Day 7 ~ POR, Sick Child and Universal Studios, Split Day ~ 2nd November 2018

[caitlinsmummy]

Find the previous day 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 (Turned 12 when we were out there) - total drama llama and pre teen one.

Thomas (9) - the cheeky brain box one.

Noah (5) - the cute one (He was recently diagnosed as autistic, so it was a big challenge for us all to ensure we kept meltdowns to a minimum)

Day 7 ~ POR, Sick Child and Universal Studios, Split Day ~ 2nd November 2018

Today will be pretty sparse on all photos, food and travelling as Thomas wasn't well and Mr Grump isn't as attentive as I am for the trip report

The alarm was set for 7am. The plan was to get up early and head to Universal Studios for the early morning hours. Thomas had been up sick in the night but he said he felt ok so we continued getting ready. Just as we were about to leave he threw up again

Mr Grump was adamant he'd be ok once we got outside and that we could just walk around Universal :saywhat: I told him there was no way Thomas could walk around Universal like that. An argument followed with me calling him selfish (this was all because he didn't want to miss the day at Universal as we wouldn't be able to fit it in another day!) I said I would take Thomas back to POR and Mr Grump could take the other 2 to Universal Studios. I thought there was no point in everyone missing out.

First of all I decided to pop down to reception and see if there was anyway we could defer the express passes to another day and maybe we could try and come back another day instead but reception said they couldn't do that

The next dilemma we had was that I had yet to drive the car ... not even around the car park I said to Mr Grump it was either me that took Thomas back and managed to drive or he could take him back if he didn't want me to drive ... he soon changed his mind at the thought of himself missing out on Universal I won't repeat what went through my head ... something along the lines of selfish and a few expletives in

So with that sorted we packed the car up and I drove to the Universal drop off point. I told Mr Grump I would collect them from there when they were finished. He told me if Thomas was better after lunch we should head over, I agreed to keep him quiet, I knew there was no way Thomas would be up for that! I managed fine driving to the drop off point. Said goodbye to them and Thomas armed with a carrier bag we headed back to POR.

The drive went absolutely fine, no issues whatsoever. We were back and in the room by 8.30am. I settled Thomas into bed with a bottle of water and the Disney Channel. I decided to sort the washing case out and took a load down to the laundry room.

This was the first time using the laundry and I didn't have a clue what I was doing I kept trying to use my revolut card in the machine but it kept declining In the end I had to use my debit card Managed to set the wash off then headed back to the room. I tidied round the room a bit and caught up on my notes and blogs

Thomas was sick a few more times bless him, I had to keep getting him to drink water as I didn't want him to become dehydrated.

In the meantime my phone popped up with a notification of $18.62 in 'Bone Chillin' which was Universal. I thought my card had been cloned and I started the panic ... then I received a message from Chris saying I had his Revolut and he had mine. That could explain why it wouldn't work in the laundry room!

I unloaded the laundry and brought everything back to fold and put away. It was almost lunch time now and I'd have nothing to eat. I asked Thomas if he was hungry and he said no. I took the car to the food court for quickness and Thomas stayed in the room. I took both our refillable mugs and filled mine with diet coke and Thomas' with fanta (which I left to go flat for the sugar). I then opted to get:


Bounty Platter - Chicken Breast Nuggets served with Fries - $9.49

Warm Individual Apple Blossom- à la Mode - $5.69

I really enjoyed this, the nuggets were crispy and so were the fries. The apple blossom was also really nice. It was even nicer I didn't have to feel rushed and I ate the dessert about an hour later

In the meantime Chris, Caitlin and Noah had done quite a bit of Universal.

They sent me this photo saying look what we're going on So not fair as it was the one ride I was most looking forward to in US as I love ET and remember it from when I went in 2003 They then headed to Springfield for food I think. They shared 2 pizzas and had a little friend join them too

Next up Chris went on a shopping spree. Overall he spent over $260 in Universal alone see this is why I don't let him out very often I'm only joking, he bought some Christmas presents in with that too.

Meanwhile back at the room I offered Thomas some fries but he said no. I managed to get him to eat some ready salted pringles that we'd brought from home by nibbling on them. I also got him to drink some fanta when it went flat to try and build his energy up as he hadn't been sick for an hours or so.

I got my crocheting out and did some more of Caitlin's blanket whilst Thomas nibbled, sipped and watched more TV.

More photos of what the other 3 got up too.

Caitlin still had her wand so they went to Diagon Alley to do some more spells.

It was about 3.45pm when Thomas and I heard a strange noise, I realised it was raining. We went to the window to have a look and it was a massive downpour, Thomas was in awe of it, then he started laughing The conversation went like this:

Me: Why is rain so funny? Am I missing something here?

Thomas: Because dad, Caitlin and Noah don't have coats and Caitlin will be squealing she's getting wet

He's definitely perked up!

I'd been texting Chris and agreed to meet him at the drop off point for 5pm. I checked the sat nav on my phone and it said that there was heavy traffic on the I4 and that it would take 40 minutes to get to US so we set off about 4.15pm. Luckily it was only drizzling a little ... or as we call it 'spitting'

The drive wasn't too bad. The drop off point was very busy when we arrived. We ended up going round and round whilst Thomas is trying to find out where the others are. I'm sure we looped round about 4 times and it took us a good 5-10 minutes each loop because of how busy it was.

We eventually found them, it had started raining again although not too heavy so Caitlin got straight in the car, Chris started having a hissy fit as he was left to put the pushchair down and sort the bags, so he got in the car in a grump. As Thomas was feeling a little better we thought we'd head to the outlets for a little mooch. By this point me and Thomas had been in the car well over an hour. We headed to the Vineland outlets but it was heaving! I suppose it was almost 6pm on a Friday evening.

Chris wanted some sort of gadgets from a fishing shop behind the outlets so we headed there. Whilst waiting for Chris, Thomas was sick again so I text Chris telling him to get a move on. Half an hour later he emerged We headed back to POR.

I mentioned that once we were back I would take Caitlin back to the outlets with me as I wanted to get out for a bit after being cooped up all day. Chris had himself another hissy fit about how I should take Caitlin and Noah as he'd had them for the day I pointed out that he had the choice to go back with Thomas but choose not too and that the outlets are boring for Noah, at least in the room he had his toys, colourings and the TV! In the end I said I wouldn't bother, I couldn't be chewed with the argument

We headed to the food court as it was the quickest and easiest option for food.

Caitlin and Noah:

Customize-Your-Own Pasta - Choose from a variety of your favorite sauces and fresh ingredients, including Chicken and Shrimp - $12.49

Looking through photos I can’t seem to find a photo so I must not have taken one. They had pasta with chicken and bacon.

Me:

Double Classic Burger - Two Angus Burgers served with Cheese, Bacon, Fries and Creole Coleslaw - $17.49

This was lovely I really enjoyed this, sadly it was just too big! I think I managed about 3/4s of it. Noah and Thomas ate the fries

Chris:

Barbeque Pork Sandwich – served with choice of coleslaw or housmade chips - $9.99

Chris really enjoyed this, however, he wasn’t keen on the chips and ended up eating some Lays we had in the room instead. I tasted them and thought they were very bland. I haven’t got pictures of any desserts so I have a feel we may have forgotten our mugs so didn’t swap out for a snack instead. Bad planning!

This was 3 QS credits

Looking at the receipt at lunch we were down to 37 QS credits left after that, so I've lost 4 credits somehow ... not sure how ... because I have a copy of the receipt I'll go from that number instead


STEPS: 1,573- There was more as I didn't take my phone when I was going up and down to the laundry room
Snacks: 0 USED – 119 LEFT
QS Credits: 4 USED- 34 LEFT
TS Credits: 0 USED - 50 LEFT

[Goldia]

Such a shame about the sickness! Fingers crossed you didn't all catch the bug. I'm sad for you that you missed out on ET. You did really well driving for the first time, it sounds like it was fine though and you didn't have any problems at all. Looking at the credits balance it looks like you need to eat some snacks! Wow, you've got loads left... I hope you managed to put a big dent in them before the end of the trip.

[Cinderella]

Oh no hope he perks up tomorrow 👍

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Such a shame about the sickness! Fingers crossed you didn't all catch the bug. I'm sad for you that you missed out on ET. You did really well driving for the first time, it sounds like it was fine though and you didn't have any problems at all. Looking at the credits balance it looks like you need to eat some snacks! Wow, you've got loads left... I hope you managed to put a big dent in them before the end of the trip.

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I was so gutted for Thomas as he was really looking forward to using his wand again and wanted to see, Shrek and Donkey, the minions and the Simpsons ... he was over the moon when we revealed we were going back on Christmas day

I was quite impressed with how well the driving went, it was just remembering to stick to the right really I feel less nervous for next time now!

I know, we were seriously lacking in the snack department! We started making a dent in them on the Monday and spread a little magic too

Luckily we all managed to avoid it x

Originally Posted by Cinderella

Oh no hope he perks up tomorrow 👍

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Thankfully he did poor boy xx

[Cazzius]

Poor Thomas being poorly while the others had fun at Universal.

Chris got some really good photos of them meeting the characters and having a good time so at least you can see what they got up to.

A pity that you didn't get to go to the outlets, I have my fingers crossed that you get a shopping session later in the trip

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by Cazzius

Poor Thomas being poorly while the others had fun at Universal.

Chris got some really good photos of them meeting the characters and having a good time so at least you can see what they got up to.

A pity that you didn't get to go to the outlets, I have my fingers crossed that you get a shopping session later in the trip

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I know poor boy, he was really looking forward to it too. Sadly we knew we wouldn't be able to fit it in another time as we were returning the car on Sunday.

He did and it's great to look back and see what they got up too.

Oh I get my trip and I was a very happy girl xx

[mick]

I hope Thomas was soon back to normal


Joan

[collybird]

Poor Thomas! I wonder if he was struggling with the heat. You are definitely right that he could never had walked around Universal like that, poor thing. It’s a real shame you both missed out on the day, particularly seeing how the other kids got on, but at least it happened on a Universal day and you’ll be able to make up for it this year.

Isn’t it funny how simple your lunch is but how yummy it looks!?

I’d have been so mad at Chris for insisting you take Noah to the outlets too, you’d been cooped up all day!

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by mick

I hope Thomas was soon back to normal


Joan

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Thankfully he was fine the next day bless him. I think it was a mixture of rich food and heat poor boy xx

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by collybird

Poor Thomas! I wonder if he was struggling with the heat. You are definitely right that he could never had walked around Universal like that, poor thing. It’s a real shame you both missed out on the day, particularly seeing how the other kids got on, but at least it happened on a Universal day and you’ll be able to make up for it this year.

Isn’t it funny how simple your lunch is but how yummy it looks!?

I’d have been so mad at Chris for insisting you take Noah to the outlets too, you’d been cooped up all day!

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I know my poor boy I think it was a mixture of the heat and rich food. A prime example of how Chris only thinks of himself It is but as I knew we were back in May I was ok, but obviously Thomas was devastated as he didn't know bless him. On Christmas Day when we revealed he said 'Yes! I get to go to Universal Studios this time'

It was and it was one of the ones I really enjoyed, I think it was because we weren't rushing to get to a ride or show or place.

Thank you, he still doesn't see the issue with it men! Luckily I got to go the next day and I certainly made up for it xx