'Going the Distance' June 2017 - Day 2 - Keke's, US+IOA, Cowfish

[H_C-2017]

Sunday 11th June

Day 2

Index: 'Going the Distance' June 2017

I woke up at 6:30. We had decided to have a bit more of a leisurely start today and head off-site for some breakfast before spending some more time in the parks.

I let Chris sleep until quarter to 8 before I started to prod him awake. I swear he could sleep for 12-13 hours if I let him. Lazy bones. I think it was nice to just take our time though as yesterday was a busy day and we didn’t want to overdo it. We had a couple of early morning starts coming up and were conscious that we were on holiday and so were allowed to relax.

We got ready and headed out at 9.10. Here’s another photo of Chris taking a photo for you!

We had decided on Keke’s for breakfast as I had seen it featured in the Dixons dining reports and it looked lush. Our Uber driver mentioned it was one of his favourites and that we would probably beat the Church rush so had picked a good time to do. He also recommended Rocco’s Taco’s as somewhere worth eating – we visited later in the trip as he seemed to have a good grasp of food.

It took us less than ten minutes to get there and we waited about 5 minutes for a table. It was about 9:25 at this time and wasn’t too busy – it was a whole other story at 10 o’clock though.

For drinks I ordered an orange juice and Chris had iced coffee.
The menu sounded amazing, it took us a while to decide what we were going to have.

I ordered Turtle Stuffed French Toast with bacon and home fries and Chris had two Florida pancakes with poached eggs and bacon.

Oh.My.God Just look at it. I don’t think I even have to say anything :’) It was amazing. Exactly how I had pictured my American breakfast experience.

I ate all mine, a) because it was amazing and b) because it wasn’t quite as ridiculously sized as Chris’s. He left about a ¼ of the pancakes which we got boxed up to go.

Total was $37.76 and we left $45. Not the cheapest breakfast but honestly you could share portions as we were quite full (waddling) when we left.

We headed back to the hotel and put our leftovers in the fridge before heading back out to go to the parks.

I loved the lobby at the Royal Pacific – so light and airy. The little decorative touches such as the garden and the umbrellas really set the tropical vibe off.

We used the boat this time for the first time ever. There was only a small queue but it soon got busier – we waited about 10 mins for the boat so I think it was quicker to walk really. Glad we did it the once though.

We were outside Universal Studios by 11 and had some photos taken near the globe.

We got stuck behind someone who had forgotten what finger they had used on the way in. :’) I don’t understand how people manage that, surely you just use your index finger?

I have a photo of the Minion ride but we didn’t go on it. The queue for the normal line was crazy! Chris hates the minions – no idea why! Didn’t think it would be worth it to force him on it.

We headed to transformers as it was down yesterday and we didn’t manage to get on it. The blues brothers were out again when we went past. I quite like the theming in this area.

It look less than 10 minutes for Transformers in the express line. We both liked it, very similar to Spiderman but less retro. Universal do seem to love their simulators and the wind, fire, water combination.

We went on Shrek Next. Bit of an odd one this really. More like a show than a ride. We enjoyed the aircon though so can’t complain. The queue also took quite a while even in the express line – easily 15-20mins.

It was around 12 now and seeing as though we were in the area we thought we would check out the Jimmy Fallon ride. Another simulator but it was a new ride so we thought we probably shouldn’t miss it. I liked the inside, it looked quite posh. Not too keen on the card system – the main room upstairs was quite full and there was a lot of pushing and shoving when people realised their colour was up and they were trying to get to the entrance.

Another couple asked us to take their photo against this backdrop and they offered to take ours. It was abit dark so don't think the photos came out very good.

It took about 15 mins for our colour to be called. I thought the ride was okay but I think I prefer the simulators like Spiderman where you move around on a track as well. I wouldn’t have wanted to queue/hang around in the room for much longer than 20mins or so. I hope Universal make some new rides that are more like rollercoasters in the future.

Next up... ET! I remember loving this when I was six. :P I loved it just as much now. Chris loved the part where you fly over the town as it’s basically like a giant model and he loves models. There was something so nostalgic about this ride for me and I hope they keep it around a while longer. Chris ranks it as one of his favourite rides at US/IOA after Rip Ride Rockit.

I really fancied getting a Harry Potter pin of some kind to put on my camera strap so we headed for Diagon Alley passing the Simpsons area. I love how brightly coloured it is here and the theming is really good. Didn’t go back onto the ride though – simulators aren’t my favourite and I think this is one of the worst ones in terms of making me feel iffy.

I’m still in awe of the details in Diagon alley like all the little signs and the window displays. I could have spent hours just going round taking photos of everything.

We went for a browse in the shops again and bought my pin. I got a Ravenclaw pin. Cost was $10.60 including tax. One thing I will say is that the pin backs weren’t very good, it fell off about 2 hours later and I had to use my earring back!

Whilst we were outside we heard the rumbling of the dragon waking up. Not so long after it started to breathe fire. We hadn’t managed to catch it so far so was glad that we saw it Yet another spectacular detail.

We headed for Kings Cross to get on the Hogwarts express. Love the undeground signs etc but feel things need to be slightly more dirty and rough looking to better represent the UK.

The plan was to do all the water rides in IOA before heading back to the hotel. The queue for the train was about 20 mins – we found that this was a common wait time for during the day. We got off the train at 1:50 and headed through Hogsmeade.

Serious photo spam ahead!

I never got tired of seeing the castle and took a photo every time we went past. It’s so detailed, they did a very good job.

Jurassic Park was first up! Again great theming. I wish we would have stopped to meet the raptor they have but the queue was quite big the times we passed it.

The queue took about 10 mins with express pass. There was some kerfuffle that delayed our boat setting off. A guy in the front row wouldn’t move up to let a single rider on his row despite there being room. The cast member got slightly short tempered with him as he was just ignoring her and then eventually said he wouldn’t move up. Then some loud lady behind him started having a go at the cast member saying that she was being rude. Eventually the guy moved up and we could set off.

We enjoyed the ride – the drop is sooo good. Didn’t get too wet either.

We carried on anti-clockwise and as we would be passing Kong we decided to go on. Express line took 20mins but normal said 45 so that was a good time saving. The queue was very dark and tunnel like though. We thought Kong was quite good and at least had some physical elements rather than just a sat still simulator. Chris likes animatronics and so liked the big Kong at the end. Wouldn't have wanted to wait the 45 mins though.

Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls was up next. This is when we started getting seriously wet. I started to regret my choice of denim shorts at this point. The sky also started to get darker at this point so our chances of drying out were dwindling at this point.

Nevertheless we were undeterred and headed on to our final stop: Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges. Queue was very short on this and we were sat with a large family with some young children. They were really good fun, having a laugh all the way round at whoever got a complete drenching. We got off looking like we had jumped into a pool fully clothed and then some. No escaping the water on this one.

We were also one of the last Barges round before the weather shut the ride. The sky looked very ominous now. We took this as our que to head back to the hotel to try and beat the rain.

We saw this little guy on our way. We left the park at 15:45.

We made it back to the hotel just in time before the heavens really opened. The rain was coming down in sheets and we could see lightning in the distance.

We were really happy to get out of our completely drenched clothes at this point and have showers. We had hoped to go back out to Citywalk at 5:30-6 but the rain just kept coming and it was way too heavy to walk in comfortably.

We therefore tucked into Tortilla Chips with salsa and Jalapeno cheese dip. I really liked the cheese dip. We had to force ourselves to stop eating in the end as we were still hoping we might get to go out to eat at some point.

Just after 6 the rain started slowing so we got ready and by 6:30 headed back to Citywalk. It was the day before the anniversary of the pulse nightclub shooting and the fountain was all lit up.

We decided on Cowfish for dinner. We got seated straight away on the undercover patio upstairs. It was on the cooler side this evening probably due to the lengthy storm.

I had a Strawberry fig to drink (I love my fruity drinks) and Chris had an Orange Blossom beer -he really enjoyed this. I think he was trying to have different beers everywhere we went.

For mains I had the The Jalapeño Popper Showstopper with sweet potato fries. I enjoyed this as it had a good heat to it but it was super messy and abit too big for me. I will blame the tortilla chips and dip we had in the room for my lack of appetite. I hate not finishing my food

Chris ordered the The High Class Hillbilly - Southern Style Bar-B-Q-Shi with sweet potato fries. He liked this but didn't sound as enthusiastic about it as yesterday’s evening meal. I asked him about it and he said it was faffy to eat and lost its heat very quickly.

He also ordered another beer - Mad Manatee - this was 'hoppy' apparently.

The bill/check came to $65.77.
We left $78.

We decided to head back to RPR at this point. It was only 8:30pm but we were quite tired, I know what people mean when they say that the tiredness hits more on the second day!

When we got back to the room we decided that we might as well go for a dip in the pool. I think the main problem with visiting in the ’rainy season’ is that unless you go in the morning you might not get as much use of the pool during the day. We were expecting showers in the afternoon but today’s had lasted about 3 hours. The weather got better the week after though we thought or maybe the rain just missed us.

The pool was still quite busy even though it was 9pm. We still had a good time messing about and there were lots of spare rings floating about. This was the only time we actually used the pool which was a shame. We enjoyed the 45 mins we spent in it

We headed back to the room and got ready for bed. We were going to Kennedy Space Centre the next day and bus leaves from the Universal Bus Loop at 8am so we were in for an early start.

Steps: 16,845 - 13Km

Thanks for reading

Day 3 is HERE!

[Floridaagogo]

Lovely day .looking forward to more x

[H_C-2017]

Originally Posted by Floridaagogo

Lovely day .looking forward to more x

See more...

Thank you for reading.
I really miss my holiday. I want to go back!

[Minnie Mum]

Wow keke looks amazing. So want to try it! 😊

[collybird]

Your holiday wardrobe is fab, love your bikini, and I'm jealous of your Ravenclaw top, you don't see enough Ravenclaw merchandise, it always seems to be Gryffindor and Slytherin.

[H_C-2017]

Originally Posted by Minnie Mum

Wow keke looks amazing. So want to try it! 😊

See more...

Honestly amazing. Wish we had managed to go back!

Originally Posted by collybird

Your holiday wardrobe is fab, love your bikini, and I'm jealous of your Ravenclaw top, you don't see enough Ravenclaw merchandise, it always seems to be Gryffindor and Slytherin.

See more...

Thank you! I got the ravenclaw top on ETSY as you really can't find much anywhere else.

[Leia77]

Oh. My. Word.. what are those keke breakfasts about 😂😂. they're amazing looking. FOLP makes it all just that but easier, doesn't it. Sounds like a lovely day.

Looking forward to the rest

[H_C-2017]

Originally Posted by Leia77

Oh. My. Word.. what are those keke breakfasts about 😂😂. they're amazing looking. FOLP makes it all just that but easier, doesn't it. Sounds like a lovely day.

Looking forward to the rest

See more...

They are so amazing! Glad that when we went to universal after we didn't do any rollercoasters to be honest! We were very full.
Folp is so handy, made us fit more in definitely.

Thanks for reading.

[klr15]

That breakfast looks amazing! :o need to try that too when we go back!

[H_C-2017]

Originally Posted by klr15

That breakfast looks amazing! :o need to try that too when we go back!

See more...

Honestly best breakfast ever