Fun, Sun & Strong Water Rum...*Yo-Ho*...23 Nights @ Sapphire Falls...A May 2022 TR

[schumigirl]

Yes! We love Vivo. Make it a point to eat there every time. I always get the Piccata!!

Another Vivo fan!

I find it hard to pass up on the Piccata every time…….might be a little boring of me, but yes, it is so lovely!

 

[schumigirl]

Because of you, we tried Confisco Grille last trip (in February 2020.... SIGH) and I insisted on those sticky ribs. We also got a number of other dishes to try based on your trip reports and everything was delicious! It was our first time trying there. We have stayed at Royal Pacific 3x and Portofino Bay our last trip, and we are FINALLY going back in December right after Christmas and staying at RPR again! So I was super happy to see that you are back to writing trip reports again (I'm currently bingeing your Nov/Dec 21 trip report and feeling SO happy for you! And making notes since some of it will still be going on when we are there...)

along DisGhost........another great name!!!

I am so glad to hear you enjoyed Confisco so much and other foods too.......phew.......lol.......food can be so personal and we can all enjoy something so many folks might hate, so always glad to hear good feedback!!

And you`re booked for this year!!!! Fabulous, sounds like you`ve been missing travelling to Universal too....it`s hard isn`t it when you just want to be travelling.

Glad to hear you`re at RPR again too, and being there at anytime with the Holiday offerings is so much fun.

Happy to see you here....don`t be a stranger and hope to see you post more and enjoy it too.......

 

[DisGhost]

View attachment 660215 along DisGhost........another great name!!!

I am so glad to hear you enjoyed Confisco so much and other foods too.......phew.......lol.......food can be so personal and we can all enjoy something so many folks might hate, so always glad to hear good feedback!!

And you`re booked for this year!!!! Fabulous, sounds like you`ve been missing travelling to Universal too....it`s hard isn`t it when you just want to be travelling.

Glad to hear you`re at RPR again too, and being there at anytime with the Holiday offerings is so much fun.

Happy to see you here....don`t be a stranger and hope to see you post more and enjoy it too.......

I am "Ghost"+something everywhere I go, because I grew up in California but was so not tan that people called me "Casper" (I'm not THAT pale lol). When I signed up here, my usual nickname was taken (probably by past me who forgot her login!) so I became DisGhost.

Anyway, I also wanted to mention - I was able to point out the meowing cats in POE last trip thanks to you and my family was impressed. So thank you!

And also a question - I desperately want to try Strong Water Tavern, the menu is right up our alley and I love rum. We have two kids who will be 10 and 13 for our trip, they aren't picky eaters or anything (eldest is more adventurous than me, in fact!) so I know the food will be fine, and they are super well behaved in restaurants as we have made a point of training them since they were very little (we love food, so this was non-negotiable, you WILL behave and you will NOT get a phone to play with so deal with it.) I see they do have a kids menu so I am assuming we are allowed to bring kids and they won't be entirely out of place there? Even if we eat a bit on the late side? Not sure of the rules since it is also a bar and I don't want to annoy anyone.

 

[schumigirl]

I am "Ghost"+something everywhere I go, because I grew up in California but was so not tan that people called me "Casper" (I'm not THAT pale lol). When I signed up here, my usual nickname was taken (probably by past me who forgot her login!) so I became DisGhost.

Anyway, I also wanted to mention - I was able to point out the meowing cats in POE last trip thanks to you and my family was impressed. So thank you!

And also a question - I desperately want to try Strong Water Tavern, the menu is right up our alley and I love rum. We have two kids who will be 10 and 13 for our trip, they aren't picky eaters or anything (eldest is more adventurous than me, in fact!) so I know the food will be fine, and they are super well behaved in restaurants as we have made a point of training them since they were very little (we love food, so this was non-negotiable, you WILL behave and you will NOT get a phone to play with so deal with it.) I see they do have a kids menu so I am assuming we are allowed to bring kids and they won't be entirely out of place there? Even if we eat a bit on the late side? Not sure of the rules since it is also a bar and I don't want to annoy anyone.

lol....love it!!! When I met Tom he was much paler than he is now and one of my relatives said he was like Casper the friendly Ghost.......and on our honeymoon a woman actually came up to him and said he was the palest person she had ever seen.......it was our second day!! But, so funny with your name.....I always love how some folks come up with their usernames......

Well, weirdly, it took me several years to notice those cats up there......then it was like.....How`d I miss them.....lol.....Kyle had noticed them but as a 14 year old didn`t think it was worth mentioning.......of course.

You`ll be fine with kids at anytime in Strong Water, even if it is late, you certainly won`t be the only ones. We don`t "usually" stay till close, normally by 11 we`re gone, but we have seen kids in as late as that. And your kids are 10 and 13 so they`re not toddlers......it`ll be fine, no one will look twice.

Good to hear they are adventurous eaters too......I think you`ll all love it in there......






As a side note, I heard by email from one of the folks there that Strong Water Bar recently won the Best Hotel Restaurant in the 2022 Orlando Sentinel Foodie Awards.....and well deserved it is too, those guys and gals are amazing and I think they should win every award going!!

 

[DisGhost]

lol....love it!!! When I met Tom he was much paler than he is now and one of my relatives said he was like Casper the friendly Ghost.......and on our honeymoon a woman actually came up to him and said he was the palest person she had ever seen.......it was our second day!! But, so funny with your name.....I always love how some folks come up with their usernames......

Well, weirdly, it took me several years to notice those cats up there......then it was like.....How`d I miss them.....lol.....Kyle had noticed them but as a 14 year old didn`t think it was worth mentioning.......of course.

You`ll be fine with kids at anytime in Strong Water, even if it is late, you certainly won`t be the only ones. We don`t "usually" stay till close, normally by 11 we`re gone, but we have seen kids in as late as that. And your kids are 10 and 13 so they`re not toddlers......it`ll be fine, no one will look twice.

Good to hear they are adventurous eaters too......I think you`ll all love it in there......






As a side note, I heard by email from one of the folks there that Strong Water Bar recently won the Best Hotel Restaurant in the 2022 Orlando Sentinel Foodie Awards.....and well deserved it is too, those guys and gals are amazing and I think they should win every award going!!

Thank you, that is so helpful to know! Of course we wouldn't be getting falling down drunk with kids around (tempting as those drinks are!) but I didn't want to be "that person." When the kids were little we would try to eat as early as possible, particularly in a more "grown up" restaurant, but now they can stay up later without turning into raving lunatics and we get to eat like civilized people. And now with that Foodie Award, I am 100% more determined to go.

That is hilarious about Tom. I am not nearly so pale, just more an anomaly in a sea of tan Californians as a blonde with no tan. Pays off though, my skin is now much nicer than those tan classmates, 30 years later! Ghost skins unite!

 

[musika]

Sal's - glad of this review, we ended up booking at PB and that marg pizza looks amazing, I can't wait to try it.
Alehouse - is this a walking distance place from RPR or further?
Vivo - Looks amazing. But hmmm decisions decisions between that and Bice.

I am comforted by those who are bringing their kids into Strong Water because we definitely are planning to - Mama is gonna need a drink FO SHO during this trip.

 

[schumigirl]

Thank you, that is so helpful to know! Of course we wouldn't be getting falling down drunk with kids around (tempting as those drinks are!) but I didn't want to be "that person." When the kids were little we would try to eat as early as possible, particularly in a more "grown up" restaurant, but now they can stay up later without turning into raving lunatics and we get to eat like civilized people. And now with that Foodie Award, I am 100% more determined to go.

That is hilarious about Tom. I am not nearly so pale, just more an anomaly in a sea of tan Californians as a blonde with no tan. Pays off though, my skin is now much nicer than those tan classmates, 30 years later! Ghost skins unite!

You`re so welcome. lol......yes, pale folks do stand out at times!!!

I know what you mean, we can all enjoy drinks with kids around and they won`t be the only kids there.

Honestly, I think you`ll love it.

 

[schumigirl]

Sal's - glad of this review, we ended up booking at PB and that marg pizza looks amazing, I can't wait to try it.
Alehouse - is this a walking distance place from RPR or further?
Vivo - Looks amazing. But hmmm decisions decisions between that and Bice.

I am comforted by those who are bringing their kids into Strong Water because we definitely are planning to - Mama is gonna need a drink FO SHO during this trip.

Sal`s in fabulous!! I don`t doubt you`ll love the pizza there.....

It would be too far for us to walk. It`s right next to the Doubletree Suites on Kirkman, well, close...and folks do walk to the parks from there, but no, we wouldn`t walk there. Cabs/uber/lyft are so cheap...or drive if one of you isn`t drinking.

Well, we`re two folks who aren`t fans of Bice. We asked for omissions in the sauce and they told me they couldn`t as it was all preprepared.....put me right off and the food we had wasn`t good in general. But, many love it....so with that, I`d choose Vivo.

Yep, kids are welcomed there for sure

 

[schumigirl]

One of the places we absolutely adore visiting is Dunedin on the other side of Clearwater. I think everyone heads to Clearwater for the beautiful beach, and it is gorgeous, but as we are far too pale skinned to spend a day in the full sunshine, we tend to pass that area by and head for where there is at least some shades, shops and plenty of food options.....a must do for wherever we visit of course.

Dunedin is just beautiful....a classic old town with some gorgeous individual little stores that make it hard not to spend a whole load of money on things you didn`t really think you wanted or needed.........er, well, yes........but little stores like that are irresistable to me, so yes I really do need a couple of tea towels with a funny wine slogan on them........lol.......

It takes roughly around 2 hours to drive from Universal and you pass through Tampa which we keep saying we must go and spend the day there, but it`s another that we never seem to get round to. Traffic can be rough especially around the Disney area at times. We have been known to add about 45 minutes to our journey depending on the time of day, but usually we`ve been lucky that it`s only happened once.

Once you hit Dunedin it`s an easy drive into a little town that has an abundance of parking which for us in the UK can be an issue as so many places charge for parking or parking lots have been built on. We once drove up to York 6 weeks apart to visit a friend who wasn`t well and on the second visit we drove to the usual car park we used, he was in the City Centre so no direct parking close to him, and it had been built on with a huge set of private apartments!

So, we tend to find parking anywhere in the States we go a joy and so easy.

The tree lined streets are everywhere here away from the waterfront so it does make it a pleasant walk when you wander around. We do like to wander off the main streets and there are some gorgeous homes to have a look at if you like that sort of thing, again, very different to the UK so we do like that sort of thing.

And of course we are spoiled for choice with food options, along the main areas there are a plethora of options from pizza to Tapas and anything in between.

We love the harbour.......although I`m not overly keen on boats there are some stunning ones to have a good look at along the front and the setting is stunning where we have seen dolphins and although we haven`t seen a manatee, other folks have so we are hopeful one day.

There is a small boardwalk area and it`s one of the cutest areas for just sitting and gazing out over the water....boats are always out there and some interesting characters when you see them up close. We can spend an hour or so just enjoying soaking up the sun, chatting to folks who are also there and usually waiting to go enjoy some lunch!!

There is a hotel right on the water we had a gorgeous meal, it`s part of the Yacht Club in the Great Western, the Bon Appetit and it is a very classic restaurant we like a lot and it has lovely views over the water from most of the tables.

I have to admit our waitress wasn`t the best, she wasn`t dreadful but she had an air of superiority about her......we must have looked like we couldn`t afford to eat there ........ever felt like the Clampetts......lol.......but the food was good and we would go back again.

It does have a beach feel about this area even though there`s no beach......you can take one of the smaller water taxi`s along to Clearwater from here, we haven`t done it, but it`s only a few dollars and something to consider.

This really does have a shack feeling to it and we enjoyed a lunch here on one of our previous visits.....I think we were the only ones eating inside, but jeez it was hot that day and no way would be eating outside!

Everything was so good and it was such a relaxed place full of locals which we do like, staff were also lovely and one of the bar staff was heading to Scotland so asked us all sorts of questions about places to visit and what weather to expect......well, do you tell the truth about Scottish weather........it can be daunting for a Floridian used to heat and sunshine all the time.....lol.....so we told him as gently as possible to pack some warm clothes....he said he`d have to go buy some, bless him I always wondered how his trip turned out.

We did go once when it was St Patty`s day parade and celebration......it was not fun, so we didn`t stay long as it was mobbed and didn`t care for it.

There are some lovely little touches around the town and although we haven`t explored all of it, everything we have seen is lovely. We did like the old fashioned British telephone box.......it was an odd addition, but seemed to just fit in somehow.

So, our little recap of Dunedin......we have so many little towns we love to visit when we can and this is one of our favourites.....although, I do say that a lot.....I guess we do have a lot of favourites.

It`s nice to have choices though and we do always love to drive around when we are in Florida as much as we can. We try to have a real mix of park time and getting out and about to see the other side of Florida and there are plenty of places still to discover for us.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

The food looks amazing, and what a beautiful town! It is so nice to have those days where you venture out and see all the local delights. I confess I am also a goner when there are those boutique shops. I find there are many things I had no idea I needed!

You do have several favorites. Do you find yourself with any preference over the east and west coasts of Florida?

 

[Pumpkin1172]

We want to go back and explore Tampa/Clearwater and now probably Dunedin too! It is simply stunning there. There are so many unique places to explore.

 

[schumigirl]

The food looks amazing, and what a beautiful town! It is so nice to have those days where you venture out and see all the local delights. I confess I am also a goner when there are those boutique shops. I find there are many things I had no idea I needed!

You do have several favorites. Do you find yourself with any preference over the east and west coasts of Florida?

Oh goodness yes, I`m a sucker for cutesy little stores that sell unique items, I can find a place somewhere in our home for most things.......lol.......

To be honest most folks say they prefer the Gulf coast as it`s warmer and calmer, but we have visited New Smyrna Beach 3 times and twice the sea was still, like a glass lake. Beautiful. So, simple answer is , I think I like them both equally.....no real preference now I think on it.

We are looking at going to another beach this time on the East Coast....waiting on Janet letting me know what she thinks of it........

 

[schumigirl]

We want to go back and explore Tampa/Clearwater and now probably Dunedin too! It is simply stunning there. There are so many unique places to explore.

Locals tell us not to bother with Tampa itself, but that area of Clearwater/Dunedin is stunning.

Clearwater itself is lovely, we love the beach and the town itself......and we did find the Scientology building......very weird as they spied on us as we took pictures.......lol......but Dunedin is somewhere we`d happily spend time in. So, yes, so many places to discover and explore.

 

[I-4Bound]

I’ve got a dear friend from college who lives in Dunedin, but we always end up meeting in Tampa since it’s sort of half way from Orlando. It really does look like a lovely place. I know they love their community.

 

[schumigirl]

I’ve got a dear friend from college who lives in Dunedin, but we always end up meeting in Tampa since it’s sort of half way from Orlando. It really does look like a lovely place. I know they love their community.

It must be a beautiful place to live and yes, the locals seem very proud of their little town and rightly so.

We almost bought a house there in 2008, it was stunning and due to the recession it was a real bargain. But, we decided in the end we`d prefer to stay in hotels on our future trips, so we walked away, but even now we still go look at it and wonder. But, it was the right thing to do.

Do you think it`s worth a visit to Tampa? We`re not aquarium folks or things like that, so it might just be a shopping trip and lunch......but we can do that anywhere so we keep talking ourselves out of going for some reason.

 

[I-4Bound]

It must be a beautiful place to live and yes, the locals seem very proud of their little town and rightly so.

We almost bought a house there in 2008, it was stunning and due to the recession it was a real bargain. But, we decided in the end we`d prefer to stay in hotels on our future trips, so we walked away, but even now we still go look at it and wonder. But, it was the right thing to do.

Do you think it`s worth a visit to Tampa? We`re not aquarium folks or things like that, so it might just be a shopping trip and lunch......but we can do that anywhere so we keep talking ourselves out of going for some reason.

Honestly, I am not particularly enchanted with Tampa. There is one restaurant where we really like to eat lunch, and there is a vintage toy store that my husband really enjoys visiting. Other than that, there’s not a whole lot to do that I find interesting. I will say that we mainly stayed on the side of town where Busch Gardens is located. There may be other areas we have not discovered!

 

[Cara]

I really love reading about your plans. With just four nights, I doubt we'll be going offsite much if at all, but I'm still enjoying reading (and I'm making notes for the on-property options!). Question: What would be your top five on-property choices?

 

[schumigirl]

Honestly, I am not particularly enchanted with Tampa. There is one restaurant where we really like to eat lunch, and there is a vintage toy store that my husband really enjoys visiting. Other than that, there’s not a whole lot to do that I find interesting. I will say that we mainly stayed on the side of town where Busch Gardens is located. There may be other areas we have not discovered!

You`re definitely not the first person to say that about Tampa. I think we`ll pass on visiting it as there doesn`t seem to be anything there we can`t enjoy elsewhere.

Good to know, thank you

 

[schumigirl]

I really love reading about your plans. With just four nights, I doubt we'll be going offsite much if at all, but I'm still enjoying reading (and I'm making notes for the on-property options!). Question: What would be your top five on-property choices?

I think with four nights you`ll have more than enough to keep you busy on your trip.......I cannot wait to hear how much you enjoyed it!!!!

Now, there is a question.......

Without doubt our first choice is Strong Water......for food, drinks and the guys and gals themselves of course

Second would be Orchids for sushi......or the Wok experience......both excellent in RP.

The Palm has to be in there although there was something quite different last time, but steaks were still sublime.

Vivo in Citywalk which is a strange one for me as I don`t like Italian generally, not a pasta fan, but the other non pasta dishes are very good.

Confisco Grille.......good food choices and service is top notch.




Honorary mentions to Sal`s pizza at PB, Amatista and Islands for buffet breakfasts, NBC for burgers, Margaritaville for cocktails and appetisers, Thunder Falls Terrace is also up there for quality and the food truck near Richter Burger for the chicken....lovely. We do like Lombards for some dishes, but we had an issue with our waitress last time and has kind of put us off, but her aside they do have a nice menu and the restaurant itself is beautiful and not what folks think of in a theme park.

I`m hoping Jake`s has improved this trip as they have declined in our experience slightly since pre pandemic.....it`s noticeable to us as we`ve been eating there for many years, not dreadful, just a few issues here and there.

Just realised I couldn`t pick anywhere close to only choosing 5 places to eat lol.......

Oh can I add Bread Box for a lunch too

 

[Cara]

Hahaha! You may have just outlined by entire dining itinerary for me, so thanks for that!