Dani & The Laulings do Rocking Horse Ranch During COVID 19

With the COVID 19 situation we were of course unable to travel to Mexico for Spring Break 2020 and were then unable to go on our planned trip to the UK in June after school was done for the year but by then I was itching to get a little bit of a taste of ‘normality’. So, I looked for something local that we could drive to and had an outdoor focus. Rocking Horse Ranch seemed to fit the bill 2.5 hours’ drive away.

We checked in on Father’s Day, 2 days after they re-opened. On arrival at the security hut we had to answer some questions about potential COVID exposure, and we all had our temperature taken. We then drove over to check in and then parked our car back in the lot. All the staff wore masks and there were social distancing stickers to guide where to stand in reception and in the dining areas. Masks were supposedly required inside the lodge (e.g. in the dining room when not at your table, in the hallways, reception and games room) but sadly was not always adhered to. We did not wear masks outside unless there were enough people around that we felt it was sensible to.

It’s worth noting that the resort was supposedly operating at 50% capacity. I’m not sure it would have been as relaxing or we’d got as much done if they were running at full capacity.


Rooms

Most of the rooms are in the main lodge, with different options, the largest sleeping 6 people in two Queen beds and 2 bunks. I opted for the Oklahoma lodge, steps away from the main lodge but much smaller with corridors exposed to the outside air. I selected a junior suite which consisted of an adult sleeping area with a Queen bed and a kid’s area with a bunk bed. The two areas had an archway between them but no door, which didn’t allow for much privacy or for the adults to watch TV while the kids were sleeping as it was too noisy. It did have 2 bathrooms however which was awesome for getting everyone showered each day. The furnishings were well reflected in the pictures on the website. During COVID, housekeeping was on request only. We had no-one over our room so it was quiet other than anyone walking past and talking outside.

Food

For the first two days of our trip all meals were served outside with picnic tables with umbrellas and tables under a large tent available for seating. This was the only time that I felt a bit uncomfortable about the close proximity with others as many did not wear masks in the queue or when being served by the staff. The food was plentiful and pretty good quality for buffet style. Lunch and dinner options included hamburgers, hot dogs, mac and cheese, cornbread, corn on the cob and then a fish and meat option. For lunch there was always wraps (tuna and turkey) and at dinner bread baskets and salads. There were various desserts; apple pie, key lime pie, brownies, cookies and ice cream tubs. Breakfast included French toast, pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and then oatmeal, cereals, pastries and fruit. There was a drink stand (still staff served) and at lunch and dinner a separate small bar area serving wine and beer.

On our last two days food was served in the dining room. Options were the same for breakfast and lunch, but dinner was staff served from a menu accessed from your phone via QR code. The dinner was excellent with much more sophisticated options like shrimp scampi and the soft serve ice cream was a big hit. That said, I felt a bit less comfortable eating inside as despite the socially distanced tables, it was a lot of people in one place.

Activities

The activities for kids is really what was the draw for me. You pick a horse-riding slot when you check-in and that remains your slot for each day of your stay. We had a 10.30 slot (other options were 9 am, 1 pm and 2.30 pm). Kids had to wear provided helmets. You stood in the line that reflected your ability and then were assigned a horse. My littlest Lauling was slightly under 48 inches (the minimum height requirement) but the staff asked if he could follow directions and would be OK on the horse for an hour and when we said we thought he would be, they let him on, so it’s worth a try even if your child is on the smaller side. Luckily he loved it and was fine but I did see some older children crying and asking to come off. The beginner ride is a bit of a slow process, especially because they stop every time a horse needs to poop or pee, but riding through the shady trails in the fresh air was still wonderful, especially given the COVID situation. You can also try to ride standby at other times of the day, although we didn’t attempt that.

One of our favorite activities was the mountain tubing. Similar to snow tubing, you take a tube up a carpet lift and then go down a giant slide. The slide is kept wet with sprinklers but doesn’t get you super wet. It can be super fast and you can go down with two tied together or as a single.

Coming down the mountain tubing

The newly built pool area was fabulous with 2 slides and a big pool which was lovely and warm. We had a bit of a tough time finding a sun lounger on the Monday but not on the Tuesday. The new hot springs pool is small and the area that you swim into inside is tiny. The indoor pool was freezing but very quiet and the boys enjoyed the obstacle course. Each afternoon free drinks and nibbles are served by the pool. The line took a while but the free beer, wine and cocktails had no wait 😉

Other outdoor options are the bungee bouncers which were also a hit. There was often a line however. In the same area was a rock climbing wall. There are peddle boats and kayaks to take out on the lake. The best time to do this is after dinner as you can go all the way to the end of the lake when the banana boat isn’t running (we didn’t try this out). They also had a simple 9 hole mini golf course and they had bamboo fishing rods available. The fish are plentiful and we were able to hook one almost immediately. If you don’t fancy fishing you can ask for some bread at the sports shack to just throw to the fish by the dock. Look out for Jack the black cat who hangs around the fishing area in hope of a fish (he snagged a few!)

Behind the pool is corn hole and ping pong and large checker boards are dotted throughout the facility.

The children’s playground is a decent size and right next to the Oklahoma building. Next to this is the shooting range and archery. Only two families can be in there at a time, but the wait wasn’t long.

There are also a number of animals on site including a camel, zebra, donkeys, goats and cows.

Inside the lodge in the basement there is an arcade with free bowling and a number of video games. There is also a games room with ping pong, Foosball and air hockey (fee for air hockey).

The hotel also put on some kind of show each night, but that started at 8.30 which was a bit late for us. There was also daily activities including games, tours of the stables etc. but we didn’t take part in any of those either.

All in all Rocking Horse Ranch was the perfect outdoor escape for a long week-end or mid-week stay and gave us a little sense of normality in a crazy time.

Dani & The Laulings do Lapland (December 2019)

Spending a day or longer meeting the ‘real’ Santa is a popular package holiday from the UK, and given there’s nothing equivalent from the states, I decided this had to be on the bucket list. At the time my eldest was 9 and on the cusp of believing in Santa, so I felt this was our last chance, although having experienced it I wouldn’t worry about whether your children still believe or not- they will find it magical regardless.

There are several companies in the UK offering packages to Lapland. I originally booked through Santa’s Lapland, a broker for Inghams, on a trip to Saariselka. I picked the resort as it is supposed to have an epic toboggan run and there is a ski resort there too, plus they did a trip straight after Christmas that coincided with when we would be in the UK. Unfortunately for us, Ingham’s cancelled the date in July, leaving me scrambling to find an alternative. The only other option was to go with Transun (booked via Santa Claus trips) as the only other provider that had a trip straight after Christmas.

I was a little apprehensive based on other’s reviews, but the experience far exceeded my expectations, and while it’s pricey for a short break, I would encourage everyone with kids to go at least once in their lifetime.


Pre-planning

If your dates are more flexible, there are several Lapland resorts to pick from. Levi is one of the more commercialized and has a ski resort. As well as Saariselka and Rovaniemi there is Yllas, which also has a ski resort and the opportunity to go to the ice hotel. Where we went was a tiny town called Karesendu in Finland. There’s nothing there except a gas station with a small restaurant and a souvenir shop, but it definitely offered an authentic experience. All the companies provide snow suits (which are basically racing car suits) and boots, but I would recommend taking snow pants for before and after getting the clothing and plenty of thermal layers, fleeces, warm hat and gloves etc. plus hand and foot warmers.

Make sure you remember to go to the Transun website and input the info requested for the Santa visit (kids interests, what you’re proud of, what they want/ got for Christmas, pets in the household).

Flight

The Lapland companies fly from various airports across different dates. The after Christmas trip we took left on Dec 30th out of Birmingham at 10 am, which was quite reasonable for a charter flight. We got to the check-in line around 7.30 and it was already open (even though the paperwork said it would open at 8). We had to wait around 20 minutes to get to the desk and were all seated together. The airplane was at a remote gate that required us to take a bus. We were loaded on the first bus, only to then be told the plane wasn’t ready and we stood on the packed bus for 15+ minutes before we finally made our way over to the plane.

Other Santa trip reviews talked about elves on the plane singing Christmas carols, but there was none of that on the Polish Enter air flight. On the plus side, we were greeted by some very catchy music, pretty decent leg room and even a hot meal, although the quality wasn’t great. The attendants were grumpy and hard to understand, and you’d better not have any kind of medical emergency on the plane as they will likely leave you to your death! We were on our descent but had been circling for a while, which seemed off given we were flying into Enentekio and would be their only flight of the day. My little guy needed the potty, so we pushed the attendant light to see if it would be possible for him to go given we didn’t seem to be descending. No-one came (thus my comment that if it was a medical emergency you’d be dead), so we got up anyway, and only then were told the potty was locked and we had to go back to our seats. We then got an announcement that there was ‘too much snow to land’ and we would be diverting to Kittala. By some form of miracle, my little guy was able to hold it until we landed 30 minutes later.

We had to wait about an hour for buses to come, and then had a 2 hour drive to the hotel. As soon as we got off the bus, Transun reps had our room numbers, and we could go straight to our rooms where the key was in the door.

Accommodation

There are various options at the Davvi arctic lodge; rooms in the hotel which have the advantage of not needing to go outside to get to the restaurant, cabins in the woods, and the fell house which is apartments for larger groups. We were in a cabin. It’s basic, but homely with a double bed and a sofa bed. The bathroom is one large wet room; not beautiful but functional, and had its own sauna. I had to go online to get instructions as to how to make the sauna work, but figured it out. You can hear noise from the cabin attached, but fortunately our neighbors were early to bed and not early risers, so it wasn’t an issue. I’m sure we were more annoying to them as we were all somewhat still on US time and not going to bed until after midnight.

First night

We were each assigned a dining time; for us it was the first sitting at 8.30 pm (we got to the hotel at 8 pm). We had no issues getting a table (nor at any subsequent meal), and the buffet consisted of soup and rolls, some cold meats/ cheeses and then 3 hot dishes; typically something vegetarian, a pasta dish and a meat or/and fish dish. There was always chicken fingers or pizza for the kids. The biggest let down was the lack of fresh vegetables; it was all frozen peas and mixed veg. The desserts were impressive however. You could order from the bar for soft and alcoholic drinks. Then at 9.30 we had our welcome meeting where they told us what to expect and the optional extra excursions we could take. I had already booked a night time snow mobile trip before we left and then decided to also do the dog sled night time trip (the latter you should absolutely not miss). At 10 we went to get our snow suits and boots from the clothing shed. I felt it was well organized and everyone was put in to one of 4 groups and there were postings in the lobby of what activities each group was doing each day.

We walked to the top of the hill above the hotel to see if we could see the Northern lights before we went to bed; but no activity that night.

First full day

We had the morning free the first day, so after breakfast, we trekked down the hotel driveway with our littlest one in a sled (which can be picked up from the hotel lobby; they were all brand new and plentiful when we were there). It was a beautiful crisp morning with a temp around 17F, which was warmer than it typically is this time of year. We walked to the store/ gas station and then took the next right which takes you over the bridge to Sweden. Sweden is an hour behind Finland so technically we could have celebrated New Year’s eve twice. On the left hand side as you go over the bridge is the oldest church in Sweden. Make sure you take some Euros with you to buy some postcards. You can’t take pictures inside. It was picture perfect scenery. There is a café opposite as well which we did not go into. We walked back over the frozen river to the hotel and the boys spent some time tobogganing on the sledding hills until it was time for lunch.

As we exited the restaurant we noticed some strange ‘rainbow’ clouds which turned out to be iridescent clouds; pretty rare apparently.

Iridescent clouds

Our afternoon was our ‘search for Santa’ day. As we pulled up to the Santa place, candles lit the pathway to the warming house. Inside was a café and restrooms. Outside was a fire pit with marshmallows to roast, along with some sledding slopes and a kid’s ice hockey pitch. Each family was called one at a time to do the two activities; snow mobiling and having their private meeting with Santa. We were one of the later families to be called, but the boys could have spent hours on the sleds, and I was glad we got to go when it was dark rather than when it was still light (day light is only from about 11-2). We were called for snowmobiling first. The kids get pulled in a larger sled by one of the staff. My husband and I shared a snowmobile, swapping half-way to drive. They are pretty heavy and I felt the driving time was just long enough. It was beautiful going through the snow filled forests.

Then we were called for our Santa meeting. You start in a snowmobile pulled sled for a short journey to where a reindeer pulled sled is waiting for you. It was so still and quiet as we transferred into the reindeer pulled sled after a chance to pet the reindeer. We then pulled up to Santa’s cottage where we were met by two rather large ‘elves’ who knew the boy’s names. The boys knocked on the door and were welcomed by Santa. The Santa knew everything we had put into the webpage off by heart- the dog’s name, where we were from and how far we’d come and what activities the boys enjoyed. My eldest even showed Santa what a parkour B kick is! The elves took ‘selfies’ with our phone and were hilarious. It far exceeded my expectations and I’m sure will be a top memory for a long time.

After dinner we had our dog sled trip. Only 16 people were on this excursion and you actually get to mush the dogs (which you don’t get to do on the included trip). We were first shown how to drive the sled and again the kids were loaded in a larger sled with an instructor and my husband and I took it in turns to drive. It was one of the most fun and exhilarating experiences ever. As we crossed over a frozen lake, the Northern lights made an appearance for us. Unfortunately we didn’t stop so we don’t have very good pictures, but to have experienced it, and on New Year’s eve, no less, made it an even more magical trip.

When we got back to the hotel we walked up the hill again hoping to get some pictures of the Northern lights, but they weren’t visible from our position and then the boys joined other kids sledding at the front of the hotel and at midnight the hotel had a small fireworks display. The most perfect new Year’s eve ever!

Day 2

We were fortunate enough to be in the 10 am dog sled group so we didn’t have a super early start. Breakfast was scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, toast, yoghurt and oatmeal and one type of muffin. More fresh fruit would have been a nice addition.

Because we’d got to drive the dogs the night before, the daytime trip wasn’t as impressive. It was nice that all four of us could sit in the same sled though. We also got more time to pet the dogs after.

Back at the hotel, the kids were out sledding again and after dinner we had our snowmobile tour. It was a snowy night so no chance of seeing the Northern lights. The snowmobile experience was pretty much identical to the one we had done the day before, except if the Northern lights had been out, we would have had some time to watch them from the frozen lake. We also got to take the snowmobiles out for a free spin on the lake rather than just following the paths which was fun too.

dinner at the restaurant

Day 3

Day 3 was our last day, and we walked down to the bottom of the hill again and had a snack and drink at the café and then visited the souvenir store next door. They had some nice things, including Christmas ornaments, picture frames and stuffed toy reindeer and husky dogs. Armed with a bag of stuff, we headed back up the hill for one last sledding session before heading to the airport.

sledding slope

We were told that only a handful of times have planes not landed at Enentekio- and it’s always the pilot’s decision. It was just as snowy the day we left as when we arrived so I wasn’t holding out much hope that the plane would be able to land. It circled for a bit but decided to go for it, and safely managed to get on the ground. There is only one metal detector so going through security was slow going, but there’s no rush as the plane can’t leave without everyone. There are some snacks, drinks and a small souvenir shop at the airport but definitely not somewhere you’d want to be stuck for a long time!

Inghams does longer 7 day trips which are technically skiing holidays but you can add on all the same activities that we did in each of the resorts. If you’re looking for 5 star ritzy accommodation, this trip is not for you, but if you want to disconnect from the world and be fully connected to your family and the magic of Christmas, then you should book asap!

Dani and the Laulings do the Disney Fantasy

I have always heard amazing things about the service on Disney cruises, so I was excited to see how it compares to Royal Carribbean, the only cruise line we’ve previously experienced. I have a separate review on how the two compare if you’re interested in my perspective on that. This was a joint cruise with my sister in law, her husband and 2 daughters and the mother-in-law. We opted for an Eastern Caribbean itinerary stopping at Tortola, St Thomas and Castaway Cay. We had done St Thomas before but not the other two ports.

I booked through Crown Cruise who gave us great on-board credit amounts ($750 for the deluxe ocean view room with 4 people).

Pre-planning

I have to say this was a real turn off for me. Disney requires if you are a first time cruiser you to logon to your cruise manager at midnight Eastern time 45 days before the cruise departs. If you are concierge level or have cruised before you can access on earlier dates than this, meaning there’s slim picking for us first timers. I knew getting a cabana at castaway Cay was going to be a long shot, and sure enough there was no availability when I logged on. I did manage to snag a Disney Jr breakfast for the 9 of us but no character meets, even just trying to get it for my own 2 kids, and neither of the excursions I wanted (Baths at Tortola and semi-submarine at St Thomas) were available. You also have to book a port arrival time. We ended up with noon and my sister-in law with a 12.15.

I ended up booking a private charter with Partouche in order to do the baths. They also have some group tours that avoid the crowds so might not be a bad alternative to doing the Disney one. For St Thomas we just picked a beach break.

I had originally been on the fence about doing an adult only brunch. I would have been able to book something but don’t worry if you can’t snag one as those are easily booked on the day of departure.

Make sure you load the Disney cruise boat app before you board as it allows you to text others in your party for free and you can book internet packages through it too, although as always they were very expensive and you had to buy them in blocks of data- you can’t do an unlimited package. The app also serves as the navigator for activities that are happening each day.

Embarkation

We took an Ultimate Towncar Mercedes van from the hotel to the cruise port. As was the experience at Ft Lauderdale, the queues getting to Port Canaveral were also quite long. We were picked up at 10.15 and got to the port at 11.30, a little earlier than our scheduled arrival times. We were funneled to one of several check in desk queues and seemed to luck out as the one we were directed to was quite short. We checked in and were given a boarding number of 16 and it had already been called so we headed straight to the boarding line. It moved fairly quickly. One nice touch with Disney is your family name gets announced as you board the ship in to the 3rd floor atrium.

My husband and sister-in-law wanted to run the Castaway Cay 5K so they headed straight to guest services to sign up. There was no line at that time. I headed down to the 2nd floor to try and get a Palo brunch. They had sign up tables outside the Enchanted Garden restaurant. I had no trouble getting a noon slot on the 2nd sea day.

We then headed to the sit down restaurant for lunch, which happened to be Animator’s Palette on that day. I had been told by our Disney travel agent that this would be less stressful than trying to the buffet and it worked out well as I got a glimpse of the very efficient service I was going to experience the rest of the cruise. The wait staff are super attentive with nice touches such as ketchup being served in a Mickey mouse shape.

After lunch we changed in to our swim wear and went up to ride the duck as we had been advised this would be one of the quietest times to ride it. The duck is a water coaster for 1 or 2 people at a time. The queue was down to the bottom of the second stair case and probably took about 15 minutes for us to get to the top. The quietest time to ride is actually after dinner (wait times of 5 minutes or less) but it was certainly quieter than it was on sea days where the line was all the way to the bottom of the staircase. After riding the duck, it was time for the safety drill, which for us was in the movie theater. Once that was over with, we started exploring the boat. There’s no nice open promenade like Royal Caribbean has, it has some shops on the 3rd floor where the shops are but it feels kind of dark down there as there are no windows. We checked out the gym, which was tiny with not many pieces of equipment and virtually no floor work area. That said, the number of people using the gym over the course of the cruise was considerably less than those on the Harmony of the seas.

Rooms were ready at 1.30 and luggage had been delivered after our boat exploration, giving us time to unpack before dinner. As regular state rooms go, the Deluxe family balcony was pretty nice. It has 2 bathrooms; one with a tub/shower and sink, and the other with a toilet and sink, which is nice with a family of 4. There was adequate space around the bed to manoeuver and the couch converted in to bunk beds, which again didn’t take up too much space. The suitcases store conveniently under the bed and there were 2 closets so plenty of space for everyone’s clothes.

Another nice touch is there is self-service laundry on most floors with ironing boards.

The doors on the Disney boats are metal (unless you are concierge level where they are wood). I found out in advance that it is tradition to decorate your door with magnets. You can have them custom made from sites such as Etsy. Another tradition is fish extenders. The premise is you join via a Facebook group dedicated to your sailing and are assigned a certain number of cabins to buy gifts for. You exchange the ages and genders of your party and some people go all out with creating customized gifts. These gifts are left in fish extenders that are hung outside people’s cabins throughout the week. It’s a cute idea but we didn’t participate because we would have needed to pack a whole other suitcase.

Dinner for us the first night was in the Enchanted garden. You have the same wait staff even though you rotate between the 3 different restaurants over the course of the cruise. Overall, the food on the Disney boat was superb, with only a couple of misses (soups that were too salty). Soda is included in the price too, which is also not the case on other cruise lines.

We chose not to do the show that night as I’d heard it’s more of a preview of the week, and instead the Laulings opted to go on the Duck, which was pretty cool to do at night. Note there is a 42 inch height requirement without shoes. Those 48 to 54 inches without shoes can go on with another kid in the same height range, those smaller than 48 inches have to ride with an adult.

We had a great room attendant who adorned us with a variety of towel animals that often were complemented by one of our own stuffed animals! The nightly chocolate was also appreciated.

Day 2 and 3

Day 2 and 3 were sea days for us. We did the Olaf meet and greet (very long lines but did keep moving), mini golf on the top deck and then the scavenger clue hunts, which were really cool with interactive pictures all around the boat and 3 different mysteries to solve. The kids club was also really cool; with an Andy’s room, star wars flight simulators and super hero room where you could build hammers with Thor and open portals with Dr Strange. Those special activities are in the navigator so you can just take your kids down for those even if they’re not going to spend long hours there.

My husband and I got a couples ticket for the senses spa, which was a nice experience with different showers, steam rooms, sauna, hot loungers and hot tubs. You can do port days at $29 a day or all access for $249 a couple.

There were lots of movies being shown on the boat throughout the day but also loads of choices on the TV itself, including all the Avengers franchise, Princess movies etc. so the boys cycled through several of those! Daddy Lauling and I both took it in turn to go to the gym, which never ended up being super busy at least later in the morning and beyond.

We were in the Royal Court for dinner on day 2 (probably my least favorite for ambiance) and then Animator’s palette on day 3 where there was a turtle talk with crush show (same concept as the one in Epcot). We did the buffet for breakfast and lunch on day 2. It had the range you would expect including Mickey waffles and finding a table was never an issue.

On the night of day 2 we went to the Aladdin show. You just turn up and there were definitely more people than seats, and some seats have obstructed views. It was very good quality, including some cool special effects, and only 1 hour long, which was the perfect length of time. It was before the show however that we were told Hurricane Dorian was scheduled to be at St Thomas the same day as us and we were being re-routed to a Western Caribbean itinerary and would have to re-book excursions starting at 8 am the next morning for Cozumel and Grand Cayman. We had never been to Grand Cayman but had been to Cozumel, so it was a wash in terms of itinerary novelty. Our excursion to St Thomas was refunded and I was able to cancel the Tortola reservation using the ship’s internet.

We had the Disney Jr breakfast booked for the next morning, so I got in line at 7.30 to book excursions. The line was already very long with people apparently in line from 6.30 am. I may have been better off queuing at guest services rather than at port adventures, but anyway I got to the desk at 8.20. I still could only get my 2nd choice for Grand Cayman (wanted to do the full submarine but ended up with the semi-submarine). Cozumel I booked La Play Mia beach resort privately to have more time there than the Disney option would allow. I got to breakfast around 8.30, 15 minutes late, but my husband had ordered for me, so I didn’t starve. The breakfast was at Animator’s Palette. The characters weren’t very interactive, but signed books and took pictures (although you were not allowed to move so we put all the kids together on one side of the table for pictures). Vamparina, Doc McStuffins, Mickey and Minnie were there.

We had our mother in law take the kids for sit down lunch on day 3 as we felt that would be easier than her juggling buffet plates for them while we went for brunch at Palo. I have to say it was the most amazing meal, definitely on par with Micheline star restaurants. It comes with a Bellini cocktail and all you can eat buffet. The spread was incredible; from crab and lobster to amazing pastries and breads (the chocolate nut bread is to die for) and anti-pastas and cheese. You then select a main course from the menu; the lasagna and chicken parm that was recommended by the waiter again was fabulous. We then wrapped up with a selection of mini desserts. Definitely go hungry! And it was only $20 extra a head. Our waiter was also fabulous, telling us about the new Disney Wish boat and the history of the spaghetti chandelier that’s in the entrance to the restaurant.

Shows

There were 2 other Broadway like shows; Wishes and Believe. We went to Believe which was a cute story about a girl who wants her dad to believe in magic and then is visited by various Disney ‘magic’ characters such as Mary Poppins and Genie. We also checked out an America’s got talent juggler, who was very entertaining, but was more along the lines of what you would expect cruise boat entertainment to be like as he did have a few fumbles. The other nights included a comedian and a ventriloquist but those nights we spent on the sports deck at the duck, pool, mini golf and foosball, all of which were huge hits for my kids.

Dining

We rotated 3 nights in total at Royal Court, 2 at Enchanted Garden and 2 at Animator’s Palette. The ceiling lights and tree are a nice touch in the Enchanted Garden, but they are largely similar in look and feel to other cruise boat main dining rooms. The 2nd night at Animator’s palette was amazing. You are each given a template to draw a character/ person. Everyone’s character is then turned in to a movie with Mickey and they become animated; literally dancing on the screen. The technology behind it must be incredible. Other than the adult restaurants Palo and Remy (French cuisine) there are no specialty options like other cruise lines have, which was fine given you move around the 3 restaurants for a change of scenery but would not be my preference. Our waiters got to know our likes; with a cucumber salad with ranch always waiting for our youngest, and chocolate milk not in a kid’s cup for our eldest Lauling.

Animator’s Palette show

Dining on Castaway Cay was probably the worst experience- they couldn’t keep up with making the burgers meaning it took a very long time for the lines to move, and where they cooked them did not have good ventilation, making it very smoky.

Also on the boat is an adult’s café with coffee and snacks, pizza and burgers kiosk near the pools along with 24 hour soft drinks, tea and coffee available, and soft serve ice-cream for much of the day. There is also a pay for sweet on you café with cakes and chocolates but I rarely saw anyone in there.

Activities

During the day the 2 pools was obnoxiously packed with absolutely no room to move. They are however heated which made for a very pleasant temperature. We did not take part in any of the organized activities, but some of our party enjoyed cooking classes and my sister-in-law’s tween enjoyed the Vibe club. There was also bingo and quizzes, but no casino on the boat. There is an adult’s pool which was always pretty quiet and a few lounging hot tubs at the sides of the pool deck.

One of the kid’s favorite things was the clue solving. You take a mystery card from one of the stations and follow the instructions which takes you all round the boat finding pictures that animate and give you a clue. There are 3 different mysteries and the kids completed two (muppets and missing puppies).

There are character greats constantly through the day- you can see the times in the navigator. Try to get there about 10 minutes before the stated time for a short wait (except Olaf where you probably need to be there at least 20 minutes before the stated time). The boys met Stitch, who became a firm favorite, Goofy, and Thor and got autographs from them all.

Day 4- Grand Cayman

Our tour wasn’t until 1.00, so we hung about on the boat in the morning, grabbed an early lunch at Cabana’s and then headed off the boat. As the boat had been docked since 10 am, disembarkment was pretty easy but they use smaller boats to take you to shore so there was a bit of a wait as they wanted to fill the boat before we left. We met our shore excursion guide at the pier who walked us to where the semi-submarine went from. We were meant to leave at 2.00, but it was actually closer to 2.15 before we boarded so people were getting a bit agitated as we’d go there around 1.45 so were just hanging around. We finally got on the boat which does require climbing down a steep ladder (I can’t recall them saying that- not that it was a problem but it definitely wouldn’t be suitable for someone with significant mobility issues). It was only when we got going that I remembered how queasy those semi-submarine boats make me feel, and unfortunately my little guy had the same issues, and spent most of the trip lying down. One other kid physically puked. So if you have an issue with motion sickness, don’t do this trip! I managed to keep it together and it was cool when one of the crew went out in his diving suit with some bread and loads of fish swarmed him. We saw a ship wreck and some pretty fish, but no turtle, shark or really big fish. We had more variety when we did a similar trip at St Thomas on a previous cruise. It was over in about 45 minutes and we walked back to the boat. I was happy to see that there wasn’t much of a line to board the little boats back to the Fantasy, unlike the MSC boat that was also docked at the same time as us.

Day 5- Cozumel

If we hadn’t have been going for Spring break next year, I would have picked one of the Eco parks like Xcaret for our Cozumel day, but instead picked the day at Playa del Mia beach resort. I didn’t realize it wasn’t a hotel, it’s actually a public resort. Because several boats had been re-routed due to the hurricane, there were apparently 6 boats in port, which is a lot more than usual, so there were a lot of people at the resort. It took an age to get off the boat . We grabbed a taxi to take us there for $19 which definitely got us there much quicker than those doing the same trip through the cruise line as I saw them with their Disney wrist bands a while later, and heard them being called to depart much earlier than we left. We selected the option that included drinks and food. We started at the splash area, which the kids spent a long time at, and my eldest Lauling went on the water slides a few times. While my youngest one was big enough to go in (42 inches), we were worried he might struggle swimming out at the bottom.

We then headed over to the beach area and rented an umbrella for shade. They have inflatables out in the sea, but we had to wait quite a while to get life jackets to go out there. I was told the kids had to be 7 to participate but we snuck our 5 year old on, as he’d done similar ones with no issues at Labadee. They were not in as good condition as the ones at Labadee, with some of the foot steps missing, but we still had a good time, especially on the trampoline. The inflatables got much quieter later in the afternoon as people started to depart so I would recommend waiting until after lunch.

Lunch was a buffet with a nice mix of tacos, salad and burger/ hot dog fare. They also had servers brining drinks to you at the beach. After lunch we went back to the splash area. The main negative there was there was nowhere to sit and watch the kids. We timed it perfectly as as we were about to leave, someone pooped in the splash zone and so they had to kick everyone out to clean it! There were taxis waiting to take us back to the ship and we arrived back around 4 pm so we could get ready for 5.45 dinner.

This night was pirate night and all the kids got dressed up. There was some sort of pirate show after dinner but after a long day we decided to rest before going up to the top deck for 9.45 to see the fireworks. It was packed and there was some sort of a pre-show that was too long and not necessary. It was really cool seeing the fireworks off the boat and obviously unique to Disney, but I wish they had done it earlier. It was supposed to be on a different night but they had to change it with the itinerary change to ensure the right positioning and conditions.

Day 6- sea day

Our sea day followed our typical pattern of tag teaming at the gym and spa, mini golf, foosball, clue hunting, an activity at the kid’s club and a new activity; 30 minutes in the sports simulator. You can pick from golf, baseball, football, basketball, bowling. It was really fun and we wished we’d done it again earlier in the week.

Day 7 Castaway Cay

The boat docked around 8, and we made sure we were in line to get off early. We took the tram down to the last stop (which was a bit frustrating as it was very ‘maniana’ in terms of when we would leave each stop. My husband headed off to run his 5K with the 8.30 group and I went to the beach with the kids. You get a medal if you complete the 5K. We went as far as you can before you hit the cabana’s beach. It wasn’t as deep a beach here so there weren’t as many people. We hired a tube and a float which proved a hit, built sandcastles, swam and sunbathed. It was beautiful but even at the time we got there, we were in the back row of loungers. Many people coming later could not find anywhere to sit. While the Fantasy is the biggest boat currently, it’s going to be an issue when the Wish docks there. They had tons of loungers in the cabanna’s area beach and no-one there, so it definitely seemed a bit odd. To go to the adult only beach you had to take a second tram.

There were drink fountains near the restaurant area which is just behind the beach and lots of tables to sit at for lunch. After lunch we hired bikes for us all to ride the 5K route. You can stop at a lookout point that gives nice panoramic views of the island, and then at the beach at the end of the island. My sister-in law and her family did some snorkeling in the snorkeling area and said there were mickey and Minnie statues under the water and loads of rays and fish to see.

Sadly, it was an eerie feeling leaving at 4.30 knowing that two days later the hurricane was going to hit and not knowing what would be left of the island.

Day 8 Disembarkment

We headed up to Cabanna’s for breakfast around 7.30 and it wasn’t as busy as I expected. You can also have breakfast in the restaurant you ate at the night before, so I guess that helped to spread everyone around. We then headed off the boat around 8.30. It did take a while to get through customs with the luggage, putting us at the rental car buses around 9.10. Definitely don’t go there if you booked with Avis. The vans only take 11 people and we were told that we would not get on the next 2 buses and it was taking at least 20 minutes for the bus to drop off and come back. So we decided to grab a taxi instead, although the driver was upset that she wasn’t getting a fare to go to the airport. An added issue was the draw bridge on the road on the way to the rental car pick-up was being opened much more often than usual as people were trying to move their boats with the pending hurricane.

We got to the rental car office expecting the 11 people who had got in the earlier van to be there, but there was no sign of them, so we grabbed our car and hit the road.

We went to the Kennedy space center which was closing the next day due to the hurricane, and was eerily quiet. We did everything including the tour over to the shuttle hangers and the simulator with no line and had a really fun day.

We were originally meant to fly out on Monday but I moved our flight to Sunday to be out before the hurricane. I then got a call saying that Cocoa beach where we were meant to stay that night was under an evacuation order so they had re-booked us at a hotel closer to Disney. So in light of that I looked for dinner at a Disney resort, and snagged a 7.30 Storybook dining. I later learnt that a lot of people had cancelled their Disney trips and so the parks were super quiet the rest of that week, even though Galaxy’s edge had just opened. The food was fabulous, creatively presented and the character interaction’s fun. The boys said it was the best meal of the week! It was also nostalgic to be back at the Wilderness Lodge, which had been the resort we stayed in during our first ever WDW trip.

So would I do a Disney cruise again? Honestly probably not. While the food was great, I actually found the shows on Royal Caribbean more varied as it has the ice shoes and the aquatheater shows, the layout of the Fantasy irritated me a lot because it was hard to traverse across some of the decks (for example to get to Palo you have to go up and then back down) and its lack of a cool central gathering area like central park or the promenade. It’s also super expensive compared to Royal Caribbean. We paid nearly $7K for our regular room and probably could have gone suite class on RC for similar money. I just didn’t think the Disney boat was that much better (and in some areas it was worse) that would justify the difference.

Dani and the Laulings do Universal (August 2019)

This was our second trip to Universal and part of a larger Florida vacation which included a Disney cruise (reviewed separately). The first time we stayed at the Portofino hotel, which was beautiful but felt a bit ‘stuffy’ to me. This time we opted for the Royal Pacific which, like the Portofino, comes with express passes which is a huge plus to avoid standing in long lines. The Hard Rock is the third hotel that comes with this perk.

We had my sister in law and her family and my mother in law with us on this trip so we were a large group of 9.

Pre-planning

Unlike Disney there’s not a lot to plan for Universal other than any dining reservations you want to make, and those can be done 30 days in advance. I called the central dining reservation number to get reservations for Vivo and Mythos. Cowfish, our final choice, does not officially accept reservations but I e-mailed the dining team and asked if there could be an exception given our large group, and they very nicely set us up with a 6 pm reservation. So my advice would be no harm in trying that route!

Check-in

I used Ultimate town car to get a Mercedes van for the 9 of us from the airport to the hotel. They were waiting for us near baggage claim, had multiple car seats if needed and it was a very clean and new van. It’s a pretty short 20 minute or so ride to Universal. Some people got plastic flower garlands as they entered the property but it was not very consistent as to whether you were ‘chosen’ or not, and we were not!

The lobby is open and large and check-in was quiet and quick. We arrived around 2.30 but our rooms were already ready. We were all given our room keys which also double as your express pass. I bought lanyards for everyone as you can also charge to your room in the parks and restaurants so there’s no need to carry anything else. We then headed over to the vacation planning desk where we picked up our physical park tickets. We had 2 park to park tickets (for Universal and Islands of Adventure) and at the time of booking Universal was offering 3 additional days for the price of 2 so doing this allowed us to go in the park the first day, which we had originally not intended to do.

My sister in law had a standard 2 Queen beds room plus a roll away bed for the mother in law. This was REALLY tight and if you can splurge a bit I would do some kind of a suite for 5 people. My 4 person family unit went with a Jurassic park room. It was very spacious and the kids area was super cute. Their room backed on to a janitorial room so was shielded from the corridor which made it very quiet, the adult room was not so fortunate being the first one in the corridor from the elevators in tower 3 on the ground floor, and so got a lot of foot traffic and no-one was very considerate at keeping their noise down, even late at night. The view was adequate over the gardens to the front of the hotel.

Park day 1

We took the boat which departs from the back of the property behind the pool to the parks. It’s a short 5 minute ride (shorter than from Portofino). We headed for Universal Studios and decided to just start from the front with our express passes. It wasn’t the best starts as we got in the express line for Minions, only for it to go down! We bailed and then headed to Transformers. Megatron was outside doing meet and greets so we jumped in line for that and I picked up a 3 day photo pass given it wasn’t much more than a 1 day.

When we were last at Universal our youngest was under 40 inches so there wasn’t much he could ride. Now he’s 44 inches, he had more opportunities. A lot of the rides are virtual reality and have a 40 inch height requirement. We all enjoyed Transformers, which is very similar to the Spiderman ride. From there we headed up to Simpsons and then Men in black. Simpsons is another VR ride and did leave me slightly queasy. MIB is a shooting ride, but be warned it spins a lot!

Then it was time to head out for dinner at Vivo. It got very busy very quickly and service wasn’t the fastest. Food was typical Italian fare but nothing to write home about in my opinion.

We then headed back in to the park and were able to get on to Minions this time and then King and Kang before heading back to the hotel. We decided to walk as the line for the boat was pretty long and once we’d figured out to go the other side of Islands of Adventures (IOA) you just walk along the canal path back to the hotel (~15 mins walk).

Day 2

We had breakfast at Jake’s a quick service, help yourself style in the hotel. We got there for 7.45 and it started getting busy around 8. We decided to start at IOA on day 2, and as that didn’t open until 9 we took the boat around 8.45. One group headed to the back of the park to do the Forbidden journey while I took my youngest (too short to ride), one of the cousins and my mother in law, both who didn’t want to do Forbidden journey, to Seuss Land. We then headed up to Hogsmede and rode Flight of the Hippergriff. I then switched with my husband and rode Forbidden journey with my eldest son and then we worked our way around the park, starting with Jurassic park, which has a surprisingly big drop when you’re not expecting it! We also stopped for the Jurassic park photo pass opportunity. While it doesn’t make a huge difference when you have the express pass, if you head to the back of the park and then work your way anti-clockwise you tend to be going against the traffic who start from the front and work back.

We were able to hit almost everything; Skull Island, Poseidon (while this was a walking attraction there are a few cool things visually), Bilge rat barges and the log floom (be warned you get totally soaked on these; we wore our bathing suits and then got changed afterwards in to dry clothes) and then Spiderman, . We didn’t do the pteradon fliers as we did that last time and there’s no express pass, it loads super slowly and it’s over in under a minute (plus you need a kid under 56 inches and we only had 3 between us, meaning some of the party would not get to ride).  I had wanted to do the rapter encounter too, but didn’t want to wait inline for 45 minutes for it. We chose not to do the Hulk as most of our party did not like upside down rides and my eldest wasn’t sure he was ready for it. We did lunch at the restaurant near the Bilge rate barges

We headed out around 3 to take a break. The weather was not as humid as it can be and there was no rain or thunderstorm, so the perfect day to do the water rides.

We came back to IOA for dinner to do Mythos. Really cool setting, seemed somewhat understaffed as service again was slower than ideal. Food was different/interesting.

We then split up as people wanted to do different things. We headed over to Universal to see Diagon Alley in the dark and rode Gringotts twice. Really cool ride that fast became one of our favorites from both the queue perspective and the ride itself.

Hagrid’s motorcycle ride had opened when we were there and we debated trying to do it, but the queue was 2 hours most of the day and we decided we didn’t want to queue for that amount of time. Now we have an excuse to go back when it can be express passed!

Day 3

We followed the same routine for breakfast. While we could have gone to Universal studios an hour early, sleep took priority and it’s less necessary when you have an express pass to get there early. We started on the left side of the park this time, doing the Jimmy Fallon ride. This was much more fun than I expected! We then split up again with the non coaster riders heading back over to Simpsons and the coaster riders heading to the Mummy. This was an awesome ride which we ended up doing 3 times as we waited for the others to come back over. We then tried to ride Fast and Furious but it went down. We came back to it later but there was a hefty queue and I was pretty disappointed by it. I expected it to feel really fast, akin to Disney’s test track, but it was just a motion ride.

We continued around, covering Gringott’s again and stopping for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron and then it started raining. We headed over to ET as that’s inside, and that ended up going down, although it did come back up after about 20 minutes (just as we were about to bail). We did the woody woodpecker coaster while we were there and then took a break before coming back for dinner at Cowfish. We didn’t get the chance to use the hotel pool but it was pretty lively in there with a ship splash pad area.

Cowfish was fun as there was cornhole outside to keep everyone entertained while we waited for our table. The menu was really fun and different with most of us going for a mix of mini-burgers and sushi. Of all the restaurants, the service was the most efficient.

We split up again for the evening with my sister in law heading back to the wet rides at IOA and the mother in law heading back to the hotel. We headed to our favorites, which was the Jimmy Fallon ride, Transformers (we were lucky enough to be there when Bumblebee was doing meet and greets) and then Gringotts again. My eldest Lauling wanted to ride Rip Ride Rocket in the dark, so we also did that as rider switch so both my husband and I could ride. We all loved it although getting on it as it’s a rolling access and picking music before you start heading up is quite stressful!

The boys were exhausted so we took a ripsaw bike back to the hotel.

Day 4

Our Universal experience ended with a Minion’s breakfast in the ballroom. It starts with pictures with Gru and a Minion before you’re seated. The buffet was hot and plentiful and we were visited by the girls, more minions, and Gru and a second Minion and it was well organized in terms of efficiency of the characters coming around and the time we got with them. We were done in less than an hour, giving us plenty of time to pack and get ready to depart for our cruise.

Dani & The Laulings do the Six Flags Overnight Safari

We’ve been season pass holders at Six Flags, Jackson, for a couple of years now as it’s a short 30-40 minute drive from us. It had caught my eye last year that there was an option to do an overnight camp in the safari but kids have to be 5 and my youngest Lauling was only 4 at the time. So this year I decided to book us in to one of the experiences. There were 3 or 4 dates to pick from and the end of August one worked best for us.

The event started with a 5 pm check-in, so we decided to spend the bulk of the day in the theme park. We arrived a bit later than we normally do, around 11.30, but the lines were relatively short and we knocked out Harlequin, Skull mountain and Metropolis before grabbing lunch from Johnny Rockets. After a pirate ship ride we jumped on the skyrider over to the other side of the park and did Runaway mine train, El Toro with my elder Lauling for the first time, log flume and then Houdini.

By that time it was around 4.30 so we headed back to the car and drove around to the check-in point which was at the guest drop off parking lot opposite hurricane harbor. You receive an e-mail a couple of days before the event with the meeting instructions and itinerary. We checked in and got wrist bands and then were instructed to follow in convoy in to the safari. It was really cool getting to drive in through the original car entrance and driving through some of the safari plains. We arrived at the adventura camp which is the stop on the regular safari where you can get off and were directed in to the parking area. As a heads up, it’s a tight space.

We were then all assigned an area to pitch our tents; you do need to bring your own tent, mattresses and bedding. We didn’t end up with the best spot- we were on the far right by the first picnic table area, close to where the movie screen was set up. I would have preferred to have been on the left hand side and there are even a few spots the other side of the fence that had great views of the safari plains. That said, we didn’t spend much time looking at the view. The Laulings went off and played in the small play area while we put up the tent and then dinner was served around 6.40. It was pretty ‘meh’ food consisting of burgers and hot dogs and some salad items. Dessert was chocolate chip cookies and brownies. Drinks were aplenty however in a large cooler; water, lemonade, iced tea and sodas. A bar was open after dinner serving beers and canned cocktails but these were an added cost of course.

At 8 pm, we were directed over to the shop and split in to 4 groups. We had about 20 people in our group, putting the event attendees somewhere in the 80-90 people range. Each group was taken to meet an animal and then the groups were rotated. We were introduced to a snake, skunk, lizard and owl. A staff member talked about each animal and we were able to stroke the snake and the lizard.

After that kids crafts were set up in the picnic table area. The Laulings made owls from pine cones, caterpillars from mini pom poms and clothes pegs and giant lightening bugs made from water bottles filled with glow sticks. They were super cute ideas. At 8.45 safari bingo was played- basically you made your own bingo card from animal stickers and then the bingo master called out different animals and you had to get 5 in a row. We didn’t take part in this, and this was perhaps the lull point of the evening.

At 9.15 they started the movie; Ice Age. I had bet on Lion King, but then figured getting rights for public viewings of Disney movies was probably expensive or impossible! While the movie was playing, you could make s’mores over at the fire pit and large bags of popcorn were handed out. The Laulings were starting to fade around 10 pm as this was significantly later than their normal bedtime, so we retired to the tent. Ice Age’s running time was meant to be 1 hour and 45 mins, but it went quiet at 10.30, so I can only assume no-one was left!

After the movie, the camp was fairly quiet and lights were turned off, but I could hear concert music coming from the park until midnight and it’s very close to a military base and several airplanes went over and literally made the ground shake- it was REALLY loud. So it wasn’t the best night’s sleep for sure but I hadn’t expected it to be, and people started moving around about 6 am the next day.

We were up around 6.15 am and after getting dressed, worked on getting the tent down and packed in to the car. Breakfast was served at around 7.15 and was just bagels, muffins and coffee crumb cake. There was only a Keurig for making coffee, which as you can probably imagine was not very efficient for 50 adults, making a pretty long line. There was also only one 2 slot toaster so that was also similarly frustrating!

After breakfast, we were all invited to feed the giraffes. We went up in our family parties and were given 4 sticks of sweet potato each and the opportunity to take a picture. Only 2 giraffes stuck around for the whole group, but it was enough for everyone to have the experience. At that same time we were able to walk around the other animal enclosures including a sloth, macaws, goats, pigs and a lynx cat.

At 9 we were invited to load on to the safari trucks. There were 3 trucks and we were in the last one. Our guide was entertaining and it did feel special to be the first and only trucks in the park. The highlight was we got to see the elephants being let out of their night time building and into their day time area.

Back at the camp, the store was then open, which houses a few snakes and reptiles, and allows you to buy a keepsake from the event.

At around 10.15, we all got back in our cars and joined a line to either go to the park or exit, which concluded the event.

Overall, it was a unique experience, well organized, and I could definitely see it becoming an annual event for the Laulings.

Dani & The Laulings do Hershey Park (August 2019)

I love breaking the summer up with long week-ends. This was our first time heading to Hershey Park. With a 2 hour and 15 minute drive, it was just about manageable for the Laulings in the car to do a straight shot down there (well with one short bathroom break). We left Princeton, NJ at 7 am on Friday morning and were pulling in to the Hershey hotel parking lot at 9.20. The shuttle bus to the park was waiting outside the hotel so we hopped straight on. We did have to show proof of staying at the hotel, but our reservation print out worked rather than having to go and check-in. We sat on the bus for about 10 minutes before it left with a few additional guests to the park. It’s a short 5 minute ride over there as long as the queue of cars isn’t crazy, putting us at the gate around 9.40.  It was a reasonable walk from the bus drop off at the time of writing this while they were re-doing the entrance area and with bag search and ticket scan, we were inside at exactly 9.50.

Our hotel package included breakfast and 2 days of park tickets. Technically we could have entered the park at 9 am as hotel guests (note the website says 9.30 but the hotel staff told me it was from 9) but they were already letting regular guests in at 9.50 and we were not asked for proof of hotel stay or annual passes (who also get early access). I did splurge on 2 days of fast track access. It was not cheap and I would only do it if you are doing a week-end trip like we were to maximize the experience. It covers all their rollercoasters, many of which are a 48 or 54 inch height requirement, which my little Lauling could not go on, so for him the price really did not justify it, but did give him access to super dooper looper, cupfushion, laff track and Comet, all of which had pretty long lines, so I still felt it saved us some sanity.

Follow our day 2 itinerary for a far better touring plan, but here is what we accomplished on day 1:

  • Picked up fast track bands from guest services on entering the park. There are also kiosks which we used on day 2 and were very efficient. Don’t worry that it says on the fast track ticket that you have to be 48 inches to get one; that was not enforced. Hershey recently changed to a ‘magic band’ type set up where you scan you ‘kiss’ chip in a bracelet against the Hershey kiss fast track tracker. We purchased the single ride option but there is also an unlimited option, although I don’t know that you’d get the opportunity to ride all the rides more than once.
  • Headed to Comet. This is a wooden roller coaster with a 42 inch height requirement. There was already a decent line. The fast track by-passes some but not all the queue. There are 2 trains running so that does help loading and it’s free for all seating- you line up by the seats you want to ride in.  It has a big drop at the beginning and probably the ‘biggest’ ride my 5 year old Lauling had gone on. He was a bit traumatized but not enough to say he wouldn’t do it again!
  • Headed to super dooper looper; same set-up, you by-pass some but not all the line with fast track. This is also a 42 inch roller coaster with one big loop. It was my 5 year old’s first upside down roller coaster- and he loved it.
  • From there we headed to cup fushion, Hershey’s new shooting ride. The line for this got up to 3 hours almost immediately. The fast track for this takes you right to the loading platform. The attendant forgot to ask us to scan our kiss bands, so we got to save that fast pass for later in the day (kerching!) This was a fun 4-D experience with lovely mint chocolate aromas and accurate shooting technology; definitely ‘a hit’ and my youngest Lauling’s favorite ride.
  • From there we headed over to the Hershey drop towers. I am not a fan of these kinds of rides and my youngest Lauling was too small (48 inch requirement) so we watched daddy and older Lauling ride that one. No lines for the smallest tower, so fast track not needed
  • From there we wound our way to Trailblaizer, a junior coaster. No line so we were able to jump straight on, and then rode a second time. Fast track covers this one if needed.
  • We stopped near side winder for lunch near the Mexican and Chickie and Pete’s. I did like the variety of food options at Hershey with more choice than simply burgers and hot dogs. We bought the refillable cups too, which allows you to fill up from the self-serve kiosks (although you have to wait 10 minutes between fill-ups).
  • Side winder looked super fun; a coaster that goes backwards and forwards but my eldest Lauling was too chicken to ride, so we had to pass on that one.
  • We then headed to the pirate ship; just waited for one ship to finish running before we got on (no fast track available for this). We then went to Frontier fliers, which were a pretty unique experience- you can control the angle and height they go, although not the best idea after lunch- did leave me feeling a little queasy! This was a reasonably long wait because each car has to be checked individually (~20 mins)
  • After that we headed to Laff Track. The fast track by-passes the outside queue area but we still had a reasonable 20 minute wait inside. There are some fairground mirrors in the queue line to keep you amused. This ride was a hit and unlike anything I’ve ridden. It’s a spinning coaster in the dark but the track goes sideways as well as up and down. You can choose whether to start the ride facing forward or backwards- my youngest loved to start backwards which worked well as my eldest liked to start forwards.
  • Right next to Laff Track are some fairground slides called Merry Merry dip. My youngest enjoyed riding this multiple times and I took my eldest on to wild mouse which is in the same vicinity after. No line although it was covered by the fast track.
  • From there we all did the music express; it’s a bone jarring ride. Make sure you wedge yourself in the corner if you are going to ride it as your companion will be on top of you!
  • We then followed a reverse route back, stopping at the coal cracker log flume, which was a typical log flume ride but quite short and only one big drop. It’s not under fast track and I didn’t feel it was worth standing in a long line. It wasn’t bad on the Friday; probably about 20 minutes.

By then it was around 3.45 and we could check in at 4, so we headed out to the bus. The bus service was not the best. They were not very frequent (more frequent for the lodge), and always waited 10 minutes before they left, so I would give yourself 30 minutes to get back to the hotel on the bus. The bus also stops at the Hershey gardens en-route, although they are opposite the hotel so not a big deal. We headed straight to check-in which was pretty quick and our room key was waiting for us. I opted to stay in the cottages, thinking it would be nice to be a way from the hotel and hopefully quiet. They definitely were quiet but were also a good 10 minute walk to the main building, so I would actually recommend staying in the main hotel and trying to get a 1 bedroom suite. We were able to drive to the cottage though and park outside. We were in Cherry in a ground floor room. In the 6 room cottages like ours there are 2 rooms that are basically in the ‘basement’ and I did see some posts on Tripadvisor that you can hear the people above you in these rooms. We were not over the basement rooms which are in the back of the cottage and I didn’t hear anything. The cottages are nicely appointed but I would personally have preferred a larger main living area over the over-sized bathroom. We freshened up and then headed over to the Harvest restaurant where we had dinner reservations. This is actually near the cottages so worked out well. The food was reasonable, although my baked potato was cold. Outside the restaurant they have bean bag toss and table tennis tables which was a nice touch and then you can walk through the hotel garden to enter the back of the hotel. We jumped on a bus back to the park around 7.40. It was PACKED so we just used our fast track for a second go on cup fushion and then rode starship America before heading back to sleep.

Day 2

We headed to breakfast at around 7.45, just beating the 8 o’clock rush. You don’t need a reservation for breakfast which is served at the circular restaurant in the main building. We took our park bag with us so we didn’t have to go back to the room. We did the buffet which was a very nice selection of pastries, muffins, bagels, fruit, yogurt, oatmeal, omelet station and then trays of hot breakfast items including French toast and pancakes. Once fueled up we were on the bus at 8.20 and at the park by 8.30. Everyone was held by a rope after security until about 8.45 when we were allowed down to the check in turnstiles. Just before 9 we were let in. There was a decent amount of people there. Even with a 8.20 arrival we were about 10 people back to the turnstile. Only the front of the park is open for the first hour. We went on Comet and then 2 goes on Sooper dooper looper and then got our fast passes and photo pass and waited at the ‘rope’ outside the music studio experience to enter the rest of the park at about 9.50. Cup fushion was not listed as open as part of the early hour but it was, so if I’d have known I would have headed there first. Once the rope was dropped, we headed all the way to the back of the park to laff track. Many people were going to the boardwalk, so there was only a handful of us making the long trek to laff track. As we entered the ride, there were probably about 10 people in front of us, so we were almost a walk on and as we exited the line still hadn’t reached the hall of mirrors, so we rode a second time without needing to use our fast tracks. While we in that area of the park, the eldest Lauling rode Wild Cat twice and Lightening Racer twice; both were wooden coasters and good fun. Lightening Racer is a dueling coaster where there are two cars racing each other. We did not need to use our fast tracks at all for these- they were all ‘walk on’. The youngest Lauling rode music express, whip 3 times (this was actually pretty fun) and went on the Merry dip slides while the eldest Lauling was riding the coasters, so that worked really nicely to keep everyone busy.

By this point it was around noon. We used our Laff track fast track before starting our way back, stopping for lunch at the pizza place near the Boardwalk (pretty standard pizza fare). We then did the classic Sunoco cars. This was a long wait- probably 40 minutes due to the slow loading. Our youngest Lauling was able to drive though, so the wait was worth it for him! We then followed our same route back as the day before but stopping for the kissing tower this time which is an observation tower giving you a great view of the whole park. We only waited for one ride before we got on. We swung by the log flume but the line was much longer than yesterday, so we decided to skip it. Daddy and the eldest Lauling did the kisses drop tower again and I took the youngest one on the frog hopper, which has been closed the day before. Both had short lines. After that we finished up at the front of the park, doing Cup fushion, Comet and sooper dooper looper with our fast track. We were done for the day around 3 pm. By this point the park was really crowded. I would definitely recommend starting at the back of the park and moving forward as you are then going against the flow of the crowd.

We headed back to the hotel and the youngest Lauling and I hit the hotel pool. While busy, we were able to get a sun lounger and we had a blast riding the slides over and over again. We spent about an hour in the pool before heading back to get changed for dinner. I wanted to try the Italian restaurant in the hotel but they don’t take reservations in the summer so I had a back-up reservation at the Chocolate Grill in Hershey town itself. We were able to get a table at the Italian. Food was OK, potatoes were hard this time- I guess potatoes aren’t their thing!

We headed back to our hotel room for a good night’s sleep.

Day 3

Today we chose to do a couple of hours in the morning at the chocolate factory. This is in the same location as the park but you don’t need a ticket to enter and you can do the tour for free. I had booked us a make your own chocolate experience at 9.30 am. We were outside the factory at 8.50 and there was already a bit of a line, and we were all let in at 10. On the chocolate world website it said the tour was about 30 minutes, so I was hoping we could squeeze that in before we made our chocolate bars, so we headed straight there. It’s actually a ride, not unlike the set-up of Spaceship Earth at Disney world that narrates what’s going on to you as you ride past staged chocolate making scenes. It was done in about 10 minutes. We were walk on for that but we wound through what looked like could be a very long queue system and probably is why they recommend allotting 30 minutes for it. We exited the ride and browsed the very well stocked store before heading over to chocolate making. This was super cool. Donned in our very attractive chocolate making outfits, we were directed to create a profile for each of us linked to a ticket which allows you to track your bar through the process. You start by choosing a base- dark, milk or white chocolate and what you want your bar to be filled with (rice crispies, toffee, pieces, pretzel pieces, choc chips etc.). You then follow your chocolate bar from being filled, to covered in chocolate, finished with sprinkles (optional) and then dried and packaged. We were all engaged through the whole process. You also get to design and personalize your own package. The packaging machine had a bit of a malfunction, so our experience took a little longer than it should, but we were still out in about 50 minutes. I would have liked to have done the 4D movie but that wasn’t starting until 10.45 and we wouldn’t have been out until 11.15 so we decided to call it a day at that point.

The traffic coming in to the park when we exited the chocolate world was horrific- taking 30 minutes for the buses to get through, so we waited quite a while for a bus to come, although fortunately it left to go back to the hotel as soon as it arrived. We headed to our room to pack and check out.

I would definitely go back to Hershey park, especially once my youngest Lauling is over 48 inches. We could easily have done another day and gone to the zoo and spent a bit more time enjoying the hotel facilities which also had a putting green, smores in the evening and other organized activities through the day.

Royal Caribbean or Disney cruise?

We cruised on the Harmony of the seas in a 2 bedroom grand suite and on the Disney Fantasy in a deluxe family ocean balcony. This is how I think they wrack up against each other:

Pre-Planning

RC wins this one by a mile- you can start booking excursions and restaurants as soon as you’ve booked while with Disney as a first time cruiser you have to book excursions and activities at midnight 45 days before your departure day. You also need to book a port arrival time with Disney, while with RC you can just turn up any time.

Embarkation and de-embarkation

RC has this one too. We were a little late to the Harmony of the seas but it was literally ‘walk-on’ versus standing in line on the Fantasy and having to board in a boarding group. De-embarkation was a wash. Because we were suite class on the Harmony, we were escorted off the ship, but they were late getting us from the lounge so probably took as long in total to get off the boat than just walking off the Fantasy alone.

Dining

For regular dining, Disney takes this one; better service, food and ambiance (especially Animator’s Palette). That said, I do like having specialty restaurants to pick from, which Disney doesn’t have aside from the adult only restaurants. You do get soda included on the Disney boats, but really for the money that’s the least they could throw in!

Activities

This one is a tie. Disney has the characters, mini-golf, foosball, sports simulator, mystery hunt, Aqua Duck and far superior kids club. That said, the Harmony has a rock wall, mini golf, zip lines, climbing wall, Abyss slide, water slides, wave riders and a carousel. So different, and just depends on your preference and whether your kids are really into characters or not.

Boat lay out

Harmony wins this one. While getting to the gym is a bit tricky as you do have to go down and then up, the Fantasy felt choppy and lacked a central gathering area. The Harmony has Central Park, the Promenade and the Boardwalk which feel open and not like you’re on a boat. The only central area on Disney is where the shops are but there are no windows.

Pools

RC just gets this one because they were bigger and less crowded during the day. Disney’s being heated was a nice perk however. The aqua duck was a winner on Disney, but only reasonable waits at night.

Entertainment

RC gets this one due to the variety. It had Broadway type shows, ice shows and the aquatheater shows, one which was absolutely incredible. Disney had better Broadway type shows, but not the variety that RC has.

Rooms

RC gets this too. There’s just so much variety and choice of room types from regular rooms to Owners’ suites, 2 bedroom suites, aquatheater suites. Disney has very limited concierge level rooms that are super expensive.

Concierge level

RC gets this too. You have access to a separate restaurant and bar, free drinks from 4.30-8, a dedicated suites area on Labadee with its own restaurant area and dedicated seating at the shows. On Disney there was a tiny little lounge but no restaurant, no special area on Castaway Cay and no free drinks or extra restaurant perks. For the upside in money, it really isn’t worth it.

Service

The wait staff were definitely superior on Disney, but was it night and day; definitely not. The rest of the staff like the room cleaners were a wash (although both of the ones we had made us incredible towel animals).

So overall, while I’m glad a tried out a Disney cruise, I don’t think I’d do one again given the difference in price for a regular balcony suite over RC, especially as the kids get older where character meets will be less appealing.

Dani and the Laulings do the Castleton Caves

As I’m originally from the UK and now living in the US, the Laulings go back to the UK at least twice a year. For the most part these trips are focused on seeing family and friends, which aren’t always the most exciting activities for the Laulings, and I want them to love Europe as much as I do. So now I make sure that for half of the trip we do something touristy. This time around, I decided to do a day at the caves in Castleton and 3 days at Alton Towers theme park (reviewed separately).

The Castleton caves

The Casteton caves are in the Peak District in Derbyshire. There are 4 caves within 5 minutes of each other: Peak Cavern, Speedwell Cavern, Blue John Cavern and Treak Cliff Cavern. It will take you about 1-1.5 hours to do each depending on whether you are lucky enough to time it right to get on a tour leaving as you arrive, so it is possible to do all 4 caves in one day. I decided to shoot for 2 along with lunch. I chose Speedwell cavern because it is only accessible by boat, and so is a different experience from the other caves that are accessed on foot. I chose Treak Cliff as our second cave based on other’s recommendations that it has the better examples of Blue John veins as well as natural formed caves with extensive stalactites and stalagmites.

Blue John is a semi-precious mineral, a form of fluorite with bands of purple-blue and has only been found at the Blue John Cavern and Treak Cliff hill. It was found at Treak Cliff ‘accidentally’ as people hunted for lead. It is used for jewelry.

Where to stay

We always stay in Rainow, at the Cheshire Hunt Holiday Cottages, on the edge of the Peak District due to its proximity to Manchester airport and it serves as a great base for where my family is. It was approximately a 30 minute drive from there to the caves, although it meant navigating some very narrow country roads. There are also plenty of options in Castleton itself.

Treak Cliff Cavern

We started at Treak Cliff Cavern. There was a large school group when we arrived, and they went ahead and had their own tour and we waited for the next one about 15 minutes later. It should be noted that there are a number of steps and a steep path from the parking lot to the information center. We were joined by a small group of 6 others with a dedicated guide. There are several areas as an adult you will need to duck down and several steps, but for the most part it is not a strenuous walk. You must go on a guided tour, and it took about 50 minutes. The tour was educational; giving us the background as to how the cavern was found and by who, as well as showing us the blue john veins. You are taken through 2 man-made blue-john mines, followed by 2 natural caves that were found as they continued to try to find new veins of blue john. There were also a couple of fun stories for the kids about the shadow of a witch that scared all the miners and why you shouldn’t whistle in the mine.

There is a small gift shop (and definitely the better of the two between Treak Cliff and Speedwell) with the opportunity to buy some blue john jewelry. It is also has a café, but it’s pretty basic with a number of picnic tables inside, but no view. I would carve out the time to visit an eatery in Castleton rather than there.

The views of the Peak district as you exit the cave are really impressive. Unfortunately it was a rainy day when we were there, but you’ll get the idea!

Speedwell

We drove the short distance to Speedwell from Treak Cliff. A tour had just started and the receptionist put us on that one, which was great because only one boat can be in the mine at a time, so we would have had to wait 30 minutes for the next one. We were at the back of the boat which was fairly full and we really couldn’t hear the guide. He also didn’t wait for us before he started talking as we got off the boat at the other end. Compared to the guide at Treak Cliff, it was pretty disappointing and so I really don’t have anything to tell you about what to expect about the narrative! The boat ride itself is not for the faint hearted as it literally just fits width wise in the waterway and they have adults wear a hard hat to ensure you don’t hit your head on the ceiling. Definitely not for those that are claustrophobic. It’s probably a 10 minute ride to the cavern, which is a lead mining cavern. You exit the boat to a viewing platform, from where you can look down in the ‘bottomless pit’ cavern itself. It’s not very impressive compared to Treak Cliff as there are no visible stalactites or stalagmites or blue john here. We spent about 10 minutes looking around and asking the guide questions before taking the same boat back.

Lunch

Castelton has a number of cafes, pubs and restaurants to choose from. We ate at the Three Roofs café. Everyone enjoyed their food which consisted of a burger for one Lauling, ham sandwich with a kids box of treats for my youngest Lauling, prawn sandwich on a lovely fresh baguette for me and tuna melt for my husband. I also tried the scone, which was a bit crumbly, but tasted great. The staff were friendly and service was quick.

So if you’re in the area with time on your hands, I’d definitely recommend a day trip to the Castleton caves.

Dani and the Laulings do Alton Towers

As I’m originally from the UK and now living in the US, the Laulings go back to the UK at least twice a year. For the most part these trips are focused on seeing family and friends, which aren’t always the most exciting activities for the Laulings, and I want them to love Europe as much as I do. So now I make sure that for half of the trip we do something touristy. This time around, I decided to do a trip to Alton Towers theme park and a day at the caves in Castleton (reviewed separately).

Having grown up in the South of Manchester, UK, Alton Towers was a staple part of my childhood and I remember many day trips as a teenager, and I was lucky enough to experience the Corkscrew, the Black Hole, the Enterprise as my first upside down ride, and the longest log flume in the world. So I thought how cool would it be if my youngest Lauling also got to go on the Enterprise as his first upside down ride. My older Lauling was also stoked having seen a documentary on the making of the Wicker Man and so he was really excited to get to ride it.

We could have done Alton Towers as a day trip from Rainow, where we were staying, but I wanted to take the opportunity for the extra 30 minutes of early ride time given the park was scheduled to close at the early hour of 4 pm (and open at 10 am) by staying over for 2 nights. We went on the 26th-28th June, which was before the schools in the UK broke up, but is a time when there were quite a few school trips going on.

Where to stay

Alton Towers has 5 different accommodation options: the Alton Towers Hotel, Splash Landings Hotel, CBeebies Hotel, the Enchanted Village and the star gazing pods. The Splash Landings Hotel is closest to the monorail, the Alton Towers hotel is the next, and a bit more up-market than Splash Landings. CBeebies sits behind the Alton Towers hotel and is for pre-schooler age, and the Enchanted Village just beyond Alton Towers hotel (so further away from the Monorail) and the stargazing pods beyond that.

I opted to stay at the Alton Towers hotel, and I definitely liked that it has a table service restaurant rather than the buffet at Splash Landings, and was closer to the monorail than the enchanted village, but I definitely made a poor room choice. I booked the coca cola room, which had the bunk beds in a separate area from the adult’s bed and seemed much more spacious than the other themed room options. It was on the top floor, right outside the elevator, which plays music and talks to you, so you could hear that every time it opened. Fortunately there are only a few rooms on the top floor, so that definitely wasn’t the deal breaker. It overlooks the lake which at first you think ‘oh, great view’, until you realize that on nice summer days, which was what it was when we stayed, you are right over the bar. There is a bar to top floor atrium just down from the room, so you will hear the music in any of the top floor rooms until it stops at 10 pm. Then just when you think it’s going to be quiet, you can hear the people sitting outside the bar on the patio until 11.30 pm or so. And if it’s a hot day and you want to have the windows open, it will be even worse! So this is the perfect room if you are going to be those people at the bar, otherwise request to not be lake facing. Fortunately we were still somewhat on US time, so it wasn’t terrible for us, but it certainly was irritating at 11.30 pm on the second night!

We took a wander to the other hotels. The star gazing pods are tiny and very close together- I would skip unless this is the only thing you can afford. The enchanted village is a further walk from the park but the rooms look cute. I wonder how noisy it would be as they are all individual units and I can imagine people would be running around late at night but I had debated between these and the Alton Towers Hotel. The treehouses look awesome, but are super expensive. Great choice if you have a big group. Next time I might do a suite at Splash Landings or pick a moon room at the Alton Towers hotel.

The coca cola suite came with 6 bottles of coke and 6 of diet coke and a drawer of Roses chocolates and 4 helium balloons. It was super spacious and nicely themed. There were a couple of lego games for the xbox and 1 bathroom with two sinks.

The secret garden restaurant was table service for dinner and buffet in the morning.

Day 1

I booked us in to the indoor water park for our arrival day. It took about an hour to drive to Alton Towers, over some pretty narrow country roads, and we arrived around 11.30. I had booked us into the waterpark in advance and we headed straight there. There was no difficulty parking in the hotel car park. The waterpark is fairly small with one large pool, two splash areas; one for older and one for younger kids, and a lazy river. There is also a slide which you go down in a tube (double or single) but the Laulings didn’t want to do it. We spent most of our time in the pool and did a few loops on the lazy river. There is also an outdoor waterpark area which opened after lunch. We had left by that point and it was a pretty cool day to be out there. It wasn’t super crowded as it was a weekday and school wasn’t out, although there were still a decent number of kids there.

As we hadn’t checked in to the hotel, and we’d come from the US, we didn’t have towels.

Lauling Tip: Take your own towels otherwise you need to ask for them at the check-in desk and they cost £3 each! You also need a 20p for the locker (which you get back).

The Laulings were excited to check in to the hotel, so we left after about an hour and a half and had lunch at the bar at Splash Landings (mainly because the main buffet restaurant wasn’t open). It wasn’t very spectacular and was delivered in a brown bag to our table.

We headed over to the Alton Towers hotel around 2.45, with check-in officially starting at 3. I drove up to the front to drop off the bags and then found a parking spot in the circular parking lot right by the hotel. The check-in process was a little slow with only 2 people at the desk, but our room was ready so we were able to go straight up. We all liked the room a lot, although it had its negatives as reviewed earlier.

We had dinner at the Secret Garden, which was OK. Service was a bit slow as the restaurant was pretty busy. At least it had more variety than the park restaurants- both Gavin and I had the Penang curry. The naan bread was rather hard and tasteless, but the curry was nice. The kids had the usual kid food (chicken strips, mac n cheese, burgers…).

Day 2

We had booked an 8 am breakfast and the restaurant was pretty busy, but as it was a buffet it was fine to navigate and the food was plentiful. The buffet could have done with more fruit options, but other than that had a good mix of the usual hot English breakfast options, basic cereals and a few pastry options.

Lauling tip: Book breakfast and dinner in advance to secure the best times

After fueling up, we headed out for the day. The screen in the lobby will tell you whether Woodland walk is open or not; it was not while we were there. That is a path behind the CBeebies hotel that takes you in to the park, but the entrance isn’t always staffed. So instead we followed the green path markers to the monorail, which is right by Splash Landings. The Monorail stop is shared with the parking lots, so expect a lot of people. It hadn’t opened as we arrived at about 8.50, and the queue went around the back of the station. It moved quickly once it opened at 9 though and we were on it by 9.10 and at Alton Towers by 9.20. They were just opening the early ride time line as we got out of the station so we were able to head straight in.

Sadly, the Wicker Man had been down since the Thursday of the week before and was still not open. That would have been my ‘go to’ for the early ride time start, followed by the mine train which is just up the path from there. So instead, I decided we should knock out the CBeebie land rides, which were more for my youngest Lauling. We had a fastrack pass for day 2, which covered all the bigger rides, but not the CBeebie rides, and I figured this area might get busy given this caters to pre-schoolers who would be more likely to be in the park than the older kids who would still need to be in school.

We knocked out Postman pat first (cute, slow to load, definitely one to start with as lines on day 3 got as high as 45 minutes for this), followed by Peter Rabbit (several times), Vroomster zoo ride, Tree top adventures and then the Octonauts roller coaster. They were all walk on except for the roller coaster, which was a 10 minute wait. This got up to 50 minutes wait on day 3. They were all cute for little ones. Add the magical boat ride as that got up to over 60 minute waits on day 3. From there we headed to mutiny bay and did heave ho (rightfully named as it did make me want to heave by the end!) and then battle galleons. These were both walk on. None of the canons were working on battle galleons so you will only get wet, or even have that much fun if other boats are on it at the same time as you. We did get squirted by an on-shore canon at the end. From there we headed up to Hex. It was probably about noon by this point. Hex was also walk-on. The pre-show is a little scary so keep the littles close by. If you’ve done the Houdini ride at six flags, it’s the same concept as that. Take the time to explore the ruins of the house as you exit Hex. The chapel is open and you can see the restored roof art as well as some of the rooms of the house. You get nice views of the park from the towers roof as well.

Then we crossed over to the Forbidden valley. The line for the skyride was really long, so we decided to walk, but got quite lost in the gardens, which got me a bit frustrated! We made it though and headed to Duel, the laser shooting ride. It’s a great concept, along the lines of buzz lightyear spin, (without the spinning cars) but is showing its age and is really just a sad carnival haunted house set-up. We then headed to mine train which was posting a 20 minute wait. It actually only took us 10 minutes to get on. This was by far the favorite ride for us all, and we went on a second time before heading to lunch at the nearby explorers pizza and pasta buffet around 1.30. We were seated immediately which was great. It’s a similar set-up to the buffet at Legoland Windsor, and the food was plentiful and hot and there was an ice cream machine included. The main negative was the soda was flat.

The next ride planned was the river rapids, but that was posting a 45 minute wait, so I decided to buy a one shot fast track for that. This can be done for most of the bigger rides through the Alton Towers resort app. It cost £6 per person. You pick a 15 minute window to arrive, so I chose 2.15, and you go through the shop next to the river rapids to enter at the disabled entrance. From there we were straight on, so the fast track was much faster than at Legoland Windsor. We wore our rain coats to prevent us from getting wet. It didn’t look like you’d ever get soaked due to the high sides of the raft and the fact that the water doesn’t come up that high, but it did splash our legs.

After this, we checked out the sealife center which was pretty impressive for a small facility and then the kids wanted to play in the training camp play area in cbeebies land, so we did that, with a final ride on Peter Rabbit before heading out just after 4. The park opening time did get extended to 4.30 that day, but by leaving early, we only had a short wait to get back on the monorail.

Note: your hotel stay also includes a round of mini-golf, which is housed next to the monorail station. We didn’t find an opportunity to use it however as it closed at 5 each day.

I had booked the roller coaster restaurant for dinner that night. So we showered and changed and then headed out for our 6.30 reservation. This restaurant is actually in the park. You follow the path past the monorail and there are sign posts to the back entrance of the park, entering near Nemesis. That gate is only open after 5. There are large bins/ trash cans blocking the pathway out of the Forbidden valley area, so don’t get any ideas of a late night park exploration.

The concept of the restaurant is great- it sends the food down tracks to each table, like a roller coaster. You order on an ipad. The downside is the food is fast food; burgers, pasta etc. It was fun to watch though and kept the boys entertained. The seating is quite tight and you share your roller coaster track with 2 other tables. It’s worth doing once for the novelty.

Overall, the food options were disappointing and I would have loved to have seen a more upmarket restaurant, more similar to the quality you’d get at Disney.

Day 3

Having been lucky enough to have a high 60s F day weather on day 2, and subsequently people up all night outside, the weather was similarly warm for day 3. We were up again for our 8 am breakfast but then had to pack up and check-out. We loaded everything in the car on our way to the monorail but were running 15 minutes later than we were on day 2. We got to the monorail around 9.05, so it was already open and the queue was only just outside the monorail entrance. However, it moved much more slowly than it had the day before. I realized when we go to the top why that was; 1) one of the queue directors liked to stop and chat to all the female drivers, 2) they waited for the train to get in before directing people to the cars, instead of having people already lined up for each car, as they had done the day before. So it was quite chaotic and showed either a lack of consistency in training, or poor performance on this crew’s part. We were on the train around 9.15, getting to the park at 9.25. The early ride time entrance was already open, so we headed straight in. There were staff outside the Wicker Man stating they were hoping to have it running later that day and to keep an eye on the app. I was quietly hopeful, but sadly, they never got it open. Of course, they did have it running the next day, after we left. On top of that, the Enterprise was also down and had been all season. It’s supposedly scheduled to be open in another 2 weeks’ time. So we weren’t able to achieve either of our goals!

We headed round the back of the Wicker man to the mine train and rode that about 7 times back to back, most times we just stayed on as the train wasn’t full. At 10 when the park officially opened, we headed next door to the rapids and did that as a walk-on. From there we headed to Duel, also walk on (always is!) and then to the Blade, which both Laulings loved so we did that probably 4 times, also not needing to come off for 2 of those as it wasn’t full. By this time it was 11 am and the app was showing all the big rides as having a 60+ minute wait. It didn’t help that Nemesis was also down on this day, along with Wicker Man, meaning two fewer rides than usual to distribute the crowds on. Fortunately I had a fastrack gold pass for this day for everyone, which gave us one ride on all the big rides and some of the smaller ones (Hex, river rapids, minetrain, enterprise had it been open, battle galleons and Marauder’s mayhem). The eldest Lauling and I took the skyride over to thirteen, while my husband and the youngest Lauling stayed on the Blade another time. Thirteen was absolutely awesome and different to anything I’ve ever experienced. It starts out as a regular coaster, and then stops in a ‘crypt’, and then the whole thing drops like tower of terror, and then it goes backwards in the dark. The fastrack pass was scanned and we were straight on the ride using that line. We both loved it! We then met daddy and the youngest Lauling and switched. Gavin and the older Lauling rode using the other two fastracks given the youngest Lauling was too small to ride. I took the younger one over to cloud cuckoo land and did the driving school, which was walk on surprisingly (the one at Legoland has huge waits and no Qbot option) and the frog hopper, which was very bouncy compared to peter rabbit! We then all met back up and went to Hex, using our fastrack. To enter that one you also follow the disabled entrance signs by cloud cuckoo land. After that it was about 1 pm so we did lunch at Wood cutters bar and grill. This was an order at the bar with table service restaurant. There was a wait to get the food, but it was a nice break.

We then headed up to battle galleons, which had about a 20 minute wait but we had a fastrack so we got straight on. It was much more fun this day as there were full boats to shoot at and be shot at from. We then used our fast track for one last ride on the rapids and mine train before having an ice cream on the front lawn and heading out around 4.10 again. The park was actually open until 6 pm this day, a 2 hour extension to the official closing time. The monorail return was staffed by the same numtys from the morning, and they were so not paying attention, the train we were in left with at least 2 cars completely empty….

So aside from a few staffing issues, I would definitely recommend Alton Towers. It was more efficiently run than LegoLand in general and the grounds are amazing; unlike any other park you’ll go to. Take the advantage of buying one off fastracks to help maximize your day as the crowds grow or buy the gold pass, and get there early to bang out a few of the big rides. We’ll be back to do the Enterprise and the Wicker Man!

Dani & The Lauling’s guide to the Harmony of the Seas

Suite class

There are 3 levels of Royal Suite class; sea which are Junior suites, sky which are Grand suites, Owners suites, Crown Loft Suites and 1 bedroom Aqua Theater suites and Star class, which are Royal loft, Owners’ loft, 4 bedroom family suite, grand loft and 2 bedroom aqua theater suites.

I was originally going for a one bedroom Grand suite, but when I went to book it through Crown Cruise vacations, my representative Jay said we could do a 2 bedroom Grand suite for only $1,000 more, and I jumped at the chance. There are only four 2 bedroom grand suites on the Harmony of the seas, and they go quickly. I booked 18 months out from Easter break 2019, but when I tried to book the same ship on a different itinerary for Easter break 2021, even though the date had come out a week prior, they were already sold out.

There are several reasons to book a sky class suite:

  1. Larger rooms
  2. Access to Coastal kitchen for breakfast, lunch and dinner (table service restaurant exclusive to suite class guests.) Note that sea class guests can only use Coastal kitchen for dinner, and reservations are required. Star class guests also have access to the specialty restaurants for no added cost
  3. Free drinks in the Coastal Kitchen bar from 4.30-8. We also were never charged extra for specialty coffee, soda or alcoholic drinks during lunch or dinner either at Coastal Kitchen
  4. Pre-reserved seating for all the shows
  5. Priority boarding and disembarkation

My personal recommendation if you can’t get a 2 bedroom family suite would be to do an Owner’s suite; while only 1 bedroom they are significantly larger than the Grand Suite. The aqua theater rooms are at the front of the boat, and while overlooking the aquatheater is cool, some of those shows start at 10 pm, the rock walls run by the side of them, and the balconies are fully visible from the Boardwalk. They just weren’t private enough for my liking, especially for the price. The loft suites are all at the back of the boat, and while they are on the Coastal Kitchen level which is super convenient, I had a really tough time with the air pressure on the outward route, plus it’s quite noisy from the engines back there and the back rooms overlook the mini golf and sports court, again making it potentially noisy and not very private. The Owner and Grand suites are mainly mid-ship on various decks from 9-11.

Ship amenities

The Harmony of the Seas is a really impressive boat. I really didn’t feel like we were moving, although going out of Fort Lauderdale means you are much less at sea than going from Bayonne, where we have previously sailed from. I’ll highlight our favorite things on the boat from bottom to top:

Deck 3: houses the main dining room if you are doing an assigned sitting. If you are doing anytime dining you will eat in a dining room on deck 4 or 5

Deck 4: houses the Royal Theater, the casino and the ice rink. The Royal Theater was showing Grease and a tribute to Motown music during our sailing. At 1 hour 45 minutes, we felt Grease would be too much for the boys, so we only did the tribute show. My youngest Lauling slept through the whole thing and the rest of us thought it was just OK; it was probably what you’d imagine cruise ship entertainment to be like. The casino was super smoky and just unpleasant to have to travel through for us, but if you’re a smoker or a gambler I would imagine you would like it. We didn’t do an open skate session at the ice rink although the daily planner will tell you what hours it’s open to do that, but we did catch the show which was better than the last one I saw, with one guy who skated with a ring who was super impressive.

Deck 5: houses the promenade with a number of quick service restaurants, bars and shops. Café promenade is here which serves sandwiches, cakes and coffees throughout the day. I thought we’d spend a lot more time here than we did; somehow whenever we ventured down the cake selection wasn’t to our liking versus what you could get from Windjammers, the main buffet. The pizzeria we also didn’t end up frequenting because drinks options were limited and there was also pizza at the main buffet.

Deck 6: houses the gym and spa at the front of the boat and the Boardwalk at the back. The gym was a reasonable size but got pretty hot due to the number of people in a small space. I signed up for the class pass but would not recommend it as when I looked at the schedule they only offered classes on sea days and the Jamaica day where we docked later, so you really needed to be willing to go to at least 2 classes per day to make it pay versus paying as you went. I did 2 boot camps and 2 pilates classes, and none of them were full. The gym was packed on day 1 however but then got progressively quieter as the week progressed. The Boardwalk was one of our favorite places to be. It houses Starbucks, a hot dog grab and go stand, a small games area, Johnny Rockets, the Mexican restaurant, the rock wall, climbing area and a carousel (no extra charge to ride). It’s also where the ultimate abyss slide exits and where the aquatheater is. We went to both shoes at the aquatheater, but the fine line was the far superior show and mesmerized all of us. The guys that bounced on the elastic were truly amazing, the aerial stunts were fantastic and the ‘spinning guy’ at the start all kept us wanting more.

Deck 8: houses central park which is a leafy, glass topped area home to various specialty restaurants, bar and the park café, a quick service open for breakfast and lunch which made for a quieter experience than going up to Windjammer if you were OK with continental options.

Deck 14: houses the kids clubs and the puzzle room, which looked interesting but we didn’t do as it stated you needed 1.5 hours to do it. There were a few kid movies and puppet shoes on the daily planner up in the kids club so keep an eye out even if you don’t intend to put your kids in the club

Deck 15: houses the pools, water slides and the back deck which has mini-golf, ping pong tables, the flow riders and the entrance to the ultimate abyss slide and the zip lines. We didn’t go on the water slides, but they are all accessed from one staircase. The pools were always full except for first thing in the morning. They were not heated but not as cold as on our cruise out of Bayonne. The ice cream stands are also on this level.

Tip: The ice-cream stand to the right as you head to the back of the boat is always quieter than the one to the left! The Laulings loved playing mini-golf after breakfast when it was usually pretty quiet with only 1 or 2 other sets of people playing. The abyss slide is also best done first thing when it opens at 9 am on sea days.

Tip: you must be wearing a proper T-shirt at least on the Abyss; you cannot ride in a tank top or spaghetti straps due to risk of burning your shoulders on the slide so take a cover up or change because the worst thing is to get to the front of a long line to be told you can’t ride!

You can also access the suite sun deck and hot tub from a staircase using your key card from this level.

Deck 16: houses windjammer, the main buffet. While it always had an impressive array of choices, I never find eating there enjoyable due to the hussle and bussle and sheer number of people. Expect it to be especially busy on port days as everyone is eating early, and on embarking and disembarking day.

Deck 17: houses Coastal kitchen and the suite lounge. Believe or not, it took me at least 2 days to realize that Coastal kitchen and the lounge were actually the same room, and you could enter through either door! There is a concierge in the lounge at select times, but I would not advise going on day 1 unless you have an emergency as there was a long line and people trying to book a full week’s worth of dining and activities!

The restaurants

The main dining room is a perfectly fine experience and we had a great table by the window. We ate there twice; on the second day and the last day. There is a small selection of appetizers, main courses and desserts and a separate kid’s menu. On our two previous cruises, we didn’t do the specialty restaurants because our youngest Lauling was only just 1 and was not very good at sitting through long dinners, but as the boys were now 8 and nearly 5, we felt we could risk it this time!

Laulings tip: Book your dining reservations online in advance to get the best dates and times. I didn’t realize until it was a bit late that you could do this. You do have to pay up-front, including for the kids at full price, but when you get to the restaurant you can ask them to reverse the adult charges and switch to the kids price ($10).

Coastal kitchen: We ate at Coastal kitchen twice for dinner (day 3 and 6), and on 2 sea days for breakfast and lunch. The service was attentive and just the right pace, the waiters were charming and entertaining; it was a fabulous experience, and never felt rushed. The breakfast menu was the same each day but offered various pancakes, French toast, omelets, eggs etc. and we all found something that was really enjoyable, and everything was very well cooked except the French toast was a bit soft for my liking. Lunch and dinner varied each day, but there were often some duplication between days, so I don’t know that I would have wanted to have eaten there for lunch and dinner every day, as it appeared some people did (unless they just happened to pick the same days as us to eat there!) The kids menu didn’t rotate at all, so with only a select number of options for them, it would definitely have got a bit boring. I will say that they were happy to do pasta just in a tomato sauce or with butter even though it wasn’t on the menu.

Izumi Japanese:  The Japanese was personally my least favorite food. We did the Hibachi, and had a 5.15 reservation for the first day. You are seated at tables of 8 and our table mates did not arrive until 5.45. When they finally arrived, they wanted to sit with another set of people so we were held up for nothing in the end. The Laulings did a good job of being patient, but given it’s a $49 per person cover cost I felt they should have started without them given 1 table was empty through our session. The cooking ‘show’ was fun and was the first time the Laulings had been to this kind of restaurant, but the food was just ‘so so’. I wouldn’t do it again.

Johnny Rockets: We chose this for lunch on the first sea day to treat the kids to milkshakes. While it’s a limited menu, service was speedy and the food was hot and as you would expect for a Johnny Rockets, definitely worth a visit on a sea day.

Jamie Oliver’s Italian: We chose to sit outside (it’s in central park) as inside the restaurant was pretty noisy. The time for the food to come out was slow, and it was by far the busiest restaurant we went to, but the food when it arrived was great.

Saber Mexican: This one is on the Boardwalk and more casual than the others. The service was fast and the food was good (it’s more tex-mex than real Mexican however).

So overall I would highly recommend this boat, especially with younger kids. With teens you might prefer to look at one of the boats with the go karts. See my other blog on our itinerary and experience on Harmony of the seas