2011 USA trip - aka mice & wizards & pirates, oh my!

[alicia1506]

so far on this trip, the temperature had been lovely. we'd worn hoodies on day 1 in DLR when it was raining, but each other day we'd just been in long pants and tshirts, loving this 20 degree C weather, as we'd left hot and humid brisbane far behind. day 4 and 5 in NYC and carlo was out and about in tshirts and trina was wearing camis and sundresses. they got some weird looks from local NYC inhabitants who were wearing gloves and scarves and such... they figured it was due to the massive temp difference between indoor and outdoor temps... outdoors it was about 18-20 degrees C which was nice and cool, but indoors everything is heated... so if you dress for indoors, outdoors feels freezing in comparison...

so when on day 6 we headed out at 8am, we were in long pants (just jeans/cargos) and tshirts, with a hoodie for a little warmth. we decided we wanted to shop around, see the sights then do the uptown/downtown tour, then the night lights tour.

several kilos lighter and feeling distinctly under the weather:

we were in NYC for veteran's day, so got to see the parade and went a little nuts in the various stores in rockefeller plaza.

these guys were out in force keeping crowds under control:

saw fire station 54 and the tribute to 9/11

shopped like natives and got to see some amazing architecture and so forth. got on our tour bus, and the tour operator gave us the option of open topped upstairs and heated downstairs... upstairs was open to the elements, but it wasn't that cold, and we wanted clear photos and a birds eye view, so upstairs we went... by the time we took off, there was a little breeze blowing, but it got chilly pretty damn quickly, and after a while, our photos were blurring cause all the anti-shake in the world couldn't improve on the fact that we couldn't feel our hands... we went past an outdoor display which showed 48 degrees F, which is about 9 degrees C. no wonder we were cold.

gorgeous central park foliage:

i should mention, the bus is pretty tall, and nyc streetlights are low. we were cautioned not to stand or we would die. lols all around, until this happened:

we saw (in no particular order) harlem & the apollo theatre, rockefeller centre, central park, hells kitchen, the upper west side, the upper east side, and some truly beautiful cultural, historic and architectural marvels. by the time the tour finished, we were the only stupid ones left up top of the bus, and downstairs was crowded with people trying to stay warm we tipped the tour operator (we'd finally gotten the hang of giving away money) and he quipped we must be used to the cold... nope. just stubborn aussies after a good picture

some of the amazing photos we got -- and i fell in love with the fall foliage

so we got off the tour and decided we were heading for the nearest pizza joint, for food and drinks and indoor heating. ray's famous NY pizza later, and we were warm, satisfied, and heading back to the hotel for warmer clothes & lots of scarves/mittens etc. a quick change of clothes later and we were back to the tour only to find we could do the downtown tour, or the night tour, but we didn't have time for both. we chose night, as it went across to brooklyn as well, and spent a bit of time in the times square visitor's centre (a must see). when we walked back outside, it had gotten dark & times square was right there in all it's glory!!! so pretty!! and so massive and overwhelming.

we saw some amazing things on our tour, including the empire state, flatiron, crysler, brooklyn bridge, lower east side neighbourhood, soho, dutchtown and chinatown, financial district etc. so amazing, and so diverse, and all of it crammed into such a tiny, tiny place. again, we sat up top of the bus, and again, we were the stubborn aussies who stayed despite the fact that we froze to death. at night, it dropped to 2 degrees C and we were only wearing long sleeves, hoodies, a scarf and cargos/jeans. trina and i had only bought thongs/sandals/etc so no closed in shoes... funnily enough, my feet were fine, it was my hands that froze

freezing cold:

giant NYE light ball in NYC visitors centre in times square:

wall of hopes & dreams:

empire state lit up for veterans' day:

flatiron building (aka gringotts, according to trina )

when we were leaving times square, we saw the disney store and the toys r us... the toys r us has a ferris wheel (really, a giant ferris wheel not some kiddie version) insdie the store.

it's massive... so, we decided more shopping was in order (and i'd saved heaps of money by being sick for 2 days) so off we went... carlo stocked up on boy toys, then had no room for the rest of his clothes etc, so good thing we bought spare luggage with us ) and then back to the hotel to pack... for our 2.30am wake up call to cab to the airport for a 6am flight. trina went off to pack and carlo and i started packing when we realised... we didn't have the credit card the credit card that had open funds on it and we needed to show at orlando to pay for things like room service -- so. we looked. and we looked. and we looked. still no card.

so we went through the luggage. still no card. we checked pockets and carry bags and all the super secret hiding places we had. still no card. calls to the shops. still no card. we had back up funds, but we didn't want to report it missing unless we super, super had to, cause it would be such a hassle getting it shipped to us and what a nightmare trying to call internationally was, as our phone cards had been intermittently working then not working.

so... smart idea at 11pm. let's unpack every. single. thing from the luggage. and then repack. cause surely it was in there somewhere. now it's midnight and still no card. surely to god we're just tired and overlooking something obvious. unpack everything again. repack it again. it's 1.30am and we decide to hell with it, we've gotta be up in an hour, let's just lie down and go to sleep. nope. no sleep. we check each other's luggage again. still no card. 2.30am and we're wired from stress and nerves and the idea that we've got thousands floating around out there, potentially lost. we'll call the bank after we check out & organise something. shower, lock the luggage, elevator downstairs. trina's in the lobby with our card in hand. turns out it had ended up in a bag of her shopping somehow.

thank you baby jesus

cab takes us to the airport, we arrive, check in, slide through security within 5 mins and have 2.5 hrs til our flight leaves. go to the starbucks but they don't open til 7. what the chonkers? no sleep and no caffeine? ima gonna go nuts. there's a little coffee place that will open at 5.30. praise be the glory of the coffee bean. grumpy, bleary and thoroughly stressed and at wits end, we board the plane, knowing that the commando part is over, the sleep deprivation and obscene jetlag and time differences and cram-as-much-in-as-possible is over and the rest of the trip is 5 star resorts, pools and sunbathing, drinks and delightful food.

 

[alicia1506]

so at 8.30am our Jetblue flight arrives at MCO (there's a lake right next to the runway -- we're down in the land of the lakes now )

and we take the shuttle down to baggage claim. we sit... and sit... and sit. we're exhausted and couldn't be bothered fighting for our bags. we rest for about 20 mins then go to get our bags, but they're not on the carousel. oh noes... we'd marked each bag with bunches of bright (harry potter purple) curling ribbon on the top handle, making them easier to spot on the carousel .. then we see bunches of purple curling ribbon off at the jetblue luggage counter - woot!! easier than struggling at baggage claim, we were able to load them all onto a cart, and then off to our shuttle. it arrives about 10 mins later, and then we're heading off, with about 7 others through orlando. the first lady departs at the ritz carlton -- fancy digs and 'spensive cars out the front and lush, lush greenery. she's in for a lovely vacation, we can tell. next up is a group of british tourists dropped off at a holiday inn, then the doctor in the front seat starts hitting on a conventioneer who's there to attend an AMA conference. he talks himself up and hands off his card when she gets out at the hilton. he's the next stop, at the holiday inn up the road, themed like a castle. then it's just us in the shuttle til we turn into a long driveway amid lush green grounds, massive palm trees and the driver pulls up. Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando.

the courtyard:

our orchids:

bellmen come out to grab our mountain of luggage, and we wheel it all inside ourselves, not familiar with this phenomenon of other people carrying our bags.

mountain:

guy at the check in desk is friendly, helpful and with a deep southern accent... just lovely. he's got our room all ready for us and it's only 9.30am. fabulous!!! we're in the Royal Tower, and we wheel our suitcases up to the room, dump the bags and I'm for having a lie down, but Carlo and Trina are off to explore the grounds.

the bed that feels like a giant pillow that supports in all the right places, and snuggles in all the right places - i want to bring it back with me:

Trina gets some asian noodle & shrimp dish from emeril's (extremely yummy) & tries a root beer float while she's out. with no dinner from the night before and no breakfast yet, she's starving. Carlo redeems our vouchers for our prepaid tickets for our park hopper tickets, the Wizarding World celebration Q&A celebration tickets, and he buys himself some time in the games room.

Trina wakes me up a few hours later and we decide since the day is partially over, we'll go shopping up at the Florida Mall today, and that way we can devote all of our other days to the theme parks. We head to the front door and ask them to call us a cab... no, no, no - no cab for us, they arrange a private car, dark, leather interior, so pretty and huge and at a fixed price, with a driver on call for our return. we could get used to this kind of service i've been dying for fruit, juice or better yet, a smoothie combination of both of the above, and no-one seems to sell them. found s a place called Froot at the Florida Mall which does humongous smoothies, all freshly pressed & blended in front of you for cheap!

32oz cup of smoothie - blended perfection -- it's one fruit bowl high, and almost as wide

i'm in heaven & my energy levels pick up and i'm starting to feel less dehydrated & marginally human. 32oz cup for $5 and change. scrummy!! hours and hours of shopping and wandering later (and a second smoothie from my new friends at the Froot bar), we call the driver and he picks us up within 20 mins, then smooth sailing back to the room.

We decide to indulge and call home from the room phone - 9 minutes for us is a quick call to say we're here and fine and haven't been killed or terrorised. i've been patted down by security 3 times now, and Trina once... Carlo manages to skim through each time, lucky man. Mum & Dad are fine, the family is fine, and we share a quick anecdote from the plane. hugs & kisses, the usual kind of phone call with the parents. on our final bill -- that 9 minute call cost us $89 plus tax. OMG. next time, we're skyping.

we indulge in a 3 course room service meal for all three of us, plus drinks, then watch Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix before drifting off to sleep. our dinner menu looks like this - alicia: shrimp dumpling appetiser, beef teriyaki main and banana cream pie dessert, with mango smoothie (i'm all about my blended fruit drinks). trina: asian-style chicken broth with glass noodles & various tasty herbs appetiser, lemongrass and something or other chicken on a bed of rice main, banana cream pie dessert, with juice. carlo - vegetarian chilli appetiser, fish & chip platter main with a kahlua chocolate cake/pudding/yummy thing for dessert with some coke.

trina's lemongrass & something or other chicken on a bed of rice:

banana cream pie dessert:

my shrimp dumpling entree: (it's served on a bed of finely chopped cabbage/carrot/lemongrass/ginger/spring onion that makes for a really fresh & zesty little asian style salad)

my beef teriyaki:

carlo's vegetarian chilli:

carlo's fish & chip platter:

his dessert chocolate/kahlua something:

drinks: - nothing special here, but love that they come covered so as to ensure nothing spills/gets in them in the elevator

Tomorrow, our first glimpse of the parks, and WWOHP

some photos while wandering today:

 

[WAMUMOF4]

your TR. Feeling very sorry for you about your flight experience and how sick you were. I think it doesn't matter how organised you are somewhere along the way you a thrown a curve ball that all the planning cannot anticipate

 

[battymum]

OMG ! A travelgear sim would have paid for itself with your one phone call.

Lovin your TR... So much detail!

 

[Mum from oz]

You are nuts! That is commando in a crazy way!! It sucks that you got so sick. I'm loving your detailed trip report so far, can't wait for more and more photos too!

 

[Sugarglider]

Wow - what an adventure! I just felt like you needed more time in Anaheim. I am not convinced you did everything you wanted. And I agree - being sick in a foreign city, in a tiny room, is disconcerting.
I get some kind of horrible head cold everytime I am at WDW. (I blame all the pre-schoolers and my lack of immunity from then) But I have been lucky and slept it off in nice disney resorts with nice disney service looking after me.
Way interested to read what happens in Orlando!

 

[alicia1506]

Wow - what an adventure! I just felt like you needed more time in Anaheim. I am not convinced you did everything you wanted. And I agree - being sick in a foreign city, in a tiny room, is disconcerting.
I get some kind of horrible head cold everytime I am at WDW. (I blame all the pre-schoolers and my lack of immunity from then) But I have been lucky and slept it off in nice disney resorts with nice disney service looking after me.
Way interested to read what happens in Orlando!

we totally needed more time in DLR. Disney is a time-suck in the best of ways. you feel like you're barely doing anything, and you check the time and hours have gone by... we left DLR with no regrets, but plans to come back in 12 mths and do it up right! for our first trip, on a really strict time limit (due to work constraints) and a huge budget restriction, i think we did pretty well.

but our return trip we're planning to do DLR anaheim for like a solid week, then the same for Orlando again, with maybe a day or 2 in vegas on the way back. we fell in love with those places and we really want to invest some time there on our next trip and immerse ourselves in all we could do.

we went with a cheatsheet of things we wanted to see/do in DLR and Orlando and so on and we managed to do about 70% of the 'must do' stuff on our list in DLR. but... there were some really great experiences we didn't get to do that we are planning on hitting up when we get back there. and now that Carlo has seen the magnitude of the places and the depth of the experience, he's willing to leave all the planning (including touring plans this time, yay) in my OCD and obsessively capable hands. which makes me happy as i was really hamstrung by their 'fly by the seat of your pants' decision making style, and 'no touring plans' mandate...

but all in all... still a really great trip.

still just waiting on photobucket to upload more pics

 

[alicia1506]

so it seems i can write my TR entries at work (on breaks and before work in the mornings, of course) but can't upload photos while i'm here, as our net connection is le suck. so for the moment it's gonna be a hybrid trip report where some entries are all words for now and then tonight i'll upload all the awesome pics.

some entries are gonna be pretty photo heavy, but we took lots of pics and you get to ride along on this magical journey with us

anyway, back to the awesome story telling

 

[alicia1506]

so last night, after a lovely evening of room service and wonderfully, awesomely comfortable beds and swank rooms/resort living, we did our little group pow-wow regarding plans for today. we were there for the celebration of harry potter films event (we got the celebration package, not the premier, but we got to stay onsite so, yayness!) which gave us a harry potter promotional pin (yay for our burgeoning pin collection),

pin:

a set of the entire harry potter movies (1 through 7.2) on blu-ray (which they are posting to us as they ran out on-site (??) and access to a Q&A session with cast members. we also got entry to the parks at 6am, which was 2 hours earlier than onsite hotel guests got, and 3 hours earlier than the general public. awesomesauce! so... alarm is set for 5am, we're fast in the mornings at getting ourselves thrown together, so an hour for breakfast, showers and out the door is more than enough time... plan is to wander around Islands of Adventure, Jurassic Park, Toon Lagoon etc as the Q&A is being held in the Toon Lagoon Amphitheatre at 11, and we're cautioned to arrive about 15 mins early.

alarm goes off at 5, and we snooze. alarm goes off at 5.10, and we snooze. alarm goes off at 5.20, and after much sleepy grumbling, we decide to turn it off, and we'll just slowly wake up... yeah, at 9am. what the? we did it again... slept all morning and wasted our big advantage. i should mention we all normally rise around 5am every morning every other day of the whole year, so not sure why we can't seem to haul our butts out before 9am, but yeah....so we scramble out the door, we're dressed again in jeans/cargos etc and harry potter shirts (showing our true colours -- trina is wearing a slytherin distressed tee, carlo's in a black hogwarts logo tee, and i'm in a black & gold & purple gryffindor tee). to be honest, trina's more gryffindor, i'm more ravenclaw and carlo's more slytherin, personality wise, but we choose to show our allegiance otherwise it's humid but not stiflingly so, and hot, but not unbearable. kinda like brisbane in summer, so nothing really out of the norm for us. others there were struggling with the heat and the humidity though, and we noticed a lot of peoople camped out in the pool

we head down to the boat dock which was maybe about a 2.5min walk from the door from our room, and get on board the water boat which will drop us at citywalk. from citywalk, it's about a 3 minute walk to the entry to Universal Studios or Islands of Adventure.

i should say (if it's not glaringly obvious from some of my pics) I wasn't in the best of shape at the start of our journey. I'm hauling some extra poundage, i'd had issues with my knee at the start of the journey, and having brought what started out as comfy thongs and sandals and turned into achilles-torturers-from-hell, i wasn't in the best of shape with all the kilometres and kilometres of walking we'd been doing. next time i'm taking a pedometer so i know just how far we walked, but my walking speed is usually nothing above a stroll. by the end of the trip, i was able to walk upwards of 8 and 10 kilometres during the day with absolutely no troubles at a reasonable rate, but these distances in times... pretty slow strolling speeds, so these distances aren't that far. i've heard it described as a 10 min walk between cityville and islands of adventure -- not so, my dear watson. barely 2-3 mins if that. trust me on this. i timed it for my own fitness records

so anyways

we pass through the entry gates, swipe our tickets & give our fingerprints (??) and head into the park. We're stopped by merchants selling lanyards for our tickets & we buy up as they're all harry potter themed - sweet! mine is black with gold hogwarts logos on it:

carlo & trina get a gold/cream one which intersperses the 'hp' logo with the words 'i solemly swear that i am up to no good' and 'mischief managed' in purple ink - more merchandising for the win!

Our Q&A session was for 11, so we head straight for Seuss Landing and start to enter Lost Continent when we realise we're heading in the wrong direction and Toon Lagoon is on the other side of the giant lake. IOA is set out in a big circle around a rather large lake. Jurassic Park is at 12 o'clock, harry potter world goes between about 1 and 3 o'clock, lost continent is 4-5 o'clock and seuss landing is 6-7 o'clock. marvel super hero island is from 8-10 o'clock and toon lagoon is from 11-12 o'clock on the rocket clock. just as a frame of reference. we were in the 4 o'clock position and had to get up to 11 o'clock. we didn't want to spoil the surprise of WWOHP just yet, so we walked back through seuss landing (and how cute an area is that?!), through marvel super hero island (lots of fun for carlo, did some character meet & greets & lots of photos of the awesome comic-book-effects)

fantastic 4 vehicle:

wolverine:

when we notice... there's literally a constant stream of harry potter yuppies in their harry potter costumes and robes (sweating to death i should mention) heading past us... we check the time and it's 10.30am already, so we decide to find toon lagoon amphitheatre and get in line for our q&a session... except, we underestimated the number of people there, and over-estimated our ability to get there early. there were hundreds, if not thousands, already in line for the session we were to attend. the amphitheatre is huge, and can take that kind of capacity, and it was cool inside, but outside we stood in the sweltering sun with all the other fans and i again was the treasonous one wondering if it was all worth it... turns out.. it so totally was.

PART of the line in front of us:

we file inside, and it's kind of open slather auditorium bench seating, so everyone scrambles for a spot. we were in the middle of the auditorium, on the left hand side, but right on the aisle.

trina & carlo (i'm the one behind the camera )

the main stage is set up with a harry potter/warner brothers backdrop curtain, 5 x directors chairs, some tables with water on them, and the area in front of the stage is cordoned off.

all dark & mysterious:

there are security guards, so no one rushes the stage, i guess, and a massive lcd screen hanging from the top of the gantry above the stage. to start with, it's showing just the warner brother's logo, but about 10 mins before it's due to start, and they start flashing up pics of people in the crowd. the crowd goes wild, and some people start holding up harry potter paraphenalia that they've brought with them... a stuffed hedwig, a quaffle, a scarf, a signed book. one guy holds up his arm with the deathly hallows symbol tattood on his wrist. someone else flashes a back tattoo of the HP symbol. everyone's feeling very patriotic towards all things harry potter.

quaffle!

tattoo:

a guy comes out and announces he'll be the moderator. he'll be with the guests on stage and roving assistants in the crowd will be picking out the people in the crowd who get to ask the questions... awesome. the guests are led out on stage... first we have Mr Weasley, then Bill Weasley, then Kingsley Shacklebolt... then Griphook/Professor Flitwick. I won't use actor's names here cause it's easier to go by their harry potter world character names, but Warwick Davis is the guy who plays Professor Flitwick, and can I just say.. he stole the show. he was hilarious, well spoken, extremely well educated and just an all around nice guy.

q&a attendees - showing the large screen version for additional detail:

They start the questions and it's mostly the usual.. what's your favourite memory from filming, who's your favourite actor to work with etc. one person asks Bill if he'd prefer to be a death eater or a werewolf -- he thinks, umms and ahhs and then decides he'd prefer werewolf, cause lupin was one and he managed to do it up right. crowd goes nuts. mr weasley answers a question about favourite moments at the end of shooting with the line 'and then the wife killed bellatrix' and again, everyone approves. next few questions are along the lines of 'omg, i am so grateful yous guys are here' and we & others in the crowd groan at the 'yous guys' and butchering of the english language. turns out we're snobs, and so is warwick, so we're cool with that. he's got a new book out at all good bookstores, and it becomes a running gag throughout the session. lots of laughs, lots of fun and despite the fact that there are about 2500 people in a massive amphitheatre, it feels like an intimate chat with these actors. they draw you in and you feel like they are talking to you directly and pull you into this world they've helped create. kingsley talks about his surprise at being cast in the movie, cause 'there ain't no black people in harry potter' lol. lots of laughs and approval for him too. it only goes for 45 mins or so, they're on a pretty strict timetable, and it's over all too soon.

warwick offers to perform a scene for us from the movie... he's gonna be professor flitwick in the charms class where he teaches them 'wingardium leviosa' - bill & mr weasley sit on the stage in front of him, ready to learn. everyone in the crowd gets to repeat after him 'wingardium leviosa' and do our 'swish and flick' moves...

wingardium leviosa lessons:

then they're escorted off stage, and we're trying to exit the amphitheatre like romans at a colosseum.. except, you know.. politely.

next we decide that with that experience still running through our heads, and having captured lots of pics, we want our first taste of harry potter world. we walk up through jurassic park, over a bridge, and there it is... dumbledore's tower, silhouetted against the sky.. surrounded by palms and tropical ferns.

castle!

hogsmeade:

the dichotomy is a little jarring, but we come up to the entry arch 'welcome to hogsmeade' and it's a quaint english town. crooked chimneys spear up into the sky, windows and colums are all higgeldy-piggeldy and there's not a straight line to be had anywhere. my fingers are itching to take pics, and out comes the camera.

there are snowmen!

and snow on the roof and blazing sun and brilliant blue skies with nary a cloud in sight. it's a perfect day and the theming is just brilliant. we can see zonkos and honeydukes, the owl post, ollivanders and dervish & banges all from the entry. the hogwarts express is there, puffing steam and the conductor will happily pose for pics.

the frog choir is about to perform, and butterbeer carts are located right near the entry and again in the main street outside 3 broomsticks. i run off to get us drinks. we want a butterbeer and it's just what we expected & more

butterbeer - frozen, not chilled.

 

[Aust]

I'm exhausted just from reading this!! Hopefully next time you get some more sleep and don't get sick! Understand about the horrendously expensive phone calls, in January I called my husband from a public phone at the Grand Californian, probably spoke for 10-15 minutes, and it was $90.

 

[OziJo]

We are looking forward to WWoHP. In fact it is the reason we are going all the way to Orlando instead of LA and paying sooo much more for airfares. So it was good to read

it's just what we expected & more

and to hear despite all the hassles you encountered and you

wondering if it was all worth it... turns out.. it so totally was.

 

[OzCath]

Really enjoying your report Alicia. Cant' wait to see more photo's. Have fun planning the next trip!

 

[alicia1506]

sorry for the abrupt ending to the previous post, but had to start work on lunch now, so plenty of time for updates.

so... waiting for the frog choir to begin and the butterbeer cart is just begging. it's $3.25 + tax for a regular butterbeer and $4.25 + tax for frozen, or about $10.25+tax for the refillable butterbeer mug. as a surprise, i got us 3 x frozen in the refillable mug, and brought them back to the others. our first taste of butterbeer was ... bliss. frozen, it's like a slushy/slurpee kind of consistency, but it tastes like a butterscotch/caramel milkshake. the 'foam' they put on top tastes like melted vanilla icecream, but has a kind of foamy consistency. on a hot fall day in Orlando... pure bliss. frog choir had some difficulties with their muggle technology, so they cancelled that performance.

we see the line for ollivanders, but having been all DIS'ed up, I knew we only wanted to hit it (and Hogwarts/Forbidden Journey) up at the very beginning or very end of the day. We oohed and ahhed our way around, hundreds of photos uploaded to the memory cards, and shock -- memory card full. good thing we came with extra memory cards in the camera case load those up and shop at dervish & banges, owl post, then decide for a brief respite from the sun & humidity in three broomsticks.

a small note of caution: JK Rowling when she was giving input into the design of WWOHP noted that british shops are quite small, and she wanted a kind of 'everything jumbled up together' feeling... and you get that. each shop has a sign on the wall immediately inside from the door showing just how many people are allowed in the store at any given time. it's not policed (not that we saw) but they lie. trust me, those signs are blatant lies. inside dervish, it says something like 56 but there were (and i counted) 14 people in the store (plus displays and counters) and the store was claustrophobic, and you had to either obnoxiously push your way past people, or 'excuse me' every 2 seconds to squeeze past some poor sap who was trying to look at something on the shelf.

occupancy:

photos are also a nightmare as the lighting is poor and no-one respects personal space. having said that, they are a feast for the eyes and the senses and there's just awesome stuff everywhere. i strongly recommend shopping either first thing or later in the day when they are a little more deserted. also.. WWOHP closes at the same time as the parks, which in most cases is early - much earlier than DLR. when we were there, they closed at 6pm.

three broomsticks has an odd configuration -- you line up to then be directed by someone to a counter where you pay for your meal... then you're directed to a pick up counter where they load it on a tray for you.. then to the condiment station for your cutlery/condiments/napkins etc, then on to the seater, who will find you a spare table, reserve it for you while you make your way through, and then you get to sit... we thought it was a table service style, but it is very cafeteria styled, but inside a british pub theme.

upstairs in 3 broomsticks:

we ordered 3 of the fish & chips meals, with the chocolate parfait for dessert. i ordered another frozen butterbeer but i got regular instead. regular is just a fizzy drink with the foamy stuff on top, and after the awesomeness that is the frozen butterbeer, it was a total let down.

fish & chips, the not so frozen butterbeer and chocolate parfait:

the fish was tilapia which is a local fish and trina and i couldn't each much. in comparison to our rather spoilt palates, which regularly get fish like bream and cod and whiting and barramundi, tilapia tastes ... flour-y and more like batter. carlo (being the part Brit that he is) doused his in vinegar, salt and sauce and declared it fabulous. he ended up eating his, mine and most of trinas the chocolate parfait was made up of chocolate mousse and jelly and strawberries and chocolate fudge in between sponge layers. we were grateful it came in such small portions as it was really rich, but yummy.

shopping in zonkos and honeydukes later (omg, so much candy, and yes, they have sherbet lemons )

sherbet lemons:

... and so much shopping - they have stuff that's not listed in their online merchandise store, and some of it is just divine -- and it's heading towards 5pm and we decide to head out to dinner. we figure alcohol is in order, so we go to jimmy buffet's margaritaville. this is our first 'table service' restaurant, and we're still in our theme park clothes, but they don't care. we want the big 30oz souvenir hurricane glass with the margaritas but they're out. damn. they offer to serve us any other drinks in a slightly smaller glass which they'll let us take with us, for slightly cheaper. FINE. so i get a strawberry/tropical margarita slushie style drink, trina gets some kind of mango/pina colada thing and carlo gets a staight up honest to goodness giant tequila/patron kind of margarita.. no ice, no slushie, just alcohol -- lots and lots of alcohol -- in a big glass. we order... vege burger with some kind of jalapeno mayonnaise for carlo -- crab cakes & veges for me and pasta with chicken & a garlic & basil cream sauce for trina.

margaritaville:

fishcakes (yummo) made from lump crab meat, and fresh cooked greens:

carlo's vege burger:

the drinks are big, and i'm not a big drinker. alcohol goes straight to my head after one drink anyway, so by the bottom of the glass, the room is spinning and i'm feeling woozy. we chronically overtip our waitress, but she was nice & carlo loves that we're making people happy -- as trina comments 'i'd smile too if people just handed me money' lol.

back to the room with plans to do the water rides the next day, explore more of islands of adventure and then hang out by the pool in the afternoon. we know we're gonna get wet, and we're all prepared -- or at least trina is. i forgot my bathing suit, and the onsite store doesn't go above a size 12. they have bitty little sarongs and bitty, bitty little bikinis that really don't work for me. never mind. quick dry pants, matching underwear and a cami later and i'm set -- i'll just air dry in my clothes. carlo also forgot his swimmers, so he's down buying those in the store. we're now all good for our 'wet day' tomorrow. it's about 11pm and we don't mind when we get up tomorrow, as we're all about being lazy and relaxing now

porch of indecision:

random photos of islands of adventure:

this one in lost continent tickled me -- ice cold frieze

also, this one was also good for the tickling of me:

 

[alicia1506]

we get up this morning with plans for breakfast in islands dining room. there's a buffet ($20 plus tax, with free refills on your drinks, or a regular breakfast menu with all the usual). we opt for the buffet as we want to try a few things. i'd be dying for some of this canadian bacon they rave about, and we wanted to try some of the other options for breakfast. we're not big eaters, but we got a little something of everything between the three of us.

i get the granola cereal, and make up a fruit plate for the table - there are fresh berries, mixed berries, rockmelon, honeydew, pineapple, mandarins in some kind of syrup and something else. no apples or oranges though. i grab a blintz (it's cheeze wrapped in a very thin crepe like material - it's pure gooey cheese. i love my cheese, but hard, please. carlo has my blintz. i got some scrambled eggs (they have an omelet station & the chefs will cook your eggs as per your request. unless you want poached. then you're flat outta luck, as they don't do poached... so much for our request i get some bacon, a little lox (end up handing it also to carlo due to the nyc reminder) and some kind of breakfast muffin & sausage & breakfast potatoes. it's so wrong to be eating sausage & potatoes for breakfast, but hey, it's vacation, right? right!

food porn - granola - actually quite nice -

fruit plate for the three of us:

carlo's plate:

my plate:

so now we are all prepared to head off and do our water rides - I wanted to try Popeye and Bluto's bilge rat barges, and the flume ride, Carlo wanted to try the Jurassic Park River Adventure and Trina wanted to avoid them all -- We head first down to our river boat near the resort for the quick trip to CityVille, show our passes at the entry to IOA and then walk up through Marvel Super Hero Island to Toon Lagoon. There's a rocket ship about to take off that spits out mist, and we use that to acclimate, as it's another hot & humid day in sunny orlando

we have no pics from this ride as the cameras was safely tucked away inside it's plastic cover. there are likewise no photos of us after this, as wringing wet & looking like drowned rats -- not us at our best. these pics that were taken were deleted under pain of death.

the barge ride is right next to us, so we head up & they scan our room key & we're on straight away. the room key as express pass deal is the best thing ever -- you get to skip the lines as many times as you want in a day, you don't have to worry about return times, and you can ride the same ride ad nauseum if you want...

there is no-one in front of us, and we sit in the seats. there are only 8 seats on the raft, another couple come along and get put in our raft, so they are on one set of 2 seats, trina in a set by herself, carlo by himself, and me by myself in my set of 2, with 2 seats empty... pretty well balanced. the ride itself lasts about 10 mins, which makes it longer than any raft ride here at MovieWorld/DreamWorld etc, and so much more fun. this ride has a really high draft, in the sense that the minute you hit the water, it's over the side of the raft and up around your ankles. even if you're wearing a poncho, you're gonna get drenched, which is what we were after you go round a river, around some bends, and at every opportunity, something from above dumps water on you.. there are squirt guns and waterfalls and spouts and spigots -- it's fun and we're all drenched... but then you go up a ramp, which clanks and groans and you get rained on some more... once you're at the top, it's a freefall into some white water rapids -- by the end of the ride, you're spitting out water, your butt is drenched and there's hardly any skin that isn't wet.

fabulous.

let's go again.

so we ride again, immediately. this time we're with a girl who squeals about how she doesn't want to get wet, and snuggles into her b/f the whole time... it's a raft ride love... you're gonna get wet

and then get off and go again.

no line at all, and this time it's trina and i with 2 x brit guys on holiday who are hoping they'll get a little wet... we assure them they will, but they don't believe us -- we're in black, so maybe they assume that skintight, plastered black clothes to our bodies is our fashion sense... umm.. not so much.

by the end of the ride, we're laughing so hard as they're absolutely drenched & they're heading back again, addicted

we decide to hop in a drying machine -- $5.00 to blow hot air and heating coils, guaranteed to dry you out.... it does our hair and skin but our clothes and such are still dripping... this will be interesting for the rest of the day

drying machine aka it'll cost you $5 to learn there's a sucker born every minute:

carlo heads to the flume ride, and gets a further soaking (he wasn't in on the spin in the dryer, which is a good thing) then we head through jurassic park & decide to do the river adventure. we'd googled a POV on Youtube of it, and it didn't look too bad... you go along, and it's all lush and green and full of herbivores, kinda like a modified Jungle Cruise.. then things start to go badly & you go off track, and that's when the big bad meat eating dinosaurs make an appearance... i should mention.. you get in a ride vehicle which can fit 5 across, but probably more like 4 comfortably. there's a grab bar, and a padded lap bar. carlo and i are a little more ... pooh shaped.. than trina, so there's some room between her lap bar and her... not that big of a problem, as it's essentially a water raft, with a really low draft, and nothing much going on except some nasty dinos roaring at us and dim lighting... we go up a hill which is pretty big... not massive, but it's a bit of a steep vertical... then more ride, a little more cranking, a little more ride experience, then a big t rex appears in front of us, and you fall down a hole...

i thought it would be a typical flume in the sense that you whoosh down, then hit the water and splash... i hadn't been paying enough attention though as we were up much, much higher than i had calculated & the lap bar is there cause it's a vertical roller coaster down then a big, big splash at the end. the vertical fall is a straight plunge right down,and you're pressed up against that lap bar with the g's of the force... carlo and i were loving the thrills of it, but trina -- slipped out of the car, and managed to catch herself when we jarred back into the big splash.

needless to say... not happy with the way that turned out, as she was wet and scared out of her mind, and we decided not to do that one again we bought her a little stuffed triceratops and then went into wwohp for some retail therapy and ... more butterbeer

after this, we shopped in WWOHP - which was no fun in wet clothes - then decided to head back on the boat to the resort, and laze about the pool for the rest of the day, all vacation-like we walked past the talking fountain, and watched as some poor kid got wet with the water jet it shot at him also walked past sinbad - ok, i confess, we went in and saw it. we thought it would be great, some kind of fun action-adventure story. and it was.. except for the fun, the action, the adventure, and the story. the actors were really, really cheesy. i liked the evil queen (i love most villains) but sinbad & his princess were just lame. thank god we had giant mugs of butterbeer to get us through that. no photos from this either. i'll throw in some more shots of the resort & harry potter world to round out the pic quotient of this day

poseidon's fury area:

seuss area - i found this just a tad creepy

universal world ball thingy

castle shot:

so we head on home to get changed & laze around the pool. we wanted emeril's for dinner, but decided on jakes, and had a really enjoyable dinner. trina and i had fabulous pina colada/tropical slushie drinks full of alcoholic goodness. carlo had some stella artois from the bar & we retired to the room for some 'to-go' dining in the comfort of our egyptian cotton 1000-thread count sheets and comfy mattresses. i get the shrimp salad, carlo fish & chips (man loves his fish & chips) trina gets ribs, mash & corn on the cob. jurassic park was on tv tonight, so a fitting way to end the day.

shrimp salad - it came with a huge container of dressing, that was so yummy, but i only used a tiny little portion of it

fish & chips

ribs, mash etc

we all got this chocolate torte thing for dessert, which was yummy yummy goodness, but really, really rich

my strawberry/tropical frozen slushy something

excuse the napkins wrapped around them, but it was hot, and the drinks were sweating

next up, the day all got to do our own thing

 

[alicia1506]

so the plan for today was that we would get up, head to the park right at opening and do the 2 most important parts of WWOHP - Forbidden Journey and Ollivanders. Then we were splitting up for the day - Carlo would go off and explore Universal Studios, Marvel, Lost Continent and do boy stuff and Trina and I would do WWOHP and girl stuff. don't ask me the difference between boy/girl stuff. it was mostly a chance for Carlo to get away from us girls, and for us to get a bit of space & do a 'sisterly-bond' thing.

i should say that trina and i get along really well...except for when we don't. we're similar in some ways, oil and water in others. when we're grumpy you don't want us in the same room. when we're getting along, it's all good & sunshine-y. by day 10, we'd all had enough of each other and wanted some element of 'alone time' .. in trina's and my case, we were happy to spend 'alone time' together. lol.

wwohp is laid out really quite well. the castle (which incorporates filch's emporioum) is set at the top of a little hill, with the 'main street' of hogsmeade running in a (roughly) straight line down from the castle to the main entry of the 'world' - ollivander's, dervish & banges, owl post & the hogwarts express are on the left side as you face from the castle back into 'town' - the entry to jurassic park, the butterbeer wagons, hogs head, 3 broomsticks, zonkos and honeydukes are all on the right hand side of the street. there are other shopfronts (like gladrags wizard wear, maestro's musical instruments, dogweed & deathcap, florish & blotts etc) with displays but no actual store interspersed in between. dragon challenge & flight of the hippogriff are also on the left hand side of the 'town'.

the gatekeepers:

entryway:

wall of talking portraits:

we went up to the castle, and it is really quite lovely... well themed, and beautifully done. when we went up to visit, there were hundreds milling around, as they were all trying to rent lockers. we walked straight past, as we were going for the tour only. we didn't ride Forbidden Journey (shock, gasp). My butt, no matter how much walking i did wasn't gonna fit in those seats, no way, no how. Carlo was game, but trina (the biggest hp fan out there, for reals) was not a fan of the ride mechanics, despite how awesome the ride actually was (we heard from others). so we walked right up to the attendant & were waived through into the 'tour' line... unlike the regular line where you kinda have to take pics in between being hustled along by the people behind you, in the tour line... you can take your time. you can move as quickly or slowly as you like.. you can take your time setting up shots. and best of all, the tour line is the closest line to dumbledore's study, so you can get some great shots without other people in the shot, or trying the old 'over-the-head-weird-angle-makes-it-artsy' kind of shot.

dumbledore's study:

dragon skeleton:

fat lady portrait:

great hall:

filch's emporium contains all kinds of goodies, like this:

i would strongly recommend that if you visit wwohp, do the tour line for forbidden journey. it dumps you out right where the other riders depart from the great hall, so even though you don't get to ride, you can see the great hall, the ride vehicles and the enchanted ceiling & floating candles.

just before we entered the ride, we'd noticed some merchandise cards pulled up around the entryway to flight of the hippogriff and near the exit from filch's emporium. they were selling pins (yay), small merchandise like keyrings and socks and beanies and such, and another cart was solely dedicated to wand purchasing. we noticed a witch who was using malfoy's walking stick, which was something trina had been desperately looking for & hadn't yet found. we got to talking, and trina was kinda drooling over it & we explained that noble collection wouldn't ship to australia, and fed ex wouldn't post it to us (it's 4 feet long, and exceeds their max length) and ups would do it for like... $300 ... but the cost of the walking stick (and retractable hidden wand) is only $100.00. the friendly witch offered to ask at filch's as she was sure they'd ship to australia -- and they did. $95 for the walking stick and $75 to post it... as this meant that trina could actually own the walking stick, and get it delivered home without going through the TSA nightmare of carrying it with us on the plane & having it x-rayed etc, she jumped at the chance. one of the best parts of the trip!!! a few shipping forms later & trina is the proud owner of another collectible. and it was awesomely authentic looking, no cheap knock off, so happiness all round.

we then separate to go our own way... trina and i decide that we're gonna take loads of photos, totally relax and just stroll around and immerse ourselves in wwohp. we go into 3 broomsticks for lunch (trina has the chicken plate, i have the ribs) and we really enjoy ourselves.

ribs:

we head into hogs head as i tell trina you can get a different souvenir mug here. it's larger and you can only be served alcoholic drinks in it... we're not carded, despite standing right next to a sign saying no card, no id. lol. we get 2 x long island iced teas, and she puts them in plastic cups so we don't have to wash out the large souvenir ones. yay. the iced teas do their job relatively quickly, although they are quite heavy on the alcohol and we don't finish them all. they are only $10 though, so not such a huge loss, as we're used to paying up to $15 and $20+ for them back home

hogshead drinks:

actual hogs head:

firewhiskey:

more frozen butterbeer (we're addicted by this point) and we do some more shopping, head to honeydukes and zonkos for some souvenirs/gifts for the fam back home, and then we're done in wwohp. we sit on the benches under the clock tower & just gab for a while. we see carlo running past.. he's on his way back for the frog choir & triwizard tournament presentation. we yell out, but he's fixated on his goal and runs past.

we're laughing and chatting and we see him again... wasn't he supposed to be off doing other areas of the park? -- turns out he's done them, and wants to be back in wwohp another wwohp convert. despite the fact that it's relatively small, it's another world, a little slice of an english winter town plonked in the middle of orlando. the theming is some of the best i've ever seen, and you just want to sit there and never leave... or at least we didn't, anyway. we all watch frog choir again (they perform different song selections each time, and carlo wanted to hear them all)

frog choir:

frog:

then trina and i head off for lost continent.. they have henna tattoos and we want them... they have a dark mark tattoo they will do in henna, and trina's all for it. i want something on the inside of my wrist, but my 'artist' is sloppy with the chinese character she drew on me and it becomes less about 'grace' and more about 'mustard stain on my wrist' -- unhappy. trina's artist used a different type of henna on hers, mine was more yellow, hers is more reddish-brown, which looks awesome to start, but in 2 days when it starts to fade, it looks like a life-long birthmark, which makes it look really, really awesome. best $20 she's spent so far. (actually, that's a lie, there's plenty of fabulous stuff she's spent money on, and most of it is wwohp related)

dark mark henna tattoo:

i'd been dying to visit bubba gump at citywalk (i love seafood) but with a belly full of butterbeer we decide to head back to the room for a little lie down, and contemplate a lighter meal. carlo had eaten elsewhere while we were in 3 broomsticks, so we all hop back on the boat and head back to the room.

we unload all our purchases so far... and they cover the bed. i have no idea how it's all gonna fit in the suitcases, but we're clever and we're tricksy packers, and i'm sure we'll figure something out... or we'll pay for excess luggage... at this point, we're blowing our money left, right and centre, and the idea of excess luggage fees seems totally reasonable.

purchases for trina only (somehow, didn't get a shot of my haul)

we're after having dinner, so trina and i stop for pina colada/yummy tropical/slushy/alcohol things from jake's american bar and we hit up emeril's tchoup chop for dinner. again, back to the room with the food -- i have the noodles with shrimp and steamed veges in an asian broth
mine:

trina has chicken & glass noodles and carlo has some kinda vege tofu asian stir fry

carlo's dinner:

he gets a drambuie from tchoup chop while we're waiting for our food... as we get it from the bar, and we pay by card, i forget to tip. it's a massively busy night, and we're the only ones at the bar, watching the bartender struggle with all the orders from the restaurant proper. we're halfway to the room before i remember this tipping thing we're supposed to do. carlo runs back with a $20.00 and makes her night. carlo decides he wants a yummy slushie alcohol thing too, so he gets one...

we get back to the room, turn on the tv and ... harry potter & the order of the phoenix is just starting. i've seen this movie now about...ooh, 15 times including the 4 times i saw it when it first came out, and repeated watchings since then ... and we happily sit & watch again while eating our lovely asian inspired food & drinking yummy alcoholic slushies -- they go great with the asian food.

tomorrow is check out & fly to vegas day. we're packed up, everything is organised, and our flight isn't until 3.40pm. shuttle is going to arrive around 12.40pm, and check out is 11am. plan is to wake up, trina and i will hit wwohp and islands of adventure for a few last minute purchases (we'd suddenly remembered things we weren't prepared to leave without ) and carlo was going to head out to buy some new shoes, as his were falling apart... park opened at 9, so the plan was to get in, get out & back to the room by 10.30... put our new souvenirs in our bags & check out right on 11, then breakfast in the dining room from 11-12.40, then get in the shuttle and go...

 

[alicia1506]

so this morning we're actually up with the alarm, dressed & ready to go on time. omg. shocking. it only took us 11 days to get here. so... we're out the door with plans for Carlo to head into CityWalk to head to the stores there for new shoes, and Trina and I will be heading back to WWOHP for some last minute gifts/souvenirs and we'll meet back at the room at 10.30. we notice there's a slip of paper under the door. thinking it was some kind of pizza flyer (which we'd had on other days) we unfold it and realise, it's our room charges, so conveniently given to us hours before check out so we know what's what. yay for 5 star service. except... our bill is for $497.00

good thing we'd given them the spare credit card with lots of funds available!!

what the... ? we'd had room service twice, once for $170 -- our first three course meal, for 3, and one late night snack for about $50 for the three of us... these charges are all inclusive of tax and service charges and gratuities etc so ... and our room rates were prepaid, along with all our tickets etc including taxes, so what is making up these extra charges.. and then we look... $10.00/day internet room charge + tax. the three phone calls we'd made - one for $90, one for $28 (a local call to arrange our shuttle pick up) and one for $42 - to confirm our spa appointments in vegas. eek. all plus tax.

glad we'd enjoyed our stay cause we were now running seriously short on spending money for our vegas leg of the trip. well... not seriously short, but we weren't going to be spending the $200 each for our cirque du soleil tickets now either... not a problem, as we were pretty flexible about what we were gonna do in vegas.

We head down to the boat dock and the boat is just pulling away... the only boat we've missed in our time here, and it's on the day where we're pressed for time. sheesh. so carlo decides to walk it but trina and i want another trip on the boat, so we wait.. and wait.. and wait. it's only 10-15 mins between boat trips, but it feels like forever when you really, really want to be someplace we amuse ourselves taking photos of the surrounds, planning our attack-strategy for when we do arrive, and taking photos of each other

we get on the next boat, and it's hot and humid, with huge cloud cover, which makes taking photos really great cause the light is just brilliant:

hit citywalk and carlo's just getting back onto a boat back to the resort!! he's already reached citywalk, realised there's nowhere to buy shoes, taken photos and he's heading back to the room to watch tv and relax!!!

with our mission firmly in the forefront of our minds, trina and i powerwalk up to the entry gates, through seuss landing, lost continent and into harry potter. i should mention here, in seuss landing, outside the bathrooms, there is a 'Q is for Quan' sign in the flowerbed.

i'd had to make a pitstop the night before and this is the restroom that was closest. it's cute and seussical themed, and we'd seen the 'quan is for quandry' sign, but not being seuss fans (or at least, not being hugely versed in seuss) knew not to what it referred. so there is a little speaker planted cleverly in a fake window which announces in a cute little voice 'q is for quan. quan is for quandry' every 2 minutes or so... this cracked us up. i don't know why, but we thought it was cute and adorable and every so often one of us would turn to the other and say 'q is for quan. quan is for quandry' just at random intervals.

the sign - q is for quan. quan is for quandry. so cute!!

trina and i (having only just on this day figured out how to take movies on our camera) wanted to capture this 'q is for quan' business, so we head over to seuss landing, wait for it, and then capture it on movie. up through lost continent & we're taking photos along the way of pretty much everything we can. we see the talking fountain & try and get closer to take a shot, when it shoots a jet of water at us! we squeal like the girls that we are and run into hogsmeade when we realise it's already 9.45am. we hotfoot it up to filch's emporium, pick up a few goodies, head to the wand cart outside where i get sirius black's wand (i already have snape's and dumbledore's from previous day's shopping trips) and trina heads to the pin cart & we get a few hp themed pins. back through dervish & zonkos for some power-shopping -- we're in and out in under a few mintues, honeydukes (trina gets a cauldron cake, turns out it's chocolate cake with chocolate mousse and white chocolate filling -- very yummy and they box it up all nicely for her)

wizard chess inside zonkos:

chocolate cauldron:

spectrespecs inside dervish & banges:

broom cupboard in filch's

the gringotts atm which gave me sufficient monies to allow for our final purchases:

we hit owl post and we're already back in lost continent when i think... a final butterbeer is a good idea... but we look at the time and it's 10.15 -- we have 15 mins to get back to the room, and we're still inside Islands of Adventure. so ... no more butterbeer for us

last trip through hogsmeade:

our last look at hogwarts castle:

we powerwalk back to the boat landing just as the boat for our resort pulls out -- we missed it again!!! we sit & reshuffe our purchases around in the bags so that we can just put the bags in the suitcases when we get back to the room... our boat finally pulls up, we jump on, and then have to wait for the scheduled departure time... hurry up already!!!! we get off the boat, back to the room and it's 10.45 -- check out is at 11 and we have to put a few final things in the suitcase...

we just make it, and we're putting on the luggage locks when housekeeping knocks to ensure we know check out is at 11. yup. we leave the room right on the dot, get downstairs and check out. we get to keep our room keys as an extra souvenir of our stay, as they're individually printed with our names. yay. we like those kind of random souvenirs.

room key:

we've gotten used to giving people money to do things for us at this point, so we arrange with bell services to store our luggage til the shuttle comes and then to load it all in for us. tipping bellmen is gonna be our biggest expense now, as we're up to 12 bags between us - 2 x checked luggage, 1 x carry on suitcase and 1 x day bag each.

we head down to the islands dining room for our last breakfast in this gorgeous resort and they announce they're now serving lunch. fine. we'll just have some kind of brunch-y style food. their lunch menu is mostly asian inspired. i get the mango juice again, which is yummo and a kung-pao shrimp flatbread which was to die for!!

carlo gets the mango juice as well and a vegetable flatbread

trina gets a lemonade (old school lemonade, not sprite) and a chicken/lemongrass/thai vegetable warm salad.

it's all delicious and every crumb gets consumed.

we have a bit of a wander around the resort for a while, see the croquet lawn, the wantilaan luau grounds and the other towers, then it's back to the front of the resort to meet the shuttle, which pulls up about 2 mins after we get there. great timing! we get in the shuttle, we're the first ones and we choose a bench seat so we can all sit together. really great idea as the driver announces we have to pick up 10 others along the way. not a problem, as there is room in the shuttle... but we're wondering about their luggage.. our luggage is taking up at bare minimum 60% of the cargo bay at this point.. a british couple get on at a holiday inn & they've got a few bags. there's room for maybe about 4 more bags at this point, and there are only 5 of us on the shuttle... an american couple get on at a sheridan down the way, and they've got 4 bags... cargo bay is mostly full. a gorgeous asian lady gets on at the convention centre, she's just got a handbag and one of those wheeled little suitcases so she brings it into the shuttle with her. last guy gets on and he's got 2 x big duffels. they're in the aisle of the shuttle, and across his & the brit couple's knees. we're jammed in like sardines, but we're off to the airport. first stop is the jetblue counter, and everyone hops off except for us and the stunningly gorgeous conventioneer lady. all their bags are unloaded, then it's off to the southwest terminal for us. we pile out, our luggage is unloaded, and it's check in time.

southwest are such a fun airline to fly. they're great to us and i know they've had a bad rep from others, but we had nothing but good things to say. we notice they have curbside check in, and we've got our confirmation details. they work for tips as there is no charge for curbside check in. our attendant/checker-in-er person is jerome and he's got the most wonderful southern accent. he says y'all and n'awlins and he's got this amazing drawl going on. he's fascinated by my aussie accent & loves the way we say words like fabulous and awesome. we have a mutual appreciation thing going on while he's getting our boarding passes, and we over-over tip him cause he's so good to us. through TSA (again, barely a 2-3 min wait) and we're old pros. we've got our shoes off while we're waiting in line to have our passport scanned, medicine & 3-1-1 liquid bag already out, and kindles/laptops already out & ready to put in the little scanning boxes. we're through the line with no beeps and no pat downs this time (yay) and on our way to the shuttle. MCO shuttle train thingy takes us to our gate and of course, it's the furtherest away again. get our seats and relax.

we'd paid an extra $10 for early boarding and got nice seats at the front of the plane, all together. our boarding positions are a 23-25 respectively, so we're the 23 and 24 and 25th people on the plane. great... everyone finds their seats and we're pushing back from the gate. it's a 5 hr flight from mco to vegas and we'll be arriving around 6pm. we arrive without incident, get our bags nice & easy and get in a cab. we're heading to the tropicana, and we get there quickly, although he takes back roads so we haven't yet seen the strip. we're exhausted, so we find our rooms, check around (no mini bar but that's probably cause they want you in the casino instead of the room). we go to nikki cafe & order our dinner to go. we want our pjs, dinner in the room together without the fuss of talking over all the noise in the restaurant, and an early night so we can go out tomorrow & see the sights. carlo has a vege burger

i get the night's special which is a philly cheese steak roll with side salad

and trina gets spaghetti & meatballs done up all fancy. we retreat to our separate rooms (we got a connecting suite, so trina is in one room, carlo and i in the other). with the connecting door shut, no noise seeps through, which is lovely. i read for a while, just chillin and carlo flicks through the tv channels. we find one doing law & order: criminal intent re-runs, but they're eps i haven't seen before. yay. i fall asleep to the sound of jeff goldblum. bliss.

 

[australiankaren]

Hey
Really enjoying the trip report, the details are lol....that's the great thing about traveling, you realize you can do/put up with anything......and that crazy things happen.

Sorry to hear about your flight in economy v Australia...as my dh says..that's why they invented premium economy......he refuses to travel anything less....he's just getting old and cranky.

Keep reporting, can't wait to see how it ends up.

 

[alicia1506]

Hey
Really enjoying the trip report, the details are lol....that's the great thing about traveling, you realize you can do/put up with anything......and that crazy things happen.

Sorry to hear about your flight in economy v Australia...as my dh says..that's why they invented premium economy......he refuses to travel anything less....he's just getting old and cranky.

Keep reporting, can't wait to see how it ends up.

yeah, we hated economy, but we got a great deal and the price diff between economy and premium was going to be about $2000 -- we decided that was more money for souvenirs, but having experienced economy ... i don't know, it might have been worth it then again, that spare money came in handy with our huge room service bills -- but the food was so worth it

trying to plan a solo europe tour for about 2 weeks and thinking premium may be the way to go... or at least a single seat with no-one in front of me if i can reserve my seat way in advance

 

[battymum]

just remember you can get annoying people beside you in PE as well - its just luck of the draw..to me those seats dont look that much better, .... now a fully flat bed in business would be heaven ... but never in my budget!

 

[alicia1506]

just remember you can get annoying people beside you in PE as well - its just luck of the draw..to me those seats dont look that much better, .... now a fully flat bed in business would be heaven ... but never in my budget!

mine either -- in fact, for my solo europe vacation in september, i think i'm going to be doing economy again as well... but i liked being near the gallery and the 'disabled' toilet -- lots of room to walk around near the gallery, it was a little quieter, and the disabled toilet was just a nicer, larger space, rather than the tiny, tiny little boxes of the other bathrooms much easier to change pants from yoga pants for the plane to proper pants for the rest of the day when you have room to actually move especially when you're 5'10 like me