Day 2
Before I start with our itinerary for Day 2, I thought I'd mention a couple of observations about the HRH. On the Club level, there is fruit available all day and it is very good, especially the oranges. I also wanted to mention the housekeeping situation. It appears that they are understaffed. Our second room wasn't ready until 5:30 on the first day. Luckily we could use the connecting room, but I would have been upset if it was the only room we had! They really ought to be ready by 3:00. I will say that on the last day I asked for and received late check out (1:00 p.m.). Also, the bathrooms were clean but my mother (aka Mrs. Clean) thought that they didn't do a good job dusting and cleaning the rest of the rooms. I also didn't mention the great kiddie pool. It is VERY warm and has little fountains bubbling in it. My nephew spent hours sitting in it. One of the whirlpools was lukewarm so the children also spent time in it.
We had breakfast in the Club Lounge, excellent coffee, cereal, danish, croissants, plain bagels (I wished they had raisen), yogurt and really great fruit (pineapple, melon and strawberries). I would have loved to have a banana for my cereal but they never had any. Perhaps if someone at HRH is reading this?? It was so convenient to have bkfst. before heading out. I also asked the concierge, Sean Fallon, if he could make lunch reservations at Emeril's for that day or the next. He told me he would call as soon as they opened and gave me a card with his direct extension, that way I could pick up any courtesy phone in the park and find out if he made the reservation. Talk about convenient!
We arrived at IOA at 8:30 after a short walk and basically had the park to ourselves. There were very few people there which was great! We went to Suess landing and did many rides several times. Didn't get wet at all on One fish Blue Fish. I get motion sick very easily and Cat in the Hat was no problem. In fact, none of the rides at IOA were a problem. I had also taken Bonine that morning so it may have helped.
Through Lost Continent, Poseidon was not open yet, so my sister rode Dueling Dragons while we watched. There was no wait yet for this ride. My children wanted to go on Unicorn so we all went and all loved it. We used FOTL for this but the line wasn't that long anyway. The kids rode this several more times.
On to Jurassic Park. I loved the music and the feel of it, just like the movie! We went right to JPRR. My boys were nervous but they loved it when it was over and so did I. This was one of my favorite rides! The photograph at the end was hysterical. My son has a look of pure terror on his face (taken at the crest of the hill). He ended up loving this ride. We then went to the playground there and to Triceratops Encounter which had just opened. I thought that the animation was amazing, but my children were unimpressed. after we walked out they said "Is that all it is? What a waste of time"! We then went to the Discovery Center to watch the baby raptor hatch and play some games.
We were all starving for some reason (it was only 11:15) so we decided to scout around for a restaurant. None of the restaurant menu's we passed looked any good (nor did any of the food we saw), so we decided to leave IOA and head to Citywalk. I think this was a good choice. It only took a few minutes to get to Margaritaville where we were seated immediately. It took quite a while for the waitress to take our orders though, it seems no one told her she had a table waiting! My sister had the pork BBQ sandwich (excellent) my mother had the Turkey Club (also excellent AND BIG, 2 could split this!), and I had the Jerk Chicken. The kids Chicken Fingers. They were very large portions. My son had milk and the rest of us just had water. The bill was 46.00 without tip. We also got to see the volcano explode. It was a very good lunch.
We did bring little bottles of water with us (They had Evian water at the Club Lounge), this was a good idea since I saw them selling small waters for $ 2.50 at IOA. We went to Spiderman when we got back to IOA. What a great ride! Everyone loved it, even my mother. This is a not to be missed attraction. There was a very long line and thanks to FOTL we scooted right past! We went on it again right after we got off. Again, this didn't make me sick. Maybe the Bonine works.
On to Toon Lagoon. We did the Bilge Raft ride first. I must have picked the right seat because only my bottom got wet. My son and most everyone else on the ride got absolutely drenched. This was a great ride. It seemed longer than Kali River ride in Animal Kingdom. Just before we got into the boat at Dudley Do Right, my sister couldn't stop laughing (along with a lot of other bystanders) because I put on a shower cap from the hotel room that morning. What can I say, I didn't want to spend a half an hour blow drying my hair later on! LOVED this ride as well. Can you tell that I'm partial to water rides? The kids got a chance to squirt people at Me ship the Olive before we left for Poseidon's Fury. That was our last ride before heading back to the Hotel.
We went swimming until 5:00. We got dressed and had a glass of wine in the Club lounge. Tonight they had cheese and crackers, fruit and hummus. We didn't eat that much and in fact decided we would skip dinner which was no problem. I had ordered the boys a snack at the Beach Club so they were all set. Our plan was to go to Universal to check out Mardi Gras. I'm going to stop for now and continue tomorrow. My fingers hurt from typing! Bye for now . . . .
Before I start with our itinerary for Day 2, I thought I'd mention a couple of observations about the HRH. On the Club level, there is fruit available all day and it is very good, especially the oranges. I also wanted to mention the housekeeping situation. It appears that they are understaffed. Our second room wasn't ready until 5:30 on the first day. Luckily we could use the connecting room, but I would have been upset if it was the only room we had! They really ought to be ready by 3:00. I will say that on the last day I asked for and received late check out (1:00 p.m.). Also, the bathrooms were clean but my mother (aka Mrs. Clean) thought that they didn't do a good job dusting and cleaning the rest of the rooms. I also didn't mention the great kiddie pool. It is VERY warm and has little fountains bubbling in it. My nephew spent hours sitting in it. One of the whirlpools was lukewarm so the children also spent time in it.
We had breakfast in the Club Lounge, excellent coffee, cereal, danish, croissants, plain bagels (I wished they had raisen), yogurt and really great fruit (pineapple, melon and strawberries). I would have loved to have a banana for my cereal but they never had any. Perhaps if someone at HRH is reading this?? It was so convenient to have bkfst. before heading out. I also asked the concierge, Sean Fallon, if he could make lunch reservations at Emeril's for that day or the next. He told me he would call as soon as they opened and gave me a card with his direct extension, that way I could pick up any courtesy phone in the park and find out if he made the reservation. Talk about convenient!
We arrived at IOA at 8:30 after a short walk and basically had the park to ourselves. There were very few people there which was great! We went to Suess landing and did many rides several times. Didn't get wet at all on One fish Blue Fish. I get motion sick very easily and Cat in the Hat was no problem. In fact, none of the rides at IOA were a problem. I had also taken Bonine that morning so it may have helped.
Through Lost Continent, Poseidon was not open yet, so my sister rode Dueling Dragons while we watched. There was no wait yet for this ride. My children wanted to go on Unicorn so we all went and all loved it. We used FOTL for this but the line wasn't that long anyway. The kids rode this several more times.
On to Jurassic Park. I loved the music and the feel of it, just like the movie! We went right to JPRR. My boys were nervous but they loved it when it was over and so did I. This was one of my favorite rides! The photograph at the end was hysterical. My son has a look of pure terror on his face (taken at the crest of the hill). He ended up loving this ride. We then went to the playground there and to Triceratops Encounter which had just opened. I thought that the animation was amazing, but my children were unimpressed. after we walked out they said "Is that all it is? What a waste of time"! We then went to the Discovery Center to watch the baby raptor hatch and play some games.
We were all starving for some reason (it was only 11:15) so we decided to scout around for a restaurant. None of the restaurant menu's we passed looked any good (nor did any of the food we saw), so we decided to leave IOA and head to Citywalk. I think this was a good choice. It only took a few minutes to get to Margaritaville where we were seated immediately. It took quite a while for the waitress to take our orders though, it seems no one told her she had a table waiting! My sister had the pork BBQ sandwich (excellent) my mother had the Turkey Club (also excellent AND BIG, 2 could split this!), and I had the Jerk Chicken. The kids Chicken Fingers. They were very large portions. My son had milk and the rest of us just had water. The bill was 46.00 without tip. We also got to see the volcano explode. It was a very good lunch.
We did bring little bottles of water with us (They had Evian water at the Club Lounge), this was a good idea since I saw them selling small waters for $ 2.50 at IOA. We went to Spiderman when we got back to IOA. What a great ride! Everyone loved it, even my mother. This is a not to be missed attraction. There was a very long line and thanks to FOTL we scooted right past! We went on it again right after we got off. Again, this didn't make me sick. Maybe the Bonine works.
On to Toon Lagoon. We did the Bilge Raft ride first. I must have picked the right seat because only my bottom got wet. My son and most everyone else on the ride got absolutely drenched. This was a great ride. It seemed longer than Kali River ride in Animal Kingdom. Just before we got into the boat at Dudley Do Right, my sister couldn't stop laughing (along with a lot of other bystanders) because I put on a shower cap from the hotel room that morning. What can I say, I didn't want to spend a half an hour blow drying my hair later on! LOVED this ride as well. Can you tell that I'm partial to water rides? The kids got a chance to squirt people at Me ship the Olive before we left for Poseidon's Fury. That was our last ride before heading back to the Hotel.
We went swimming until 5:00. We got dressed and had a glass of wine in the Club lounge. Tonight they had cheese and crackers, fruit and hummus. We didn't eat that much and in fact decided we would skip dinner which was no problem. I had ordered the boys a snack at the Beach Club so they were all set. Our plan was to go to Universal to check out Mardi Gras. I'm going to stop for now and continue tomorrow. My fingers hurt from typing! Bye for now . . . .
