Irish family of 6 offsite and first Orlando holiday

[roisin]

Day 4
Right well this was a long enough day but everyone seems to have adjusted and had good sleeps so we weren’t up mad early .decided to eat breakfast down near universal rather than near the villa.went to Perkins on sand lake road .food here was really nice ..huge improvement on Denny’s yesterday.twh two smallies had the rainbow pancakes (they loved these)dp had a hungry mans one which was huge ..I had scrambled eggs and bacon with a biscuit .ds had same as dp and dd had pancakes with bacon ..best bit here is they give u the entire pot of coffee all to yourself ..I drank it all of course because I’ve a serious coffee addiction and I’m not fussy ..once it’s black and strong it will do .service was also great here .servers name was Wendy and she would make you want to go back again..gave the two smallies a cookie each to take home when we were leaving .the bill was $42 after the 20% coupon came off so good value .everyone stuffed and no complaints.
First row started outside when eldest ds stole smallies cookie and stuffed it in his mouth ..he thinks doing this stuff is hilarious and finds it equally funny wen I go mental with him .anyway then had to persuade dd to share her one with ds who was crying .she cleverly enough has saw this request coming so had nearly choked herself to eat hers as quick as she could so he wouldn’t get any .
On to universal studios and lines were longer and park much more crowded than yesterday.we did a few rides and then dp wanted a frozen butter beer (was raining too on and off from about 12pm)they all ended up having one except eldest ds who said he wasn’t having it cos it was too fattening and he was having the orange fizz drink instead ..he had one sip and said it was disgusting and threw it in the bin .tasted like cinnamon he said .his was $5 I think and the frozen butter beers were about $7 each .headed over to islands of Adventure on the Hogwarts express and got on Jurassic Park and Pluto’s barges as the wait times were about 10 mins each ..these were fun but we were completely drenched through ..trainers included and it was absolutely hammering down at this point so we decided to head back to the villa then .got back here and was nice and sunny so went the pool wit smallies for a few hours cos they love swimming and your nearly guaranteed they won’t fight so it’s great for a bit of peace ..I did my usual and got in for a few mins and sort of pretended to swim about til dp got distracted playing with the kids so I got out and hid around the side of the clubhouse in a nice sunny spot ..he thought I was gone back to the villa ..that’s payback for the mall incident done with 😉.
Got ready about 7 and went to 4 rivers smokehouse for food.its somewhere near where we r staying in desperate at knowing where we are so maybe not 🤔
Anyways dp really wanted to have the meat sweats and so he did .we all had either beef brisket sandwich meals or pulled pork ones .they all came with two sides each .we had fries ,southern coleslaw ,green beans and bbq beans and corn .all fab except dd got chicken wings and these were awful .everyone tried them and no one liked them .you have to queue up here to order and pay and then find a seat but it’s really nice food and only was $55 for all of us with drinks too.
had a look at accu weather app and it looked good over Orlando so we decided to go back to the parks for an hour as me and dp really wanted a shot on hulk .the queue had been about 90 mins today .now this was the best decision ever .we parked and walked in to park for 8.30pm.had a quick look at the app and hulk was 25 mins but single rider was only 5 mins so we jumped in and did that (loved it !)smallies went on that storm force one beside it with eldest ds while we were on .then did Spider-Man as a walk on and doctor doom fearfall walk on too .headed to hogsmeade and the forbidden journey was a walk on (it said ten mins but that was a lie so we did it twice )loved loved loved it ! then on to hippogriff one and headed out .park was closing at 10pm so in 1.5hrs we did loads and it was so nice all lit up at night and hardly any crowds.we will def do this again .we were going to go get an ice cream from cold stone creamery as I read on here that it was good but the kids wanted a shake from Steak ‘n Shake instead .
Got there at 11pm and we al had one each (I felt I deserved a whole one to myself cos I didn’t have any Cheetos today &#128519I had the caramel turtle nut yum yum .others had banana ,cookie dough ,chocolate,Oreo and Nutella .all delish but so pulled a fast one on me with the banana cos he knows I don’t like it so I wouldn’t want a taste of his .we seem to have this constant pastime of trying to get one up on each other 🤔ah well it works for us 😉.this cost $24 and so nice .
it was busy in there and we got home about 12 .lazy day planned for tomorrow so didn’t mind having them up too late .
I think we are doing well with the food budget .i had thought we would be spending about 3 times as much as we are !theres a lot to be said for staying offsite and not getting robbed for food in the parks.im sure we will have more expensive dinners as we go on but happy out for now 😊

[Craig_ld]

Outstanding stuff , thanks for the update, loving the fact that its not just my kids that would do the sort of thing when it comes to cookies, can just see my lot stuffing their faces to avoid sharing and then thinking its hilarious. Awesome end to the night , i do love steak and shake.. never quite made it to 4rivers though, must give that a go , looking forward to reading more if you find the time

[Floridafour]

Great report, loving it 👍 and yes you are right about good value to be had offsite 🙂

[roisin]

Originally Posted by Craig_ld

Outstanding stuff , thanks for the update, loving the fact that its not just my kids that would do the sort of thing when it comes to cookies, can just see my lot stuffing their faces to avoid sharing and then thinking its hilarious. Awesome end to the night , i do love steak and shake.. never quite made it to 4rivers though, must give that a go , looking forward to reading more if you find the time

See more...

Thanks for reading and I’m trying to do it every day so I don’t forget things or throw the receipts out !i feel I owed it everyone on here because I learned so much from everyone else’s reports so it’s nice to try and give a little back .

[roisin]

Originally Posted by Floridafour

Great report, loving it 👍 and yes you are right about good value to be had offsite 🙂

See more...

Yes definitely so much choice out there and you definitely won’t starve !this mornings breakfast was at woodsbys countryside cafe and was the best yet but will leave that til today is over and I have time to waffle it all 😂

[Joshie1]

Loved you getting that sneaky break in the sun! Can just picture the antics in the car park outside Perkins
Would agree there is great value in food outside the parks and that evening trip back to Universal sounds like a winner.

[Ciano]

Another lovely day Roisin. Love Universal at night time. It is a totally different experience to during the day! Make sure to hit Longhorns during the hols if hubbie likes a steak. Mash potato is out of this world! Our favourite restaurant!

[roisin]

Originally Posted by Ciano

Another lovely day Roisin. Love Universal at night time. It is a totally different experience to during the day! Make sure to hit Longhorns during the hols if hubbie likes a steak. Mash potato is out of this world! Our favourite restaurant!

See more...

It’s on the list for tomorrow!glad u like it there ..we were supposed to be at millers tonight but that went out the window cos we stopped at the outlets for “half an hour “🙈

[mojo.121]

What a refreshing report to hear the “real” happenings of a family holiday knowing it’s not just our family (and that’s just the adults).
Really enjoying reading even without the pics of the food.
Thanks for sharing and keep enjoying your holiday
M.

[The Durrigan's]

another great day, if I didn't know any better I'd say it's my sister's reports I'm reading...you have a great way with words and I could totally picture the scenario outside Perkins with the cookies. Going back to IOA worked out brilliant for you's...a rest day is definitely much deserved.