Day 6 - The Chilled Day That Turned Into A Stressful Day

[caitlinsmummy]

Welcome to our trip report! I'll start off by introducing the family and a little about the name of the report in case you haven't read the pre-trippie.

We are a family of five and we returned from Orlando in November 2018. In September 2018 Virgin had a MASSIVE sale and I found a bargain for just over £300pp for direct flights, accommodation at Rosen Inn International and transfers for 9 nights! It was too good a deal to pass up so I booked it. I intended to tell everyone at Christmas but needed to tell Mr Grump earlier. We told the kids on Christmas morning and they were over the moon.

Find the Index HERE

Previous day is HERE

So this trip consisted of:

Myself (Kelly) - Chief planner and organiser ... none of the trip would have happened without me

Husband (Chris) - The laid back photographer one ... I guess it wouldn't have happened without him paying for it so I have to give him some recognition there

Caitlin (12) - total drama llama and pre teen one.

Thomas (10) - the cheeky brain box one.

Noah (6) - the cute one. Noah is autistic and struggles with change so holidays are quite often a challenge for him

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Day 6 - The Chilled Day That Turned Into A Stressful Day

I woke at 8.10am to hear Noah rummaging about I gave him some cereal and told him to get back into bed. The others woke around 8.45am and we all got showers and sorted before heading out to Hash House A Go Go for breakfast.

Hash House A Go Go

Before we flew out I'd bought a TravelZoo Voucher from the recommendation of Dixonsontour's report. It was $29 for a $50 spend. We went to the one on International Drive but we were quite late getting out this morning it was almost 10am when we arrived. We were seated immediately and it appeared to be busy.

The kids were given colourings and Noah and I played a few games of eye spy too.

Caitlin didn't fancy much so had

KIDS CEREAL-CAP’N CRUNCH, FROSTED FLAKES, FROOT LOOPS, OR CHEERIOS - $2.99

It is what it is not much you can say about cereal, but the portion size was huge!

Thomas and Noah both had the kid's waffles which were served with bacon or sausage and choice of eggs. There's no details online of the kids meals but they were $5.99 each

Chris and I both decided to go for the pancakes ... in hindsight we probably should have shared ... but I don't like red velvet and he doesn't like snickers

TRACTOR DRIVER COMBO - two eggs w/ choice of bacon, sausage links, turkey sausage patties or potatoes, w/ famous ‘Twisted’ flapjack - [B]$15.99[/B]

Now those who don't know about HHAGG they pride themselves on the size of their portions ... before we ordered the server told us the pancakes were the size of the picture on her t-shirt which was 12 inches

We all really enjoyed our meals, it was just far too much. This is definitely somewhere we would return to in future. Thomas and Noah only managed about half their waffles (could have shared!) so we brought the other (full waffle to Aquatica with us for a snack)

Total here was $57.22 however we needed to voucher applying. Once the voucher was applied and tip was added on this cost us $15 which I didn't think was too bad! I'd definitely recommend going here if you can

We left Hash House A Go Go just before 11am and arrived at Aquatica for around 11.30am ... we knew as soon as we pulled in what kind of day it was going to be ... it was absolutely rammed ... who decides to go to Aquatica on Memorial Day weekend oh yeah that would be us

We eventually got in around 12pm and finally found some loungers. Chris and the kids went in the pool whilst I read my book for a bit. We then headed off to find the lazy river and had a few goes round. Noah loved the lazy river although he always wanted to take off! I have a fear of kids and water, no idea why, but I hate not being able to reach him so he wasn't happy 😂

We then went to queue for one of the slides (I've no idea what it was called but the queues were HUGE. So we took the boys to play in the kiddie splash pool and Caitlin went back to the main pool.

We got out near the big splash area and Mr Grump took the boys in there whilst I just chilled in the shallow area. We headed back to the wave pool where Mr Grump took Thomas in the kids area and I took Noah in the wave pool. Caitlin wanted to go in the lazy river so when Mr Grump came back we all went round about 5 times 😂 Noah wanted to stay in all day bless him. He loves water 💦

Mr Grump took the boys in the wave pool and I went to shower and change. Everyone else followed suit. Today was a scorcher ... it was 35 degrees and you definitely felt, we'd stupidly left our flip flops back at the pool so we were having to run from shade to shade as our feet were burning on the floor!

We had a little bit more of a swim in the pool then got ready to leave as it was just too busy.

Noah had got his Dory hat in the Disney Character Warehouse the other night when we went shopping and he wanted me to take a picture and send it to my friends We left around 3.40pm and headed to The Vineland Outlets.

I got some Converse for all the kids. Buy 1 pair get 50% off the second. We then got the boys some Tshirts and me a scarf from the Disney store. We were a little thirsty so we called into Starbucks and we tried the Berry Hibiscus and also got 2 cups of iced water.

We then headed to Olive Garden for dinner. We went to the one near the Mall at Millenia as Chris had been wanting to try the Cheesecake Factory so I thought we could kill 2 birds with one stone!

Olive Garden

We arrived here at 6pm and it was quite busy. There were 2 families waiting for a table ahead of us and we were told it would be around 30 minutes wait.

Noah was shattered by now and had himself a cry as Thomas gave me a hint whilst playing hangman when waiting 🙄😂 Caitlin was reading a book and an American girl who was waiting with her family started talking to her about the books so they stood and chatted until our tables were ready which was lovely.

We were seated after about 20 minutes.

Chris wanted a starter but I can't remember what he ordered ... as it happened the server must not have heard as we didn't get brought any starters! I had completely forgotten about the complimentary Cesar salad and bread sticks so it was lucky they forgot as there's no way we could have managed it all. About 10 minutes after being seated they were brought out.

The kid's weren't too keen on the breadsticks (surprise surprise! ) Chris and I really enjoyed them, they had a slight hint of garlic on them and they were so tasty. Next up the kids meals were brought out.Noah was over the moon he could have pasta AND fries... Although he didn't eat many fries as he doesn't like the skin on 🙄

Cheese Pizza - Enjoy a kid’s cheese or pepperoni pizza with homemade marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese - $5.99

Thomas and Caitlin opted for this, Caitlin with Pepperoni, Thomas without.

They both really enjoyed these and said it was one of the best meals they'd had all holiday!

Chicken Parmigiana - Two lightly fried parmesan-breaded chicken breasts are smothered with Olive Garden’s homemade marinara sauce and melted Italian cheeses. We serve our Chicken Parmigiana with a side of spaghetti for dinner. Try this classic pairing of Italian comfort foods that will leave you saying 'yum! - $15.99

I opted to have this with fries instead of pasta. It was lovely but just way too big. I'm not a massive fan of tomato based sauces but it was quite nice

Tour of Italy
The Tour of Italy has Chicken Parmigiana, Lasagna Classico and Fettuccine Alfredo on one plate - Three OG classics all on one plate! Chicken Parmigiana, Lasagna Classico** and our signature Fettuccine Alfredo – all with homemade sauces made fresh every morning - $18.29

Chris really enjoyed this, he declared it his favourite meal, even better than my beloved Longhorns!

Noah was exhausted by this point and was rolling around on the seat and trying to kick Thomas under the table. So we decided to get paid up and leave.

Chris loves Cheesecake so he wanted a dessert from there, I don't like cheesecake but I had a free dessert voucher for Olive Garden for signing up or birthday, can't remember which one so I opted for this to takeaway

Black Tie Mousse Cake - Rich layers of chocolate cake, dark chocolate cheesecake and creamy custard mousse. - $7.29

Now I know it says cheesecake but it honestly didn't taste like it was, it was really nice. I ate it when we got back that evening.

We all really loved Olive Garden and I'm so glad we did ... I think next time I'd try a smaller main course if possible as I loved the salad and breadsticks It's definitely somewhere we want to return next time.

Total here including tip was $75.29

We were in the Mall by 8pm and back out with Chris's cheesecake at 8.15pm.

Cheesecake Factory

Chris absolutely loves Cheesecake so he was really excited to go here. It was so busy inside so I took the kids into the Mall whilst he got sorted. It took him 10 minutes just to CHOOSE which one he wanted He's so indecisive it's unreal He opted for:

White Chocolate and Raspberry Truffle - Creamy Cheesecake Swirled with White Chocolate and Raspberry - $7.95

Chris enjoyed this but he said it wasn't the best cheesecake he's ever had to be honest I think he should have choose something else as he isn't keen on raspberries so no idea why he choose it to be honest

Total was $8.87

I wanted to do a few last bits of shopping so we went to the Premium International Outlets. I was let loose in Bath and Body Works Now this is a thing we still laugh at now but it's one of those, only funny if you were there things?

So Caitlin and I had gone in BABW, Mr Grump, Thomas and Noah waited outside. Caitlin and I had a bit of a supermarket sweep and rushed round the store to get stuff so they didn't have to wait long ... $134 later and Caitlin and I walked out the store. Mr Grump stood up turned and looked at us and said $134 ... ahhhh damn I had to use his card since mine was stolen and forget it pops up on his phone Thomas had great pleasure in retelling me Mr Grumps face when it popped up on his phone He'd said to Thomas I hope she's got enough stuff to last us till we return in 2021 for that price I did get a good haul though ... I'm sure you'll agree

We went to the character warehouse where Caitlin got a T-shirt and me 2 T-shirts from the Disney outlet and Thomas spent more of his money. I also found the amazing Loungefly bag for just over $35! I was over the moon

We left the outlets at around 9.45 and Noah had a kick off as he wanted to keep drawing/writing in the car but couldn't see as it was dark 🙄 I managed to calm him down and compromise that we could play I spy instead. We were back for 10 and all kids asleep by 10.30pm. We had a few meltdowns today and Aquatica was failed and stressful ... I hate crowds but the rest of the evening made up for it x

[Kezza632]

Great report ! I also have the HHAGG voucher , can’t wait to try it !

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by Kezza632

Great report ! I also have the HHAGG voucher , can’t wait to try it !

See more...

Thanks for reading, just be aware of the HUGE portion sizes xx

[Goldia]

A shame that aquatica was so busy, we loved it when we went. Still it looks like you made up for the disappointment with your epic shopping haul from Bath and Bodyworks.

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by Goldia

A shame that aquatica was so busy, we loved it when we went. Still it looks like you made up for the disappointment with your epic shopping haul from Bath and Bodyworks.

See more...

It was our own fault going on a weekend and Memorial weekend at that but at least we know for next time xx

[collybird]

Love shopping pictures and I think Chris chose his cheesecake well, it sounds lovely!

Snickers pancakes, be still my heart!

So lovely that Caitlin made a friend at Olive Garden.

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by collybird

Love shopping pictures and I think Chris chose his cheesecake well, it sounds lovely!

Snickers pancakes, be still my heart!

So lovely that Caitlin made a friend at Olive Garden.

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Always need to squeeze a bit of shopping in

It was so nice but there wasn't enough snickers in for me xx

[jothp]

Wow those breakfast portions really were huge. It's a shame that Aquatica was so busy but it looks like you made the most of it and still had a good time.

The food at Olive Garden looks lovely. I am half tempted to stay offsite sometime so we can try all the offsite restaurants.

I love the bag.

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by jothp

Wow those breakfast portions really were huge. It's a shame that Aquatica was so busy but it looks like you made the most of it and still had a good time.

The food at Olive Garden looks lovely. I am half tempted to stay offsite sometime so we can try all the offsite restaurants.

I love the bag.

See more...

They were ... we definitely wouldn't order that much food if we went back!

It's really nice ... I've said to Mr Grump we need to have a meal offsite when we're at Universal so it's deciding where to go. We did like staying offsite and having such a choice of places to go too. Next time we're definitely doing a split stay.

I still use the bag now sure I can squeeze a few more in on my next trip though

Thanks for reading xx

[Fuellady]

We've never been to HHAGG,but want to try some new places so this seems like a good option. We might have to share thoug, those pancakes are huge!

It doesn't sound as if Aquatica was a total fail, you seemed to manage a fair amount of time in the lazy river and some of the other rides. It can definitely be stressful with young kids when there are loads of people about.

We love Olive Garden, especially the breadsticks! I've had the Tour of Italy that Chris has, it's really good.

Nice B&BW haul to end the day.