she said her and Andrea were in the lounge and would love to see us, so we headed back down as we were so keen to see them too. And it was so nice to catch up properly and they checked if we needed anything which we really didn`t. We thanked them for the welcome gifts in the room last night too which is always so lovely to come into.

It must have been about 2 and a half hours we sat chatting and they very kindly invited us to breakfast on Thursday morning in Amatista, well, that sounded lovely so we would see them at 8.30 and we looked forward to spending some more time with those lovely ladies.

They left and we decided to get a drink, well, I would as Tom was driving tonight, Kyle wanted to visit Red Lobster so despite us not being overly keen now, we would go.

Jen, the Concierge Manager as well as the food had changed some of the wines and beers and for the better! The reds were more palatable than the previous ones and they had added a sparkly rose, pineapple cider which was gorgeous while being very light and a local Florida IPA which was strong!! I never tried as I don`t drink those types, but Tom said it was very nice and it was very popular.

I stuck to regular sparkly and Kyle tried a hot chocolate from the machine and he said it was really nice, Tom had coffee.

Raphael came up to say hello for a little bit as he was on a break. I have to admit being back with these guys brought back so many memories as Raphael, Alex and Lindsey were the core team last May we bonded with so deeply. We chatted briefly about Lindsey but I was trying not to focus on all the memories we had in here, there had been a lot of laughter so I thought of that a lot, but being back did stir up some emotions. We chatted for some time and had a proper catch up with him, emails are good but it`s better face to face chatting. He went back down and we said we`d catch up when we could.

Tonight`s food offering was Jerk Chicken and we did try it of course as Jen wanted to know what we thought of the new food options, and the chicken was lovely....not spicy as such but it did have a lovely flavour and it was tender. It came with a rice, but the tray was almost empty at that point, I did get a picture on other nights.

We, well, I had a few glasses of sparkly then Kyle said he was getting hungry, so we headed down and we loved walking out the doors and feeling that heat!! It was still a little like a novelty so early into the trip. And Kyle was just loving being back in such familiar territory.

Tom came back with the car and we drove the 10 minutes or so down to the Convention Centre Red Lobster and we hoped it would be busier than last time.

It was a little busier than before, but nowhere near as busy as it used to be pre pandemic, however the staff were much nicer and it was reasonably busy.

Our cheese biscuits appeared almost instantly which was nice, but we hadn`t even ordered our drinks yet......

Kyle ordered a strawberry smoothy, Tom the most boring lemonade in the world and I went for white wine as I had already had some sparkly, I did laugh when our waiter asked if I wanted a small or large......I don`t look like someone who would drink a small wine ever!!!

​

A place we used to live about 25 years ago, everyone made friends with all the neighbours and it was all very social, one couple though, she was a gorgeous cook and beautiful baker......but, her wine glasses were like thimbles!!! One sip and it was gone, and she wasn`t good at topping us all up. She was shocked first time she came to our home and saw all our wine glasses were huge....aquariums with stems!!! The way a wine glass should be!

Our food was a long wait which always worries me, especially when the business isn`t exactly bursting with folks, but he kept reassuring us it wouldn`t be too long and did we want more biscuits, no thanks....they are so good and too easy to fill up on.

Kyle`s arrived first, the marker in his steak said medium well, so he cut into it and it was medium rare, they had managed to send it out as asked despite the wrong marker.

Tom chose the steak and snow crab while I went for the flounder, steak and scallops. I must admit Tom`s looks better than mine does.

Mine was ok, but the steak does look like a meatball in this picture!! It did look better but it was small which was nice as it was a filling meal. The scallops were overdone and congealed together, but the flounder was nice and well cooked.

And of course, they wanted dessert......the chocolate wave is the one they enjoy here, not for me so I had already ordered another wine, much better than chocolate!!

The lighting isn`t great in here at all for pictures, but it is a very dark cake and the ice cream isn`t too bad, I did have a taste of that, just generic vanilla ice cream.

They did enjoy it and cleared the plate, and it was nice being back in a restaurant we always used to enjoy together in the past. But we all agreed, this was our last visit here.

It`s funny we would never eat in a chain place back home, we much prefer to use small local restaurants, but as a tourist to America, Red Lobster used to be a place you had to visit as it was one of those places everyone spoke about.

But, we know there are so many better places around.

I think we were all yawning at this point so we got the check and headed out to the car and headed home.

Although we don`t get as tired coming out, we do feel it a little for a day or so, and being ready to go to bed around 10.30 is one of the signs! So straight upstairs and within 15 minutes we were all snuggled down.

But, we were excited for some park time, especially for Kyle...velocicoaster time!!!

​

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

A redhead?? I imagined you very dark haired for some reason........

I had heard they were starting to do pre booking for everyone on the plane and not just Premium/Upper, but it hasn`t happened so far. At least then folks would get their first choice.

Glad you like your hair......

Believe it or not my natural color is honey blonde! (If you look up the actors Seth Numrich, Nick Westrate, and Jamie Bell their natural color is more like mine just when i am out in the sun it gets more blonde!) I am now a copper redhead! Think Bryce Dallas Howard

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Shame about Red Lobster-it does seem to be a hit or miss lately depending on which one you go to.

Love seeing all of your smiling faces! Can't wait to read more!

 

[schumigirl]

Believe it or not my natural color is honey blonde! (If you look up the actors Seth Numrich, Nick Westrate, and Jamie Bell their natural color is more like mine just when i am out in the sun it gets more blonde!) I am now a copper redhead! Think Bryce Dallas Howard

Sounds very nice, that colour really suits her, glad you`re happy with it.

Shame about Red Lobster-it does seem to be a hit or miss lately depending on which one you go to.

Love seeing all of your smiling faces! Can't wait to read more!

I haven`t heard anyone have a good experience at them for the longest time, we tried, but we definitely won`t go back to any of them again, too many other better options out there.....we`re spoiled for choice really

Thank you, going to try and get this one done quicker than the previous ones, well it`s 3 weeks instead of 5 weeks to write about so I should manage it!!! I hope.......

 

[cstorm65]

So excited to hear some more. Love the great time you all are having in the lounge! We agree with you guys about restaurants. We have Red Lobster's here, but just like you we would so much rather go to a local place that takes a lot of pride in their food.

Can't wait to start hearing about your park time. Velocicoaster is SO AWESOME!!!!

 

[Minnie17]

Oh my! Those might be the saddest scallops I’ve ever seen May the food get much better!

 

[keishashadow]

I did laugh when our waiter asked if I wanted a small or large......I don`t look like someone who would drink a small wine ever!!!

Them’s fighting words lol. I can imagine there’s a contingent of folks out there who would complain about receiving a large

Believe it or not my natural color is honey blonde! (If you look up the actors Seth Numrich, Nick Westrate, and Jamie Bell their natural color is more like mine just when i am out in the sun it gets more blonde!) I am now a copper redhead! Think Bryce Dallas Howard

Or Jessica Chastain? Every time I read one of their names, I immediately think of the other. Speaking of Chastain, she had an epic platinum blonde moment (wig) at the Met Gala, honoring Karl Lagerfield. wild transformation, didn’t recognize her.

sorry carole OT girlie stuff.

re red lobster, we took a time out here at home for a year plus. Still, not back to it’s prime, however, much improved. there surely are many choices in MCO to dine.

yum to Beth’s, every time we eat there we raise a french fry in your honor for recommding it. Would never have stumbled across it. although, we often get side tracked by the pizza place in same strip mall.

 

[schumigirl]

So excited to hear some more. Love the great time you all are having in the lounge! We agree with you guys about restaurants. We have Red Lobster's here, but just like you we would so much rather go to a local place that takes a lot of pride in their food.

Can't wait to start hearing about your park time. Velocicoaster is SO AWESOME!!!!

They call the lounge our second sitting room......lol....it does feel like it!

Yes, RL is more an affectionate memory for us from our early trips, it was one of th efirst places we went back in 07, but we`re done now. Yes, there are thousands of places to choose from over that chain.

We love the VC so we were so excited for Kyle to get on it as he is a coaster person and had managed to avoid any spoilers of it....apart from seeing the top hat of course...hard to miss that in the park!! Yes, it is an amazing ride!

 

[schumigirl]

Oh my! Those might be the saddest scallops I’ve ever seen May the food get much better!

lol.....they really were and that`s exactly what Kyle said when he saw them.....he loves scallops but even he didn`t want to taste them.....rubber bullets!!

 

[schumigirl]

Them’s fighting words lol. I can imagine there’s a contingent of folks out there who would complain about receiving a large

Or Jessica Chastain? Every time I read one of their names, I immediately think of the other. Speaking of Chastain, she had an epic platinum blonde moment (wig) at the Met Gala, honoring Karl Lagerfield. wild transformation, didn’t recognize her.

sorry carole OT girlie stuff.

re red lobster, we took a time out here at home for a year plus. Still, not back to it’s prime, however, much improved. there surely are many choices in MCO to dine.

yum to Beth’s, every time we eat there we raise a french fry in your honor for recommding it. Would never have stumbled across it. although, we often get side tracked by the pizza place in same strip mall.

Oh I don`t mind OT....I like girly chatter!

Someone would complain about being given a large wine?????? What kind of weird and objectionable people are out there........

Glad that RL you spoke of is improving, hopefully it`ll get back to what it was and I`m so glad you enjoy Beth`s!! I think it was 2018 we first discovered it, glad we did. And yes, NYPD pizza is another place we like in that same area.

Weirdly we tried the NYPD nearer Universal once, it was not as good for some reason so we stick to the Universal Blvd one beside Beth`s, it`s so much better.

The Diner in that same area is very good too!!! Chicken and biscuits.....mmmmmmm!!!!

 

[saskdw]

lol.....funny thing is, Tom watches nonsense movies, even if they are dreadful and I`m always telling him he should just switch them off......I shake my head when he says no, he needs to see how it ends......well, now I know!!!! Yes, I invested in it so I was darn well going to see it through!!

Yes, nothing beats that feeling, even after a long flight it`s still wonderful.

Oh we`ll see you then ......we`re there till Dec 3rd, I think we`re doing one of the OI events but I`m not sure which date has been arranged...but we`ll get to say hello finally. We`re staying at Sapphire first then over to RP.....already counting the days!!!

Awesome!
We're going to try to get tickets for the mini-meet-up on Dec. 7th and for the regular meet-up Dec. 9th.

We're staying at RPR the whole trip. I've had the reservation since Nov. 2022

We will arrive at RPR around 6pm local time on the 1st. Maybe I can buy you guys a drink at Strongwater which ever night you aren't going to the meet-up. Either way we can find way to say hello for a few mins.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Sounds very nice, that colour really suits her, glad you`re happy with it.



I haven`t heard anyone have a good experience at them for the longest time, we tried, but we definitely won`t go back to any of them again, too many other better options out there.....we`re spoiled for choice really

Thank you, going to try and get this one done quicker than the previous ones, well it`s 3 weeks instead of 5 weeks to write about so I should manage it!!! I hope.......

Definitely there are always more choices (not in my area sadly trying to find a seafood restaurant is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack)

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Them’s fighting words lol. I can imagine there’s a contingent of folks out there who would complain about receiving a large

Or Jessica Chastain? Every time I read one of their names, I immediately think of the other. Speaking of Chastain, she had an epic platinum blonde moment (wig) at the Met Gala, honoring Karl Lagerfield. wild transformation, didn’t recognize her.

sorry carole OT girlie stuff.

re red lobster, we took a time out here at home for a year plus. Still, not back to it’s prime, however, much improved. there surely are many choices in MCO to dine.

yum to Beth’s, every time we eat there we raise a french fry in your honor for recommding it. Would never have stumbled across it. although, we often get side tracked by the pizza place in same strip mall.

Yes I loved the blonde wig on her! And they do look a lot alike (and they were both in the hell which is why they gave Bryce a darker finger for that one because between them and Emma stone is was redhead central!)

 

[schumigirl]

Awesome!
We're going to try to get tickets for the mini-meet-up on Dec. 7th and for the regular meet-up Dec. 9th.

We're staying at RPR the whole trip. I've had the reservation since Nov. 2022

We will arrive at RPR around 6pm local time on the 1st. Maybe I can buy you guys a drink at Strongwater which ever night you aren't going to the meet-up. Either way we can find way to say hello for a few mins.

Sounds like a plan

We won’t know till nearer the time what night we’ll have tickets for the OI event, but whenever it is, we’ll absolutely manage to say a big howdy for sure at some point…..