My First HHN Trip! COMPLETED!!

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

... it's alive!!!!

Looking forward to reading the rest

 

[RAPstar]

So, day 2 ended with me and my friend Dainan (picture on Day 4 when I post it) hanging out till the wee hours then going to bed. Of course I also forgot I was supposed to be meeting a friend early the next morning. Oh well. lol My other friend (Francisco) gave me a ride to Universal and I got there around 8:30. I had a slight hang up at the ticket booth to redeem my free Super Bowl ticket, but still made it into the park befor nine. Where was I headed?

Really great new ride

I was lucky that it opened at 9 with the rest of the park. I got to ride it 3 times in a row with no wait whatsoever!! The music on the ride was quite a nice addition. And it wasn't too loud IMO, but I'm also part deaf! Anywho, after my 3 rides I decided to move on before lines started there and everywhere.

This is what the park looks like when you get there right at opening.

I headed to my all-time favorite Universal ride, Revenge of the Mummy. Rode that probably 3 times as well. The mummy at the beginning wasn't working that day. I headed back around the front, mainly to get another ride in on HRRR. It was down.

Ran into these guys. The Shaggy necessarily doesn't resemble him face wise but sounded just like him.

Marge had apparently killed Homer. Bart was enthused

[
This monkey is curious. And his name is George. And he was by HRRR, which was down at that time.

I don't know why I went the long way to The Simpsons and MIB, but I did. I'm still not a big fan of MIB, but I love The Simpsons.

HHN decorations: not scary in the daylight

I headed back around to the front to ride Shrek, and probably Jimmy but I don't remember riding Jimmy. But I probably did. I was then starving, and knew I'd be eating at Finnegan's the next day and didn't want Lombard's, so I decided to walk over to IOA and eat at Mythos. LOVE that place! I had the French Onion Soup for my appetizer and it was delicious!! Honestly, the best FOS I've had ever so far!! They also had good sweet tea. I'm 95% sure I had the Risotoo of the Day for my entree, which was the exact same as the had in '08, but I think it tasted better this trip. I may have gotten a dessert shot, but I'm not sure. Anywho, paid and left. I know I headed back towards Marvel to ride Hulk/Spider-Man. I probably rode Cat in the Hat, cause it is made of win.

This is the only super hero I got a picture with the entire trip. Why?

Ok, so going by my pics, I was wrong earlier. I didn't ride Shrek again until I got back to USO after IOA. Isn't it great to park hop without an hour of commuting?

Why am I posing so hard in this picture?

I don't think I got a dessert shot after all cause I now remember getting a milkshake at Mel's while waiting for the next showing of the Horror Make-Up Show. The milkshake was good, but I should have gotten a small cause I wasted most of it. Oh well. After the HMUS, I went and got my ride on again at HRRR. Apparently my body had enough of that ride cause I started to get a head ache. Maybe I had encountered one of the rough cars I heard people talk about? Anywho, my feet hurt, I didn't want to walk to the back and do Disaster/Jaws, so I booked it out of there.

That night was my dinner date with Laura (laurabearz on here), and I knew she was supposed to be getting to RPH sometime around the time I was heading out. So I gave her a call and told her I was tired and pained so I would just meet her in the lobby of RPH (plus some A/C would have been nice).

Speaking of A/C, let me digress for a moment. It was freaking hot that week!!! Last year when I went it was in the 80's most of the week, and this time it was 90+ all week! I need to check the weather before I leave next time, cause I didn't know there was a heat wave. And, no, I didn't start it by letting my seat wave, or I would have stopped waving it. lol

So, I speak with Laura and she's actually already checked in and everything, so I tell her I'll met her by the boat dock, cause she needed to go by guest services and get her new AP or something along those lines. Laura is probably one of the funniest people I have ever met. The first thing she tells me when we meet is she got free drinks on the plane by changing seats with someone...and she has a drink in her hand. So she was veeeeeerrry happy by then. Talking with Laura was like we had been friends the entire time and we hadn't just met. She was a hoot!!

So we go to GS and she gets that stuff done. Then she wants to ride HRRR. I oblige, because we still have time before the reservation. The line was quite long by then, but single rider was open, but that was somewhat long too. So we wait. We don't see any cars moving, so we decide to head out and go eat (I think it was close to our ressie by then).

Laura took this for me on our way out. You can see the pain in my feet in my eyes.

Dinner at Tchoup Chop was amazing! We each shared a bit of our food with each other and split other things. I knew I wanted edamame and sushi. Laura tried the sushi, but it wasn't her cup of tea. She had gotten 2 other appetizers, which we both had, I know one was the dumpling box, I forget the other. I had the tuna steak for my entree and Laura had the sea scallops. The sea scallops were what my friend Jeff had last year when we went and I loved them. This year they changed to risotto that came with it to a butternut squash one which wasn't that good. For dessert, we split the coconut cream cake and a pot of tea. The cake was delicious!!

Us at Tchoup Chop

We then went to Laura's room to chat and she fixed me up with some mole skin for my aching feets, which worked like a charm. My blisters were gone by the day after. And I learned that I can wear Crocs to tour, I just have to wear socks with them. So, we chatted and Laura had an apple. Then I decided to go back to my hotel. Luckily there was a shuttle outside that would take me back for only $25, which was probably cheaper than a cab. I texted Dainan to let him know I was back if he wanted to come over again after work, which he did. I showered and then slept. Next day was to be a looooong day!!

 

[donaldduck352]

Ah the long awaited TR.Great so far keep it comming!!

 

[RAPstar]

Unmasking the Horror and HHN Night 1

I'm going to do this update a little different. I'm going to do the play by play and then pics.

Oh, first thing, this is Dainan and me:

This morning he wanted me to meet his best friend, and fellow cast member, Jackie (I'm not sure that's how she spells it, oh well). And she's craving IHOP. But it was hella crowded, literally no parking spaces to be found. So we go to Denny's. Potato tomato. We have a nice breakfast there, and then Dainan drops me off at Universal. I ring Laura to meet up to go ride something before the UTH tour. We head towards Mummy (cause the line at HRRR was long), but I did the unspeakable. I made eye contact with one of the survey people!! So, we qualify to take the survey, which turns out to be a hummus taste test! Plus we get $5 Universal Bucks each!! Score! Or was it $3? I don't remember. So anywho, that takes up the free time we had until we had to go check-in for the UTH. While in the VIP lobby area thing, I start to get excited, not only for UTH, but I also get to finally meet my favorite Canadians!! I'd been anxious to meet Bonny and Lee for a while. Especially Bonny, since she'd been giving me adivce with each and every agaonizing decision I had to make about changing every detail of my trip (and if you read the Pre-TR, you know there's a whole bunch!!). So, I see them approaching and I run out and give Bonny a great big hug....and Lee too so he wouldn't feel left out. And then we wait for our tour to begin.

We started the tour by going upstairs where we got a surprise. They had on display the model they used for that year's HHN website, which cost $10,000!! It was amazing! So we go on our tour of the 3 studio houses: Wolfman, Dracula and Frankenstein. We were not allowed pictures in The Wolfman house as the film has not been released yet. It was really cool. The detail they put into these houses is astounding!! I can't believe they work so hard just to make it look good for a little over a month, just to tear it all done and almost start from scratch! I have a ton of pics from the Dracula and Frankenstein houses, be sure to check my photobucket for the rest.

After the tour, we go to Finnegan's for the Stay and Scream. There we meet a couple more DIS'ers....who I can't remember who was there. I know Patrick was (Patster on here). And of course, our one and only Mac was there. We spotted her right away walking outside, with her long hair trailing behind. Mac is so much fun And she had also been there through every twist and turn of trying to get this trip in order. And was much help in getting me all set up for my first HHN! Anywho, I got a glass of hard apple cider, which was really good and not too alcohol-y (kinda tasted slightly beer-ish, but better). I think I got the pasty's for my appetizer and the Shepard's pie for my entree. Both were very good! And then we wait for them to release us! I'll do a full review of just HHN next post, since I only have 3 pics from the RIP tour. I was very entertaining....well for everyone else, because I'm a screamer...and a jumper. I fast became the "line leader" for every house.

Here are the pictures, again more are in my photobucket.

The models/main characters for each house

Our tour guide David (I think. Bonny, correct me if I'm wrong)

Poor monkey

I didn't do this, I was just documenting. Honest. Laura will vouch for me.

It's a human "juicer". All blood, and no pulp.

Bonny and me

"Sylvia Ganush" (from Drag Me to Hell) and me

See? Much better/scarier at night!

You know what I wonder? How do they turn off just those 2 letters in the sign?

 

[patster734]

Thanks for the latest update.

I've found out that having an easily visible cross around my neck keeps the survey people away! Go figure!

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

Another great installment ... and not just because we are in this one

... and yes our guide was David

 

[donaldduck352]

 

[RAPstar]

RIP Tour/HHN Night 2

This was the day I was super tired, how I made it till 2am, I don't know. I had had a late night the previous night with HHN, but had called Mears to have a shuttle come pick me up early to have breakfast with Mac at RPH. Well, the shuttle gets me and drops me off no problem. I get up the escalator from the transportation circle....and CityWalk is closed and no one can get through. I tell them I'm supposed to eet a friend, and they tell me how to walk to RPH from there. Luckily, its not a long walk, but still not what I want to do first thing in the morning. So, I get to the hotel and call Mac....no answer. Uh-oh. So I wait a bit, thinking maybe she was showering. Call back, no answer. I contemplate going up to her room and knocking on the door, but don't want to be rude. Plus, I'm tired. So I sit in the lobby for a while relaxing and enjoying the A/C. In total, I waited maybe 20 minutes till Mac calls back. She never heard the phone or alarm go off! Oh well. So, we sit and talk (we were waiting for Patrick, cause Mac had something she needed to give him). Then we go eat. The Islands Breakfast buffet was really good! They have this "juice bar" thing that's included where you can mix and match juices. I love juice, so it was heaven for me. They had so much food!! I stuffed myself!

I was so full and tired, I waited a good while before I even think about touring the parks. I was going to hop a boat to the parks cause I was tired, and because my feet were still sore from the previous HHN (wore the wrong shoes), but I ended up getting confused and took the walking path. Which actually wasn't bad at all. I stuck to my plan today and went on all the wet rides. I alos stopped off at Spider-Man and Dr. Doom since I love both of them. I know I rode Dudley twice, but Jurassic Park and Popeye only once. Then I get a ring from Laura. She wants to go ride HRRR, but we're both hungry (apparently I digested breakfast rather quickly), so we decide to try out the new Whopper Bar. It was ok, pretty much BK but with more burger toppings. I don't remember what Laura had, but I had a double Whopper with cheese (swiss probably, but I don't remember), angry onions and thousand island (which I only ever eat on burgers. Something about melted cheese and thousand island just tickles my taste buds).

After lunch, we hitch a boat back to RPH to change clothes (well I did, lol). Then Laura, Mac and I head back to Universal. Laura and I rode HRRR while Mac waited. Then all 3 of us rode ROTM about 2 times. After that I don't remember what we did, but we ended up back at Finnegan's for the second S&S. That night, since I had already ate twice previously, I skipped and appetizer and just tried the bangers and mash. It was pretty good, just sausage and mashed potatoes!

Ran into this guy outside of Mummy, and I just had to get a pic with his shirt. Me and Laura still think he had no clue as to why I wanted my picture with him.

We wait for everyone to be released, then we walk around a bit before we head to the VIP room to check in for out RIP tour. I ordered this rum punch while we were waiting that was tasty and a bit strong. I also got to meet donaldduck352 from here (and his wonderful wife) both of whom are great people. Honestly, I loved everyone in our RIP group, we had sooo much fun!! Our guide that night was Adam, who Bonny knew and had told us was great. And he was!! And a cutie, if I may say so! Our tour was awesome, all the houses twice, with no wait, and front row seating at Bill and Ted! Plus riding The Simpsons and Jaws with no wait either (which Jaws in the dark was quite scary! ). During our dinner break at Louie's we even got to talk to one of the people behind HHN, TJ something, I know it starts with an "M", again I'm horrible with names. (which wasn't planned, he just happened to be there!). Here are my house reviews, as I remember them (this includes the previous night's opinions too):

The Wolfman: plenty of scare. Amazing scenery. Made me very excited to see the movie
Dracula: my favorite house!! I was scared soo many times in here. The scaractors were right on point. I got my biggest scare in this mirror room they had, they had a vamp in front of you, and then this one hidden behind the main path growled right into my ear and almost made me have an accident!
Frankenstein: very good. Not too scary here, but had great sets and really good costumes. And great music too.
Saw: meh. It was more like a hall of fame for all the traps you've seen in the movie. Though the RIP night we got a surprise as one of the people in front of us got "abducted" by one of the scaractors. Had an awesome ending though. You have to go through this room encircled with people with the pig masks from the movie. I ran through without stopping each time!
Leave It To Cleaver: had a few scares. It was more along the lines of Psychoscareapy, for previous attendees. The biggest scare was when you had to walk through this maze of those heavy plastic curtain things they have in freezers, and all you hear is the sound of chainsaws!!
Silver Screams: was a really good house...depending when you went in. First night it was ok. First time RIP night it was better. Second time that night was still good, but not as good as the first time that night. Props to the creative time for having the Queen song from Shaun of the Dead playing on the jukebox during that scene (and props to Bonny for noticing).
Chucky: was good. Not the best house. Had timing issues at times. Good idea, just not very scary.
The Spawning: was the worst house, IMO. It was scary, and it had potential, it just wasn't carried out the best it could have. The ending was awesome though!

Bill and Ted was hilarious! And the scarezones were really good as well. I hope I get to go again at least one night this year. Here's our group shot again:

 

[patster734]

I remember that morning! I had to speed walk all the way from PBH to RPR to meet Mac and you because it was too early for the boats to run. Fortunately, they were running on my return to PBH, so I didn't have to walk back.

 

[RAPstar]

Screamfest!

So...update then pictures.

I was plum tuckered out from the RIP tour, and then waiting for Dainan to get off work. I mean plum tuckered out. Dainan had called me to let him in that night, but I could have sworn the caller ID said it was Bonny. So I muttered incoherently into the phone, and I couldn't hear what he was saying. Apparently I'm deaf when I'm exhausted! But I rechecked the caller ID and realized who it was. Anywho, I tried to sleep in that morning, but even with the curtains drawn my room was kinda bright and I'm sensitive to light when I sleep. So I was up around 9 or 10. Puttered about in my room, and then Dainan was nice enough to drop my by the I-Drive Wyndham on his way to work, after a nice lunch at Golden Corral. Of course I had the worse timing, cause Bonny and Lee had pretty much just sat down to lunch when I got there. So I sat there with a glass of water while they ate. I should have realized then how horrid the restaurant was then (more on it later), the waitress wasn't the best. Anywho, after they ate, Bonny took me to the ticket booth to get my pass. And then she took me to meet the main person I came there to meet (besides her and Lee , Terrance Zdunich, co-writer and star of Repo! The Genetic Opera! I was sooo excited. He was super nice! After that, we learned that there was going to be a Repo panel in the next few minutes, so I went on my merry way. After that, Bonny took me to meet a couple more people I had wanted to meet. Then, I think I just putzed around a bit while they went and got some of the stuff done they needed to for their vow renewal that night (their 10th anneversary!!). I got to sit in on a Q&A with John Landis, watched part of a documentary about An American Werewolf in London.

After a while I got hungry again and went to the restaurant to have dinner. They were having a special for the Screamfest people being there, so I ordered off that. I got pizza (I think it came with fries, I'm not sure). Well, first, I waited 5 minutes to be seated (there was no one ahead of me, though no one manning the front either). Then I got a drink right off, but waited what had to be a good 10-15 minutes before anyone took my order. I think I only got one refill of my drink, which had sat empty for another 10-15 while I waited for my food. The food was horrible! The pizza looked and tasted like something I could have microwaved at home, which it probably was. Oh well. So, while waiting for Bonny and Lee's ceremony, I got to watch part of Halloween II (the original, lol) with the guy who played Michael Meyers!! (again I'm horrible with names) Then Bonny called mecause it was getting close. They were having it by the pool, which was very nice. While I waited I got to listen to people doing karaoke....luckily I was able to retain my hearing!

Bonny and Lee were supposed to do their thing before the main act that night (The Enigma and Burnt Sienna, or Sierra Rose, or Spanish Rose of Halem, I don't remember her name), but communication must have gotten mixed up cause they went on first. So I waited. But it was getting late, I was tired, I had (early) plans for breakfast with Mac and Laura at The Kitchen at Hard Rock Hotel, and lord knew how long the freak show was going to take (I don't mean that cruelly, they literally were doing a freak show)......so I made my apologizes then went to go grab a cab (I'm sooooooo sorry again, Bonny and Lee!!). The cab ride back to my hotel was just under $20, which was lucky cause the guy didn't take card and a $20 was all I had in my wallet. I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.

Pictures:

Lee doing a trial run of his costume.

me and Terrance Zdunich (Graverobber for my fellow Repo fans!)

Bonny and Lee's good friend J LaRose, who was in Saw 3 and Repo

Repo panel, from l-r: J LaRose, Bill Moseley, Darren Smith (co-writer, and the Band Leader), and Terrance Zdunich.

Me and Adrienne Barbell....I mean Barbeau. She was one of the nicest people!

Tippi Hedren

J Michael Roddy, of HHN fame

Linda Blair

the guy with the beard is director John Landis, famous for An American Werewolf in London, Animal House and Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video

The happy couple! Don't they look great!

Me and Bonny. I love her bouqet!!

Sierra Rose..or whatever her name was

The Enigma

 

[donaldduck352]

The Enigma is one crazy dude.Never seen him on-stage but on tv.What he has done too his body,all I can say is WHY!!!

It must have been A sight to see.

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

RIP Tour/HHN Night 2

During our dinner break at Louie's we even got to talk to one of the people behind HHN, TJ something, I know it starts with an "M", again I'm horrible with names. (which wasn't planned, he just happened to be there!).

T.J. Mannarino

Screamfest!
Bonny took me to meet the main person I came there to meet (besides her and Lee , Terrance Zdunich, co-writer and star of Repo!

Bonny and Lee were supposed to do their thing before the main act that night (The Enigma and Burnt Sienna, or Sierra Rose, or Spanish Rose of Halem, I don't remember her name), but communication must have gotten mixed up cause they went on first.

Serena Rose

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

The Enigma is one crazy dude.Never seen him on-stage but on tv.What he has done too his body,all I can say is WHY!!!

It must have been A sight to see.

... especially since we saw everything close up standing right by the stage

Actually, we do have the ceremony on video via Youtube ...

 

[RAPstar]

Last Full Day!

Originally, I was supposed to be up early to go to breakfast with Laura and Mac at the Kitchen at Hard Rock Hotel.......but after a late night last night, I slep through the shuttle I scheduled (when I did get up there was a message from the front desk about it. Good thing it wasn't prepaid!!). So, needless to say me and Dainan had a late start this morning. We ended up going to the Polynesian to have lunch. I'd never been to any Disney resort, even on one of my previous trips (well, I guess you could count AKL earlier this trip for Boma, but I digress), so I was quite excited. We ate at the Kona Cafe and it was delicious!! I had the Kona Salad as my appetizer. It sounded good on the menu, but I was slightly concerned about it having fruit in it because I'm not a big fruit eater. No worries though, it was delicious. It had pears in it, that I'm not a big fan of, but paired with whatever dressing was on it they were great!! I think I had the Kona Club for my entree, and it was good too. The chips that came with it were really good too!!

Dainan had some time to kill before he had to go to work, so we toured the monorail resorts.

The closest I'd be getting to Cinderella Castle this trip

The Grand Floridian was beautiful.....but I must have liked the roof a lot apparently

Why no birds in the giant bird house?

I liked the artwork in the Comtemporary

Awwwww! What cute bears!!

That doesn't look right.

Dainan and me. I don't know why my face looks so horrible in this picture. I was very happy at the time.

While at the Contemporary, I was craving something sweet, so I got this giant cupcake that had caramel inside. It was extremely messy!! But very good! Afterwards, Dainan got a call from a fellow cast memeber who neede him to give her a ride. So he picked her up, and we toyed with the idea of me going to MK that night with him, which I regret not doing. I just didn't want to chance not having money (I lost track of what I spent, but assumed I was under budget, which I was. I ended up having about $100 extra when I got home.). So he dropped me at my resort. I spent the night having dinner at the on-site restaurant, and I think I did a little swimming. And watched TV, until Dainan got off work. That's pretty much it for my last day. Not much done, but it was a relaxing finish to a busy week!

 

[RAPstar]

Departure Day!

I had to be up somewhat early that day since check out time was 10AM. So I did that, luckily no extra charges, but I didn't order any movies or use the phone so that was expected. Then I checked my luggage and Dainan took me to go hang out with his friend Jackie again, and some other cast member friends of theirs. It was a relaxing morning, and I was dreading having to leave. it had been the perfect week!!

So, after a while Dainan took me back to catch my shuttle to the airport. Luckily I always get there early, cause it turns out there was some weather somewhere and flights were delayed. So the Airtran check in person switched me to an earlier flight I believe so I could still catch my connecting flight in Atlanta (cause God forbid they have non-stop flights out of Orlando, when all the ones to Orlando from Dallas were non-stop. I'm not bitter though. ). So, anywho, I was delayed at both airports, finally getting home I think close to 11pm, probably earlier, when I was supposed to be home around 9pm. I don't blame Airtran for the delays, but I also don't like how often they changed my returning flight, from the times, to taking away the non-stop. I don't think I'll be flying them again. Anywho, that's my trip report!!

 

[RAPstar]

I remember that morning! I had to speed walk all the way from PBH to RPR to meet Mac and you because it was too early for the boats to run. Fortunately, they were running on my return to PBH, so I didn't have to walk back.

I just rmember being starved and wondering what the heck was taking you so long.

 

[schumigirl]

Fantastic report I really enjoyed reading that........and great pics too.

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

finally had time to read the rest of your trippie ... well done!! Can't wait to hear all about your September trip!

 

[donaldduck352]

Great TR Andy,it was great meeting ya.

 

[Glendamax]

DUDE! I'm like a whole year late reading this report! I LOVED IT! You are totally awesome! Loved how you described everything, and added in bits of "TMI"!

Now I gotta go through and find every report you've ever written! Would be cool to meet up with you some day!

Smooches!