Auberge Gladstone, Plymouth

While in Plymouth, MA, I was staying at the Auberge Gladstone. I remember looking at the pictures on hotels.com and thinking it looks so posh they'd probably kick me out at soon as they saw me. I went ahead and booked it anyway as it was the cheapest accommodation in the town centre for the 4th of July weekend.

It looked really nice from the outside when I arrived, and my friends said it was in a really good location, I would only need to walk 5 minutes down the road to meet them at a restaurant later that evening. When I got inside the hallway it was really cramped. I mean REALLY cramped, I struggeled getting my suitcase inside the door with the two people that run it and myself standing there. But we managed, and the man at Auberge even carried the suitcase upstairs to the room for me, which was very nice of him.

The bedroom was a decent size room with a king size bed, TV, fridge, air condition, microwave, a couple of chairs and even an electric fireplace!

The bathroom was quite big as well, it even had a chaise lounge in it! There was a very large shower. I actually couldn't quite figure out the shower; there were two shower heads, and water came out of both! I don't know if it was possible to turn one head off or not. If it was, I couldn't figure out how. The bathroom also had a hairdryer, some cups, glasses and a kettle on a shelf.

It's an old house and the floors are a little crooked but mostly that just added to the charm. The lady at Auberge gave me the keys to the room and front door, showed me where the extra towels and linens were, a list she'd compiled of different restaurants and diners as well as some tourist brochures. As she was about to leave me to it I asked her about where breakfast would be served. She then told me I should have booked breakfast in advance, but that there were plenty of places selling breakfast nearby and that I would be better off eating at one of those places!! I was very surprised at first as I though it was a bed and breakfast, which is what it say on hotels.com, but it does say by the front door it's a guest house.

As I also noticed on the first day there was no "maid" service. I don't really mind not having my towels changed, I'm the only one using them after all. However, part of what's nice when PAYING to stay somewhere is that someone else empties the bins, cleans your room and makes the bed.

There was an envelope in the room saying that if I needed anything to call or leave a note at the front desk, but I don't really think I should need to do that just for someone to make my bed! On the envelope it also said: "your gratuity is greatly appreciated", why would I tip anyone when I haven't received any service that deserves a tip? The room was already paid for, I'm not going to give you a tip when you don't do anything to deserve it!

The Auberge is just around the corner from everything, so it was very handy when I wanted to take a stroll around town or down to harbour.

On both the website and hotels.com it says they have a hot tub, free bicycles and books, but none of those things were pointed out to me when I arrived, they didn't tell me where to find anything that wasn't in my room. There was only one door downstairs, but as I didn't know whether that led to a private living area or common area I didn't want to just walk in. The people I met that I guess run it seemed kind of bored and not interested in what they were doing to be honest.

The only things I liked about the Auberge Gladstone was the location and the rooms I had. The rooms were absolutely gorgeous! I'm not really sure I would stay there again, simply because the people that ran it seemed so disinterested and didn't really tell me much. I do think they should "warn" people that there is no housecleaning, not because that's a bad thing, but just so people know about it when they book it, as it would put some people off.

Flitting about

Sorry about the quality of the pictures, my neck and shoulders are starting to hurt from carrying my camera bag all day every day, so today I took a break and only used my phone camera.

Today started at Disney's Animal Kingdom. I went last year and wasn't too bothered about it, but I wanted to give it another chance since it had rained all day when I went last year. I went on the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail in the Africa section, and the Maharajah Jungle Trek in Asia which are both self-guided walks on foot. They were both really good, it was really nice to see the animals like tigers, hippos and gorillas. However, the best part of Animal Kingdom was Festival of the Lion King, which was simply amazing! Make sure you show up at least 20 minutes before show time as it fills up fast. And make sure you go to the second entrance if you don't have a fast pass. I was standing in the fast pass line for a couple of minutes before I realised what it was, I had just lined up in the only queue I saw.

After Animal Kingdom I went to Disney's Hollywood Studios. There I caught the Indiana Jones show, which was a lot of fun. They even got some people in the audience to stand in as extras! I wanted to see the Lights, Motors, Action! show but unfortunately it was cancelled due to technical difficulties, so I went on the Backlot Tour instead. I enjoyed it last year, and I enjoyed it this year!

As I was stood waiting to get inside to the 3D Muppets film I heard a lady next to me complain to her partner that this was going to be "15 minutes of their life they would never get back". Ok, I get it, you've spent all this money to go to Disney World and you want to see as much as possible, but you don't HAVE TO. You don't have to see something you don't want to, you don't have to see something you're only going to complain about, you've made a choice. There is plenty of other things to do and see. I glanced over at them and they didn't even have any kids in tow that they were "suffering" for. And if you're going to watch something, hoping it will be better than you think, shut up until you've actually seen it, THEN make up your mind. Ok rant over. Personally I quite enjoyed the Muppet film, not as good a 3D experience as some other 3D shows, but it was still good, and funny.

Lastly I went back to EPCOT. I didn't stay long as I wanted to catch an earlier bus back to the hotel. I bought some postcards to send to friends (which is why I wanted to go back to the hotel early, so I could write them) and a couple of souvenirs. Other than a couple of pins, I still haven't bought anything for myself though.

The adventure begins

.... Well, the adventure began a few days ago actually, but this is a different (or an extra) adventure. It's Universal Studios Islands of Adventure.

Islands of Adventure was more the way I thought Universal Studios would be, clearer sections. Like yesterday, I headed counter-clockwise around the park, and so the first section I got to was Seuss Landing. I haven't read many Dr. Seuss books but I quite enjoy the films. I went on the Cat in the Hat ride, which was good, probably more fun for the younger crowd, but I did enjoy it.

The next section was the Lost Continent where I attended Poseidon's Fury. It was a really good attraction, I walked through Poseidon's temple on a guided tour, with special effects, with a large group. The guide was really funny and the end of the tour was a lot of fun, I don't want to give too much away, you should see it for yourselves!

The next section was the one I had been looking forward to the most, Harry Potter! I'm not a big fan of the films, but I love the books. Well. I like the films if it has been a long, long time since I read the books, that way I can't remember the books so well that I compare them all the time. Which reminds me.. I want to re-read the books, again. And I still haven't seen the last few films... I've got some catching up to do!

Anyway, I digress. The Harry Potter part was really nice. You walk through a winter version of Hogsmeade, where you can buy wands, clothes and other Harry Potter related things. The only thing I bought was a Butterbeer-slushie. I've never had a butterbeer before. I was worried I wouldn't like it, that it would be too sweet and sickly since I pretty much only drink water, but it wasn't. The butterbeer was really tasty, I wish they sold it everywhere so I could buy some whenever I wanted! I was also quite brave (for me) and I went on the Hogwarts ride. I was really nervous before I got on it but I knew I'd be kicking myself if I didn't go on it. It was a fun ride actually. Yes, I got dizzy and nauseous, but mostly I thought it was quite fun.

By the way, the single rider queue is awesome! The wait for the Hogwarts ride was supposed to be around 60 minutes, but because they had a separate queue for single riders I probably only waited 10-15 minutes! A handy tool if you're travelling alone or if you're in a party that doesn't mind being split up for the ride (why would you mind if you're all adults travelling together? It's not like you can talk much during most rides anyway).

As I walked to the next section, Jurassic Park, it started raining, so I walked into the Discovery Centre. Not too bothered about that one to be honest, more for children as far as I could tell. When I walked back out again it was throwing it down and I could hear a thunderstorm in the distance, it wasn't as bad as yesterday but I still waited for a little bit, until the rain eased up, before I emerged from my shelter. I had been wanting to go on the Jurassic Park River Adventure, but they had closed it due to the weather, I waited around for a little bit, but as there was nowhere to sit down I decided to just move on to the next part of the park. I hate standing around without anything to do.

Toon Lagoon was next. I loved it! I have read many of the toons featured there, in Norwegian. I used to buy Beetle Bailey every time a new issue came out. Blondie is one of the comics my mum buys for Christmas every year, and Hägar always had some guest strips or pages in the Beetle Bailey mags. It was a fun little section of the park. They also had Popeyes boat, and if you walk along the little path behind it there are lots of little fun things hiding. Like a school for fish and Plymouth Rock, shaped like a Plymouth amongst other things.

Next I "geeked it up" with the Marvels section. I am so glad someone introduced me to the Avengers and some of the other Marvels films, like Fantastic 4 and the individual films for each superhero. It was a nice section of the park. I went on the Spiderman ride, which was a lot of fun. They also had a single rider section so I didn't have to queue for long. I am sensing a pattern here with only going on the simulator rides... It feels safer, I know it's only a screen and nothing too bad can happen to me if something fails.

Marvels is the last section on the Islands of Adventure, but I didn't end my day there. I had really wanted to go on the Men in Black ride at Universal so I decided to head back there and go on it. Again, they had a single rider queue so I got to the front of the line fast. It was a really fun ride. You shoot at aliens and get spun around a lot, I actually wanted to go on it again, despite feeling nauseated and having a headache, because I wanted to get a better score. Unfortunately I had to catch the bus back to the hotel.

Tomorrow I am getting up early and heading to Disney's Hollywood Studios. I think.

Universal Studios Florida

I didn't know what to expect when I got to Universal Studios yesterday, I've never been before, but was actually a bit surprised when I got there. When you first enter they don't check your tickets, you walk through a part with a lot of shops, you then choose whether you want to go to Universal or Islands of Adventure, once you get to the gate of one of those, that's when they check your ticket.

I picked Universal yesterday and will be doing Islands of Adventure later today.

It was quite interesting to walk down the street in Universal, it looked like any street you see in the movies, until you got to an attraction, I actually kept walking on the sidewalk and forgetting I could walk in the middle of the road!

Now, I used the Dibb website to find out which parks would be quiet on what days, but as I walked around Universal it still struck me how quiet it was compared to Disney! The lines for the rides weren't as long, and there just seemed to be less people walking around the park. Not that I mind, I was just a bit surprised.

I headed around the park in a counter-clockwise direction, so the first few attractions I got to were Terminator 2 3D, Horror make-up show and E.T.. All good attractions, I haven't watched Terminator but it was quite an interesting attraction, took a while to get to the really exciting bit but it was good. Terminator was timed so that I could get right to the make-up show straight after. They show the techniques make-up artists use in horror films. It was really funny and there were a bit of audience participation. E.T. was a nice little kid's ride where you go to E.T.'s home planet.

I then got to the Simpsons part. It was really cool how they've made it like Springfield. I went on the Simpsons ride, it's a simulator taking you through a theme park (Krustyland) but Sideshow Bob is trying to kill you so there is loads of falling of roller-coasters etc.. I don't like big rides, and that applies to the ones simulating a big ride as well, but, although I felt nauseous when I got off the ride I did enjoy it and I'm glad I went on it.

As I was feeling nauseous I bypassed the Men in Black ride, thinking I would get back to it later, I also walked past  the new Harry Potter part, it doesn't open until July 8th but there were some people sitting outside hoping it would be a soft opening day. I wish it had been open so I could have gone in, but I have better things to do when I'm in a theme park than just sit outside a ride that's not even open yet. I hope (and think) the people that were sitting there had been to Universal before so that they weren't missing out on the rest of the stuff in the park.

I went to the Beetlejuice show, which was quite good. Even though Frankenstein's bride couldn't sing.

I then managed to catch some of the Despicable Me characters in the Party Zone, before heading to Shrek 4D, which was quite fun.When I got out of the Shrek auditorium there was a lightning storm right over our heads. The souvenir shop was packed and some people were standing under the little bit of roof outside. I quite like lightning storms, but when the lightning struck just a few meters ahead and I could feel the instant rumble of the thunder in my bones I decided to watch it from inside the shop. Which didn't last long as the rain started to come down so hard they had to close the doors. They even opened the doors to the auditorium so people could sit in there and wait it out. After about half an hour the rain eased up and the lightning had passed so we could go outside again.

Before it came down too heavy

The only attraction with a really long line, like the ones you get in Disney World, was the Despicable Me one. Understandable. Everyone loves the minions. I had to wait in that one for about a hour before I got in. It was worth it though. It's a big cinema screen with seats that move, you "turn into a minion" and go through Gru's lab on training, and then something goes a bit wrong. It did make me nauseous again, but I did enjoy it.

It was quite amusing to see how different Universal was from Disney when it came to the parade, or rather, leading up to the parade. In Disney people start finding a spot 45 minutes before the parades/firework and the road is mostly kept clear at least 15 minutes before it starts. At Universal most people started finding spots to stand as late as 5 minutes before parade start and people were walking down the road until 10 seconds before the parade got to that section! It was a short and sweet parade with very few characters, a bit of a let down after Disney to be honest. Not saying I didn't enjoy it, because I did, but I kind of wish I had gone to Universal before Disney so I wouldn't compare them so much.

I enjoyed Universal, but I wish I didn't feel sick so easily from going on rides. I should have just gone on the rides anyway, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. Some of you might be wondering why I go to theme parks when I feel sick so easily; the thing is, I do enjoy them, I don't like Alton Towers or other places with only big rides but with Disney and Universal it's also about the parks themselves, not just the rides.

I am really looking forward to going to Islands of Adventure today, they have a Harry Potter part which is open and have been open for a long time, so I'm looking forward to seeing that as well as the rest of the things they have there.

EPCOT and Downtown Disney

As I have been to EPCOT before I decided to take the later bus from the hotel to the theme parks yesterday. I didn't have lie in, but it was nice to have time to write yesterday's post, have breakfast and explore the area my hotel is in.

I walked around the small lake by my hotel, which didn't take very long. There are mostly just souvenir shops, hotels and restaurants near me. Just like last time I was in America I quite enjoyed seeing restaurants that I've only ever heard about on films and TV. I even live within walking distance of Wet'n'Wild. Not that I'm interested in going there, even if it would be nice to cool down.

When I got to EPCOT I only had a short walk around before going through the back entrance to one of the resorts, where I caught a transfer bus to Downtown Disney to meet up with Sophie.

Sophie is a British girl I used to work with in a pub last time I lived in England, about 4-5 years ago, and I haven't seen her since then. She now lives and works in Orlando so it was nice to finally be able to meet up and catch up. We went to Earl of Sandwich for some late lunch, the sandwiched was really good, but the thing I liked the most was probably sitting inside for a little bit, I don't think I would have been able to eat my sandwich if I had been sitting outside in the heat.

Sophie had to go to work at 6pm and so I went back to EPCOT. I had a wander around the world showcase, before finding a spot in Italy to watch the fireworks from. I missed the fireworks last time so it was really nice to finally see them. The fireworks and light-show was absolutely amazing! If you go to EPCOT, don't miss it!

Unless you want to catch the monorail to see the fireworks at Magic Kingdom after EPCOT, I suggest watching the fireworks at EPCOT in the world showcase on the other side of the entrance, that way you get to see some of the countries all lit up before exiting the park.

Let there be magic!

Yesterday I got up with the sun, as I was waiting for the bus to take me to one of the parks I had a little look in the lake outside my hotel and I saw some big fish and turtles, it was quite fun looking at them swimming so close. I wonder if they're used to people dropping bread into the water there or something at breakfast time.

The bus from the hotel only stop at EPCOT out of the Disney Parks, but once you have your Disney ticket you can catch transfers to any of the parks from there. I decided to go to Magic Kingdom as it had said on the Dibb website that Magic Kingdom was going to be the last busy park yesterday, although with it being summer all parks will be busy now.

I got there just as they were doing the opening ceremony.

Last time I went to Magic Kingdom I wasn't exactly stressed out, but I did want to see absolutely everything in the park so I didn't really relax at all. This time was quite different, I was very chilled out as I walked around the park, I have already been on most of the rides and so I just strolled around and got on whatever rides I felt like, I didn't rush to get anywhere on time.

It was quite nice to be so chilled out, as the weather definitely wasn't! It was boiling hot, which I wouldn't have minded so much if it hadn't been for the humidity. Everything was sticking to me, it felt like my kneecaps were melting! If I ever do go back, please remind me to go in spring or autumn, NOT the middle of summer!! Water and ice cream was all I had all day, it was too hot for anything else, I wasn't even hungry thanks to the heat, especially not for the sugary foods they have at the parks.

I did catch one parade, only because I was walking past the castle as they were setting up for it. The Fantasy parade. I'm quite glad I caught it as they didn't have that one last time I went.

After the parade I headed straight to the Princess Fairytale Hall so Olaf could meet Princess Elsa and Anna. Popular princesses they are, I think I had to wait an hour in the queue! Thank goodness for the free wifi in the parks so I could keep myself distracted!

When we came out from seeing Elsa and Anna a thunderstorm had started. There was a big one around the same time last night as well, so I expected a massive downpour like the night before, but actually it was only spitting a little. I loved seeing the lightning tear across the sky and hearing the rumble of it a few seconds later. The lightning lasted the rest of the night. I am guessing it might be like this for the rest of my time here, hot and humid in the daytime then thunderstorms in the evenings thanks to the humidity.

I did not catch the fireworks show at Magic Kingdom last night. The fireworks didn't start until 10pm and the last bus to my hotel left from EPCOT at 10.05pm... Work that one out! It's a bit rubbish really, I realise I'm not staying at a resort hotel, but it would be nice if they had some later busses so people could stay until the fireworks show was over even if they're not staying inside Disney World, maybe just one extra bus from each park to the hotel after the park closes. Had I not seen the fireworks show at Magic Kingdom last year, I probably would have stayed and then forked out for a taxi back to the hotel, so in a way I'm glad I saw it last year.

Today my first purchase will be a hat! My face got very sunburned yesterday. Oops!