Gryffindor's on tour 2017 Day 16 Universal and Cheesecake Factory

[Excitedx4]

I woke up in the Hard Rock Hotel after a very restless night. Not because the bed wasn't comfy as it really was, I just kept tossing and turning all night.

Jacob really wanted to go to the pool and try out the slide, bless him if you haven't noticed we haven't been to water park and this is mainly due to the fact that Evan can't access much in them, however I always feel so guilty because Jacob loves swimming and has only ever been to blizzard beach when he was 2 1/2. Evan was much lighter to lift and carry then and we could manage him, now he is nearly the same weight and height as me it is so much more difficult. We have said when we return this year in 2018 I will take Jacob to one of the Disney water parks whilst Dave takes Evan to Busch Gardens or into another park and we will meet up at night. It's so difficult having a child with special needs but also trying to accommodate your other child who doesn't, you are literally pulled in 2 directions.

Anyway off on a tangent there. Me and Jacob headed down to the pool at 8.30am and grabbed some free water on the way in the shop.

I got myself a sun lounger and sunbathed for a bit. I was so hot even at this hour of the morning. So hot in fact my knee was sweating, only my knee (read back to Busch Gardens regarding the elbow sweat &#128514

You all know I like to share these pictures just like the toenail

Anyway we made our way back to the room at 10am after grabbing some cereal and a donut from the shop for the kids breakfasts. We got showered and changed and were in the park for 11am.

We went to Universal and went to Mel's for the freestyle machine. We had reactived it the day before and when I used it yesterday it said it was valid for longer than we thought so instead of reactivating it first we thought we would try and use it. It worked! And it had gone past the full 24hrs so of you're there give it a go before you reactivate your cups. Saved us a few $.

We went into the Rocky Horror show as we had never done this before. Why oh why had we never done this? It was hilarious! We all loved it!

We watched a bit of the minion parade with them and gru dancing, it was quite good actually I loved all the music.

We went on to ride MIB, Woody woodpecker, ET and me and Evan went on RRR. At this point I was all parked out I'd seriously had enough, especially of Universal and islands of adventure. Dave said he felt the same. The kids were not impressed! They asked for one more ride on transformers so Dave took them on this whilst I treated myself to a few Christmas decorations in the Christmas shop. I sat outside and waited for them to finish the ride on a bench in the sun topping up the tan!

We left at 3pm and headed here...

Even at a random time of 3pm and on a Wednesday we had around a 20 minute wait so I dread to think what it's like on a weekend at prime lunch/dinner times!

We started off with the delicious bread and hunted down our server to get more! I went for the Californian cheesesteak, Dave had a pepperoni pizza, Evan a cheese pizza and Jacob went for Mac and cheese. We all thoroughly enjoyed it and kids are still harping on that they want to go back this year, along with their beloved Steak 'n Shake

Me and Dave ordered a kids hot fudge sundae to share whilst the kids shared a chocolate cake. Only Dave like cheesecake and he wouldn't be tempted to take one home. I think after all the food we'd eaten he was starting to feel the battle of the bulge 😂😂.

We had a walk around mall at millennia and we thought it was very like the Trafford centre. I'm sure I've said before I'm not a massive shopper so this is not really on my list of things to do whilst on holiday but Dave wanted to go to Premium Outlets to look at Levi's and Ralph Lauren as we had this voucher...

We went and dave got himself some Levi jeans, RL tops, tshirts and shorts from adidas. Me and the kids moped around and moaned for around 2 hours

He gave up and let us go home, we got home for around 7.30 where we watched a film and munched on a few snacks.

Evan was sent to bed at some point due to his rude and disrespectful behaviour. He can be the most pleasant child you've ever met, then like a switch flicks and he just turns. Some days his behaviour really got me down and I went to bed feeling really deflated. I know this isn't something people write about in trip reports but I want it to be a true reflection and not look back with rose tinted glasses. I'm sure a lot of it is frustration and coming to terms with dealing with his disability and the situation life has put him in but on the other hand as his parents we need to discipline him and teach him different techniques to channel his anger. This is still very much a work in progress.

Anyway it was still a lovely day and we were very much looking forward to a bit of a chill out day tomorrow after a few hectic days.

Tomorrow is chilling out and cirque du soleil.

[Pussycat Doll]

Another lovely day, bit of a wobble at the end by as you said, it's life and it happens to all families I'm sure! I can't believe you don't like shopping! Xx

[Goldia]

Ahh, all kids have days when they act up, you're right about the need to help them find a way of dealing with their feelings better than taking it out on the people around them...but it sure feels hard when you're in the middle of it. I'm still not sure if the teenage years or the terrible two's are worse. I think at both ages they find expressing themselves in a constructive way very difficult and I think it's this that makes it harder. Although, of course your Evan has more than most to come to terms with.

For us on holiday there are always some spats, it's more to do with us not having our own space and being in each others pockets all the time that leads to silly niggles that end up flaring up.

I hope it didn't drag on to th and at day...

[Excitedx4]

Originally Posted by Pussycat Doll

Another lovely day, bit of a wobble at the end by as you said, it's life and it happens to all families I'm sure! I can't believe you don't like shopping! Xx

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I despise shopping Selina, it really gets on my nerves. I have to really be in the mood for it

Originally Posted by Goldia

Ahh, all kids have days when they act up, you're right about the need to help them find a way of dealing with their feelings better than taking it out on the people around them...but it sure feels hard when you're in the middle of it. I'm still not sure if the teenage years or the terrible two's are worse. I think at both ages they find expressing themselves in a constructive way very difficult and I think it's this that makes it harder. Although, of course your Evan has more than most to come to terms with.

For us on holiday there are always some spats, it's more to do with us not having our own space and being in each others pockets all the time that leads to silly niggles that end up flaring up.

I hope it didn't drag on to th and at day...

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Thanks for the lovely comment. He's getting some help via school and other organisations to channel his anger and frustration I hope it all helps. It kind of goes in cycles where he'll be great for a few weeks then he blows up.

[mouselover22]

Cheesecake Factory Never had a bad meal there

Appreciate your honest trippie 😊

[Excitedx4]

Originally Posted by mouselover22

Cheesecake Factory Never had a bad meal there

Appreciate your honest trippie 😊

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The kids have never stopped talking about the Cheesecake Factory so it's definitely on the list for this year again!

[MinnieMrsA]

The cheesecake factory looks great. I have a gastrointestinal allergy to cheese so have always been put off going lol xx

[Excitedx4]

Originally Posted by MinnieMrsA

The cheesecake factory looks great. I have a gastrointestinal allergy to cheese so have always been put off going lol xx

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Oh yes I'm sure that would definitely put you off! It is a great restaurant but we don't even like cheesecake apart from dave!

[jothp]

Another great day at Universal. Your meal at Cheesecake factory looks great. We all love cheesecake (well apart from Evie who doesn't like much) so I think it would be a must for us if we ever stayed offsite. I really do think that teenagers are really just adult sized toddlers. Robyn and now Hattie sometimes too can be downright unreasonable at times.

[Excitedx4]

Originally Posted by jothp

Another great day at Universal. Your meal at Cheesecake factory looks great. We all love cheesecake (well apart from Evie who doesn't like much) so I think it would be a must for us if we ever stayed offsite. I really do think that teenagers are really just adult sized toddlers. Robyn and now Hattie sometimes too can be downright unreasonable at times.

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Cheesecake Factory meals are really nice, Evan wants to go on his birthday this year so we're doing busch and Cheesecake Factory in tampa.