This post is going to be a review of the hotel we stayed at on the Universal portion of our trip. We had a parlor suite with a connecting room that had two queen beds. The parlor suite had a queen-sized sofa bed. The mattress was better than what you find on your average sofa bed - it was supposed to be memory foam but it felt more like a futon mattress with not much give. I actually found it more comfortable than the regular queen beds. But more on that in a bit. The coffee maker was a kuerig-style. We never had any problems getting extra coffee from housekeeping. Options were green tea, regular, and decaf. Because we arrived so much later than we expected to, we had dinner at the quick service restaurant, Sal's Market. The food was okay - not the most amazing pizza ever, but I'm not really expecting that from a theme park hotel. I think the flat breads at the Disney resorts are more my style because of the thinner crust. The restaurant was fairly small. I did wonder how crowded it must get during the summer months. My son and I decided to explore City walk afterwards and everyone else went to bed early. I don't want this to sound like a US vs. WDW type of report, but it's hard not to compare because we've been to WDW ten times now and this was the first trip to US. I found every cast member at US and the hotel to be very friendly and accommodating.
The resort is beautiful. It really does look just like the pictures. This was the view when we'd come back on the boat at the end of the day. Fair warning about my photography skills - they are more than a bit lackluster.
We had dinner at Mama Della's the second night of our stay and the food was quite good, if just as expensive as Disney (pasta dinners for a family of six, two eating from the kids menu, and my husband and I having one mixed drink each came to over $200). We only made it to the pool one day because it was a bit chilly for swimming. The weather overall has made me re-think traveling in January. That, and the fact that my kids are now at an age where I'm not going to take them out of school anymore. The amount of work they need to make up isn't that bad. But in a few years, it will be. We've been to WDW twice in August. We go the third week, right before our school year starts. And it's never been that bad to me. Yes, it's hot. It's hot in Pennsylvania in August, too. We might not get a month straight of 95 and raining, but it's still hot. And if I'm going to sweat, I'd rather be at Disney than home. At the World, we hit the parks early in the morning, head back to the resort for a few hours at the pool, and go back to the parks at night. It's not all that crowded, and we can take advantage of those pools we like so much.
But back to PBH - I'm not sure which pool we used. We didn't explore the resort that much. The pool was very nice. Having kids that range in age from 3 to 12, I tend to review pools based on visibility. Can I sit on a lounger and see everyone? Haven't found the pool yet where that is the answer. But I could fairly easily keep track of everyone. I was swimming with the three-year-old, and the other kids are all good swimmers. The pool slide was closed, so I can't comment on that. The hot tub was full of other kids. I like that. Granted, I have four kids, so a child-free vacation is something I can only dream about. But if I wanted to travel and not see kids, I wouldn't pick Orlando for my vacation destination. All the kids were well-behaved and no adults complained about their presence. Actually, there were no other adults in the hot tub. Looking back, I was the only adult in the pool, too. Everyone who appeared to be a parental unit was hanging out next to the pool, wearing long pants and a hoodie. It really wasn't that bad. The pool was supposed to be heated to 80 degrees. I believe that part. It was warm as long as I was in the water. My husband, for his part, got a margarita in a re-usable glass. First drink was $15, second and subsequent was $10. I'm not sure if this is a lifetime discount or not. I'm half tempted to take it back in May and see what the charge is.
So the beds. I'm only 45 and not exactly decrepit. Yeah, I have joint issues, thanks to a stupid auto-immune disorder. But the beds were so soft that, by the end of our three days there, I was in pain. It wasn't a bad bed. Not lumpy, not cheap. Just too soft for me. One night, DH and I kicked the older girls out of the foldout and slept marginally better. DD12 and DD11 said the queen bed was awful, too. Maybe we're just firm bed sorts of people. At any rate, it made me seriously consider whether I could stay there again for the trip I'm planning in May.
The walk to US/IOA. Not bad at all. Rarely did we all walk or boat together. Some wanted to walk (usually me) and others wanted the boat. The boats came regularly. But there were times the walkers made it back before the boaters. Honestly, it didn't bother me in the slightest. We did have a stroller with us. You don't have to fold the stroller up for the boat. However, I say that knowing we were there in January and the crowds are low. In August, when you've got a packed boat, you might need to. I usually walked with the stroller, because it was just easy. I don't know that I appreciated how close everything is there at US. I'd considered the HRH at one point, so we walked through that resort on our way back to PBH one night. I'm glad I went with PBH. HRH just had a busier and louder feel to it. Were I twenty years younger, my answer would probably have been different. Of course, twenty years ago, the type of accommodations I could afford are, quite frankly, terrifying to think about now. So there is that.
Next up - introductions and day one.
) That was a loooong time in the airport on your way down 
But better delayed than cancelled. We were delayed an hour flying out of White Plains and just sitting there that extra 60 mins. drove me crazy lol.
