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

[schumigirl]

I thoroughly enjoyed your KSC day! How wonderful to spend an amazing family day checking out all the fabulous exhibits. If only you had felt well, it would have been perfect.

Ending your day with a meal at Strong Water really was the cherry on that Sundae. I’m eager to hear about the new menu when you visit again — or later in this trip

Hoping your return to health was imminent at this point

We weren`t too bad on that day, I didn`t cough as much and Kyle did feel good, but it was an amazing day with so much to see. We did say though, I can`t see us going back for a long time as we really have seen and done all we want to do there. But, we weren`t over those bugs!!

A day with Strong Water Bar is the best kind of day and yes, the new menu is good!!

 

[schumigirl]

Carrick-a-reed rope bridge. I have done it a couple of times when I was a lot younger. It scares the bejeepers out of me now so wild horses couldn’t get me on it! Last time was when I was about 20 and my aunt was behind me when she thought it would be funny to jump up and down to “rock” the bridge I was sure I was going to die and she was lucky I was still speaking to her afterwards.

That`s the one!!! And you`ve done it!!! Jeez, you have my admiration and yes, your aunt was horrible for doing that, that is not funny....well it might be now.....lol......I wouldn`t have spoken to her either, or worse!!!

There was a little bridge similar in DLP, I`m not sure it`s still there, and someone did what your aunt did and rocked the whole thing as we walked across it....now, from memory I don`t think it`s even remotely high, but I was still petrified!!!

But, that one.....no, just no.

Your meal at Strong Water looks delicious

It was lovely, everything from there is though, spoiled for choice!!!

 

[schumigirl]

That desert looks amazing!

It is gorgeous!!!

And so filling, we always feel like a glutton when it appears as it is huge too!!! We couldn`t finish it between us!

 

[schumigirl]

THURSDAY MAY 11TH​

Thankfully for my husband and son`s sanity, I didn`t cough as much last night and managed to get a decent sleep which meant, they got a good sleep too.

We planned to do some park time today and it was the Studios where we would help fulfil the plan to ride every ride in the parks.....and that included doing Jimmy Fallon and F&F.......

​

But, a deal is a deal and we said we`d do it, so we will.

The lounge was fairly busy this morning so we didn`t hang around for long, but we always spend some time chatting as always and there were some guests from the UK that we had been chatting with so we passed some time, but not too long as we did want to get to the park, so hot footed it down to our room and got our sunscreen on, we just made it before the housekeeper arrived.

Housekeeping has always been wonderful here, our rooms have always been done very early which suits us as we don`t really do full days in the park and like to come back before lunch some days to get showered and changed again. Some days we`ve come back from breakfast and it`s already been done. We don`t leave a mess so there`s not a lot to do for us, but we do like fresh towels every day. Our rooms have always been immaculate and this lady we have now has worked at Royal for years.

As it was The Studios, we got the boat.....but Kyle prefers to walk as it is usually quicker, so we meet him on the bridge outside the Studios, but this morning we got on the boat and it left straight away so we knew we`d pass him on the pathway, and we did!

But, of course Kyle couldn`t have us get to Citywalk ahead of him, oh no, Mr Competitive immediately took to running as he saw us on the boat waving like crazy......

And of course he was waiting for us on the bridge and hadn`t even broke a sweat!

It felt really hot this morning, but gorgeous, we were loving this heat and it would reach 93F today, it kinda felt like it already.

There are times Tom`s fingerprint hasn`t worked, but since he changed to using his thumb it works every time until today, but a quick check of his ID and he was through. It was very busy at the entrance this morning but we picked the right line to go into as there were no delays

We wanted a good look at the new minion building this morning, it was coming along nicely as was the new Cafe that has now opened of course. There are a few things on the menu we`d like to try that sound quite nice.

I must admit, we do like Minions, but this new attraction doesn`t sound overly interesting to us, we`ll do it, but it sounds like a one and done for us, the cafe however we will have a look at, something not banana flavoured for me.....bleurgh....hate anything banana flavoured.

We walked on to Minions today, no lengthy EP line this time and it`s always a fun ride although not as good as when it was 3D. Tom and Kyle went on RRR which was a walk on with EP, I wandered around while they rode it and then when they came off, one of the rides we were not looking forward to, Jimmy Fallon.

None of us get him at all, don`t find him funny and I am somewhat irritated just by his face for no particular reason which is not something I tend to do normally, but this guy just annoys me generally.

So we wanted this one over and done with as quick as possible.

This was slightly different to how I remembered lining up on our previous visit, but we stood to the left of the building before you climb the stairs and the regular line was on the other side, both lines were fairly long and we stood for ages for some unknown reason.

And then we stood some more.

At this point we were all kind of annoyed at nobody moving, I think everyone around was wondering why we weren`t moving.

Eventually we did move and went upstairs, no Panda today which would have been nice, but we all moved to the entrance area and then we waited some more.....and waited some more........

Then we waited some more, shuffled a few feet forward and stopped again.

This was excrutiatingly painful, everyone was grumbling, there was no word that there had been a delay of any kind so I have no idea why it took forever to get in, but we eventually made it and got seated, it had been 50 minutes since we had come into the building.

Tom and Kyle were fine, but grumpy here was seriously annoyed, I won`t even wait in line for a ride I love, but to wait in line for something I absolutely didn`t like was really making my teeth itch!!

The show itself is not too bad, it`s not good, but it`s not dreadful, but I won`t do it again, although to be fair, neither will Tom or Kyle, but we did it.

My mood improved as soon as we were out, I did stop muttering under my breath like a crazy lady which highly amused my two for some reason.....lol

We did The Mummy which was thankfully much shorter to get on, from walking in to leaving it was around 10 minutes and it put a huge smile on all of our faces, but it didn`t last.

We thought since we had suffered on JF this morning, we might as well prolong the misery and get F&F out of the way too.....maybe it wasn`t as bad as we remembered??

Spoilers.....it was as bad as we remembered it.

The line isn`t too bad on this one, if you like cars I suppose, which we do, but this is not the worst line and it did move ok today, I was surprised there was a line at all as this seems to be the most complained about ride in the park.

We got into the first room and the TM doing his part in the show couldn`t have been more apathetic if he tried. He repeated his lines with an alarming degree of indifference and lethargy, he seemed totally detached of any feeling while imparting his lines. This was a man who had the aura of someone who had just about lost the will to do anything and certainly lost any enthusiasm he may have once had for this job.

We endured the first room only to face another room and this is the room where sugary fake words went to die. The words "you`re family" is sounded with complete insincerity and they really do pound that one to the point of frustration.

You can tell we were going to love this ride!

It was dreadful.

We were put in line with someone who had very questionable personal hygiene, so I had to leave the line, the smell was disgusting, the TM was brilliant and moved us to a different row, which helped, but my goodness nothing could make this ride better than it is.

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All of us agreed it is the worst. If we had to do either JF or this ride again we`d choose JF as it`s just not as dreadful, but how did they get this one so wrong!! Disaster which was the ride this one replaced was corny and simple, but it had something about it. This one we would never ride again.

We all decided this was the worst morning we ever had....ever!!! In the parks anyway, but we laughed so much at how bad those rides had been and laughed some more knowing we`d never have to endure them again.

Yes, very dramatic I know, but hey, I am drama apparently

The day did get better.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

All caught up!

Thought of you all yesterday as we went to one of our local Red Lobsters for the first time in a while and it was really delicious! I literally said to my family "I have to let Carole know some good ones are still around!" and then had to explain who you were Silly me forgetting I am the only one in my family on the disboards!

While our cruise is out of Port Canaveral in the fall, I doubt we will have time to tour KSC due to timing after the flight and getting there and. making sure we are prepped for the next day but i hope to see a launch! Your pictures were amazing from there!

Carole's Punch being a bestseller is fantastic!

I will say i don't mind fallon especially since its a great place to cool off (plus Hashtag the Panda) but F and F i will never go on. Those 5 minutes of the studio tour out in USH i will never get back (or ever as next time I am in CA i intend to do USH again and its a shame its one of the last tings on that brilliant tour!) God what an awful ride and concept-we lost a great attraction for that?!?!?!?!?

Can't wait to hear if you complete your quest of riding every ride!

 

[disneyseniors]

Carole, I agree with you on JImmy Fallon. I just don't get why he is even on TV? I don't find him in the least bit funny. So, I have never ridden that ride, and I am really glad since reading your report.. Same with fast and furious; not interested. I will say I admire you guys for keeping your word and at least trying to like those two flops And to have to stand by someone who stinks is disgusting. I wonder what some people think? I would have switched seats too. Ick.

The new Minions area looks like it will be a lot of fun! I liked the Minions ride but miss the 3-D version. It didn't make me dizzy like some of those rides.

I hope the rest of your day went better?

 

[angryduck71]

Couple things as I go back through this. First, I think I had whatever virus you guys got. I was not well for about 9 days! But, eventually, since i was going to NYC, my doctor gave me some prednisone to finally knock it out. I hate it you had it while you were there. I at least was in between some travel so did not ruin any vacation time. Second, I think we need to hang out with Kyle. Davy could run with him (well, probably more like behind him -- Davy loves to run but is not the fastest!). Then, i could eat chocolate cake and strawberry smoothies with him -- two of my favorite things!

 

[schumigirl]

All caught up!

Thought of you all yesterday as we went to one of our local Red Lobsters for the first time in a while and it was really delicious! I literally said to my family "I have to let Carole know some good ones are still around!" and then had to explain who you were Silly me forgetting I am the only one in my family on the disboards!

While our cruise is out of Port Canaveral in the fall, I doubt we will have time to tour KSC due to timing after the flight and getting there and. making sure we are prepped for the next day but i hope to see a launch! Your pictures were amazing from there!

Carole's Punch being a bestseller is fantastic!

I will say i don't mind fallon especially since its a great place to cool off (plus Hashtag the Panda) but F and F i will never go on. Those 5 minutes of the studio tour out in USH i will never get back (or ever as next time I am in CA i intend to do USH again and its a shame its one of the last tings on that brilliant tour!) God what an awful ride and concept-we lost a great attraction for that?!?!?!?!?

Can't wait to hear if you complete your quest of riding every ride!

Glad to hear you had a lovely meal in a RL, seems to be few and far between which is a shame. Some of my friends read the Dis but don`t post, so they know some names I will mention, good or bad.....lol it`s funny how you have to explain some folks and that they`re not people you actually know.

Thank you, I`m glad you liked the pictures from there, it would be lovely if you could see a launch from the ship.

And yes, we were happy to hear the punch is a huge success.

 

[schumigirl]

Carole, I agree with you on JImmy Fallon. I just don't get why he is even on TV? I don't find him in the least bit funny. So, I have never ridden that ride, and I am really glad since reading your report.. Same with fast and furious; not interested. I will say I admire you guys for keeping your word and at least trying to like those two flops And to have to stand by someone who stinks is disgusting. I wonder what some people think? I would have switched seats too. Ick.

The new Minions area looks like it will be a lot of fun! I liked the Minions ride but miss the 3-D version. It didn't make me dizzy like some of those rides.

I hope the rest of your day went better?

It`s funny how some folks just put us off them, we`re always amazed James Corden is seemingly popular in the USA, when he isn`t at all over here. But JF, yep, I`ve tried to like him, but last about 2 minutes and then he`s off. I know a few from the hotels who met him when he was filming with Kevin Hart a few years back and they said he was genuinely nice and considerate of others. So I guess that`s nice to hear.

Oh there`s never an excuse for folks to smell so bad. We all know going round the parks makes you hot and sticky, but this was stale! Goodness knows when they last washed those shirts. My gag reflex went into overdrive.....lol

Yes, it did get better but wasn`t one of our best days lol......

 

[schumigirl]

Couple things as I go back through this. First, I think I had whatever virus you guys got. I was not well for about 9 days! But, eventually, since i was going to NYC, my doctor gave me some prednisone to finally knock it out. I hate it you had it while you were there. I at least was in between some travel so did not ruin any vacation time. Second, I think we need to hang out with Kyle. Davy could run with him (well, probably more like behind him -- Davy loves to run but is not the fastest!). Then, i could eat chocolate cake and strawberry smoothies with him -- two of my favorite things!

9 days!! Crikey.....I don`t know what we had as it was different later in the trip, but with Kyle it was his nose, couldn`t stop it running which was horrible for him, some days though he looked like a ghost, he was so pale, but managed to get through most days.

lol....he is fast, his times are knocking others out the park. Sounds as though that would be lovely especially with the smoothies and cake!!! But, that was his last time coming with us, so I doubt we`d manage that, and it does sound good!!

Good to see you are all caught up......

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I have a soft spot for Jimmy Fallon.
We have an annual fundraiser for cancer treatment at a local hospital called “Comics Come Home.” The comics donate their time, and Denis Leary hosts.

Jimmy Fallon was a headliner one year, and began by telling us how the hospital had saved his father’s life. Then he did a spot-on impression of Jim Morrison. It was pretty impressive. I don’t care enough to watch his show, but I do respect his devotion to family

And what a nightmare of a morning! F&F is a mistake that I hope they decide to fix, but with all the other areas needing attention I’m thinking it’s going to be awhile.

The good news is your day could only get better!

 

[saskdw]

We actually don’t mind JF. We do it a couple times a trip. However I would not wait 50 mins for it? We literally walked right on to the ride a couple of times last trip.

F & F though……is absolutely dismal. The dudes talking in the waiting rooms are even worse than the ride. Especially when they look at you like you are supposed to interact with them. I’m like just stop talking and let us on the ride. As I mentioned in your last trip report my wife and son were visibly angry when we exited the ride. They went on for about an hour wanting to know who got fired for making this ride.

it’s extra disappointing for people who are fans of the movies because they really could have done something entertaining here. I really don’t understand thought process they went through to bring this attraction to life.

Seriously who got fired for putting the stamp of approval on this??

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

That`s the one!!! And you`ve done it!!! Jeez, you have my admiration and yes, your aunt was horrible for doing that, that is not funny....well it might be now.....lol......I

I won’t be doing it again though! Last time we went I let the others go ahead and sat with my husband and had a mini picnic while we waited for the rest of the family to return. Going over that bridge is bad enough but then you have to do it again to get back .

wouldn`t have spoken to her either, or worse!!!

My aunt was very lucky I could not leave go of the handrails or she might have met an untimely end! Lucky for her she was my favourite Aunt

But, that one.....no, just no.

And yet Velocicoaster!!!

My mood improved as soon as we were out, I did stop muttering under my breath like a crazy lady which highly amused my two for some reason.....lol

We thought since we had suffered on JF this morning, we might as well prolong the misery and get F&F out of the way too.....maybe it wasn`t as bad as we remembered??

I like your thinking. Might as well do all the grim attractions in one day.

We all decided this was the worst morning we ever had....ever!!!

Bet you were glad that was over

we laughed so much at how bad those rides had been and laughed some more knowing we`d never have to endure them again.

I love that even though you all hated them you stuck to the deal and did all the rides at least once. Brilliant!

 

[schumigirl]

I have a soft spot for Jimmy Fallon.
We have an annual fundraiser for cancer treatment at a local hospital called “Comics Come Home.” The comics donate their time, and Denis Leary hosts.

Jimmy Fallon was a headliner one year, and began by telling us how the hospital had saved his father’s life. Then he did a spot-on impression of Jim Morrison. It was pretty impressive. I don’t care enough to watch his show, but I do respect his devotion to family

And what a nightmare of a morning! F&F is a mistake that I hope they decide to fix, but with all the other areas needing attention I’m thinking it’s going to be awhile.

The good news is your day could only get better!

Glad he does sound as though he has a very kind nature.

They will change it in the future, but as you say they have their eggs in other baskets right now, it won`t be hard to improve that`s for sure.

Yep, it couldn`t get any worse really!!

 

[schumigirl]

We actually don’t mind JF. We do it a couple times a trip. However I would not wait 50 mins for it? We literally walked right on to the ride a couple of times last trip.

F & F though……is absolutely dismal. The dudes talking in the waiting rooms are even worse than the ride. Especially when they look at you like you are supposed to interact with them. I’m like just stop talking and let us on the ride. As I mentioned in your last trip report my wife and son were visibly angry when we exited the ride. They went on for about an hour wanting to know who got fired for making this ride.

it’s extra disappointing for people who are fans of the movies because they really could have done something entertaining here. I really don’t understand thought process they went through to bring this attraction to life.

Seriously who got fired for putting the stamp of approval on this??

lol...I`d forgotten how angry your wife and son were after that ride.....oh dear, I think I could have kept good company with them that day!! Kyle kept laughing and telling me to stop grumbling lol........

I don`t know anyone got "fired" as such but I do know some folks found themselves en route to Shanghai after that..... They certainly rushed it rather than take their time and put something worthwhile in there.

50 minutes was a joke, only it certainly wasn`t funny at the time...but, never again!!

 

[schumigirl]

I won’t be doing it again though! Last time we went I let the others go ahead and sat with my husband and had a mini picnic while we waited for the rest of the family to return. Going over that bridge is bad enough but then you have to do it again to get back .

My aunt was very lucky I could not leave go of the handrails or she might have met an untimely end! Lucky for her she was my favourite Aunt

And yet Velocicoaster!!!



I like your thinking. Might as well do all the grim attractions in one day.

Bet you were glad that was over

I love that even though you all hated them you stuck to the deal and did all the rides at least once. Brilliant!

lol.....I`d do the Velocicoaster a thousand times before I`d walk over that bridge!!! Yes, it`s all very well doing it one way, but yep, you`ve gotta come back!! Although I do love a picnic, that might tempt me..anything for a mini sausage roll and some vol au vents

Yes, we were glad to get them out of the way in that morning, we were happy knowing we didn`t have to do them again

 

[schumigirl]

We had planned to do some more rides today but JF had taken over an hour of our time this morning, so as it was almost lunchtime we headed over to Simpsons for some food.
This isn`t somewhere we usually frequent but Kyle wanted to visit again as it had been so long, he did like their very simple pizza so he knew what he was having, Tom and I weren`t sure but we had plenty of time to think about it as the line was huge.
They used to run this place well, you found a table, usually helped by a TM, then you went to order your food and it was a good system as you were guaranteed somewhere to sit and get your food while it was hot, now it`s a free for all and a bit of a mess to be honest.










There are plenty of options to choose from, pizza, burgers, hot dogs, chicken and waffles and some seafood dishes but they are all deep fried and not so appealing that way. The last time we were in here the food was piled up and didn`t look nice at all, but this time things seem to be being freshly made for the most part.

Each type of food has it`s own counter, so if you`re a family, it`s easier to spilt up and go and order seperately or you could be waiting forever and your food will be really cold.

Kyle did go for the cheese pizza from Luigi`s, Tom went for the grilled chicken sandwich with tator tots from the Chicken Shack and I picked up the Turkey Wrap from Lisa`s Teahouse of Horror.
I was picking up cutlery and the usual condiments, I couldn`t make them out as I didn`t have my glasses on, so didn`t know if I was picking up mayo or mustard, I asked a woman beside me which was which, she burst out laughing as said she didn`t have her glasses and couldn`t tell either!!! A very nice young man very kindly pointed out the ones we needed......I think he was a little bemused by us "older ladies" not having a good eye between us!!
Tom and Kyle had found a table, but it was so busy and some of the tables could have been cleaner, but we had a seat at least.

Kyle got the best deal here today, our food wasn`t awful but the wrap tasted of absolutely nothing and Tom`s chicken while ok, was a little dry, tator tots were nice though and again, it filled a hole. And we had ticked off another place Kyle wanted to go back to on this visit.
Would we go back here, probably not, it`s not our kind of place really, and the fight for tables is not fun, they should go back to their original way of staff helping you find a table.

We headed towards the park exit and decided we wanted some ice cream, so into Schwabs Pharmacy, we love this place as it is reminiscent of an older style ice cream parlour we used to see on the tv many years ago before any of us had ever visited the USA.

Tom had been in Miami in 1982 and had said he had once been in a very similar place with most opting to sit at the counter and they ordered what looked like the largest desserts ever, I think Tom felt rather tame just ordering a plain old ice cream back then when some desserts looked like parties in a glass!!
They do serve Haagen Dazs which we love, so we headed in out of the heat which was now quite powerful being that it was around 2pm, so this was a welcome cool down for us.

This was an easy pick today, Kyle went for chocolate ice cream with sprinkles and Tom and I were going to share a Dulce de Leche.....my favourite Haagen Dazs ice cream!

They were delicious, yes, it`s only ice cream but it is lovely and very cool sitting in here.

We did enjoy our ice cream and then headed out of the parks, we all felt like a snooze.....it does feel as though we snoozed a lot this trip, but it didn`t feel like it at the time. We were walking back home today and turned to walk past HRC as we had a picture to recreate from 2009.

There is a piece of the actual Berlin Wall on display to the rear of the restaurant, I wasn`t quite sure how we found it previously, but we did, so today we headed back round to see it was still in the same place.

Rather ironically Kyle just mentioned the possibility of them maybe running the Berlin Marathon next year, I think it`s in September so hoping that comes off for them.

Back home we came through the lobby as the rain was just starting to pour down and chatted to the lovely Milton and Rob who are just the two nicest guys, very helpful and genuinely nice guys all round, they never pass you if they see you and they are always a pleasure to chat to. And Rob knows everything!!!! If he doesn`t know it, it ain`t happening. I think we stopped for half an hour or so and as we went into the room Kyle captured a lovely rainbow as it had been quite a large rainstorm, we were lucky we got in just before it started and the picture below shows one end of the rainbow landing right on the new Universal park....that will indeed gift them a pot or two of gold!!

Kyle went through to our room and he slept for some time, Tom went on the sofa to sleep, so I headed down to the lounge to read for a while so as not to disturb them. I did think about snoozing but but as Kyle had bagged our bed, it wasn`t looking likely. To be honest, now I wasn`t that tired, so sitting in the lounge is always nice.
I went back down to get showered and changed and was glad to see they were both awake and watching the weather channel and laughing at those ridiculous medical ads that you really do think the cure is worse than whatever life affecting disease you actually have!!! May cause fatal death had to have been the funniest side effect of one or two medicines!!

Tom and I went down to the lounge for a glass or two of red wine and around 7 we went to pick Kyle up and head downstairs where we would order an Uber, we were going to a restaurant Kyle had absolutely hated, well he did love the steak, but thought it was filled with a lot of folks who liked the sound of their own very loud voice too much....he`s not wrong, but we hoped tonight would be different and he`d enjoy it much more.
Our Uber driver took about 3 minutes and he didn`t speak a word of English which wasn`t ideal when he took us into Ocean prime instead!!! Dear me, this was awkward, but he finally understood.....weirdly when I said let`s get another uber.....lol and then he took us to Eddie V`s which is right across the street. He did get out to open my door which I thought was a nice touch as he had also done that when he picked us up.
The staff are always lovely and the lady knew us straight away and said they didn`t have a booth but had a half booth which would be just fine for us, we hate sitting in the middle of any restaurant but it was a nice table.
You have your water waiter, your regular waiter and someone who assists them and they are all lovely, the water waiter could have won an award for pouring without anyone noticing!
Tom and I ordered a nice Malbec and Kyle ordered orange juice and our bread was delivered, it comes with a beautiful butter topped with salt and spice, very nice indeed.

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Me and my blurry pics again, I did have my glasses tonight as I do need them to read the menu, but at this point they were in my bag!!

Matching shirts for them again!! The amount of times that happens, we turn up and both of them have the same colour on again!

We all knew what we were ordering tonight, we always read the menu, but really we didn`t have to, although sometimes Tom varies his steak choice, but not tonight.

I of course was having oysters....I really did want a dozen, but as no one else would eat any I went for a half dozen reluctantly, there`s really not much to them, but still. I ordered one of their strongest brines with a sweet finish, I was looking forward to them...Tom and Kyle not so much and yes, I was regarded with disdain as I ate them!!! Nothing like seeing that look as you eat, they do not understand how I can eat these gorgeous things!!

Tom went for the Lobster Bisque which is a favourite of his from here and it is beautiful too. He shared a little, but reluctantly......usually he is very good at sharing but sometimes.....not so much!!

I love their wine room!!

Like a lot of high end steakhouses, it is very loud and again we had some people around us who did enjoy letting folks around us know their business, the table to the side of us thankfully weren`t there long before they left and a very nice couple sat down in their place, but I can see what he means with Eddie V`s, although we do like it and I think we`re quite normal and not at all glamorous....at one point we thought Beyonce had walked in with an entourage, but no, just a lady dressed rather lovely but very glamorous for a dinner out. Tom had his back to anyone passing through the main restaurant, so he kept missing everyone!
Steaks tonight, we all ordered filets, all medium rare and Kyle and I ordered an au poivre sauce to go with ours, Tom isn`t a sauce fan for the most part unless I`ve made it.
And they were all perfect!! All nearer to rare as we had asked although the sauce was not to our taste at all. It was far too strong with alcohol for us, so we both left them and barely touched them.
But, the steaks are amazing here and Kyle conceded that yes, the steaks were worth visiting this place for.

We shared the Au Gratin potatoes and crab fried rice.....we barely touched the potato as Tom and I favoured the buttery rice, Kyle wasn`t overly keen on that, so we were left with a lot of potato, but didn`t really matter as we just wanted him to enjoy what he had.
And it was a very filling meal.

Our waiter asked if we wanted boxes for the remains, but we never take leftovers so he then offered us desserts which we turned down as we really were full, so we got the check and Tom ordered our Uber as we headed out and thanked them for a lovely evening.
As we waited for the car, we asked Kyle if his opinion of this restaurant had changed, despite a perfect steak.....his short answer was no. Fair enough. We did know what he meant though.

Back home we all went to our room and chilled out for an hour before going to bed where again, I hoped we`d all sleep well, especially as Kyle looked quite pale again, but I hoped it was tiredness, his nose was still bothering him so we would try and get something tomorrow for both of us.

 

[DisGhost]

I was a junior in high school when the Berlin Wall came down. There was a young man who was an exchange student from West Germany. My best friend basically had dragged me into joining a bunch of clubs, including the Junior Statesmen - well, I had ZERO interest in politics but they had a fun overnight conference in LA that all my friends were going to lol. Anyway this young man was also in Jr Statesmen and when the wall came down we were having our club meeting when the news came in and he broke down in tears. I knew very little about the whole thing but it clearly meant so much to him and he explained the history to all of us. I will never forget that.

 

[schumigirl]

I was a junior in high school when the Berlin Wall came down. There was a young man who was an exchange student from West Germany. My best friend basically had dragged me into joining a bunch of clubs, including the Junior Statesmen - well, I had ZERO interest in politics but they had a fun overnight conference in LA that all my friends were going to lol. Anyway this young man was also in Jr Statesmen and when the wall came down we were having our club meeting when the news came in and he broke down in tears. I knew very little about the whole thing but it clearly meant so much to him and he explained the history to all of us. I will never forget that.

Quite an experience to see that young become so emotional over the wall coming down, yes things like that never leave you.

We grew up calling the Berlin Wall the Iron Curtain, from a very young age we were taught about it and it scared us as we were also taught to be scared of the people behind the Iron Curtain.....sounds crazy now but in the 1970`s it didn`t sound so crazy being taught a healthy fear of the "enemy".

We were in Berlin a few weeks before the wall came down, even then there was a certain excitement from the anticipation it was happening imminently. Weird time to be there for sure but we did wish we had been there for wall coming down as it was such a huge part of history. Even watching it live on tv was incredible.

 

[erinch]

We walked back home as there was no sign of a boat, that time of the afternoon is not peak time so you can wait a little longer, but we would be home in no time and while we walked there was no boat passed us, so I was glad we hadn`t waited.

That snooze was lovely.....Tom fell asleep on the sofa and I had that lovely big bed to myself!! I think we had about an hour before Kyle came back, I was glad as we didn`t want to sleep too long as we had plans to meet a friend of ours in the lobby later, so we both got showered and Kyle said he`d meet us in the Lounge later before we went out for dinner.

Samuel was someone we had known for several years, I think since 2017 and we always keep in touch between trips. We asked at the concierge desk if they could let him know we were here and a few minutes later he came out and gave us the best news....he had got engaged in NY at New Year!!! I actually let out such a yell of excitement and completely forgot we were in a public place......we were so happy for him and soon to be husband!!!

We went round to Orchids to sit and chat where it was much quieter and we got caught up on all our news.....and of course we asked when he was getting married and he really surprised us by saying it was this Saturday and a very small and personal service!!! Very exciting news for us. He hadn`t wanted to tell us in an email but in person and we were genuinely so happy to hear the news!

He got his little gift bag full of British chocolate and some Scottish goodies too and eventually he had to go back into the office but we`d see him more over our trip.

It was after 5pm by now so we headed up to the lounge to sit until it was time to meet our friend D to go have dinner with our very special friend. Some of you will remember our friend D as the lady with the Johnny Depp tattoo from a previous trip, well since meeting we have become very good friends and have met up for dinner with her and her husband as well as on our own, so we were looking forward to catching up properly over the next two nights.

I had a glass of red wine tonight in the lounge, and sadly no Alex tonight, we definitely loved when she was working as she is such a joy to be around and we love spending time with her having a good old chat and some giggles too, she has an amazing sense of humour as well as being the kindest young lady.

The usual crudite, cheese, salad and crackers were laid out and tonight the hot offering was a pasta with shrimp and some chicken pieces with all the fixings for fajitas including the wraps, the chicken was very nice but not shredded the way I thought they would be, but very tender and tasty. We did only have a tiny piece, Tom tried the pasta and said it was nice too.

Kyle joined us around 6ish and had one of those hot chocolates out of the machine he was becoming so fond of and then we headed down to lobby where we were meeting D before driving to the restaurant.

D had been to Disney the day before and had arrived at RP this afternoon and she was as prompt as ever and it was so good to see her again! Her husband was flying in tomorrow so we`d also be seeing them for dinner tomorrow night again too which would be fun.

Tom was driving, so him and Kyle walked down to get the car while D and I waited like Princesses for them to come and pick us up, it was only a few minutes to get to the restaurant which was Carrabbas.

We had never been to this place and I had several UK friends tell us for years to go to it as we`d like it, but it was Italian which isn`t my favourite type of foods...I don`t really eat pasta very often, but as I was reminded you can always get a good steak there!! True, but we had still never gone, however, we were looking forward to eating here tonight and not only for the food, but we were in very good company.

We were meeting our very good friend Raymond tonight, we absolutely adore him and I never posted much about him or even his name while he worked for Loews, but now he has left for pastures new, I feel ok about it. We first met him in 2012 and just after we met him he said he had planned to meet us due to everyone talking to him about us and also due to how long we visited for, but he is the loveliest of men and someone we are very happy to call our friend for so long. And D was also looked after by him too, so we ended up with two very special friends here.

On arriving, the restaurant wasn`t overly busy and initially I wasn`t sure, but the staff were lovely and we explained there was another joining us, so they put two tables together as a booth might have been a little cosier than it should be!!

I forget what Kyle ordered, I think it was a strawberry lemonade although we did jokingly ask if he wanted a rum given his latest appetite for tasting alcohol!! I was glad he declined...... I ordered their Sangria and D ordered a Peach Sangria, their drinks are very nice and I must admit to eyeing up a few of them for future visits.

The bread and Olive Oil were very nice, particularly the oil, you could taste the fruit in it and I much prefer an Italian Oil to a Greek one some places offer, but we did try to not eat too much bread as we had been told portions are large!

Raymond arrived just as we got our drinks and it was an emotional hello for us, it was very strange not running into him in the hotel every day, but again, keeping in touch is always lovely, but nothing beats seeing each other in person. And as always he looks so good and he was doing so well too which is all that matters. And he is the coolest guy ever!!

I did like the look of his drink too!!

Me and my (according to Tom) favourite man in the whole world!!!

He`s not wrong.......

We did apologise to the waiter as he asked us three times if we were ready to order......oops.....we were so busy chatting and at one point D and I were giggling hysterically about a previous meeting we`d had and we hadn`t even glanced at the menu, but eventually we managed to have a peruse and all made our choices.

The menu is very nice and you can get a meal if you don`t like pasta very much which was what I was looking for.

The salad was nice enough, but I do wonder why they put full slices of raw carrot in any salad, grated works so much better than huge chunks....but I`m being picky as the dressing was very nice and it was fresh.

Kyle`s arrived first and he had opted for the filet with brocolli and garlic mashed potatoes, I don`t think any of us were surprised by his choice tonight, he is a real steak lover.

Raymond chose the Chicken Parm and had a rather delicious looking spinach as a side, I did think if we came back here I`d opt for the spinach too.

Tom`s dish was identical to Kyle`s, both medium rare.

D ordered the Lobster Ravioli and declared it beautiful, it did look gorgeous I have to say.

I was torn as I did feel like a steak, but worried how it would turn out as I didn`t know the place, but ended up ordering a dish I do love and that was Chicken Piccata which was gorgeous and probably one of the nicest Piccata dishes I`d eaten over here.

The food was very good and everyone enjoyed what they had, I will say though I wouldn`t get the mashed potatoes again as they were incredibly filling and although they tasted nice, they didn`t have a very strong garlic flavour which might be a good thing!! The chicken was a huge portion and I couldn`t finish this one tonight.

No one had any room for dessert, although Raymond and I did partake in another cocktail.......D had enough with two drinks I think but I knew she was going to be up very early for the parks with her husband coming in early, so we forgave her.......

Of course Kyle had room for dessert....for someone so slim he always has room for dessert amazingly, and although none of the desserts really stood out for any of us, Kyle opted for the Chocolate Dream which was a very rich fudge brownie with chocolate mousse, whipped cream and a chocolate sauce and he absolutely loved it!

And of course, several group pictures, and many pictures throughout the evening including one I won`t post where I look positively pickled early in the evening and I`m leaning into Raymond for a hug as D took another picture, but I look as if I`m falling into him Definitely a trick of the camera as I certainly wasn`t pickled!!

This had been a wonderful evening...although we hadn`t realised till we were leaving, we were actually last to leave and they were waiting to clear up around us!! Ooops again.....the bar was still open but we were in the restaurant, but they were very good and didn`t say a word as they said we all seemed to be having the best time, which we were.

We headed out and said our goodbye`s which took a long time as you can imagine, and it was already very late, but you know when you have an evening you just don`t want to end, this was definitely one of them.

But, we did say goodnight and eventually headed home, Tom dropped D and I off at the door and we waited in the lobby for them to come back and we said our goodnight to D and arranged a time for dinner tomorrow night, I`d send Fernando a txt in the morning to let him know what time we`d be over.

We chatted for a time in our room before going to bed about what a lovely evening we`d had and how good it was to see Raymond.

Tomorrow we had been invited to have breakfast in Amatista with two of our favourite ladies and then a non park day for us.

I am just t getting caught up in your report. My 88 year old mother died recently. She had been battling a brain tumor for over a decade that wasn’t malignant, but had tendrils that wove down into her esophagus and had 6 major surgeries. She was due for a treatment and I was due to go in a few weeks (10 hours away) , but something went wrong and she was gone in about a day. My dad is 93 and has no clue about their finances. So it has been long and numbing. Just starting to surface.

We live in PA and Carabbas saved us during the pandemic. When we just could not cook another time , we could order online, and it would show up less than an hour later. I love their chicken Bryan, with goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes in a lovely lemon butter sauce.