Cast:
Me: 38 - high tech worker, ride wimp from New Hampshire
DH: 39 - works way too much, coaster lover from New Hampshire
DS: 11 - coaster lover like his dad, but would rather snowboard
Mom: 61 - ride wimp looking for some warm weather
Dad: 70 - loves thrill rides but can't do them due to a bad back
Tuesday 1/15
Woke up and hit IOA. First stop was Half Moon Bakery for breakfast. My parents slept in and then went to USF. Rode Spiderman first, then over to Dudley Do Rights. There was no need for FOTL for this ride. My son really want to go on, I wanted to pass on this one but he wouldn't let me. I sat in the back seat, DH in the middle in DS in the front. I don't think I looked up for the entire ride. I just buried my head in my husband's back then whoosh and it was over. It took awhile for my stomach to go back where it belongs! Bilge-Rat Barges were closed so we moved on.For some reason DS did not want to do Jurassic Park so we skipped this and went to the Discovery center to poke around. We decided to go over to USF to do a few more rides before we returned to Portofino and the pool. We did T2 first and my parents were there at the same show. We then all went to the Animal Show and then over to ET. We were informed that ET had just "gone down" and they didn't know when it would re-open. So over to MIB, which we all rode. It was getting pretty warm (at least to us New Englanders), so we hit the pool. We ordered lunch from Splendido Pizzeria. The main pool area was very quiet with only 15 people or so hanging around.
Some friends had flown in the day before and we had made plans to go to Citywalk with them that night. We picked them up at the Sheraton World around 6:00. Parked the car back at Portofino and took the launch over to Citywalk. DS stayed with my parents and spent quite awhile in the Arcarde.
We went to Pat O'Brien's first. The temps that day were low 80's and it was still quite warm out. We sat outside at the Patio Bar and ordered some drinks and Hot wings. Next stop was Margaritaville. Since I am a parrothead, this is, by far my most favorite place on earth. To be sitting outside in January, listening to Buffet with palm trees all around was truly heaven. We ordered more appetizer's, Quesadillas and Nachos, which were quite good. Then over to the gift shop for some Parrothead gear.
We walked around awhile checking out the different stores then went to the Piano Bar at Pat O'Briens. Since it was a Tuesday night it was pretty quiet. We requested a few songs. One of the songs was "Scenes from an Italian Restuarant" by Billy Joel. Everyone was blown away by the piano playing. Since we're not night owls we called it a night around 11:00. We took the launch back to Portfino. We went to the lobby and to request a cab for our friends. There was a town car already there, so they hopped in and away they went. Cab ride to the Sheraton World was from Portofino was $15.
Wednesday morning we checked out and headed to the Yacht Club.
Summary;
We were truly blessed to have such incredible weather. Most days were high 70's/low 80's. One day hit 88. Portofino is still my favorite hotel, just wish they would bring back the villa rooms and lounge. They still have billing issues, we were charged for 3 days of valet parking though we never used it. It was quickly removed at check out. This was a fabulous vacation that unfortunately had to come to an end. Sunday,the day of departure our flight was cancelled due to a snow storm in Boston and we were rebooked to Monday. My son had to get back to school so getting out Sunday was very important. We ended up driving back to Tampa and flying standby to Atlanta then on to Manchester, NH. We arrived to 6 inches of new snow. YUCK! (Though nothing compared
to the 16+ inches we got last night, double YUCK!).
Me: 38 - high tech worker, ride wimp from New Hampshire
DH: 39 - works way too much, coaster lover from New Hampshire
DS: 11 - coaster lover like his dad, but would rather snowboard
Mom: 61 - ride wimp looking for some warm weather
Dad: 70 - loves thrill rides but can't do them due to a bad back
Tuesday 1/15
Woke up and hit IOA. First stop was Half Moon Bakery for breakfast. My parents slept in and then went to USF. Rode Spiderman first, then over to Dudley Do Rights. There was no need for FOTL for this ride. My son really want to go on, I wanted to pass on this one but he wouldn't let me. I sat in the back seat, DH in the middle in DS in the front. I don't think I looked up for the entire ride. I just buried my head in my husband's back then whoosh and it was over. It took awhile for my stomach to go back where it belongs! Bilge-Rat Barges were closed so we moved on.For some reason DS did not want to do Jurassic Park so we skipped this and went to the Discovery center to poke around. We decided to go over to USF to do a few more rides before we returned to Portofino and the pool. We did T2 first and my parents were there at the same show. We then all went to the Animal Show and then over to ET. We were informed that ET had just "gone down" and they didn't know when it would re-open. So over to MIB, which we all rode. It was getting pretty warm (at least to us New Englanders), so we hit the pool. We ordered lunch from Splendido Pizzeria. The main pool area was very quiet with only 15 people or so hanging around.
Some friends had flown in the day before and we had made plans to go to Citywalk with them that night. We picked them up at the Sheraton World around 6:00. Parked the car back at Portofino and took the launch over to Citywalk. DS stayed with my parents and spent quite awhile in the Arcarde.
We went to Pat O'Brien's first. The temps that day were low 80's and it was still quite warm out. We sat outside at the Patio Bar and ordered some drinks and Hot wings. Next stop was Margaritaville. Since I am a parrothead, this is, by far my most favorite place on earth. To be sitting outside in January, listening to Buffet with palm trees all around was truly heaven. We ordered more appetizer's, Quesadillas and Nachos, which were quite good. Then over to the gift shop for some Parrothead gear.
We walked around awhile checking out the different stores then went to the Piano Bar at Pat O'Briens. Since it was a Tuesday night it was pretty quiet. We requested a few songs. One of the songs was "Scenes from an Italian Restuarant" by Billy Joel. Everyone was blown away by the piano playing. Since we're not night owls we called it a night around 11:00. We took the launch back to Portfino. We went to the lobby and to request a cab for our friends. There was a town car already there, so they hopped in and away they went. Cab ride to the Sheraton World was from Portofino was $15.
Wednesday morning we checked out and headed to the Yacht Club.
Summary;
We were truly blessed to have such incredible weather. Most days were high 70's/low 80's. One day hit 88. Portofino is still my favorite hotel, just wish they would bring back the villa rooms and lounge. They still have billing issues, we were charged for 3 days of valet parking though we never used it. It was quickly removed at check out. This was a fabulous vacation that unfortunately had to come to an end. Sunday,the day of departure our flight was cancelled due to a snow storm in Boston and we were rebooked to Monday. My son had to get back to school so getting out Sunday was very important. We ended up driving back to Tampa and flying standby to Atlanta then on to Manchester, NH. We arrived to 6 inches of new snow. YUCK! (Though nothing compared
to the 16+ inches we got last night, double YUCK!).
