Part 3: 5 night stay at HRH

[PattiHW]

Have I mentioned here that I often just said out loud "Man, are we having fun or what?" We went to Myrtle Beach last year and had a blast. When polled, my boys response to "What did you like better, Myrtle Beach or this vacation?" the overwhelming response was HRH and IOA & USF was "way, way, way better". The whole trip was just so much fun! The hotel and grounds were simply eye candy. Beautiful landscaping and views everywhere.
Anyway, Thursday was our last day in parks. We split up and did whatever we had missed, and wanted to do twice. I, of course, needed to go back to Jurassic Park. This was my fav. The whole entire park made you feel like you were in the movie. I loved the River Adventure, it's a must do!
We ate at Pastamore, I thought it was very good. I had penne pasta w/shrimp. Big, tasty shrimp. DH had chicken parm and boys just had chicken fingers and fries. This was our least expensive meal, by the way. We had budgeted $100.00 for dinner. (Boys now eat off the adult menu.) We spent it.
Back at the hotel, I went on the water slide 5xs in a row. I just loved that slide! Water in pool was really warm though, almost too warm. It was so warm and sunny out (90 degrees every day) that it didn't really cool you off. We were also surprised that the pool doesn't have a deep end. The deepest part of pool is 4'6".
I don't know what I may be missing in this report, so if anyone has any questions re: the hotel, pool, or parks, just let me know.
Little things to appreciate:
1) The elevators! There are 6 elevators, we never waited for one!
2) The Sunset Grill. The food here is excellent, and you can get anything to go.
3) The bar by the pool. Definitely try a strawberry dacquiri. Very refreshing.
4) The people employed at HRH. Everybody, and I mean everybody, is accomodating and upbeat & just plain nice.
5) The towels by the pool. Unlimited supply. Very nice chaise lounges, and plenty of them for when we were there.
6) The short walk to parks and City Walk. We've done Disney hotels twice, and this perk beats out any bus service Disney offers. You simply walk right over in about 3 minutes!!!
7) Can't say enough about how great FOTL is. Definitely worth the extra $ to stay onsite.

That's about it people. Questions? I'll try to answer. For now, ROCK ON!! Patti

 

[SnowWitch]

Hi Patti,
Thanks for posting!!!! My family will be visiting HRH for 3 nights in June. I'm curious you mentioned you budgeted $100 a day for food. We have 2 boys 8 and 11, I was wondering how much a meal was at NBA and Margartaville(spelling). Did you eat at any other CW rest and if you which ones??? Thanks so much for taking the time to post a trip report!!!

 

[PattiHW]

Hi Snow Witch,
There were 4 of us. We ate at the following City Walk restaurants:

1) NBA City: we all ordered from adult menu and
my husband and one son had NY sirloin steaks ($19.95 ea). My husband had 2 strawberry dacquiris (sp). Oh, yeah, we also had 2 orders of chicken wings for appetizers. I had the veggie pizza (excellent) and my other son had cheese pizza. Bill: $100.00.

2) Hard Rock Cafe: Again, we had chicken wings for appetizer, and an order of onion rings to share. Here we had pulled pork sandwich, french dip, chicken sandwich, and full order of ribs. I had 2 drinks, husband had 2 drinks. Kids had chocolate milk. Total bill: $100.00.

3) Pastamore: I had shrimp w/penne pasta, husband had chicken parm, kids ordered from kids menu here. They just had chicken fingers & fries. I had 1 lemonade here, kids had chocolate milk, husband had a soda. Total bill:
$55.00.

4) Margaritaville: We pretty much pigged out here, brought doggy bags back to hotel room. I ordered this dip w/crab & mushrooms that came with toasted italian bread. We shared, it was very good. Boys had shrimp cocktail & once again chicken wings. (My 14 yr old needs to try everybody's chicken wings) Here everybody had burgers, I ordered the nachos. They were heaping and excellent. No way could I eat them all. Also, I had a Havanas & Bananas drink. My husband had 2 Mudslides. (Drinks were about $6.00 ea) Anyway, this was most expensive dinner. It was $100.00 plus tip.

So, as you can see, we make dining a big part of our vacations. We enjoy eating out, don't do it too much at home. Our vacations are always a time to splurge.

Boys would also have lunch, inside parks. I only had lunch one day, at Sea World. We fed the boys lunch inside parks for $15.00-$20.00 a day easy. Then, of course there was ice cream to be had before heading back to hotel for bed.

Hope this helps you to budget. You know, you can just order a pizza some night, Pizza Hut delivers to the hotel. Bon Appetit!!