Monsters, Candy Apples, Pumpkins, Vampires, Witches, Haunted Houses, Scares Zones and more. HHN 31 trip.

[Robo56]

After the Lost Continent I enter the fun and colorful Seuss Landing.




They always have colorful fun looking treats.




I love that this shop has a small door entrance for the smaller children.


They had some really cute merchandise.

I had not seen this backpack before.

And a wallet to go with it.




I had seen these furry Grinch backpacks before and they are really cute.



This is a really cute bookstore.

 

[Robo56]

Circus McGurkus Cafe Stoo-Pendous is really cute to have a look inside of. I ate there many years ago with the grandchildren. I was happy to see it was still open. They opened It back up last year If I remember correctly.

The Seuss Trolly ride has a inside track and outside track. The inside track will take you inside the top of the restaurant. This is a ride the kiddos and adults really enjoy.











To be continued

 

[Robo56]

Wednesday, September 14th continued

It was getting close to lunch time so I decided to stop into Confisco Grille for lunch.


After having a couple of back to back bad experiences with the food here a few years ago I did not visit again for a few years. I decided to comeback and try again and the past 3 years while in IOA i have stopped in and it has been great.

Service and food have been awesome.

It was not busy at all when I stopped in for lunch. I had Marie as waitress and she was kind and attentive.

I ordered two appetizers to sample instead of a meal. I ordered the Hummus and the Tuna nachos.


The hummus was delicious. I have had this here before and it is so good. You are served warm pita with the hummus and a crispy seeded crackers. Marie said this is called the summer hummus because of the fresh veggies on top. The tomato, corn, red onion and cucumbers. She said there is a Fall version with pumpkin on it. I was glad they still had the summer version.

This would be easily shared as an appetizer with others before a meal.



The Tuna nachos were not that spicey. There were a few jalapeños and a nice amount of tuna and avocado. I enjoyed this dish and everything was fresh. I was glad I sampled this dish and I would order it again.

I enjoyed sampling these two dishes. There was more then half of each plate leftover and Marie asked it I wanted to take it with me. I told her no thank you. I don’t typically take leftovers back to resort.

It was a nice light meal.


After lunch I took a few more pictures in the Port of Entry






Then decided to have a walk through the Christmas Store.





I like the Quidditch Tree.

 

[Robo56]

Other side of the Quidditch Tree






My younger sister is a big fan of the Grinch.


They really have embraced Earl the Squirrel. I think it is kind of funny.


They even had ornaments.




I liked the wonky display table.






After the Christmas Store it was time to start scootin out of the park.

I walked through the Trading Post on the way out.

 

[Robo56]

I was still tempted to buy this little suitcase.






I saw these cute Jurassic Backpacks at the outside store on the way out.


There was a boat waiting when I arrived at the dock. So a nice ride back to the Portofino. My sister had been to Citywalk for lunch and the pool and she was back in the room already.

I was ready for a shower and a nap.









To be continued

 

[wdwrule]

Wednesday, September 14th continued

It was getting close to lunch time so I decided to stop into Confisco Grille for lunch.
View attachment 722146

After having a couple of back to back bad experiences with the food here a few years ago I did not visit again for a few years. I decided to comeback and try again and the past 3 years while in IOA i have stopped in and it has been great.

Service and food have been awesome.

It was not busy at all when I stopped in for lunch. I had Marie as waitress and she was kind and attentive.

I ordered two appetizers to sample instead of a meal. I ordered the Hummus and the Tuna nachos.


The hummus was delicious. I have had this here before and it is so good. You are served warm pita with the hummus and a crispy seeded crackers. Marie said this is called the summer hummus because of the fresh veggies on top. The tomato, corn, red onion and cucumbers. She said there is a Fall version with pumpkin on it. I was glad they still had the summer version.

This would be easily shared as an appetizer with others before a meal.
View attachment 722147


The Tuna nachos were not that spicey. There was a few jalapeños and a nice amount of tuna and avocado. I enjoyed this dish and everything was fresh. I was glad I sampled this dish and I would order it again.
View attachment 722148
I enjoyed sampling these two dishes. There was more then half of each plate leftover and Marie asked it I wanted to take it with me. I told her no thank you. I don’t typically take leftovers back to resort.

It was a nice light meal.


After lunch I took a few more pictures in the Port of Entry
View attachment 722150

View attachment 722151

View attachment 722152

Then decided to have a walk through the Christmas Store.

View attachment 722153

View attachment 722154

I like the Quidditch Tree.
View attachment 722155

Oooo that’s one of my favorite lunches there! Ahi nachos and hummus, especially on a hot day.

Love the Hermoine dress! I eye it up everytime!

 

[Robo56]

Oooo that’s one of my favorite lunches there! Ahi nachos and hummus, especially on a hot day.

I was glad I sampled them both for lunch. I had the hummus before, but the nachos will be on the list to do again. I hope Confisco grille keeps them both on the menu.

Love the Hermoine dress! I eye it up everytime!

I love all the Potter Christmas decorations to choose from. They are always coming up with new things.

Hermoine‘s dress is cute.

 

[Pumpkin1172]

I am finally caught up again!

You have wonderful pictures! On this -40 F day...I was needing to see some pictures exactly like this from a warm/hot sunny climate!

 

[Robo56]

I am finally caught up again!

You have wonderful pictures! On this -40 F day...I was needing to see some pictures exactly like this from a warm/hot sunny climate!

Pumpkin I’am so glad you are enjoying the pictures. It is great to hear the photos are warming your heart on such a cold day.

I‘am enjoying sharing them with everyone. It is fun to look over the pictures again and remember the nice vacation my little sister and I had in September to my happy place Universal Orlando.

Thank you for continuing to read along.

 

[Robo56]

Have you ever heard the saying that life gets in the way sometimes. It truly does. In a good way. Things have finally slowed down a little and I have been reflecting on the wonderful trip I had with my little sister to HHN this year. So I’am going to try and get some more done on my trip report.


I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.





And Santa gave you all your hearts desired.

 

[Robo56]

Wednesday, September 14th continued


After a good nap it was time to get ready for us to meet our older sister D and her grandson at Portillo’s for supper.

Our older sister lives in Harmony Florida now. So we decided to meet up for a quick meal.

Portillo’s is located on Turkey Lake Road and easily accessible from any of the Universal Resorts.

Portillo’s has the best roast beef sandwiches, hotdogs and sausages in the Chicago land area and we were happy to see them open a restaurant in Orlando.

The best sandwich is the roast beef with green peppers dipped. If you are a native Chicagoan or not this is by far the best sandwich.

They are also know for their chocolate cake and I have heard people rave about it, but I have never tried it.

We headed out the door. It was sprinkling a little so we decided to take the indoor route to the lobby instead of walking out in the Piazza. We headed to the garage and then we were on our way to Portillo’s.

Our sister and her grandson were waiting and we all went up and ordered our meals. It wasn’t to busy.

After you order and pay for your meal your receipt has a number on it and they call your number from your receipt for you to come up and get your meal.

They have some nice nostalgic decorations and the place can be a bit loud if its busy, but it was not bad this evening.

There are folks that walk around making sure you are satisfied with hour meal.

I had noted on a previous visit here when I ordered a beef sandwich it was seriously lacking on the beef and I took it back up and asked them to rectify this and they did. There should be a generous portion of beef on each sandwich. The beef is sliced really thin and is in au jus.

I know what their sandwiches should be like after buying many from the flagship stores up north. This visit they did a great job.

After a nice visit and meal we said our goodbyes and my little sis and I headed back to Portofino.

After getting back to the room we decided it was early enough we should head over to Cabana Bay and check out The Monsters Gallery of Legends.

It was still sprinkling rain and we noticed the boats were not running so we decided to take the bus over to CityWalk and Transfer to Cabana Bay Bus.

This was easy to do. After arriving to the bus area we transferred over to the Cabana Bay bus and found a seat. Then the bus filled to the brim with wet, tired park goers. Thankfully the ride was not a long one.

We arrived at the bus stop at Cabana Bay and made it to the front door just as a huge bus of tourist arrived to check in. We headed to the elevators on the second floor. There was someone at the door checking to make sure you were a onsite resort guest.



I told my sister to give me her most terrified face as the mummy hand tried to grab her and I almost fell over laughing. We had the best time…..LOL…actually she did a great job looking terrified.



LOL…when it was my turn I looked more like I was choking and the mummy was bopping me on the head with his index finger. The shadow was kinda cool though…LOL


There was a nice TM inside the room and she was fun. She was offering to take photos of everyone if needed.





We decided to take our candelabra in the opposite direction from Dracula.




In in Dracula’s mouth. Notice I’am checking to see how sharp his fang is.….LOL…The TM, my sister and I were laughing and having the best time.





I‘am so glad we made the trip over to have a look at this and take photos.


After we were done we took the elevator back down to the first floor.

 

[Robo56]

They had some nice nostalgic Halloween window displays on the first floor.













Our next stop was going to be the special Halloween bar at Cabana Bay. The Spooky Swizzle Lounge.





To be continued

 

[Robo56]

Wednesday, September 14th continued

We had read about the Swizzle Lounge at the Cabana Bay and wanted to make sure to make a stop.

This was basically a bar that sits to the left of the large lobby.

The Halloween Decorations were cool.




Little Boo had a place of honor up on the shelf behind the bar.


My sister and I found 2 seats at the bar and after a look at the Halloween cocktail menu decided on a couple of drinks.

I ordered the Dracula and my sister ordered the Wolfman.
There was a picture and ingredients on the menu as we approached the bar.





Of course we had to have the souvenir cups.







I took one sip of my drink and the tabasco sauce in this mix for me was overpowering. My sister took a sip and she liked it. So we switched drinks.

The bartender said that they had run out of the Bols Blackberry Brandy so they just put extra Jack Daniels in the Wolfman….LOL.

They did not scrimp on the alcohol.

A very nice couple who were sitting next to us asked us where we were from. The wife is a 911 operator in the town where we grew up in a south suburb of Chicago. It is a small world. We had a nice time reminiscing about things that were in the downtown area that are no longer there. They were having a night of drink sampling as we were at a few places.

They had done a nice job the with the Halloween decoations.





After finishing our drinks we decided to head over to the Strong Water Tavern at Sapphire Falls for a drink.

I had run into Carole and Tom in the Hog’s Head Pub a few days ago and Carole had told me that folks at the Strong Water had named a drink after her and to be sure if we got by there to ask for it. She told me it was not on the menu yet and was supposed to be by October. I like fruity drinks so we were going to make sure and try one.

So we moseyed over to the Strong Water Tavern and it was not too busy. We found a table and did not wait long before a lovely waiter named Angelo came over to get our drink order.

 

[Robo56]

We both asked for the Carole’s punch. He told me he had not heard of that drink yet, but went up to the bar to ask them about it. We kind of chuckled as the whole bar staff and the other waiters and waitresses looked back at us in unison. I kind of figured they were wondering how we knew about the drink.

Angelo came back and told us the drinks creator was off this evening, but the bartender would take a stab at making it. He did a good job.



The drink was fruity and tasty.

It is on the menu now.


Carole they did you proud with this drink.


We decided to sample a couple things to eat.

The Buttermilk Chicken Tenders.


Beefsteak Empanadas


Both were very good.

For our next drink we ordered the Blackberry Daiquiri. I have had this before and if was just as good as the last time.


They are generous with the ingredients in their cocktails at the Strong Water Tavern. The food we tried was delicious and our waiter Angelo was fantastic.

After we were done we headed for the boat as the Water Taxi‘s were running again after the rain.

We were lucky enough when we arrived to the CityWalk dock that a Water Taxi for Portofino had just arrived. Timing was perfect. We hopped on the Portofino Bay Water Taxi.

We got back to the room and took turns in the bathroom and as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out.


To be continued

 

[schumigirl]

We both asked for the Carole’s punch. He told me he had not heard of that drink yet, but went up to the bar to ask them about it. We kind of chuckled as the whole bar staff and the other waiters and waitresses looked back at us in unison. I kind of figured they were wondering how we knew about the drink.

Angelo came back and told us the drinks creator was off this evening, but the bartender would take a stab at making it. He did a good job.

View attachment 735207

The drink was fruity and tasty.

It is on the menu now.
View attachment 735215

Carole they did you proud with this drink.


We decided to sample a couple things to eat.

The Buttermilk Chicken Tenders.
View attachment 735208

Beefsteak Empanadas
View attachment 735209

Both were very good.

For our next drink we ordered the Blackberry Daiquiri. I have had this before and if was just as good as the last time.
View attachment 735211

They are generous with the ingredients in their cocktails at the Strong Water Tavern. The food we tried was delicious and our waiter Angelo was fantastic.

After we were done we headed for the boat as the Water Taxi‘s were running again after the rain.

We were lucky enough when we arrived to the CityWalk dock that a Water Taxi for Portofino had just arrived. Timing was perfect. We hoped on the Portofino Bay Water Taxi.

We got back to the room and took turns in the bathroom and as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out.


To be continued

View attachment 735219

Angelo is a star!! Very nice man.

Some of them in September were making it without the pineapple, but it still tasted nice! Later in the month they got it right, Anthony created an amazing drink……he gives me credit though lol…….

I’m so glad you enjoyed it though! I was thrilled when Fernando emailed me the cocktail on the bar menu a few months back, I’m glad it’s showing online too now.

I agree, they do give a very good pour in Strong Water!

 

[Robo56]

Angelo is a star!! Very nice man.

Yes, he is a wonderful waiter.

Some of them in September were making it without the pineapple, but it still tasted nice! Later in the month they got it right, Anthony created an amazing drink……he gives me credit though lol…….

The drink was very good. You have been a champion of the Strong Water Tavern for years and rightfully so. It is only fitting that they name a drink after you.

The customer service is impeccable and the food and drink are top notch.

Thank you for sharing your love of the Strong Water in your reports.

I’m so glad you enjoyed it though! I was thrilled when Fernando emailed me the cocktail on the bar menu a few months back, I’m glad it’s showing online too now.

I agree, they do give a very good pour in Strong Water!

My sister and I liked the drink very much. I will stop by and have one again when I get over to Strong Water on my next trip.

You, are right they are generous with their pour.