WEDNESDAY MAY 11TH
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We didn`t hang around long in here today, it was exceptionally busy and the stores which have the cabinet that moves around and so on, you just couldn`t move in, so we headed back out the sunshine and just caught this before it disappeared and went dull again.....it did look like it was on fire.
Great taste! My daughter bought the same shirt during our last trip. She wears it frequently at home
along MamaKate…….good to see you here and hope you enjoy it……
I’m dyin
The sandbag people are always a make or break for all of us
I too love the dedications in the windows!We were meeting Lindsey now, and just before we managed to catch the little parade, that of course was ending soon which was a shame as it was a good little show and very entertaining. Universal have some very talented people working for them, some of the artists in these parades are outstanding.
And of course there`s minions and Gru!
I had wanted to capture this window below as it had been revamped since the death of Blaine Kern in 2020. I had forgotten to look for it in December, so we made sure to capture it this time.
Many second floor windows have some kind of nod to Universal Executives and behind the scenes employees, but this one was quite special as Blaine Kerns is the man responsible for bringing the extravaganza that is the Mardi Gras Parade to the Studios and of course the success it has become over the years.
Quite a touching tribute to the man whose name will now forever overlook the spot where the parade begins and ends every evening it runs during Mardi Gras. His vision and creation will certainly live on for many years to come.
I do love the way the Scenic Decor Department work in Universal and pay heartfelt tributes to so many people who were so important over the years even from the early days and helped make Universal the success it is.
We headed inside and had a good wander around......this place hasn`t changed much in years, although the lady who used to work here is long gone. She used to come up silently behind you and gently touch you on the arm with a rubber arm.....she got me many times, well, it is the right place to get a scare!
There are so many pieces of movie memorabilia around and fascinating to see some images that aren`t widely seen by the general public and if you are an old Universal movie buff which we do love, you`ll enjoy wandering around here before the show starts. It wouldn`t take long, maybe 10-15 minutes and you`ll see all their displays in that time.
Jack Pierce was a make up artist who always paid great tribute to Boris Karloff who sat in the chair for 8 hours a day first getting his make up painstakingly adhered to his face, then again another 4 hours to gently remove it too. I couldn`t imagine that amount of patience by both the artist and actor to do this day after day till the movie was completed.
But, the effects look amazing in the movies and although it was way back then, the style the mastered did have an authentic look....and very scary too for me as a child in the early 1970`s watching these classics. My parents didn`t really believe they were genuine horror movies for some reason, so I was allowed to watch them from quite a young age and grew to love them so much. Although my older brothers took great fun in terrorising me after they had finished.......well, that`s what brothers do
Abbott and Costello are curiously overlooked masterpieces, they are funny and very clever the way they incorporated the classic monsters into their simple humorous movies....but it worked well, we love these movies too and have the boxset that sits alongside all the classic Universal monster movies......we watch them far too often!!!
But, they are also eulogised in here too with a picture or two of their movies.
We bought this print many years ago and it adorns the room we watch most of our movies in.....it`s not really a sitting room type of picture, but fits with other movie images we have in there too.
Again with Psycho.......some classic pictures that aren`t so well known the way the promotion pictures are.
We would have LOVED to have seen the Psycho house when it was here......it`s something we don`t see a lot of pictures of it around anymore.
Herman Munster......another wonderful show that was a spin off from the old scary tales......
Our lovely Lindsey had joined us and we were looking forward to seeing the show together. It had been a while since we had watched it and she said it had changed a little.......
We didn`t use EP but we ended up in a wonderful front row seat where we got the best view of everything. The way it`s set up there are no bad seats, so don`t worry if it`s busy and you`re not at the front, you`ll still see everything.
Summer is amazing! She really is fabulous and has worked at Universal for years.....I want to say right from the start, but I`m not sure and she has worked as many characters around the park. I had no idea who she actually was till this trip but in looking at older pictures we have seen her lots of times. Very clever and very funny lady. Her on stage partner is also so funny and they do put on a good show.
Without giving spoilers, don`t miss this show. They still do the old favourite line of not having to be nice to you as this isn`t Disneywhich always get a good old guffaw of laughter, but they have added some new comments about the Kardashians and so on. The show itself is entertaining and maybe for some it might be a little gory, but it really isn`t. They talk about make up processes over the years and how far they`ve come along since the original days.
We thoroughly enjoyed today and spending time with Lindsey in the park was a lot of fun too. She was heading off to see the new HHN Boutique that had opened in IOA and was a vacation themed HHN store......we were looking forward to seeing that another day! Then she was working this afternoon, so we`d see her later too.
Lindsey is indeed a very special young lady.....I think I said it before, as soon as we met her, we felt as if we`d known her forever and of course once we knew she loved HHN more than anyone else we know, we knew we`d get along like a house on fire......it was like having a bonus daughter! And we`d be able to spend some more time with her later in the trip.
We said our goodbyes and decided we wanted some lunch.......now, we knew the Monsters Cafe was closing, I think everyone knew it just hadn`t been announced, but we thought we`d grab something from there before it closed. It`s not a place we usually eat in, but one last time would work today for us as we were so close.......
Apparently we weren`t destined to eat here.......it had just closed. Of course.
To be honest, it never served the best food, we much prefer table service as the food was always cool by the time you paid and sat down, but hey ho, it`s gone now and of course it`s rumoured to be opening as a full scale restaurant in Epic Universe which sounds like a much cooler experience!
We were thinking of where to go for lunch now.....Finnegans was close, but we really don`t like the food from there at all.....very overrated, but we do like to go in for a drink at the bar, but that`s about it.
So, Tom quite likes NBC. We`ve had good and bad experiences in here and I was reluctant to try it again as they had not pulled it out the hat in the last 3 visits we`ve had......but Tom`s choice today, so NBC it was.
It was deserted......the Marie Celeste had nothing on this. I`ve never seen this place as empty.......but we got taken to a table right at the far end of the place, which was ok by us as we like to see the grill go when the chef`s are cooking.....although I doubted they`d be cooking much today, we counted 7 other people in.
We should have paid attention when our waiter barely grunted at us and tapped the barcode to indicate there was no paper menu....well, ok then. He said one word.......drinks? I was getting a bad feeling about this waiter.....his eyes were darting around the restaurant as he waited for us to order something despite us not having looked at the menu yet......so I just asked for water as did Tom....I guess he realised he wasn`t making a lot of money out of us today.
He brought the waters and another family were seated to our side and he was exactly the same way with them.
I ordered the brisket quesadilla and Tom ordered the Club sandwich, no avocado with a side of tator tots.......not much to go wrong there.
We waited a fairly short amount of time and they arrived, our waiter still hadn`t uttered a word yet.
Tom`s sandwich had avocado on it, he hates it......but I took it as I like it, and it did look lovely, very fresh and he did really enjoy it.
Mine was......well....
I ate Tom`s tator tots, the pineapple relish and the dip and that was it.
At this point Marcel Marceau, aka Jorge, came by and removed the plates without checking if we were done or asking how it was........hmmm.
I was ready to leave by now, and was going to catch his ever roaming eye for the check when he practically ran past us dropping off the check as he went.....no pleasantries like I`ll get that when you`re ready or, no rush.......so we put the money inside and he rolled past even faster and picked up the check and disappeared without one word....not even did we need change........and certainly not even a Thank you in there anywhere.
I hate rudeness.
We were actually shocked at how rude this guy had been. I watched him serve the other table and he was the same way, completely disinterested and downright lacking in the basics of manners.
We didn`t need change, but when we got up to leave, the man on the other table commented to us that we also got the worst waiter in the world too.......yep, this guy was something else.
Yes, we should have spoken to the manager.....but, we didn`t. To be honest I don`t think it would do any good. But, when we got home I left an honest review on TripAdvisor. Usually I hate leaving negative reviews, so if we have a bad experience, I just won`t bother leaving one, although we very rarely have a bad experience anywhere in America so it`s a non issue, but I was angry by the time we left.
At times we`re too British and don`t like to complain, but this was once we should have.
We headed down to get a boat as one had just pulled in and we vowed never to return there again. That was the last time we`d try it.
Always time for a picture..........
We got back home, got the ipad out and I did go straight on TripAdvisor and left an honest review of our experience.....I hated doing it, but I was glad I did it for once.
It was nice getting in the cool for an hour or so, and we both showered and changed and headed down to the lobby where we were meeting our lovely friend for a good old chinwag for a couple of hours. He was setting off for a few days to his favourite vacation spot so it was going to be nice to have a proper catch up with him before he left. To say we think he is the nicest man on earth is an understatement and my husband often jokes I prefer him to Tom.......lol.....but we had a lovely few hours just chatting about anything and everything and generally catching up. We`d see him when he go back anyway, but this had been lovely and we so appreciated him taking the time for us today
We headed over to the lounge and chatted to all the staff again including Lindsey who we had enjoyed seeing her earlier too. I`d had an idea that I was going to try to pull off in the next few days.........
I enjoyed a couple of glasses of red in the lounge, but as Tom was again driving, he was on coffee........
Tonight we were going to visit Nagoya Sushi. Just off Sand Lake Rd, this place is tucked away in a small mall area almost, hidden behind where Toojays is, so only a short car ride away....
We hadn`t booked but we got a table by the window and we did think once we might like to sit at the bar and watch those amazing chefs create those splendid dishes....we`d do that another time.
As I`d already had some wine and Tom was driving I ordered a half bottle of Cabernet, and it was very nice indeed, Tom I think had lemonade tonight.
The menu here is beautiful....and huge!!! So many choices we`d love to try and not enough nights......we haven`t had their sushi these past few trips but they have the most amazing creations to opt from.
I finally opted for the Teppan shrimp, scallop and sirloin which came with stir fried veg, two dipping sauces, fried rice and miso soup to start.
Tom went for one of his favourites, Chilean Seabass in a rice wine sauce.
Both dishes were heavenly......and I mean heavenly.........
The food was exceptional, steak was rare as requested, seafood perfect and Tom`s Seabass was light and full of flavour and the sauces, miso soup and rice were all wonderful accompaniments.
The staff here are the nicest and most well mannered staff anywhere......they are lovely people who take great pride in their restaurant and food quality. The restaurant itself is very small and you could almost pass it by and not notice it if you didn`t know it was there, but it is highly recommended not just from us, but so many folks have also suggested we go if they don`t realise we know about it. It`s full of locals and very few tourists which we love!! But, it`s a definite highlight of our trip.
We paid the check and said we wanted to come back again this trip as it`s too good to only visit once, then headed to the car where the sky was ominous and you could feel there was a storm building around us.
Back home, we got into our jammies and opened a bottle of wine and watched some tv as well as the storm that was wonderful to watch from these huge windows......seeing the sky light up and then the rumbles which were incredibly loud is a nice way for us to spend an evening. Storms in the UK are never as good as they are here.
So, that was our evening.......we`d had a lovely day, lunch excluded but we had enjoyed some park time and spent time with Lindsey and then a few hours with our friend in the afternoon then had a wonderful evening with some of the best food we`d ever had.
I can never remember which movie we watched at night, but it wasn`t long till we were yawning our heads off and that comfy bed in the other room was calling to us!
The quality is so good in those Universal shirts, they’ll last forever! I do like that shirt too.
If you go in the KA entrance next to the Leaky Cauldron and look up to the left as you wander in, you’ll see it there. It does change from burning so keep watching
Yes, DEb, I'd love to hear your review of Walker Mobility and any hints to help. Keisha shadow has been very helpful too.
Used Walker Mobility many times. They delivered to PBH in lobby when they said they would. Paid ahead of time. Once had an issue with a battery and they came to replace. Chairs were in good condition, lasted all day and night, charged in rooms in evening. This was our contact there - Nancy Buffill <NBuffill@walkermobility.com>.
Thank you Deb. That sounds like a good company too.
