Rolling in the Upside Downs -8th Jul 22 - Day 5. Shopping and Universal

[Rescuer]

Rolling in the upside downs - day 5 - 8/7/22 - let the competition commence.

Index is here

The Plan: early entry ❌
Shopping outlet marketplace, Ross dress for less✅
Cafe minerio❌
Cinema and citywalk❌

Weather - don’t know why I bother another scorcher forecast

Steps 21.4K

I thought I’d sleep in this morning but I didn’t. I was awake at 6.30am and I was absolutely starving. I’m not really that much of a hungry person of a morning but I’d gone to bed still hungry so that was probably it. I was glad we were pretty well stocked and I put my own low carb breakfast together and made coffee in the wee machine to have with my almond milk.

A much better Keto yogurt this morning. I’ll be picking these ones going forward. It’s hard to imagine my excitement I know but I’d had no yogurt, mousse, custard, iced cream since December so to actually have a lovely delicious sweet creamy yogurt that was ok for my blood sugars was amazing. Why oh why don’t they have things like this here?

Ds on the other hand was absolutely shattered and slept like a baby till 8.10am. So that was early entry out then we needed the adjusting to the morning by playing on his phone for an age 😂. I was fed so I was fairly contended to leave him be.

I’d read a few mentions of TJ Maxx and Ross Dress for Less on the dibb and thought it might be nice to have a wee look around. I realised that they were on idrive very close to the outlet marketplace where I knew we’d picked up some good Nike bargains in the past so I thought we’d combine the 2 things. Ds was obviously cheesing at more shopping, not, but he still needed a shirt for our friends wedding and I was still unsure if I wanted a different dress or not.

We checked out the Itrolley using website to try and get an idea of when one was due. The website is actually alright. We left the hotel just after 10 and walked up to idrive stop 5, I actually think stop 6 is the closer one but we’d checked out by the time I discovered that 😂

The times changed a bit but it was still quite reliable and did give you a good enough indication of whether it was a better idea to just get an Uber rather than wait.

We were heading for Stop 2 which was the outlet marketplace and we were interested in 3 of the shops there.

First up Nike, again the mens selection and prices was way better than the ladies. Ds and Dh spent a bit of time looking but nothing took their fancy.

Next up Under armour, there was a 20% extra discount voucher on the Simon vip app, totally worth signing up for that. I thought it was really good in here. Having lost so much weight my wardrobe is quite sparse still so I was more than happy to pick up a few really soft thin long sleeved tops, a hoodie and a sweatshirt. The tops were $10, the sweatshirt $15 and the hoodie $20. I bought Ds a really nice top as well, he really liked it but stated not enough to buy it himself with his spends.

We looked in Tommy Hilfiger mainly for a shirt for Ds we didn’t see anything. I did spy a dress though. I’d been after a denim bread for a while, I’d bought a few here and there, tried them on took them back.. this one was pretty much exactly what I was looking for but a bit more than I really wanted to spend. It was $110 but had an extra 20% off, still more than I wanted to spend. Then Dh piped up to say he’d got an email offering 25% off, we checked at the till and they said this discount was fine to use in addition to the other one. I couldn’t decide what size I’d need and ended up buying a size 4! I’m pretty sure the last time I bought a dress from there it was a 14.

It turned out that Ross and TJ Maxx were just across the car park, thankfully as I’m pretty sure I felt like the soles of my shoes were melting with the heat.

Ross Dress for Less had mountains of stuff but it was all packed in and I didn’t really know what I was looking for, plus if I’d had loads of time to rake it would have been great but the other 2 have a set amount of patience in shops, this would be a good one to go alone. The prices are certainly good though. Ds got a lovely shirt for the wedding and I got a really nice Tommy top to go with my jeans.

TJ Maxx was a a bit of a calmer experience. I got a couple of really nice tops and we picked up some Guess sunglasses.

The only other place round about was Adidas, we had to do a bit of crossing as one of the bits didn’t have pavement on one side, I think the bit opposite Hash House A Go Go. Trying to cross back over was a pain though and the crossing wasn’t working properly and it took ages, the sun was relentless while we were waiting.

Adidas was good as usual, more zip pocket shorts for Ds and Dh at really cheap prices, I think it was an additional 40% off the prices shown. Ds picked himself out a top as well.

A worthwhile morning of shopping we thought. We were ready for lunch now and I suggested trying Saltgrass again as we had the $25 Landrys birthday reward. We checked the Itrolley times and really luckily there was one due in the direction in a minute.

The air conditioning and that first gulp of ice water felt really good.

It was pretty quiet with tables only filled just round the edges. Our server was really nice and friendly.

Warm bread for Ds and Dh

We all had essentially the same with slight variations

6oz steak with shrimp either grilled or fried, Caesar side salad and fries or green beans.

Oh my, this was absolutely awesome, way better than Longhorns and my top meal of the holiday so far. I might even dream about this lunch.

They have an early dining menu which is much cheaper and we had a $25 birthday reward. I’d say brilliant value.

We checked the itrolley times back up to hotel and there was one due shortly so we left with about 5 minutes before it was due.

The Itrolley was great today for just jumping in and off for short journeys.

We got back around 4 and noticed the lobby was busy but check in still looked ok.

A bit of a rest was definitely in order before we did anything else.

The question was what to do, Seaworld or Universal - to be honest Seaworld felt like too much effort so we settled on heading into Universal for a bit.

We just missed a bus and there was no line so I imagine they’d filled one or 2 just before we got to the stop. It was a 6 minute wait, the first wait we’d had for a bus since arriving.

It was busy at citywalk but no surprise really considering it was about 7.30pm.

This was the first time we’d headed into the studios. I was sad to see all the boardings around Monsters cafe. We’d only just started eating there but it was ideal for my low carb diet.

The Freestyle machines there were out of order as well. We didn’t really think it was worthwhile reactivating the cup but it was worthwhile taking it for ice water refills. We walked round to Louie’s and used the machines there.

We didn’t have any sort of plan but saw on Touring Plans that the single rider line at Men in Black was open. This is one of our favourite things to do and we like to run a competition to see who can get the best score, we are very competitive. Single rider was walk on so this was ideal. We went on 3 times back to back. Dh had shocking scores and was last each time 😂. I won twice and Ds got the best score in the last go.

Shot 1 : 264k me - 34k Dh - 154k Ds
Shot 2: 322k me - 32k Dh - 73k Ds
Shot 3: 122k me - 74k Dh - 178k Ds

Yes we kept a record the entire holiday 😂

We decided we’d have a wee shot on Twirl and Hurl next, I’d never wait long for this but I do really like it especially in the dark.

Dh wanted to watch the Cinematic Spectacular and it was starting pretty soon. I was a bit concerned about what we’d do about food if we got caught up with everyone leaving at once but it was a good opportunity to go and see it. It’s a great show, pretty well done but we have seen it quite a few times, Ds didn’t see the point but grumpily went along with the decision.

At the end I suggested that we just take a wee stroll to Portofino for dinner, it’s an easy walk from the Studios and saved getting caught up in the City walk chaos. Dh loved this idea, Ds hated the idea and stomped ahead of us the whole way muttering about going back to the food court and his room.

It isn’t far at all, less than 15 minutes and the temperature was lovely so it was a nice walk and Portofino is so beautiful at night.

We headed for Sals, there were a few South American tour groups running around and Sals was pretty loud, in hindsight we should have sat outside.

Made to order chicken Caesar salad for me with a white claw mango - delicious

Ds and Dh shared the Salvatore pizza with mushrooms on one side only. Dh had an Angry orchard. They said the pizza was great.

I think it was $53. Ds was a lot happier after he’d had his food. I think Sals is good quality and good value. I’d have suggested a drink at the Thirsty Fish but I didn’t want to deal with another strop. 😂.

We caught the boat back in to Citywalk. Such a lovely journey and it was pretty empty.

Cut through Citywalk and down to the buses. There was a long line and yet again they filled the buses really efficiently and quickly so we weren’t really waiting any time at all. It took about 10 minutes to get on a bus but the line was constantly moving and I think it was the 4th bus they filled while we were in line.

[DisneyMemories]

Such a lovely day (apart from slight teen strop !). Fab shopping too x

[Rescuer]

Originally Posted by DisneyMemories

Such a lovely day (apart from slight teen strop !). Fab shopping too x

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Thanks, he always recovers quickly if you feed him. 😂

2 days to go for you - how exciting and I know it’s bad but i am a little jealous!

[DisneyMemories]

Originally Posted by Rescuer

Thanks, he always recovers quickly if you feed him. 😂

2 days to go for you - how exciting and I know it’s bad but i am a little jealous!

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Totally normal 😊 - might doing a tiny TR.

My tween is the same…

Pleased you have October to look forward to x

1 day left at work, currently on boiling train. Can’t wait to put my ooo on !

[Rescuer]

Originally Posted by DisneyMemories

Totally normal 😊 - might doing a tiny TR.

My tween is the same…

Pleased you have October to look forward to

1 day left at work, currently on boiling train. Can’t wait to put my ooo on !

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Happy Holidays!

[mick]

Another lovely day with a few bargains from your shopping expedition


Joan

[Rescuer]

Originally Posted by mick

Another lovely day with a few bargains from your shopping expedition


Joan

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Thanks Joan. I really enjoyed the shopping this trip. Not sure Ds would say the same although he certainly managed to find things to buy 😂

[Goldia]

I reckon 8am is pretty good for a teen. Did he get up all raring to go or was it like chivvying a sloth? I'm only asking to see if it's just my teen that can drag out getting ready like it's her special skill. The shopping trip seemed worthwhile and you all got a few bits. We've never made it to the universal fireworks. We'll have to do it sometime.

[Rescuer]

Originally Posted by Goldia

I reckon 8am is pretty good for a teen. Did he get up all raring to go or was it like chivvying a sloth? I'm only asking to see if it's just my teen that can drag out getting ready like it's her special skill. The shopping trip seemed worthwhile and you all got a few bits. We've never made it to the universal fireworks. We'll have to do it sometime.

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8am awake. Yes sloth like but with a phone surgically attached to his body would be a very good description.
Teenage years are like being back at the toddler stage of having to repeat yourself 5000 times then then getting annoyed that you’ve actually asked them to do something! 😂
I resorted to hiding the game controllers on Friday till he’d actually tidied his room but communicating this by text. It worked 😂

If you’ve never done the cinematic spectacular it’s worth a watch, not sure you’d want to view it every time but it is good.

[OB1LukeLucas]

Good shopping haul and a nice evening in the parks. The stroll to Portofino was a good idea for food I would have had whinging in each ear We often carry little bags of harribos to try and stop the noise but it doesn’t always work