I forgot to to mention that I had carpool karaoke with my Uber driver, possibly around the same time as the Bubblez’s did.
My driver was Filipino and my favorite part about Filipino culture is the love of just singing along to any music that’s on, anytime, anywhere. Like, I knew they had a “karaoke culture” from hanging out with my friend’s family (every family member has a karaoke machine in their house, and it gets used allllll the time), but I was wholly unprepared for just how much everyone participates when I went to her wedding in the Philippines.
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Aaand were off! Starbucks spelled my name right without me telling them about the H.
I made it to the gates by about 7:15… there was already a considerable crowd, but the AP line wasn’t too bad.
Then they branched us off into 3 separate lines at about 7:25. It’s 7:40 now and the lines are about halfway to the bridge, but keep in mind we’re all the way to the side so that’s not that far. I’m 5th in my line. I can’t see the end of the regular lines from here… I’m guessing they’re all the way to the bridge.
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Thanks! It’s looking great so far… weather is predicted in the low 80s, mostly sunny with just a little storm in the mid-afternoon.
The AP entrance does get you in beyond a bit of a crowd, but it’s for sure an advantage unless you’re the very first in line at the regular entry. I walked my normal semi-quick pace and used a locker and got to the ride entrance right at 8:00. I didn’t stop walking until 1 switchback before boarding, and was on the ride (front row, woo!) by 8:13.
Now breakfast!
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That’s amazing. That’s how we spell our DD’s middle name.
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So the rundown of the day, up to 2pm, when I left for midday break/check-in at Cabana Bay:
- Gates @ 7:15am, with IoA AP early entry gates
- Arrived at Hagrids entrance for first ride @ 8:00, rode at 8:13 (standby, used lockers).
- Had Three Broomsticks breakfast with no rush
- Rode Forbidden Journey (UXP, used lockers)
- Rode Jurassic Park (standby, no line)
- Rode Velocicoaster x2, waited for front row once (UXP)
- Rode Kong (UXP)
- Howarts Express to US (UXP)
- Gringotts x2 (UXP)
- Florean Fortescue’s, inside queue half-full
- Beetle the Bard
- Rode Simpsons ride (UXP)
- Blues Brothers show
- Rode The Mummy x2 (single rider x1, UXP x1)
Then I rode the boat back to Portofino to get my bag and Ubered to Cabana Bay to check in. My room wasn’t quite ready, so I went to the lobby bar (really, the Cabana Bay lobby bar is always a nice time… it’s my favorite UOR hotel bar) and chatted with yet another Canadian, and some ladies from Michigan.
My room is ready now… more on that later. Now I’m trying to decide if I want to have a good dinner (like Pat O’Briens or Finnegans) or just go to Louies and carb load before evening rides.
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Sweet! Great day. Since you like pizza, a quicker (and better?) option in CW would be Red Oven.
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I ended up at Confisco Grille, because I’ve never been here! It’s a little noisy, at least where I am. There’s an upstairs that’s apparently AP-exclusive this month, but that was an extra 40 minutes wait and this has immediate reservations available.
There’s an AP-exclusive entree, waygu beef sliders, but that’s not what I was planning on getting anyway.
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Also, after having it be in the low-mid 80s today it suddenly dropped to 77 already and it feels almost chilly.
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I just got caught up! Thanks for the room pics of Portifino as I have been curious for a long time.
You must have had a blast yesterday!
Can’t wait to see what today has in store for you!!
Today was just getting up at stupid o’clock and flying home (5:45am flight), then coming to work. I have a free night booked at the casino tonight that I forgot about until this morning, so now I have to go or get charged a no show fee but they have a great bathtub, so I’ll go and have a relax and finish posting my pictures and a couple more stories.
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Now, where were we? Oh yeah Saturday, around 6pm. Dinner at Confisco. I had the sweet & sour sticky ribs, which are served over polenta. They were very tasty, with just a little bit of a kick.
Also had a watermelon lemonade, quite tasty.
After dinner I rode Hulk twice, and might have gone again except they put me in row 8 the second time and I had a bit of scrambled brains.
Then I headed back to Posiedon, only when I arrived at 7:20 it was delayed. I weighed my options and decided to stick it out, since I really didn’t have much else planned for the evening except the Hogwarts lights. I just sort of milled around the area for a bit, and after about 10 minutes they opened it, with a 35 minute standby wait. I used the Express entrance, so was one of the first in and we still waited a bit once inside. It was 8:12 when I came out, and they’d closed for the night already.
I went back to Hogsmead and they were pre-filling stanchion sections for the Hogwarts lights. I decided to just get a drink and a snack and wait for the last show.
I got a strongfire, or firebow or something. It’s Strongbow with firewhiskey. It was decent. I picked up one of the shepherd’s pie pasties they have at the cart outside… it was not decent. It was terrible, just tasted like salt but was still bland. No other discernible flavors.
I watched the 9:05 light show, which was the only one that didn’t fill to capacity before the previous show finished.
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I want you to know that your “quick trip” has me so jealous!! I miss looking at flight & hotel rates! I hate that I didn’t renew!
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Then I wound up back at the hotel bar, this time with Bobby as my bartender. Bobby loves a selfie.
I got a load of allllll the cheerleader drama, and made friends and stayed up until 3am because one of them had mentioned that she had a feeling her toxic ex had had something going with his neighbor, whose hubby works in the oil fields (which means he’s never home)… well as we were saying our goodnight at the elevators neighbor’s hubby texted her, asking if she knew anything about anything between them. So then I was invested, and we all had to stay up longer and help guide her through that minefield. It made her (and everyone) feel a bit better about it when he said right away “We were already getting a divorce, but I’ve been noticing some things.”
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Those are fun nights! I love making new drinking buddies!! Even if you have to help them through a crisis or hold their hair while they puke! 
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Those are some awesome Poseidon photos!!
Good call to wait it out when it was delayed.
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You’ll have to live vicariously through me for now, then I will through you for awhile when you do!
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I’m home sick today, not covid, I checked. Just nasty allergies that hit as soon as I got off the plane. By the time I was in my car my eyes were already feeling scratchy and I was getting congested. Yay tree sex season in MI! Anyway, I have no voice and a sore throat and I’m coughing.
What a way to come down from vacation, right?
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IMHO - Better at home than on vacation!
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