Our National Lampoon Christmas Vacation~Day 17

[shadowryter]

Day Eleven…Disney Hollywood Studios

We hopped the monorail for an easy ride to the Grand Floridian and our Character breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. We arrived in plenty of time and were surprised to see that we would have our picture taken by a beautiful Christmas tree. This hallway was soooo cold. The photographers were bundled up and we were asked if we wanted to remove our sweatshirts for the picture. So we stood there sleeveless and smiling in the cold, but the picture came out pretty good I thought.
A bit on the chilly side

We were seated at a table with the buffet just behind us. Nice and close for frequent visits if desired. DH had been talking about how he want a Mimosa so when we saw Grand Mimosa on the menu with thought, why not? DD in the meantime got a smoothie with mango and pineapple. Our Grand Mimosa’s arrived and the “Grand” part was a shot of Grand Marnier on the top. Honestly I did not care for this and DD got the better part of the deal.
Grand Mimosa

Tropical fruit smoothie

We helped ourselves to the buffet, DD and DH saw they had Lobster Eggs Benedict and remembering how good they were last time at the GF Café it seemed a no-brainer. I on the other hand went more traditional and I’m glad I did. Both my DD and DH complained that it tasted on the sour side and there was not any lobster.
My plate…so good…ham-bacon-sausage-banana French toast-scrambled eggs-I forget what the powdery sugary thing was but I do remember it was delish!

Within minutes the characters started to appear. First Tigger who happens to be DD’s favorite. She was wearing a Tigger hoodie and the interaction between the two of them was a riot. Next came Pooh and then Mary Poppins.
Our pic’s with the characters

We were deciding weather to wait for Alice and the Mad Hatter but they seemed to be on the other side of the room most of the time. When breakfast was finished our server returned with a surprise for our DD.

Now here’s a little back story and I’ll make it quick. August 2010, DD and I were celebrating our birthdays as we are only 2 weeks apart. This was the week of TS Fay and we got soaked every day. On our last evening we had dinner at the castle and a surprise of two chocolate slippers, mine with “Happy Birthday Linda” and DD’s with a special “Happy 18th Birthday Heather.” I was so sick by then. I started coughing and choking, my eyes were tearing and DH was getting worried. We left abruptly but I refused to l leave the park as it was extra magic hours and I didn’t want to spoil the fun. But…I felt so bad when I realized that DD never got to enjoy her slipper and I vowed to make it up to her.

A chocolate slipper inscribed with. “Heather ~ Just Because,” was placed in front of her and she knew. It was one of those Magical moments you create yourself. So worth it to see the smile on her face.
DD and her surprise slipper dessert

It was time to leave, a CM came by with our pictures which we had to have. It was also connected to a Photopass number so we could see more online. While we were waiting for our bill Tigger happened to pass us and walk into a room but before the door was closed my DD witnessed him taking his head off. The look on her face was priceless and we still laugh over this today. Not so funny though if you had a young child. They would be traumatized for life!
We decided not to wait for Alice and the MH and left without them. I took a few pictures of the GF lobby and Christmas tree, then it was off to the Studios.
Grand Floridian holiday decorations

We arrived at the Studios and went immediately to Twilight Zone Tower of Terror which we rode twice. Then it was Rock n Roller Coaster and after we made our way over to the closed Star Tours but checked out the gift shop which was still open. Nothing much different here than from previous years. Indiana Jones was closed as was the Stunt Car show. We walked around a bit, got our Photopass pic’s taken and decided to leave since we had a 2:00 ADR at the San Angel Inn.

We took the Friendship boat and stopped at Epcot’s International Gateway where it was a brisk walk to the Mexican Pavilion. We checked in and waited only about 10 minutes before we were escorted to our table.
This was a first for us and I must admit that it is quite lovely inside but I have always had my doubts about dining here. First…it is very dark. Each colorful table had a little lantern on it and I’m not sure if this is for atmosphere or to use to see your way around. LOL. No really I'm serious the only time I saw my food was when I snapped a picture of it.
A dark little corner

Our server was from Mexico and kept apologizing for her English, but I thought she spoke perfectly. She brought us the famous tortilla chips and two types of salsa. The chips were nice and crisp and both salsa’s very tasty. I ordered a frozen Margarita while DH opted for the traditional one and DD…a cola.
Frozen Fiesta Margarita

Traditional Margarita

Tortilla Chips and Salsa’s

Menu

To be continued....

 

[MommaMouse411]

where did you order the cake from? It really looks yummy...

 

[shadowryter]

We placed our orders, each going with something different.
Apps
Tostadas de Jaiba (crabmeat on fried corn tortilla) DH & DD

Tacos al Pastor (duck meat with mango on a flour tortilla) Me

Entrees
Pollo a las Rajas - me (very good chicken dish with a cream sauce)

Tacos de Ribeye - DD ( she did not like this said steak was tough and couldn’t even chew scallions)

Sirloin con Chilaquiles (DH liked it)

Desserts
Vanilla Flan - me

White Chocolate bread pudding - DD & DH

When dinner was finished we stopped at one of the little kiosks inside of the Pavilion so DH could buy one of the Mexican pullovers. He was sure that this would keep him warm and tried to convince me and DD to pick one up but I was happy with my hoodie… for now anyway.
Believe it or not we once again hopped on the Friendship boat and headed back to the Studios so we could see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. There wasn’t much open at this time but we did manage to take in the Muppet Show. Nothing much has changed on this in quite a few years but DH always seems to get a charge out of it. After the Muppet Show we got in position to see the Lights and by the time we made it through we realized we would never make it to The Yachtsman Steakhouse, so we ended out in Pizza Planet where we stood in line for a half hour just to grab a drink and slowly made our way out of the Studios.
Osborne Lights

We got back to the Contemporary and I wanted to take some pictures outside so I sent DD and DH on their way to pick up some packages and told them I’m meet up with them in a while. Once I got back inside I realized that the elevator was so backed up from people returning that I wasn’t sure where to find them. Needless to say, they found me and were a bit perturbed because I was gone so long. We retrieved our packages, did a little shopping and grabbed a snack at the Contempo Café. We ordered the same thing, from flatbread to salad so I didn’t take a picture since I did on our first day. We did take some dessert to our room and even though we missed Yachtsman, it was kind of nice to be in early for once.
Contemporary at night

This little counter had the best fudge and chocolates. I actually used the balance of our snack credits here.

Dessert from Contempo Café
Chocolate cake (don’t know why as we still had our anniversary cake in the fridge???)
Fresh Fruit

I already had my pj’s on and had washed my face when I heard something outside. I opened our slider and could see the Electric Water Pageant down on Bay Lake. I hadn’t seen this since DD was 7 years old and we caught it from the beach after the Polynesian Luau. I grabbed my camcorder and froze on the balcony as I filmed the show. DH thought I was crazy and hoped I wouldn’t catch a cold like the last time. But DD did join me on the balcony.


Next…Our last day at Disney…and Epcot

 

[shadowryter]

where did you order the cake from? It really looks yummy...

Hey you squeezes in right between my posts.I ordered the cake from private dining at the Contemporary. Chef Brian was fantastic to work with and the cake was perfect.

 

[MNTwinsMom]

What great surprises you arranged! I love the chocolate covered strawberries, anniversary cake and "just because" slipper. You must have had lots of fun arranging all of that ahead of time.

We spent a few snack credits at that same candy case in the Contemporary gift shop. The fudge was awesome!

Great updates as always! Thanks for sharing.

 

[MommaMouse411]

ahh man..Now I got to go to that restaurant and get the bread pudding dessert...

 

[GoofyWife]

Everything looked wonderful - so thoughtful to get the dessert slipper for your daughter; I definitely want my next trip to be around Christmas to see all the beautiful decorations!

 

[shadowryter]

ahh man..Now I got to go to that restaurant and get the bread pudding dessert...

DH and DD really loved it.

Everything looked wonderful - so thoughtful to get the dessert slipper for your daughter; I definitely want my next trip to be around Christmas to see all the beautiful decorations!

Thanks...DD loved her slipper. You have to try for Christmas time at least once. You'll love it.

 

[shadowryter]

Our last day at Disney


We all awoke to yet another beautiful sunrise and began to get ready, dressing a little more special, as today we would have our first ever Disney photo shoot at the Grand Floridian. I had also booked an early breakfast at the GF Café and thought it would be perfect. A nice hot breakfast to start the day, followed by our Photo shoot and then the rest of the day at Epcot. The sun was shining and the there was nothing but blue skies so it would be nice to put away the hoodies and the Christmas hats for one day. What??? You thought we were just in the holiday spirit? Well we love our Christmas hats very much but the only reason we kept wearing them was to keep our ears and heads warm. Not to mention DD and I probably had the worst case of hat hair going. LOL!
Another beautiful sunrise

We arrived at the Grand and there was quite a few people there. It wasn’t until later that I realized many of them were having their pictures taken in front of the Christmas tree. They seemed to be a very large group of some kind. We stopped to admire the gingerbread house and made our way to the GF Café where I checked us in. We were greeted and seated immediately at a table by a nice window with a view of the grounds and pool and the sun pouring through.

I just wanted to start with a good cup of coffee and some juice and so did DD & DH. There is just something about this place. It feels so quaint regardless of it’s huge rooms. But this is truly a hidden gem of sorts and I have never been disappointed with breakfast and would like to return and try for lunch or dinner next time.

I was a little let down that they did not have the stuffed French toast that I loved so much last August but it gave me an excuse to try something else. DH went back to his love of lobster eggs Benedict and though DD also loves it she had a bad experience at our 1900 Park Fare character breakfast the other day and wanted nothing to do with that. So she and I ordered the Citrus pancakes which were so good I would have them again anytime and have since then been looking for the recipe.
GF Café Menu

Coffee & tea,warm syrup & butter

Lobster eggs Benedict

Citrus Pancakes with roasted pecans, cranberries and orange butter…yummy!

By the time we finished breakfast our photo shoot time was nearing so DD and I checked hair and makeup and we went upstairs to the Photo shoot desk. We met with Bob, our photographer, who took our information and then asked me if there was any particular shot I was after. Of course it was one in front of the Christmas tree. He first brought us outside on a large verandah and tried to take some shots but the wind took my hair and literally flew it over my head and across my face. Realizing this wouldn’t work he brought us back inside. He took shots inside the Grand, by the staircase railing and in front of the tree. Not exactly the shot I wanted but it turned out nice. Next we went outside as the weather so soooo nice. He took pictures down by the dock, the fountain, grounds, outside of the building, by trees. Out of 58 pictures only 2 were bad. DH and DD closed their eyes and the one by the beach which was so much a white out that I never saw it. So I guess a total of 59...all in 25 minutes. He was really good, waited for the wind to die down or tell me that my sleeve flipped up or there was a hair across someones glasses. Very polite and professional.
My favorites

Our shoot was at 10:30 and it was now a little after 11. Once finished he said it would take about 20 minutes or so to load the images so we left and looked around, me taking pic’s of the gingerbread house, tree and such.
Various GF Pictures

To be continued.....

 

[shadowryter]

I returned just to be told that besides my photo CD and all images on a Photopass card that I also had my choice of actual pictures so I quickly ran through all 58 and chose seven 5x7’s. This added on another 30 minutes or so and now DD was getting a little antsy and I could see why. All of a sudden the skies darkened and the wind came up really strong. Once I collected and paid for everything we hopped on the monorail and stopped at the CR to drop off the photos and dress warmer. You got it…hoodies and Christmas hats.
When we arrived at Epcot we stopped to have a frigid picture taken. It was misting off and on so that made for more fun. We wanted to get a Fastpass for Soarin’ but they were all gone. We went to see Captain EO, what memories this brought to me because DH and I saw this on our honeymoon so many years ago. Yikes! DD had never seen it, it was Honey I Shrunk the Audience by then. She said she really enjoyed it. Next was the Living Seas and again another memory. You see I rode those clam shells when DD was only 4 years old. She didn’t remember but I certainly did. Though I have to admit that the Finding Nemo scenes were a nice touch. Sorry this was video taped.
Living Seas

Next we went across Future World for a little shopping before riding Mission Space and Test Track, the last part of the track into the cold air was like a brain freeze. We finally made our way back to the Land and into a very…very long line to ride Soarin’. The interactive queue made it some fun but it still took the better part of an hour. By the time the ride was over we were getting rumbly tummies and decided to eat in the Land, something I have never done. We chose to share two Sunshine Season’s Asian dishes with a drink of Gold Peak ice tea and dessert and it was really good.
Ginger Mongolian Beef with broccoli and noodles

Spicy Cashew Chicken with broccoli and noodles

Brownie

Key Lime Pie

Fruit & yogurt

Stepping outside of the Land we were faced with darkening skies and a mighty wind but at least no rain. We continued onto World Showcase and visited each country, starting in Canada and working our way around. After about an hour we doubled back and grabbed some fish & chips at the Country Fish Shop, always a favorite. We found a bench around the corner by the lagoon and sat in the dark, freezing, cold enjoying our hot snack.
Dark ominous skies

A few night shots

Store window...thought it was cute

Always a favorite…

They had a Photopass Photographer set up by the bridge at the International Gateway so we stopped for a picture and continued on. They were taking pictures in France with Marie from the Aristocats…so cute, but we noticed they were also taking pictures in front of the fountain and the line was so much shorter, so we went there. She took pic’s of the three of us but saw mine and DH’s Anniversary buttons so she took a few of just the two of us, cuddling and kissing. That one’s personal folks. LOL!
Our family pictures

To be continued....

 

[shadowryter]

We stopped at the Crepes des Chef de France kiosk and took in a couple of snacks before continuing on through World Showcase stopping in America for a sweet cream cheese pretzel. Good munchies and all included with our deluxe dining plan snack allowance.
Chocolate croissant

Strawberry croissant

Sweet cream cheese pretzel

More Epcot by night

We slowly finished our stroll ending in front of the beautiful Christmas tree and of course taking another Photopass photo op.
Our Epcot tree picture

I can not tell you how much I miss the Lights of Winter’s Arch. This was my favorite part of Epcot during the holidays even more so than Illuminations which you will notice we did not partake in. Yes….our second Christmas and no Epcot fireworks. But removing the Lights is something I will never get over…though I understand why it doesn’t make me feel any better. Maybe someday they will figure out a way to update and return this magnificent display of lights and music. I can only hope.

I took some more pictures as we excited Epcot. I always loved being one of the few left to take in the park at night. This night we were a little early and I turned to see Illuminations in the distance, then took a couple last shots of Space Ship Earth.
Beautiful by night

We easily boarded the monorail to the TTC and then we were off to the Contemporary where we picked up a few packages and ordered our dinner to go from the Contempo Café, sticking to our favorites. One last picture of the giant Mickey wreath and we were in our room, where I would get to snack on my food in between packing and making sure that everything was set to go the next morning. Our last night at Disney was finally here but tomorrow started a new adventure.
Mickey Wreath

Southwest Chicken Salad

Steak and sun dried tomato flatbread

Pepperoni flatbread

Good ole fries

Next….The Royal Pacific Resort and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

 

[MommaMouse411]

wow what a LONG vacation...lol

 

[GoofyWife]

the pictures at Epcot were beautiful, even with the grey clouds over Spaceship Earth; I love being the last few leaving Epcot too, when it's quiet and not too many people around; the citrus pancakes looked delicious, I love anything citrus, my kids make fun of me because whenever I make cupcakes, I frost them with homemade buttercream frosting, either lemon, lime or orange and I make it with fresh squeezed juice and grated peel, so I'm sure I would love those pancakes. What was in the butter?

 

[MNTwinsMom]

Beautiful pictures of your family at the Grand Floridian! You've gotten such great shots throughout your vacation of the 3 of you. What a great way to remember an incredible vacation.

Can't wait to read about Universal/Harry Potter. . .

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

I love the pictures of Epcot at night... And the dark stormy skies really add that special touch...

 

[shadowryter]

wow what a LONG vacation...lol

From start to finish...17 days!!! In my opinion, it was too long...or maybe it was just the cold that made it feel that way.

the pictures at Epcot were beautiful, even with the grey clouds over Spaceship Earth; I love being the last few leaving Epcot too, when it's quiet and not too many people around; the citrus pancakes looked delicious, I love anything citrus, my kids make fun of me because whenever I make cupcakes, I frost them with homemade buttercream frosting, either lemon, lime or orange and I make it with fresh squeezed juice and grated peel, so I'm sure I would love those pancakes. What was in the butter?

Thank you. Your cupcakes sound yummy. It was house made orange butter...so good.

Beautiful pictures of your family at the Grand Floridian! You've gotten such great shots throughout your vacation of the 3 of you. What a great way to remember an incredible vacation.

Can't wait to read about Universal/Harry Potter. . .

If you only knew how hard it is to get those shots. Everyone in my family is camera shy...including the cat.

I love the pictures of Epcot at night... And the dark stormy skies really add that special touch...

Hmmmm...I seem to recall dark stormy skies in several of my past vacations.

 

[shadowryter]

December 13th…Our first stay at Universal’s Royal Pacific Resort

While I was doing my last minute checks to make sure nothing was left behind at the Contemporary, DH and DD ran downstairs to spend our last few snack credits on fudge. I called valet for our car and the bell station for some help with our luggage and packages and waited until DD and DH returned with a box filled with goodies. We waited for around ½ hour and nobody showed so we packed up our stuff, trudged through the hall, caught the elevator and met with valet. We were in the car and on our way to Universal Studios and our three night stay at the Royal Pacific.

OnStar got us quickly and efficiently to our destination. We easily found the Royal Pacific and pulled up to the entrance which looked as if it was going through some kind of cleaning process. A bags were taken, valet took our truck away and we entered the long walkway bridge being greeted by a beautifully decorated Christmas tree as we opened the doors and made our way through the lobby and to the check-in desk.

Our room was ready and waiting for us at 11:00 am and check-in was a breeze. The staff was very courteous, greeting us with a hearty island “Mahalo.” I had booked a water view room with the special Harry Potter package which included commemorative tickets and breakfast at the Three Broomsticks restaurant. We went to the kiosk at the ticket counter and printed our tickets, vouchers and HP tickets, so much easier than at the Portofino a couple of years ago where we had to go to the park entrance and the kiosks were closed due to the downpour of Tropical Storm Fay. We found our way to Tower 3 Royal, on the 5th floor. Our room was just as pictured on the Universal and Lowe’s site. It was lovely with just the right amount of island touches. We had no balcony here but the view was fantastic from the huge picture window. We got a great view of the pool area but the cool part was seeing the Hulk coaster and Hogwarts Castle in the distance.
Resort Sign

Our room at the Royal Pacific

After looking over the room and the view I checked out the snacks that DH got from the Contemporary, different kinds of fudge and Mickey peanut butter cups. Then it was time to make our way out of the Royal Pacific and down to the dock where we would catch a boat ride to the park.
Disney snacks

Commemorative WWoHP tickets

Pic’s of the Royal Pacific Resort

Ok….so being fresh from Disney and previously a Disney cruise the only thing we had warm to wear was our Disney hoodies and I knew we were into some comments. We stood by the docks waiting and the cold was the biting kind. It went right through you. We boarded the boat and was lucky enough to snag the seats way up front with the closed in windows and yep…the captain of the boat. The comments started as soon as we left the dock but I told him I never expected Florida to be as frigid as it was back home on the East coast. I even went so far as to tell him we would most likely buy another hoodie to wear over the ones we had. When we arrived at CityWalk he reminded those wearing Disney apparel to exit the left…this was in the water folks. Ha. Ha.

Our first stop was the Universal store where…you got it…we got Universal hoodies. Well at least DD and I did. DH had his Grumpy hoodie underneath his Mexican pullover and he said he was warm as toast. DD and I also purchased gloves…those little stretchy ones you can get at the dollar store…$9 a pair!!! Once we were bundled up (DD wearing Tigger over Universal because…she likes Tigger!) we headed to Islands of Adventure and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
To be continued...

 

[shadowryter]

WWoHP from the bridge

I admit that I was quite blown away upon entering this new world. The detail was amazing and being a fan I was quite pleased at what I saw. We first went to find the Three Broomsticks so we wouldn’t be hunting for it for tomorrows breakfast, then we did some shopping. The stores are really tiny and you have to wait in a queue line in order to enter. A certain number of shoppers come out and same number of shoppers go in. I took a picture of a woman standing outside holding one of those cute owl puppets, minutes before she was rear ended by the door by some kids who were not supposed to use it as an exit. The owl was on DD’s list along with other things. She wanted the House scarves…all four of them. We finally entered Dervish and Banges where we purchased a Gryffindor scarf and her owl along with a t-shirt then it was on to Hogwart’s Castle and the Forbidden Journey.
Village of Hogsmeade

Inside Dervish & Banges

Cast member with owl

Green house queue line

Inside the Forbidden Journey

When we arrived the wait time posted was 20 minutes. Since I had my little camera on me it easily fit in the pocket of my hoodie so no locker needed. We entered the queue and went right in. We moved so fast that I barely had a chance to snap a picture. No way was this 20 minutes. Even when we got to the end where you wait to board the ride, no waiting, we went right on.
The 3 of us hopped on our “broomsticks” and I heard the dreaded 3 clicks and we were fine. This ride was amazing though I admit the part where you fly with Harry made me a bit queasy. The spiders are not “in your face.” I hate spiders and these were too far away to really freak me out. The whomping willow flipped you on your back and the dragon scene was cool. All in all it was a great ride experience. It had to be because as soon as we got off, yes in the gift shop, we hustled back outside and rode again. Wait time…5 minutes. I do blame this on the weather….cold and about 36 degrees…40 or so in the sun.

DD took out her scarf, disgruntled when she realized she had the wrong one so back to the store to get our money back and to try and find the ones she wanted. There are two styles, one with the school emblems and those without. She wanted the emblems. Who could blame her. We went to Fitch’s Emporium and that’s where we found them. All four and one hat. She was a happy camper. We made our way out of the WWoHP and through Seuss Landing. I always thought it was cute here especially at Christmas but we are all kind of old to ride anything here. Lol!
Seuss Landing

To be continued...

 

[shadowryter]

By now we were getting hungry and had already decided to get a late lunch/early dinner at Bubba Gump’s Shrimp, a favorite of ours. We got a table right away, made our drink orders and went through the list of Forrest Gump trivia questions from our server which we always ace. We got our usual’s…well what we order when we are here. No BGS in our neck of the woods. Our meal was wonderful as usual but we skipped dessert in order to pick up something at Universal Studios where we would be headed next to take in the Macy’s Parade.
Peach ice tea

Cajun Shrimp app

Hush Pups

I’m Stuffed Shrimp

Shrimper’s Heaven

Kentucky Bourbon Skewers

After the parade, (sorry...this was video tapped) we shopped a bit as the park was closing at 6 pm. We grabbed our desserts to go, hopped on the boat and headed back to the RP for the night. I took some more pictures as the resort was quiet. We had plenty of time to change into our pj’s, crawl into bed and watch Hawaii 5-O on the tube but DH and I fell asleep. DD enjoyed it though.
Royal Pacific by night

Desserts from Universal
Blueberry cheesecake

Key Lime cheesecake

Giant sugar cookie

Next…Our breakfast at the Three Broomsticks….more WWoHP with pictures and Arabian Nights!

 

[shadowryter]

Hope you all had a nice, restful Memorial Day weekend. Mine was quiet but unfortunately Western Ma was hit with a tornado yesterday. Scary and hard to beleive. We are ok...heavy wind, large hail and some tree damage as we live about 50 miles from Springfield...on with this TR.

December 14th…Day two of our Universal stay

It looked beautiful outside…the sun rising over the resort and Islands of Adventure was a sight. But I knew better as the local weather report stated that today it would climb into the upper 30’s/lower 40’s. The night before plunged into the 20’s. Which is why what we saw later on in the day made sense.
View from our room

We took the chilly boat ride to CityWalk and then walked briskly to Islands of Adventure where we were flagged down for a picture. Our ‘08 picture was with our poncho’s which never came off…never. This would be our freezing in Florida picture.
Islands of Adventure photo
Everyone look surprised!

Our breakfast was at 9 am and we made it in plenty of time. We got into line, handed in our vouchers and was directed to the counter where the meals were served. I chose the American breakfast, while DD and DH chose the Pancake breakfast. They only gave us two Pancake breakfast’s and by the time the third arrived the other two were cold. They really were not organized for this but you would think they would have been by now. I asked for three hot breakfast and was granted that…finally. We found a table in the corner away from the door but it was still so cold inside. It was just a simple little breakfast but it was really good, unfortunately it got cold really fast. Where’s a microwave when you need one.
The Three Broomsticks

As seen from our corner table

We ate fast, mostly so all the heat wouldn’t escape from our meals and I for one hate cold scrambled eggs. We knew it was cold when the maple syrup refused to flow from the container it was sealed it. You had to spoon it out.
Menu

American breakfast…scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, fried potatoes and croissant

Pancake breakfast…3 pancakes, bacon. Sausage and croissant

Both came with butter, jam and syrup. The coffee was like dishwater…but it was hot!)
When we finished we headed back to the WWoHP and while DH rode with DD, I decided to do a castle walk through. This is a separate entrance where us camera bugs can go and flash away to our hearts content. Some areas were totally away from the rest of the queue while others ran parallel to it. You don’t have to rush and if someone does, just let them pass. This ends where the ride loading area is and you take the stairs to the gift shop where everyone ends up.
Village of Hogsmeade

Hogwart's

Images from Castle walk through

To be continued...