No need to use the Rennervate Spell this Christmas..update 5/11

[wakica]

I'm so glad you got to ride JP at least Once they were done with it did they admit that it wasn't so bad???

I'm sorry about your delayed ressie. Did you show them your hotel card? Apparently you are bumped up to next available table if you show you are at an onsite hotel.

Can't wait to find out what happens next - hope it's not too bad tho!!!

@wakica- we used Bonine for our US/IoA trip. The first day I was the only one who took it and I was the only one not bothered after we rode on our 4th simulator/3D ride (Terminator, Shrek and Simpons twice). The rest of the trip we all took Bonine and had no further problems.

Thanks for the pointer, i will write down Bonine. I don't think we have it up here in Canada but we'll have lots off time to look for it once we get there.

 

[momabaarjo]

Love your report! I come searching every morning before work with cup of coffee in hand, just to get a bit of Universal for my day Thank you soooooo much!

I am so glad that you are enjoying my TR...glad to start your day off with a little bit of ! I know that it helps my day start off better too!

I'm so glad you got to ride JP at least Once they were done with it did they admit that it wasn't so bad???

It was okay to them, but I am not sure that I would get them on again anytime soon...

I'm sorry about your delayed ressie. Did you show them your hotel card? Apparently you are bumped up to next available table if you show you are at an onsite hotel.

We had an open table reservation, which is supposed to assure you of the next available table, plus I did show them our RPR hotel key...it is the holiday time and I so understood the wait time...that really did not bother me cause I had a drink in my hand and the weather was nice...what happens next BOTHERED ME...how is that for a cliff hanger in a response?

 

[wakica]

AAAAAHHHHHHH! Thats a terrible cliff hanger!! Your so mean! lol

 

[natebenma]

Got to love a chapter with a Jimmy Buffett lyrics for a chapter title. But it doesn't sound like the next chapter is going to be pretty!

I'm a huge JB fan (I brought Bars and Boats to listen to in the hospital when my oldest son was born), but a follower on my TR threatened to revoke my Parotthead status for not eating at Margaritaville on our trip, or even getting a bargain Margarita during Happy Hour at the Lone Palm.

 

[momabaarjo]

AAAAAHHHHHHH! Thats a terrible cliff hanger!! Your so mean! lol

I ddin't leave you hanging for too long!

Got to love a chapter with a Jimmy Buffett lyrics for a chapter title. But it doesn't sound like the next chapter is going to be pretty!

I'm a huge JB fan (I brought Bars and Boats to listen to in the hospital when my oldest son was born), but a follower on my TR threatened to revoke my Parotthead status for not eating at Margaritaville on our trip, or even getting a bargain Margarita during Happy Hour at the Lone Palm.

No margaritaville or no margarita...yep, that is blasmy...no parrot head hat for you! Next time as you can see by my next chapter we will probably just get a margarita from the window and skip the meal!

 

[momabaarjo]

Not A Cheeseburger in Pardise, Not Even Close​

A Non-existent waitress. Now we are not the only tables upstairs but we are seated right near the stairs with a small group of about 4 other tables and then the sound booth and probably 15-20 on the other side of that. We are hardly in a corner somewhere out of vision and could be forgotten.

This picture is from the table next to us...I wanted to get a picture of the floor area...we probably only had 1/3 of this view and angled to the left.​

We waited, we waited, and we waited, until about 15 minutes later we finally flag a wait staff person over to our table to ask where our server was. Yikes…apparently having no drinks or menus should have been a sign…but it wasn’t. Finally, a young lady with menus in hand comes to our table, with no apology. Since then the other tables have filled up around us and they have all been served drinks by this time. She promises she will be right back to take our drink order, I guess right back was, ah NEVER...and we flag down another wait staff member and ordered? Jeff finally got up and found a manager…45 minutes since being seated no drink on the table let alone anything else, by this time everyone around us who had come in after now had meals that this was a meal that even the best Jimmy Buffet music could not save! The manger assured us they were just busy and that he would get on it right away…which in 5 minutes we had drinks and

Our waitress told us she would be right back to take our order, and I stopped her from leaving and told her no, you will take our order now. She was quite miffed at me to say the least. I am not usually a person that gets upset with wait staff, but this was probably the worst service I have ever had. So back to my ordering…I want a Cheeseburger in Paradise? How would you like that?

I like mine with lettuce and tomato
Heinz 57 and French fried potatoes
Big kosher pickle and an Italian Margarita​

And please add some mayo and mustard too! With the ordering taken care of the family devours the nachos in no time flat and with something in our tummies set back to enjoy the music, with my margarita (from the walk up window )in hand, and wait for the main course to come out!

I really am trying to have patience by this time…I know it is Christmas, I know the restaurant it packed, but when tables around you who came in after you are finishing up and leaving, well you know there is a problem. During our wait we hear the countdown for the margarita volcano downstairs to erupt, and I tell the kids to move down the railing so they can see.

Its that tiny little thing in the right hand corner...​

It was a lot of fun from the angle of a little corner of the exploding frozen concoction. I am not sure how long until our food arrives, but let’s just say it was AWFUL as everything else so far here! My cheeseburger was dry

plus the shrimp for the kids over cooked, etc. Huge disappointment!!! And what about my 2nd margarita, that Italian one?…well it never came! Which I pointed out to her several times...So much for

Wastin away in margaritaville
Searching for my lost shaker of salt​

Jeff spots the waitress go by and tells her that we want our check…but she has to offer us dessert first and would be right back…10 minutes later no sign of her. By this time Jeff is mad and so am I. He gets up and finds the manger again, and demands our check and tells the manager that we would not be leaving a tip and the reasons why. Can you believe it the manger did not even offer an excuse? He just shrugged his shoulders and said that they were busy. So let’s recap the time here…Reservations were at 6:00, which we were seated at 6:30…it is now after 8:30 pm and I have only had 1 margarita.So what could make this night get back on track?

 

[Momw/aplan]

Wow. Yikes! So sorry you had such a horrible experience.

That is unacceptable. And you know, a lot of times, for me anyway, all I really need is for someone to acknowledge that they screwed up and that they're sorry things didn't go the way they should have, and then I can get over it all really fast. But when they act like they don't even care... I'm unwilling to forget that.

Margaritaville was one of our favorite experiences on our last trip (and we didn't even drink any Margaritas). We had great food, great service, and a fantastic atmosphere, and I was SO looking forward to going there again on our upcoming trip, but now... I'm a little nervous.

My DH has access to Open Table on his phone, but we will also be staying onsite. Last time we didn't make any ressies and just showed them our room keys when we walked up and never had to wait too terribly long. Now that they have Open Table though I'm wondering, would we be better off making reservations or not? And even if we make them, I suppose we should still show them our key when we check in? Not really sure what the acceptable protocol would be there.

 

[wakica]

oh WOW!! That is SO AWEFUL!!! I would have been totally livid if i were you yes, it's busy but to see people come and go while you sit there with TERRIBLE service is NOT acceptable and if you explained that to the manager he should have been COMPLETELY apologetic even to the point of comping something on your bill.

I'm thinking I'll steer clear of that place on our trip. Well, mind you - we eat at quiet times - lunch can be at 11am and we are ready for supper by 4:30 so we probably wouldn't have the same problems but still

and this....

Wastin away in margaritaville
Searching for my lost shaker of salt

I guess it must have been referring to the staff???? LOL

 

[natebenma]

Some people claim, that a wo-man's to blame
But I know
It's my servers fault!!!​

That just totally S*CKS!

You should send an email to the Margaritaville headquarters. Not only was the service bad, but you got absolutely no satisfaction when you called attention to your situation to management. That is not ok!

Copy your post and send it. Now!

We did TRY to eat at Margaritaville. The wait was going to be 45 minutes. We were soaked from a storm at Sea World. We were starving. One of the members of my travelling party was extremely cranky (not me and not the kids). There was no wait at Bubba Gumps. We had a fabulous meal there. It saved our night!

I have eaten at the Key West restaurant. May I have my parrothead status back?

 

[momabaarjo]

Islands of Adventure, An Adventure in the Dark​

The kids want to take a walk around IOA at night and that seems the best way to make the night end on a good note.

But before we agree, we remind them that tomorrow is another early morning (if they want). Agreeing that they will still get up when asked for early entry we head back inside IOA where the place is lit up in Christmas lights and more neon. This time we start our adventure with Super Hero Island, where both Ab and Boo want to ride Spiderman again. Of course, I did not even mention the Hulk or Dr. Doom for fear of being shot down again. Goo wants nothing to do with Spidey so he and Jeff decide to look in the stores while we ride.

Ab, Boo and I ride it twice, walking on both times. I think they would have kept riding if I would have let them. We walk through Toon Lagoon, stopping only long enough for a couple of pictures of the area in the dark.

The boys playing the mister...

As we make our way into Jurassic Park I forget to take my flash off and I nearly blinded some man coming at me…it was all the kids could do not to bust our laughing at the poor dazed guy.

About this time Goo starts complaining about his stomach hurting, and being the good touring mom with a plan I ignore him thinking it has just been a long day. He perks up when he is the Pyterdon Flyers and convinces me that I should go with him. Ab, Jeff and Boo decide they will skip the ride (which has about a 15 minute wait time) and want to look in the gift shop. Goo was so funny as we stood in line; he kept reassuring me that this was not a scary ride and that I would be safe on it. There was also an annoying child in front of us who kept trying to contradict everything Goo was saying about the ride. After Goo and I rode he decided to try and show me the way out, let’s just say that we got lost somewhere in the maze of rope ladders and hideouts

...all the time I could see Jeff below us laughing that we could not figure our way out…hey it is dark! We finally get out and as we walk past the JP River Adventure

I ask if anyone wants to ride, and Ab says she does. There is no wait, so we quickly board along with a couple of 20 years olds seated in front of us…5 in the raft. As we are passing through the tame section Ab tells me that she really does not like this ride…WHAT, then why are we on here? Sweet girl thought I wanted to ride it again, and she thought she would ride with me. I laugh because I only rode because she wanted too. As we are about to make our descent down we decide screaming at the top of our lungs would make it fun…

and that is what we did and made sure we were positioned right behind those in front of us so they got all the water! We came off laughing! Next up we found ourselves in HP and it is getting late, but I want to take a few pictures at night.

At the Tri Wizard Rally area we come across the show that was just ending, and were able to get a picture with the performers, while the whole time Goo is really complaining about his stomach hurting.

We are almost done I assure him as Jeff takes him to visit moaning myrtle (while we take in the windows as we wait).

Still no takers for a ride with Mom!

We watch a screamer in one of the windows Dervish and Banges

Moaning Myrtle only made matters worse and I sense it is time to head back to the RPR for the night, but first we have to make it through….Yes, Seuss Landing…which all of the sudden Goo has a miracle recovery and wants to ride High in the Sky. We all agree that it would be fun to see the lights from above and we take in our last ride for the night.

As we make our way out of IOA Goo starts complaining again, and Jeff picks him up to carry him back to the resort.

Once again, I veto the water taxi for the same reason…shorter to walk. Ab and Boo decide that they would run up ahead and ever so often jump out from behind the foliage at each other. As we near the top of the path to the entrance of the hotel, Ab is laying in wait for us to appear…suddenly I hear her jump out ahead of us and we see a family with a motor scooter suddenly go off the pavement. Wrong family, Ab. They pass us laughing hysterically and we are doing the same thing trying to apologize for my daughter’s behavior between fits of laughter. We make it back in the room, where I set to get everyone in bed and things laid out for tomorrow’s early wake up call, asking once again if everyone is sure that I want to get up to which they all say “YES.”

"Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to bed. Before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us all killed. Or worse, expelled.
-Hermione​

Lights out, all is quiet until…

I hear a muffled cry coming from the other bed (let me remind you of the sleeping arrangements, boys in 1 bed girls in the other), the sound that a mother knows all to well. Which immediately has me jumping out of bed turning on a light, knocking Boo out of bed as I grab Goo…too late, the margarita volcano was not the only volcano that blew this night…Mt. Goo decides erupt! I won’t go into anymore details at this point, other than to say that I had a mess to clean up in the bed, the hallway and bathroom that entailed a call to housekeeping for clean linens and cleaning supplies. I must give Jeff credit; for once he did not back off and let me deal with it alone. By the time housekeeping arrived, I had everything bundled by the door waiting. I felt so sorry for the poor guy with this duty that I put in the plastic bags for him and tipped him lots when he returned with air freshener a few minutes later and helped Jeff make the bed the hotel way. Everything quiet and the boys sound asleep I return to bed only to be awoken by…

 

[momabaarjo]

Wow. Yikes! So sorry you had such a horrible experience.

That is unacceptable. And you know, a lot of times, for me anyway, all I really need is for someone to acknowledge that they screwed up and that they're sorry things didn't go the way they should have, and then I can get over it all really fast. But when they act like they don't even care... I'm unwilling to forget that.

Margaritaville was one of our favorite experiences on our last trip (and we didn't even drink any Margaritas). We had great food, great service, and a fantastic atmosphere, and I was SO looking forward to going there again on our upcoming trip, but now... I'm a little nervous.

I had visited here on my prior trip...and the service was great...of course I was only in the bar area! I left my review on Open Table, but it seemed like we were the only ones during that time that had the asful service!

My DH has access to Open Table on his phone, but we will also be staying onsite. Last time we didn't make any ressies and just showed them our room keys when we walked up and never had to wait too terribly long. Now that they have Open Table though I'm wondering, would we be better off making reservations or not? And even if we make them, I suppose we should still show them our key when we check in? Not really sure what the acceptable protocol would be there.

I also showed them the hotel card, so I am not sure why we waited so long, except for it was a busy night! Open Table and the Room key should have given us the next table... I just wanted to make sure that we had a reservation since I knew it would be busy and I read that sometimes during peak season they do not always honor the room key.

oh WOW!! That is SO AWEFUL!!! I would have been totally livid if i were you yes, it's busy but to see people come and go while you sit there with TERRIBLE service is NOT acceptable and if you explained that to the manager he should have been COMPLETELY apologetic even to the point of comping something on your bill.

I'm thinking I'll steer clear of that place on our trip. Well, mind you - we eat at quiet times - lunch can be at 11am and we are ready for supper by 4:30 so we probably wouldn't have the same problems but still


I had the reservations at 5:00 pm but a couple days prior I thought I we would see the last performance of Grinchmas this night so moved the reservation back to 6:00...thats what I get for planning!
and this....

Wastin away in margaritaville
Searching for my lost shaker of salt

I guess it must have been referring to the staff???? LOL

Yep...should have said, searching for my lost waitress

Some people claim, that a wo-man's to blame
But I know
It's my servers fault!!!​

That just totally S*CKS!

You should send an email to the Margaritaville headquarters. Not only was the service bad, but you got absolutely no satisfaction when you called attention to your situation to management. That is not ok!

Copy your post and send it. Now!

Good idea...

We did TRY to eat at Margaritaville. The wait was going to be 45 minutes. We were soaked from a storm at Sea World. We were starving. One of the members of my travelling party was extremely cranky (not me and not the kids). There was no wait at Bubba Gumps. We had a fabulous meal there. It saved our night!

I love Bubba Gump...and ate there on my prior trip...but I was wanting that dang margarita!

I have eaten at the Key West restaurant. May I have my parrothead status back?

Yep...mine will probably be revoked because I doubt I will eat there if we go back...just get a margarita from the walk up window and call it good!

 

[mercydisney]

Momabaarjo, Thanky you for sharing your adventure. I am realy enjoying it!

 

[wakica]

oh no, I'm sorry about the puking that's an icky thing to have to deal with anytime and especially on holidays.

I had to about the kids jumping out and scaring the wrong family. I would imagine in the dark it would have given them quite the scare.

Glad your evening ended ok after the bad restaraunt experience I am SOOO excited about being onsite so i can enjoy as much of the parks as possible at all different times of the day.

 

[natebenma]

Your nighttime pictures at IoA are spectacular!

The story about the kids jumping out of the bushes is hilarious! Glad the people in the other family were good sports.

So sorry to hear about Goo's goo. No fun getting sick on vacation. For him or the family.

Great picture of the T-Rex, which reminds me- Did you encounter the camera Nazis? On lots of attractions this summer (Jurassic Park, Rip Saw Falls, Jaws), I was told to put my camera away. They even came on on loudspeaker in the JP building to tell everyone no pictures. Others have reported similar experiences.

I have some great contraband photos taken from the top of the drop at Rip Saw.

 

[momabaarjo]

Sunrise Over Hogsmeade​

It seemed like only minutes from the time I went to bed until I was awoken by my alarm telling me it was time to get up and get around for early entry. I roll over and ask Ab if she still wants to go, and of course the answer is yes by both her and Boo…although the yes is not nearly as excited as they were yesterday morning. I get in the shower and get around while the two of them get up and get dressed (Jeff and I already had agreed that he and Goo would be sleeping in and would meet us later).

What a difference a day makes...here is Goo the first morning and now here is how we left him the second morning.

We are out the door close to 6 am, still dark but this time the air is a little cooler and no foggy mist as the previous morning. The walk to IOA of adventure was a quiet one and we arrived along with another family. We should have brought our jackets as Ab huddles up in a little ball. She asks if she could go get hers, but I am really leery about letting her walk back in the dark alone and ask her just to stick it out...which resulted in a teen pout fest.

We strike up a great conversation with the family behind us and they begin asking for pointers on what to do with their early entry time as the crowds behind us start to grow. About 6:30 a ticket/gate agent appears to get the computers up and running. She begins talking to the kids and we start asking her about crowds. She tells us that they are really expecting crowds to be extremely heavy again today...apparently after we left yesterday afternoon not only did WWofHP go to stand by line, but the entire IOA went to a standby entry just to get into the park itself (I guess it was a good thing we left we when did because the crowds never seemed to be an issue for us yesterday). Yikes! There are 2 bowl games in the area this weekend and Universal is expecting that crowd on top of the already large holiday crowd. The next 1/2 hour passes by quickly and before we know it, it is time to scan tickets and head through the gates with the rest of the masses for early entry. Wouldn't you know it, Boo's ticket scans but the turn-stall will not turn.

I could see Ab get really frustrated because once again we were letting people ahead of us after getting her so early. Finally they have Boo slip under and we talk off for WWofHP, this time remembering to take the short cut around/behind Seuss Landing, where we are able to get back ahead of most the people and enter Hogwarts ahead of the rush. We had already decided that once again we would go to Olivander's

first in hopes that Boo will get picked by a wand. When we get there we end up in about the same position as we did the day before, so our chances look good. As we wait, I take a few pictures of the sunrise appearing over the chimney's of the buildings in Hogsmeade.

Someone asked me a few pages back about why Hogsmeade was covered in snow at Universal...well, I think the answer lays in the first time JK introduces us to Hogsmeade in the books...

"Hogsmeade looked like a Christmas card; the little thatched cottages and shops were all covered in a layer of crisp snow; there were holly wreaths on the doors and strings of enchanted candles hanging in the trees."

The door opens to Olivander's and we end up in the first group for the first show...near the last ones to enter. This is not good place to be picked from according to everything I have read. I still silently say a prayer that still maybe Boo will get picked, but of course true to rumor, another child is picked in our group...and he was standing in the rumored secret spot. I did manage to get a few nice pictures of the wand ceremony that I had not gotten the day before since Ab was picked, and I was videoing.

Disappointed Boo watches the show, and I remind him that we have 2 more early entry days to try for. After the show, we exit through the Owl Post and Boo asks if we could try one more time this morning. We look at the line, which is not much larger than it was when we went in, so I agree that the Forbidden Journey can wait and we line up again for Olivander's and make our way towards the entrance, will the 2nd time be the charm?

 

[momabaarjo]

Momabaarjo, Thanky you for sharing your adventure. I am realy enjoying it!

So glad you are enjoying my ramblings...

oh no, I'm sorry about the puking that's an icky thing to have to deal with anytime and especially on holidays.

One of those things that you deal with and get over...although it took me a few days...okay really still not over it messing up my touring plans!

I had to about the kids jumping out and scaring the wrong family. I would imagine in the dark it would have given them quite the scare.

It was funny...thank goodness the other family found it funny too!

Glad your evening ended ok after the bad restaraunt experience I am SOOO excited about being onsite so i can enjoy as much of the parks as possible at all different times of the day.

Staying on site and so close does have its perks...

Your nighttime pictures at IoA are spectacular!

Thanks...I wonder how they did Hogswarts so no matter what time of day, you get a great picture!

The story about the kids jumping out of the bushes is hilarious! Glad the people in the other family were good sports.

We still laugh about it today...

So sorry to hear about Goo's goo. No fun getting sick on vacation. For him or the family.

Great picture of the T-Rex, which reminds me- Did you encounter the camera Nazis? On lots of attractions this summer (Jurassic Park, Rip Saw Falls, Jaws), I was told to put my camera away. They even came on on loudspeaker in the JP building to tell everyone no pictures. Others have reported similar experiences.

I have some great contraband photos taken from the top of the drop at Rip Saw.

Never encountered any photo nazis...but then again most of the time I was to afraid to whip out my camera...as long as there is not a flast I wonder what the big deal is...

 

[natebenma]

Sounds like it was a good idea to leave a couple members of your troop behind.

Can't think of a prettier place to see a sunrise! I hope Boo gets a chace at the Olivander's show.

 

[momabaarjo]

Sounds like it was a good idea to leave a couple members of your troop behind.

Can't think of a prettier place to see a sunrise! I hope Boo gets a chace at the Olivander's show.

The sunrise was so pretty that morning over the chimney's. I can't wait to show the pictures of what the sunrise did to Hogswarts. Whoever designed Hogswarts did an incredible job, because every different time of day the castle really takes in the lighting and takes on a new look!

 

[momabaarjo]

2nd Time is the Charm​

After leaving Olivander's disappointed, Boo wants to try one more time this morning to get picked by a wand. So we head back into the line (after waiting a about 5 minutes trying to position ourselves for being in the right place). As we make our way to the entrance I think we are all silently praying that this will be the last time that we stand in this line, because as we watch the crowds keep building. I can see over to the Forbidden Journey that the wait time is now posted at around 30 minutes and by my calculation by the time we finish at Olivanders non resort guests will now be allowed entrance into WWofHP. The line begins to move again and we turn the corner to the entrance and are stopped 1 family short of being at the front of the line for the next show, yes there is one family with 4 children standing between us and the "wand picking spot." I sigh knowing that Boo will probably not get picked this time either, but Boo is pulling out all the stops and starts up a conversation with the CMs outside the door, hoping this will up his chances. As the door opens and we are ushered in for our show the family in front of us heads to the corner of the shop behind the staircase and the CM ushers us in front of them. I feel pretty bad, that we are told to stand in front of them...but on the other hand we are right in position to be picked. The room quickly fills and the lights dim as the show begins.

"Welcome to Olivander's, makers of fine wands since 382 BC....There is very powerful magic in this room." The lights flicker and dim as Olivander's assistant walks over to Boo and asks the famous question "Which is your wand hand?" and motions him to come forward.

Link to YouTube Video of Boo Being Picked
Mind you that this is very dark and hard to see, but it fairness I had to post his video too!​

Just as much as I was beaming for Ab the morning before, I beamed for Boo getting chosen by a wand. After the show we head into the Owl Post where Boo, who had already decided he was going to buy a wand, goes about picking a wand. He did not like the wand that picked him in the show, I don't really blame him either. Ab goes into Dervish and Banges, while I wait for both of them between the shops. Goo brings over a wand with a big ugly skull and tells me this is what the CM says is his wand (according to his birthday, and being male)...my reaction was not pretty...it was uglier than the one that had chosen him.

I think he too senses, this is not the wand for him and he goes back to opening all the cases and looking at each wand there is. He finally decides on the Ash Wand for February, but the female one...which I think is a lot better looking!

I am not sure how long we were in Olivander's, but I know it was quite awhile because by the time we emerged back onto the streets of Hogsmeade and made our way to Hogswarts we encounter...

 

[momabaarjo]

Update Alert...
This will be my last update until probably earlier next week. It is our spring break and I am headed to Colorado with the kids to spend time with my family...so needless to say I will not be available to update for a few days.​

I really would much rather stay home, but since I dodged my family at Christmas for our trip, I guess it is time I deal with family drama....