We (DH, DD21, DD16, DD14 & Myself) had the greatest time ever!! Universal Orlando is awesome. We were there from 10/11 to 10/17. We arrived at Orlando around 8:30am. Yourride picked us up from the airport and took us to Publix for a grocery stop. For our first 3 nights we stayed at the Portofino Bay Hotel. We were so happy to be upgraded from Garden view to a Deluxe room. We had room 2477 which was near the pool and the water taxi. We really enjoyed our stay at the PBH. We ate dinner at Mama Della's one night. We all had Lasagna. It was very good, although DD16 said she liked the Lasagna at the Comic Strip Cafe better. Our last 3 nights we stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel. We had a Garden view room. They were full, so we didn't get a room upgrade. We had room 4074 at the HRH. We received our cookies and milk at both the PBH and the HRH. The cookies at the PBH were so good. Chocolate chip with chocolate centers. We had the Entertainment rate at both the PBH and the HRH. DH and I liked the PBH better than the HRH. DD21 and DD16 liked the rooms at the PBH better, but liked the pool area of the HRH more. DD14 liked the pool area at the PBH more than the pool area at the HRH. We walked to the parks most of the time from both the PBH and the HRH. We only took the water taxi if it was there, or if we saw it coming. You can get to the parks quicker by walking, than by waiting for the water taxi. We had breakfast one morning at the Sunset Grill. The girls liked eating breakfast at Ponderosa. We walked there twice while staying at the PBH. It is really close, if you take the shorcut through the employees parking lot. The breakfast buffet at Ponderosa is only $3.99. There is also a McDonald's and a Walgreens. There is a Bargain World too, where we found some cheap souvenirs. Our first night in Orando, 10/11, we went to Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party (used Yourride again). We were all dressed in costumes (except for DD21 who didn't want to go). We had dinner at the Liberty Tree Tavern. The food there was very good. We went trick or treating and got lots of candy. We had a blast!! The costumes were really too hot though. DH and DD's couldn't wait to get them off!! On 10/12 we went to Lunch at Mythos with Barry Hom!! We were very happy to meet him. We also got to meet MsDisney & MIB999999. We had a great time there. We went to HHN on 10/12. I was so glad we had purchased the Caretaker's Express tickets. They were worth every penny. The lines were pretty long. We just walked into all of the houses and onto all of the rides without waiting. It was great. I had the best time of my life at HHN, until DD16 passed out. She was complaining of chest pains on our way out of the park. She couldn't breathe. It was really scary. DD14 went to get help (DH had already gone back to the hotel). Someone came right away with a wheel chair and took us to some place they have for emergencies. The man who took care of her was really nice. It turned out that she was hyperventillating. Her fingers were locked and she couldn't move them. She was out of it for a while. She finally came out of it, and she was fine. HHN was too much for her. I would never bring her to something like that again. I didn't realize how frightened she was. Next time, I would just go with DH. She is sixteen years old, I never thought she would react that way. So if you have children who say they don't want to go to HHN, listen to them. We got back to the Hotel around 2am that night. Here are some of the places we ate:
Mama Della's, Sunset Grill, Ponderosa, McDonalds, Mythos, Enchanted Oak Restaurant (we really enjoyed the Chicken and Rib Combo), Comic Strip Cafe, Schwab's Pharmacy (great Ice Cream Sundaes), Hard Rock Cafe, Margaritaville (great steak), Nascar, and we ordered Domino's Pizza once. I upgraded my Power pass to a regular AP, and we saved 15% at the restaurants at IOA & Unversal. At Citywalk we had a 10% discount at the restaurants and shops. We received a 20% discount at all of the shops at IOA & Universal. At the Universal store at Citywalk they had t-shirts for $4.99. After my 20% discount, I paid $12 for 3 t-shirts!!! Each day we were there, we purchased a refillable cup for under $8 with tax. We got free soda refills all day long at IOA & Universal.
DD16 & DD14 went to Teen Night at the groove. They had a good time there. DH and I went to Margaritaville for dinner. We had the steak ($14.99) which was very, very good. We sat outside Margaritaville after dinner. DH didn't want to get out of those chairs!! We had lots of fun walking around Citywalk while we waited for the girls.
One of the days we were there (10/13 I think), there was a pretty bad storm. We were coming out of Back to the Future. We heard it was a hail storm, although we didn't see any hail. It was pouring. We put our cameras into a plastic bag and headed back to the PBH. DD16 & DD14 had to walk barefoot all the way to the hotel (didn't want to get their sneakers soaked). DH and I had our Nike Straprunner sandals on. They are waterproof, we were really glad to have them!!! The girls were always commenting on how ugly our sandals were. Now they had wished they had a pair!!! We even wore them into the pool!! When we got back to the hotel DD16 did some Laundry. The Laundry room was right near us at the HRH.
We had such a good time on our vacation. We even had time to go visit the Royal Pacific Hotel. It is a beautiful hotel. I can't wait for our next trip to Universal!!!! When we arrived home (10/17), our complimentary photo from Mickey's Halloween party was waiting for us!!!
Mama Della's, Sunset Grill, Ponderosa, McDonalds, Mythos, Enchanted Oak Restaurant (we really enjoyed the Chicken and Rib Combo), Comic Strip Cafe, Schwab's Pharmacy (great Ice Cream Sundaes), Hard Rock Cafe, Margaritaville (great steak), Nascar, and we ordered Domino's Pizza once. I upgraded my Power pass to a regular AP, and we saved 15% at the restaurants at IOA & Unversal. At Citywalk we had a 10% discount at the restaurants and shops. We received a 20% discount at all of the shops at IOA & Universal. At the Universal store at Citywalk they had t-shirts for $4.99. After my 20% discount, I paid $12 for 3 t-shirts!!! Each day we were there, we purchased a refillable cup for under $8 with tax. We got free soda refills all day long at IOA & Universal.
DD16 & DD14 went to Teen Night at the groove. They had a good time there. DH and I went to Margaritaville for dinner. We had the steak ($14.99) which was very, very good. We sat outside Margaritaville after dinner. DH didn't want to get out of those chairs!! We had lots of fun walking around Citywalk while we waited for the girls.
One of the days we were there (10/13 I think), there was a pretty bad storm. We were coming out of Back to the Future. We heard it was a hail storm, although we didn't see any hail. It was pouring. We put our cameras into a plastic bag and headed back to the PBH. DD16 & DD14 had to walk barefoot all the way to the hotel (didn't want to get their sneakers soaked). DH and I had our Nike Straprunner sandals on. They are waterproof, we were really glad to have them!!! The girls were always commenting on how ugly our sandals were. Now they had wished they had a pair!!! We even wore them into the pool!! When we got back to the hotel DD16 did some Laundry. The Laundry room was right near us at the HRH.
We had such a good time on our vacation. We even had time to go visit the Royal Pacific Hotel. It is a beautiful hotel. I can't wait for our next trip to Universal!!!! When we arrived home (10/17), our complimentary photo from Mickey's Halloween party was waiting for us!!!
Do you recall what yourride charged you to go to disney? Were going in December and wont be renting a car so I'm trying to figure out transportation.
I hope she is feeling better now.
