Wednesday 20th September (Day 8)
Woke at 7.30am. This was the first cloudy morning we have had since our arrival. Time to skip the pool for one day. Instead we decided to go to the World of Disney store at Downtown Disney to sort out Hannah's MNSSHP dress. Left the room at around 10am. Got to DTD for 10.15am. Exchanged the dress. Andrea did some gift shopping then we went over to 'Earl of Sandwich' for lunch. This was a great place for a quick bite to eat. The meal cost around $20.00. We then went over to the premium outlet malls just off the I4 to do some clothes shopping and then back to home, sorry, the HRH for 1.45pm. Hannah had an hour of sleep then we headed off to MGM studios for our Fantasmic Dinner Package.
View from MGM studios
We arrived at MGM for 3.30pm. On entering the park the first thing we noticed was the swarms of lovebugs. We rented a stroller and the first thing the CM did was get a broom and sweep the bugs from the inside of it. We went over to 'The Voyage of the Little Mermaid' and lined up for around 15 minutes. Hannah loved the show, but wasn't to sure about the ice cold water that dropped from the ceiling. We then went over to the 'Hollywood and Vine' restaurant for our 4.30pm reservation. We were handed a pager and waited around ten minutes to be seated. The buffet was great. There was caeser salad, bread, garlic mash, pot roast beef, an assortment of vegetables, chicken satay in peanut sauce, Roast rib of beef, with gravy. Choices for the kids included BBQ meatballs, mac and cheese, chicken strips and sweetcorn. Deserts included a variety of cakes including cheesecake and carrot cake, then ice cream. Overall we thought this buffet was very good. The service was about average. Total cost $80.00 inc tip
We then went to watch Beauty and the Beast. There was a good pre-show that started around 20 minutes before the main show. Being a big fan of Belle, Hannah absolutely loved it all.
After leaving Beauty and the Beast, we decided to take a walk around the park, but unfortunately they had roped half of it off. Not to worry, it was 7.25pm so we headed over to the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater for Fantasmic.
The Ampitheater was packed. Fortunately we had our Fantasmic dinner package ticket that guaranteed us a seat over in the right section of the theater. Before the show the crowd was doing the Mexican Wave.
Fantasmic was a great. For some reason they didn't include the steamboat with the characters at the end this time. If you want to see this show I would seriously recommend doing the dinner package. The regular line started before we even went in to watch Beauty and the Beast.
After Fantasmic we joined the mass exodus (8000 people@ Fantasmic) that was heading for the parking lot. We took a short cut across the parking lot and were at our car with in five minutes and back to the HRH for 9.00pm.
Thursday 21st September (day 9) Sunny
Woke at 7.30am and down to the pool for 9.00
We were the only people at the pool until around 10.30am. Noticed they were getting set up for the 'Let's Cook' show by the volleyball area with the pool as a backdrop to the set. During filming Hannah had her first go on the waterslide and went down the whole thing screaming, so you can bet that didn't go down to well with the production crew! She then played on one of the airbeds that the staff threw in the pool. We had a Beach club lunch. It was perfect weather all day-not a cloud in the sky. High of 91. Around the pool we spoke to a family from NJ who came back to the HRH because of the love bug problem at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We also spoke to this family a few days later. They extended their stay at the HRH three times because they loved it that much.
Themed Cabana
We got back to the room at around 4.00pm. Hannah had a sleep for a couple of hours then we walked over to Margaritaville.
At Margaritaville we had a ten minute wait for a table, so we had a look around the shop. We were seated inside, so we could see the stage and the Volcano. It was dark and noisy, but the atmosphere was great. Hannah thought the Volcano and the balloon modellers on stilts were great.
Nachos
We ordered nachos and wings to start and held back on ordering the main course. The Plate of nachos were huge. For our main course we both had the Sirloin with mash and vegetables. Hannah had a kids parakeet punch and the chicken tenders with fries. With the drinks the check total was $90+tip. Overall we thought Margaritaville was excellent. The food, the atmosphere and the service were all top notch. At no point did the server try to rush us and they were great with the kids. Later on they had a live band and cleared the dance floor, Hannah wanted to have a dance, but it was way past her bed time
Next up: MNSSHP, More HRH stuff and reviews of the hard rock cafe.
Woke at 7.30am. This was the first cloudy morning we have had since our arrival. Time to skip the pool for one day. Instead we decided to go to the World of Disney store at Downtown Disney to sort out Hannah's MNSSHP dress. Left the room at around 10am. Got to DTD for 10.15am. Exchanged the dress. Andrea did some gift shopping then we went over to 'Earl of Sandwich' for lunch. This was a great place for a quick bite to eat. The meal cost around $20.00. We then went over to the premium outlet malls just off the I4 to do some clothes shopping and then back to home, sorry, the HRH for 1.45pm. Hannah had an hour of sleep then we headed off to MGM studios for our Fantasmic Dinner Package.
View from MGM studios
We arrived at MGM for 3.30pm. On entering the park the first thing we noticed was the swarms of lovebugs. We rented a stroller and the first thing the CM did was get a broom and sweep the bugs from the inside of it. We went over to 'The Voyage of the Little Mermaid' and lined up for around 15 minutes. Hannah loved the show, but wasn't to sure about the ice cold water that dropped from the ceiling. We then went over to the 'Hollywood and Vine' restaurant for our 4.30pm reservation. We were handed a pager and waited around ten minutes to be seated. The buffet was great. There was caeser salad, bread, garlic mash, pot roast beef, an assortment of vegetables, chicken satay in peanut sauce, Roast rib of beef, with gravy. Choices for the kids included BBQ meatballs, mac and cheese, chicken strips and sweetcorn. Deserts included a variety of cakes including cheesecake and carrot cake, then ice cream. Overall we thought this buffet was very good. The service was about average. Total cost $80.00 inc tip
We then went to watch Beauty and the Beast. There was a good pre-show that started around 20 minutes before the main show. Being a big fan of Belle, Hannah absolutely loved it all.
After leaving Beauty and the Beast, we decided to take a walk around the park, but unfortunately they had roped half of it off. Not to worry, it was 7.25pm so we headed over to the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater for Fantasmic.
The Ampitheater was packed. Fortunately we had our Fantasmic dinner package ticket that guaranteed us a seat over in the right section of the theater. Before the show the crowd was doing the Mexican Wave.
Fantasmic was a great. For some reason they didn't include the steamboat with the characters at the end this time. If you want to see this show I would seriously recommend doing the dinner package. The regular line started before we even went in to watch Beauty and the Beast.
After Fantasmic we joined the mass exodus (8000 people@ Fantasmic) that was heading for the parking lot. We took a short cut across the parking lot and were at our car with in five minutes and back to the HRH for 9.00pm.
Thursday 21st September (day 9) Sunny
Woke at 7.30am and down to the pool for 9.00
We were the only people at the pool until around 10.30am. Noticed they were getting set up for the 'Let's Cook' show by the volleyball area with the pool as a backdrop to the set. During filming Hannah had her first go on the waterslide and went down the whole thing screaming, so you can bet that didn't go down to well with the production crew! She then played on one of the airbeds that the staff threw in the pool. We had a Beach club lunch. It was perfect weather all day-not a cloud in the sky. High of 91. Around the pool we spoke to a family from NJ who came back to the HRH because of the love bug problem at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We also spoke to this family a few days later. They extended their stay at the HRH three times because they loved it that much.
Themed Cabana
We got back to the room at around 4.00pm. Hannah had a sleep for a couple of hours then we walked over to Margaritaville.
At Margaritaville we had a ten minute wait for a table, so we had a look around the shop. We were seated inside, so we could see the stage and the Volcano. It was dark and noisy, but the atmosphere was great. Hannah thought the Volcano and the balloon modellers on stilts were great.
Nachos
We ordered nachos and wings to start and held back on ordering the main course. The Plate of nachos were huge. For our main course we both had the Sirloin with mash and vegetables. Hannah had a kids parakeet punch and the chicken tenders with fries. With the drinks the check total was $90+tip. Overall we thought Margaritaville was excellent. The food, the atmosphere and the service were all top notch. At no point did the server try to rush us and they were great with the kids. Later on they had a live band and cleared the dance floor, Hannah wanted to have a dance, but it was way past her bed time
Next up: MNSSHP, More HRH stuff and reviews of the hard rock cafe.
