HO-HO-HO..We`ll put the RUM in Pa-Rum-Pum-Pum-Pum! 16 holiday nights at SF & RPR. A Nov/Dec 2023 Trip Report

[schumigirl]

My youngest son convinced me and his dad to on Ripsaw Falls in November... At night when it was chilly and dark... Never again! I am not built for the cold one bit. But hearing my husbandly jokingly fussing the whole time was pretty hilarious. But it made a good memory at least. My oldest son generously () offered to stay behind and hold our things... He had the right idea.

lol.....wasn`t that kind of your eldest.....

I`d be with him too! It is so miserable to be soaked and then feel cold, so yes, I`d probably be a little less than happy too.....but, I agree, you have to see the funny side of it!!

I don`t think I`ve ever ridden Ripsaw Falls at night now I think on it, must change that sometime. And yes, things like that I agree are always a good memory.

 

[saskdw]

Yes, I think that`s a fair assessment of them, decent but not amazing.

I think for us, we prefer to eat inside, but it was a little cooler that day, when it`s normal September or May temps, we much prefer to eat in an air conditioned building, but yes, they wasn`t bad.

It was 10pm at night when we went there. It was a warm night where it was still in the 70's so beautiful night to eat outside.

When you pay the $$$ for the Informer events you have to stuff as much food down as humanly possible!!

 

[schumigirl]

It was 10pm at night when we went there. It was a warm night where it was still in the 70's so beautiful night to eat outside.

When you pay the $$$ for the Informer events you have to stuff as much food down as humanly possible!!

That does sound good, to be able to sit out at night and enjoy the food. Those OI events are very good, we loved the night we went, lost count of how many times we did VC including one ride in the front row which at night was amazing.

We didn`t really take advantage of the food to be honest, we got some spicy tenders from Fire Eaters Grill and then shared a plate from Thunder Falls but yes, we could have eaten our way round the park easily. We mainly pounded the rides with one long wait for Hagrid`s included.

So maybe not eating too much was a good thing considering all the VC rides we enjoyed!!!

 

[keishashadow]

We paid and got them sent to our room as I wasn`t wandering around with three heavy books in hand.

Good choice of books, can’t go wrong with any of them IMO. Yes, a real staple here for most.

I really miss the various parks offering package delivery to their resorts (I’d even settle to pick them up at front of park at this point).

We hadn`t noticed that day but the line for the Grinch actually ended over the other side of the pathway, there are some very patient people out there!

Wow. Time = money, I’ve suggested that people book various character breakfasts and the holiday tours, specifically, for grinch time and haven’t always gotten positive feedback

I pictured some evil employee sitting laughing like the character from Dastardly and Muttley at the terrified woman in the back row on camera getting more and more terrified...

You’ve made my day with this

he was having a discussion with a young lad of around 7 or 8 and it was very funny, the boy was quite witty back to the fountain without being rude which was lovely to listen to, the Fountain was having a bit of fun at the boy`s football team which really went over our heads as we had no clue who they were talking about, but they were a good double act.

Am I the only one who has watched more than one encounter with an especially bratty kid at the fountain?

You know, the sort where mom & dad stand there beaming & egging their ‘lil darling on

all the while, hoping both he & the parental units would get drenched by the fountain for his insolence? JK is probably the right thing to post here so I will

We were heading to Toon Lagoon now and as we headed over the bridge at Hogwarts we saw a couple being married as we passed!

They all looked very, very happy!!!

That’s pretty cool. I wonder if that’s a sanctioned, allowable thing? Know in disney couples pay dearly for weddings

I cannot even abide looking at anyone eating blue cheese, I can eat some very unusual cheeses to some, but blue....nope.

IMO There’s a very marked difference between the run of mill blue cheese they sell here and that fancy Stilton variety that is so strong & pungent. first time I tried it my eyes watered. I’ve gone more to a feta cheese in lieu of blue

 

[schumigirl]

Good choice of books, can’t go wrong with any of them IMO. Yes, a real staple here for most.

I really miss the various parks offering package delivery to their resorts (I’d even settle to pick them up at front of park at this point).

Wow. Time = money, I’ve suggested that people book various character breakfasts and the holiday tours, specifically, for grinch time and haven’t always gotten positive feedback

You’ve made my day with this

Am I the only one who has watched more than one encounter with an especially bratty kid at the fountain?

You know, the sort where mom & dad stand there beaming & egging their ‘lil darling on

all the while, hoping both he & the parental units would get drenched by the fountain for his insolence? JK is probably the right thing to post here so I will

That’s pretty cool. I wonder if that’s a sanctioned, allowable thing? Know in disney couples pay dearly for weddings

IMO There’s a very marked difference between the run of mill blue cheese they sell here and that fancy Stilton variety that is so strong & pungent. first time I tried it my eyes watered. I’ve gone more to a feta cheese in lieu of blue

Dastardly and Muttley were classics!!!

I get the feeling the wedding wasn`t official, we saw the couple about 20 minutes later and she was out of the dress, carrying it in a bag and in normal park clothes, we did wonder that when we saw it.

Oh yes, we`ve seen our share of shall we say over confident children being smart butts and yes, parents thinking that`s something to be proud of!! This little guy was cute though. No, I agree with you, some folks could be doing with being drenched a little.....

We have Stilton with cranberries and one with Apricots we like, but regular Stilton is not for us either. I can`t take Feta either, really don`t like it....there is one cheese over here called Stinking Bishop!!! That would make you head straight for the bathroom never mind eyes watering, it is rank rotten. In cheese shops and deli`s that carry it, it`s always in a tightly closed compartment for very good reason!! There is a worse one now but I forget what it`s called, not planning to try that either!

The kids that got those books absolutely love them, so I can see what they`ll be getting as part of their Christmas for the next few years as there are plenty to choose from.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

One day I will get on velocicoaster!

That wimpy did look delicious! Its never open when I’m there!

 

[schumigirl]

We headed home to get showered and changed and it didn`t look the nicest of days outside, but we were heading to Winter Park as we absolutely love it there, we don`t do much to be honest, but it`s a nice place to wander round and has some lovely stores to meander through, it passes a couple of hours and is only about a 20-25 minute drive to get there.

Parking is easy, there are so many places including the main street usually, we`ve never struggled to park here anytime we`ve visited.

As we got out of the car, it did feel like rain was in the air, so I did carry my umbrella with us today, it was so odd though, it was slightly humid and we couldn`t quite decide whether we were warm or cool!

There is a lovely park that runs alonside their main street and it is very pretty with lots of shaded areas, not that we needed that today, it was so overcast, something we haven`t quite gotten used to in Orlando, but still warmer, much warmer than what back home was getting! Kyle had sent us a pic of some of his running group that night and they were running in sleet and frost! Crazy, but runners don`t seem to feel the cold....or so I`m told. I couldn`t run if my butt was on fire and have never wanted to run even when I was young and fit!!!!

I`m kinda liking this woman`s idea though........

​

We crossed the roads and wandered down Main Street where the sidewalks are adorned with various restaurants and some beautiful stores to wander round and the side walk can get busy as there are a lot of tables for sitting outside for many of these places, but it`s quite nice to see the plates and what folks are having.

This store below was beautiful and she stocked some beautiful items, none of which we purchased today, but we`ll look next time we go back for something, the owner was lovely.

Our favourite store here is similar to one in Mount Dora and it stocks olive oils that are delicious and so many different types as well as various balsamics which is one of the things we plan to buy today, but they sell so much more including sauces, rubs, pasta, cheeses, condiments, dips and a million other things too, it is like an Aladdin`s cave of treats and delights.

The two men who were here today were the same one`s here last time and one of them remembered us from a previous visit which surprised us, it was the accent he noticed when we came in, glad it wasn`t for a bad reason!!

They are so nice and if you haven`t been in they`ll explain how you sample and so on and are very helpful and the products are very nice indeed. I actually think the oils from Mount Dora are nicer, but the balsamics from here are the same quality and beautiful and so many choices, it`s hard to actually narrow it down to two or three.

We ended up spending about half an hour in here, mainly chatting to the owners and some other customers who were asking about Scotland and of course we were happy to chat away about our home country. In the end we bought a couple of bottles of balsamic, some dips, marmalades and chutney`s and a maple spice marinade, not too bad and not enough to concern us with the luggage allowance yet!

I carry the small bag...I was glad as the other one weighed a ton! We had a wander round the park but the breeze was getting up and it did feel like rain now, so a quick walk would be enough then we`d head home again, no plans to wander to other areas of the town today.

It would have been nice to see the tree lit up but with the rain coming we wanted to head off, if it had been nicer we`d have wandered some more and then came back when it was dark, but we could feel the spots hit us as we were in the park.

Last time we were here there were a couple of homeless people around, today there seemed to be a couple more sleeping here which is incredibly sad to see, especially at this time of year it always seems a little more heart wrenching.

We did get back to the car just in time as the rain got heavier as we drove off and by the time we got home it was heavy but now it was incredibly humid.

Tonight we had no plans, had no real desire to go anywhere and with the rain we dismissed the idea of heading into Citywalk which we had considered doing, but according to the weather it was going to be on all night.

On days like this, the Club Lounge is usually busier than normal but by the time we got over it wasn`t as bad as we expected and there were plenty of tables....maybe we were complete wimps with avoiding rain as others didn`t seem to mind it!!

Tonight the lovely Gia was back, she was now a supervisor after having the summer away working at Hershey Park and it was wonderful to see her and have a proper catch up. The last time we saw her we had dinner with her, Alex and some others who used to work in the lounge over in Strong Water which had been a lovely meal and we all enjoyed Carole`s Punches!!

She was looking so well, and she had time to spend some time chatting with us which is always lovely. They are so busy we never like to commandeer their time but she wasn`t too busy and had time to sit down and catch up, such a lovely girl.

There`s something quiet cosy about being in the lounge or just the hotel rooms when it is pitch black and pouring with rain outside, so this was nice, glass of sparkly in hand and nibbling at some snacks while we chatted to folks in the lounge too.

I`m definitely one of these folks that loves to sit and stare out of the window as the rain hammers down around us, Tom always asks don`t I ever get bored.....er, no.

​

Tonights dish was chicken fajitas and had the usual sides of sour cream, wraps, salsa and cheese, we would normally have a little taste, but tonight neither of us felt like going anywhere so we had some food and it was very nice too.

Neither of us bothered with the wraps or cheese, but we did have some chicken which I added tabasco to, some salsa again, add tobasco and some sour cream with chips and that was dinner tonight, but it was very nice. The staff commented we don`t usually eat dinner in the lounge and we generally don`t, but this dish is very nice.

Jen the manager had made some lovely improvments and this dish was one of them.

I did quite enjoy their pink sparkly, sometimes something a little lighter is nice.

The Christmas tree is not as nice as the one they used to have and they did improve it over the trip with some smaller additions, but it was very small, but at least they had a tree.

This was the tree from 2018/19, it was very nice.

Tonight we spent so much time chatting with everyone, all of a sudden it was dessert hour, something we have only ever enjoyed around 3 or 4 times in all our visits, so it was quite nice to see what was on offer for a change.

Pineapple upside down cake, Oreo cheesecake and standard cookies were the choices tonight, not for me but Tom did try one of the cheesecakes and said it was nice, the cookies are always nice too.

I assume they have these little bottles of milk out every night with the cookies, but as we don`t go I`m not sure, but I`d think so, cookies and milk seem to go together classically.

We headed back over to Sapphire at this point, headed into Strong Water and again tonight wasn`t so busy so we got our favourite table by the Christmas tree in the far corner. We weren`t having food but of course I ordered Carole`s Punch and the lovely Mikey reminded Tom he hadn`t ordered one for a while......so he was kind of guilted into ordering one, but he really enjoys it so I`m not sure why he doesn`t order it more often....he likes variety apparently!! Most of the cocktails in here are lovely, no bad ones in there at all.

Absolutely delicious!!! And the best cocktail they serve

​

I`d had my hair cut about 3 days before we left and it already looked like it needed cutting!!! This heat and sunshine certainly encouraged growth there, but I never did get around to finding somewhere to go get it trimmed, we just never seemed to have the time this trip and I`m not sure why.

We chatted with everyone as normal and a few were off with it being Thanksgiving week and Maggie was still off too, so we did miss her when we were in, but everyone in here is just amazing and treat everyone like they are family when you do come in to eat or drink.

After about an hour Mikey brought over dessert for us......holy moly.....the Tres Leches cake was massive, this picture doesn`t capture how big it is, but it was massive and could have fed three people easily and he also brought me out some caramel ice cream as he knows I love it, it is beautiful.

I almost finished my ice cream, Tom barely made a dent in the dessert which is a shame as it is gorgeous, but we were just full and quite tired and didn`t plan to stay long tonight.

However sitting looking out the rain was bouncing down was very nice and Tom had nipped to the bathroom when I heard my email notification go off.....

Tomorrow we were supposed to be doing the Thanksgiving Buffet and we had invited Tom`s cousin and her husband who were staying in Kissimmee to join us and they had said yes, but they`d had a last minute flight change and asked if we could meet them in Kissimmee for lunch (Thanksgiving!!!!!) as they had to leave by 2pm and the person picking them up wouldn`t change the pick up locations to Sapphire. Well, we really wanted to see them so I agreed and said we`d find something open and get back to them.

I glanced over at the bar and Tom was chatting away so I didn`t attract his attention.......he could be a while!!

With the way the bookings are now for the Buffets, you have to agree to a $25 cancellation charge each if it`s cancelled within 24 hrs, which this was, I had only booked for two but was told we could bring two more easily during the day, so I txt our friends Anna and Henry to see if they wanted to go in our place, they were booked at the Bull & Bear tomorrow and couldn`t make it, so we had to cancel sadly.

So, our Thanksgiving would be slightly different....very different in the end

Tom came back over eventually and I gave him a big cheesy smile and he immediately sensed something was indeed slightly off.....

​

His face dropped initially at the thought of missing the Buffet which we do love, but when I explained what had happened it was fine.

Fernando came over at that point and said he`d sort it for us, but it would have been our fault. I`m not sure Tom was overly thrilled, neither was I to be honest but we did want to see the pair of them and it was our only chance as they were moving from the UK to one of the Islands off of Spain in the next week or so after they got home.

At that point we were both yawning so time for bed, we said goodnight to everyone and headed down to our suite which was just so cosy with the small lamps on and the drapes pulled over, we did pull the sitting room ones back and watched the rain for a time, and the boats were still fairly busy at this time despite the weather.

We put the tv on in the bedroom but I fell asleep before the show actually started as the ads were on forever. I was out for the count again, those beds are incredibly comfortable and I like the pillows too although some folks seem to not like them much, but they`re fine for me.

I think it was around 11.30 by now, we really did need an early night!!

​

 

[schumigirl]

One day I will get on velocicoaster!

That wimpy did look delicious! Its never open when I’m there!

You`ll love it when you do make it on, it`s one of the best coasters I`ve ever been on.

I think we noticed for many years it didn`t seem to be open, but that might have been us passing it before it opened. It was nice, and the curly fries were lovely.

 

[Minnie17]

oh My missing the thanksgiving buffet . Anxious to see how it went.

 

[schumigirl]

oh My missing the thanksgiving buffet . Anxious to see how it went.

lol.....the things we do for family!!!

It was "ok" but not brilliant, it gave us a good giggle though. Being honest we would have much preferred to have enjoyed the buffet!!

 

[schumigirl]

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 23RD​

HAPPY THANKSGIVING​

We slept like rocks last night and I had no clue where I was when I woke up this morning, Tom was still unconscious so I slipped through to the sitting room and opened the drapes to see a gorgeous sunrise over RP, a little later than usual for me, but sleep is more important sometimes.

I never tire of this view from Sapphire in the mornings, lagoon views to us are just the best.

I heard sleeping beauty at this point rumbling around asking what time it was.....he has a clock beside him and his phone.....but it`s easier to ask me I suppose!! I tell him it`s still early, but we get up and get ready to go over for breakfast.

I don`t remember how busy the lounge was this morning, but the walk through from one hotel to the other was deserted, most day staff were off today so it was quieter but the lounge, I do forget what it was like.

We knew we weren`t going near the parks today, we had gone to the parks one year on Thanksgiving and the line to get through the security point was miles back from it, and the parks weren`t fun, so we would give it a miss this morning.

We took our time with breakfast and we headed back to Sapphire and got everything ready for a couple of hours of laundry!!! Not the most exciting thing, but it`s something I don`t mind doing at all and as I`ve admitted before.....
(I like doing laundry)

​

Well, ok, maybe I don`t inflict that on the unsuspecting laundry users, but I genuinely don`t mind doing it and I do think Sapphire has a better laundry set up than RP does.

It`s bigger, brighter and certainly does have more machines. RP has 3 washers and 3 dryers in each room in each tower, but this one is large. I think Guest House 3 has a smaller one, but I`ve never been in it, so I don`t know for sure.

At times you come across women, and it`s always women, who seem to be washing clothes belonging to the whole hotel and have taken up almost every washer and today there was only one woman with a suitcase full and she had only taken over 3 washers, so we got our load of darks in the machine and headed back up to the suite while it washed and we timed it so we`d be back in time for the load to be done.

I hate when folks don`t come back in time for when their wash cycle is over and you can`t use a machine because someone hasn`t come back in time. But, we get back with 5 minutes to go and then bag a dryer.

Tom cleans out the filter......OMG!!!! It has never been cleaned by the looks of it, there is a sign asking you to clear it when you`re done, not exactly hard is it!!! It was like a huge hairy grey cat looking at it!!

​

Got our clothes in the now lint free dryer and headed back upstairs. The dryer takes an hour, but our clothes are usually completely dry in around 40 minutes or so, so we`ll come back down then.

The laundry in GH 2 is on the lowest level, it is not the nicest level to be on to be honest, there are dogs barking in several rooms and you can clearly hear them today and it`s the same today when we come back down for the second time. We retrieve our now dried clothes from a very empty laundry room and head back to the lobby for 10 minutes. where we chat to a lady we know from front office for a time.

Back in the room we get changed and head out to the car for our drive to Kissimmee. I had said to Tom if they cancel I will be furious after cancelling the Brunch, but to be honest you could walk in during the day and there would probably be tables, it was only the evening they were fully booked.

The boats leaving were all full and there was still a constant line of folks waiting to get on and that was from very early this morning, no parks was a good idea today for us.

We found very few places to be open today, naturally, but we discovered Cracker Barrel was open, so we ended up arranging to meet them there which was as far from our initial plans as we could get, but aren`t family supposed to come first.....

I kept telling myself that!!

They were waiting for us as we arrived and they were standing like orphans with their luggage as their driver had agreed to pick them up from here instead of 10 minutes along the road at their villa. It was all so complicated and unnecessary but that`s them....we like things simple and if that means more expensive then so be it. But, they are admittedly basically quite cheap......not folks who just like a bargain, no they are cheap and will happily tell you so, but they are kinda nice at the same time so we make allowances.











Now, there`s nothing wrong with Cracker Barrel, we like it....we planned to come back again another time, but did not envisage it would be on Thanksgiving!!!

The stores are lovely though, you can pick up so many beautiful items and it passes the time while you wait for a table, which surprisingly wasn`t too bad despite the line. I think for larger groups there seemed to be a longer wait, but for us we only waited 10 minutes, which was ideal as our cousins were getting picked up in an hour.

We love the old world charm of Cracker Barrel and it is very nice, and even though it was incredibly busy and quite noisy, service was very good.

Yes, I`m really happy to be here!!!

We had a nice enough table, and our server was nice enough, we all ordered the turkey dinner that I believe came with a dessert too but we didn`t take that as it was pumpkin pie which none of us like anyway.

This was mine, I asked her to leave off the green beans and she suddenly wasn`t as nice and kind of snapped there were no substitutions.....I smiled and said I wasn`t asking for a substitution I was simply asking for no green beans thank you. Never cheese off the person bringing your food!!

Yes, I`d rather have been eating this!!

Everyone else had green beans and said they were nice, but they`re not for me at all. I have to say the turkey was quite nice, it was tasty and tender and the sweet potatoes and dressing were nice too. Not the best, but not awful.

I`d be starving later.

We did manage a chat which was nice, and wished them well in their new life in Spain, mainly due to health issues, the temps are much warmer out there than they are in the UK, so they both do better in the heat. This trip was a gift from their 4 children for their retirement and had been here for 10 days, they enjoyed it, but wouldn`t come back, it`s not really for them apparently.

Our waitress appeared with four pumpkin pies at this point and we all declined, she was surprised and said it was all included in the price, we said yes, we know but we don`t want them....she seemed a little confused and wandered off with the four unwanted desserts.

They now serve wine in CB, but I will say, don`t bother, it is truly dreadful and shouldn`t really be called wine, I think I took 2 sips and left it to the side.

We paid and then headed back out through the store stopping to look at a few items when Patricia said she could see the driver outside, he was being a little mean I thought not picking them up at our hotel, but it was all paid for and he wouldn`t alter their travel route, so we made the best of it all.

We are big tea drinkers, but even we didn`t buy this mug!!!

We waved them off and then drove back home and we both said this was the quietest we had seen the roads in Orlando before, only once during the hurricane in 2022 had we seen similar but it was very odd to be driving on such deserted roads.

Back home I caught up on some emails before heading over to the Club Lounge where we knew Jen had arranged a proper Thanksgiving dinner tonight and she had made what she had arranged sound so good, I was so looking forward to it as I was genuinely hungry right now.

The lounge was busy, probably the busiest we had ever seen it in all our visits here, but there was a lovely atmosphere tonight, although there was a man in tonight again who had the loudest voice in the world!!!

We sat down and saw the lovely JP family, so waved and we said we`d catch them in a bit, for now I was ready to eat and the food was lovely, Jen had arranged a beautiful Thanksgiving Feast.

This was a new dish for me, sweet potato salad with Kale and cranberries. I had never eaten cold sweet potato so this was different, I forget what the dressing was, but my goodness it was beautiful, although I did leave out eating the kale. I think I could have just eaten that dish without the turkey!

Almost.

The turkey was exceptional, genuinely beautiful and one of the staff said it was the same as in the buffet downstairs which Jen had mentioned and as I was starving I did enjoy a good few slices as did Tom and I don`t usually eat mashed potatoes outside of my own, but these were also exceptional.

They had arranged some of the food in the middle section of the lounge which was such a good idea to save everyone trying to be in the one area at the same time, so it was easy to see what was on offer and get to it.

We didn`t try the roast veg but everyone said it was well cooked, and the cranberry sauce was nice too, one of my favourite sauces!

The food was delicious, genuinely enjoyed by everyone and we looked forward to telling Jen what a success it was as it is so important to her that everyone is happy with the food, well, this had certainly been a success.

The loud man was off again.

I kid you not, everyone was looking whenever he spoke and it`s not nice to speak ill of others, but we actually moved tables later as he came and sat beside us and I couldn`t even think of what I was doing as his voice boomed everywhere!! His wife however was lovely. The other couple they were with saw me with my hands over my ears before I moved seats and did smile a little wryly in sympathy. It might have been a little rude, but honestly this guy was louder than I ever heard anyone.

I went to sit with the fmaily we had gotten to know and Tom followed me eventually.....he did wonder where I was.

We sat for a time and chatted the evening away, we weren`t planning to stay for desserts but I did ask Gia for a box as I wanted to take away some of that gorgeous sweet potato salad!!! Tom looked at me in amazement as I never take anything away, but I`d pop it in the fridge and have it later if I felt like it.

Back in the suite it was again, lovely and cosy, I reopened one set of drapes in the sitting room, Tom brought a bottle of white wine out of the fridge and poured us a glass each, we settle down on the lovely oversized sofa and put the tv on and ordered a movie, and I completely forget what it was!! Cannot imagine why we can`t remember which one it was but we did enjoy it.

The sweet potato salad, I did have most of it with some wine, again minus the kale which I just cannot get the taste for, even in a salad.

I think we hit bed around 11pm again, but it had been a lovely evening, bit of a strange day overall and not the one we originally planned, but plans are made for changing aren`t they.

Tomorrow, we hadn`t decided yet, but it was not going to be a park or shopping day!!

 

[keishashadow]

she was now a supervisor after having the summer away working at Hershey Park

One of the few parks we haven’t visited in our state. It’s just far enough away we’d have to stay overnight but, not quite interesting enough of an area to make it more than an overnight trip sort. Did she share her thots on it?

The Christmas tree is not as nice as the one they used to have

Well, i’m of the mind even the Charlie Brown sort of xmas trees are charming in their own right. Do think that pencil sort of tree appears to have been knocked over by club guests one too many times

Tom did try one of the cheesecakes and said it was nice

Rarely does that sort look worth the calories, yum

I never tire of this view from Sapphire in the mornings, lagoon views to us are just the best.

Wow, one of the best sunrises in that area I’ve seen

even in a normally decent chain restuaurants, on holidays the staff often is unable to cope with the crush of people. Probably doesn’t help the kitchen unfamiliar with the food prep. At least club saved the day there.

I hate when folks don`t come back in time for when their wash cycle is over and you can`t use a machine because someone hasn`t come back in time.

= game on to dump the contents on the folding table, no questions asked Lol

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I'm so glad you had a decent Thanksgiving dinner, but I'm sorry about the buffet. I know that would have been spectacular, or you could have easily chosen what you wanted.

Cracker Barrel is fine, and we end up eating there when we visit the Midwest, but it wouldn't be my first choice for Thanksgiving. The store can be a treasure, but it is better to shop after you eat when you aren't hungry.

It is a shame the driver wouldn't change the route, as, of course, you were closer to the airport, so it didn't seem to make much sense that they had to be picked up in Kissimmee.

The food has indeed been upgraded in the Club; we'll look forward to that!
I'm glad you had so many lovely folks to chat with, but of course, sorry about the very loud talker

We have a different opinion about clearing our household's laundry filters. I was taught to do it as you take your load out; Mr. Worfiedoodles learned to do it as you put your load in. Of course, my way leaves it nice for the next person, and his leaves me checking the filter every time in case he's snuck a load in

Looking forward to seeing how you spent the next day!

 

[MadHatterBrooke]

Pineapple upside down cake, Oreo cheesecake and standard cookies were the choices tonight, not for me but Tom did try one of the cheesecakes and said it was nice, the cookies are always nice too.

I will say these were my two favorite desserts we had in the club lounge! Both were delicious! And I was very impressed with the Thanksgiving offerings (we arrived that day).

Loving catching up on your trip report. But it's definitely making me wish we were back!

 

[SCDizFan]

Happy Belated Birthday Kyle!

I'm loving your trip report so far!

Thank you for the lovely send off to London and Edinburgh! I can't remember if I told you but we've been spoiled with Premium and this flight over NYE Premium was sold out so I booked Economy Delight which is still very nice. Once we got on board, the lead FA came over and whispered to me that they were bumping us up to Premium as soon as we hit the 10,000 foot deck! Wow! Did not expect that at all. Thank you again for turning us on to Virgin Atlantic. I can't imagine I'll bother to fly any other airline with the amazing service and how nice they are.

Your evening in with the rain and the movie and the bottle of white wine sounded so nice. I can watch the rain for hours!
Your Thanksgiving really sounded nice! I'm not a big fan of Cracker Barrell either but it will do in a pinch. The second part (except for the loud man!) turned out so nice for you guys!

We really loved London and Edinburgh and the weather did not disappoint! The night of January 2nd it rained hard for hours and we loved it. We were dressed for the weather. Our last day in London the sun never came out, it was bitter cold, and it snowed. We tucked into a cozy pub (The Prospect of Whitby in Wapping) in front of a fire and had a blast. The Tower of London was particularly spooky that day.

Isn't it funny you head to Florida for the heat and we head to UK for the cold and rain at almost the same time?

Can't wait to keep reading your report! We are headed back to Disney this weekend but are planning a trip in September also so maybe we can finally meet for a Carol's Punch!

 

[DisGhost]

Cracker Barrel is the one and only restaurant I have ever been to that I categorically refuse to ever go in again. The food was awful! We did go for the first time to one in Wisconsin and they had some lovely hush puppies, but then another two times it was our only choice while driving home from Florida and the food was inedible. Never again.

But that sweet potato salad looks and sounds fantastic.

 

[schumigirl]

One of the few parks we haven’t visited in our state. It’s just far enough away we’d have to stay overnight but, not quite interesting enough of an area to make it more than an overnight trip sort. Did she share her thots on it?

Well, i’m of the mind even the Charlie Brown sort of xmas trees are charming in their own right. Do think that pencil sort of tree appears to have been knocked over by club guests one too many times

Rarely does that sort look worth the calories, yum

Wow, one of the best sunrises in that area I’ve seen

even in a normally decent chain restuaurants, on holidays the staff often is unable to cope with the crush of people. Probably doesn’t help the kitchen unfamiliar with the food prep. At least club saved the day there.

= game on to dump the contents on the folding table, no questions asked Lol

She didn`t really say much about the park itself just she enjoyed working for them and it was a good experience, but not one she wanted to continue for too long. I have to admit it`s never caught my eye as a place to ever visit.

lol....it was supposed to be a thin style, I`m not a fan of thin trees, like them fuller and highly decorated, but it did fill a gap there. I never asked who got the old tree, it must have been redistributed somewhere.

It`s beautiful, the sunrises over that lagoon are so lovely.

I think if the dessert had been their key lime pie I might have been tempted, but chocolate, didn`t thrill me, Tom said it was lovely as he did try one.

I have to admit, the staff in CB did seem to be struggling around us, we had a more mature lady looking after us but most of the other staff seemed to be very young, so you`re probably correct with that suggestion.

Yep, I would empty laundry out and put it on the table now, wouldn`t think twice, I would give a few minutes though....

 

[schumigirl]

I'm so glad you had a decent Thanksgiving dinner, but I'm sorry about the buffet. I know that would have been spectacular, or you could have easily chosen what you wanted.

Cracker Barrel is fine, and we end up eating there when we visit the Midwest, but it wouldn't be my first choice for Thanksgiving. The store can be a treasure, but it is better to shop after you eat when you aren't hungry.

It is a shame the driver wouldn't change the route, as, of course, you were closer to the airport, so it didn't seem to make much sense that they had to be picked up in Kissimmee.

The food has indeed been upgraded in the Club; we'll look forward to that!
I'm glad you had so many lovely folks to chat with, but of course, sorry about the very loud talker

We have a different opinion about clearing our household's laundry filters. I was taught to do it as you take your load out; Mr. Worfiedoodles learned to do it as you put your load in. Of course, my way leaves it nice for the next person, and his leaves me checking the filter every time in case he's snuck a load in

Looking forward to seeing how you spent the next day!

Oh at home, I clean the filter after every load, so even if I have three loads to dry, it`s cleaned after every load and Tom is the same, not that he really uses the dryer often. Honestly Maria, if you`d have seen this......bleurgh!!!

The Club Lounge food is very good, they do still have the tenders and mac n cheese which is not something I`d choose, but some of the other dishes Jen has changed are lovely, the beef bulogi is still one of the nicest in recent years. And yes, there were so many lovely folks in the lounge, well we do usually find most folks are lovely and enjoy chatting too.

We did miss the buffet and no CB is not somewhere I`d normally have chosen, but we made the best of it and really enjoyed the turkey later in the lounge!!!

Next day was another odd one......lol.......not just as odd, but the weather let us down.

 

[schumigirl]

I will say these were my two favorite desserts we had in the club lounge! Both were delicious! And I was very impressed with the Thanksgiving offerings (we arrived that day).

Loving catching up on your trip report. But it's definitely making me wish we were back!

That was the day you arrived!! It was very nice wasn`t it.

Thank you, I`m glad you`re enjoying it and yes, I understand your thoughts about wishing you were back, I know writing these always makes me more excited for our next trip

 

[schumigirl]

Happy Belated Birthday Kyle!

I'm loving your trip report so far!

Thank you for the lovely send off to London and Edinburgh! I can't remember if I told you but we've been spoiled with Premium and this flight over NYE Premium was sold out so I booked Economy Delight which is still very nice. Once we got on board, the lead FA came over and whispered to me that they were bumping us up to Premium as soon as we hit the 10,000 foot deck! Wow! Did not expect that at all. Thank you again for turning us on to Virgin Atlantic. I can't imagine I'll bother to fly any other airline with the amazing service and how nice they are.

Your evening in with the rain and the movie and the bottle of white wine sounded so nice. I can watch the rain for hours!
Your Thanksgiving really sounded nice! I'm not a big fan of Cracker Barrell either but it will do in a pinch. The second part (except for the loud man!) turned out so nice for you guys!

We really loved London and Edinburgh and the weather did not disappoint! The night of January 2nd it rained hard for hours and we loved it. We were dressed for the weather. Our last day in London the sun never came out, it was bitter cold, and it snowed. We tucked into a cozy pub (The Prospect of Whitby in Wapping) in front of a fire and had a blast. The Tower of London was particularly spooky that day.

Isn't it funny you head to Florida for the heat and we head to UK for the cold and rain at almost the same time?

Can't wait to keep reading your report! We are headed back to Disney this weekend but are planning a trip in September also so maybe we can finally meet for a Carol's Punch!

Thank you......I`m so glad you`re back and so happy you enjoyed both VA flights and Edinburgh/London.....sorry about the weather......

That was so nice to be upgraded like that, I`m sure you really enjoyed it and it is a nicer way to fly for sure. We honestly can`t see past VA, they have always been amazing and I know some folks weren`t having good experiences through Covid with them, with us they were brilliant. We cancelled five trips in that, or postponed I should say and they were brilliant every time, so yes, I think they are the best of the bunch for us.

Tower of london is very creepy when the weather is gloomy, last time we were there it was foggy and it was like a black and white movie, loved it. I`m so glad you had such a good time in both cities and I agree, if you wrap up and know it`s going to be cool to say the least, you`ll be fine. And you`re a woman after my own heart.....sitting in a pub by a roaring fire, can`t be beaten. I`m also a big fan of sitting watching rain fall around me, add in wine and I`m extra happy....lol...

Yes, we won`t be rushing back to CB anytime soon.

Have a lovely time in Disney this weekend and yes, absolutely, we`d love to say hello if we can organise it to enjoy a Carole`s Punch together!!!

Welcome home though, I`ve been wondering how it all went!!