The Mad Hatters in Florida May/June 2018 - Day 8 - Lazy morning and a little bit of Universal

Mad Hatters · 3 Nov 18, 07:30 PM

Hello and welcome to my very first trip report

So we are the Hatfield’s: Adam (Me), Grace (Wife), Joshua (Oldest Son), Trayvon (Youngest Son), Mick (My Dad) and Sue (My Mum).

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Friday 25th May: Day 8 – Lazy morning and a little bit of Universal

Today’s report is only a short one as, to be honest, we didn’t do very much. The plan was for a lazy morning, get some more stuff for the room and to do some laundry, followed by our first visit of the holiday to Universal studios in the afternoon.

Grace and I woke up first at 7:30am. We woke the kids shortly after and got ourselves ready to go to breakfast.

We hit the breakfast area at 8:30am. At Homewood suites, they offer a complimentary breakfast. This consists of the usual fruit, cereal, toast, pastries etc. They also had 3 hot items that constantly changed. I also spied that they had Krispy Kreme donuts. Yum.

To drink, we got a variety of juices. Apple, orange and they also had a citrus peach cocktail. This tasted just like the POG juice that is served at O’hana. It was lovely

I also had a cup of decaf coffee.

To eat we had:

Toast, followed by eggs and potato for me.

Grace made up a sausage muffin.

Joshua had some lucky charms and then some eggs.

Trayvon had sausage and eggs.

Grace got some laundry on next and we headed out to the pool. It was around 10am at this point. The pool area is only small, but was never very busy, so it wasn’t an issue. It’s also quite shaded due to being in the centre of the hotel.

Pool area.

Unfortunately, it started raining not long after. We braved it for a little while, but gave it up after a bit. That was the end of our pool morning.

You can see it had started raining here

We headed back to the room and waited for it to stop raining. My mum was way ahead of us haha.

Once the weather had picked up, we made our way to the Walgreens at the crossing of Sand lake road and I drive. We then headed down to ABC liquor store. I have used this store since 2013. It is far cheaper than most other booze stores. Unfortunately, after a fair old walk, it was shut! Grump! Ah well, we will try again another day.
We took the roughly 1.3 mile walk back to the hotel, which in the humidity, feels like much further haha.

On our walks, we found this guy on the sidewalk.

It was 1pm, quite late for us to have not had lunch, so we made up some sandwiches using the things we had purchased from Walgreens.
Ham, salami, pepperoni and cheese sandwiches with some chips were had. They were very nice.

It was now time to go to Universal. We decided that rather than use the I ride trolley to get most of the way there and then walk the rest, that we would use an Uber.

My Mum booked this, so it will have been an Uber XL. The cost was around $12.

We were through security and Onto City Walk just before 3pm. It was good to be back.

Our intended eating venue for tonight.

Obligatory Universal photo.

And the view looking over to Hardrock café and toothsome

We made our way into Universal and saw that Shrek 4D was only a short wait. On the app, Ripe Ride Rockit was also a short wait, so Grace went ahead to ride that while all the rest of us queued up for Shrek. We only waited 15 minutes and then we were in. We really enjoyed this. It had been years since I last went on it and honestly didn’t remember any of it. Both the kids loved it and since then, Trayvon has grown to really like the Shrek films.

Rip Ride Rockit in the background. Braver than me going on there.

We met back up with Grace near to the Minions shop. She loved Rip Ride Rockit, it’s one of her favourite rides.

We had agreed before the holiday that we would purchase some refill mugs. We decided on 2 of the Minion ones. If my memory is correct they were on offer for something like 2 for $22 or similar to that. My notes say “Bit crap tbh”

That’s because they weren’t the best to actually drink from. We utilised straws in the end and they did the job and saved us some money overall.

Next up was the Revenge of the Mummy ride. My mum waited with Trayvon, while we went into the queue. This only took us 10 minutes to get on. It was posted as 15. Awesome ride, we love it.

Unfortunately, that was to be the last ride of the day. My Dad was feeling a bit off it, which, for my dad to say that, meant he was genuinely not feeling good at all. My parents said for us to stay, but we said we would head back to the hotel with them. This meant our planned meal at NBC would have to wait for another time.

However, this opened the door to having a Dominos pizza. Not bad as a backup haha. On our way out, we grabbed a Simpsons donut to have later on

We got to the bus stop at 5:10pm. The bus arrived at half past 5 and 15 minutes later, we were back to our hotel.

We made 2 separate orders, as to pay cash, the total has to be under $50. We ordered it to be delivered, even though it’s only round the corner haha. Lazy holiday mode in full effect

Our order:

Our delicious Pizzas. Yum yum.

And the garlic bread and chicken.

It was lovely. We think it’s much nicer than the ones we get at home.
We decided to take a little more of a look around the hotel and I wanted to check out the gym. It was an ok little set up, which would have done the job fine while on holiday, but obviously it was no use to me this time because of my hand.

We put the Kids to bed early tonight, at 7:45pm.

Kids totally wiped out and fast asleep.

Thankfully, my Dad was feeling better after a bit of food and was up for a few drinks and some games.

My parents came over to our room and we played cards and dominos, while having a few glasses of wine.

We played Trumps and I won again haha. We also played a few hands of Pontoon. Then we finally played dominos, Men vs Women. The women won all 4 games, which is terrible as my dad actually plays for a dominos team

We called it a night and were in bed, asleep by 9:55pm.

Total steps for today: 15,332

Thanks for reading.

Palm trees · 3 Nov 18, 11:01 PM

That sounds like a lovely day and you still seem to have fit plenty in despite it being a quieter one for you. Glad your dad felt better quickly.

Mad Hatters · 4 Nov 18, 02:10 AM

Originally Posted by Palm trees

That sounds like a lovely day and you still seem to have fit plenty in despite it being a quieter one for you. Glad your dad felt better quickly.

Thank you for reading

Luckily he recovered nice and quick did my Dad

**Goldia** · 4 Nov 18, 07:07 PM

The kids don't care about rain at the pool do they? I've huddled under an umbrella in the past while they had the pool pretty much to themselves.

Shame your universal visit was cut short, but it looks like the kids needed the early night. They look so cute in bed.

We always take cards on holiday and often dominoes too! We got more use ou5 of them when the kids were little than we do nowadays.

Oh and shame on you for wimping out of going on rip ride rockit! There's always next time I guess.

Mad Hatters · 12 Nov 18, 11:45 AM

Originally Posted by Goldia

The kids don't care about rain at the pool do they? I've huddled under an umbrella in the past while they had the pool pretty much to themselves.

Shame your universal visit was cut short, but it looks like the kids needed the early night. They look so cute in bed.

We always take cards on holiday and often dominoes too! We got more use ou5 of them when the kids were little than we do nowadays.

Oh and shame on you for wimping out of going on rip ride rockit! There's always next time I guess.

The kids would happily stay in the pool in the rain all day. Although i have to admit, it doesn't bother me too much

They were ready for a good rest, it's very true. Gave them a new lease of energy for the next few days haha.

Cards and dominoes has always been something that we have done on holiday, its like a tradition

I'm not sure if i can face Rip ride rockit. Maybe a step too far. I did get myself closer to the big stuff, but i'll save that for a later trip report day.

Thanks for reading

DISNEYNIC · 17 May 19, 12:09 PM

Nice to have the pool to yourselves - shame about the rain! Glad your Dad felt better. I've only been on Rip Ride Rocket once. I would probably do it again if someone made me but its the start that I don't like going up that track with only a lap bar! Eeeek. Pizza looked lush - my dominos here always look like they have been thrown about a bit haha!

Mad Hatters · 19 May 19, 03:35 AM

Originally Posted by DISNEYNIC

Nice to have the pool to yourselves - shame about the rain! Glad your Dad felt better. I've only been on Rip Ride Rocket once. I would probably do it again if someone made me but its the start that I don't like going up that track with only a lap bar! Eeeek. Pizza looked lush - my dominos here always look like they have been thrown about a bit haha!

Yeah we struggled a fair bit with rain. The pool was often quiet which was a nice bonus.

It’s a pretty intimidating looking ride is RRR. Not sure I can face that one haha.

Know what you mean with domino’s here. Love it out in the US though, tastes much better 👍

Thanks for reading 😀

Excitedx4 · 20 May 19, 09:39 PM

Howling at the last sentence about your dad playing for a dominoes team bet he was gutted!

Mad Hatters · 26 May 19, 07:41 PM

Originally Posted by Excitedx4

Howling at the last sentence about your dad playing for a dominoes team bet he was gutted!

He should have been very embarrassed by it. We laughed it off but he was taking the game seriously haha.

Thanks for reading 😀

3 Nov 18, 07:30 PM	#1
	3 Nov 18, 07:30 PM Mad Hatters slightly serious Dibber
Mad Hatters slightly serious Dibber Join Date: Mar 17	The Mad Hatters in Florida May/June 2018 - Day 8 - Lazy morning and a little bit of Universal Hello and welcome to my very first trip report So we are the Hatfield’s: Adam (Me), Grace (Wife), Joshua (Oldest Son), Trayvon (Youngest Son), Mick (My Dad) and Sue (My Mum). Link to Index: Index Link to previous day: Previous Day Friday 25th May: Day 8 – Lazy morning and a little bit of Universal Today’s report is only a short one as, to be honest, we didn’t do very much. The plan was for a lazy morning, get some more stuff for the room and to do some laundry, followed by our first visit of the holiday to Universal studios in the afternoon. Grace and I woke up first at 7:30am. We woke the kids shortly after and got ourselves ready to go to breakfast. We hit the breakfast area at 8:30am. At Homewood suites, they offer a complimentary breakfast. This consists of the usual fruit, cereal, toast, pastries etc. They also had 3 hot items that constantly changed. I also spied that they had Krispy Kreme donuts. Yum. To drink, we got a variety of juices. Apple, orange and they also had a citrus peach cocktail. This tasted just like the POG juice that is served at O’hana. It was lovely I also had a cup of decaf coffee. To eat we had: Toast, followed by eggs and potato for me. Grace made up a sausage muffin. Joshua had some lucky charms and then some eggs. Trayvon had sausage and eggs. Grace got some laundry on next and we headed out to the pool. It was around 10am at this point. The pool area is only small, but was never very busy, so it wasn’t an issue. It’s also quite shaded due to being in the centre of the hotel. Pool area. Unfortunately, it started raining not long after. We braved it for a little while, but gave it up after a bit. That was the end of our pool morning. You can see it had started raining here We headed back to the room and waited for it to stop raining. My mum was way ahead of us haha. Once the weather had picked up, we made our way to the Walgreens at the crossing of Sand lake road and I drive. We then headed down to ABC liquor store. I have used this store since 2013. It is far cheaper than most other booze stores. Unfortunately, after a fair old walk, it was shut! Grump! Ah well, we will try again another day. We took the roughly 1.3 mile walk back to the hotel, which in the humidity, feels like much further haha. On our walks, we found this guy on the sidewalk. It was 1pm, quite late for us to have not had lunch, so we made up some sandwiches using the things we had purchased from Walgreens. Ham, salami, pepperoni and cheese sandwiches with some chips were had. They were very nice. It was now time to go to Universal. We decided that rather than use the I ride trolley to get most of the way there and then walk the rest, that we would use an Uber. My Mum booked this, so it will have been an Uber XL. The cost was around $12. We were through security and Onto City Walk just before 3pm. It was good to be back. Our intended eating venue for tonight. Obligatory Universal photo. And the view looking over to Hardrock café and toothsome We made our way into Universal and saw that Shrek 4D was only a short wait. On the app, Ripe Ride Rockit was also a short wait, so Grace went ahead to ride that while all the rest of us queued up for Shrek. We only waited 15 minutes and then we were in. We really enjoyed this. It had been years since I last went on it and honestly didn’t remember any of it. Both the kids loved it and since then, Trayvon has grown to really like the Shrek films. Rip Ride Rockit in the background. Braver than me going on there. We met back up with Grace near to the Minions shop. She loved Rip Ride Rockit, it’s one of her favourite rides. We had agreed before the holiday that we would purchase some refill mugs. We decided on 2 of the Minion ones. If my memory is correct they were on offer for something like 2 for $22 or similar to that. My notes say “Bit crap tbh” That’s because they weren’t the best to actually drink from. We utilised straws in the end and they did the job and saved us some money overall. Next up was the Revenge of the Mummy ride. My mum waited with Trayvon, while we went into the queue. This only took us 10 minutes to get on. It was posted as 15. Awesome ride, we love it. Unfortunately, that was to be the last ride of the day. My Dad was feeling a bit off it, which, for my dad to say that, meant he was genuinely not feeling good at all. My parents said for us to stay, but we said we would head back to the hotel with them. This meant our planned meal at NBC would have to wait for another time. However, this opened the door to having a Dominos pizza. Not bad as a backup haha. On our way out, we grabbed a Simpsons donut to have later on We got to the bus stop at 5:10pm. The bus arrived at half past 5 and 15 minutes later, we were back to our hotel. We made 2 separate orders, as to pay cash, the total has to be under $50. We ordered it to be delivered, even though it’s only round the corner haha. Lazy holiday mode in full effect Our order: Our delicious Pizzas. Yum yum. And the garlic bread and chicken. It was lovely. We think it’s much nicer than the ones we get at home. We decided to take a little more of a look around the hotel and I wanted to check out the gym. It was an ok little set up, which would have done the job fine while on holiday, but obviously it was no use to me this time because of my hand. We put the Kids to bed early tonight, at 7:45pm. Kids totally wiped out and fast asleep. Thankfully, my Dad was feeling better after a bit of food and was up for a few drinks and some games. My parents came over to our room and we played cards and dominos, while having a few glasses of wine. We played Trumps and I won again haha. We also played a few hands of Pontoon. Then we finally played dominos, Men vs Women. The women won all 4 games, which is terrible as my dad actually plays for a dominos team We called it a night and were in bed, asleep by 9:55pm. Total steps for today: 15,332 Thanks for reading.