On the Floor and Out the Door!: a 17 day HalloChristmas, RunDisney, MNSSHP, HHN, MVMCP adventure! new 2/8!

[missangelalexis]

Congratulations on the baby boy! And such a meaningful name he will have!

Sounds like low wait times when you got into Universal! And a fun time at IoA with Mike's family!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Just did a mad dash catch-up and I'm OFFICIALLY joining in!

Congratulations on your little one-to-be!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Just catching up now and saw your news!! Oh my gosh, I am so happy for you! Congratulations!! ❤

Thank you so much!

Love the name!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I'm pretty late, but oh my gosh, CONGRATULATIONS!

Thank you!!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

But congrats!!

Thank you!

And in the photo, it looks like it's green, so I'm going to assume you're having a gecko?

Or perhaps an alien?

This is the only way to eat cookies. I give you exhibit A:

How did you get this self portrait of me?

I think a fair trade would be to go to the parks with express passes for just yourself... and FPs at Disney, but you get to use his MB so you go twice.
(After the baby is born, I mean.)

Oo yes I find this fair too! I will certainly be suggesting it.

I've seen the show... but don't like the ride. I mean... it's a fun ride, but I sure don't like how I feel afterwards.

He's evil!! I like him already.

Because if it was a sand ride, you'd get sandy.

Oo that would certainly make walking around for the rest of the day unpleasant

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Congratulations on the baby boy! And such a meaningful name he will have!

Thank you !!

Sounds like low wait times when you got into Universal! And a fun time at IoA with Mike's family!

It wasn't crowded at all!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Just did a mad dash catch-up and I'm OFFICIALLY joining in!

Welcome!! Thanks so much for joining!

Congratulations on your little one-to-be!

Thank you!!

 

[pkondz]

Or perhaps an alien?

ooohhh… That'd be cool.

How did you get this self portrait of me?

Hidden camer…. uh.... Nevermind. No idea.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Happiness Can Be Found Even in the Darkest of Times

Here I am again, explaining a long absence lol.

Over on my PTR full of plans that never happened, I posted a summary of what's been going on in real life so if you're interested, find that post here.

Otherwise, back to October 28th, 2019 and Islands of Adventure we go!

-----------------------------------------------------

After getting sufficiently bathed on Dudley's Ripsaw Falls, we started making our way towards Hogsmeade.

Naturally, we passed through Jurassic Park en route and I was vetoed when I suggested a ride on the River Adventure. We were already wet, what's a little more water?

However, I was soon rewarded. As we passed Pteranodon Flyers, Mike and I discussed how we'd never been on the ride. Universal requires you to have a child under a certain height to ride and until Robert Allan makes his arrival, we have none.



Mike's sister mentioned that his niece was pretty much just under the height requirement so one of us could go on with her! Mike was nice enough to let me go on. Had I realized that my sister and I would get to ride at the Orlando Informer event a few months later, I would've let him have the chance but who knew!

We made our way up to the ride. The line wasn't very long but it's a very slow loader so it still took about 25 minutes. Finally, it was our turn and WHOA it was scarier than I expected.

I didn't take any pictures because I was afraid to drop my phone lol but here's a picture from google of the ride track.



The ride vehicle sways a lot more than I expected so I feared falling out but you get great views of the park on the ride!

Final verdict: more thrilled than anticipated but a fun ride!

We met back up with everyone else afterwards and continued onto Hogsmeade (with some pouting from Mike).

Universal had started doing a castle lights show on Hogwarts castle and last year, for the Fall season, they announced a new show called Dark Arts at Hogwarts castle. I had watched youtube videos of it before our visit, so I knew that in addition to the show on the castle, there were Death Eaters roaming through the village and the whole atmosphere was spooky and perfect for Halloween!

Mike's sister's family hadn't had a chance to see the show yet either so we were all excited.

Doesn't that look spooky?!

https://imgur.com/CRs9iSC

The Death Eaters were singling out people in the crowd and Mike's niece was dying to get picked so she was thrilled when it happened.

https://imgur.com/On0h9S0

As we were wandering around enjoying the show, Mike's brother-in-law made a trip to get Butterbeer for all of us who wanted it



The system for the castle show was very organized. Since there was a show already in progress, there was an area the TMs were holding everyone waiting for the next show in until the crowds from that show cleared out.



It wasn't long before we were allowed through and we got great spots right up in front of the castle!



Once the show started, I was mesmerized. It was my first time seeing any of the shows on Hogwarts and I was in love with it. I ended up handing Mike my phone to take pictures and videos because I was too enthralled in the experience to do it myself lol.





This next picture is my favorite.

https://imgur.com/BqtY5JF

The park was closed when the show ended so we made our way to the exit.

We were all hungry and discussing what to eat as we walked out. Mike and I offered the suggestion of leaving the theme park area completely because, from the family drama taking place on our first Universal day, it sounded like money might be tight at the moment. But his sister and brother-in-law said let's sit down and have a meal on Citiwalk so we said sure .

Our original plan was to go to Bigfire which I was hoping to try since it was pretty new but for some reason I don't remember anymore, it was vetoed. Someone suggested we eat at the Bob Marley restaurant. I had no idea this place existed but we reviewed the menu quickly and it sounded good so we went for it.



We sat in an open air courtyard with live music being performed which was pretty awesome!

I didn't take note of what everyone ordered but I got

Manchester Beef Kabobs (Tender beef medallions, peppers, onions, cherry tomatoes, red bliss mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables, natural sauce) $15.95



I love kabobs so it was an easy choice for me but I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this dish! The sauce was really delicious and I loved it. The serving was also bigger than I expected, especially since I felt the price was so reasonable for Citiwalk and I wasn't able to finish it all.

Mike got the Reggae Jamaican Jerk Chicken (Half chicken char-grilled, chopped, rice and peas, sweet plantains) $16.95.



He also loved his food and thought the spices on his chicken were perfect and gave it a kick without being too much. I love plantains so we traded each other some of our food and we both agreed they were delicious.

Everyone enjoyed their meal and it was a very pleasant surprise from a restaurant I'd never heard about before!

At the end of the meal Mike's sister and brother-in-law insisted on paying for our meal which was very nice but confused me going back to the previously mentioned drama .

A nice quote when leaving the restaurant.



As we walked out to the parking garages, we passed a cart full of bubble toys. One of my coworkers posted a video right before our trip where he was at Disney with his family and his nephew was torturing him with a bubble toy in his face so naturally, I sent him a snapchat of it.

https://imgur.com/VrBaWUY

We said our goodbyes and found our car and went back to our hotel to sleep.

The next day would be another long Universal-filled day including our second night at HHN!​

 

[Realfoodfans]

Just catching up on your news and congratulations to you both!

Can you tell me where you got the Tigger outfit please?

 

[disneyAndi14]

The Hogwarts projection show with sinister death eaters really does look amazing. I hope to hit up HHN in 2021!
Im heading over to check out your PTR info!

 

[pkondz]

Naturally, we passed through Jurassic Park en route and I was vetoed when I suggested a ride on the River Adventure. We were already wet, what's a little more water?

If anything, you might dry off a bit, at least compared to Ripsaw!

Mike's sister mentioned that his niece was pretty much just under the height requirement so one of us could go on with her!

Lucky! I need to borrow someone's kid, some day. Um... listen... are you busy in a few years?

Finally, it was our turn and WHOA it was scarier than I expected.

Really! I'm very envious. I tried to ride it (not knowing there was a child requirement) and of course was turned away. It looks so awesome.

Final verdict: more thrilled than anticipated but a fun ride!

Doesn't that look spooky?!

Very much. I love it!

The Death Eaters were singling out people in the crowd and Mike's niece was dying to get picked so she was thrilled when it happened.

So... watched the video, but... did anything happen other than he took her hand?

Mike's brother-in-law made a trip to get Butterbeer for all of us who wanted it

Who would not want it?????

Once the show started, I was mesmerized. It was my first time seeing any of the shows on Hogwarts and I was in love with it. I ended up handing Mike my phone to take pictures and videos because I was too enthralled in the experience to do it myself lol.

Don't blame you. Pretty cool!

This next picture is my favorite.

Can see why!

from the family drama taking place on our first Universal day, it sounded like money might be tight at the moment. But his sister and brother-in-law said let's sit down and have a meal on Citiwalk so we said sure .

Um, great, but... okay?

We sat in an open air courtyard with live music being performed which was pretty awesome!

Nice.

Manchester Beef Kabobs

Looks (and sounds) good.

Mike got the Reggae Jamaican Jerk Chicken (Half chicken char-grilled, chopped, rice and peas, sweet plantains)

Okay... I read that and the first thing popped into my head?
"Half chicken? What's the other half?"

At the end of the meal Mike's sister and brother-in-law insisted on paying for our meal which was very nice but confused me going back to the previously mentioned drama .

I wonder if they were embarrassed and were trying to make up for it???

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Pteranodon Flyers looks pretty fun - I can imagine that it might be more exciting than it first appears! It's fun that you were able to ride it TWICE (poor Mike!).

Wow, the castle show would be so neat! I don't think I'd be as thrilled about the death eater component during the Halloween season (as a self-proclaimed wuss who jumps at any potentially scary thing), but overall it would be great.

I'd not heard of the Bob Marley restaurant either, but your food looks REALLY good! I agree that it's very reasonably priced for a theme park restaurant!

 

[missangelalexis]

The projection show and the death eaters walking around sounds like a fun experience! I'm glad you had a good night and a drama free dinner!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Just catching up on your news and congratulations to you both!

Thank you so much!

Can you tell me where you got the Tigger outfit please?

Amazon! The hat ended up being a youth hat which I didn't realize when I ordered it lol so it was very tight on Mike's head so he really only wore it for pictures.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

The Hogwarts projection show with sinister death eaters really does look amazing.

It was awesome! I hope they can bring it back in some capacity this year.

I hope to hit up HHN in 2021!

Yess I hope you get to! It's such a fun event.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Lucky! I need to borrow someone's kid, some day. Um... listen... are you busy in a few years?

There's a good chance I'll be looking for an excuse to pawn my kid off for a little while in a few years

Really! I'm very envious. I tried to ride it (not knowing there was a child requirement) and of course was turned away. It looks so awesome.

I'm pretty sure the child requirement is because the ride vehicles can't hold two adults in them and because it's slow loading to begin with so if you loaded all the vehicles up with only one person the line would be insane. But the cart sways so much in the wind while you're riding- I was convinced I was going to fall out!

Very much. I love it!

Me too!

So... watched the video, but... did anything happen other than he took her hand?

He took her hand and drew a dark mark on her arm to "initiate" her as a death eater. She was over the moon excited lol.

Who would not want it?????

That's what I'm saying!

Um, great, but... okay?

Okay... I read that and the first thing popped into my head?
"Half chicken? What's the other half?"

the ooother white meat

I wonder if they were embarrassed and were trying to make up for it???

That's what I thought so I felt bad but also be an adult and get your priorities in place!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

It's fun that you were able to ride it TWICE (poor Mike!).

I know I guess when Robert's old enough, Mike will be getting the first ride lol

Wow, the castle show would be so neat! I don't think I'd be as thrilled about the death eater component during the Halloween season (as a self-proclaimed wuss who jumps at any potentially scary thing), but overall it would be great.

You would love the Christmas version then! All the impressive lighting and projections and no spookiness.

I'd not heard of the Bob Marley restaurant either, but your food looks REALLY good! I agree that it's very reasonably priced for a theme park restaurant!

It was really good! I would definitely go back!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

The projection show and the death eaters walking around sounds like a fun experience!

It was great! I hope they bring it back.

I'm glad you had a good night and a drama free dinner!

Thanks- me too lol!

 

[pkondz]

There's a good chance I'll be looking for an excuse to pawn my kid off for a little while in a few years

Perfect!

I'm pretty sure the child requirement is because the ride vehicles can't hold two adults in them and because it's slow loading to begin with so if you loaded all the vehicles up with only one person the line would be insane.

Ah. Yeah, okay, I can see that, then.

But the cart sways so much in the wind while you're riding- I was convinced I was going to fall out!

I don't know if that makes me want to go more... or less.

He took her hand and drew a dark mark on her arm to "initiate" her as a death eater. She was over the moon excited lol.

Ohhh... Ooooooohhhh...

the ooother white meat