12/13 - 12/15
Had reserved RPR for the Sat. nite (Loews promo was $119 AP rate with an upgrade for booking by the 6th), but decided to economize some on the Fri. nite. Didn't expect to drive down until evening, but managed to slip outta town in time to see the inaugural Macy Parade (glad we did, it was great fun). The planets must have lined up for us as we got thru downtown I-4 with little delay!
Watched the very beginning of parade between old boneyard (now is Balloonopolis, with several balloons tied down at ground level) & Twister. As soon as last Macy bloon went by, the beginning was in New York area.
Headed over to front of Finnegans just as multi-colored confetti started blasting...cool stuff. At the end of parade they shoot all-white confetti, Fla. snow!
The crowds were kinda light, but we fully expected 'em to be much bigger on Sat. Oh yeah, did a Jaws after dark ride before leaving (DD's favorite).
Stayed that nite at Comfort Suites on Turkey Lake Rd. - $39 thru HotelKingdom.
Next morning we checked in at RPR at 7:15. Had a room for us already! Very, very surprised (for us, this was our best stay with them yet). I got the car from self-park & let the bellman take bags on up. Room was #1624, overlooking the beach side of pool. Decent view of the outdoor Christmas tree too (glorious at night!).
Walked over to CityWalk to grab some breakfast at Pastamore'. We like this place in early morning, you get to see the area coming alive whilst lightly stuffing your face! Lightly, since we're heading for Hulk first.
Did Hulk twice, Dr. Doom & Spidey once, and then headed thru Seuss Landing to ride the Dragons. After a couple times on each it was definitely hot chocolate time. Enchanted Oak was open so we grabbed it there and sat out back at the round table. So it really was'nt that cold!
Back thru Seuss and rode CITH, then departed for USF.
Lost bet with DW that we couldn't enter USF behind HRC without a handstamp. They are equipped to admit you just like the front gate. May be old news, but seems like I was denied there before because I didn't have a stamp from IOA. Glad she was right!
Anyways, DD had several hundred arcade tickets to cash in, so that was the priority. After collecting her toys she & DW wanted to watch the Beetlejuice show, while I wandered over to MIB.
They were sending Express folks thru the pre-show so I hit single rider line. Shot 675K, didn't even near DD's family record of 736K. Oh, to be 10 yo again.
Headed back past BJ show to meet at arcade. BJ still rockin', so had time for a Finnegans break. Same bartender, Dan, from Fri. parade break. He remembered me now, but I'd become just another face in the crowd later that afternoon.
After the family met back up, it was water-taxi to room, and then drove off-site to eat at Wong's Chinese. It was a combination of craving Chinese & wanting to try this place in particular (had read some good on the other boards here).
Wanted to hit the Universal store at Belz too. Lots of decent gift stuff there. Got some extra sweatshirts for ourselves even. It seemed to be cooler that pm than it did in the am.
Got real bundled up for this parade. Went straight to NY area, AP section was near full (sits at end of street, right of Twister entry, looking towards San Fran), so we went to corner of Blues Bros street.
Very good sized crowd gathered on both sides. Unfortunately, many seemed to get thirsty at the same time we did. Well, they were all there before us today anyway. Even ol' Dan couldn't do me favors now. I just waited like a good touron.
Because of the cooler weather and the larger crowd that day, it really did make for a more festive parade. Still think they should mint some dated Christmas coins to toss out to folks. Macy's can't afford that?!
After all this, and no naps for any of us, why not... go ride Hulk twice & Dragons 3 times apiece. What a blast doing this after dark. Highly recommended (but it's probably even better after having a pm nap)!
As we leave thru Seuss later, there's an immense looking private party being set up. There were tables for food stretched from one end of Seuss to the other. I've always wondered the details of these affairs, but never dared interrupt the folks setting 'em up. I can't think of a better way to party than get into one of these one day. Deep pockets must be nice!
Water-taxi back that night is highlighted by a huge lit-up tree near the RPR dock. Really awesome sight.
Dinner that night: Lotto & McDonalds run (around the corner from PBH)!
For dessert: Milk & cookies! (thought maybe it was gonna snow, but honest to God, RPR brought us milk & cookies!)
Sun.
Slept in; read paper;did our football picks; sent bags down to car (I fetched car & re-parked); checked-out with housekeeper (don't ask); and off to IOA for 2 Hulks.
Over to USF next to get a Macy Parade pin (kept forgetting that) & go shoot aliens. Did MIB twice and Jaws once.
Did a big, early lunch at Finnegans and watched pre-game shows. DW & DD hit the arcade afterwards and left me to take in the 1st quarter. When I met them later, they were up to 1200 tics. While DD's picking out more goodies, I get me a dollars worth of tokens and go play the game that ate my $5 bill the day before (and $5 - $10 on another previous trip). 1st token in I hit the 5000 jackpot!
The only game I ever play there, my own personal Holy Grail.... it was finally over. This was a fine way to cap off a great week-end. A Friday 13th week-end at that.
DD left out of there with 4 big bags of stuff. Santa has his work cut out for him now!
Everything about this week-end was terrific. RPR made it quite special, but hey, we were due for it there. We will send a very nice letter to Loews, just as we sent one when the stay was unfavorable.
Didn't run into any Dis'ers this week-end, one of the first times we didn't. Oh well, maybe next trip!
Any ?'s we'll do our best to answer!
Jim
Had reserved RPR for the Sat. nite (Loews promo was $119 AP rate with an upgrade for booking by the 6th), but decided to economize some on the Fri. nite. Didn't expect to drive down until evening, but managed to slip outta town in time to see the inaugural Macy Parade (glad we did, it was great fun). The planets must have lined up for us as we got thru downtown I-4 with little delay!
Watched the very beginning of parade between old boneyard (now is Balloonopolis, with several balloons tied down at ground level) & Twister. As soon as last Macy bloon went by, the beginning was in New York area.
Headed over to front of Finnegans just as multi-colored confetti started blasting...cool stuff. At the end of parade they shoot all-white confetti, Fla. snow!
The crowds were kinda light, but we fully expected 'em to be much bigger on Sat. Oh yeah, did a Jaws after dark ride before leaving (DD's favorite).
Stayed that nite at Comfort Suites on Turkey Lake Rd. - $39 thru HotelKingdom.
Next morning we checked in at RPR at 7:15. Had a room for us already! Very, very surprised (for us, this was our best stay with them yet). I got the car from self-park & let the bellman take bags on up. Room was #1624, overlooking the beach side of pool. Decent view of the outdoor Christmas tree too (glorious at night!).
Walked over to CityWalk to grab some breakfast at Pastamore'. We like this place in early morning, you get to see the area coming alive whilst lightly stuffing your face! Lightly, since we're heading for Hulk first.
Did Hulk twice, Dr. Doom & Spidey once, and then headed thru Seuss Landing to ride the Dragons. After a couple times on each it was definitely hot chocolate time. Enchanted Oak was open so we grabbed it there and sat out back at the round table. So it really was'nt that cold!
Back thru Seuss and rode CITH, then departed for USF.
Lost bet with DW that we couldn't enter USF behind HRC without a handstamp. They are equipped to admit you just like the front gate. May be old news, but seems like I was denied there before because I didn't have a stamp from IOA. Glad she was right!
Anyways, DD had several hundred arcade tickets to cash in, so that was the priority. After collecting her toys she & DW wanted to watch the Beetlejuice show, while I wandered over to MIB.
They were sending Express folks thru the pre-show so I hit single rider line. Shot 675K, didn't even near DD's family record of 736K. Oh, to be 10 yo again.
Headed back past BJ show to meet at arcade. BJ still rockin', so had time for a Finnegans break. Same bartender, Dan, from Fri. parade break. He remembered me now, but I'd become just another face in the crowd later that afternoon.
After the family met back up, it was water-taxi to room, and then drove off-site to eat at Wong's Chinese. It was a combination of craving Chinese & wanting to try this place in particular (had read some good on the other boards here).
Wanted to hit the Universal store at Belz too. Lots of decent gift stuff there. Got some extra sweatshirts for ourselves even. It seemed to be cooler that pm than it did in the am.
Got real bundled up for this parade. Went straight to NY area, AP section was near full (sits at end of street, right of Twister entry, looking towards San Fran), so we went to corner of Blues Bros street.
Very good sized crowd gathered on both sides. Unfortunately, many seemed to get thirsty at the same time we did. Well, they were all there before us today anyway. Even ol' Dan couldn't do me favors now. I just waited like a good touron.
Because of the cooler weather and the larger crowd that day, it really did make for a more festive parade. Still think they should mint some dated Christmas coins to toss out to folks. Macy's can't afford that?!
After all this, and no naps for any of us, why not... go ride Hulk twice & Dragons 3 times apiece. What a blast doing this after dark. Highly recommended (but it's probably even better after having a pm nap)!
As we leave thru Seuss later, there's an immense looking private party being set up. There were tables for food stretched from one end of Seuss to the other. I've always wondered the details of these affairs, but never dared interrupt the folks setting 'em up. I can't think of a better way to party than get into one of these one day. Deep pockets must be nice!
Water-taxi back that night is highlighted by a huge lit-up tree near the RPR dock. Really awesome sight.
Dinner that night: Lotto & McDonalds run (around the corner from PBH)!
For dessert: Milk & cookies! (thought maybe it was gonna snow, but honest to God, RPR brought us milk & cookies!)
Sun.
Slept in; read paper;did our football picks; sent bags down to car (I fetched car & re-parked); checked-out with housekeeper (don't ask); and off to IOA for 2 Hulks.
Over to USF next to get a Macy Parade pin (kept forgetting that) & go shoot aliens. Did MIB twice and Jaws once.
Did a big, early lunch at Finnegans and watched pre-game shows. DW & DD hit the arcade afterwards and left me to take in the 1st quarter. When I met them later, they were up to 1200 tics. While DD's picking out more goodies, I get me a dollars worth of tokens and go play the game that ate my $5 bill the day before (and $5 - $10 on another previous trip). 1st token in I hit the 5000 jackpot!
The only game I ever play there, my own personal Holy Grail.... it was finally over. This was a fine way to cap off a great week-end. A Friday 13th week-end at that.
DD left out of there with 4 big bags of stuff. Santa has his work cut out for him now!
Everything about this week-end was terrific. RPR made it quite special, but hey, we were due for it there. We will send a very nice letter to Loews, just as we sent one when the stay was unfavorable.
Didn't run into any Dis'ers this week-end, one of the first times we didn't. Oh well, maybe next trip!
Any ?'s we'll do our best to answer!
Jim
