OH The Horror! Scary Clowns, Haunted Houses, Scare Zones, Monsters, Pumpkins, Crooked Cats, Creepy Bears, Shopping, Dining and more….My HHN 34 Trip
- Thread starter Robo56
- Start date
Robo56
Look into my eyes
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- May 8, 2015
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Tribute Stores continued
HHN 33 2024
Can’t say I was a great fan of the Tribute Store last year. It was because I have seen so many others that have been pretty awesome in the past.
I felt the theme was Graffiti/Carnival/Underground Subway/Survivalist 1980’s. Not much continuity theme wise.
HHN 33 2024
Can’t say I was a great fan of the Tribute Store last year. It was because I have seen so many others that have been pretty awesome in the past.
I felt the theme was Graffiti/Carnival/Underground Subway/Survivalist 1980’s. Not much continuity theme wise.
Last edited:
Robo56
Look into my eyes
- Joined
- May 8, 2015
- Messages
- 5,231
Good morning everyone from Orlando.
I will try and get everything up to date here.
Saturday, September 6th
I had a busy day today on Saturday getting everything done to prepare to leave in the morning. I had the house all all clean and all my hubby’s meals prepped.
My sweet hubby said he was going to try and sleep in this morning so I had called yesterday evening and invited my niece and her sweet little boy by great-nephew little J out to breakfast.
After we were done with breakfast I dropped off my niece so she could have a little mommy time to shop or just jill for awhile while l took little J to play at the church’s indoor play area. He has a fun time and after a couple of hours it was time to drop him off at home.
The first thing I did when I got home was go up to the office and check in for the flight in the morning and printed my sisters and my boarding passes.
Then it was time to start packing my suitcase.
We received a call from our son who lives in the town next to the one we live in. We did not have the TV on and Hubby was reading his stock paper and I was packing so we were unaware of what was unfolding news wise locally.
Our son told us he had seen on the news that there was a chemical fire burning in our town.
Then our daughter M in Kentucky called and was concerned. She said she had seen the news about the fire too.
Then not long after a warning came over our cell phones telling us to turn off air conditioners and to shelter in place. What……………I was racking my brain to think of any place that could have such chemicals anywhere near were we live.
We have Alcoa about 8 to 10 miles away, but there has never been any issues there.
We live in a quaint little sleepy town near the Ohio RIver.
When the local Fire Dept popped up the shelter in place map outline on their FB page It looked like the small factory that was on fire was more on the outskirts of town.
That being said lucky for us and not lucky for the folks who live across the river form us in Kentucky they got the shelter in place order too because the wind was coming out of North blowing the smoke towards them.
This had never happened before. Just goes to show you never know about these things.
The trip at this point was having in the balance. I had trip insurance so if I needed to cancel I knew it would be ok.
The shelter in place order was lifted from our area of the map, but those living in the area closer to the factory were asked to remain sheltered in place.
I did finally go to sleep and slept about 4 hours and got back up at 3 am. I finished packing.
Sunday, September 7th
It was 58 degrees when I woke up. When I finally poked my head out the door it was cook and crisp morning……wow…..summer had truly disappeared overnight. I checked the weather and we were supposed to be cooler at night and in the 80;s during the day.
It was clear out with no smell or smoke or anything. I’am guessing the wind moved that smoke off in the direction away from us. Thankfully, but I’am saddened for those affected.
My sister K’s husband was driving us to the airport this morning.
I was finally done packing and had my bag my the door.
It was 8 am when they arrived to pick me up and we were on our way to the airport.
We had an uneventful flight on the Flight into Sanford.
We had the nicest lady sitting next to us on the flight who was also a Retired RN like myself. My sister K is still working as an RN so we Nurses had a nice conversation on the way.
After we landed we headed for the car rental to get the SUV and I wont go into every detail. But there was an issue with warning light on the dashboard saying the front crash warning system was not working, I had driven away about 4 miles when it popped up. So I went back and was assured after a tech and rental agent came out that the sensor gets wet after they run the cars through the carwash and all would be well once it dried. They reset the system and it came on again.
I want to share something that I hope will help everyone save themselves from as much grief as possible.
Make sure to take pictures of the exterior and interior of your rental vehicles. I’am sure some of you have read that Hertz has installed AI generated scanners you drive through that are supposedly finding minor scratches that were already on the vehicles and trying to bill you for those…….not a nightmare you want to deal with on vacation.
Although Sanford does not have these scanners in place they no longer have the person at the gate there anymore. That person used to walk the exterior of the vehicle and document imperfections before you drove off. They no longer have that person there anymore.
I talked to the agent and he Dollar/Hertz agent and he said to just make sure to take photos as your proof of the cars condition. He said they were not having issues there.
Taking a vacation should not be a complicated process. I hope this is not the new dawn of rental car agencies making it hard on folks renting cars.
Finally we got on the 417 and were on our way. It did not seem long before we were pulling in front of the Portorfino.
As soon as I approached entrance I could smell that glorious aroma of the scent “Beautiful Sunshine” wafting out the door. Yes…….I had arrived at my home away for home.
There were only a couple of people in line for check in and there were plenty of folks at the desk to greet and get you checked in.
I was greeted by the lovely Ashley. She was so sweet and helpful. Before long Elle from VIP arrived and gave me the warmest welcome. She was so nice and let me know if there was anything we needed during our stay to just let them know and she give me her card.
I keep saying the people here are the nicest people and they truly are.
Our room was not ready yet so we took are bags and headed to the club lounge. Dinner service had just started and we were hungry and tired,
They were serving fresh pasta bar this evening and as always had a nice salad station set up.
While we were eating we received the notice our room was ready.
After dinner we went up to our room and unpacked. We have a Villa Club room that overlooks the Bay. It is a nice quiet two queen room.
One of the Club Lounge staff Ashley let us know at dinner that they would be having movie night with popcorn and snacks this evening at 8 pm and to be sure and join them if we wanted. They were playing Ghostbusters.
I had wanted to pop into HHN for a little while this evening, but my sister talked me out of it…..which was a wise decision as I was exhausted and we found out it rained pretty hard.
We did go down and have a look at the movie and my sister had some popcorn.
I was ready for sleep.
We got back to the room and I took my shower and called my sweet hubby,
My sister said I was fast asleep after she had taken her shower and headed to her bed for the night.
Monday. September the 8th
My eyes popped open way too early this morning like 4 am.
I’am not a big Facebook user, but I have found out the last couple of days that FB is used for a lot of pertinent information……like what was happening locally at home especially with the chemical fire.
Interestingly enough a lady posted a message on FB saying her boyfriend worked for the factory that caught on fire. He had complained to the managers a couple of weeks before the fire that he had some concerns about some potential hazards and was written up over it.
Multiple fire departments Hazmat units were dispatched to the fire as well as the EPA is involved now.
I hope they read the posting on FB and contact that brave young lady. She had her full name and he boyfriend who worked at the factories full name on the post.
I hope the EPA fines the owner for the negligence of putting our community at risk.
I think there are more or these little hazardous factories in sleepy communities around the US that we don’t know about.
I also seen that they were asking for anyone who was exposed to any ash in the air to seek medical attention. Also they wanted anyone who saw ash from the fire on the ground of their properties to contact them as EPA wanted to examine those areas.
After having a look at facebook I was up and it was time to get this vacation started. I showered and later my sister got up and showered and we went down for breakfast at the Club Lounge.
Portofino does have one of the largest Club lounges. There are so many different area set and enjoy your meals.
I call this area the library.
This is what used to be a bar area that has been incorporated into the area used as another part of the Club Lounge.
I will try and get everything up to date here.
Saturday, September 6th
I had a busy day today on Saturday getting everything done to prepare to leave in the morning. I had the house all all clean and all my hubby’s meals prepped.
My sweet hubby said he was going to try and sleep in this morning so I had called yesterday evening and invited my niece and her sweet little boy by great-nephew little J out to breakfast.
After we were done with breakfast I dropped off my niece so she could have a little mommy time to shop or just jill for awhile while l took little J to play at the church’s indoor play area. He has a fun time and after a couple of hours it was time to drop him off at home.
The first thing I did when I got home was go up to the office and check in for the flight in the morning and printed my sisters and my boarding passes.
Then it was time to start packing my suitcase.
We received a call from our son who lives in the town next to the one we live in. We did not have the TV on and Hubby was reading his stock paper and I was packing so we were unaware of what was unfolding news wise locally.
Our son told us he had seen on the news that there was a chemical fire burning in our town.
Then our daughter M in Kentucky called and was concerned. She said she had seen the news about the fire too.
Then not long after a warning came over our cell phones telling us to turn off air conditioners and to shelter in place. What……………I was racking my brain to think of any place that could have such chemicals anywhere near were we live.
We have Alcoa about 8 to 10 miles away, but there has never been any issues there.
We live in a quaint little sleepy town near the Ohio RIver.
When the local Fire Dept popped up the shelter in place map outline on their FB page It looked like the small factory that was on fire was more on the outskirts of town.
That being said lucky for us and not lucky for the folks who live across the river form us in Kentucky they got the shelter in place order too because the wind was coming out of North blowing the smoke towards them.
This had never happened before. Just goes to show you never know about these things.
The trip at this point was having in the balance. I had trip insurance so if I needed to cancel I knew it would be ok.
The shelter in place order was lifted from our area of the map, but those living in the area closer to the factory were asked to remain sheltered in place.
I did finally go to sleep and slept about 4 hours and got back up at 3 am. I finished packing.
Sunday, September 7th
It was 58 degrees when I woke up. When I finally poked my head out the door it was cook and crisp morning……wow…..summer had truly disappeared overnight. I checked the weather and we were supposed to be cooler at night and in the 80;s during the day.
It was clear out with no smell or smoke or anything. I’am guessing the wind moved that smoke off in the direction away from us. Thankfully, but I’am saddened for those affected.
My sister K’s husband was driving us to the airport this morning.
I was finally done packing and had my bag my the door.
It was 8 am when they arrived to pick me up and we were on our way to the airport.
We had an uneventful flight on the Flight into Sanford.
We had the nicest lady sitting next to us on the flight who was also a Retired RN like myself. My sister K is still working as an RN so we Nurses had a nice conversation on the way.
After we landed we headed for the car rental to get the SUV and I wont go into every detail. But there was an issue with warning light on the dashboard saying the front crash warning system was not working, I had driven away about 4 miles when it popped up. So I went back and was assured after a tech and rental agent came out that the sensor gets wet after they run the cars through the carwash and all would be well once it dried. They reset the system and it came on again.
I want to share something that I hope will help everyone save themselves from as much grief as possible.
Make sure to take pictures of the exterior and interior of your rental vehicles. I’am sure some of you have read that Hertz has installed AI generated scanners you drive through that are supposedly finding minor scratches that were already on the vehicles and trying to bill you for those…….not a nightmare you want to deal with on vacation.
Although Sanford does not have these scanners in place they no longer have the person at the gate there anymore. That person used to walk the exterior of the vehicle and document imperfections before you drove off. They no longer have that person there anymore.
I talked to the agent and he Dollar/Hertz agent and he said to just make sure to take photos as your proof of the cars condition. He said they were not having issues there.
Taking a vacation should not be a complicated process. I hope this is not the new dawn of rental car agencies making it hard on folks renting cars.
Finally we got on the 417 and were on our way. It did not seem long before we were pulling in front of the Portorfino.
As soon as I approached entrance I could smell that glorious aroma of the scent “Beautiful Sunshine” wafting out the door. Yes…….I had arrived at my home away for home.
There were only a couple of people in line for check in and there were plenty of folks at the desk to greet and get you checked in.
I was greeted by the lovely Ashley. She was so sweet and helpful. Before long Elle from VIP arrived and gave me the warmest welcome. She was so nice and let me know if there was anything we needed during our stay to just let them know and she give me her card.
I keep saying the people here are the nicest people and they truly are.
Our room was not ready yet so we took are bags and headed to the club lounge. Dinner service had just started and we were hungry and tired,
They were serving fresh pasta bar this evening and as always had a nice salad station set up.
While we were eating we received the notice our room was ready.
After dinner we went up to our room and unpacked. We have a Villa Club room that overlooks the Bay. It is a nice quiet two queen room.
One of the Club Lounge staff Ashley let us know at dinner that they would be having movie night with popcorn and snacks this evening at 8 pm and to be sure and join them if we wanted. They were playing Ghostbusters.
I had wanted to pop into HHN for a little while this evening, but my sister talked me out of it…..which was a wise decision as I was exhausted and we found out it rained pretty hard.
We did go down and have a look at the movie and my sister had some popcorn.
I was ready for sleep.
We got back to the room and I took my shower and called my sweet hubby,
My sister said I was fast asleep after she had taken her shower and headed to her bed for the night.
Monday. September the 8th
My eyes popped open way too early this morning like 4 am.
I’am not a big Facebook user, but I have found out the last couple of days that FB is used for a lot of pertinent information……like what was happening locally at home especially with the chemical fire.
Interestingly enough a lady posted a message on FB saying her boyfriend worked for the factory that caught on fire. He had complained to the managers a couple of weeks before the fire that he had some concerns about some potential hazards and was written up over it.
Multiple fire departments Hazmat units were dispatched to the fire as well as the EPA is involved now.
I hope they read the posting on FB and contact that brave young lady. She had her full name and he boyfriend who worked at the factories full name on the post.
I hope the EPA fines the owner for the negligence of putting our community at risk.
I think there are more or these little hazardous factories in sleepy communities around the US that we don’t know about.
I also seen that they were asking for anyone who was exposed to any ash in the air to seek medical attention. Also they wanted anyone who saw ash from the fire on the ground of their properties to contact them as EPA wanted to examine those areas.
After having a look at facebook I was up and it was time to get this vacation started. I showered and later my sister got up and showered and we went down for breakfast at the Club Lounge.
Portofino does have one of the largest Club lounges. There are so many different area set and enjoy your meals.
I call this area the library.
This is what used to be a bar area that has been incorporated into the area used as another part of the Club Lounge.
Robo56
Look into my eyes
- Joined
- May 8, 2015
- Messages
- 5,231
There are so many places to sit and you don’t feel crowded as you enjoy your meal
The Staff in the Club Lounge are very nice and attentive and they do genuinely care about your expericence there.
They keep the food refreshed and the tables cleaned.
After breakfast we decided to head to CItyWak and then to the Studios. We had looked at the weather and there was a chance of rain at 3pm. So we were going to make the best of the day count.
We walked to the Water Taxi and there was hardly anyone onboard. I was wondering if this would mean less folks in the park today.
We wanted to have a look at the Big Universal Store at CityWalk before we went to the park.
All the photos I took on my phone did not post to my IPad yet so I will have to go back and forth between adding photos from my phone and typing on my Ipad.
There were a some Halloween decorations set up in CityWalk.
We looked at some merch on one of the outdoor carts.
These little Boo backpacks are so cute.
Art the Clown shirt and popcorn bucket.
Robo56
Look into my eyes
- Joined
- May 8, 2015
- Messages
- 5,231
This was an interesting door on one of the carts in CityWalk.
We then entered the big Universal store and started looking around.
Little Boo merchandise is still alive and well at UNIVERSAL for HHN again this year.
They had a few Blumehouse things.
We then entered the big Universal store and started looking around.
Little Boo merchandise is still alive and well at UNIVERSAL for HHN again this year.
They had a few Blumehouse things.
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