AlexandNessa
<font color=red>Proud Redhead<br><font color=green
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2003
- Messages
- 5,407
We were up fairly early (for us anyway), and it was another beautiful morning. It was rather windy during our trip, and it would often cool down towards the afternoon, so we took the pool weather when we got it. We headed off to the Beach Pool. I so wish our room overlooked the Beach Pool (cool) instead of the Villa Pool (boring). Well, really, we'd have rather had a Bay View Room, but it's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback.
We left about noon to go shower because we had a 1 pm lunch ressie at The Kitchen. Our room wasn't made up yet, but we didn't think much of it. We showered up and walked over to the HRH. This seems like a cool resort, and I think Mike and I would be happy to stay here as well. Unfortunately today, the HRH is swarming with cheerleaders. Perhaps I'm showing my age, but when did young cheerleaders start wearing more make-up than clowns, and what's with all the glitter and half shirts? I felt bad for some of the bigger girls who had their bellies hanging out.
Anyway, we didn't really need a ressie; the place was pretty slow that afternoon. We had our 1/2 price $50 gift certificate, and were ready to eat. Sean was our server, and he was very nice. He was chatting it up with us. He mentioned the soup of the day was potato leek. I said, "Yum." He asked if I wanted him to bring me a bowl. "Sure!" (Must eat $50!). He told me the drink of the day, a mahalo (?). Do you want me to bring you one of those too? "Sure!" (Must eat $50!). I don't really remember what the drink was, but I swear it was the most tart, lime-tasting drink I've ever had. Mike teased him that he should have served that with a full pitcher of water. Mike ordered the fish and chips. I got the white pie with chicken and shrimp. Sean came back a few minutes later and said it was $5 extra to add the shrimp to the pizza, is that O.K.? "Sure!" (we've got to be close to $50 now!). The executive chef, Evan, came around to ask how we were enjoying our lunch. "Excellent!" And how is Sean treating you? "He's taking good care of us." Are you sure you're not just saying that because he's within earshot? "Of course!" He thanked us for coming, and we thought it was cool he stopped by. Both the pizza and the fish and chips were very good. We didn't finish either one, but had to order the S'mores for dessert (we're probably right at $50 now!). I ordered some tea as well (just to be sure we hit $50). We had the gift certificate on the table, and Sean took it. He came back a few seconds later and asked where we were from. How had we heard of the half price gift certificate promotion? I proudly told him "The DISboards!" He said, "Oh, I think I've seen billboards for that." Mike said, "No, it's an Internet site where Jodie thinks she has friends." He laughed, and came back with our $2.17 bill. We did it!!
Sean wrapped up our pizza for us, and we headed back to the PBH. Mike ran up to the room to put the pizza in the minibar. I hung around the harbor and then went up the stairs towards the lobby to do some exploring. I was just in time for a wedding! The PBH is a beautiful hotel, and a perfect place for a wedding. Very romantic, and I'm glad they had such a beautiful afternoon for it. I spied for a few minutes and went back downstairs to meet up with Mike who reported our room still wasn't made up.
We walked back over to UO where we hit ET. I knew we had to tell them our names before we went in, and Mike and I were trying to decide what to tell them. Some in Mike's family call me Jahola (long story), and I thought this would be funny. Mike decided he was going to tell them his name was Sebastian. But, he leaned over to me and asked, "Wait, what do I do if they ask me to spell that?" It was finally my turn, and the girl asked me my name. "Julie." What? Where did that come from? Mike wiped the sweat from his brow when he realized he wouldn't have to spell Sebastian for the attendant. It didn't really matter anyway, since neither one of us could understand ET at the end of the ride.
It was about time for the 3:45 Ghostbuster show, and we thought we had a chance to meet the Famous Clare. We headed over, but the park was packed with cheerleaders, who held hands every where they went. It was like waiting for a train. Some of the younger girls didn't have much of an attention span, and they'd drop hands and lolly gag. "Vamanos, children! Vamanos!" They didn't understand our haste. "C'mon girls! Get your buddy. Stay with your buddy!" The girls stretched across an entire walkway. Alas, we were late to the GBs and did not have the coveted spot that it is necessary to save 30 minutes prior to the show. We were in the back. I looked for the neon seat cushion or the video camera. Saw neither, and by this time, Mike wasn't thinking the GBs were his thing (I'd be a little worried if they were), and we left.
Next we did BTTF. This was cool, but definitely not as cool as Spiderman (is anything?). Finally, it was time for MIB. I had tried to read all the hints beforehand, but having never been on the ride, they didn't make much sense to me. It showed. Let's just say that at least I wasn't bad as the lady next to me who got 16.4K. Mike only did slightly better than me. Will Smith maximized our embarrassment, and we hung our heads in shame as we exited the ride. We gave ourselves a pep talk as we looked at our picture, and headed straight back on line. We faired better this time, but still. The 12-year old girl next to me had 389K. I asked her the secret. She said, "Shoot the ones in the trees and hit the red button before anyone else." Hmpphh. I festered about that all night.
We wanted to buy our 4-year-old niece Sammie a Sponge Bob outfit (20% off with AP!), and had it sent back to our room. What's nice about package delivery at Universal is that they actually deliver it to your room (at Disney, you have to go pick it up in your hotel's gift shop). We now devised a plan: we had to get our picture with Sponge Bob. We planned on writing a letter to Sammie from Sponge Bob saying that he had a chance to meet Aunt Jodie and Uncle Mike and they said you were my biggest fan! (Sometimes we overreach trying to be THE cool aunt and uncle.)
We hadn't planned on going back to the PBH, but it was getting cool, and we needed to change for the parade. It was the last night of Mardi Gras, and we wanted to enjoy it without freezing. BTW, our room STILL wasn't made up.
Back at UO, we stopped and got ourselves a beer, and we scoped out the AP viewing area for the parade. It was pretty packed, so we found a spot across the street. We finished our beers, and Mike said he'd give me a dollar if I got up to get us another round, which was about 100 yards away. I did, but forgot that they will only sell one drink per ID. The girl had me pre-pay, make the drop off to Mike, and then come back for the second one. I did. As soon as I sat down with my own beer, Mike winked and said, "Honey, will you go get me another beer?" I said, "Nope!" The couple in front of us reminded me of Lucy and Desi Arnez. Lucy turned around, and said, "Good girl!" Desi said, "What is the matter with you? That is a reasonable request!" We had a good time with them. The parade started, and they must have saved all the beads for the last night. I was taking pictures, and the beads were just hitting my head. For every bead we got, we were giving 3 to the kids around us, and we still had a dozen and a half beads. It was insane. The floats were awesome, and everyone was having an upbeat time. Lucy and Desi wanted us to go to Donna Summer, but that wasn't on our agenda, and we bid them farewell as we were off to Pattie O's.
Pat O'Brien's had a maddening line to get into the piano bar section, and so we pulled up to the bar across the way. There we met our new friends, Natalie, Becky, and Matt. If you're out there, BIG HELLO! Barry, this was the only place I remembered to get you a menu. I'm not sure that I was welcomed to it, but I'll be glad to send it to you.
We got the boat back, and we were the only two on it. Louie was the captain and my new best friend. I told Louie my MIB problem. He started to give me tips, but I told him it would have to wait till Mike was out of earshot. I asked first! We sent Mike up the dock once we arrived back at the PBH, and Louie whispered the tips to me. Shoot the ones in the trees! Ask to sit in the back row and shoot your own exhaust pipe! Shoot everyone else's exhaust pipe. And something else I forget. Mike was now festering and wouldn't let me sleep until I filled him in. (We suspect our room was made up at turn-down service.) I was hoping for a leg up to finally best Mike's score. Hmmphh. We plotted our plan of attack for MIB, and fell asleep somewhere around, "keep the trigger held down." Training by osmosis?
We left about noon to go shower because we had a 1 pm lunch ressie at The Kitchen. Our room wasn't made up yet, but we didn't think much of it. We showered up and walked over to the HRH. This seems like a cool resort, and I think Mike and I would be happy to stay here as well. Unfortunately today, the HRH is swarming with cheerleaders. Perhaps I'm showing my age, but when did young cheerleaders start wearing more make-up than clowns, and what's with all the glitter and half shirts? I felt bad for some of the bigger girls who had their bellies hanging out.
Anyway, we didn't really need a ressie; the place was pretty slow that afternoon. We had our 1/2 price $50 gift certificate, and were ready to eat. Sean was our server, and he was very nice. He was chatting it up with us. He mentioned the soup of the day was potato leek. I said, "Yum." He asked if I wanted him to bring me a bowl. "Sure!" (Must eat $50!). He told me the drink of the day, a mahalo (?). Do you want me to bring you one of those too? "Sure!" (Must eat $50!). I don't really remember what the drink was, but I swear it was the most tart, lime-tasting drink I've ever had. Mike teased him that he should have served that with a full pitcher of water. Mike ordered the fish and chips. I got the white pie with chicken and shrimp. Sean came back a few minutes later and said it was $5 extra to add the shrimp to the pizza, is that O.K.? "Sure!" (we've got to be close to $50 now!). The executive chef, Evan, came around to ask how we were enjoying our lunch. "Excellent!" And how is Sean treating you? "He's taking good care of us." Are you sure you're not just saying that because he's within earshot? "Of course!" He thanked us for coming, and we thought it was cool he stopped by. Both the pizza and the fish and chips were very good. We didn't finish either one, but had to order the S'mores for dessert (we're probably right at $50 now!). I ordered some tea as well (just to be sure we hit $50). We had the gift certificate on the table, and Sean took it. He came back a few seconds later and asked where we were from. How had we heard of the half price gift certificate promotion? I proudly told him "The DISboards!" He said, "Oh, I think I've seen billboards for that." Mike said, "No, it's an Internet site where Jodie thinks she has friends." He laughed, and came back with our $2.17 bill. We did it!!
Sean wrapped up our pizza for us, and we headed back to the PBH. Mike ran up to the room to put the pizza in the minibar. I hung around the harbor and then went up the stairs towards the lobby to do some exploring. I was just in time for a wedding! The PBH is a beautiful hotel, and a perfect place for a wedding. Very romantic, and I'm glad they had such a beautiful afternoon for it. I spied for a few minutes and went back downstairs to meet up with Mike who reported our room still wasn't made up.
We walked back over to UO where we hit ET. I knew we had to tell them our names before we went in, and Mike and I were trying to decide what to tell them. Some in Mike's family call me Jahola (long story), and I thought this would be funny. Mike decided he was going to tell them his name was Sebastian. But, he leaned over to me and asked, "Wait, what do I do if they ask me to spell that?" It was finally my turn, and the girl asked me my name. "Julie." What? Where did that come from? Mike wiped the sweat from his brow when he realized he wouldn't have to spell Sebastian for the attendant. It didn't really matter anyway, since neither one of us could understand ET at the end of the ride.
It was about time for the 3:45 Ghostbuster show, and we thought we had a chance to meet the Famous Clare. We headed over, but the park was packed with cheerleaders, who held hands every where they went. It was like waiting for a train. Some of the younger girls didn't have much of an attention span, and they'd drop hands and lolly gag. "Vamanos, children! Vamanos!" They didn't understand our haste. "C'mon girls! Get your buddy. Stay with your buddy!" The girls stretched across an entire walkway. Alas, we were late to the GBs and did not have the coveted spot that it is necessary to save 30 minutes prior to the show. We were in the back. I looked for the neon seat cushion or the video camera. Saw neither, and by this time, Mike wasn't thinking the GBs were his thing (I'd be a little worried if they were), and we left.
Next we did BTTF. This was cool, but definitely not as cool as Spiderman (is anything?). Finally, it was time for MIB. I had tried to read all the hints beforehand, but having never been on the ride, they didn't make much sense to me. It showed. Let's just say that at least I wasn't bad as the lady next to me who got 16.4K. Mike only did slightly better than me. Will Smith maximized our embarrassment, and we hung our heads in shame as we exited the ride. We gave ourselves a pep talk as we looked at our picture, and headed straight back on line. We faired better this time, but still. The 12-year old girl next to me had 389K. I asked her the secret. She said, "Shoot the ones in the trees and hit the red button before anyone else." Hmpphh. I festered about that all night.
We wanted to buy our 4-year-old niece Sammie a Sponge Bob outfit (20% off with AP!), and had it sent back to our room. What's nice about package delivery at Universal is that they actually deliver it to your room (at Disney, you have to go pick it up in your hotel's gift shop). We now devised a plan: we had to get our picture with Sponge Bob. We planned on writing a letter to Sammie from Sponge Bob saying that he had a chance to meet Aunt Jodie and Uncle Mike and they said you were my biggest fan! (Sometimes we overreach trying to be THE cool aunt and uncle.)
We hadn't planned on going back to the PBH, but it was getting cool, and we needed to change for the parade. It was the last night of Mardi Gras, and we wanted to enjoy it without freezing. BTW, our room STILL wasn't made up.
Back at UO, we stopped and got ourselves a beer, and we scoped out the AP viewing area for the parade. It was pretty packed, so we found a spot across the street. We finished our beers, and Mike said he'd give me a dollar if I got up to get us another round, which was about 100 yards away. I did, but forgot that they will only sell one drink per ID. The girl had me pre-pay, make the drop off to Mike, and then come back for the second one. I did. As soon as I sat down with my own beer, Mike winked and said, "Honey, will you go get me another beer?" I said, "Nope!" The couple in front of us reminded me of Lucy and Desi Arnez. Lucy turned around, and said, "Good girl!" Desi said, "What is the matter with you? That is a reasonable request!" We had a good time with them. The parade started, and they must have saved all the beads for the last night. I was taking pictures, and the beads were just hitting my head. For every bead we got, we were giving 3 to the kids around us, and we still had a dozen and a half beads. It was insane. The floats were awesome, and everyone was having an upbeat time. Lucy and Desi wanted us to go to Donna Summer, but that wasn't on our agenda, and we bid them farewell as we were off to Pattie O's.
Pat O'Brien's had a maddening line to get into the piano bar section, and so we pulled up to the bar across the way. There we met our new friends, Natalie, Becky, and Matt. If you're out there, BIG HELLO! Barry, this was the only place I remembered to get you a menu. I'm not sure that I was welcomed to it, but I'll be glad to send it to you.
We got the boat back, and we were the only two on it. Louie was the captain and my new best friend. I told Louie my MIB problem. He started to give me tips, but I told him it would have to wait till Mike was out of earshot. I asked first! We sent Mike up the dock once we arrived back at the PBH, and Louie whispered the tips to me. Shoot the ones in the trees! Ask to sit in the back row and shoot your own exhaust pipe! Shoot everyone else's exhaust pipe. And something else I forget. Mike was now festering and wouldn't let me sleep until I filled him in. (We suspect our room was made up at turn-down service.) I was hoping for a leg up to finally best Mike's score. Hmmphh. We plotted our plan of attack for MIB, and fell asleep somewhere around, "keep the trigger held down." Training by osmosis?
thanks for sharing
I was there, but had neither the seat cushion nor the video camera...though I regretted it at that particular show because the pavement was HOT. 
Mike should be able to appreciate the show somewhat...many guys enjoy the show (not all, of course) including my dad...though he doesn't need to see every show. lol 
