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

[luvpoohandcompany]

.I went to Aviemore on a school trip in the 1980`s....I hated it, I could never ski

I “skied “ on my backside down that slope so many times. Never got the hang of it either but loved being in Aviemore. I was about 14 so 1979/80. We were so ill-equipped for skiing and the cold that I spent most of my pocket money on mittens to go over my gloves and chips and hot chocolate to warm me up but it fun being away from home with friends. Belfast was not a fun place to live at that time so Scotland was paradise to us.

Sounds an interesting trip to Glasgow with the testing lol.... we do like Glasgow,

I now have 3 nieces living in Glasgow. My sister’s two girls are there (1 married and 1 not) and a niece in my husband’s side teaches in Glasgow. It is a lovely city and I find the people very friendly.

Glad you liked the pictures, yes, it`s a beautiful place to live and we are looking forward to Christmas up there again.

Your photos are beautiful. Christmas will be lovely.

hope you don`t have the heavy rain we have this weekend.....

The rain hasn’t been too heavy but it has been nonstop this weekend. Ugh after a gorgeous sunny June we are definitely getting payback with the wettest July on record!

 

[schumigirl]

Oh Carole my heart breaks for you and Tom over Lindsey. I know she was so special to you both and you loved her as you would a daughter. You did well to keep those tears from spilling. I’m glad you were able to enjoy the evening with a Kyle though I’m sure it was bittersweet.
I’m sure Lindsey’s mum was happy to hear from someone who loved her girl too.

We did enjoy it, it was just a little odd and the unexpected comment did shake me a little, but you can`t fall to pieces in public, the poor man would have felt awful!

She was so very special, and I`ve had folks comment on here, privately and not to me directly, that we barely knew her, true we didn`t know her long but there was a connection for sure and we were very close. I miss her a lot.

I “skied “ on my backside down that slope so many times. Never got the hang of it either but loved being in Aviemore. I was about 14 so 1979/80. We were so ill-equipped for skiing and the cold that I spent most of my pocket money on mittens to go over my gloves and chips and hot chocolate to warm me up but it fun being away from home with friends. Belfast was not a fun place to live at that time so Scotland was paradise to us.

I now have 3 nieces living in Glasgow. My sister’s two girls are there (1 married and 1 not) and a niece in my husband’s side teaches in Glasgow. It is a lovely city and I find the people very friendly.

Your photos are beautiful. Christmas will be lovely.

The rain hasn’t been too heavy but it has been nonstop this weekend. Ugh after a gorgeous sunny June we are definitely getting payback with the wettest July on record!

I was in Aviemore in 1980!!!! We were in Paris in the April and then Aviemore was either November or possibly December that year?? It was darn cold anyway. It was massively popular for school trips and we sure did get a lot of snow then!! I was 13 and had no interest in skiing at all, but it built "character" apparently lol.....not for us it didn`t!!! I do remember they did serve us very nice food for school trips, that`s my abiding memory apart from a sore butt....like you I was more on it going down those hills than on my feet!! no coordination or leg strength!

I remember the UK back then very well, and Belfast yes, it wasn`t fun. I had a cousin who was in the British Army and after his third tour of Belfast he had a nervous breakdown, went awol and was never the same again due to what he saw. I was recently explaining to an American about how I grew up being constantly afraid of being bombed by the IRA all through my childhood and they had never heard much of it, but for so many of us the troubles were all consuming for so long. Apologies if that`s too political

Glasgow is lovely......I`ve never in my life seen so many characters around, some more memorable than others, I imagine Belfast would be the same, relatives always said anywhere you have shipbuilding you have the best folks and best sense of humour. I know not everyone likes him, but I love Eammon Holmes and love hearing him talk with such fondness of Belfast both when he was young and as he got older.

Oh rain....yes, we are all paying for that lovely June.....today I can barely see the trees around us for the rain, then no doubt when the sun does appear they`ll announce a hosepipe ban....lol.....it`s around 13c today which is a big change from what we had!

They are promising us a lovely August!!!! We`ll see....have a lovely day

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

She was so very special, and I`ve had folks comment on here, privately and not to me directly, that we barely knew her, true we didn`t know her long but there was a connection for sure and we were very close. I miss her a lot.

Some people say more than their prayers! Lindsey was very special to you and it was clear even from your trip reports that you had an instant connection. I am sorry for your loss

remember the UK back then very well, and Belfast yes, it wasn`t fun.

So grateful we live in happier, more peaceful times.

They are promising us a lovely August!!!!

 

[schumigirl]

SUNDAY MAY 14TH​

MOTHERS DAY​

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Kyle did not look good today at all, well he always looks good, but he was so pale. Nothing he was taking seemed to be working, but he is a real trooper and powered through despite feeling dreadful at times and today we had the Mother`s Day Brunch to look forward to, so we hoped he`d be ok to come with us.

We went down for breakfast and no Alex today, but we did have Mitchell who has also left now sadly and our new favourite lady in there Aspen. She is top notch and her and Alex made a super team when they were on together, she is super nice and works really hard but is so good with guests in the lounge. So we had a lovely hour or so chatting and laughing with Aspen and Mitchell. We had taken Kyle down some breakfast again as he didn`t feel like chatting too much.

We went down to the lobby and spent an hour chatting to one of our friends down there before they started work, they are always so busy so it was nice to find time without work interrupting so we could chat properly. And it gave Kyle a chance to sleep some more which he did.

We went back up to get changed for the Brunch that we were so looking forward to. We usually go to Amatista for these brunches, but the choices at Islands suited Kyle better, he would enjoy the Wok experience more than the options at Amatista, so when we went to book it was full for all times except the last 15 minutes. But, the lovely Marian managed to get us a booking which we were so grateful for, if we couldn`t get a table we would have gone to Amatista then. So we were booked for 12.45 I think and wandered down in time for our table.

It wasn`t too busy and tables were fairly well spread out which was nice and they had one of the hula dancers from the Luau along with the man who plays the instruments, they were very gentle and in the background so it wasn`t intrusive.

We had a lovely table and our waiter we had never met before, Sam was wonderful and was very attentive throughout the Brunch. Tom and I were drinking prosecco, I don`t think it was included but our glass was never empty.....Kyle commented they knew us well as he gave it to us in a proper wine glass instead of the smaller flutes....someone was getting an extra special tip!!!!

The manager Maria came over as she wanted to introduce herself to us, she was very nice, we were very impressed by her and I think Jake`s and Islands could get back to the higher standard they were before covid under her management.

There really was the most beautiful selection of food. I haven`t posted all of it as there was so much, but I have pictured the favourites and oysters are definitely one of my favourite things. We are huge fresh seafood fans and shrimp, crab, smoked salmon and for me, oysters are among the best!!! But, Tom excludes oysters from that list, he loathes them and cannot watch me eat them, so of course I revel in that fact......lol.....

These seafood pictures make me smile!!!! The displays were all full and were replenished regularly so they never looked barren or bare throughout the brunch.

Not really a fan of quail or the swordfish they had on offer, but they did look lovely and the sauce for the quail was very nice, we also didn`t touch the mashed potatoes as it had truffle through it, not a flavour any of us enjoy.

Tom had both the beef and the ham, the beef was incredibly tender and he got some that was quite rare, I tried a bit of his and it was beautiful, he liked the ham but I didn`t try that preferring to enjoy the seafood options.

Kyle was looking forward to the Wok Station the most, it`s one of his favourite things to do when we`re in Orlando with him and we missed it this trip, so he was absolutely going to do it today.
We both went up at the same time, and the chef was a little bemused at both of us asking for very small portions. Usually when we see guests at the regular wok sessions, the bowls are overflowing, but it`s just too much and we did want to enjoy other food too.

They have a very good choice of veg you can pick from and although there are less sauces than they used to have the ones they have are very nice.

Kyle opted for chicken, brocolli and rice with teriyaki sauce, I went for chicken and shrimp, noodles and General Tso sauce with extra heat from the chillies they had for those who wished it a little spicier. Both dishes were lovely.

Sushi station was nice enough, it was very safe sushi, more for folks who maybe hadn`t tried it before, but as always it was fresh and looked lovely.

The cold options were very tempting for us, the potato salad was delicious with the pancetta, we could all have eaten that alone, but so many gorgeous options including charcuterie, pasta salad and some lovely seafood-tini glasses filled with an assortment of seafood including calamari and a seared shrimp, they were beautiful.

This was one of the plates Tom enjoyed, and he didn`t bother with wasabi and still said it was very nice, although we both prefer the spicier options, these simple dishes are very nice too.

We loved being able to go up and enjoy a little sample, then taking our time and sampling some more, everything was tantilisingly tasty and to be honest, we could have eaten so much more, but we wanted to be able to walk out of the restaurant not rolled out!!

And of course time for a hug as we celebrated my second Mother`s Day of the year. In the UK although our Father`s Day`s are the same, we celebrate Mother`s Day in March, so I get to celebrate twice which isn`t bad....although Kyle did say I wasn`t getting another gift.......lol.....didn`t blame him, it was just lovely he was here this year with us.

More oysters were enjoyed.....I think Tom was up getting some of the beef as I was eating them, they were lovely!

This lovely young lady was making up Bloody Mary`s and something else, neither of which we ever drink, but he still asked if it was ok to take a picture of the stand and it was very popular with guests. We stuck to a very generous amount of prosecco.

Through in another room the dishes included some childrens options like pizza slice, PBJ slices and several other options, this was also where they had the dessert options and even for me they were tempting.

This whole display was chocolate.....completely chocolate and one of the Chef`s who created it was there and everyone was complimenting her on how magnificent it looked and it really did, I don`t think pictures do it justice.

I think these strawberry purse cakes were my favourite out of them all....they were filled with a very fruity smooth filling and I did eat more than 2 or 3 of them.

I don`t think it`s hard to guess who this dessert plate belongs to!

Eventually, I could eat no more oysters, Tom was done with the beef and even Kyle had enough chocolate, it was time to leave. We thanked our lovely waiter Sam who really had kept our glasses topped up and made sure all our plates were cleared to make room for the next ones.

Time for a second picture at the display, this time we wanted Tom in the picture too.

We are always impressed by Loews buffets and brunches, we have been to a few and they are all done to the highest of standards with all quality products and displayed beautifully too. We had really enjoyed this one, even Kyle who had felt like death warmed up through most of it, how he got through it I`ll never know, if I`m poorly I just want to crawl into bed and be left alone, so he did amazingly well.

But now, instead of going to do some park time as we had planned, we headed upstairs and we all wanted to sleep.

Not sleeping at night was catching up with us and although we had very simple plans tonight, this was indeed another lazy day for us, but, we did want to make it out of our rooms later.

 

[schumigirl]

Some people say more than their prayers! Lindsey was very special to you and it was clear even from your trip reports that you had an instant connection. I am sorry for your loss

So grateful we live in happier, more peaceful times.

lol....haven`t heard that expression for years about saying more than their prayers!!! Love it. It`s true though. Thank you so much.

Yes, completely agree.

Our rain has got heavier this afternoon, hard to imagine it coming down so hard for so long! I`m not ready for "summer" to be over just yet.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Even for a non seafood fan that Mother’s Day buffet looks amazing. Glad you were able to enjoy it

 

[bobbie68]

Hello Carole… your trip report is great to read. I am sorry that the family encountered sickness during it. It seems like it didn’t stop you from having a great trip. It is so nice when we are able to enjoying doing these things with our adult children.

I have written down four of the restaurants you reviewed and plan on trying all of them. Through the years you have recommended awesome places that we went to and enjoyed. We also want to try one of the Universal buffets some occasion.

We have been to Strong Water a couple of times and enjoyed the food and atmosphere. We enjoyed our stay at Sapphire a couple of years ago too. The staircase is one of my favorite ones.

Look forward to reading more.

Bobbie

 

[schumigirl]

Even for a non seafood fan that Mother’s Day buffet looks amazing. Glad you were able to enjoy it

You don`t like seafood?? You must get some beautiful produce there too. But, yes, it was amazing, I genuinely love their special brunches they put on for Mother`s Day and Thanksgiving.

We absolutely enjoyed it!!!

 

[schumigirl]

Hello Carole… your trip report is great to read. I am sorry that the family encountered sickness during it. It seems like it didn’t stop you from having a great trip. It is so nice when we are able to enjoying doing these things with our adult children.

I have written down four of the restaurants you reviewed and plan on trying all of them. Through the years you have recommended awesome places that we went to and enjoyed. We also want to try one of the Universal buffets some occasion.

We have been to Strong Water a couple of times and enjoyed the food and atmosphere. We enjoyed our stay at Sapphire a couple of years ago too. The staircase is one of my favorite ones.

Look forward to reading more.

Bobbie

along bobbie, it`s good to see you.

I think we just went with the flow and did what we could when we all felt better, we still enjoyed it though and yes, it`s nice when our kids take time out of their life to spend a vacation with us.

I think you`d really enjoy their buffets, they cover almost everyone with likes and dislikes, and I`m glad you`ve enjoyed some restaurants suggested, that`s always good to hear.

That staircase is very pretty and yes, Strong Water is the best!!

Glad you`re enjoying it and thank you for posting, always good to see you

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

You don`t like seafood?? You must get some beautiful produce there too. But, yes, it was amazing, I genuinely love their special brunches they put on for Mother`s Day and Thanksgiving.

We absolutely enjoyed it!!!

Well I say I don’t like seafood but really it’s just not my first choice and I’m not fussed on shellfish or at least the things I’ve tried. I would be with Tom on the oysters- I find it hard to watch anyone else eat them
We have excellent fishmongers here and the selection of fresh seafood at St Georges market every Friday and Saturday is unbelievable so really I should try to eat more of it.

 

[schumigirl]

Back in our room, Tom and I planned to give Kyle our bed, but he got himself along the sofa and was out in seconds. Tom and I were the same, despite me coughing as soon as I lay down, I did fall asleep and we all slept for about 2 hours, which I`m sure did us some good.

We woke up and got freshened up, Tom and I headed down to the lounge, Kyle didn`t want to, I think he went down to the gym where he had been a few times previously, he just wanted to walk on the treadmill for a time as we really hadn`t moved very much today.

It was fairly quiet, I forget what the food was tonight, not that we were even sampling anything as we were still so full from the brunch.

I went with a pineapple cider which was fairly new to the lounge, I`m not a cider drinker, we have loads of strong alcoholic ciders in the UK, but I`m not a fan, however, this one is very light and fresh and doesn`t really taste like cider if that makes sense, so we both enjoyed one or two of those.

Tonight our only plan was to go over to Aventura, more specifically to go up to Bar17 only to see the sunset and view, Kyle had only been up once, so he said he wouldn`t mind going back up again for a look.

We walked through the ballroom and convention area of both hotels, then walked over to Aventura whch takes a few moments.

Aventura does look impressive from the outside, it`s tall quite elegant and stands out from the other hotels around. I always remember when our friend Raymond was giving us a tour of Sapphire when it opened up and he pointed out this small and confined piece of land and told us there was going to be another hotel built there and we honestly looked at him twice, he did laugh and say yep, the hotel would be taller and have an open rooftop bar, it hadn`t been announced yet, but we couldn`t imagine a hotel ever fitting in, but, it did.

However, that`s where it ends for us. Inside it is plain, cold and lacks any kind of atmosphere. It looks like a hospital entrance at best or an Apple style store. It`s not somewhere we`d ever want to stay, it`s just not for us. Any friends who have stayed there all say we`d hate it, they`re probably right!

We spotted one of the kids who used to be in the lounge and we had dinner with the other night in Strong Water, Daniel now worked front desk and we managed to get a few words and a hug before we headed up to the roof. Always good to see him, such a lovely young man.

There`s just no one here.

They have several food options to choose from, none of them looked overly appetising to us, we saw the wok bowl and it wasn`t the best. The pizza looked decent but you can get that anywhere onsite.

There`s just a sense of emptiness here thoughout the hotel, we have seen it busy a few years back but still not enough atmosphere.

I should add here, as always these are just my opinions.

The elevator is decent, and you get out on the 17th floor to feel that breeze whirling around you the whole time, although it`s not too bad tonight, we have experienced it much windier, but it`s always strong enough that you do notice it.

It`s very open and you can sit around the bar, but it`s not personable. One of the previous Food and Beverage Managers asked us what we thought and why we thought this place wasn`t somewhere we`d choose to go again. To be honest it`s nothing you can put your finger on, it just doesn`t work for us, that was something he had heard often.

Orlando doesn`t have the best views around, not when you compare them to Vegas and other cities, but it is nice enough, you can see the hotels lit up, Volcano Bay, I Drive with all it has to offer, the City itself and you can see the Disney fireworks in the distance.

And of course the sunset.

Kyle did manage a few pictures, but we could see him pale again.

While it`s not comparable to being on the beach, seeing the sunset from up here is still lovely and you can see every stage of it setting and it does set really fast compared to our part of the world where sunsets are much slower.

It is nice they have now added tables and chairs to this once open bare area to the side of the bar area. It did look incredibly barren before and this was better. I don`t know how many use this as a function space, but it would be nice for events or functions, if you can ignore the wind up there!!

Now, I know for a darn fact I did not take this picture!!! Looking over the side is not something I consider fun.....my two however have no such qualms about heights.

Looking over you can clearly see Surfside and Dockside and see just how mahoosive those hotels actually are.

They get some very good reviews, both sides of the complex and they are very popular with folks looking for larger family suites and the food options seem to be pretty good too. The bus system at UOR always gets very good reviews too, no one ever waits for any length of time for a bus to get them to the parks which is what you want at hotels that don`t offer a boat or are within a reasonable walking time.

You can walk from these hotels, there are crossings and a sidewalk, also there are always folks on this path so it`s not remote or unsafe in any way, but to be honest the heat would do it for me, but it would take many 20 -25 minutes to walk from these hotels depending on your speed.

The menu for here isn`t overly inspiring either, some of the food sounds ok, but we have heard several folks complain about the length of time food takes to arrive. We`re not Bao Bun fans either, so there`s not much to tempt us to eat here.

The cocktails are unispiring too, there`s nothing special or exciting and we didn`t find them to give a particularly good pour and staff were just ok we found.

You can tell we`re not fans!!!!

One thing they should tell guests in Cabana Bay and the towers is folks up here can clearly see into some rooms, you don`t have to look too hard, not something most folks would be comfortable with.

The parks always look so pretty at night.

We had all seen enough by now, headed back down and before we hit the doors out to the elevator we saw one woman who was completely pickled out of her mind, one of those seriously drunk people who you know should be taken care of. It looked like her partner/husband was trying to get her to leave the bar, but she wasn`t interested, until she turned and walked into a post......I know you shouldn`t laugh and someone might get their panties in a bunch for me laughing but it was funny and she didn`t hurt herself, just tried to karate chop it back in revenge, even her husband laughed and at that point she was slightly easier to manhandle to the elevator and back to wherever she was staying, I hoped it wasn`t far. We also didn`t plan to share an elevator with her in case she was ill, but I imagine she`d have a headache in the morning. I`m guessing the bar staff hadn`t seen she was so inebriated or she wouldn`t have been served.

Back down in the lobby we were about to head out when Daniel shouted us, he was quiet on the desk so we could have another chat which we did, but looking at Kyle he was ready to go, so we said another final goodbye and headed back home.

That walk for the first time felt long as Kyle just wanted to lay down, but we got back and he went upstairs ahead of us and we went into Tuk Tuk to buy a bottle of wine as we didn`t have any in the room rather unusually.....

We put on John Wick, opened the wine and watched the movie together, although all three of us kept dropping off, I think between the three of us we watched the whole movie, Tom missed the start, I missed the middle and Kyle missed the end, but we had seen it before. It was very cosy just the three of us watching a movie, and we did enjoy it for a change.

We were glad we had gone over there tonight, it did confirm it`s not somewhere we`d stay, and I don`t think we`d visit again, once you`ve seen the rooftop bar once or twice, that`s enough.

But, tonight it was bedtime now, and tomorrow we planned some park time again....finally!!!

 

[schumigirl]

Well I say I don’t like seafood but really it’s just not my first choice and I’m not fussed on shellfish or at least the things I’ve tried. I would be with Tom on the oysters- I find it hard to watch anyone else eat them
We have excellent fishmongers here and the selection of fresh seafood at St Georges market every Friday and Saturday is unbelievable so really I should try to eat more of it.

lol...so many don`t like oysters or seeing folks eating them. I get it, I cannot for the life of me sit close to anyone who is eating cereal of any kind. I`m ok with Kyle and Tom but no one else, but it`s a weird thing and turns my stomach!! And god forbid anyone slurps their tea.....lol

Fish and meat markets are a delight to wander through! We`re spoiled for choice with them and so lucky with our coastline. But, if they`re not your favourite.....

Best scallops I ever had were hand dived just outside of Oban, they were massive and barely needed seared at all, the seafood up there was amazing, they caught it and it was on your plate before you could blink. I miss that, we have plenty of fresh fish and restaurants here, but nothing like Scotland, so yes, I love the sound of your market!!

 

[schumigirl]

@jump00

Brenda, curious minds need to know........how was the trip????

 

[jump00]

Hello Carole!
Thank you for asking. We had a wonderful time at Sapphire Falls. You are absolutely correct it is a lovely resort and the staff were so helpful. We stayed 7 nights (8 days) as our return flight back to Toronto was in the evening.

Highlights: Our room - lagoon view Guest house 2. I took your suggestion and we loved seeing when the boats were arriving or departing……
- Team members were amazing
- housekeeping (completed by the time we returned each day)
- Resort/Pool. Beautiful…..especially at night.
- Strong Water bar- Carole’s Punch both mine and my dh favourite drink! Our server told us about the “history” of your drink. So sweet - you and Tom are famous
- WDW Keys to the Kingdom tour. We loved the 5 hour tour and I “mastered” Genie + and ILL
- Tron is our new favourite ride. WOW!!!
- Dinner at California Grill (outstanding service/experience)

The parks ( both Universal and the Magic Kingdom) were busy and the only downside was not having the Express Pass at Universal. I wish Sapphire Falls would offer it but I understand why they don’t.
Carole, your reports are so helpful especially your food suggestions and pictures. Thank you!
We are returning in a few weeks for 10 days (booked last year) and are staying at RPR club level. We are also doing a day at WDW - Epcot to ride the new Guardians of the Galaxy. We are meeting up with some friends to watch the rocket launch August 15 and tour NASA. ( loved your report on it!)
I will post some pictures once I get the hang of it.
Sorry if it’s long winded.
Brenda

 

[schumigirl]

Hello Carole!
Thank you for asking. We had a wonderful time at Sapphire Falls. You are absolutely correct it is a lovely resort and the staff were so helpful. We stayed 7 nights (8 days) as our return flight back to Toronto was in the evening.

Highlights: Our room - lagoon view Guest house 2. I took your suggestion and we loved seeing when the boats were arriving or departing……
- Team members were amazing
- housekeeping (completed by the time we returned each day)
- Resort/Pool. Beautiful especially at night.
- Strong Water bar- Carole’s Punch both mine and my dh favourite drink! Our server told us about the “history” of your drink. So sweet - you and Tom are famous
- WDW Keys to the Kingdom tour. We loved the 5 hour tour and I “mastered” Genie + and ILL
- Tron is our new favourite ride. WOW!!!
- Dinner at California Grill (outstanding service/experience)

The parks ( both Universal and the Magic Kingdom) were busy and the only downside was not having the Express Pass at Universal. I wish Sapphire Falls would offer it but I understand why they don’t.
Carole, your reports are so helpful especially your food suggestions and pictures. Thank you!
We are returning in a few weeks for 10 days (booked last year) and are staying at RPR club level. We are also doing a day at WDW - Epcot to ride the new Guardians of the Galaxy. We are meeting up with some friends to watch the rocket launch August 15 and tour NASA. ( loved your report on it!)
I will post some pictures once I get the hang of it.
Sorry if it’s long winded.
Brenda

Brenda I am thrilled to pieces you enjoyed Sapphire so much!!!

Oh please, post some pictures if you can, we`d love to see them!!!

It does sound like you experienced the best Sapphire/Strong Water/Disney has to offer all in one trip. I don`t know much about Tron (I know I know) but so glad you loved it so much and I have only read how much work all that Genie and ILL stuff can be, but it sounds a lot, so I`m glad it worked for you!!! And KTTK sounds wonderful.

I`m ultra happy you enjoyed Carole`s Punch!!!! It is gorgeous, yes fruity and sweet! I`m so glad you got the story behind it too......lol......

Lagoon views are the nicest over there.....

Honestly Brenda, I`m so happy you had an amazing time and you get to go back soon too!! That sounds a lovely trip at RP and getting to see a rocket launch too with friends, sounds about perfect!!

Thank you for your amazing review, and don`t forget those pics if you can!!!!

 

[jump00]

Brenda I am thrilled to pieces you enjoyed Sapphire so much!!!

Oh please, post some pictures if you can, we`d love to see them!!!

It does sound like you experienced the best Sapphire/Strong Water/Disney has to offer all in one trip. I don`t know much about Tron (I know I know) but so glad you loved it so much and I have only read how much work all that Genie and ILL stuff can be, but it sounds a lot, so I`m glad it worked for you!!! And KTTK sounds wonderful.

I`m ultra happy you enjoyed Carole`s Punch!!!! It is gorgeous, yes fruity and sweet! I`m so glad you got the story behind it too......lol......

Lagoon views are the nicest over there.....

Honestly Brenda, I`m so happy you had an amazing time and you get to go back soon too!! That sounds a lovely trip at RP and getting to see a rocket launch too with friends, sounds about perfect!!

Thank you for your amazing review, and don`t forget those pics if you can!!!!

Thanks Carole

 

[schumigirl]

MONDAY MAY 15TH​

Although we did plan to get to the park early, well, not early as in EE, we`re usually there for around 9ish, but as we all were a little slow this morning, so Kyle again had his breakfast in the room while we took our time with ours in the lounge, the lovely Aspen was working so we enjoyed chatting to her and getting to know a little more about her and her life outside of Loews.

As we were chatting a woman came in with what looked like a mini camera and started talking to it as if she was interviewing herself, it was something quite unique to us, seems she was some sort of influencer of some kind, goodness knows for what. She hadn`t got permission to film apparently so maybe she wasn`t one of the more well known ones, although I couldn`t name you one "influencer" I don`t watch vloggers or read blogs and this one certainly wouldn`t encourage me to try either! She didn`t stay long she wandered back down the corridor apparently heading for the lobby!

We finished up and wandered down to pick up Kyle and get our sunscreen on, it was going to be a hot one today so we didn`t plan to stay all day in the park anyway, but as always it looked so gorgeous outside.

Walking is our preferred way when we go to IOA and wow it was hot already when we got out, but this was nice just meandering along the path and we were discussing what we wanted to do today, and there were a couple of rides in Dr Seuss Kyle wanted to tick off his lists...

We used the UOAP holder entrance but it was quiet enough we needn`t have bothered, but still, why not. We love wandering through Port of Entry, we love hearing the tune that is synonymous with it gently playing in your ears, something you don`t hear anywhere else, except you don`t hear it at Christmas as they do replace it with seasonal offerings.

It`s colourful, bright and full of hidden gems if you listen, some of the building have voices appropriate to the building you`ll hear them from, some are just loud enough to hear them, but they are very cute. You do have to stop and listen though, there`s no signage telling you where they are.

This is definitely the most unique Christmas Store I have ever seen, it does tell you what it is on the sign, but looking at the bright summery colours, you`d never really think it held all the treasures it does for the festive season. This is one of our favourite stores in all of UOR.

Confisco Grille has a rather wonderful bar to the side of the restaurant, The Backwater Bar used to have tables where you could eat inside, now you can get drinks from the bar and there are tables outside where you can eat food. It`s the same menu you order from CG too. It`s a shame they changed it after Covid and never brought the tables back, maybe they will at some point.

Seuss is even more colourful than POE if that is even possible, and with the notable quirk of nothing being built in a straight line all around this area and although it is aimed solely at younger children, this area is a lot of fun for any generation.

Green Eggs and Ham is a very unique type of place, for many years it was a bit of a joke as it was very rarely open from one year to the next, however now it`s almost always open whatever time of the year we`ve visited which is good to see as it is very popular, there is usually a long line of customers waiting and although we haven`t tried some of their new items, they are incredibly well received by many folks.

We didn`t go on CitH today, once or twice a visit is usually enough for that one, but One fish two fish red fish blue fish, that is a mouthful, was one of the rides we hadn`t done for years so today, it was time.

I was passing on this one again, for no other reason than, I didn`t feel like it, sometimes I`m happy to just watch them on.

I had never noticed this area back here before, there was a couple who had brought their toddler for what seemed like a time out, although this kid was running rings round them and would not behave at all!

They only had to wait till the ride that was running finished before they got on and they weren`t the only adults on the ride, almost every seat had an adult on it, this area really isn`t just for kids.

You do get a little sprinkling of water on this ride, but you don`t get wet, it`s one you might do once a trip, more if you have little kids of course, but it`s not one we need to do again.

The Caro-Seuss-el although it looks like it`s completely harmless, is not for someone who doesn`t like spinning, even though it`s very gentle, so its one I miss too. We did think we hadn`t been on this one since our first visit in 2007 and I believed them as I have no memory of ever being on it after that one.

Cute!!!

They waited an age to get going on this one, what I couldn`t see around the other side of the ride was someone wouldn`t put the belt around them, they said they didn`t need it so there was a discussion between the TM and guest who was told to put the belt on or leave the ride. They put the belt on. I only know because I heard another guest tell their family member afterwards. Guests are never going to win that one!

But, they did enjoy this little twirl around carousel.

If any of you have ever seen the movie Strangers on a Train, you`ll know what scene I think of whenever I see a carousel!

Circus McGurkas cafe is beautiful from the outside and has a lovely themed interior, but simple in a childlike way, not dramatic the way Mythos is for example. You do pass through this on one of the trolley trains depending on what side you get on.

But the food is what most would call generic park food, we only ate there once and once was enough. It`s very kid friendly and the menu supports that too.

There are plenty of little nooks and crannies around Seussland, I think maybe in December we`ll explore a little more again, but today we were heading to do some Potter and Velocicoaster rides!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

The sunsets from the rooftop bar are stunning but even from your photos I get the sense that the hotel is a little soulless. Is such a shame you are all feeling under the weather this trip. Kyle really does look pale. Glad to see you still managed some park time fun.

 

[schumigirl]

The sunsets from the rooftop bar are stunning but even from your photos I get the sense that the hotel is a little soulless. Is such a shame you are all feeling under the weather this trip. Kyle really does look pale. Glad to see you still managed some park time fun.

Good morning...it`s unusual for someone else to be around at this time of the morning!

The sunsets are lovely, but once you`ve seen the view, that`s really enough and yes, the hotel is completely soulless, even the TM we know that work there say the same thing, one feels she works in a medical facility as it`s so bland!

He wasn`t good that night bless him, but he was determiined to do as much as he could....me, I`d have been in bed feeling miserable and so sorry for myself!!! I`m a wimp though.....

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Good morning...it`s unusual for someone else to be around at this time of the morning!

Morning

The sunsets are lovely, but once you`ve seen the view, that`s really enough and yes, the hotel is completely soulless, even the TM we know that work there say the same thing, one feels she works in a medical facility as it`s so bland!

It looks so generic that you could be anywhere. It must make for a bit of a long bland workday. I’d want to be in one of the fun colourful busy hotels with a bit of energy going on.

He wasn`t good that night bless him, but he was determiined to do as much as he could....me, I`d have been in bed feeling miserable and so sorry for myself!!! I`m a wimp though.....

Dear love him. Being sick on holidays seems so unfair. You work all year to get to your time off and then you don’t feel you’re getting your best out of it. He is a trooper though to be able to keep going. You’d probably find me buried under a duvet somewhere