HO-HO-HO..We`ll put the RUM in Pa-Rum-Pum-Pum-Pum! 16 holiday nights at SF & RPR. A Nov/Dec 2023 Trip Report

[DoryGirl1963]

We LOVE Port of Entry, too, & your pics are just gorgeous !

We usually go in late April/early May or October but this year due to some scheduling issues we went mid- November & had temps in the low 70s & a lot of overcast skys & rain. We thought we'd like the cooler temps because we're Floridians but...no, LOL! Looking at mid-May or October this year to get our heat & sunshine back on for vacay !

 

[keishashadow]

More to follow..

will say, TR as a whole is always extraordinary, this particular post belonged in a guidebook as it really captured POE!

 

[schumigirl]

We LOVE Port of Entry, too, & your pics are just gorgeous !

We usually go in late April/early May or October but this year due to some scheduling issues we went mid- November & had temps in the low 70s & a lot of overcast skys & rain. We thought we'd like the cooler temps because we're Floridians but...no, LOL! Looking at mid-May or October this year to get our heat & sunshine back on for vacay !

Isn`t it just beautiful!!!

I do get why folks just run through it to get to the rides, but there are so many cute things to see, it`s a shame they get missed but, I`d probably do the same if I only had limited time in the parks.

I completely agree with your time frame for your next trips......May and October are about perfect. I doubt we`ll go back for the Holidays again, give us the heat everytime

 

[schumigirl]

will say, TR as a whole is always extraordinary, this particular post belonged in a guidebook as it really captured POE!

Thanks Janet

I think I can even take credit for some of those pictures taken that morning!!! It is a stunning entrance to a park.

 

[schumigirl]

A little real life update......


Got our September flights booked a few days ago, which was so simple, I did wonder if this would be a little difficult as these were the free flights we received from Virgin for downgrading our return flights last May.

We went from Premium to Economy and for doing so, we were given three free return flights in Premium anywhere in the world except Australia and they were valid for three years.

So, we used two of them for this upcoming trip and the third which is under Kyle`s name can be transferred to one of our names for next year as Kyle has no plans to travel to America in the next couple of years, not too shabby!!!! And it really was simple to book, some folks had mentioned it can be difficult to rebook when they offer free flights, but I had no issues at all.

We`ll be staying of course at RP and Sapphire with another split stay between the two and that has been booked for us, so we can start our countdown again!!!

Lazy day here for us as it`s Kyle`s birthday weekend with his birthday being today, so we had a late one last night. He has been celebrating last few nights, he was here for breakfast this morning and opened the other family cards we had for him from Scotland. Last night was so much fun with a load of friends for dinner and get together and the night before he had a night out with all his work colleagues.

Celebrations are being extended into next weekend too as we are taking him and some others out for dinner for his birthday too.

But, I`m off to make us a pot of tea and another slice of what`s left of his cake from last night...... I do hope you`re all having a lovely Sunday whatever you may be doing

 

[keishashadow]

I did wonder if this would be a little difficult as these were the free flights we received from Virgin for downgrading our return flights last May.

That is a very nice “i’m sorry”!

Lazy day here for us as it`s Kyle`s birthday weekend with his birthday being today,

Woohoo!

Celebrations are being extended into next weekend too as we are taking him and some others out for dinner for his birthday too.

 

[schumigirl]

That is a very nice “i’m sorry”!

Woohoo!

View attachment 825795

Another cool meme!!! Thank you...

Yes, it was worth squeezing my ample butt into an economy seat for 6 hours to get these flights, wasn`t at the time though.....lol.....my two thought it was fine, so it wasn`t so bad, not sure I`d do it again though.......well.......with the cost of these flights now maybe.....

 

[KathyM2]

I`ll hibernate thank you very much! I don`t think I`ll be visiting Canada in the winter!

What?? I can't imagine why not lol...it's just lovely when it's -20 lol ) Nope. I totally hear you. I live in Canada and don't want to be here in the winter either. Thankfully I usually get to escape it quite a bit as well!! I don't love it when it's cold in FL either though...even when it doesn't seem that cold to my Canadian blood...I want to be sweating when I'm in FL lol

 

[MadHatterBrooke]

A little real life update......


Got our September flights booked a few days ago, which was so simple, I did wonder if this would be a little difficult as these were the free flights we received from Virgin for downgrading our return flights last May.

We went from Premium to Economy and for doing so, we were given three free return flights in Premium anywhere in the world except Australia and they were valid for three years.

So, we used two of them for this upcoming trip and the third which is under Kyle`s name can be transferred to one of our names for next year as Kyle has no plans to travel to America in the next couple of years, not too shabby!!!! And it really was simple to book, some folks had mentioned it can be difficult to rebook when they offer free flights, but I had no issues at all.

We`ll be staying of course at RP and Sapphire with another split stay between the two and that has been booked for us, so we can start our countdown again!!!

Lazy day here for us as it`s Kyle`s birthday weekend with his birthday being today, so we had a late one last night. He has been celebrating last few nights, he was here for breakfast this morning and opened the other family cards we had for him from Scotland. Last night was so much fun with a load of friends for dinner and get together and the night before he had a night out with all his work colleagues.

Celebrations are being extended into next weekend too as we are taking him and some others out for dinner for his birthday too.

But, I`m off to make us a pot of tea and another slice of what`s left of his cake from last night...... I do hope you`re all having a lovely Sunday whatever you may be doing

Happy birthday, Kyle! Hope he had a wonderful day. Chocolate cake, I assume?

 

[schumigirl]

What?? I can't imagine why not lol...it's just lovely when it's -20 lol ) Nope. I totally hear you. I live in Canada and don't want to be here in the winter either. Thankfully I usually get to escape it quite a bit as well!! I don't love it when it's cold in FL either though...even when it doesn't seem that cold to my Canadian blood...I want to be sweating when I'm in FL lol

lol.....I hear you! We have friends who go to Whistler every year skiing, they love it despite not being fond of the cold.

There are many places in Canada I`d love to see in winter and Banff is one of them, not sure what it is about it, but I`ve always wanted to visit, doubt I ever will though. It`s cold for us today, we have a real feel of -7 so we went out this morning shopping and I was dressed for a Canadian winter, this afternoon and tomorrow we`ll be hibernating!!

Years ago we used to go to Switzerland every year with friends, they skied while we made use of the huge lodges with their roaring fires and open bar.....lol....that`s my idea of enjoying the cold. But these places are all stunning in the winter, especially looking out a giant window with either a hot chocolate or more likely a cocktail in hand

I`d be like you though and escape from the cold whenever I could, don`t blame you and yes, I want to be extra toasty and complaining it`s too hot when I`m in Florida.....

 

[schumigirl]

Happy birthday, Kyle! Hope he had a wonderful day. Chocolate cake, I assume?

Thank you!! He did have a lovely birthday and absolutely chocolate cake for him!!!

The lady that baked it knows him well, so it was chocolate on chocolate with extra chocolate, such a rich ganache going through the layers, but she did have a lighter frosting round the outside in the colours of their running club which was vanilla flavoured, so I had a few blobs of that too which was lovely.

I`m glad it`s all finished now.......so is he as his marathon training is now in full swing!!! No more cake for him now till after April.

 

[schumigirl]

Passing out of POE we head to Seuss and during the Holidays this place just comes to life even more than usual, you won`t find a more colourful part of the park, well, bright vibrant colours anyway!!

Considering the lines coming into the park, we found there were plenty of places where it wasn`t so busy, although sometimes we were just really lucky and missed the crowds waiting to take their coveted pictures too.

I did want to wander into this little store today, I had promised three little ones grandparents/parents I`d bring them a hard cover version of some Dr Seuss books, and this store would be perfect for that as I remembered they did stock a large selection of them.

There were several to choose from, so I sent all three parents a quick whatsapp msg asking which they`d prefer and they all replied How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Ideal and the one I`d have chosen for them all anyway. Apart from the Grinch and maybe the CitH, Seuss is still not huge over in the UK, most people will think of Jim Carrey if you mention anything, but I had bought a few of them some of the other Seuss books, but again, not overly known generally.

We paid and got them sent to our room as I wasn`t wandering around with three heavy books in hand.

And they had quite nice trees in here too.....anything purple and I`m happy!

Next we crossed over to the Mulberry Street store, it`s a shame they don`t do general Grinch meet and greets in here the way they used to, even a non talking Grinch was very funny to meet and interact with. One year he took Tom`s NY Yankees hat and rubbed it in his armpit in disgust....guess he`s not a Yankees fan then!!!! But, he is missed in general meets now.

I like this store, they have a wonderful set of products for sale with clothes, ornaments and some lovely tree decorations which always catch my eye every year and we pick up several to add to what we have decided to name the Universal tree as almost 80% of the ornaments have come from Universal over the years.

We picked up two and I got them delivered too even though they would have fitted in my bag, I quite like coming back to those parcels the next day. Tom did jokingly remind me we were running out of branches and stems to put them on......I think that`s what he said as I wasn`t really listening he may have said buy another 3 for all I know.....

I`m glad he loves Christmas and all the decorative stuff as much as I do and he never complains when I am continually picking up more ornaments for the trees back home and it was too early into the trip to start worrying about suitcase weight just yet!!!

There are some odd things about Dr Seuss for sure and I have to admit wondering a few years ago about some of the rather strange artwork on display here, but I did read up into his background and it does rather suggest someone very unique in his views of the world, and the stories are all rather lovely, so I`ll keep buying them.

This area was rather quiet, well except the areas where everyone and their cat were waiting to see the man himself, and I did like how they had changed the window decor of the building they were now utilising for Grinch meets and always with a rather long wait it seemed.

And then we saw the end of the line for the meet......there was a sign with wait times and it was almost 3 hours!!!! Seriously!!! I did think it was crazy, I still do to be honest, but later on our trip a man in the Club Lounge showed us his video of his teen daughter meeting the Grinch and he said the 4 hour wait was worth it......and the video was amazing, you`d have thought it was Jim Carrey himself in that costume, it was incredible and I saw then why folks were waiting.

We still wouldn`t do it though. Kyle said I was very Grinch like in my statement of fact about that when I was telling him about it......oh dear, I`m not normally Grinch like......well......

We hadn`t noticed that day but the line for the Grinch actually ended over the other side of the pathway, there are some very patient people out there!

Mythos is a stunning building, very impressive from the front and also from the lagoon side too, although we never eat here as we are always very underwhelmed by it. When we first went way in back in 07 to maybe 2011 it was very good and we always enjoyed it there, but several poor experiences made us not want to return and their menu still doesn`t thrill us too much, so I think it will be a while before we`re back.

If you have little ones at this point on the bridge, if you listen you can hear the troll growling under the bridge where it lives. You can see the entrance to the lair from the other side of the lagoon. Although maybe not if they are scared of such things I don`t want the blame for anyone having nightmares!!!

But, it`s one of those hidden little gems that would be easy to miss especially since the addition of the Velocicoaster has made this area not quite as calm as it used to be noise wise, but you can hear it quite clear if you stop.

We would definitely be going on this one today!!!

So, that`s where we headed next, we had missed riding it the other day due to meeting a friend, but we headed round and I forget what the regular line was, but we got on in around 6-7 minutes and that was avoiding the clumps of people fussing round the lockers. It is a very good system, but when you add folks in the mix sometimes......I will say those TM`s have the patience of saints.

Tom asks if we want to wait for the front, but we both prefer the back row so we just stay where we are. I was quite nervous going on this again as it had been a time since May, I had the nervous feeling in my tummy and hands were a little clammy, Tom was quite amused as I don`t normally get nervous before I go on a ride just excited but today I was a little petrified for some reason.

The man behind us heard Tom say I`d be fine and immediately joined in saying no one had been killed on it....then added "this week" as though he was hilariously funny and no one had heard that joke before!!! But I was polite.......

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We did get the back row and I was still petrified after I pulled the harness down and we moved slowly forward wishing it would hurry up and start because right now I wanted to get off!!!!

I swear they kept it sitting at that start area longer than usual.....Tom said I was imagining it......was I!!!! I pictured some evil employee sitting laughing like the character from Dastardly and Muttley at the terrified woman in the back row on camera getting more and more terrified...

​

Yes, my imagination does go off track at times!!! But, eventually we did get that massive feeling of euphoria when we were were propelled forward and before I knew it I was back to loving this ride as it is fantastic!!!

It is a long-ish coaster and definitely the best one Universal have added to the parks, it has it all, speed, drops and that acceleration before you go over the top hat is just incredible and that exhileration you feel is tremendous and even then it`s not even remotely over, not to mention how little your backside actually remains in the seat.

This is one heck of a ride and as we come off we head straight back round to do it all again.

I don`t really get motion sickness on this at all, but two or three rides is usually enough for me at one time, whereas Tom and Kyle could go on it all day. So we were very grateful for EP on this one as it enables you to ride as often as you like. We went on twice today and both times got the back row, which I do think is our favourite row, even over the front.


More to come

 

[saskdw]

I love the Grinch ornaments!! I could decorate our whole tree with those!!

I've seen a few videos of Grinch meets on Youtube for this holiday season. They were all fantastic. The people they have in that costume do an amazing job!!

 

[schumigirl]

I love the Grinch ornaments!! I could decorate our whole tree with those!!

I've seen a few videos of Grinch meets on Youtube for this holiday season. They were all fantastic. The people they have in that costume do an amazing job!!

They are the nicest of ornaments, we have a fair few of those Grinch ones, but always room for more....somewhere!!

Yes, the actors they have as the Grinch are incredible!!! Very, very talented actors who had him down pat. I would have loved to have seen him and interacted, but the wait times......nope, not happening.






I just realised there`s probably a whole generation who have not the single most clue who the heck Dastardly and Muttley are!!!

Now I feel like Methuselah

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I think everyone is part Scottish somewhere!!! We got around apparently.....lol.....

The Christmas stuff is the nicest of the year for us. We`ve done HHN many times and Mardi Gras several times too, but Mardi Gras just doesn`t appeal to us much so I doubt we`d ever do that again, twice was enough. But it is impressive throughout the parks and even the hotels look nice.

I do like those pictures too....Tom trying to be nasty or mean for a picture just doesn`t work, he really has the nicest nature of anyone I know...but he tries.....lol.....

Hope you`re doing ok

I swear us Scot’s got around too lol!

As I always say Halloween is my favorite holiday but Xmas is the best for decorating and decor!

I’m doing good just been really busy!

EDIT: and now I’m all caught up! Hope Kyle has a wonderful birthday! Pictures as always are lovely-and yes bleu cheese is nasty! Horrible food! Give me mozzarella and ranch with anything buffalo sauce related please and thank you!

 

[schumigirl]

When we had our fill for today of Velocicoaster, we ambled around to Hogsmeade via the Talking Fountain who was back working as normal today with no boards around it and he was having a discussion with a young lad of around 7 or 8 and it was very funny, the boy was quite witty back to the fountain without being rude which was lovely to listen to, the Fountain was having a bit of fun at the boy`s football team which really went over our heads as we had no clue who they were talking about, but they were a good double act.

If you get the chance to see the Fountain in action, don`t miss it, it can be highly amusing or downright hilarious.

Round the back of the 3 B`s you get some amazing up close views of the riders on VC, they really come close to almost feeling like you can touch them, you can certainly hear their screams when they`re so close, it is a lot of fun though to see and hear them so close.

The Hogshead is a nice little place to stop off for a drink or just take in the ambience, and one of their little gems is if you stand at the bottom of the stairs and listen you can hear the house elves upstairs working around cleaning rooms as well as doiing their chores, you can hear trunks getting rumbled around too and the voice of Kreacher can be heard if it`s not too noisy around you.

I think I can safely confess again, neither of us are fond of Butterbeer, it`s just not for us apart from the fudge and ice cream which are nice and we do enjoy those now and again. We do however share a Pumpkin Fizz, one between us is more than enough as it is nice, but like Butterbeer it is very sweet.

We did go on FJ, but we left bags in the lockers so no pictures of the line, which is worth it even if you don`t want to ride, you can just walk through and tell the TM you`re not riding. The detail is incredible and I love the common room when you come to it as well as everything else, there are so many things to see among the incredibly detailed line whether it be the EP line or the regular line.

Some days I can do FJ twice or three times, but that`s usually my limit as it does make me a little nauseated after that, but today it was a one and done, probably because we had done VC a couple of times, but it is a very good ride, although I wouldn`t miss the spiders if they got rid of them!!

People still argue with others that you do go upside down on this ride, you never do, but I guess some folks must feel like they do. A bit like RRR, so many are convinced they will go upside down and won`t go on it for that reason. We also had the "screamer" at every turn on the end seat today on FJ......jeez she was loud!!!! I`m not convinced she was as scared as she made out, but as long as she had fun!

We were heading to Toon Lagoon now and as we headed over the bridge at Hogwarts we saw a couple being married as we passed!

They all looked very, very happy!!!

She had just concluded the ceremony as we passed and they got a lovely round of applause from everyone which was nice.

In any of our November or December trips, we never do water rides.....yes, we are wimps, I don`t want to get soaked when it`s not 95F outside so we never go on them, there were plenty of folks who were riding though, brave souls!!

Don`t believe anyone who tells you you will get soaked or come off bone dry......you never know until it happens. It`s all down to how the boat is loaded and how heavy it is, we`ve come off anything from bone dry, slightly sprinkled, top soaked, fully soaked to completely drenched. We`ve even sat in the fron row and came off dry, the water rushed over the top of us and the couple in the row behind us were completely drenched!!! Not sure we should have laughed with as much hilarity as we did as they weren`t very happy at us......

Although Kyle would argue no matter when or where he goes on and sits, he always gets completely drenched.....and he does actually

We are planning an early lunch today but it was still a little too early, so we wander down behind Me Ship the Olive, that is a really fun thing to go through if you have time, lots of interactive things for little kids to enjoy and a slide that goes from top to bottom as well as being able to squirt water at the passing barges and that`s still free for now!!!

This ride doesn`t usually open till 10am so it can be fairly quiet at times at this time of year, so we had been standing on the little bridge watching folks get completely drenched and completely unaware it`s going to happen and we did see a fair few folks get soaked. It is hilarious sometimes, especially when folks get completely irate at getting wet.....lol....maybe don`t go on a water ride then!!! Most folks enjoy it though to be fair.

Once we had laughed enough, we wandered round just to have a sit down and take a few pictures, over the lagoon you can see the doorway to the Troll`s layer under Mythos.....or so the fable goes.

I think Universal should have something Troll like appear and disappear from it at times......although I`m told that might not go down well with some kids who are sensitive.....lol......for most kids though, it would be amazing!!! They could easily put up a warning sign.....I did try to make it sound appealing to one of the managers, but I could see the terror in his eyes as he envisaged all the irate parents of upset kids if a troll jumped out and scared the bejeesus out of them......I love it, but sadly will never see it!!!!

It`s peaceful sitting here for 20 minutes or so watching the VC ride by every few minutes and the occasional other person walk round here, it`s just nice if you do need 10 minutes away from the crowds. We didn`t need a break of course, we just like it down here.

Today we decided to have a rather unusual lunch for us, we were eating outside, something we never do in the heat, but as it wasn`t boiling hot we didn`t mind, although I will say it was a lot warmer than it looks by now!

Wimpys in Toon Lagoon is somewhere we`ve meant to try for a long time, we did eat there in the very early years once, but we`re either never hungry when we pass it, or we have plans to go somewhere else. Several folks had told us it was worth having as the burgers are nice, not your typical theme park burger and the curly fries were exceptional. Those were some claims to live up to, so we`d have a bash.

It was well open by the time we wandered back up and there was a line which I suppose was good to see and everything did look nice, so we each ordered a Wellington Cheeseburger, minus the cheese for both of us, we both had curly fries and we shared a Fanta between us.

I have to say, maybe not the greatest picture we could have taken as you can`t really see the burger, but I had tucked into mine before we remembered to take a picture...not like us at all!!!

I have to say, they were really nice! I was surprised as I`m not really a fan of counter service food in general, it was sizzling hot and the burgers were nice. I still think they`re theme park burgers but on the nicer end of them.....complete opposite of Mel`s or Richter burgers which we don`t like at all. The curly fries were indeed delicious.

We both left half of the bun, well, a bun is a bun and it was just ok. I`m not sure I`d eat here every trip, but for something quick and decent it was very nice.

The Superhero`s were out and about when we got round here today, Capt America had a huge line to see him, but Wolverine had no one with him, so we stopped and got Tom a picture with him, he is a very good character and like so many of them, very funny too.

POE on the way out is practically deserted, so we take our time and wander a little, I think Tom is trying to keep me out of the stores!!

Doesn`t really work though.....I don`t purchase anything today though but I do eye up a few things I will pick up later, some are small though like the little mini notepads you stick on the side of your fridge or wherever. The stores do sell a massive variation of merchandise from the tiniest pen to a full size Potter castle, something for everyone and every pocket.

I love this building!!! Must be the prettiest bathroom exterior ever!!!

We head through the exit and the staff always wish you a good day as you leave, the turnstiles are gone now and you just walk out which must be easier for some folks.

The lighthouse is very impressive of course and I always forget to take the picture of the door at the bottom to the rear, I just like it.

It was hot now, but we really did miss those vibrant blue skies we are so used to in Florida, we weren`t complaining, it just doesn`t look as warm as it really was when the skies were all grey and dull.

More to come....

 

[schumigirl]

I swear us Scot’s got around too lol!

As I always say Halloween is my favorite holiday but Xmas is the best for decorating and decor!

I’m doing good just been really busy!

EDIT: and now I’m all caught up! Hope Kyle has a wonderful birthday! Pictures as always are lovely-and yes bleu cheese is nasty! Horrible food! Give me mozzarella and ranch with anything buffalo sauce related please and thank you!

He did have a wonderful birthday thanks, and we still have a meal to celebrate it this weekend coming, we do like to extend celebrations!! Yes, the Christmas decorations are among the best.

I cannot even abide looking at anyone eating blue cheese, I can eat some very unusual cheeses to some, but blue....nope.

Glad you`re doing ok, being busy is good.

 

[saskdw]

We tried Wimpy's for the first time during one of the Informer events we went to and had the same burgers.

I would agree 100% with your review. They were on the higher end of quick service burgers. We've certainly had a better burger, but there is alot worse to be had as well.

We would eat there again, but not a must do.

 

[MadHatterBrooke]

In any of our November or December trips, we never do water rides.....yes, we are wimps, I don`t want to get soaked when it`s not 95F outside so we never go on them, there were plenty of folks who were riding though, brave souls!!

My youngest son convinced me and his dad to on Ripsaw Falls in November... At night when it was chilly and dark... Never again! I am not built for the cold one bit. But hearing my husbandly jokingly fussing the whole time was pretty hilarious. But it made a good memory at least. My oldest son generously () offered to stay behind and hold our things... He had the right idea.

 

[schumigirl]

We tried Wimpy's for the first time during one of the Informer events we went to and had the same burgers.

I would agree 100% with your review. They were on the higher end of quick service burgers. We've certainly had a better burger, but there is alot worse to be had as well.

We would eat there again, but not a must do.

Yes, I think that`s a fair assessment of them, decent but not amazing.

I think for us, we prefer to eat inside, but it was a little cooler that day, when it`s normal September or May temps, we much prefer to eat in an air conditioned building, but yes, they wasn`t bad.