My First Ever Trip Report - Day 7 - A Universal Hangover & Roy's

[raph_b]

For anyone playing catch up:

Pre Trip - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1850893
Day 1 - It Starts - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1982340
Day 2 - Adventures in Epcot - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1985151
Day 3 - IOA, Aquatica & lots of steak! - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1991243
Day 4 - Sea World Saturday and Chicken N' Wine - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2012346
Day 5 - AK, Narcoossee's & DTD - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2057774
Day 6.1 - The Day - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2082310
Day 6.2 - The Evening - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2124661

DAY 7 - A Universal Hangover & Roy's

So I thought that being out of work would give me more time to continue my trip reports, but it turns out that Emilie sets me so many jobs to do around the house each day, coupled with the applications and interviews, that I’m actually busier now than I was when I was working! (but hey, our house is spotless!)

Anyways, on with the report! (at last!)

We woke up Tuesday earlier than I had expected after such a late night (see Day 6.2), and feeling just a little bit hungover! Nothing a quick breakfast stop at McDonalds wouldn’t cure though!

So after enjoying the fine food of California Grill for our engagement, our first meal as an engaged couple was a breakfast burrito from Maccas!! Classy

We drove over to Universal and parked up in the Jaws lot again. It was about 9am when we got there and there were only about 20 or 30 cars in the car park before us

We headed over to Universal through an empty City Walk and the plan was to head straight over the new Simpsons ride.

On our way we took a few pics, mainly because it was absolutely empty inside!

I also had to take a pic of this, a prop from the Skoolhouse scare zone ready for the Halloween Horror Night, where we would be heading to on Friday (which I was just a little bit excited about!)

We rode the Simpsons which was really good fun and pretty impressive too, esp the smells of it!

I have always wanted a squishee!

We headed over to MIB next, where I absolutely whupped Em, I got around 600,000 points, she was somewhere in the 80,000 region (It’s all about pushing that red button!)

We headed over to Amity and the Jaws ride next. I love the Jaws films and also love this ride, although not as much as Em did! This ended up being one of her favourite rides from the whole trip, she absolutely loved it! (and I think first time round she was actually a little bit scared too )

We took the requisite Jaws pic then stopped for a slice of pizza from Louie’s which was really good We forgot to take a pic though – A clear sign I was still slightly hungover!

Next up was Revenge of the Mummy which was brilliant, one of my favourite rides from the trip. We decided it would be rude not to do this one again, as our bags were already in the lockers, so we walked straight back on.

I do love the way the staff on this ride try to look really mean and scary but on numerous occasions I saw them break into smiles after some banter with us and other park-goers!

Next up was Jimmy Neutron, and after leaving this ride guess who we ran into........

We did a bit of shopping and I got a Halloween Nights t shirt ready to wear Friday night, and Em got me a wicked pair of Pyjama trousers with Patrick from Spongebob on

Shrek 4-D was next up (I’m always so confused as to how these shows claim to have a 4th dimension when no such dimension is actually known to man!) which was another really great show, as was the pre show!

continued below

 

[raph_b]

We came out and met Donkey, who was really impressive. The guy voicing it sounds just like Eddie Murphy and he was coming out with some really funny stuff. He’s definitely worth saying hello to!

We then wandered over to the ET ride. We both love ET and the ride was great. I particularly loved the theming of the queue for this ride, it was wicked walking through the forest, and the smells were really good too and added to the atmosphere (what is it with Universal and smells?!)

I also played the silly passport game and told the attendant my name was Bobby Bryant (our rabbit’s name). Em was a bit confused but found it as childishly funny as I did when ET said goodbye to Bobby Bryant! Admit it - we've all done it!!

It was a really nice leisurely day wandering around a virtually empty Universal. I think Em spent more of the day looking at her ring than concentrating on anything else!

Before leaving Em decided to try something new with her hair:

We were feeling hungry again and Em had a taste for Taco Bell after yesterday so she asked a few people where the nearest Taco Bell was and we headed there for lunch

Just look how happy she is!! and look how nice that Volcano taco looks

I think we got a large meal which we shared, it was massive and more than enough for both of us, and I think it cost about $5! Bargain!

The rest of the afternoon was spent shopping at the Prime Outlets, although I think we just browsed today after feeling a bit too lethargic to try anything on!

We headed back to the hotel to chill for a while, and then later we headed over to Roy’s for dinner

ROYS

This restaurant has always had consistently great reviews on trip advisor and is always in or around the top 10 restaurants in Orlando so we were both really looking forward to coming here.

We drove over there (For some reason I didn’t particularly feel like drinking tonight!) and the first nice touch was that they offer free valet parking

Roy’s food is described as’ Hawaiian fusion’, and I’d say that’s pretty accurate! There is also a lot of Asian influence on the menu here. Apparently the Roy in Roy’s is Roy Yamaguchi, who is a celebrity chef in America.

The restaurant was lovely inside, and really looked the part.

Em went for the special cocktail of the day, something with berries, and I played it safe with coke.

For starters we had a tuna thing which was almost like a sushi dish, and some pork kebabs in a red curry sauce, and we ended up sharing both of them (sorry about the ambiguous description, the online menu has changed so I'm playing it from memory!)

Can you believe I forgot to take any pictures of the starters?! I know, I should be ashamed of myself! It’s such a shame too as they were lovely.....

For main course I had fillet steak in a mustard & soy sauce with Wasabi mash potatoes and Em had some kind of japanese style glazed salmon.

Both meals were absolutely lovely, and my steak went so perfectly with the wasabi mash - Roy certainly knows what he's doing!

For dessert we shared Roy’s Melting Hot Chocolate Soufflé – Flourless chocolate cake with a hot molten centre served with raspberry coulis and Vanilla Ice Cream.

I think the reason there is no picture of this is because it wasn’t on the plate long enough to be photographed! It was amazing!!

The total cost of the dinner was $88.61

Roy’s was amazing, I would totally recommend it for a nice dinner, and it was much cheaper than all the other restaurants we went to. All in all it was really good food, amazing service, and really good value (and it worth going to just to try the dessert!)

Roy's scores

Me:

Ambience 8/10
Service 9/10
Food 9/10
Value for Money 9/10

Overall - 9/10

Em:

Ambience 8/10
Service 8.5/10
Food 9/10
Value for Money 8.5/10

Overall - 8.5/10

Tomorrow – African Wednesday – Busch Gardens followed by dinner at Jiko (with lots of food pics, we upped our game for this one!)

Let’s see how long it takes me to write up this part of the report, I’m hopeful it’ll be done by June

 

[Jets fan]

Hi

Thought you had dropped off the planet as I really enjoyed 6.2 and was eagerly awaiting 7.

Sounds like you had a great first day as an engaged couple, although how you did not buy things from Premium Outlets today is beyond me!

Thanks for the update and good luck with the job hunting.

Tina

 

[wicket2005]

Another lovely day Craig. The 4th Dimension is supposed to be getting squirted, rocked, etc on Shrek. I am pleased you enjoyed your day at Universal, it is one of our favourite parks.

 

[Cyrano]

Glad to see you back on track with the reports

 

[irongirlof12]

what a fab day meal looks really yummy

 

[Lizzybear]

Yay i'm all caught up! I'm sure it's actually illegal to NOT take the 'head in mouth Jaws pic' at Universal I wish we had time to visit some of these fab looking non Disney restaurants in your reports, maybe another year though
Looking forward to reading your HHN report, i'm going by the theory that if I see loads of pictures of it before I go then I won't be as scared..!

 

[Pinky166]

Can't believe I missed this one????

Sounds like a great way to spend your first day as an engaged couple.

That steak looks fab - I have never heard of Roy's, whereabouts is it?

Good luck with the job hunting, my hubby is going through it at the moment too so I feel your pain.

 

[jackieleanne]

What a brilliant day the food at Roys looks lovely. Goodluck with the job hunt i'm currently doing the same so understand your pain.

 

[Cochise]

Heat - Best top in NBA, could never pursuade the bank of wife to authorise one the last time we went.

 

[Nix]

I'm loving your trip report. and I'm showing it to my fiancee to prove how much fun two people can have in Orlando XD

 

[SusanEllen]

Delighted to find you're continuing your report. You have a gift for storytelling. Keep that in mind as you look for a job. Easy to picture you as a copy writer or a creative director for an ad agency or a travel company. Not kidding about this--you and Em could have a fabulous life traveling around the world and writing about your adventures and reviewing resorts and restaurants for travel magazines (print and/or online). Think about it. In the meantime, thanks for entertaining us on the DIS.

 

[Snowy-girls]

Great update Craig,you're pics are fab.
Donkey is hilarious as we found out a couple of weeks ago-our girls did'nt seem very impressed but me+Tony were in stitches.
The food looks so nice at Roy's .x.

 

[raph_b]

Hi

Thought you had dropped off the planet as I really enjoyed 6.2 and was eagerly awaiting 7.

Sounds like you had a great first day as an engaged couple, although how you did not buy things from Premium Outlets today is beyond me!

Thanks for the update and good luck with the job hunting.

Tina

Thanks Tina Don't worry - I'm still around!

I can't believe Em managed to visit the Outlet without purchasing either! (lthough we did go back a few days later and came back with a car full of stuff

Another lovely day Craig. The 4th Dimension is supposed to be getting squirted, rocked, etc on Shrek. I am pleased you enjoyed your day at Universal, it is one of our favourite parks.

I see what they are doing there with the 4-D thing - not sure that's scientifically accurate though

I love Universal too, its such a fun place to be and has some amazing rides

Glad to see you back on track with the reports

I'm hoping to stay on track now too!!

what a fab day meal looks really yummy

It was absolutely delicious esp the dessert!

Yay i'm all caught up! I'm sure it's actually illegal to NOT take the 'head in mouth Jaws pic' at Universal I wish we had time to visit some of these fab looking non Disney restaurants in your reports, maybe another year though
Looking forward to reading your HHN report, i'm going by the theory that if I see loads of pictures of it before I go then I won't be as scared..!

Good work catching up so quickly

Em and I both love eating out so I did so much research before going out there as to where we should eat, although the problem is there are just so many of them!

HHN is amazing, you'll love it. Em was really worried and nervous about it too (as was I!) but once you get into it you don't find it particularly scary - more funny than anything else!

Can't believe I missed this one????

Sounds like a great way to spend your first day as an engaged couple.

That steak looks fab - I have never heard of Roy's, whereabouts is it?

Good luck with the job hunting, my hubby is going through it at the moment too so I feel your pain.

I'll dig out the Roys address for you, but it was only about a 10 min drive from our hotel (we were down next to Sea World on I Drive) and it was about 2/3 mins from I drive. I think you guys would love it there

How is Lee's hunt going? My fingers are crossed for him

What a brilliant day the food at Roys looks lovely. Goodluck with the job hunt i'm currently doing the same so understand your pain.

Good luck with your job hunting - my fingers are crossed for you too

Heat - Best top in NBA, could never pursuade the bank of wife to authorise one the last time we went.

I spent soooooooo long trying to find an Eddie Jones throwback - he's my fav ever Heat player, although I would have settled for a Dwayne Wade one if I really had too

I'm loving your trip report. and I'm showing it to my fiancee to prove how much fun two people can have in Orlando XD

We really did have the best 2 weeks ever, and Em had never particularly wanted to go to Orlando.

I can't imagine anyone going there and not loving it! I hope my TR can help convince your fiancee to go

Delighted to find you're continuing your report. You have a gift for storytelling. Keep that in mind as you look for a job. Easy to picture you as a copy writer or a creative director for an ad agency or a travel company. Not kidding about this--you and Em could have a fabulous life traveling around the world and writing about your adventures and reviewing resorts and restaurants for travel magazines (print and/or online). Think about it. In the meantime, thanks for entertaining us on the DIS.

I always love reading your comments Susan

I'm glad you're enjoying the TR and thanks for the kind words.

Creativity is definitely not one of my strong points!! Although the idea of eating lots of nice food and getting paid to do so sounds like my dream job!

Great update Craig,you're pics are fab.
Donkey is hilarious as we found out a couple of weeks ago-our girls did'nt seem very impressed but me+Tony were in stitches.
The food looks so nice at Roy's .x.

Cheers Michelle We stumbled accross Donkey accidently, he is a little bit out of the way but there is no doubt the guy who voices him has some serious talent.

It's superb that you and Tony enjoed meeting him more than the girls!

 

[Snowy-girls]

Cheers Michelle We stumbled accross Donkey accidently, he is a little bit out of the way but there is no doubt the guy who voices him has some serious talent.

It's superb that you and Tony enjoed meeting him more than the girls!

Yes a fantastic sound-alike.We could have stayed there all day and listened to the jokes he was saying about London(when he asked where we were from).
Oh by the way Good Luck tomorrow-please let me know how you get on.x.

 

[mark&sue]

what a great day after your really special one. love the sound of your meal at. Looking forward to all the next day's food photos


susan

 

[Pegasus928]

What a great TR this is turning out to be.
We love visiting Donkey whenever we go to US - no 2 trips are ever the same and whoever it is in there is sooo funny. We have a video clip on our website of him talking to my mum and it is one of the highlights of any of our holidays.
We also played the 'tell them a different name' game at ET - unfortunately our mardy assed CM wasn't playing, so instead of putting in the names Grumpy, Tigger, Stitch and Pluto he just punched in random letters that came out as nothing at all at the end.
Some people shouldn't be allowed to work in a theme park.
You, on the other hand, have exactly the right tempermant for this sort of thing. Maybe you could be a 'secret traveller' or something.
Hope all is going well in the job hunting world and thanks for taking the time to update us all.

 

[arieljasmine]

I love Universal, it's such a nice change of pace from Disney. I can't wait to go on the new Simpsons ride.

I would also like to add that I hope the job hunting is going well.

Laur's xx

 

[florida sun]

Another great day and that Steak looks fab

 

[cap'njack.]

Another great day!