Fun, Sun & Strong Water Rum...*Yo-Ho*...23 Nights @ Sapphire Falls...A May 2022 TR

[schumigirl]

Once I commented again I started getting them it's so weird.

Lol we would!

That's so rude of her!

Yay that's amazing!

Same!

It was great to meet you!

Funny, we popped out the other day for some produce and a woman close to me sneezed......I did think of this conversation.....lol......

I think she has been moved on for whatever reason, yes, it was incredibly rude, she just wasn`t the usual standard of lady you normally get on the make up counters. Normally they go out of their way to compliment you!!

Yes, everyone is thrilled about the no testing anymore, such a relief being able to get excited about trips again.

It was so nice meeting up but glad you really enjoyed Strong Water........

 

[schumigirl]

SUNDAY MAY 8TH​

We rather surprisingly were up with the larks today, both of us, but we took our time getting ready as today was completely onsite, so no rushing anywhere. We were over in the Club Lounge for breakfast around 8.30, we had to wait till 9am for champagne as it was Sunday, but we could both enjoy a glass today as no driving was involved at any point. I think Tom enjoyed being able to have a glass or two this morning, and like me he didn`t bother with the fruit juice.

Breakfast was light and we sat and chatted for a while, but we wanted to get back over to Sapphire as we were planning to do some laundry and of course chat to Kyle as we had to wait till he got home from where the early race was this morning and we were excited to hear how he had got on, hoping he`d be home by now.

I sent him a message on Facetime to say we would be back in 5-10 minutes and was he around for a chat....he replied yes, he`s call us on the ipad in 10 minutes.

We went down to the laundry room and put in our washing load, which was a lot and we had only been here a week! But, the laundry room in Sapphire is quite large and has lots of machines for everyone. The one at RP is very small and if you happen to be unlucky and folks are using them, you have to keep coming back.

Unlike RP where there is one laundry room per tower, there is only one large room for all of the hotel and it is on the very lowest floor of Guest House 2 which was handy for us.

It is also the pet floor. We heard two dogs who were just continually barking when we passed....that would drive me nuts! You have to feel sorry for the pets left behind like that, but even more sorry for folks that are close having to listen to that. I did notice a smell in the corridor this visit which was all dog smell. I will say I didn`t notice it the next time we used the laundry room, but I`m so glad we`re not down here. I do have a very keen sense of smell though, but I did think it was strong.

We used the change machine to buy washing powder and had quarters for the washer, filled one up and noted what time we had to be back for as we wouldn`t like to hog a machine and leave the clothes after the machine had finished, even though there are plenty, you never know how busy it`s going to be.

Headed back up and was just in time to set up the ipad on the dining room table and Kyle called.......he was buzzing!!! And he had on his event tee shirt he got from taking part and his medal.....first 10K medal. He had loved it and was thrilled with the position he had finished in, he also sent us some pictures from the media so we saw him as he crossed the finish line as well as a couple of times through the race! We were thrilled for him and he told us he had signed up with some others from his running club for a half marathon in October, so he was loving this running lark.....far too healthy for us!!!

We chatted some more but got back to his run which was marvellous to hear about and we were so proud of him!!!

Eventually we said bye, and then we went back down to empty the washer (very glamorous) and pop some of it in the dryer. There are some items we don`t tumble dry, so they came back up with us, popped them on hangers and left them over the line on the bath, they`d dry in no time at all. Once we had our dried clothes ironed and put away we began to get ready for The Mother`s Day Brunch.

We had mentioned to Fernando on our first night we planned to book before we arrived, he said he`d book it for us which was kind of him and we were going at the same time as him and his lovely wife again. We were looking forward to this today and we were glad we had such a light breakfast.

Fernando and Mrs Fernando were already there when we arrived, it`s always a pleasure to see them both and his lady wife is just lovely. She did admonish us for sending her so much chocolate.......lol......but we had such a lovely catch up and shared some tales together. We had met their son on several occasions including last Mother`s Day Brunch we were at, he`s just as nice too.

And of course with it being Mother`s Day........champagne time!!

The food was as good as we remembered from our previous visit, I went straight for the seafood.......oysters, oysters, oysters and then some more with the odd shrimp flung in and some smoked salmon too.......

Crab claws, mussels, mini ceviche were all on offer too on the seafood bar, probably my favourite part of the whole brunch.

Churrasco beef was tender and tasty, and Tom and I chose the rarer parts which were divine!!!

With beef, there was also a rib of beef, but the picture was dreadful and blurry for some reason. I have to say the lighting for the heat lamps, it was not good for pictures.

Salmon in some kind of a sauce, we didn`t try that dish.

Roast duck legs.......I did have one to try and it was surprisingly nice. I like my duck pink, but this was cooked through, even so it was still very nice, I expected it to be dry and it wasn`t. Tom enjoyed his too.

Sausage and potatoes.

The maple carrots were absolutely divine.....who knew a carrot could be so delicious!!! But why they had to be topped with the veg of the devil.....green beans!!!! Once I got them out of the way, the carrots were beautiful.

There was a coffee rubbed pork which I wasn`t keen on too much, I only tried a tiny piece as it was beside the Rib of Beef which was gorgeous. It wasn`t as rare as we like it when we went up, but we could have gone back up of course. It was beautiful, but the pork which we usually love, wasn`t for us today.

For Tom and I, it was all about the seafood.........although Tom doesn`t like oysters at all, so that was the only thing he missed. I didn`t try the ceviche as it had cilantro in it, Tom did try one and said it wasn`t too bad the flavour was more citrus, but he only had one.

I admit, I did lose count as to how many oysters and shrimp I had!!! Especially the oysters. Although I didn`t eat as many as I thought I would.......

Dessert is not my thing really, Tom on the other hand is all about the desserts and he loved wandering round and choosing what was next!!

The little blue pots ended up being my favourite out of everything.....they were buttermilk panna cotta and tiny as they were, they were full of flavour and I did eat four or five of them in the end......well, they are tiny!!

One of my favourite desserts when I do eat it is Creme Brulee.......but this one wasn`t my favourite. It was slightly too set and more like a set custard, it was tasty, but I only had the one.

Tom is like Kyle and likes a rich chocolate dessert, so he very much enjoyed this plate below along with some other bites from the offerings.

We had enjoyed a lovely lunch with some wonderful company today, enjoyed a couple of glasses of champagne and we were now full!!! And of course we had to get a picture with our friends.....it really had been wonderful and god willing we`d do the same again next year.

It`s really not the same without the water wheel running.....we always meant to ask when it would be running again, but always forgot. It`s still such a lovely view from the little outdoor area of the restaurant.

I did like my rose........

We have enjoyed 3 brunches here now and they have all been wonderful. You get some wonderful food and it is replenished regularly so everything is fresh, the quality is good and all in all we`ll happily do one again. We chatted to Chef Chris who we have met before and he was happy to hear we had enjoyed the brunch. We cannot recommend them highly enough.

We said our goodbye`s and went back to watch some of the Miami Grand Prix.....not a fan of the circuit and ended up falling asleep for an hour on that comfortable sofa.......I think Tom was the same on the other end of it, yes, that`s how good the GP was.

Then, we freshened up and headed over to the Club lounge where they had made up a special Mother`s Day cocktail........

It was sweet I have to say, but it was nice and I think it was Caitlyn, one of the lovely supervisors who had made it up, it was a nice touch for such a special day.

The flower didn`t last long!

We very much enjoyed our time in the lounge and some nights were just full of laughter.

Not that we were eating, but tonight the option was chicken tenders and mac n cheese which is always a popular choice with guests for some reason. We had no room even to try some salad. It was stick a fork in us.....we were done......

We chatted to Lindsey and Raphael and when it quietened down we could chat some more, but we eventually set off to go back to Sapphire to get changed as we had decided to have a pool night tonight.

Once changed we headed down to the pool and found a couple of loungers in an ideal position beside the pool and we had a good view of the screen for whatever movie they were showing. It was a little breezy but we hoped it would die down a little.

I ordered the Drhum Club Punch which was Light Rum, Malibu Coconut Rum, pineapple, orange juice, grenadine, Tom ordered the Frozen Falls Margarita and they were both nice enough, but nothing sparkling.

It was getting breezier now and I wasn`t convinced this was as much fun as we thought it would be......

It didn`t get any better. I was cold. I was sitting by the pool in Florida, it was a temperate 75F and I was actually cold.

I do have the reputation of being a lizard......and I really am. When the sun shines and it`s warm......I`m out there......soon as it cools down, I`m retreating inside.......lol.....

One of my brothers thinks it`s hilarious I get cold in such heat, a temperature that would be considered completely tropical in the UK.......but, I can`t help it!!

We lasted not much longer before we did retreat to get changed again.....it was blowing a gale!!! And we never did find out what the movie was going to be.

So, as we had both had a drink, no driving tonight for us.......although we weren`t hungry right now, we did think later we might like a little nibble of something. We considered heading back to Orchids for sushi, but in the end we meandered to Strong Water again......no surprises there.

I ordered a Rum Lore, one of Anthony`s creations and Tom went for an Old Fashioned but with a twist and I can`t remember what he had different in this one but it was different from the usual, he did enjoy it though. Too strong for me.

When I said I was cold, Anthony said he had something he`d like my opinion on.......always a pleasure of course.....and I was thrilled when he produced a real pot of tea, made from English Breakfast tea but he had infused it with Rosemary, something I`d never tried before.

It was delicious. It did have a lot of rosemary, so I could swirl the stalks around to get even more flavour in the tea. It maybe wouldn`t be for everyone, but we loved it and I wondered why I`d never thought of doing it before. We thanked Anthony for the tea and we drank the lot!! He is very inventive for sure.

I don`t know if the tea gave us an appetite but we did feel like something to nibble on now.......so we ordered curried goat and our favourite camarones to share.......

The couple beside us saw what we had ordered and said they`d have the same.......we told them they were both really good but another time to try the Tuna or the new Pinchos on the menu.......I was pleased when they ordered all four dishes, and thankfully they loved them all!!! Phew......nothing like giving a recommendation and it works out!!

We did enjoy our food and it was just enough for us. It was around 9pm so had been a few hours since we had eaten.

Tonight we weren`t planning on staying late, and we didn`t. We said our goodnights and headed back to the suite to watch some tv and maybe have a glass of wine, which we did.

That is a comfy sofa........I sent off some emails and caught up on the internet......and then we were both yawning......I forget what we were watching, but we never saw the end of it. We did put the tv on in the bedroom planning to continue watching the movie, but I fell asleep before Tom even made it to the bedroom.......

We had enjoyed a lovely day, we hadn`t done much at all, but our little quiet and restful day had been fun.

More park time was planned for tomorrow.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

The food


Also you are not the only lizard…..I’m 99% sure I am because I am always cold! I only have a fan in my room no AC! But my astrological sign is a cancer, so the water would not have bothered me lololol!

 

[schumigirl]

The food


Also you are not the only lizard…..I’m 99% sure I am because I am always cold! I only have a fan in my room no AC! But my astrological sign is a cancer, so the water would not have bothered me lololol!

Food was good!!!!

Weird thing is, I love A/C and I hate being too warm in the car, we have our car A/C on constantly and it`s usually pretty cool. Unless it`s freezing outside, even then we never have our car overly warm.

People are always amazed how cold I can be at times........I was born to live in warmer climes I`m pretty sure about that!

 

[Deb1993]

As soon as I saw you had posted I ran to get my cup of coffee so I could relax and read your next installment. Loving your reporting of the trip.

 

[Deb1993]

The Mother's Day brunch looked very nice!

And so good for Kyle to have taken up running with such a lovely group of people. I find it amazing to be able to run for miles.

 

[schumigirl]

As soon as I saw you had posted I ran to get my cup of coffee so I could relax and read your next installment. Loving your reporting of the trip.

lol.....Love it!!! Hope you enjoyed that coffee.......

The Mother's Day brunch looked very nice!

And so good for Kyle to have taken up running with such a lovely group of people. I find it amazing to be able to run for miles.

It was beautiful, we have always been so impressed with the brunches in Amatista.

He has really taken to running so well, the club he joined are amazed at how fast he is and in a relatively short time. I couldn`t run, but do admire anyone who can, and he loves it. Some folks think he is too slim now, but he eats very well, all the right things....but still enjoys meals out and plenty of chocolate treats, he just works them off again........something we need to learn.......lol......

Glad you`re enjoying it

 

[Deb1993]

That's amazing. So nice to have an outlet like running. I like to walk but can only jog a little and then I'm done. I'm sure he looks fantastic - most important to be healthy and happy - no matter what that looks like. His love of chocolate cake is legendary!!

 

[schumigirl]

That's amazing. So nice to have an outlet like running. I like to walk but can only jog a little and then I'm done. I'm sure he looks fantastic - most important to be healthy and happy - no matter what that looks like. His love of chocolate cake is legendary!!

lol....he does love his chocolate cake!!! Just not as often as he used to have it.

Yes, he`s healthy, I think folks just got used to seeing him a certain way, but a 45lbs weight loss on someone who wasn`t really overweight is noticeable. Once he lost it, we realised he did need to lose it. 2 years of pandemic had an affect on so many.

Good for you being able to jog, even a little is still better than nothing at all. We love to walk, and now the weather is improving we plan to walk every day if we can, feet are complaining, but it`s worth it lol......

 

[Deb1993]

lol....he does love his chocolate cake!!! Just not as often as he used to have it.

Yes, he`s healthy, I think folks just got used to seeing him a certain way, but a 45lbs weight loss on someone who wasn`t really overweight is noticeable. Once he lost it, we realised he did need to lose it. 2 years of pandemic had an affect on so many.

Good for you being able to jog, even a little is still better than nothing at all. We love to walk, and now the weather is improving we plan to walk every day if we can, feet are complaining, but it`s worth it lol......

That's fantastic! It is wonderful when you see your child doing all the great things.

Now that DD is home from school for the summer I've been tagging along with her to the gym and DH and I dance a few times a week so I'm grateful for the opportunities to have some fun and get a little exercise in. Because if I'm left to my own devices I'm not doing it. LOL Poor DD tore her other ACL and meniscus at bball practice in October and had her surgery in December and is now rehabbing and training to get back on the court for the upcoming season. She missed her junior year of HS for her left ACL and meniscus so this sort of intense rehab is nothing new to her. Just disappointing. She has her six month post surgical visit this Thursday where they will run her through the paces to see how her training and rehab is coming. She's excited. She works so hard.

 

[schumigirl]

MONDAY MAY 9TH​

And another hot and toasty day lay ahead of us again.....it was forecast to be in the low 90`s maybe high 80`s so a little cooler might be a relief today. We were planning some park time and had a very specific meet and greet to do later, so we were looking forward to that a lot.

As usual headed off to RP for breakfast and again, this walk takes no time at all and kind of wakes us up a little each morning, we always walk indoors, I know you can walk outside to the other hotel, but we appreciate the aircon too much!!

Breakfast was lovely and we got chatting to a very nice family this morning who were enjoying their first stay at Universal, she had read some of these trip reports and wanted to say hello, which was lovely and she had lovely family too who were excited to see the parks for the first time.

The lounge is wonderful for chatting to folks as most are very friendly and we can honestly chat to anyone. Everyone has a story and it`s always so interesting to find out about folks, where they`re from and so on., and we can pass a lot of time chatting.......lol......

We enjoy some toast, croissants and some fruit, and as Tom isn`t driving till tonight, we both enjoy the champagne. I think this is the best addition Club Level has put in for years

Eventually we head off and walk to IOA and again use the AP entrance that was completely deserted this morning.

We were heading straight for the velocicoaster this morning and although we loved Hagrids we weren`t prepared to get up and do EE to ride it again....if we got on all good, if not there`s always the next trip.

The VC was showing a 25 minute wait, so we hot footed it into the line and waited what seemed like no time at all, it was probably 15-20 minutes or so

And again, for some reason I got so nervous walking in the line. I always get a little excited nervous, but that`s a good feeling and if Tom had said he didn`t want to ride I`d have happily walked off........so I had to kick this starnge fear as I love this ride!!! So, we asked for the back row again (I`m a glutton for punishment) and I hesitatently got on and pulled that harness down for all it was worth......here we go again...........

Once we set off, it was as magnificent as ever!!! Tom woooohooooed the whole way round and I almost managed to let go and wave my arms in the air the whole way round.........almost!! I chickened out just as you go over the top hat......holy moly.......I don`t think I had pulled the harness down as far as it could go.......and I just had to grab on as it did feel like I was completely falling out.......but laughing at the same time!! This is a phenomenal coaster in every aspect. It does mess with your hair though........

​

We got off and planned to go on again, but the line was significantly longer than before, so we headed off to the Lost Continent for a wander and hoped to catch the Talking Fountain as we hadn`t engaged for a while with it. It is so funny and the humour they sometimes impart with is so funny, and most of it goes over kids heads but us adults can pick up on it. They are very clever.

We did have a good old listen as he engaged with an over excited 7 year old who loved getting soaked in all the ways the Fountain could offer......he was drenched and you`ve never seen a happier child anywhere......and he was from Chicago so the Fountain had a full conversation about where he lived, it was so cute and that child left with the biggest smile on his face.

I was so tempted to get a Henna Tattoo.....I think they`re so pretty, but many, many years ago I got one on my hand and I had such an allergic reaction it was scary! My hand swelled up and came out in such an angry rash and it was painful, so my notion for getting another one soon disappeared. Tom glowered when I said I should get one.......lol.......

We popped into the 3B`s for a Pumpkin Fizz, the line was out the door, mainly folks wanting Butterbeer it seemed. All of the tables you used to be able sit and have a drink on were now completely set for diners, which is a shame as we always enjoyed having a 15 minute break in the cool with a soft drink and pass a little time, but there were the 3 stools sat in the corner by the window, so I plonked myself down while Tom stood in the line that was well out the door now.

We did sit for 10 minutes or so and shared the pumpkin fizz. One is enough and we do share it, neither of us like Butterbeer very much, I know...it`s not allowed really is it.......lol......but this we do like.

This is one of those little areas you have to stand and listen to.......and look too. You can see the shadows of the house elf wandering around and you can hear him chatter and rumble about if it`s not too noisy in the restaurant. Just another of the amazing theming going on in these parks.

We come out and someone had mentioned Hagrids may be opening back up soon, we didn`t notice it was down......so we wandered over and one of the TM`s suggested we head on in as we`d be happy if we did........didn`t need to tell us twice......Tom went for the locker, then we headed in and wandered almost to the front of the line.......this had been fantastic!

We turned at one point and the line behind us was now as far as we could see......but we soon hopped on the bike and side car once again.....I got the bike as I much prefer it, so does Tom to be honest, but he prefers I do the bike.......and off we went once again.

This is a wonderful addition to Hogsmeade.......well, Duelling Dragons still wins for our favourite out of the two!! But it is wonderful and very well themed. We love the fast parts and the little surprises are a lot of fun too. We did this in the dark during the OI event and I think I prefer it in the dark, it seems even more exciting than during the day.

There are some amazing elements to this ride but for me, it`s not as good as the wonderful Velocicoaster.

We headed up to do FJ, but we weren`t feeling like it today, so we just wandered around passing some time till our meet and greet later.

The morning passed so quickly and we didn`t go on any other rides, we just meandered slowly around enjoying the sights and sounds of the park that was getting busier by the moment.

But, the highlight of our day was going to be ..........

A meet and greet with Spider-Man

Last night Lindsey had asked us what time we would be in the park today, we told her we usually left around lunchtime, sometimes before or if we were eating in the parks...afterwards, it just depended.

She told us her boyfriend......yep, that`s her boyfriend who really is......Spider-Man was working from 12.30 and if we were still around we could go see him!!!! Well, wild horses wouldn`t stop us heading for this meet.......it`s not something we normally do, if we see characters out, we`ll maybe get a picture, but the Spider-Man meet is something we haven`t done for many years.

By the time we got there, around 6 families were in front of us, so we got to see him in action before we met him. I`m not completely biased, but he is amazing!!!! He was wonderful with a little girl from the family in front of us, she was so young and he was so patient with her, we knew already he was something special.

Lindsey had told him about a "lovely couple" (that`s us ) she had met in the lounge and had told him about several things we had chatted about.....but she hadn`t told him we were going to visit him today, so he had no clue. Lindsey had said when it was our turn, we should introduce ourselves by saying his friend Lindsey says hi.......

So I did.

And he was surprised to say the least.........it was one of those moments that was just cute and funny and can`t really describe how much fun it was.

I can`t remember what I said to him here, but he was so good at chatting and keeping the conversation going all the while he was trying to remember our names.......lol........

Then he did remember....and turned and said "TOM" out loud........lol.......the folks waiting in line looked a little bemused at this and one kid yelled out.....Spider-Man knows his name........lol........

He leaned in to me and quietly said he was so sorry he forgot what mine was....I laughed while Tom teased me that Spider-Man knew his name.........Spider-Man then asked me if he should have a time out for forgetting mine.........I said yes, but he soon came back......

We had such fun and it was a little more than a normal meet, which made it all the more special.......

He was funny, and very, very good at his job and I think I had a little "mother" crush on Spider-Man..........

We did have a brief little chat before the next family came in, and we did get the feeling that this was an exceptional young man and him and Lindsey made the cutest couple who were made for each other. They absolutely adored each other and it showed.

But, for us, this had been very special and we had loved this experience, I did suggest Tom should have come in for a picture, but he is happiest behind the camera.

We left this meet and greet with the biggest smiles on our faces!!!




Lunch coming up

 

[schumigirl]

That's fantastic! It is wonderful when you see your child doing all the great things.

Now that DD is home from school for the summer I've been tagging along with her to the gym and DH and I dance a few times a week so I'm grateful for the opportunities to have some fun and get a little exercise in. Because if I'm left to my own devices I'm not doing it. LOL Poor DD tore her other ACL and meniscus at bball practice in October and had her surgery in December and is now rehabbing and training to get back on the court for the upcoming season. She missed her junior year of HS for her left ACL and meniscus so this sort of intense rehab is nothing new to her. Just disappointing. She has her six month post surgical visit this Thursday where they will run her through the paces to see how her training and rehab is coming. She's excited. She works so hard.

Oh goodness, bless her! What a lot she has gone through, and so young too!!! Well all good wishes for her on Thursday, hope she gets some good news about her recovery and they`re pleased with her. I can imagine how much she has done to improve.

I remember when Kyle had major back surgery when he was 18, it was so traumatic but he recovered in record time, well, young folks do. He got the surgery in August and started University in late September......there was a lot of praying there as well as getting him walking as soon as he was home!!!

I`m kinda like you.....if Tom and I didn`t motivate each other, we probably wouldn`t do as much as we do......on cold wet wintery mornings though, not much can motivate us!!! Dancing sounds fun........

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Love that Spider-Man story!

 

[Deb1993]

Oh goodness, bless her! What a lot she has gone through, and so young too!!! Well all good wishes for her on Thursday, hope she gets some good news about her recovery and they`re pleased with her. I can imagine how much she has done to improve.

I remember when Kyle had major back surgery when he was 18, it was so traumatic but he recovered in record time, well, young folks do. He got the surgery in August and started University in late September......there was a lot of praying there as well as getting him walking as soon as he was home!!!

I`m kinda like you.....if Tom and I didn`t motivate each other, we probably wouldn`t do as much as we do......on cold wet wintery mornings though, not much can motivate us!!! Dancing sounds fun........

Always tough to watch our dear children go through difficult times but they are so strong and resilient!!!

 

[Deb1993]

MONDAY MAY 9TH​

And another hot and toasty day lay ahead of us again.....it was forecast to be in the low 90`s maybe high 80`s so a little cooler might be a relief today. We were planning some park time and had a very specific meet and greet to do later, so we were looking forward to that a lot.

As usual headed off to RP for breakfast and again, this walk takes no time at all and kind of wakes us up a little each morning, we always walk indoors, I know you can walk outside to the other hotel, but we appreciate the aircon too much!!

Breakfast was lovely and we got chatting to a very nice family this morning who were enjoying their first stay at Universal, she had read some of these trip reports and wanted to say hello, which was lovely and she had lovely family too who were excited to see the parks for the first time.

The lounge is wonderful for chatting to folks as most are very friendly and we can honestly chat to anyone. Everyone has a story and it`s always so interesting to find out about folks, where they`re from and so on., and we can pass a lot of time chatting.......lol......

We enjoy some toast, croissants and some fruit, and as Tom isn`t driving till tonight, we both enjoy the champagne. I think this is the best addition Club Level has put in for years

Eventually we head off and walk to IOA and again use the AP entrance that was completely deserted this morning.

We were heading straight for the velocicoaster this morning and although we loved Hagrids we weren`t prepared to get up and do EE to ride it again....if we got on all good, if not there`s always the next trip.

The VC was showing a 25 minute wait, so we hot footed it into the line and waited what seemed like no time at all, it was probably 15-20 minutes or so

And again, for some reason I got so nervous walking in the line. I always get a little excited nervous, but that`s a good feeling and if Tom had said he didn`t want to ride I`d have happily walked off........so I had to kick this starnge fear as I love this ride!!! So, we asked for the back row again (I`m a glutton for punishment) and I hesitatently got on and pulled that harness down for all it was worth......here we go again...........

Once we set off, it was as magnificent as ever!!! Tom woooohooooed the whole way round and I almost managed to let go and wave my arms in the air the whole way round.........almost!! I chickened out just as you go over the top hat......holy moly.......I don`t think I had pulled the harness down as far as it could go.......and I just had to grab on as it did feel like I was completely falling out.......but laughing at the same time!! This is a phenomenal coaster in every aspect. It does mess with your hair though........

​

We got off and planned to go on again, but the line was significantly longer than before, so we headed off to the Lost Continent for a wander and hoped to catch the Talking Fountain as we hadn`t engaged for a while with it. It is so funny and the humour they sometimes impart with is so funny, and most of it goes over kids heads but us adults can pick up on it. They are very clever.

We did have a good old listen as he engaged with an over excited 7 year old who loved getting soaked in all the ways the Fountain could offer......he was drenched and you`ve never seen a happier child anywhere......and he was from Chicago so the Fountain had a full conversation about where he lived, it was so cute and that child left with the biggest smile on his face.

I was so tempted to get a Henna Tattoo.....I think they`re so pretty, but many, many years ago I got one on my hand and I had such an allergic reaction it was scary! My hand swelled up and came out in such an angry rash and it was painful, so my notion for getting another one soon disappeared. Tom glowered when I said I should get one.......lol.......

We popped into the 3B`s for a Pumpkin Fizz, the line was out the door, mainly folks wanting Butterbeer it seemed. All of the tables you used to be able sit and have a drink on were now completely set for diners, which is a shame as we always enjoyed having a 15 minute break in the cool with a soft drink and pass a little time, but there were the 3 stools sat in the corner by the window, so I plonked myself down while Tom stood in the line that was well out the door now.

We did sit for 10 minutes or so and shared the pumpkin fizz. One is enough and we do share it, neither of us like Butterbeer very much, I know...it`s not allowed really is it.......lol......but this we do like.

This is one of those little areas you have to stand and listen to.......and look too. You can see the shadows of the house elf wandering around and you can hear him chatter and rumble about if it`s not too noisy in the restaurant. Just another of the amazing theming going on in these parks.

We come out and someone had mentioned Hagrids may be opening back up soon, we didn`t notice it was down......so we wandered over and one of the TM`s suggested we head on in as we`d be happy if we did........didn`t need to tell us twice......Tom went for the locker, then we headed in and wandered almost to the front of the line.......this had been fantastic!

We turned at one point and the line behind us was now as far as we could see......but we soon hopped on the bike and side car once again.....I got the bike as I much prefer it, so does Tom to be honest, but he prefers I do the bike.......and off we went once again.

This is a wonderful addition to Hogsmeade.......well, Duelling Dragons still wins for our favourite out of the two!! But it is wonderful and very well themed. We love the fast parts and the little surprises are a lot of fun too. We did this in the dark during the OI event and I think I prefer it in the dark, it seems even more exciting than during the day.

There are some amazing elements to this ride but for me, it`s not as good as the wonderful Velocicoaster.

We headed up to do FJ, but we weren`t feeling like it today, so we just wandered around passing some time till our meet and greet later.

The morning passed so quickly and we didn`t go on any other rides, we just meandered slowly around enjoying the sights and sounds of the park that was getting busier by the moment.

But, the highlight of our day was going to be ..........

A meet and greet with Spider-Man

Last night Lindsey had asked us what time we would be in the park today, we told her we usually left around lunchtime, sometimes before or if we were eating in the parks...afterwards, it just depended.

She told us her boyfriend......yep, that`s her boyfriend who really is......Spider-Man was working from 12.30 and if we were still around we could go see him!!!! Well, wild horses wouldn`t stop us heading for this meet.......it`s not something we normally do, if we see characters out, we`ll maybe get a picture, but the Spider-Man meet is something we haven`t done for many years.

By the time we got there, around 6 families were in front of us, so we got to see him in action before we met him. I`m not completely biased, but he is amazing!!!! He was wonderful with a little girl from the family in front of us, she was so young and he was so patient with her, we knew already he was something special.

Lindsey had told him about a "lovely couple" (that`s us ) she had met in the lounge and had told him about several things we had chatted about.....but she hadn`t told him we were going to visit him today, so he had no clue. Lindsey had said when it was our turn, we should introduce ourselves by saying his friend Lindsey says hi.......

So I did.

And he was surprised to say the least.........it was one of those moments that was just cute and funny and can`t really describe how much fun it was.

I can`t remember what I said to him here, but he was so good at chatting and keeping the conversation going all the while he was trying to remember our names.......lol........

Then he did remember....and turned and said "TOM" out loud........lol.......the folks waiting in line looked a little bemused at this and one kid yelled out.....Spider-Man knows his name........lol........

He leaned in to me and quietly said he was so sorry he forgot what mine was....I laughed while Tom teased me that Spider-Man knew his name.........Spider-Man then asked me if he should have a time out for forgetting mine.........I said yes, but he soon came back......

We had such fun and it was a little more than a normal meet, which made it all the more special.......

He was funny, and very, very good at his job and I think I had a little "mother" crush on Spider-Man..........

We did have a brief little chat before the next family came in, and we did get the feeling that this was an exceptional young man and him and Lindsey made the cutest couple who were made for each other. They absolutely adored each other and it showed.

But, for us, this had been very special and we had loved this experience, I did suggest Tom should have come in for a picture, but he is happiest behind the camera.

We left this meet and greet with the biggest smiles on our faces!!!




Lunch coming up

Awww, Spiderman is adorable!! How lovely for Lindsey and her superhero!

 

[schumigirl]

Love that Spider-Man story!

It was the best meet and greet ever!!!

He really was Amazing!!

 

[schumigirl]

Always tough to watch our dear children go through difficult times but they are so strong and resilient!!!

It really is, you never want to see anything bad happen to them, but I agree, their resilience is remarkable.

Awww, Spiderman is adorable!! How lovely for Lindsey and her superhero!

He really is, and when we met them as a couple, they are truly adorable. You know when you see a couple who are just meant to be, that was them.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

What a stand out day! You were glowing in your Spider-Man meet, it’s obvious you were all having the best time!

I love that you just skip a line if it’s too long. You have plenty of time to catch it later.

And you caught Hagrid’s at just the right moment, I really wish that one was included in Express…

I absolutely agree the morning bubbly is a spectacular way to start the day. I hope that is an upgrade they keep in the lounge!

 

[macraven]

Wow!
You were able to spend time with Spider Man which totally impressed me… woot

Spider Man is my favorite at UO
Second is Blues Brothers

Those were great pictures you shared with us

Many thanks for sharing your trip reports with all of us.

 

[schumigirl]

What a stand out day! You were glowing in your Spider-Man meet, it’s obvious you were all having the best time!

I love that you just skip a line if it’s too long. You have plenty of time to catch it later.

And you caught Hagrid’s at just the right moment, I really wish that one was included in Express…

I absolutely agree the morning bubbly is a spectacular way to start the day. I hope that is an upgrade they keep in the lounge!

It was so much fun. Tom took about 40 pictures all in, some were the same, but it really was the most amazing meet and yes......I had a glow for ages after it!!! Spider-Man was phenomenal.........

I do wish Hagrids and VC had Express or we wouldn`t pass them on any day, but until then we will judge the line and decide then. We have ridden VC loads of times so lining up forever isn`t going to happen. Hagrids we`ve only been on it about 5 times, so come on EP, as we would have been tempted not to leave that area at all!!!

I hope so too....it`s been a big hit with guests since they brought it in........yep, nice start to the day!