Something Wicked this MAY Comes! 18 nights @ RPR & SFR. An April/May 2025 TR

[schumigirl]

We live in Florida now but we're originally from Indiana & the first time we came down here & I saw Florida squirrels I looked at my husband & said, "Look at all the baby squirrels!" He was like, "Honey, those are adults down here."

It's been over 10 years & they still look like a bunch of undergrown runts to me

You know it`s funny, it never occurred to me but there was always something odd about the squirrels and yes, it was indeed that they are a little on the scrawny side

Ones we have here can be quite chunky, so yes they probably are rather like runts

 

[schumigirl]

We had a quick wander into Diagon Alley, only to get some final pictures of the area and I fancied an ice cream from Florean Fortescues which is very nice, not an essential visit every trip, but once now and again is enough. I much prefer Haagen Dazs.

It was completely deserted today so we had time to choose what we wanted, although I knew what I was having.
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I opted for Huckleberry which is a weird flavour, not quite blueberry and no quite much of anything else, it`s a hard flavour to describe, but it is very nice, Tom went for the Clotted Cream which tastes nothing like real clotted cream as we know it, it`s more a key lime flavour, but he likes it.

I think Clotted Cream would be classed almost as a butter in the US due to the fat content, but it is the most decadent of products to be enjoyed with desserts, or just tuck in with a spoon if the mood takes you!!!







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We enjoyed the ice cream, had a final wander through Knockturn Alley and headed back out to the gorgeous sunshine and boy had that heat ramped up!!

This took us right back to 2007 when we first visited and had our first Nathan`s Hotdog, it was so nice and not something I ever ate, but it gave us the taste for them and good fries too!

They had added some other props since last night including the weirdly placed coca cola truck for some reason!!

I did notice they have now added Chief Brody`s truck in this area despite all the Amity props being taken down, looks good though, I wish they`d had that in May too it would have fitted in nicely.

We had missed out on trying the food options on offer while they were celebrating 50 Years of Jaws, but I think I said before, we had been told we really weren`t missing much as it wasn`t the best of options they had on the menu.

And we are fussy with seafood, it has to be very fresh and well prepared, so I`m not sorry we missed this.

And talking of messy hair

I really do look every bit a ragamuffin in this picture!!!! Hat and heat are never a good mix for hair, but it`s one of the pictures of us together with the temporary background, so I`ll live with it!!!

But, it was fun and we did pose a scary look but the picture is awful and Tom hates it too, so it will stay hidden away with the other pics that won`t see the light of day!! A TM we`ve known a long time took those pictures and he was encouraging us to be scared or at least look a little wary.....nope not working today!!!

The store had some lovely and quite apt merchandise and it was displayed nicely, many of the items were instantly recognisable if you had seen the movie and I was surprised how much merchandise they had managed to create for this anniversary and some of it looked very retro and will be popular as part of Christmas and Birthday gifts....we hope!!!

Spoiler to a couple of my friends and godchildren.....

You may get one of these or similar in your Christmas box....or maybe not......

We didn`t need to buy anything today as our lovely manager friend had arranged for all we had ordered to be sent to the hotel, so we had everything we needed from here including those much wanted sipper cups!!

The store is attached to Richter Burger which again, is not somewhere we ever eat, but the building is well decorated inside and has some very cool art work around including some real pics from that last big quake in SF.

We headed out of the park, but first we stopped to have a picture of our favourite stilt walker.

We have been pictured with this guy once a trip since 2007, he never changes and one of the ladies who walks with them as they come and go once told us they do remember folks that they see regularly and do what he did to us today, which was a gesture to come over for a picture!

It`s a tradition!

We managed to have a conversation of sorts, as much as you can with a man who doesn`t normally talk, but this is the coolest guy!! Several years ago we were lined up to get a picture with him when a man jumped in front of us with kids in tow and he very obviously gestured to the man we were next and to get back in the line with a slow finger waggle. The man did as he was told and looked rather sheepish in doing so. We made sure to thank him very clearly after that incident.

We were rather sad to leave the park today, we always enjoy our times here, but I do think we have maybe overdone our visits here.

Time for lunch and my lovely husband adores Margaritaville and for some reason we hadn`t visited it yet this trip, so it was today or miss it altogether, but we did stop first to get a picture of one of the prettiest views in UOR.

We sat at the bar and one of our favourite barmen was working, Michael, he has worked there forever along with Irish Jack, who is not Irish but used to be a wrestler and that was his fighting name, two of the best guys around and Irish Jack introduced me to Blackberry Margaritas, for that I`ll always be grateful!! He was also the first one to yell "Hey Scotland" when we came into the bar area many years ago


Today was a simple order, I went for an extra spicy mango margarita, Tom had a fruity concotion that I forget what it was but he enjoyed it and we stopped at one each today as we had a night at Bar Helios ahead of us.

The Beach Club sandwich is huge, so we decided to share it today with a salad instead of fries, the fries here aren`t anything special but the sandwiches more than make up for that, I knew this would easily keep us going till we ate dinner tonight.

Margaritaville is sometimes overlooked but it is steadily decent, nothing gastronomically wonderful, but you`ll get a really good meal and the atmosphere is always fun, especially sitting at the bar which we do prefer. And listening to Jimmy Buffet is always good.

More to follow

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[keishashadow]

Prices here are still more expensive than in Orlando, we are ripped off with massive taxes but generally speaking although prices have risen, Orlando is still massively cheaper.

i guess it is all relative

lol....thank goodness someone else doesn`t like it!!

epic's was also a tad under cooked for my taste

i'm the weirdo who doesn't like sipping even the frozen butter beer (i taste cream of soda, uck)

surprisingly, it was actually best part of that crepe for me

We managed to have a conversation of sorts, as much as you can with a man who doesn`t normally talk, but this is the coolest guy!!

that's a very good description

glad he laid down the law with the over-eager family

PS i think the Jaws boat picture was lovely

 

[schumigirl]

We got the boat after we had lunch and we were glad to get out of the heat being honest, once we got in the lobby we ran into the lovely Mr Beiderman who was amazed again our trip was coming to an end once more, we made arrangements to meet up in September, always nice to catch up with him.

We ordered a pot of tea from room service and did kind of organise our purchases which right now looked like it would be a struggle to get everything in the suitcases, even I began to wonder if we should have bought another suitcase, but we were being confident it would all go in

We passed some time then got showered and changed before wandering to the lobby to order our Uber that would take us to Helios where Fernando had made sure we had a reservation for our last night in Orlando. It was always a tradition for us to go to Strong Water for that last evening, but now it`s Bar Helios.

Our Uber took a few minutes and within 10 minutes we arrived at the hotel and had a little wander round before heading upstairs to Bar Helios, we had plenty of time as we were early and we do like to take our time and enjoy this beautiful hotel.

We went into Flora Taverna for a drink and I asked for a spicy margarita, he looked a little confused and maybe even a little annoyed and explained he didn`t have jalapeno`s handy and would have to go to the kitchen, I said it was ok, a regular margarita would be fine, Tom ordered the Antonio Collins which had Weber Ranch Vodka, lemon juice, cane syrup, raspberries and a zingy ginger beer.

Neither of us were very impressed with these cocktails. Tom is not as fussy as I am with these things, but even he said it was distinctly lacking in alcohol and probably flavour too. We wouldn`t rush back for this bar.

At that point Casey saw us from the other side of the restaurant and came down to say hi, he said Demi was working upstairs, we said yes, she`s looking after us tonight as always, they are such a lovely couple and so hard working. I was glad we saw him to say goodbye for this trip.

We headed up in the elevator and arrived at Bar Helios in nice time, our table was just being cleaned and a few moments later we were seated, but we did wander outside first to have a look at the beautiful view you have from up here.

Our favourite area is definitely monsters, and you can see a little of the spare land they have over that side for future development, once they fill that and the land on the other side this park will feel massive in comparison to what it is now.

I do admit, this is the ugliest of coasters universal have produced!! But, looks aside, it is a tremendous ride, I can`t wait to get back on it at some point in the future.

Fernando came out to say hello and we came back in with him, he is the most welcoming of hosts and we absolutely adore him!!! He tells us Jason hadn`t forgotten to come up with a cocktail using the second rum we brought over from the UK and he really hoped we liked it!!!!

For now we sat down and ordered a couple of drinks, and these are gorgeous!!!!

I went for the Trojan Horse which is a lovely mix of Patrón Silver, Domaine De Canton, Reàl Red Pepper, Cantaloupe with a dash of lime. Demi guessed correctly I liked it extra spicy, of course and Tom opted to try the Atlas which Fernando suggested might not be to his taste and if he didn`t like it, he`d get him something else. It was Mount Gay Rum, Grand Marnier, lemon juice, fig syrup, but he said it had a strong fig taste that`s not for everyone.

For me, I was sure now this was my favourite drink from Bar Helios and it was beautifully spicy!!!

Hmmm.

It was rather brown due to the fig syrup, but he said it was ok, just said he wouldn`t order it again.

We never seem to get around to ordering food very quickly here, we spend so much time chatting and tonight was no different, Jason and Fernando appeared and had indeed created a rather lovely cocktail with one of the rum`s we had gifted Fernando.

It had dry ice swirling as he lifted the lid to reveal our drinks, and it looked very impressive and I was struck he had incorporated rosemary, he had remembered I said I loved it and it was my favourite herb ever, well Rosemary is for Remembrance, so very appropriate.

Ironically, neither of us can remember what most of the ingredients were, but there was a small amount of ale, which normally I don`t like but it was a fruity one and mixed together the way he had crafted it, well, what can I say....we loved it!!

When you turned the Rosemary around and mixed it in the drink you could really taste it and it completely enhanced the drink!

We thanked him profusely for creating such a lovely cocktail just for us tonight, he was glad we had enjoyed it and said it was a little thank you for the chocolate which his wife had enjoyed enormously, glad to hear it. He is also such a lovely guy and he is a great addition to the Bar Helios family.

We chatted some more with Fernando about anything and everything and eventually Demi managed to get an order out of us!!

We went for the Charcuterie Board which included Prosciutto di Parma, bresaola, tartufo salami, mostarda, pickled vegetables, grilled focaccia with a light olio verde......being a little greedy we also ordered the Beef Skewer, both of which were stunning!!!

When the Charcuterie arrived, Fernando also sent out the Farmer`s Cheese dish as it went so well with the Charcuterie, I wasn`t sure about this but it was gorgeous. It had Whipped farmer's cheese, fresh honeycomb which was the nicest I had ever tasted, a little citrus, local seasonal fruit, crumbled pistachio and grilled focaccia and we seemed to recieve some extra bread too, I was glad we were hungry!!!

These dishes were beautiful, you don`t think whipped cheese could taste so good, but it was a revelation, we thoroughly enjoyed it and I swear we cleared our plates...almost, there may have been a little bread left and one pickled veg, but what a meal!!

And the beef skewers were the most tender pieces of filet, they completely melted as you ate them, one of the best dishes they do, but they are all amazing!!

We had another couple of cocktails, I stuck to my spicy Trojan Horse, Tom went for This is Sparta for a change which was quite a drink as it included Cruzan Single Barrel Rum, Bulliet Rye, Aperol, Ancho Reyes Verde and a sharp Lime Sour.

Oh yes!!!!

Without a doubt this is our favourite place for food and drinks in Orlando now!

Just when you think you can`t eat another thing, this gorgeous dessert appears on your table, well it is impossible to resist, this has to be one of the nicest desserts around! Decadent but light and refreshing at the same time, we shared but I think I had the lion`s share!!!

Tropical Summer which involves Vanilla bean crème, mango sorbet, passion fruit with a light oat crumble is the perfect way to finish a meal, we loved it.

I stepped outside to take some pictures and I did but I got chatting to two men who were such a lovely couple about the food here. They had been to Strong Water but weren`t sure what to order tonight, I don`t think I was much help as I told them everything is amazing, but we had such a lovely chat that eventually Fernando came out to look for me. He went back and told Tom I was deep in conversation with two guests....he wasn`t surprised lol.....

I did manage to get some pictures too.

It is lovely at night all lit up, the glass makes it hard to get the perfect picture but you get the idea of the type of view you get from here.

The evening had been lovely, the bar hadn`t been too busy so we were fortunate to be able to spend a good part chatting to Fernando and also Jason and the lovely Demi, so it had been an amazing evening.

We are so fortunate to know and be able to spend time with such lovely folks, they are all so special to us and we value them so much. We miss them a lot, but we do keep in touch which is lovely and makes us feel closer to everything that we do miss when we`re not there.

I do love the pictures we have at the end of the evening but most of them are a little grainy due to the light situation in the bar, but here we are with two of the nicest people on the planet

Saying goodbye is never fun, but we did say goodnight and thanked them once again for the lovely hospitality, spending time with them is one of the nicest things we do on our trips.

Our Uber was going to be around 10 minutes so we did wander back outside and get a few pictures, but holy heatwave, it was so incredibly hot for this time of night, but beautiful.

We got home around 12.30 and we were so tired now, I don`t think we even put the tv on tonight, but after Tom was in bed, I looked out the window for a few moments and just took in that view, well not really a view in the pitch black, but seeing everything lit up just looks lovely. Back home at night in the winter when we look out of our bedroom windows we see nothing but darkness around us beyond the driveway lighting and the occasional sway of all the trees that surround us, so this is nice for a change.

But, time to go home tomorrow.









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[schumigirl]

i guess it is all relative

epic's was also a tad under cooked for my taste

i'm the weirdo who doesn't like sipping even the frozen butter beer (i taste cream of soda, uck)

surprisingly, it was actually best part of that crepe for me

that's a very good description

glad he laid down the law with the over-eager family

PS i think the Jaws boat picture was lovely

True, there`s no real way to compare prices with all the differences we have between our countries. It`s always so much fun buying over there!!!

Yes, we`re not butterbeer fans, except for the ice cream and fudge of course, but we didn`t mind the topping on the crepe, definitely better than the crepe!

Oh yeah, he is a cool dude!

Thank you, I do too apart from the hair lol.....​

 

[schumigirl]

FRIDAY MAY 16TH













Today is always a bittersweet day, leaving Orlando is quite sad as we do love our time here but we get to go home and we have a lot to look forward to this year.

I was awake at 5.30 and spent the first few hours of the day catching up with emails and watched the sun come up over RP for the last time this trip, then eventually went through to wake sleeping beauty and go get showered and dressed. Tom was fairly smart up this morning too as we planned to go do the breakfast buffet in Amatista something that had become a routine too but first we planned to start packing a little. But, he came out the shower announcing he had been bitten by something the other day and he did indeed have two huge bites, one on the back of his calf and the other just above his elbow!!! They were whoppers!

However we soon gave up packing right now!!! Yep, we were hungry.

I do love Sapphire Falls, everything is so bright and spacious and the elevator area is one of the nicer ones around the hotels, and yes, very bright and airy, it shows up the RP elevators as very dated and ready for a refurb.

We think the walkway to and from the lobby is so pretty and you see how lovely the pool area is and the lagoon on the other side too is simply beautiful.

The lobby isn`t usually as quiet at this but no denying it is one of the nicest lobbies in all the hotels, it can get incredibly busy though at certain times, and I don`t think I ever got used to seeing so many dogs around a hotel!!! It`s not as common in the UK and we tend to choose hotels that don`t allow pets anyway, we do like dogs/cats we just don`t need to be around them all the time.

And Sapphire is home to one of the nicest staircases around! The other beautiful staircase is in Portofino Bay that leads down to their conference centre, it`s gorgeous with a beautiful piano gracing the lower floor, but I do prefer this look.

Amatista is on the lower level and you will pass it on the way out to the boats or to get the resort shuttle, you can`t miss it as it is a bright and airy restaurant that is huge, but still feels quite intimate in some areas.

I do think breakfast is their best service, we`ve had decent lunches, but dinner has been a bit of a disappointment at times.

Our lovely friend P had booked it for us again and this time the lady from the desk who can be a little off at times wasn`t working and the one who was knew we had a reservation, they don`t normally take reservations for breakfast, so it was nice to know we had a guaranteed table as it can get very busy.

We had Jimmy looking after us today which made us very happy, he is the best person they have down here and is completely guest focussed and a joy to be around. It was the buffet for us this morning and Jimmy went off to get us tea with extra teabags, he has a good memory for sure!!!

The buffet is lovely.....

I started with smoked salmon with some more smoked salmon to follow with some fruit, Tom went straight for the bacon, sausages and potatoes which are lovely and I admit, I followed soon after but Jimmy asked if I wanted some French Toast, I thought about it and said oh yes please!!! You do have to order it from the waiter instead of ordering from the counter and I haven`t had it before, it was beautiful.

And those little sausages!!!!

I think Tom ate his body weight in them today!

They have so many lovely options to choose from including an omelette station where chef will do eggs any way you choose and they do have some gorgeous biscuits and gravy too. But they do have something for everyone.

We finished and thanked Jimmy for looking after us so well, if you do ever go to Amatista, ask for Jimmy, I don`t think he does dinner, only breakfast and lunch, but he is so lovely.

We called to see if the lovely Raphael was free, we had told him roughly when we`d be finished brunch and he said he`d make sure he was free to say goodbye to us. We also had his birthday card so we had to make sure we saw him, and we did!

Raphael is one of the wonderful TM`s we first met when he was in the Club Lounge in 2022 with Lindsey, they really were the best team we had ever seen in the lounge as in how well they worked together and they all had a genuine friendship. Like Lindsey, Raphael stood out as someone who would go on to do amazing things in life and he really is doing amazingly well both professionally and personally, we are so proud of him and care a lot of him and his lovely partner Andru, they are just an amazing couple.

We chatted for a time and then headed back to our suite to at long last get packed up, the dreaded moment had come. To be fair, we did a really good job of getting everything bubble wrapped and safely packaged so we shouldn`t have to suffer any breakages, we`d be mortified if a whole load of Tequila or rum damaged anyone else`s luggage!!!

We also did online checkin for our flight which was showing on time and seems the plane had changed, so we hoped we`d get the same seats as a change can sometimes happen with different planes, but we would still have decent seats as there really isn`t a bad Premium seat.

We were finally happy we had everything sorted and although we had a late check out option, we thought it would be more considerate to check out at 11 and that gives them the chance to get the suite ready for the next guest, we didn`t really need the room till 2pm, so we dropped our well packed luggage off with Handsome Jeff from Bell Services here, he is the guy who wears a very distinctive hat if you`ve never met him before. Very nice man.

We walked over to RP, we planned to pass some time in the Club Lounge before we left for the airport, it is quiet at this time of day as most folks are in the park. Occasionally someone will arrive after checking in, but usually it`s almost deserted, like today.

The snacks they put out during that midday service are very similar in all three hotels with a club lounge, they`re ok, but not worth leaving the park to come back for, it is really light snack items and fruit.

We were leaving around 2.30 as we had to get the car back due to our flight coming in early when we arrived, so we didn`t want to give them cause to charge us for being late. So, we reluctantly said our goodbye`s and headed back over to Sapphire to pick up our luggage.

A & C were there to see us off, P sent his apologies, poor guy was on a day off so we let him off there.....bless him, he has been amazing in his new position here, we do miss the lovely Marian who has relocated to Texas of course, but again we do keep in touch which is priceless.

We thanked them again for taking such good care of us and making us feel very special as they do every single trip, as a team they are amazing and we are so incredibly grateful to them for everything they do for us to make our stay extra special.




Tom goes for the car and brings it to the front, one of the guys helps him load it up and we set off for the most miserable journey of the trip!!!! Usually we love driving on Universal Blvd, but today it it not so nice!

We get to the airport in no time at all, blowing my usual raspberry at it as we get close, silly and childish for sure but it makes me feel a bit better, well not really but it`s better than cursing!!

The return area for cars is fairly quiet and for the first time we drive through the luminous white double screen that checks for the tiniest and usually undetectable marks that may have appeared since we took the car at the beginning of the trip. Call me cynical, but this is an amazing money making scam and is fairly lucritive when you read reviews.

We got to Sixt and they did indeed claim there was an extra mark on the car and we would be charged goodness knows what for the "repair cost"

We very nicely explained to this chancer that there was no way in heck we had caused any damage to the car and he should check again....he said he could show us the spot, and it was a spot and thought he had won this battle!!!!

I smiled and brought out my phone, scrolled to gallery and brought up the pictures we took of the car when we picked it up and lo and behold, my some miracle, there was the same spot he was now claiming to be a new spot!!!

We told him, very politely with no rudeness whatsoever there would be no extra charges added to our card and just to make sure we would contact Amex to make sure Sixt were blocked from making any further charges to our card. The man did admit yes, the mark "looked" the same, I assured him it was and we left the car and headed over to the terminal.

I admit we will never use Sixt again, this is the second time we have rented from them and the second time they have tried to claim we would be owing them over $700 in repair costs for a tiny little mark. I do thank keishashadow for reminding us to thoroughly check the car before hand, I admit to us being a little lax in doing that previously.

But, we`ll be sticking to our usual rental firm in the future, they may be more expensive but they have never tried to give us the shaft when it comes to returning the cars to them.

We dropped the VTP in the little box before taking our last gulps of Floridian air as we headed into the terminal and headed to the elevator to get up to departures.

We were fairly early, there are several Virgin flights to the UK and I think ours was the last one to take off, but we can pass our time easily here. We looked and found Premium check in desks, there were only two people in front of us, so within a few seconds we had our luggage checked in and we congratulated ourselves on all four of them being spot on 23KG!!! (50lbs)

Well, maybe one was a little over, but not enough to incur any charges.

There was a family who seemed to be taking issue with VA, never a good move....they had quite large hand luggage including huge backpacks they claimed would fit in both the overhead lockers and under the seat in front. All well and good but what if everyone did that, I`m always amazed at how selfish some folks are and give no thoughts to others with the size of their hand luggage, no wonder VA are cracking down on it. The CC member we spoke to said she almosts laughs when she sees the size of some so called "hand luggage"

We were fine as we had the allowed one each and both were well within the allowed size. We are rule followers!!

We did check as she was checking our passports that TSA Pre check had been added, although we have Global Entry it sometimes doesn`t automatically register it when we leave, so we always check. It hadn`t added it so the ground crew staff member took our number and added it to our boarding cards, it does save a lot of hassle going through later. Not having to remove electrical items and shoes is so much easier.

We turned and headed up to the Hyatt where we would pass our time enjoying a drink and some food before heading through airside nearer our flight time.

You used to be able to sit here without buying a drink, although we always did anyway, but some folks were taking up space by not ordering but taking a table for a couple of hours, so although they may not announce it, they do prefer you order something, so of course we do so very happily!!!

We were sitting at a table but a group of four older folks, although now I think on it, they may not have been much older than us lol.....but they were playing a game where they threw hundreds of tiles on the table and played some kind of game and it was noisy (now I sound like an old grouch) but it did pervade the whole area, so we moved to the bar to sit, my goodness we seemed to annoy them for some reason by moving!!!!

We did have a chat with Kyle on Facetime for a time first and he was looking forward to us coming home, I think it would be Sunday before we would see him as he was out Saturday night so he said he`d come over for dinner on Sunday, we`d look forward to that.

As we sat at the bar I felt a huge almost nip on the back of my leg where the edge of the seat was.....ouchy!!!! Yes, I had a massive bite on my leg from Winter Park the other day, it was huge and very, very red with a white circle around the exterior of the bite. Tom joked I couldn`t see anything go past me lol.....this was going to be very irritating as it was so incredibly itchy!!!!

We did have a cocktail but goodness knows where the pictures are, I think Tom thought I took them and vice versa, they were very nice and they do give a good pour here.

Food was an easy choice tonight, Tom opted for their burger and fries, he had never tried it before but one of the guys from Sapphire had said they had it recently and it was good, so he does love a good burger and gave it a go. He said it was lovely.

Can`t go wrong with a glass of Pinot Noir and a pizza ......it was a meat feast but I added jalapenos and I have to say it was lovely!! I thought it might be too heavy and loads would be wasted, but it was fairly light, even so I think I left two slices, Tom taking a slice didn`t make it look so bad leaving a fair bit.

We passed a fair amount of time here, it is a lovely place to sit and chill out minus the rowdy tile playing pensioners of course

The airport wasn`t too busy today and we had plenty of time to get through security and maybe have a wander through Duty Free before finding a seat to wait on boarding.

And around 7.30pm, we reluctantly headed down to go through security, but to be fair, once we are at the airport, we just want to be home. Coming over we love the flight, but I wish we could time travel ahead and get home sooner, I think the waiting seems interminable when it was time to go the other way, but good news, our flight was showing on time.



Flight home coming right up ​

 

[disneyseniors]

We got the boat after we had lunch and we were glad to get out of the heat being honest, once we got in the lobby we ran into the lovely Mr Beiderman who was amazed again our trip was coming to an end once more, we made arrangements to meet up in September, always nice to catch up with him.

We ordered a pot of tea from room service and did kind of organise our purchases which right now looked like it would be a struggle to get everything in the suitcases, even I began to wonder if we should have bought another suitcase, but we were being confident it would all go in

We passed some time then got showered and changed before wandering to the lobby to order our Uber that would take us to Helios where Fernando had made sure we had a reservation for our last night in Orlando. It was always a tradition for us to go to Strong Water for that last evening, but now it`s Bar Helios.

Our Uber took a few minutes and within 10 minutes we arrived at the hotel and had a little wander round before heading upstairs to Bar Helios, we had plenty of time as we were early and we do like to take our time and enjoy this beautiful hotel.

We went into Flora Taverna for a drink and I asked for a spicy margarita, he looked a little confused and maybe even a little annoyed and explained he didn`t have jalapeno`s handy and would have to go to the kitchen, I said it was ok, a regular margarita would be fine, Tom ordered the Antonio Collins which had Weber Ranch Vodka, lemon juice, cane syrup, raspberries and a zingy ginger beer.

Neither of us were very impressed with these cocktails. Tom is not as fussy as I am with these things, but even he said it was distinctly lacking in alcohol and probably flavour too. We wouldn`t rush back for this bar.

At that point Casey saw us from the other side of the restaurant and came down to say hi, he said Demi was working upstairs, we said yes, she`s looking after us tonight as always, they are such a lovely couple and so hard working. I was glad we saw him to say goodbye for this trip.

We headed up in the elevator and arrived at Bar Helios in nice time, our table was just being cleaned and a few moments later we were seated, but we did wander outside first to have a look at the beautiful view you have from up here.

Our favourite area is definitely monsters, and you can see a little of the spare land they have over that side for future development, once they fill that and the land on the other side this park will feel massive in comparison to what it is now.

I do admit, this is the ugliest of coasters universal have produced!! But, looks aside, it is a tremendous ride, I can`t wait to get back on it at some point in the future.

Fernando came out to say hello and we came back in with him, he is the most welcoming of hosts and we absolutely adore him!!! He tells us Jason hadn`t forgotten to come up with a cocktail using the second rum we brought over from the UK and he really hoped we liked it!!!!

For now we sat down and ordered a couple of drinks, and these are gorgeous!!!!

I went for the Trojan Horse which is a lovely mix of Patrón Silver, Domaine De Canton, Reàl Red Pepper, Cantaloupe with a dash of lime. Demi guessed correctly I liked it extra spicy, of course and Tom opted to try the Atlas which Fernando suggested might not be to his taste and if he didn`t like it, he`d get him something else. It was Mount Gay Rum, Grand Marnier, lemon juice, fig syrup, but he said it had a strong fig taste that`s not for everyone.

For me, I was sure now this was my favourite drink from Bar Helios and it was beautifully spicy!!!

Hmmm.

It was rather brown due to the fig syrup, but he said it was ok, just said he wouldn`t order it again.

We never seem to get around to ordering food very quickly here, we spend so much time chatting and tonight was no different, Jason and Fernando appeared and had indeed created a rather lovely cocktail with one of the rum`s we had gifted Fernando.

It had dry ice swirling as he lifted the lid to reveal our drinks, and it looked very impressive and I was struck he had incorporated rosemary, he had remembered I said I loved it and it was my favourite herb ever, well Rosemary is for Remembrance, so very appropriate.

Ironically, neither of us can remember what most of the ingredients were, but there was a small amount of ale, which normally I don`t like but it was a fruity one and mixed together the way he had crafted it, well, what can I say....we loved it!!

When you turned the Rosemary around and mixed it in the drink you could really taste it and it completely enhanced the drink!

We thanked him profusely for creating such a lovely cocktail just for us tonight, he was glad we had enjoyed it and said it was a little thank you for the chocolate which his wife had enjoyed enormously, glad to hear it. He is also such a lovely guy and he is a great addition to the Bar Helios family.

We chatted some more with Fernando about anything and everything and eventually Demi managed to get an order out of us!!

We went for the Charcuterie Board which included Prosciutto di Parma, bresaola, tartufo salami, mostarda, pickled vegetables, grilled focaccia with a light olio verde......being a little greedy we also ordered the Beef Skewer, both of which were stunning!!!

When the Charcuterie arrived, Fernando also sent out the Farmer`s Cheese dish as it went so well with the Charcuterie, I wasn`t sure about this but it was gorgeous. It had Whipped farmer's cheese, fresh honeycomb which was the nicest I had ever tasted, a little citrus, local seasonal fruit, crumbled pistachio and grilled focaccia and we seemed to recieve some extra bread too, I was glad we were hungry!!!

These dishes were beautiful, you don`t think whipped cheese could taste so good, but it was a revelation, we thoroughly enjoyed it and I swear we cleared our plates...almost, there may have been a little bread left and one pickled veg, but what a meal!!

And the beef skewers were the most tender pieces of filet, they completely melted as you ate them, one of the best dishes they do, but they are all amazing!!

We had another couple of cocktails, I stuck to my spicy Trojan Horse, Tom went for This is Sparta for a change which was quite a drink as it included Cruzan Single Barrel Rum, Bulliet Rye, Aperol, Ancho Reyes Verde and a sharp Lime Sour.

Oh yes!!!!

Without a doubt this is our favourite place for food and drinks in Orlando now!

Just when you think you can`t eat another thing, this gorgeous dessert appears on your table, well it is impossible to resist, this has to be one of the nicest desserts around! Decadent but light and refreshing at the same time, we shared but I think I had the lion`s share!!!

Tropical Summer which involves Vanilla bean crème, mango sorbet, passion fruit with a light oat crumble is the perfect way to finish a meal, we loved it.

I stepped outside to take some pictures and I did but I got chatting to two men who were such a lovely couple about the food here. They had been to Strong Water but weren`t sure what to order tonight, I don`t think I was much help as I told them everything is amazing, but we had such a lovely chat that eventually Fernando came out to look for me. He went back and told Tom I was deep in conversation with two guests....he wasn`t surprised lol.....

I did manage to get some pictures too.

It is lovely at night all lit up, the glass makes it hard to get the perfect picture but you get the idea of the type of view you get from here.

The evening had been lovely, the bar hadn`t been too busy so we were fortunate to be able to spend a good part chatting to Fernando and also Jason and the lovely Demi, so it had been an amazing evening.

We are so fortunate to know and be able to spend time with such lovely folks, they are all so special to us and we value them so much. We miss them a lot, but we do keep in touch which is lovely and makes us feel closer to everything that we do miss when we`re not there.

I do love the pictures we have at the end of the evening but most of them are a little grainy due to the light situation in the bar, but here we are with two of the nicest people on the planet

Saying goodbye is never fun, but we did say goodnight and thanked them once again for the lovely hospitality, spending time with them is one of the nicest things we do on our trips.

Our Uber was going to be around 10 minutes so we did wander back outside and get a few pictures, but holy heatwave, it was so incredibly hot for this time of night, but beautiful.

We got home around 12.30 and we were so tired now, I don`t think we even put the tv on tonight, but after Tom was in bed, I looked out the window for a few moments and just took in that view, well not really a view in the pitch black, but seeing everything lit up just looks lovely. Back home at night in the winter when we look out of our bedroom windows we see nothing but darkness around us beyond the driveway lighting and the occasional sway of all the trees that surround us, so this is nice for a change.

But, time to go home tomorrow.





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Tropical Summer which involves Vanilla bean crème, mango sorbet, passion fruit with a light oat crumble is the perfect way to finish a meal, we loved it.

You had me at "vanilla bean", lol. That dessert is right down my alley. I will be sure to order one when we go to Epic Universe in May. The rest of the food looks beautiful too, but I'm a dessert kind of girl, lol.

Saying goodbye is never fun, but we did say goodnight and thanked them once again for the lovely hospitality, spending time with them is one of the nicest things we do on our

What a wonderful time you had on your last night with such good friends, and great food.

The night time view from the bar Helios is absolutely beautiful. I can't wait to see it all next May


Now for the trip home which is bittersweet