Jack's Back & So Are We!!!-Sep 2021 HHN 30/WDW TR- Completed 12/18

[AuroraluvsPhillip]

Enjoying your TR. I love Josh's deadpan when you get the spells to work, "You did it, something happened."
I love your Slytherin seeker outfit with the Dark Mark tattoo. My daughter would love a Ravenclaw one like that.
Which wand did you get?
Following along...

 

[KathyM2]

so I booked The Palm! He really liked it last time we went, and I was hoping I'd enjoy it more this time.

Funny I just saw a youtube video about how the Palm is one of the best steakhouses...must check it out sometime....

 

[Raeven]

You look beautiful in that dress, it is stunning!!

Thank you!

I love your pictures....I know I sound like a broken record, but you do take such good images.....

It's always appreciated lol

I`m looking forward to your review of The Palm....I made a reservation for one of my cousins when they stayed at RP last month, and I was so happy she had a lovely experience...hope yours was as good and that was a lovely surprise for Josh!

It was much better than the last time we went!

that dress really is so pretty. Enjoying the TR

Thank you! & thank you for following along!

Enjoying your TR. I love Josh's deadpan when you get the spells to work, "You did it, something happened."
I love your Slytherin seeker outfit with the Dark Mark tattoo. My daughter would love a Ravenclaw one like that.
Which wand did you get?
Following along...

Lol I guess magic doesn't impress him much Thank you! I got Draco's wand. & thank you for following along!

Funny I just saw a youtube video about how the Palm is one of the best steakhouses...must check it out sometime....

It's a very good one! Although Shula's is still my favorite. ​

 

[Raeven]

I Got My First Wand!

The latest dining post:

Sal's Market Deli & The Palm Steakhouse
I started this day by getting a tattoo.




This was the second in a set of fake tattoos I ordered a couple years ago, and I decided it was time to finally use it.

Because we were having a very Harry Potter themed day!


First thing after lunch was to get some ice cream from Florean's.




I was looking for a little Slytherin snake plush, but didn't have any luck finding it yet.

We rode Escape From Gringotts.

And I finally bought a wand!


Every time we go I've wanted to get one, but the price coupled with the fact that I won't often use it usually stops me. But this time I really wanted to try it since I've never been able to try the spells before. I got Draco's wand because it goes with my jersey.


This jersey has a whole story that isn't that crazy, but I'll tell it anyway. I saw these jerseys maybe like 9ish years ago on a blogging site I used to be on and wanted one, but they were quite expensive for what they were and I had just started working. They sold out quickly, and there weren't more. Every so often I try to find one again, and I finally found one on a secondhand site, that was barely worn (only for cosplay), and was a much more reasonable price. And I love it! Also everyone on Instagram thought it was a dress, but it was just a jersey that was longer than I thought, and I was wearing shorts under it.

I will also say some of the spells were harder than I thought. (Sometimes it was hard to get the attention of the sensor). I think it helped to know what the spell was supposed to do. (I saw one girl getting mad that something in a window kept singing and they wanted it to stop so they could do the spell, but the spell was a silencing one so I think it was meant to be done while it was singing). It could be a little frustrating, but it was also really cool to be able to do magic.

Once we did some spells in Diagon we got on the Hogwarts Express:





I did some spells in Hogsmeade, and then got a picture with the castle:



This is the emptiest I've ever seen the bridge! I think this was proof the crowds were low because there were only like 2 other people on the bridge. I usually don't stop for a picture because there's so many people, so I'm glad we got to get this one because I love it!

We headed out kind of quickly because it was about to rain and we had also cut it close to our dinner reservation again.

We were headed to Bice. Which will of course be in the next DTR post!

After dinner we went back to the room to take a little break. Josh wasn't feeling great, and he thought if we took an hour or two he'd feel better. Sadly, he was getting a migraine, and didn't make it to his last night at HHN. I wished he could because there were a few things he didn't see yet. He insisted I still go because I was meeting Alyssa and Zack there and he just wanted to nap anyway.

We did the Brides house first because I hadn't done that yet. But truthfully I wasn't really impressed by that one, and I wasn't sure why it was the biggest. We also did the Revenge of the Tooth Fairy. Then we did Scarey for the first time, and that one kind of felt like I was missing something? I thought it sounded like Slaughter Sinema in the description which was my favorite in 2018, and this one was supposed to have bits of old houses like that but I didn't recognize any except 1-2 at the end. I wanted to go through again before forming my opinion, but I just felt like I was missing something the whole time.

We had to go through Wicked Growth which was of course amazing. A scare actor reached out of the wall while I was looking in the opposite direction and when I turned around startled me quite a bit. When we left the house a kid behind us was congratulating us about how cool it was and how our reactions were so impressive because we didn't freak out.

Then it was twisted tater time!



Finally we had to do Hill House again. This time we had a very scary run through. Especially with the creepy children's voices in the dark hallway.



After that we went back to the hotel, and for some reason I noted they played Backstreet Boys on the water taxi.

Next Up

Josh leaves, we head to IOA for the day, & another night at HHN!

​

 

[schumigirl]

Hope Josh felt better, headaches like that are horrible.

Yes, the top does look like a dress, looks lovely. Glad you enjoyed the spells too, and love when the parks are a little quieter.

Glad you got to meet your friends though and had a nice time at HHN. I`m loving reading your thoughts on the houses.

 

[KathyM2]

Also everyone on Instagram thought it was a dress, but it was just a jersey that was longer than I thought, and I was wearing shorts under it.

I have to admit I thought it was a dress at first too, but it looks good that way!! (but yes a bit short to be worn without shorts - in my opinion anyway lol)

I did some spells in Hogsmeade, and then got a picture with the castle:

You look right out of the movie in this one!! Love it!

The wand seems like a lot of fun. Does it do anything now that you're home or only in the parks?

 

[Raeven]

Hope Josh felt better, headaches like that are horrible.

He had quite a few that weekend, they kind of come and go for him.

Yes, the top does look like a dress, looks lovely. Glad you enjoyed the spells too, and love when the parks are a little quieter.

It was nice to be there when the crowds were lower.

Glad you got to meet your friends though and had a nice time at HHN. I`m loving reading your thoughts on the houses.

I have to admit I thought it was a dress at first too, but it looks good that way!! (but yes a bit short to be worn without shorts - in my opinion anyway lol)

Lol yeah it was longer than I thought, but still way too short to be a dress. I was surprised everyone thought it was one because it barely covered the shorts, but when I was standing it looked like it covered them completely.

You look right out of the movie in this one!! Love it!

Thank you!

The wand seems like a lot of fun. Does it do anything now that you're home or only in the parks?

It's meant to interact with the sensors in the windows and stuff there so just a nice display piece at home. ​

 

[amalone1013]

That kid was so impressed with us

 

[Raeven]

*video is unavailable*​

 

[Raeven]

Islands of Adventure & More HHN

Here's my last DTR post: Arepas & Bice

Josh left this morning to catch his flight around 7 am.

& I was going to IOA today with Zack & Alyssa!


They were already in the parks and I went to meet them for lunch. On the way there I had the funniest water taxi driver. He kept telling jokes and told everyone this was his first day but he "watched a Youtube video and how hard could it be?"
As we were getting off the water taxi a kid turned to his mom and said "I don't really think this was his first day".
First we went to lunch at Mythos which will be the next DTR post. Luckily, we missed a major storm while we were inside.Then we had to check out the new Halloween themed store:







It was really cool. There was some Tribute Store stuff, but also some totally different merchandise in this store, and I loved the way it was decorated.

In Hogsmeade I had Alyssa try some spells and she got this snowman:



It was also not crowded on the bridge again so enjoy another picture!




We walked on Reign of Kong, and because our vehicle was rather empty it definitely felt like we were being bounced around a bit more than usual.

We also rode Spiderman on the way out:



And Alyssa and I chatted while Zack rode The Hulk.

We looked around the Universal Store in Citywalk before getting on the water taxi (still no Slytherin snake), and then back at the hotel I watched some Lifetime movies while getting ready for HHN.


We went through the Terra Zone:





We got some dinner which will be in my HHN snacks DTR post, and did Puppet Theatre again. We had a great run through this time, and I love how spooky the sky looks above it.



We also did Beetlejuice. Which was so much fun, I love the big puppets in that house.



We stopped to watch this year's Marathon of Mayhem show. I think it was cool, but a little shorter than 2019's, and that one is definitely still my favorite.

We also stopped for more snacks. Here's a preview because I just love this little Leatherface pie:



The face is perfect.

Then another snack before we did Texas Chainsaw Massacre:



The TCM house was okay, but not my favorite. It was better than I thought it would be. (I had it at the bottom of my list). But I'm not a big fan of the movies, and we had a group of girls behind us that kept running into my back whenever they heard the chainsaws. We also got stuck in the last room for a shift change, and there were three Leatherfaces' who kept popping out and the girls kept bunching around us because we were closer to the door. (Although that was kind of funny you'd think eventually it'd stop scaring them but it didn't ).

We also did Legendary Truth again, and this time we went through it a little slower, and were able to see more of the story. Once we could see more of the story, I think the house made a lot more sense and I enjoyed it more.

We also went to the Nightmare Fuel show, and because we arrived late we weren't in the best seats (but we were close so the constant fire going off was very hot). It was an entertaining show, and the people dancing were very talented, but for us it was something we only wanted to see once.
On the way out we did Wicked Growth again, and then we headed back to the hotel where I watched She's The Man before going to bed.



Next Up
I move over to Saratoga Springs at Disney & have a solo day at Food & Wine!
(& figure out where to do my laundry ).

​

 

[Raeven]

*video is unavailable*​

 

[Raeven]

Saratoga Springs, Food & Wine, + HHN 30 Rankings

The most recent DTR post: Mythos & HHN Snacks Pt 1

I don't really have any pictures from the morning because I was checking out of the room, and my bags were really heavy. Josh had offered to leave me with the bigger rolling suitcase so I wouldn't have to carry multiple bags, but I figured my smaller rolling suitcase would be easier to move around, and I'd just check the duffel bag before getting on the plane. However I didn't really think about moving them around the resort, and I had a bag of laundry too so I had a bit of an unstable tower of bags.



Once I got my bags downstairs, I Ubered over to Saratoga Springs.

Saratoga Springs is under construction so the DVC area is currently the check in area for everyone. They didn't have a room ready for me, so I left my luggage there and headed to the parks.



I'd been hoping to do my laundry before going to the parks because I was out of socks so I was on the look out for socks, and some F&W items.



Hello Pooh!



On the way in I rode the Finding Nemo ride, and walked around the aquarium a bit. Then I started trying some snacks at Food & Wine which will be in my next DTR post.



I started in Canada, and walked to Morocco before my feet started bothering me in my sandals. I changed into my sneakers, but without socks they were also pretty uncomfortable. Every time I did see any pair of socks they were usually a men's XL, but most stores I went in didn't sell any. In Morocco, I decided to take the boat back to the front of the World Showcase.

On the way out I stopped for awhile, and had a cider at the Brew Wing kiosk. This one was inside with seating so I took my time and relaxed a little.




Since my room was ready, and I needed to do laundry I headed back to the resort. Although when I got back they told me they'd moved my luggage somewhere else, but when I got there they could take me and my luggage to the room in a golf cart. (I was about one section away, but the resort is really spread out and it was raining). When I got to the luggage storage area I asked the guy working there about the golf cart and he said it might be a little wait and someone would get my lugagge, but then he walked away and went into a booth and didn't ever come back out to tell me anything more.



I waited for about 20 mins and felt like I was standing in everyone's way until finally someone pulled up in a golf cart. He went and got my luggage and took me there because I was waiting, but I still don't think that guy called anyone and he never came out to get my luggage or tell me someone was coming which was bizarre. I don't think they were ignoring me on purpose, but things seem very disorganized due to the construction moving things around.

The guy that took me to my room was very nice, and he even carried my luggage up to me.

I've never stayed in a DVC resort before, and my room was really nice. The rooms were recently refurbed, and I found the whole layout to be very open and the rooms were very well lit. I also thought the colors and decor were very tasteful, and clean looking.



We live a little ways from the real Saratoga (the resort is more a turn of the century interpretation). Saratoga is mostly known for horse racing and their casinos, neither of which I'm a fan of. We don't go there often but there’s a lot of bars/restaurants there too.


I did really like my stay there. Michelle generously booked it for me with her DVC points, and I'm very thankful she did that, and that I got to see this resort and stay nearby them.

I liked the fold down bed more as a couch. The sage green color was lovely.



Since it was DVC there were some amenities in a kitchen like area that aren't normally at the other hotels. I didn't use many of them, but when I ate in the room it was nice to have some plastic utensils and such.

The laundry was around the side of the building and in the pool area so it wasn't far, and then I had socks again. I also had to pick up a birthday cake I'd ordered for Michelle (they were arriving later that day) which was a bit of a walk. The QS was near the check in area, so I had to walk back over there to get it. Outside of this I didn't really explore the other sections of the resort since it was so big, but it was about a half mile or so to get to the main building section. I also found out on this trip that if you want to order the typical chocolate or vanilla Mickey cakes that say "happy birthday" or "congratulations" you can just order them for pickup from the QS.

Once Michelle and Chris had arrived, I set up a little table with a surprise in her room:



She liked her gift, and the setup, but we did have to wait till after dinner to eat the cake. We were headed to Homecomin' in Disney Springs! (Which will also be in the next DTR post).

And I realized in my last post that I forgot to add my HHN house and scare zone rankings. They were at the end of the vlog, but I meant to type them here too and forgot. There is still another night of HHN coming, but my rankings didn't change after the first weekend. So here they are!

Scare Zones

1. Lights, Camera, Hacktion

I loved seeing the older scare zones represented. I remembered a lot of them, and liked that they were mostly on stages for photo ops. The Treaks and Foons one also gave me Killer Klowns vibes, and was my favorite.

2. Crypt TV

I didn't love the shorts so I didn't think I'd like that one, but watching all the shorts did give me context for what each area was. Again I thought this was a great area for photo ops, and a lot of fun.

3. Terra Queen

This one was really cool, and I loved all the characters.

4. 30 Years for 30 Fears

Aside from the entrance way this one could've been better in my opinion. I didn't recognize any of the characters (not sure if you were supposed to or if I misunderstood what the area was).

5. Seek & Destroy

I just didn't really care for this one. I know a lot of people liked it, but I thought the theme was kind of meh.

Houses

1. Wicked Growth

I didn't expect to like this one so much based on the description, but it was amazing. It really captured the spirit of Halloween, and was great every time we went through it.

2. Haunting of Hill House

I love this show, and this house did a really good job with it. I also thought this was the creepiest house this year.

3. Beetlejuice

I've always wanted a Beetlejuice house, and this one didn't disappoint. It was a lot of fun, and I loved the giant puppets.

4. Puppet Theatre

This one was really creepy and cool. I loved the idea behind it, and always had a good time.

5. Icons: Captured

I loved seeing all the Icons in a house. I do wish I'd been present at events for some of the Icons other than Jack and Chance, but it was cool to see them all. (And there were some posters from Slaughter Sinema in one section)!

6. Legendary Truth

This one was totally different than what I thought it'd be based on the description, and I think enjoying it was contingent on understanding the story being told throughout it which we didn't get the first time. The second time I was able to read more of the story as we walked through, and I did enjoy it; it just didn't stand out to me as the best one.

7. Revenge of the Tooth Fairy

I liked this one, and the twisted take on a fairy tale, but it wasn't my favorite.

8. Welcome to Scarey

I really wanted to like this one because the description sounded a lot like Slaughter Sinema, but I just felt like I was walking through a bunch of inside jokes I didn't get. I thought it was supposed to reference other houses they'd done, but only 1-2 areas near the end looked familiar and the rest didn't really make sense. Maybe you'd have to have been going to the event for longer than we have for it to make sense, but I didn't get it.

9. Texas Chainsaw Massacre

I could probably flip this and the Scarey one, because I did think this house was fun when we went through it, and like that they had at least one iconic horror villain but I'm not really a fan of the Texas Chainsaw movies, and this house had sections that smelled terrible.

10. Brides

We went through this house twice, and I just wasn't really a fan of it. I liked the idea behind it, but for me personally it just wasn't one I really liked.

There were only two shows this year so I didn't bother with rankings for those, but I think I liked the Marathon of Mayhem one a little better (just not as much as the one they did in 2019). Both the shows weren't bad, but we felt like we didn't need to see them more than once.

Next Up
It's our Boo Bash day! + some flight changes.

​

 

[KathyM2]

Looking forward to hearing more about the resort since I'm unlikely to see the DVC bits anytime soon lol. Weird about the moving/golf cart guy etc...but glad it all got sorted eventually!! Looking forward to more about Homecomin'. I was so sad that we never got to eat there - we were supposed to go in 2020 but...you know...ugh.

 

[Raeven]

Boo Bash!

The latest dining entry: Food & Wine/Homecomin'

I started off this morning in Disney Springs with Michelle and Chris. We opted to walk which seemed a lot farther than we thought it'd be. I think the normal entrance was closed with construction, and we had to walk a little further to get in.





I didn't really take any pictures this morning, but I did do a little shopping. I finally found some socks after I did laundry. They had Pomeranians on them, and I figured it'd be good to have another pair in case I ran out again. I also grabbed some Basin soaps for Josh, some makeup, and one of the Haunted Mansion Amorette Petit Cakes which will be in one of the upcoming DTR posts.

After lunch I went back to the resort to rest awhile. I ended up having to deal with some flight stuff. My flight got changed again, and I decided with it just being me I'd really rather go with a direct flight. My best option was one on Friday morning. So I changed around all my plans for the last few days before I headed out again. (I was also able to get one day of my ticket that I'd recently added on refunded at guest services).

Later that night I joined Michelle and Chris for dinner in Magic Kingdom, and watched Happily Ever After before Boo Bash.






Originally, this was supposed to be my last time watching it but I also ended up getting to see it the next day too. I'm really glad I got to see it again before the end of it's run, but also really sad that it's ending. I feel like we got HEA for such a small amount of time compared to other shows, and it was the only nighttime show I really liked. We were there on the day it opened, and I knew it was going to be my favorite right away.

I did feel like the crowds weren't as crazy as I thought (obviously I didn't go on the very last days, but close enough to the end that I thought it might be more crowded).

Boo Bash was starting!



Once I made it to Tomorrowland I decided to ride Buzz while waiting for Michelle and Chris to catch up.



I am still not good at Buzz.



Chris and I, rode the Peoplemover, and at one point we got stuck near this robot and all the lights came on.



We thought we were going to get evacuated, but it started going again after a few minutes.

We went to some trick r treat stations, caught a few of the cavalcades, and rode Haunted Mansion.
After that Michelle and Chris left, and I rode 7DMT since the wait was low, and took some pictures on the way out.







I also caught one of the cavalcades again. It was one of the ones I'd seen earlier, but I had a better angle for pictures.



My opinion of Boo Bash? I really didn't think it was worth it. I enjoyed that we got to go, but I definitely don't think this should've been advertised as a Halloween event. Nothing about it felt really Halloween like (aside from the costumes and candy). I understand why someone would want to bring a kid trick r treating here maybe, but it's still very pricey for that. I didn't dress up, and wasn't really there for the trick r treating, and while it was nice to have low waits for rides I definitely wanted more Halloween-wise. The few snacks they had (which were very few this year) didn't sound appealing at all, and there were only two that weren't drinks. The price was higher than the regular party and tickets were so hard to get. I actually think the Villains after hours I did a few years back that I felt similarly about had more to it. (There were more treats and ride overlays at that one).

I know back then it was because I felt MNSSHP was a better value, and that didn't exist this year so this was the only option, but with Disney Land having a full scale Halloween party and Disney World having this it was disappointing. Obviously, these parties are done now so my review is probably unnecessary. But I hope for 2022 they bring back the actual Halloween parties.

Next Up

More Food & Wine and Magic Kingdom!

​

 

[Raeven]

*video is unavailable*​

 

[schumigirl]

You have the best pictures!!

I love your review of the houses....I thought Brides would be good, but so many have said how much of a disappointment it was too.

Little weird with the luggage at Saratoga.....lol.....how odd. And glad you got socks sorted out, very important!!

And again with Boo Bash......so many have said the same thing as you.......room looks very nice there.

 

[KathyM2]

I actually think the Villains after hours I did a few years back that I felt similarly about had more to it.

I hope they bring something like this back. It's too bad Boo Bash was disappointing...but...at least they did something lol. Hopefully as things get better covid wise and more of the world is travelling again...they'll bring back some more special experiences!

 

[Raeven]

You have the best pictures!!

Thank you!!!

I love your review of the houses....I thought Brides would be good, but so many have said how much of a disappointment it was too.

I'm surprised so many people agree. I thought Brides seemed to be pretty well liked, but it didn't impress me.

Little weird with the luggage at Saratoga.....lol.....how odd. And glad you got socks sorted out, very important!!

It was lol and yes socks must be sorted out!

And again with Boo Bash......so many have said the same thing as you.......room looks very nice there.

I knew it wouldn't measure up to the usual event, but was surprised just how bad it was in comparison.

I hope they bring something like this back. It's too bad Boo Bash was disappointing...but...at least they did something lol. Hopefully as things get better covid wise and more of the world is travelling again...they'll bring back some more special experiences!

Me too lol I'm glad they did something but Disneyland did so much more it was such a major disappointment that they couldn't even add a few snacks. ​

 

[Raeven]

Last Disney Day

Newest DTR post: Daily Poutine & Tony's Town Square Restaurant

The next morning I had a bit of a headache so I stayed in the room and watched movies for awhile. At 4pm I left for Epcot to do a little more Food & Wine-ing.



The buses took forever as they had been for most of this trip. Going around the resort took about 40 mins, and then however long it took to get there as well. I wasn't really impressed with the bus service at Saratoga Springs, and the section of the app showing the wait times for the buses also never seemed to be correct.



Once I made it to Epcot I tried a few things that will be in my next DTR post. I also checked out the Creations Shop which had just opened that day. The store looked great and had a lot of cool things in it, but I'd done most of my Disneybshopping already. They'd also opened Club Cool that day, but the line was crazy so I didn't check that out.



After that I took the monorail to Magic Kingdom to meet Alyssa and Zack. We rode Pirates and saw some Country Bears.



Then we went on a little quest for food since the QS we were planning to eat at was already closed. We hung out with Casey:



Who does not look happy to see us.
It was so busy by Casey's that there wasn't any seats left and a CM advised us to sit on the ground. Where the ducks tried to steal our food.




(Or french fries)



After our snack we went to get a spot for Happily Ever After. It was actually a little more crowded on this night than the previous night, and I think that more people left early on the Boo Bash nights. While we were waiting we saw a rocket launch which was unexpected and pretty cool.



Our last time watching Happily Ever After



Aside from the guy singing louder than the actual show next to me it was a great last show.



And with that we were herded into the Main St Emporium with the crowds which was insane though once we were able to get out there were no people on Main St so I'm not sure why they herded us all into one small space.

Next Up
It's the last full day! I head back to Universal & we go to HHN for the last time.

​

 

[Raeven]

*video is unavailable*​