Cass, Rob & Kira - 10 nights at Universal Orlando August 2019 - "It's a sniffler!!"

August 25th, Part 3

Since we were already in our wet bathing suits, we decided to hit up the pool, all three of us this time. This would be the only time Rob swam with us, other than VB.

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I told them to take the floaty chairs and do a lap in the lazy river so I could take some pics of them.

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There they goooo. 🥰

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The pool was somewhat quiet the last hour of the day, another reason I love pool time there. :lovestruc

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Here comes my kid...

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And a few minutes later...looks like he got caught up in a crowd. I will purposely stop myself and hang on to the edge and let people pass when this happens to me. :rolleyes1

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I joined them for a few more laps in the river and then Kira and I hit up the pool and hot tub. We finally remember to bring the ball that they bought at Target.

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It was a great end to a great day. :cloud9:
 
Volcano bay is my favorite park on Universal property. I could hang out for our entire vacation on a beach chair there and be totally happy. Looks like you all had fun.
 
Having never been to VB (yet) I didn't realize they were actual rides as well as just 'regular' slides you go down (if that makes sense). Very cool!! You managed a LOT of rides in 3 hours :thumbsup2
 
Volcano Bay looks incredible. You guys picked a good time to go. I'll have to keep that in mind when I go, maybe next summer.
 


August 26th, Part 1

I hate to sound like a broken record but today began like every other day, obnoxiously rude music blaring at 8:15am...blah blah blah blah blah. :crazy2:

This was the day where I finally went to speak to a manager about the whole thing. He seemed concerned and he said he would check with the pool department to see if the volume levels are where they should be. He said he would walk the perimeter tomorrow, email someone about it all and get back to me about his findings. He said to make sure that I let him know if it improves. He seemed genuine about the whole matter and said that if it didn't improve then maybe he could find us another room. He couldn't guarantee that it would be as close to the main building and I explained to him the huge effort it would take on our part, with my need for cleanliness but we could make that decision together once he delves into the matter. I also mentioned to him that our room was in need of some extra cleaning and that we kept getting missed by housekeeping. I left feeling hopeful.

Showered and ready, we headed off to Hunter's Creek this morning as I had some shopping to do. We stopped at Cracker Barrel, the same one we stopped at last summer. This massive diagonal street light post definitely caught our eye 😮

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I love Hunter's Creek! If I couldn't live in Dr. Phillip's, I would probably want to live here. 😍 The trees...again...oh my!! 🥰🥰🥰

This picture does not do these trees justice either! They were gorgeous!! :love:

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I told Kira she should try the peg game and that piqued her interest :lmao:

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Service was good, food was okay. Definitely not as good as any of our other breakfast stops although I do love that potato casserole! :thumbsup2

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And Rob loves the warm apples! We don't eat grits :crazy2:

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Kira was enthralled with the peg game, she actually used her own money to get the fancy anniversary edition. :p This was her first purchase of the trip.

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We stopped at the Target right there in the parking lot to get Rob another thing of socks. He had bought some during our first trip to the Millenia Mall Target and ended loving them so we got him some more. Then we headed over to Kohl's, another must-do for me but I didn't find anything. 😥

I was hoping to get another bathing suit for me, similar to the one I got myself at the Kohl's in Webster, Texas last year and I wanted to see if I could find a bathing suit for Kira but they had almost NO bathing suits at all! Summer in Orlando and no bathing suits? WHAT?? :sad2:

Target and Walmart had TONS but I either didn't care for them or didn't take the time to really look at them because I was really hoping to get one at Kohl's! :rolleyes2

I usually find some Disney tees here too but 90% of them were crop tops!! Ummm, no thanks!! :oops:

So, after the shortest trip to Kohl's ever, we headed back to Universal!

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Back to "our" spot. We always seem to get this spot when we left and then returned to the resort. :upsidedow

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And since we made this journey so many times, I finally took pics :rolleyes:

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After chilling like a villain for several hours, we slathered ourselves in SPF 60 and made our way to the bus stop once again.

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I think Kira will be taller than me by the time we get back here again :rolleyes:

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Back to the lovely and very hot Islands of Adventure.

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The first thing we did was march straight to Hagrid's to get a return time before it closed for the day. It looked like we might get some weather tonight so we made it a priority before anything else! I think the return time was 45 minutes once again so we headed for something Kira had been wanting to do the entire trip so far and something Rob and I hadn't done since 2000, Poseidon's Fury.

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There's no pics or video allowed here, which is too bad because it looks gorgeous and has some cool effects. The story line is rather hokey but Kira loved it. I don't recall seeing Darkenon before, I'm pretty sure the version Rob and I saw back in 1999 and 2000 had Zeus in it somewhere but it was still worth seeing again.

We still had time to kill so we headed over to Hulk, of course! It definitely looked like some weather was coming! We were really hoping it would hold out until we rode Hagrid's :scared:

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We got to ride Hulk, yay! 💚

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And then after we got our stuff from the locker, Kira wanted to ride Storm Force. I can't do spinny rides anymore and Rob wasn't up to it after riding Hulk so Kira happily went on her own. :p

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A quick upside down photo of Hulk before heading over to Hogsmeade. By then, it had started to rain a little. Nothing major but yeah, it was about to get real. :rolleyes:

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Did we make it to Hagrid's on time? 🤔

Stay tuned to find out. 🤓
 
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That's a bummer about Kohls, I usually have good luck there.
Friends of ours live in Hunters Creek! We met them when they moved to Vancouver, the husband played for the BC Lions for 2 or 3 seasons before being traded to Hamilton. After a year in Hamilton he quit the CFL and they moved back to Florida and bought a house in Hunters Creek!
 
Can't wait to find out if you made it!!

I would have complained to the manager about the loud music also!

I have good luck at JC Penny's for swim suits. Do you have them in Canada?
 


August 26th, Part 2

When we got to Hagrid's it was still raining a little but we got into the EP line and hoped for the best. 🤞


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I tried taking some pics of the queue but it was hot and we were moving fast, trying to get on the ride before that weather hit. I love the details though, like the moss on the rock wall.

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We got to the point where we scanned my pass and then got into the regular line, so we knew we would have about 20 or minutes before we would even be able to get on the ride. 🤨

Here's the child swap room where parents wait....

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And the TM kindly took a photo of us in the loud room.😊

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And here's a good look at how many people that room holds. The right-hand side is the single rider line, which looks super busy tonight! 😯

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When we got up to the single rider line, I was going to be the one pairing up with a stranger so I went first and then a young lady followed me, followed then by Rob and Kira. As usual, I asked my riding partner how long she had waited in the single rider line and found out that she didn't speak English. Well, she knew a few words but that's it. Kira tried hard to communicate with her and by the time we had gotten to the boarding area, they knew where each other was from and their names and their ages. Turns out that this young lady was also 12, from Brazil and was named Zara. So, seeing that they were hitting it off, despite not speaking the same language, I quickly swapped spots with Kira and told her to go with Zara. I figured, even with the language barrier, she would have more fun with someone her own age. Kira doesn't like being with strangers, which is why I usually opt to be the odd man out but in this case it was a good experience for her. 🤗

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Another fabulous round on Hagrid's and just as we were pulling back in, we were stopped for a few minutes. I took the opportunity to grab a few pics :p

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I looked over at Kira and Zara and they were very chatty, which is funny because I knew they didn't understand about 99% of what the other person was saying but it was so nice to see. :lovestruc

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We finally pulled in and got off the ride and these two were chatting the entire time. Kira had grabbed her phone and had gotten Zara's phone number. :rotfl2:


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We got in line to get our ride photo added to our account and then Zara gave all three of us hugs and we said good-bye! I wasn't fast enough to get her and Kira's hug but I got Rob's.

Hahaha, I love it when stuff like that happens. ☺

So not only were we lucky enough to ride before the weather had hit us but Kira made a friend who didn't even speak her language. 🥰

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When we got off the ride, we were all very hungry so we decided to head over to Mythos to see if we could get a table. They told us they would have a table ready for us in about 30 minutes. Perfect! Kira wanted to go ride Spidey but none of us wanted to make the trek way over there so we decided to ride something a little closer...

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By then, it was exactly time for our table to be ready so we headed back to Mythos and we were excited to finally get to eat here! :cool1:

Our first visit to this park was the year it opened in 1999 and we were so broke back then so we didn't eat here. Same for 2000 and 2003 and then we were going to do it in 2005 but I ended up getting sick. 🤒

I was soooo close to going in 2016 and actually had a reservation to go with some of my co-workers during a special get-together we had but my Lupus was kicking my butt that time and they went without me.

So, I feel like this was 20 years in the making. Better late than never, I guess 🤪


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Oh my dog, it was GORGEOUS inside!!! :worship:


I am actually really glad we did it for the first time with our kid, especially since she appreciated it so much with her new-found love of Greek Mythology. :love:

I should mention here that Rob wore his 2000 Dueling Dragons shirt today and when he does that in this park, he always gets comments from the Team Members. He started keeping track of how many comments he got each day and it became a running joke with us and the two of them had a little competition each day to see how many comments they each got on their shirts. HAHAHA! I think Rob finished the night off with 13 comments and Kira got 5 or 6. :rotfl2:




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Even the cutlery was fancy!


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I took so many pics :rolleyes1


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I wasn't sure what to eat, I didn't want anything heavy as we still (hopefully) had some theme parking to do so I ordered a dish I have heard so much about, the fork, knife & spoon grilled cheese, Rob got the salmon and Kira was unsure of what to get since she had already had chicken fingers for lunch. I recommended that she get the beef medallions and so she did.

Our server brought us out some bread...


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Rob's salmon, which he said was good, nothing special.

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Kira's beef, which she LOVED!!! :love:


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And mine...which I ended up not eating past 2 or 3 bites. The flavour was just weird for me. I wanted to love it but I couldn't even eat it. :crazy2:

Our server offered to take it off the bill or bring me something else. I didn't want to eat anything else and our food had actually taken a very long time to come out and I didn't want my family sitting there waiting for another meal just for me so I declined. Kira shared the last bit of her meal with me anyway and that was delicious and even though I was still hungry, I knew I would be fine. I fast at home all the time and can easily go all day without eating.


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Just as our meals arrived to the table, the sky finally opened up and it POURED!!! I am really sad that we missed it as it was the only major storm during our entire 10 days! :sad:

We watched some of it from afar, through these windows...


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It was still pouring by the time we were done our meals but it took forever to get our bill. Our server was very nice but the service was super slow. It had taken about 20 minutes just to get our drinks after we had sat down and we were PARCHED and then it was another 30 or 40 minutes before we got our meals.

While we waited for the bill, Kira and I went to check out the bathrooms and I took some more pics. :rolleyes1

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By the time we finally got our bill and paid it, it was still raining out but just normal rain and not the massive deluge that we had been getting for the past 30 or 40 minutes.

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Never been to a Waffle House and I gotta say, you're not selling it to me :rotfl2:

Yeah, those poor chicken tenders look like someone took a torch to them. Eep. And no full tummies for the next adventure......:magnify:

Uh and what was with the creepy dudes in the laundry room? Do they get off on seeing dirty clothes? :crazy2:

HAHAAH, I know, right? Well, you should definitely try one, they make great waffles, so I'm told. Just don't look too hard at your surroundings:lmao:

I don't think they were looking at my dirty clothes :scared:

How odd. We loved the burgers at CB this past June. I hope this isn't a sign the food is going downhill!

For your sake, I sure hope not! I was so sad because I was really looking forward to my burger!! :cool:


I enjoy Waffle House and you're so right about the filth that's too bad about the burger...I hate being disappointed with my food, especially when I know they can do better. Kira putting away laundry :rotfl2:

Yeah, it's tough knowing that the food could be so much better but oh well, it happens I guess :sad:

Yeah, that's my girl for ya :rolleyes2:rotfl2:


Volcano bay is my favorite park on Universal property. I could hang out for our entire vacation on a beach chair there and be totally happy. Looks like you all had fun.

I love that park too! If it were open later, I could spend all evening just swimming and relaxing there. :cloud9:


Having never been to VB (yet) I didn't realize they were actual rides as well as just 'regular' slides you go down (if that makes sense). Very cool!! You managed a LOT of rides in 3 hours :thumbsup2

Well, the only one I would call a "ride" per se, is Krakatau. All of the others were typical (albeit super fun!) water park slides. It's kinda like Aquaduck on steroids :p

Volcano Bay looks incredible. You guys picked a good time to go. I'll have to keep that in mind when I go, maybe next summer.

The end of August, minus any hurricanes, is a great time to go! Long hours still, nothing closed and not super busy like the beginning or middle of August :teeth:

That's a bummer about Kohls, I usually have good luck there.
Friends of ours live in Hunters Creek! We met them when they moved to Vancouver, the husband played for the BC Lions for 2 or 3 seasons before being traded to Hamilton. After a year in Hamilton he quit the CFL and they moved back to Florida and bought a house in Hunters Creek!

Oh wow!! Nice!! Lucky them!! I would love to have a house there, one with some of those gorgeous trees I love so I could enjoy them from November until March :rolleyes2


Can't wait to find out if you made it!!

I would have complained to the manager about the loud music also!

I have good luck at JC Penny's for swim suits. Do you have them in Canada?

No, we don't have them but I've been to a few of them during my travels. I didn't even think to look there, figured I would get something at Kohl's :sad1:
 
Waffle Houses are not known for their cleanliness, let's just say.

Sadly they are not.... but I love their food.

all three of us this time. This would be the only time Rob swam with us, other than VB.

Neither Rob (yep, I have a Rob also) or I are pool folks but I am glad your Rob joined you guys this time. I tried a lazy pool one time at one of Disney's water parks and even that was stressful for me (I have a water phobia).

We finally remember to bring the ball that they bought at Target.

I bought a "pool" throw ball years and years ago for Sarah and we have yet to use it. Glad you remembered your ball. Our ball something like this (below) and I plan to bring it on our upcoming Aulani trip. Maybe it will finally be used. https://smile.amazon.com/Wave-Runne...eywords=pool+throw+ball&qid=1569102333&sr=8-1

today began like every other day, obnoxiously rude music blaring at 8:15am.

Ugh, you need to complain.

This was the day where I finally went to speak to a manager about the whole thing. He seemed concerned and he said he would check with the pool department to see if the volume levels are where they should be. He said he would walk the perimeter tomorrow, email someone about it all and get back to me about his findings.

Oh good, you did report the issue.

I also mentioned to him that our room was in need of some extra cleaning and that we kept getting missed by housekeeping.

With my asthma, we sometimes need to request an additional cleaning. At one place, (Holiday Inn in Kalamazoo Michigan) when we requested an additional cleaning (because someone had smoked in the room) ... they came in and sprayed with Febreeze which is one of my asthma triggers...). Hopefully, you received your deep cleaning.

We stopped at Cracker Barrel,
Ugh, everything I have eaten at Cracker Barrel tasted like paste. Hopefully your experience was better.

And Rob loves the warm apples! We don't eat grits

Love grits!!!

I think Kira will be taller than me by the time we get back here again :rolleyes:

I agree. :)

we headed for something Kira had been wanting to do the entire trip so far and something Rob and I hadn't done since 2000, Poseidon's Fury.

Never rode it. Looks fun, now back to reading your trip report. Thanks a bunch for sharing!
 
We got in line to get our ride photo added to our account and then Zara gave all three of us hugs and we said good-bye! I wasn't fast enough to get her and Kira's hug but I got Rob's.

Hahaha, I love it when stuff like that happens.

How utterly sweet! I hope Kira was able to contact Zara after they were back in the respective homes. It would be great if they could keep in touch.
 
So my youngest daughter was reading over my shoulder the last time I typed out a reply and was very fascinated by Waffle House lol So we looked it up online and was very disappointed to see there are no locations on the west coast and none in NY (where we are cruising from in two weeks). There are some in New Jersey but too far from the port and where we will be in NY. I told her the next time we are in Florida we can hit one up and she was dismayed to think we'd already been to Orlando twice and hadn't been to Waffle House and why on earth did her father make her go to Chik Fil A because it's just chicken and she can get that at home....yes, it was a rather long rant on her part :rotfl2:

I love that Kira made friends in the line up!! :love: Amazing theming at the restaurant, visually stunning!! I'm sorry to hear the food was not as good though, esp since you'd waited close to 20 years for a meal there :(
 
August 26th, Part 3

It was still raining but not pouring so we donned our cheap $1 ponchos that Rob had stuffed in his pockets and off we went!

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Most rides in the park were closed due to the weather so we headed over to ride Spiderman...

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The lights had just come on and the sky was just gorgeous, one of my favourite parts of a Florida storm. :cloud9:

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Rob and Kira were getting cold though so they stopped in to get some hoodies that they had been eyeballing for a couple of days now.

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I was just in awe of the light and enjoyed the view outside of the store.

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We rode Spidey with minimal wait as most guests had left the park by now.

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By the time we got off the ride, the light was even better, the sun was setting and there was tons of lightning in the sky!! :love::worship:

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This was the direction of all of the lightning...

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And I took enough photos that I ended up getting a nice flash in one of my pics. :love:

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We took The Hogwarts Express over to the Studios to get some dessert. 🍦

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Diagon Alley looked GORGEOUS in the rain!! Sorry, blurry photo but you can see how awesome it looks with the wet ground...it felt even more authentic. 💦☔

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This time we got two to share, although Kira wasn't very generous when it came to sharing butter beer ice cream, or anything else butter beer-y, for that matter :rolleyes2

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We wandered into Globus Mundi, which was also new to me.

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Kira was tired and wanted to get off of her feet...like WAY off :earboy2:

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Then it was time for a quick visit to a very empty bank. 🤓


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There was no one else in line!

There's usually way too many people in this area to get this photo....

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There were only a few other people in the elevator with us and they went in the front of the cart so we asked for the back. I like the back for the drop as it feels more intense but the front is better for the view.

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By the time we got off the ride, they were shutting it down for the night.

I have some more pics but I will post them in the next chapter because of the photo limit. :thumbsup2
 
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August 26th, Part 4

We enjoyed a near-empty Diagon Alley just as it was closing for the night.


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A little-known tip...make sure the visit the back of the Knight Bus so you can peek inside of it. :thumbsup2


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We walked out very slowly, saw part of the Cinematic Spectacular show from the other side and then back into CityWalk. And since most people had left the parks hours ago, this was the most pleasant, slow and uncrowded walk out that we ever had! :love:

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We got back to the room and it was finally cleaned!! This day, along with one other, would be the ONLY time we received housekeeping during our 10 nights there. :sad2:

And just so we're clear, none of the deep cleaning that I had requested was done. 😟


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This was definitely my favourite night at the parks. Because of the storm, it wasn't terribly hot, the sky was just beautiful, we finally got to experience Mythos, we enjoyed the empty parks, our delicious dessert and did I mention it wasn't crowded? :rolleyes1


Edited to add the Cabana Bay sign pics that I had asked Rob to grab on the way back to our room after getting off the bus...


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I'm so glad you stayed the rest of the night, you got some amazing photos!!! And what's a little rain :love:

Wait, house keeping only came twice during your entire stay? Were you aware beforehand this would be the case? I'm assuming not....how odd!! DVC stays are now like this, we get housekeeping every 4 days, but they do come every day to clear out the trash cans. Not the same I know, but at least we are aware of it ahead of time.
 
Just wow!! I love the fluffy white clouds in Florida. Diagon Alley looks super cool in the rail. That dragon shot :flower1: what was up with housekeeping? Is it weird that I mentioned your trip in real life :rotfl2::rotfl2:
 
August 27th, Part 1

Same stuff...different day. . :sad2:

We showered and dressed for the day but Kira didn't want to get out of bed. The laziness was strong today. :rolleyes1:p

We debated about leaving her there and going to Keke's without her but Rob wasn't super keen on leaving her in the room alone. After talking with her (and her telling us "Just go, I hate Keke's, I will be fine, I won't even get out of bed!":rolleyes: ) we ended up going after all. She promised us that she wouldn't open the door for anyone, to keep that inside lock on until we get back and would text us if she needed anything at all.

I think her Daddy was still a little apprehensive about it but she's almost 13, responsible and I knew she would be just fine. :thumbsup2

So off to Keke's in Dr. Phillip's we go! :cool1:

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It was awesome!! It was Tuesday, so no lines, just us so no sass at all, our server was awesome, the food was awesome! It was like dating again. 🥰

Back to our kid who was still in bed watching YouTube videos. :rolleyes2 I told her to get dressed and ready for the day and I would take her to get chicken strips at Bayliner Diner. I took her but I made her do everything on her own, order the food, pay for the food (with our room key) get her drink & condiments. She has it a little too easy I think, not her fault, but nonetheless whenever I can get her out of her comfort zone and get her to do her own stuff is a win in my books. ::yes::

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This was the day that Dorian started to be a thing for Floridians. It was on every news channel and at that time, it was scheduled to hit Orlando area right around the same time we would be leaving for the airport in Sunday. While this concerned me a little, it was too far away to start panicking. Originally, it wasn't forecasted to be super strong either and it was still a Tropical Storm at this point so we hoped for the best and carried on with our vacation as planned.

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Some rain was forecasted for us tonight so we figured it would be best if we left for the parks earlier than usual just in case because storms close most of the rides. I think it was about 3pm when we slathered on the SPF 3000 and headed out. Rob took a shot of me before I got all gross and sweaty 😜

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We got the whole bus to ourselves! Kira enjoyed spreading out 😁

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Oh look, hot and sweaty before we even get to the parks 😂

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We passed by the Croissant Moon Bakery, which used to be a favourite spot of ours back in 1999 & 2000 so Rob decided to check it out...

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Kira was eyeing the huge cookies...

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But Rob had his heart set on chocolate croissants and got him and Kira one each. I honestly don't know why he did this, as he totally regretted it. They weren't good. They had a weird glaze on them and tasted stale. Kira didn't finish hers, which was a good thing because it was so sickly sweet that even she regret eating it later. :crazy2:

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While they ate, I checked the app and Hagrid's was only 90 minutes!! This was the lowest wait time I have ever seen for this ride since it opened. Yes, I stalked the app even before we left home :rolleyes:

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As we were sitting in Croissant Moon, it had started to rain. Just a light sprinkle, nothing serious but we had left our rain ponchos in the room and Rob didn't want to get wet so he bought a poncho for $12 USD! Sucker. 🙄

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Kira and I would chance getting wet, we didn't care. So off to Hagrid's we went so we could get a return time! When we got there, the lovely TM asked me if my whole party was there, to which I replied, yes and then she opened up the chain and let us in immediately! :woohoo:

SCORE!!!

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Here we come, Hagrid!!



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I ended up riding with a nice, friendly guy. He was excited because he hadn't ridden it before so it's always fun riding with someone who is experiencing it for the first time. He had waited 70 minutes in the single rider line with his grandfather but then somehow he lost him and ended up getting out of the line and then he had to go back in it again, this time it was 60 minutes of waiting for him.

He asked me if it was better than Hulk and I replied "YES!" and he said Hulk was really good so he wasn't too sure if I was right about that. As we were pulling back in, I asked him if it was better than Hulk and he said "Heck yeah!" :rotfl2:

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When we got off the ride, we got another return time for Hagrid's. 🤗

Next up, we finally would make it to another part of the park :rolleyes:


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We stopped at the photo op and told everyone to act scared. I look sort of scared, Kira looks amused and Rob...not sure what Rob is doing here exactly 🤪

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Since we had time to kill, we headed to a place that Kira had never been to and Rob and I hadn't been to since 1999!

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Someone is a Star Wars/George Lucas fan. 😝

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Kira had fun creating hybrid dinosaurs with herself as the other half. 🤣

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After having some cheesy fun at the Discovery Center, we headed over to ride Kong.


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On the way back to Hogsmeade, we stopped here for some much-needed hydration!! :scared:

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And on the way out, we stopped to get our photo taken. The photographer took several photos, and each time she asked us to make some weird poses. :rotfl:

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Sadly they are not.... but I love their food.

Me too! Most of the time. :upsidedow

Neither Rob (yep, I have a Rob also) or I are pool folks but I am glad your Rob joined you guys this time. I tried a lazy pool one time at one of Disney's water parks and even that was stressful for me (I have a water phobia).

Oh no! That would be horrible! My mom had that same fear, it's not fun! :sad1:


I bought a "pool" throw ball years and years ago for Sarah and we have yet to use it. Glad you remembered your ball. Our ball something like this (below) and I plan to bring it on our upcoming Aulani trip. Maybe it will finally be used. https://smile.amazon.com/Wave-Runne...eywords=pool+throw+ball&qid=1569102333&sr=8-1

That looks pretty cool! I bet you will have lots of fun with it at Aulani. :cool1:

Ugh, you need to complain.



Oh good, you did report the issue.



With my asthma, we sometimes need to request an additional cleaning. At one place, (Holiday Inn in Kalamazoo Michigan) when we requested an additional cleaning (because someone had smoked in the room) ... they came in and sprayed with Febreeze which is one of my asthma triggers...). Hopefully, you received your deep cleaning.

I spoke to TWO managers and not only did they not do the extra cleaning (mold on vent, brown spots near toilet, bathroom corners were scary!) but we only received housekeeping twice and they missed tons of stuff, stuff they should have gotten!

I agree, the extra deep cleaning is often terrible because of the chemicals they use! I don't even bother asking for it anymore, I clean all of the stuff I will touch myself! ::yes::


Ugh, everything I have eaten at Cracker Barrel tasted like paste. Hopefully your experience was better.

Really? o_O

Ugh! I've only ever had breakfast there and it's good, not great but good.




Love grits!!!



I agree. :)



Never rode it. Looks fun, now back to reading your trip report. Thanks a bunch for sharing!

Thanks for taking the time to read and comment, as usual. :hug:

Replies above in red. :thumbsup2

How utterly sweet! I hope Kira was able to contact Zara after they were back in the respective homes. It would be great if they could keep in touch.

We have tried texting her many times, it doesn't go through. Sadly, I think the number she gave to Kira is a landline as the stuff I've read says that 10 digits is land, 11 is cell. :worried:

So my youngest daughter was reading over my shoulder the last time I typed out a reply and was very fascinated by Waffle House lol So we looked it up online and was very disappointed to see there are no locations on the west coast and none in NY (where we are cruising from in two weeks). There are some in New Jersey but too far from the port and where we will be in NY. I told her the next time we are in Florida we can hit one up and she was dismayed to think we'd already been to Orlando twice and hadn't been to Waffle House and why on earth did her father make her go to Chik Fil A because it's just chicken and she can get that at home....yes, it was a rather long rant on her part :rotfl2:

I love that Kira made friends in the line up!! :love: Amazing theming at the restaurant, visually stunning!! I'm sorry to hear the food was not as good though, esp since you'd waited close to 20 years for a meal there :(

BAHAHAHAH! That is too funny! I have created a monster. :rotfl2::rotfl2::rotfl2:

You will HAVE to go next time to Florida, or you'll probably never hear the end of it :rotfl:

It was totally my fault for not ordering what I know I would like! I hate it when I do that, I know myself and know what I like and need to stick to that tiny little circle. ::yes:::lmao:

I'm so glad you stayed the rest of the night, you got some amazing photos!!! And what's a little rain :love:

Wait, house keeping only came twice during your entire stay? Were you aware beforehand this would be the case? I'm assuming not....how odd!! DVC stays are now like this, we get housekeeping every 4 days, but they do come every day to clear out the trash cans. Not the same I know, but at least we are aware of it ahead of time.

Yup, only TWICE! And no, we did not know this or expect this! They are supposed to come daily! There were a few days where we were in the room when they knocked and we told them exactly when we would be leaving and asked them to return then. They didn't! And when they did show up, they didn't clean very well anyway, so we just grabbed clean towels when we needed them. I don't need housekeeping every day, to be honest, but every 2 or 3 days would be nice. :cool:

All your pictures are awesome!

Thanks! :hug:

Just wow!! I love the fluffy white clouds in Florida. Diagon Alley looks super cool in the rail. That dragon shot :flower1: what was up with housekeeping? Is it weird that I mentioned your trip in real life :rotfl2::rotfl2:

Florida clouds are awesome :worship:

Diagon Alley in the rain is the BEST!!! :love:

I don't know but after reading their latest reviews on TripAdvisor, we were not the only ones to have crappy housekeeping services. :scared:

LOL, not weird at all. ;)
 

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