Wednesday: The One With The Clogger and a Very Special Train Journey Pt. I

Wednesday: The One With The Clogger and a Very Special Train Journey Pt. I

If you’re only interested in all things Disney, you might want to skip today! Today we were headed for Universal. If you're prepared to head to The Dark Side (hehe!) then come along with us...


I have to confess, I’m a big Harry Potter fan. I didn’t want to be. I fought it for as long as possible. I try not to read what other people are reading because someone always spoils it. I did see all of the films when they came out, because a friend of mine is a cinema manager and invited us to the Friends and Family midnight screenings of them (honestly the only way to watch films is in the middle of the night with free pizza!). So I wasn’t completely out of the loop, but I didn’t actually read any of the books until 2012, when I decided that I’d better make the effort, considering that we had Universal tickets for our first trip. Since then I’ve read the full series (by my reckoning) about six times. I have them all on my iPod and they are my regular escapism lunch break reading when I’m at work. John on the other hand hates Harry Potter, J K Rowling, and anything vaguely connected. But he does love Universal Studios.


It was another beautiful day at CBR, as usual!

I can't get over how stunning CBR really is. We'd seen photos before we travelled, but really, it is one of the most beautiful places I've ever stayed. I love it! Sadly there was construction closing the bridge when we were there so we didn't get to do that pretty walk, but we'll save that for next time! We woke up later than planned after our party the night before, so we hurried to Old Port Royale for a quick breakfast, I had a pastry and John had a Chocolate muffin. We must have been late as they had stopped serving the breakfast options! We filled our mugs for the drive, and we were off to Universal STu


We bought park-hopper passes for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure so that we could ride the Hogwarts Express. I can’t tell you how excited I was about getting to go on the train! This came in very handy, as in all my research I completely forgot to check which nights were the Halloween Horror Nights party nights, when Universal Studios closed at 5pm. Originally we debated John going to a HHN and me going to another MNSSHP, as I HATE anything scary/people jumping out at me. I would either end up traumatised, or freak out and panic-punch one of the poor actors, or more likely both. I didn't want to be banished from Universal Studios for abuse of a zombie, so HHN was definitely a no-go for me. Especially as the theme for 2015 was clowns.


NOPE. Not for me. In the end we decided to both do a second MNSSHP as John didn't want to go without me and knew full well that sending me off for an evening alone in MK would probably lead to me never being seen again.  As we had some reservations made and he really couldn't afford to lose me this early on in our trip, we decided it was best to stick together for any Halloween parties.


We parked in VIP parking (well worth the extra $5 in my opinion, especially at the end of the night!), what the heck, we’re on holiday! Normally we would never pay for something like that, but both of us were sore from our long park day the day before. Anything that would rest my legs even a little was fine by me! I do love the trip from the parking lot to the park though...The palm trees and the busy streets below, I don’t enjoy it so much on the way back! We went through bag check, and noticed how young the “veteran” who checked my bag looked (do Disney have special badges for ex-armed forces cast members? I’ve never seen one. I like that Universal do it though). He was definitely quite a lot younger than us. Makes you think.


Every time we get to City Walk, I wonder “who on earth goes through all that fuss, just to go out to dinner or go to the cinema?!” Extortionate parking, the trek to the centre itself, bag check...Seems like an awful lot of effort and expense for a night out! We weren’t there for City Walk though, we had a train to (eventually!) catch! We headed straight to the gates, collected our tickets from the pre-book machines, and went to find a bathroom.

It was SO hot today, and I was really feeling the heat. How many times have I complained about the heat so far?! Sorry! Basically for the duration of the trip, presume I’m about to sink into a melty gelatinous puddle at any second I’m outdoors. That’s where I was at, weather-wise. We don’t get heat like this at home…ever! After finding our bearings and taking a bathroom break, we decided to do something nice and cool indoors, so we went back the way we came, to the Shrek 4D show. No-one could believe that we didn’t do this in 2012 when we went (I think last trip the queue was always full of rowdy cheerleaders in town for some championships or other, so we avoided it like the plague), so we HAD to do it this trip! There was a 20-30min wait, but the video screens were working playing clips, and there were plenty of cool decorations to look at.









The posters crack me up! We are huge cinema nerds. I would pay good money for the “Claws” poster, but sadly they don’t sell them in the gift shop.





The show was really good! Though during the “warm-up” section we had the least excitable group ever...They did NOT want to participate! Boo! Spoilsports! I always worry things won’t live up to the hype, but no, this definitely does. Funny for adults as well as kids, just like the films. Of course, as always, we were respectful visitors to the USA, and followed the number one Florida State Law: Always Exit Through the Gift Shop.  I could have spent a fortune in there on my nephew and nieces, but we had promised them Disney goodies so I was saving my money.

Next we decided to join the Minion Army. Next we SHOULD have decided to buy a drink, but we are foolish, and apparently had not learned that long queues outside are not pleasant places, even if the queue is covered. Off to Gru’s we go!








How sweet is this? I love Agnes and her unicorn, they’re my favourites.



We really enjoyed this ride too! I love simulator rides, The Simpsons Ride and now Minions are two of my favourite rides. If you’ve ever played “Minion Rush”, it felt to us just like being in the game, speeding through the factory! And, of course, the obligatory trip through the gift shop, which took forever as I feel a pull to buy anything with that darn fluffy unicorn on it. Sadly though, our budget wouldn’t stretch that far, so we headed out.


My beloved unicorn. Sadly impossible to get a decent photograph. I should know, I spent long enough trying!

There’s one bit of Universal Studios that I have been excited for ever since I found out about it. A little bit of (almost) home from home (we actually live about 3hrs away from London)...King’s Cross Station! Grimmauld Place! The Knight Bus! Harry Potter! (Bonus points if you read “Harry Potter!” in Dobby’s voice). I grew up on Enid Blyton books, so Harry Potter for me is an extension of all those magical, boarding school, adventure, wonderful happy reading feelings, rolled into one. John, as I mentioned, not so much. But, he dutifully trailed behind me, holding things, waiting for the perfect shots, and taking photographs when I wanted to pop out from behind the camera and actually be IN a photograph for a change!










All aboard!!

Now, I have to say, clearly Universal did try their best, and you can tell they aimed for the highest level of accuracy possible, but sadly, we reached the decision that it could never actually be London. There were far too many litter bins, and absolutely no pigeon poop! Or, for that matter, pigeons!  I still loved it though! On this occasion however, we were just passing through. We had another town to visit first...and "it’s a He!! of a town! The school yard’s up and the shopping mall’s down! Springfield, SPRINGFIELD!!" I love that song from the All-Syrup-Super-Squishee episode...



Last time we were in Universal, there was just The Simpsons ride. I was amazed to see the rest of the town had sprung up around it! We were hungry, so we set off in search of Krusty Burger! I was a little disappointed with the restaurants, if only because all of the storefronts actually led to the same place, where you joined one single queue to get in, and then chose from Lisa’s Teahouse of Horror, Cletus’ Chicken Shack, Krusty Burger, or Moe’s Tavern counters, like you would in a mall food court. I thought it was a shame that they didn’t keep them all as separate restaurants and continue the themeing into the seating areas. But, never mind.

I got Chicken Thumbs and Tots from Cletus’ Chicken Shack...


and John got The Clogger from Krusty Burger...





We both got “Buzz Cola”, which was absolutely delicious! (Also, how awesome are those napkins?! I brought a stack home as a souvenir!). From what I can tell (spoiler alert!) it’s just regular Coke with cherry syrup, but it tastes so much better than regular Cherry Coke! Much more flavourful. Though Cherry Coke in America is nicer than it is in the UK, it’s still not as good as Buzz Cola though! John assures me the burger was delicious, and I really enjoyed my thumbs and tots (first time I’d ever had tots before! Foreign Food Alert!  ). We had planned on getting a Lard Lad donut for dessert, but we were just too full from the clogger and thumbs to eat another morsel. We decided to burn them off with a stroll through Springfield.


Ay Yi Yi! It's Bumblebee Man!



































Up Next: Diagon Alley!

Tuesday: The One Where We Have Rumblies In Our Tumblies, and Delicious Hallowishes Pt. IV

Believe it or not, I haven't forgotten what this TR is supposed to be for! On with the Disney goodness! 

When I left off we were on our way to MNSSHP! In our room I was so excited as I put my costume on! I had my costume made over a year before our trip, I just knew that if we were going to MNSSHP, I wanted to be Belle. My only dilemma was blue, or yellow? I’m lucky enough to have a friend who is an amazing seamstress and costume designer, and runs her own fancy dress shop, so whichever I chose wouldn’t have been a problem. Then New Fantasyland opened with the fountain, and Gaston’s Tavern, and Be Our Guest…that sealed the deal! It HAD to be the blue.

I couldn’t believe I was finally there, in my outfit, finally heading out to a MNSSHP! My excitement lasted at fever pitch for at least for a few paces. Then I realised how HOT it was outside with long sleeves on! Did not think of that on a chilly spring morning in England when I was ordering my costume! Whoops! We got to the bus stop just as the MK bus pulled away. That was bad timing! We had a fun wait though, watching all the other families in their costumes. There was a Toy Story family, Woody, Jessie (Mum and daughter) and Buzz, a Cinderella family, and one with Elsa, Anna, and the Duke of Weaselton...sorry WESSleton! I was glad to get onto the nice air-conditioned bus when it pulled up, there is no room for a water bottle in a book bag! Getting off the bus and walking towards the bag-check, it was fun to see all of the other costumes, and to say hi to the people leaving the park for the day, who were all admiring our costumes! Quite a few people recognised me as Belle, and I only had one “It’s Ariel!!” which made a change, at Comic-cons over here it tends to be 50/50 whether people will think I’m Belle or Ariel! I always think it’s so exciting when people recognise your character.

John usually skips the bag-check line as he never carries anything, but this time he chose to come with me (I know, rule-breaker!! Sorry we slowed it down by one person). I soon realised why. We got to the front very quickly, and said hi to the bag check guy...who looked very confused to be presented with a book! John was giggling the whole time. The security guy said that it was the first book he’d ever searched, and it was a very clever idea. Thanks, bag-check guy! Up-cycled it myself!

Lots of people had stopped for photographs in front of the park, but as we had another party later in the trip, we decided to skip it this time. This party was mainly for the Hallowishes Dessert Party. We were early though, so we collected our wristbands and treat bags and headed inside. We stopped for a quick photograph with the welcome sign on our way in.



We really don’t have many photographs of that night...I know that’s not what you want to hear, sorry! We were just having such a great time in the party spirit! Plus it was a PITA trying to get the camera out of my book as it was quite intricately packed with a camera, camcorder, phone, purse, Magic Band, tiny first aid kit, etc. Yes, all in that one volume! I really needed a set of encyclopedias! I played a LOT of Tetris as a kid, it helps with the packing!

We went to Frontierland and collected our MNSSHP SotMK cards, pretty much by accident actually as we wandered past the spot and the lady called us back! We headed to BTMRR, but it had a really long queue. No time for that now! We spent a while wandering around, admiring people’s costumes and taking in the atmosphere. Coming from somewhere where Halloween is just really starting to be a big deal, and still nowhere near on a par with how massive it is in America, it was quite the experience! John decided that we had to ride Haunted Mansion at a Halloween party, so off to Liberty Square we went. Liberty Square is my MK blank spot. I can NEVER remember the name of it. “Liberty Island”, “Libertyland”, “Ye Olde Worlde America Land”….Anything but Liberty Square! So if I mis-label it from now on, you know where I mean! On the way past we headed into Memento Mori. It was PACKED! I love that shop. It has the perfect title for a HM-themed shop too. “Memento Mori” literally translates as “Remember that you can die”...There’s always room for one more! I love how Disney add these details. I actually have a very old French book on how to make authentic memento mori brooches/lockets using locks of hair to make tiny flower bouquets, etc to seal under glass in mourning jewellery. I’ve never tried it though! Maybe if I have a major trim in the future I’ll save a few locks of hair to experiment with. Anyway...

Given how terribly busy the gift shop was, I was expecting everyone to have had the same idea about heading to HM, but when we got to the gates the queue for the photo op was longer than the queue for the ride! They were doing Magic Shots by the hearse, and the beautiful spectre of a Southern Belle was talking and singing away on the lawn, it was lovely! We decided to take advantage of the 10min queue and not keep our (ghost) host waiting any longer. As we got to Mme Leota’s resting place I heard someone call out “Hey! Sweet costume choice Belle!” I turned around and there was a girl wearing practically the exact same outfit! We chatted and compared notes as we waited for the doors to open, she was very impressed with the book bag! She had her beast with her and he was carrying all of her stuff for her (which, in hindsight, is a much better idea and much easier on the arms...My arms, anyway! Duly noted for next time!). Soon our host sent his staff to let us in, and we filed into the Mansion. As we headed to the lift I recognised one of the staff. Who’s that girl? Who’s that girl?

It’s JESS!

DISboards Jess. PrincessJess. I was fangirling. I followed all of her TRs and her DCP TR especially was what got me into reading the DIS more regularly. John, of course, had no idea whatsoever who or what I was talking about. I wasn’t sure if it was OK to talk to her when she was in character at work, especially as it was a party and so all the HM staff were all SUPER in character, and we were IN the stretching room already so it might spoil it for other people if I tried to chat with her, but would I get another chance...By the time I had decided that yes, it was definitely her and yes, I probably had freaked her out with my frantic whispering to John the whole time we were in the stretching room, we were being shooed into our doom buggies and it was too late to say anything! I regret my choice, we never saw her again! Boo!

By the time we left the mansion the line for photographs was much shorter so we joined the back of it and waited for our magic shots. We’re terrible at cheesy poses though. You’ll notice that throughout the PP shots! I felt like I had a really good scared face going, but then the guy made me laugh and ruined it. I like how they turned out though.




See what I mean about the poses?! Oh well.

Then we looked at the clock and realised that we should probably be heading to the party. Now was not a time to be fashionably late! The Happy Hallowishes Dessert Party begins at the flagpole, so we had quite the walk. We made it in good time, and got a nice spot.



It felt like we were waiting an age for the parade to start. The Headless Horseman was wonderful! Then we had the odd Phineus and Ferb section...Not the biggest P&F fans! I gave up on trying to take photographs as they were all terrible, but I did get a video:


After the parade there was a mass exodus! If you want the genuine Mufasa experience, stand at the flag pole after a parade when people are trying to leave the park and look up Main St USA! Oh my goodness! Stampede! Fortunately we didn’t have to fight our way back up Main St as they opened a little back way for us party people beside The Chapeau. We were at Tomorrowland Terrace in no time!



Our table was excellent, right at the front! The skull mugs of sweets were for us to take away. Sadly the lantern was not. Though I did see someone stash theirs in a bag, I never managed to see if they got away with it. Why would you steal something like that? If nothing else stops you, perhaps the fact that they have your card details because you paid in advance should ring alarm bells!

Those of you paying attention will have noticed that we ate breakfast quite some time ago...And nothing since. This was John’s master plan to get the most out of the Dessert Party! He managed at least 2-3 trips to the buffet and the same to the sundae cart. I did not. I did try at least one of everything though, and it was all delicious!

It was here that I discovered the secret to the Disney dessert buffet: The cheese plate. Seriously, the cheese is the key. Otherwise everything is so sweet you will never get your money’s worth before you feel too sick to eat any more (if you’re anything like me, that is!). But, if you alternate desserts with a half-cube of cheese, it’s not a problem!

I took a video of the fireworks from the party, I think we had a pretty great view!






Apparently the sundae man is the finest sundae maker in the world. John should know. He sampled his wares multiple times.

After the fireworks were done we decided to head out. The original plan had been to watch the later Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular, but my feet were killing me, we were stuffed with dessert and I needed that sugar high to last long enough to carry me back to the hotel or I would never have survived the trek to our room! I figured the sugar rush would last long enough to stop for a photograph or two though.


What is that sugar-crazed face of mine?! Will someone puh-leeeeeease stop me having pictures taken! I don’t even know what went wrong there. I propose that PP photographers all wear hats with “SUCK IN THAT GUT!” on the front, and have a mirror stuck on their tripods so you can see what the heck your face is doing before they take the photograph!

They told him to pose like Gaston…and me to make the appropriate face!

His outfit actually worked out pretty well, a lot of people thought he was Disneybounding as Gaston. Nope! Just didn’t bother to put his actual costume on that night!

I stayed awake long enough to take some photos of our goodies.


 

 

Then we collapsed into bed. We had an early start the next day! Where will we head to next?