The Dark Side and more, dodging hurricanes and raccoons, surprises...An Aug 25-Sep 2 TR

[LowesChevy]

Great pics and enjoying the report so far! That racoon would have petrified my DM! Thank goodness it scampered off.

Reflecting from your first post- Isn't it a shame that parents allow their children to act unruly and annoy other guests, in the case on the airplane, but other places as well? People let their kids do what they please and it's your problem if you don't like it. Terrible attitude some folks have in public places-kids and adults alike!

 

[beebeeryan]

Sunday, August 28
Random Rule Change Day and the Mummy's Curse!

Last park day at Universal today. We decided to hit the club lounge early again and do early entry at IOA so we could ride Forbidden Journey again.

On the way to the park, I decided to switch around plans for the rest of the week a bit, the weather was going to be better Tuesday it looked like and we were scheduled to go to Discovery Cove Monday and Seaworld Tuesday. So I called Discovery Cove and change our day to Tuesday while on the boat to Citywalk.

More fun entering the park today, on this morning my ticket worked fine, DH had to show ID which he didn't have. They called a manager over, asked us if this was our first time using the tickets...umm no we've been here 3 days already. What the heck! Finally let us in. I'm not sure what the issue was, one time getting on Hogwarts they asked DH for ID, but not me. He only had a credit card and they said that was fine. This manager said a cc was not ID, he needed picture ID next time, but let us go. We're like, yeah well, this is our last time coming in anyways. It was just annoying because it was totally random, sometimes it was my ticket which I thought was because I had a discounted ticket (barely and I guess not worth the measly discount for the trouble) so I needed to show my travel agent ID. But then other times, mine didn't say anything and he needed to show ID. Every time we entered a park, it changed! Oh and they never made us sign the tickets, like we saw other people doing. It was strange. Note to self: always carry ID at Universal.

So Forbidden Journey and then of course a few rounds on Dragon Challenge for the boys. Then we headed out and went over to ride Kong again, stopping to take some pictures along the way. Onwards to Hulk for one more double round of that. Spiderman. Then the boys and I did Dr. Doom since DH doesn't like heights and won't do that one. By now it was about 11:30am and the boys were hungry.

We left and went to Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. Another good meal.

chicken sandwich of some sort, very good​

After lunch we headed to the Studios right next door. I wanted to ride E.T. as I never have and 20 years ago after waiting in line for 2 hours, it broke down. So we headed there and did that and we loved it. It's so cute! Next we headed back to Diagon Alley and went on Gringotts again. This time, I was directed to put my tiny bag in a locker...last time I was able to keep it on. The rules seem to change daily! Enjoyed the ride with only a 10 minute wait or so, it was less than whatever was posted. A lot less. It was actually faster than when we did it first thing at opening the other day. Onwards to the Mummy...where again, last time I wore my small bag, this time was directed to get a locker. So last year, we rode the Mummy for the first time and the first time we did I was completely unaware that it was a rollercoaster. I missed the announcement, I missed the signs before getting onto the ride. I had my sunglasses hanging on my shirt which I never usually do, so I don't know why I did. But...obviously they flew off at the first drop and I lost them. Oops! So now this time I was instructed to put everything in a locker so I did. My bag and my sunglasses. Or so I thought. I got a high locker and I am short, as I threw my stuff up there. When I went back to get everything out, I pulled my bag out and was feeling for sunglasses and couldn't find them. I asked a taller person nearby to look and see if there was anything in there and he looked and said no. I don't know what happened this time, but I lost my sunglasses on the Mummy again and this time I didn't take them with me!!! It's the curse.

We wandered a bit and then stopped in the store on the way out for another big pink donut and a few other things and headed back to the hotel for a last afternoon of pool lounging. We stopped by the club lounge for their great lemonade and I had them re-print my Discovery Cove ticket with the date change before going to the pool and continued on with some adult beverages down there. By the time 6pm rolled around, we were fully enjoying relaxing at the pool and didn't really want to go back to Citywalk.

We looked around Portofino, considered Mama Dellas, but it seemed like it wasn't even open. It's tough, I have to find a place that has options for my meat and potatoes DH and the kids need things they can get on the adult menu because the kids meals are just too small now. It was open, there just was nobody there because later when we went to get gelato, I saw people going in. DH refuses to do pizza because he does it too much at work during the week so this made it hard, we could have gone to one of the bar and gotten pizza. But he didn't want pizza. So back to the pool restaurant Splendido we went. Food is good there and the kids love the pizza there, it's the same pizza you'd get anywhere else at Portofino.

Tachos or some sort thing, tater tot nachos

kids split a full pizza again, they love this pizza!
​

And then we went to enjoy a very yummy gelato (I didn't have the camera with me) as the sun was going down in the harbor piazza and shopped a bit in the resort stores before going back to the pool for the evening. As everyone else went to bed, I packed the bags. Boo Hoo we are leaving tomorrow morning.

Up next: Seaworld

 

[beebeeryan]

Great pics and enjoying the report so far! That racoon would have petrified my DM! Thank goodness it scampered off.

Reflecting from your first post- Isn't it a shame that parents allow their children to act unruly and annoy other guests, in the case on the airplane, but other places as well? People let their kids do what they please and it's your problem if you don't like it. Terrible attitude some folks have in public places-kids and adults alike!

I have trouble understanding it because we just would never subject people to our kids misbehaving like that. When our kids were little if we knew they wouldn't be quiet or sit still, we didn't go. Luckily, we got them used to restaurants early, people always would comment as we left, how well behaved our kids were because they just sat there. There seems to be a total lack of common courtesy now by many. I don't even let my kids recline their seat on a plane, I'm like no you don't need to for a 2 hour flight, you can sleep like that if you want and it just makes the person behind you more uncomfortable. Meanwhile, everyone else is kicking and slamming trays and reclining their seat into my lap, some of these teenage children not babies, and parents say nothing.

 

[LowesChevy]

Yes, my parents were from the generation of discipline if you will lol (they are 60!) I would my raise my children the same way though. We were taught to be quiet when walking through the hallways of the hotel, especially at night; be on our best behavior on the plane and at restaurants among everywhere else in public. My parents would pick up crumbs and trash off the floor at restaurants if we dropped things. They would be embarrassed if we misbehaved or made a mess.

Now I look at these kids and think to myself-I would have never been able to carry on like the-Mom would have hauled me to the bathroom. It is amazing how laid back people tend to be with their kids-just let them do whatever they please no matter how annoying it is to others.

 

[macraven]

I have been reading along and want to tell you it was a delight to read this trip report!

Enjoyed the details you put into it

Your pictures are fantastic!
Wish you would share them on the forum picture sticky

I love seeing the parks with different versions of how others view the parks

 

[beebeeryan]

I have been reading along and want to tell you it was a delight to read this trip report!

Enjoyed the details you put into it

Your pictures are fantastic!
Wish you would share them on the forum picture sticky

I love seeing the parks with different versions of how others view the parks

I will share them!

 

[macraven]

Great!!!!!

 

[beebeeryan]

Will try and post the next day today, we went away this weekend to start closing up our camp upstate and no internet there, the horror! Kids are back in school, sports are starting up, and my family seems to think I have to feed them every single day.

But before we leave Universal, let me show you our room.

We stayed Club Level, for the first time ever, and Club Level at Portofino is excellent. The lounge is off the lobby next to where the ticket desk is. It's around the corner from the Villa elevator and usually when you book Club Level you will be in the Villa wing in deluxe rooms which are even larger than the already large regular rooms. You will receive key cards to enter the lounge in addition to your room key card.

Our room was down towards the middle of the villa wing, 2558. The first number is the wing, villa is 2 and then 5 is the floor, we were on the 5th floor. We had a view of the Villa pool area which was very pretty and the room was in great shape. We did not notice any issues in the room, nothing looked worn or anything like that. The deluxe rooms have a shower in the corner where the shelve unit usually is in addition to the tub. There was a clothesline over the tub for hanging wet bathing suits. Housekeeping was great, they came in the morning right after we left most days, our room was always done when we returned around lunch or just after and the deluxe rooms include turn down service as well and we never ran into them for that either. There were always plenty of towels and shampoo and whatever else. No picture of the fridge as I didn't want to even open it, last year opening it got us a $5.00 charge even though we didn't take anything. Portofino is the only hotel at Universal that still has a stocked fridge in the room (due to large convention business) so it cannot be used to store things. We used the ice bucket which worked fine, it was DS13 job to keep the ice bucket full.

​

The Club lounge was a new and lovely experience for us. The staff was welcoming and helpful and they kept everything stocked and looking nice. We only saw it packed during the evening hors' oeuvres and wine hour. Breakfast wasn't too bad, although we were usually there early. It's a large enough room with plenty of tables and a couch and tv area as well. The staff will make reservations for you if you want, they can print things for you, there is a printer right there.

Breakfast has fruit, cereal, pastries, hard boiled eggs and scrambled eggs and breakfast potatoes. Coffee station and Orange juice and milk as well as the water and soda bar that is available all day. They have glasswear, but also have plastic cups so you can take anything to go if you wish. Bottled water is available for taking.

Afternoon was snacks, lemonade and the soda and water station.

Evening they had a pasta dish and something else usually, we only made it once to try and another just grabbed wine and beer, that night it was sweet and sour chicken and something else. The night we tried it, it was vodka pasta and sausage and peppers. It was very good. I was also able to take my wine to go for our walk back to the park.

​

And that was our room and club level experience at Portofino Bay.

 

[beebeeryan]

Monday, August 29
Journey NOT to Atlantis...

So we switched our Discovery Cove day to tomorrow so today we had a leisurely breakfast at the club lounge around 7:30am and then headed out with our luggage to the car and off to Sea World! First time to Sea World. Tickets to Sea World are included with the Discovery Cove ticket so we arrived, went to preferred parking, were RIGHT in front of the entrance. Must be in the front row! At the ticket booth there was some issues, it took a bit, they had to call Discovery Cove. It seems the person who changed my DC day did something wrong. When I showed her the original ticket with today as DC day, that worked and they were able to issue my tickets. It was strange and I was a little worried about showing up at DC tomorrow and there being a problem, but figured it was not full most likely and I had a print out with the date change so they would just have to let us in. Not gonna worry about it now.

​

We're in! Grabbed a map and made our way to coasters first as that is what I had read. The boys did Manta first and then Kraken. By then the first rain shower/storm was looming fast so we ducked into the shark aquarium as we were on our way to Mako. By the time we came out, it had stopped. This was the pattern of our day. At this point we headed to Mako where DH insisted since it didn't go upside down, I had to do it. It's awfully high! I did it. OMG. It's CRAZY! The air time is insane, I don't like being lifted off my seat and not coming back down for an extended period of time. It's a good one, but never again. Just no.

After Mako we made our way to Atlantis...and just as we were walking into the queue they closed for lightening in the area. So we wandered over to Antartica and the ride was not operating today, but we went in to see the Penquins. It poured rain as we were inside. Perfect timing again. It was chilly in there! Penguins are so fun. Back to Atlantis, still closed but we went into the small aquarium. After this we made our way to the Sea Lion High show which was very cute.

​

We viewed the dolphins and then made our way to Spice Mill Grill for lunch as it rained again. No pictures. After lunch we headed over the bridge to Shamu Stadium to see One Ocean. It was raining a bit at the start, but the show went on and was great. We did not sit in the splash zone as I wanted to take pictures, much to the disappointment of the boys.

Afterwards we headed back to view the touch tank and see the dolphin show but after sitting for 5 minutes, it started pouring again and then came out and said the show was delayed...then a few minutes later. Cancelled, but stay in shelter if you want to. We left and went over to see alligators and turtles.
In the rain.

After this we were kind of done, we headed over to Atlantis again, this was the 3rd time actually and again, it was still closed. So then we headed back to Manta, which had just started running again and the boys rode again and then we did the little aquarium there. By the time we were out, lightening had shut down Manta and everything else again. I will say it was nice they made announcements over the loud speaker that rides were closed, a few times they said everything was closed, seek shelter. It was never THAT bad, most of the time the rain wasn't too hard even, but lightening was all around.

Ice cream break time and dolphin nursery for a minute. Now we decided to leave, I had gotten the text that our Disney hotel was ready and it was almost 4pm so we headed back to the stores where the kid's had seen things they wanted and got those and then headed out. We enjoyed Sea World despite the on and off rain all day and not getting to Atlantis.

Up next...checking into Beach Club Villas!

 

[beebeeryan]

So we left Sea World and made the short drive to Disney. My GPS refused to acknowledge Epcot Resorts Blvd was a thing, so I had just put in Epcot, but had scoured the map to see that we needed to stay on Buena Vista Dr till we saw Epcot Resorts Blvd. DH was less than confident in my navigating abilities, but I was right, we got there easily. Lots of construction at the I4 exit. I never get a picture of this sign from the car service car, but I was in the front seat finally! This was taken another day, but I'm putting it here.

We arrived at the gate, let them know we were checking in and he directed us to the lobby and parking lot. We already had our room number so we went straight to the parking lot and to our room and skipped the front desk. Magic Bands worked!

WOW! The villas have been recently renovated, some are still being worked on, there were signs and construction materials, appliances in hallways in a few spots. Didn't hear any noise or anything, but we saw they were still working on some rooms.

Welcome to a 1 bedroom at the Beach Club Villas! We loved it! The 2nd floor has 1 long balcony running the entire length of the building with dividers, so we had a double balcony, with sliding doors in bedroom and living room. The only thing missing, no clothesline over the tub or in shower, that I could find. Plenty of hooks to hang things and a washer/dryer, but I like to hang swimsuits, not dry them in the dryer all the time. But I get why there wouldn't be one.

We got settled ( and I resisted the urge to get in that tub right away!) and then went for a walk through the hotel heading towards the Boardwalk to find some dinner. We stayed at Yacht Club in 2013 so we knew the area well enough. We made our way through the Villas lobby and on through the marketplace at Beach Club, through the lobby and out.

​

We chose ESPN and there was no wait. Had a good meal here, a seafood mac n cheese and Matthew was able to order it without the seafood. And we now had a fridge for leftovers! Headed back and it was finally time to hit Stormalong Bay for a bit. It rained so we hung out up in the gazebo for a bit, played some pool, Matthew stayed in the hot tub through the rain.

Meanwhile, we are texting with my sister-in-law, who is staying at Beach Club with her family on their first Disney trip and has no idea we have been in Florida for 4 days already. No idea we were coming to Florida at the same time as them. We kept it a closely guarded secret to surprise them! According to their itinerary, which I planned, they were at Epcot and then coming back to swim. We came up with a plan to tell her I had a friend staying at Beach Club and asked her to pick something up for the kids so we'd coordinate them to meet up and get it. She texted me back that they decided to go to MK after dinner because they missed the parade and fireworks the other night. It was too late by the time they were heading back, so I said we'd arrange it tomorrow. My kids were going crazy with excitement. I had planned originally to just get a condo for the second half of our stay, but then we thought it would be fun to stay at the same hotel as DH's sister so the cousins could enjoy the pool together at least since we weren't going into the parks. They don't see each other a lot since they live on Long Island and we are up in the Albany area. So we booked Yacht Club. A week before our trip, a 1 bedroom at Beach Club Villas opened up for not much more so I switched over.

Early night though because we have Discovery Cove early tomorrow morning!

​

 

[Disneytam]

Thank you for the report. We will be staying at the PBR club level in Dec. for the first time in 15 years so it is good seeing all the pictures especially the lounge photo's. What a small world this is since we live in upstate NY as well, Greenwich to be exact. I didn't know about the Schenectady sign so we will be sure to look for it. I totally agree with you on Southwest messing with the direct flights out of Albany. I use points to fly Southwest (haven't paid out cash to fly in years) but lately they seem to be backing off the direct flights a bit. Jet Blue coming into Albany might have a thing or two to do with that.

Looking forward to reading more and glad you had a great trip.

 

[beebeeryan]

Thank you for the report. We will be staying at the PBR club level in Dec. for the first time in 15 years so it is good seeing all the pictures especially the lounge photo's. What a small world this is since we live in upstate NY as well, Greenwich to be exact. I didn't know about the Schenectady sign so we will be sure to look for it. I totally agree with you on Southwest messing with the direct flights out of Albany. I use points to fly Southwest (haven't paid out cash to fly in years) but lately they seem to be backing off the direct flights a bit. Jet Blue coming into Albany might have a thing or two to do with that.

Looking forward to reading more and glad you had a great trip.

:Welcome:
We really enjoyed PBR Club, you'll love it.

We went to a wedding in July at Lakota Farm in Cambridge up your way, beautiful area, although it took forever to get there! We're in Guilderland.

Yup, we use points on Southwest all the time too. I only had enough for one way for all of us though this time, so when I found better flight schedules on Jetblue figured I'd split it up and pay the one-way on Jet Blue and use the points for the return on SW. It worked very well, except for the hurricane.

 

[beebeeryan]

Tuesday August 30
Swimming with Dolphins!

Early morning start, we're going to Discovery Cove today!

We arrived to the parking lot right at 7am. Parked in the first row and wandered over to the entrance. There was a handful of people there lined up and within 1 minute of arriving, they opened the doors and let us inside. We waited just a few minutes and then were sent to a check-in station. We had our pictures taken, there was no problem with the reservation despite the mix up at Sea World yesterday. We got our lanyards and because of the weather forecast, she got us into the earliest dolphin swim as possible. Turned out, it was the first one, 8am. The forecast was calling for storms to start rolling in around noon. It was shaping up to be like yesterday at Sea World, although it started much earlier yesterday. We made our way into the park, they took our picture and then held us on a bridge for a bit, till 7:30am.

Once we were in, we were directed to breakfast or if you had an early dolphin swim, lockers and gear. We went for lockers and gear to get ready. Got suited up and then headed over to our assigned cabana, Starfish. There were already people there, we had some forms to sign because of the kids. Then I realized I had earrings on so I went over to the closest lockers and put them away. Came back and the trainer came in, spoke a bit, then played a short video for us. Soon we were on our way to our cove. Our group was split into 3 smaller groups and our group of 9 went into the water with Trainer Julie. We got into the water, walked to about waist deep and then met Clipper. Clipper was 19 years old and Julie told us he had a bit of an attitude. They don't force the dolphins to do anything and if they don't want to, they can leave. She said Clipper often does not make it through an entire 30 minute interaction, he'll just take off and not come back a lot. So, she had no idea how long we had with him and we might get to meet someone else if he decided to leave. Such a fun experience, we pet him, had him do some spins and waving and stuff, then each got to kiss him and pose for a picture with him. He did take off at one point early on, but he came right back. Then we got to the part where we swim. 2 people wanted to do shallow water and not swim out to deep water, so they did them first, then 1 by 1 the rest of us swam out and got towed back in by Clipper. We fed him a few times, I didn't want to touch the fish so she gave me jello to feed him. It was very very cool. Clipper was sent off at this point, but before we got out they brought out Soleil, a young 2 year old dolphin, born across the street at the Sea World nursery. She had been there only 6 months and was being trained. She didn't want to get close to people just yet, but she did respond to our signals to spin and wave and things like that. Very sweet, it was a quick visit, but nice. After this, we headed out of the water.

The photographers told us since we hadn't had breakfast yet, we should go there now and we could look at the pictures and deal with that later at the photo center instead of doing it now. So we headed to breakfast right away. We were starving. By this time it was after 9am and there was a big line we had to wait in. It went fairly quickly though and soon we were eating, dodging birds dive bombing tables with any unattended food.

After breakfast, we went back to our chairs by dolphin cove and geared up with our snorkel stuff and went to snorkel. It was packed! So much for Discovery Cove not being crowded ever. It was very crowded and hard to move around between fish, and rocks and reef and people. Not my favorite part, but we did see some cool things and the boys enjoyed touching the stingrays and seeing the sharks. It was hard to keep track of each other all looking the same in masks and vests. Luckily my kids are good swimmers, Eric didn't even use the snorkel, he didn't like it, so he just would dive down swim around and come back up. He's a swimmer of course, so no problem for him. We did this for a little while and then had had enough and got out to warm up and explore some more.

We went to the wind away river and I grabbed a noodle and we floated around. Next we went to explore the aviary and see the marmosets and otters. I had my camera for the aviary so I didn't get in the water to see the marmosets and otters, the boys did. After this I said it was adult beverage time and some sitting on the chairs in the water. So the boys went for another spin around the river and DH and I got drinks and went and sat and relaxed. The kids eventually came back around, Matthew got some ice cream, Eric got a drink. We hung out in the water a bit. At this point we thought we'd go get lunch, but first we'd go take care of the photo package before that got busy. Still no rain! It was about 1pm or later by now and just starting to cloud up and get dark in spots in the not so far distance. I did that and then we went back and turned in our stuff, decided we'd change, go get food while in dry clothing and then leave. It was going to be raining before the hour was done by the looks of things. So we grabbed lunch and then headed out, stopping in the shop for a few things. While waiting for a very slow computer to process the credit card, another employee approached and asked if we did the dolphin swim. We chatted about it and she was surprised when I said we had clipper and he stayed the whole time. She said she used to work over in the dolphin interaction and Clipper never does a whole interaction, it's very rare. We really did have a good time here, even though we were ready to go early and it did seem rather crowded at certain times in certain spots. Probably because everyone was doing the same thing, getting the important things done before the weather turned.

​

Back to the car and back to the Beach Club...

 

[LindaBabe]

Thank you for writing! Loving your report, and looking forward to the surprise. (I used to live in Niskayuna.)

 

[beebeeryan]

Thank you for writing! Loving your report, and looking forward to the surprise. (I used to live in Niskayuna.)

My boys were born in Nisky, at Bellevue. Lots of locals around here!

 

[macraven]

Can I use some of your pictures for the pbh sticky?

If you say yes, I will wait until schumi returns so we can work on what would help update the sticky

 

[beebeeryan]

We're off to the hotel after our lovely day at Discovery Cove . By the time we arrive at the hotel, the skies are getting darker, but no rain yet. The boys head down to the pool with DH and I decide to go to the grocery store to get some food and beverages for the room since we didn't stop on our way yesterday. I took the car, first time driving it, DH has done the honors so far. I just went to Goodings, I knew where that was and it was close and easy to get to. More expensive that other stores maybe, but whatever. It was convenient and that is what vacation is all about. Of course, I was thinking twice when I checked out and spent over $100. I got breakfast stuff and wine and beer, soda, snacks. On the short drive back to the hotel it started to downpour. The skies just opened up. I could barely see, trying to operate the wipers on a car I've never driven, good times! People were even pulling over. It was a doozy of a storm. I parked and sat in the car for about 10 minutes, it was raining too hard to get out. Texted DH to tell him where I was. Finally a break of merely a lot of rain, but not buckets, so I jumped out and grabbed as many bags as I could carry and ran for the side door on the end of the building. By the time I got to our room and put down the bags, one of my fingers was completely numb. It was numb for 3 days!

So now we are sitting relaxing in the room and trying to decide where we are going for dinner. I texted SIL and told her my friend was going to be at the hotel all night now so when she got back to let me know and we'd arrange the meet up. She answered they were at MK and about to grab a quick dinner and then come back. No table service tonight as they had done a character breakfast this morning. Perfect. We didn't want to walk in the rain to the Boardwalk and nothing on the menus of the hotel restaurants or room service was gonna work. So, I mentioned there was a Friday's next to Goodings where I just was and it's not far. There was also a Miller Ale House nearby I wanted to try. Kids chose Fridays. So off we went.

Fridays turned out to be a good choice. We all had good meals and the waiter was absolutely hilarious. He did the entire service from start to finish as a game show host and never broke character. My 10 year old still keeps saying "sharp things and impalement devices" every time he takes a fork out of the utensils drawer. The rain had slightly tapered off by the time we left and we went back to the hotel. SIL texted me while we were there to say they were back, but had not grabbed dinner so they were going to grab some dinner now at the Boardwalk and would be back soon. We headed back to the hotel. A little while later, she texted that she was back. I told her to go see my friend on her own so the kids don't get too excited...and gave her the room number and a little direction of where it was. My kids were going crazy, months and months of planning this surprise and she was on her way! DH was worried she might not be happy we were here and not want her kids to know and drive her crazy only wanting to be with us thus ruining the rest of their trip. So he wanted her to come alone and decide for herself. I told him he was ridiculous, of course she'll be happy, she even bugged me as to why we weren't going this year so we could do it together. Anywho...

Knock at the door! I was ready with the camera filming..DH opened the door and she swore. LOL It was funny. She was shocked. But very happy it was not a stranger because she had been out in the rain and looked a mess. So she came in and then called her DH and told him to come and bring the kids, "you have to see this room" she told him. He was already ready for bed and not thrilled, but he came. We opened the door to him and no swearing, but happy shock. The kids were jumping up and down. They hung out with us for about an hour, the kids played hide and seek and we chatted. They couldn't believe my kids knew all summer long and never slipped when we were at the lake together.

So that was a lot of fun and now they knew. It was getting late so they went off to their room. Tomorrow we're going gator spotting!

 

[beebeeryan]

Can I use some of your pictures for the pbh sticky?

If you say yes, I will wait until schumi returns so we can work on what would help update the sticky

Yes of course. If she needs me to email them or send them some other way I can.

 

[cleopenn]

You have made my day!!!!!

Especially with this comment - "

We stopped by the club lounge before leaving for Citywalk and I grabbed a glass of wine to go and DH a beer, just had them pour it into a plastic cup instead."

We had a less than magical trip (the parents, DS had a great time) to Disney last year and our son is so excited to go to Universal this November.

I was debating about where to stay (on or off) and then club level or not at Portofino. I just booked CL this morning and your report is making me very happy about my choice.

I just have a great feeling about this Universal trip. I can't put my finger on why but I think its going to be much more our type of place.

Looking forward to the rest of your report!

 

[Pesky]

So fun! We're going to PBR as well so loved your notes.