Compromise is a Disney word: Taking one for the team over Thanksgiving 2016* August PTR link! 5/28

[ArielSRL]

part of our problem is none of us like Harry Potter...like, at all

Seriously??? Hmm, out of the girls' group...lol.

Pencil in 2019.

If I am completely honest with myself, 2019 works best for me because I am planning on an AP to cover our 2019 and 2020 trips....so I wouldn't have to pay for tickets and I would get a nice room discount, plus I will probably have the TIW card. But ugh...it is going to be hard to wait that long!

we are now staying at AKL Jambo House, deluxe studio, standard view.

I'll look forward to your review. This is on my radar, I'm just worried about it being so far out in the boonies. For our 2019 trip, I am really hoping for BWV or BCV so we have easy access to DHS with Toy Story Land and possibly SW Land opening...but maybe 2020? I don't know. That is also a lot of wishful thinking, because based on prices, we might be back to moderates by then.

it's like you're on a small street in a small Italian village on the water. Enjoy:

Very nice!

The rooms at Portofino have an understated, more elegant theme:

It is beautiful...but not for me. Kind of like GF.

Understated, until you see what's behind this door! Remember the kids suites over at Sapphire Falls? Check THIS out!







It's a Minions kids suite!! How cool is this? There are 2 twin beds in the kids suite. Like the suite at Sapphire Falls, it is separated from the main bedroom by a connecting door - see picture. Still only one bathroom which is in the main bedroom but totally a way to get our kids excited!

Oh...but wait a minute....this is most definitely for my boys, who love Minions! However, I looked up the cost. Around $634 for September, $804 for June. For ONE night!

Here's what I got for dinner:

Um...what???

we were asked to ride on the Mardi Gras floats

How fun!

here is a google image of the float I rode:

I love it!

the Phoenix breathed out FIRE every few minutes!!!!

Super fun!

The proper way to toss beads at people below you while riding a float vehicle is one strand at a time, underhand. Oh, and try not to aim at heads OK

Sounds like an invitation to me.

Below is the Fairy float coming out of the gate behind us

Oh, I love that one, too!

Their parents' heads. Just kidding, we only aimed at the heads of people who weren't paying attention to us. Now THAT was fun! I'm kidding.

One bite told me that these were not real chocolate and that I'd do better buying a snack from the local $ store. Ugh I was bummed! Was it going to be like this for the next 3 days, because I need my food!!!!!

Bummer! So disappointing!

I heard on the Dis podcast they are so well themed that they are really really popular so they're hard to get and really expensive. But totally worth it if you have minion obsessed kids.

I looked just now and they are available for select nights in June at around $804 a night, or in September for around $634 a night. So...if I win the lottery basically....

 

[kastoney]

Well, for one thing it saves us a boatload of $$. However obviously we were ok with the pricetag since we booked it but I was trying to figure out when we'd be able to take advantage of the lounge. And of course the free adult beverages that come with it. And I found myself trying to work in lounge time. And I didn't like doing that because there are quite a few things I'm trying to fit in this trip, more than our March trip. So in the end I decided that, while I love the idea of turn down service and little chocolates on my pillow, and Steve loves being on the BW, this trip just wasn't the right one for our first CL stay. Someday we'll do it, just not this May (I rhymed there, ya see?) Anyway more on our May trip at a later date, let me finish up my first TA training day!

Sounds like a good decision. We did club level once at WL and while I loved the food and FREE BOOZE we ended up in the same boat wanting to try and maximize club level as much as we could. That was great, but in the end we missed all the other food we ended up giving up to do that. So I think its a one and done for us, but you should definitely experience it once.

It's a Minions kids suite!! How cool is this? There are 2 twin beds in the kids suite. Like the suite at Sapphire Falls, it is separated from the main bedroom by a connecting door - see picture. Still only one bathroom which is in the main bedroom but totally a way to get our kids excited!
After leaving the room portion of the tour we looked around a bit and bused back to Cabana Bay. We had some time before our evening plans to change if we wanted, but not much time. Coming up was our first meal included in the training and our first venture into a park!

Very cool indeed and Casey would love it, but what in the heck does that have to do with an Italian themed hotel?????

ood-wise though I really thought they'd want to impress us, and feed us often from their restaurants. I was expecting really delicious food.
Here's what I got for dinner:

Wow, this really is impressive. You should totally make this your profile pic

Not sure I mentioned this but my friend Kari @kastoney was next door in Disney at the same time I was enjoying this plate o'greatness and she happened to text me a picture of her Jiko dinner, so I had to text her a picture of my sad, sad dinner. Anyhoo moving on to our next thing-to-do which was way more exciting than dinner...............

Jiko...Muffalatta. Clearly we were pretty much dining on the same thing

We'd be tossing beads from the float to the guests watching!!! So naturally we were given a brief tutorial beforehand on the proper way to throw, and not throw beads. For instance, do not throw overhand because you could throw too hard. Do now throw 50 strands of beads at once, because you could hurt someone (and I assume Uni could get sued?). The proper way to toss beads at people below you while riding a float vehicle is one strand at a time, underhand. Oh, and try not to aim at heads OK

Who knew there were beed throwing instructions? I got to be on a float in a parade in Tampa once for something called Gasparilla (think Mardi Gras with boats and pirates). It was a ton of fun, but I never received any instructions. Of course those at gasparilla had to work for their beads if you get my drift

This picture isn't so exciting now that the ride is open, but it wasn't at this point so seeing the sign already up was kind of cool. While I don't like simulators it's getting great reviews BTW:

Everybody's talkin' about my tight pants...In Orlando...I got my tight pants on Jason and Casey have been singing that song for weeks. Driving me nuts

 

[ariane37]

If you had to move anywhere at least you moved somewhere equally awesome

True! I'm really not disappointed at all, AKL is my 2nd favorite resort and I've been wanting to get back there

I heard on the Dis podcast they are so well themed that they are really really popular so they're hard to get and really expensive. But totally worth it if you have minion obsessed kids.

I was trying couple months ago to get a Minions suite for a client, and they were sold out for the ENTIRE month of August. Of course at this point some may have opened up but yes, there aren't that many of them and they are extremely popular.

Hm you would think so. I think what they probably gave you was a sampling of some QS stuff from the booths.

We did come up with this the next day when we were in the park and saw the booths. We didn't look close at what they charged at the booths, but other than the sausage puffs I would have been disappointed if I had tried the food as a guest.

So cool! If we go for Mardi Gras next year I want to sign up to do this because AP holders can.

Oh you definitely should!!

What a sad little dinner plate you had

I was definitely feeling sorry for myself

I'm psyched you're going to stay at Jambo House!! <3 <3 We loooved our stay there. So much so that it was actually on the table when we started planning our honeymoon, but just never quite made the cut. Now I'm all the more excited to read about the May trip after you come back

We stayed there for 3 nights in Jan. 2016 and I fell in love! Other than WL I haven't found a resort I like more, so I'm thrilled to be going back!

If I am completely honest with myself, 2019 works best for me because I am planning on an AP to cover our 2019 and 2020 trips....so I wouldn't have to pay for tickets and I would get a nice room discount, plus I will probably have the TIW card. But ugh...it is going to be hard to wait that long!

That all makes sense so we'll just have to hold out! At least we'll all be there before that

I'll look forward to your review. This is on my radar, I'm just worried about it being so far out in the boonies

I know lots of people think this but it's really not! Of course we didn't have the kids when we stayed there and one of mine in particular may have complained lol, but we had no issue with the distance. Bus service was fine and the rides were comfortable and completely bearable. Funny enough for the 3 days we stayed there we only went to MK and HS, not AK. MK was the farthest and while we did pay attention to the fact that it was a bit longer than the bus rides from other resorts we've stayed at, we didn't feel like we were on the bus forever. And it's just so beautiful and peaceful there

Oh...but wait a minute....this is most definitely for my boys, who love Minions! However, I looked up the cost. Around $634 for September, $804 for June. For ONE night!

I'm sure others like @Raeven will disagree, but I think Universal resorts are more expensive than Disney in general. Although those prices are insane!! They weren't nearly that bad for the week we were there in Feb., more like high $300's/night during Mardi Gras. The kids would have to deal with meeting the Minions in the parks for that price!

Sounds like a good decision. We did club level once at WL and while I loved the food and FREE BOOZE we ended up in the same boat wanting to try and maximize club level as much as we could. That was great, but in the end we missed all the other food we ended up giving up to do that. So I think its a one and done for us, but you should definitely experience it once.

I think we'll do it one day, probably when we have the boys so they can eat all the food and we can drink all the drinks. I want to try everything there is to try anyway but yup, just not this time. I'm comfortable with what I've done

Very cool indeed and Casey would love it, but what in the heck does that have to do with an Italian themed hotel?????

About as much as the Jurassic Park kids suites over at Royal Pacific Resort have to do with the South Seas

Jiko...Muffalatta. Clearly we were pretty much dining on the same thing

Yes, if you consider Ruth's Chris Steak House and Golden Corral the same thing

Of course those at gasparilla had to work for their beads if you get my drift

I get it, baby. Working for beads is my night job.

Everybody's talkin' about my tight pants...In Orlando...I got my tight pants on

Have you gone on your FB page lately? I left you a present

 

[Raeven]

I was trying couple months ago to get a Minions suite for a client, and they were sold out for the ENTIRE month of August. Of course at this point some may have opened up but yes, there aren't that many of them and they are extremely popular.

Yikes! They must be very popular.

We did come up with this the next day when we were in the park and saw the booths. We didn't look close at what they charged at the booths, but other than the sausage puffs I would have been disappointed if I had tried the food as a guest.

We had some gross QS in the park before

I'm sure others like @Raeven will disagree, but I think Universal resorts are more expensive than Disney in general. Although those prices are insane!! They weren't nearly that bad for the week we were there in Feb., more like high $300's/night during Mardi Gras. The kids would have to deal with meeting the Minions in the parks for that price!

It depends which resorts you're comparing to and when you're looking. I've noticed the prices have definitely gone up as the date gets closer. The longer you stay the more discounted the rate is, and the AP discount is pretty good too. I don't look at suites or anything because we don't need that much room so I can imagine they'd be a lot more. But I think the rates for a lot of them are comparable, but when you get to the "deluxe" type hotels their price is a lot lower than Disney's for a standard room at most delixes. Unless it's sold out of regular room I've never seen Portofino Bay over $300 something, but the deluxe resorts at Disney are usually that price discounted. For either set of hotels I wouldn't want to pay rack rate though because it is a lot.

 

[ArielSRL]

That all makes sense so we'll just have to hold out! At least we'll all be there before that

I may still try to go for a quick weekend before then. I would just do two girls' trips...lol.

 

[fallonkendra]

I was so far behind....

However he wasn't feeling the approx. 10 minute wait so he found a seat by a planter and proceeded to play in the dirt with a stick while I waited:

This is cute!

Cute picture!

When we got off the boys spotted Sunshine Terrace and had to get the raspberry slushies again. I didn't take pictures since this was our 3rd time getting them but they were just as good!

Ok, I think I need to add these to my list for our next trip, since you guys seemed to love them so much!

tepped into the deep south to visit some bears:

I love Country Bear Jamboree! So cheesy haha.

I'd read between our Aug. trip and this trip that the rocks in Tomorrowland had been painted blue but for whatever reason,this was the first time I noticed! Except I say bluish-purple:

What colour were they before?

Yup, Steve was THAT GUY The kids thought this was hysterical!!! So did I actually. Being that this was the last attraction we were doing it was SUCH a great way to end. Oh, and here's my proud man with the sticker you get for being a good "THAT GUY" sport:

Awesome!

Great family picture!

I love the orange headboards!

there will be water flowing from the volcano during the day that will turn red at night so it looks like lava:

I didn't know that, it sounds really cool!

I found most of the food at Universal just mediocre when we were there - it really didn't compare to Disney food at all! I'm really surprised they didn't try to impress you and the group of travel agents though by feeding higher quality stuff!

That's pretty cool that you got to be on a parade float and throw beads at people!

 

[ariane37]

We had some gross QS in the park before

We did end up eating QS there once during the TA trip, it didn't make us sick but it certainly wasn't anything memorable! I don't LOVE lots of Disney QS but the QS there that I do like, I REALLY like

I may still try to go for a quick weekend before then. I would just do two girls' trips...lol.

You can never have too many Disney trips, girls trips or otherwise!

I was so far behind....

No worries, my friend I'm actually behind on tons of reports because whenever I do get time to go on the Dis, I'm updating my own...........

Ok, I think I need to add these to my list for our next trip, since you guys seemed to love them so much!

I wasn't surprised the boys loved them but I was surprised Steve and I did! Very refreshing on a warm/hot day.

What colour were they before?

Great family picture!

I didn't know that, it sounds really cool!

I'm not sure you'd know about the lava unless you read any updates/blogs about the park itself, but they told us all about it at one of our "classroom" trainings there As much as I'm not a water parks person I have to say, Volcano Bay sounds fantastic.

I found most of the food at Universal just mediocre when we were there - it really didn't compare to Disney food at all!

I remember you reporting on it Ours did get a bit better (sometimes) but I wholeheartedly agree, it doesn't compare to Disney food!

I'm really surprised they didn't try to impress you and the group of travel agents though by feeding higher quality stuff!

I still feel that way even though the quality did improve.

That's pretty cool that you got to be on a parade float and throw beads at people!

It was great! I've since found out that Universal AP holders can ride the floats (from @Raeven ) as well as different groups.

 

[ArielSRL]

You can never have too many Disney trips, girls trips or otherwise!

You are correct! And I just don't know how I will be able to stay away for 2 years!

 

[Raeven]

We did end up eating QS there once during the TA trip, it didn't make us sick but it certainly wasn't anything memorable! I don't LOVE lots of Disney QS but the QS there that I do like, I REALLY like

I didn't make us sick I was just really not happy with what we had! And since we were leaving that day I didn't have time to pick anything else. But I also haven't tried most QS at Disney too. I think we just picked some bad places.

 

[wdwnut61]

Happy Easter ​

 

[ariane37]

Hi all! Hope you enjoyed your weekend/holiday. Before I start on my 2nd day of TA training I thought I'd give you a quick rundown of our plans for our May trip, which I believe is now 30 days away
Thurs. 5/18: arrive MCO 5:19, dinner at BOMA 7:40
Fri. 5/19: Marceline to the MK tour 8am; hoping for lunch at the Plaza followed by some MK FP's; Epcot for some strolling and F&G booths; either back to MK for Happily Ever After or Jellyrolls.
Sat. 5/20: BOMA breakfast 9:40, AK most likely by 11ish for the PANDORA AP preview 12-2!!! Hoping to possibly meet up with @Wood Nymph since she'll be at the preview, also. Then QS lunch, some AK FP's, hopefully another DisMeet with @chunkymonkey and then 7:45 dinner at Citricos.
Sun. 5/21: Try to RD MK to check out the new opening procedure/show and do some favorite rides; Epcot for lots more food & drink by 12 the latest; Homecomin' dinner 6:10, either Jellyrolls or hightail it back to MK for Happily Ever After.
Mon. 5/22: RD HS, lunch at the HBD Lounge as soon as they open at 12; somehow make it back to the resort by 2ish for DME. You might think this sounds tight but we don't care if we get back there 10 minutes before the bus leaves

A VERY HARRY POTTER BREAKFAST AND FREEBIRDIN' IT AROUND THE PARKS​

After sleeping MUCH better than I thought I would it was time for our first full day, although yesterday was pretty full, too! I made sure to get up before Pam since my hair makes me take a million hours to get ready and since we needed to meet at the bus at 7:45, that meant I was up at 6:15. Once we were ready we went to the main lobby so Pam could get her morning Starbucks, which I had to take a picture of to send Steve (remember he works for Starbucks):




I liked all the cups hanging up; it was a modern looking SB and was ALWAYS busy. As we were waiting for the bus, someone in our group asked Barry how much it cost those not staying on Uni property to park at the parks. I don't remember what he said but what I do remember, because it prompted quite a long discussion later that night, is that he explained how not only are guests not staying at a Uni resort required to pay parking at the parks (just like Disney), but guests STAYING at their resorts and driving themselves to the parks ALSO have to pay Wha??? Something I didn't realize and neither did many of the other TA's in the training. Yup, no passes given out for onsite guests with cars!

We had to wait a bit until enough buses came to fit all of us cool folk, and this time instead of being driven right to a "special" entrance, we were dropped off at CityWalk with the "regular" people lol. If you haven't been to Universal you've probably heard that their security is run more effectively than at Disney, and I do have to agree there. Nice and quick, no back up, done before you're in the parks so you have no worries, no stopping once you get to the entrance. They might fail on the airport to resort transportation and paying to park, but they definitely pass on how the do security!
Since we didn't do CityWalk the night before I caught my first glance of the new(ish) restaurant, Toothsome Chocolate Emporium. And believe me, it wasn't my last glimpse:



Our schedule this morning began with breakfast at Three Broomsticks in Islands of Adventure. We had picked our meal of choice and beverage a couple weeks ahead of time online; here is the breakfast menu of which we had all options as choices:



I was starving since dinner the night before was......lacking, and the line for ordering here was insane. The park hadn't opened yet so it was just TA's on line but remember, there's 60 of us, and the park DID open before we'd allordered. You should have seen the faces of the poor guests who walked in for breakfast while there were still 30 of us waiting to order!
Going through the line they have all the breakfast options behind windows like this:



I chose the American Breakfast - scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, bacon and sausage links with a croissant. Pam and Cathy chose the same thing. We saw quite a few people with that and also the pancake breakfast while we only noticed a couple with the Traditional English Breakfast. Baked beans just aren't what I think to eat at 8:30 in the morning!
I also chose OJ to drink as my normal morning Diet Coke wasn't an option: (excuse the already bitten croissant and missing eggs)



Um.....it was ok. It was a plain, standard breakfast. The croissant was very tasty and fresh; I wasn't a big fan of the potatoes and the bacon wasn't quite crisp enough for me. Breakfast sausage isn't my "thang" and the eggs were........not as good as Disney eggs. The theming in there of course is spectacular, as is the theming throughout all of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
While at breakfast Barry handed us two things: our 1 day, 2 park, park to park ticket (a little bit longer to say than park hopper!) and a Universal dining plan card. This is just like a credit card/the old Key to the World cards Disney used to have. Now remember guys, other than 2000 the only time I've been to Universal was in 2015; we weren't on property and our tickets were flimsy paper, so I was not familiar at all with any of their ticket/plan media. Well, we learned later during a "classroom" training that, if you get the quick service dining plan you'll get a card for EACH DAY you have the plan. So if you purchase the plan for 7 days you'll get 7 cards. If you get the plan that includes TS dining then you just get one card with all credits loaded on it. At the time of the training they were working on this system because they realized having multiple cards for the QS dining plan was clumsy and annoying. While we're on the subject of their dining plan I'll make 2 other points:

1. You cannot use the dining plan at the resort eateries (yet), and
2. You do NOT have to have the plan for your length of stay nor does everyone in your room/party have to have the plan or the same plan.
They are working on getting the resorts to accept their DP. An example of #2 with my family would be: no DP for Steve and I, but since boys eat a ridiculous amount, we get it for the boys. We're there a week but only want it for 4 days for whatever reason. You can do that.​

Alrighty then! We had today to ourselves to explore the parks, any way we wanted until 6pm. We also didn't have to stay in the parks, and some TA's chose to go back to the resort right away and hang at the pool while a few others stayed in the parks for a bit and then went back to rest/swim. I would have loved to rest a bit or hang at the pool bar, but Pam is a much bigger Universal fan than a Disney fan and she was really excited to tour the parks with Cathy and I. So about 7 hours of park time it was!
Say hi to the Hogwarts conductor:



Our first order of business was to ride the new Skull Island: Reign of Kong ride. Pam had been on it but Cathy and I had not. Since it was still early and we had express pass we waltzed right on. I remember the original King Kong ride at Universal and I loved that one! The coolest part of the new ride was the HUGE Kong animatronic at the end. I didn't take a picture but here's a borrowed one from google:



There were really only 4 rides I was anxious to get on so next we headed towards one of those. It was one Pam wouldn't ride and at first Cathy said no, but I was able to talk her into it She said it looked crazy high and I was like, "What?? It's not that high! Well yes it is, but let's go anyway! So next we went to Dr. Doom's Fearfall!
I'm not exactly sure when I took this picture? Must have been right before we headed up, up and away..........



At first you think this is like Tower of Terror; I suppose it's the same idea and obviously this one is higher and outside, but my preference is TOT - it also happens to be my favorite ride in all of WDW. The theming adds so much to it and I think is lacking on Dr. Doom; also on Dr. Doom the biggest "thrill" is on the way up; then you just come down. That's it. Both times I've ridden it, people sitting on the ride around me say that same thing when it's done. "That's all?" "It doesn't do anything else?" You do hear similar comments on TOT except usually on that, people are either hyperventilating with fear and excitement when they ask if it's over or they're asking "Is that it?" in such a disappointed way b/c they loved it and want more. I'm not playing favorites or anything lol.
Here's where my Disney note taking skills weren't happening. I don't remember what we did next but I do know we rode the Jurassic Park ride (first time for Cathy) and tried to ride Pteranodon Flyers but we were all too tall to ride without a small human with us. Yes, there is a ride that you can be TOO TALL/BIG/OLD to ride alone! At this point we decided to head over to Universal Studios.

The girls knew now that I loved roller coasters and I'd been bragging to them that on my last visit here, Ricky and I both loved Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. Since I had good luck convincing Cathy to ride Dr. Doom I did my best trying to convince one of them to ride it with me, but unfortunately they both steadfastly refused so alone I went. I handed them my sunglasses, phone, and purse, so in essence my life, while they went to ride the Minions ride and I went on RRR.
This was a huge fail for me this time around. After loving it in 2015 it made me disgustingly nauseous for about 2 hours after this time. I felt gross. I went to our designated meeting spot but they weren't there yet so I watched Shrek and Fiona meet guests for awhile. This was the one day I had NO aspirin, advil, NOTHING in my purse which of course I didn't have with me anyway, so when the girls came back I reluctantly told them how I felt. After laughing at me - told you we really hit it off! - Cathy admitted Minions had given her a headache and we went in search of the First Aid location. I also don't remember where that is now, but I do know that after showing the approx. 16 year old employee there our ID's he handed over some aspirin which we quickly swallowed and went on our way. Within about 30 minutes I felt better thank goodness because for awhile there I thought I was going to heave
Next we opted for the safe and familiar to all of us E.T. I love this ride! So simple yet so well done. You know how in the beginning you give a staff person your name, and at the end E.T. says good-bye to you? So when it came time for E.T. to say good-bye to our bike, we heard, "Good-bye Cathy, good-bye Pam, good-bye Alrrnps" What, has E.T. never heard the name Ariane before????
Next was a QS meal with our handy-dandy food card. We ate at Mel's Diner. I had a dry grilled grilled chicken salad as did Cathy. Pam had a burger and a shake which looked sooooo good, but we were making a stop in between the parks and dinner and I needed room in my tummy! The food here was nothing special at all and based on just this one experience I have to give the point to Disney QS. When I was here with the family we ate table service both days we were in the parks for meals and both were fairly decent: Confisco's and Finnegan's.
On our way out we did Minions one more time because it's Pam's favorite. It made me dizzy when I did it with the family but we found out you can ask to sit in a stationary seat which is what Cathy and I did. The good part is that it can most likely make some people who suffer motion sickness less sick. The bad part is that it's right up in front of the screen so even though you're not getting dizzy or nauseous from the motion, being so close to the huge screen isn't much better........
We made our way out of the parks with enough time to make a stop on CityWalk before going back to the resort for a minute before dinner. Wait, you guys did no HP rides? Don't worry, we'll get to that But here's what I'd been waiting to do all day:




I needed to get inside Toothsome Chocolate Emporium! By the way, the correct name is Toothsome Chocolate Emporium and Savory Feast Kitchen, just FYI. Pam got that question wrong during one of our training sessions lol. This place is awesome unless of course you hate sweets which of course, means you're nuts. Enjoy the chocolate and dessert porn starting with these over the top shakes:



We spent some time watching them make these shakes and I believe each one has approx. 78,000 calories. However since calories don't count on vacation you can change that number to 0.
How beautiful are these petite chocolates??? Sorry for the one sideways picture, photobucket was being stupid and wouldn't let me rotate:





And now for my favorite part: the macarons!! Melinda @pepperandchips here's what I was talking about, and right next to this display was another of the same size with all different flavors!!! My favorite flavors were the birthday cake which is the white one with the colored sprinkles in the front and the German chocolate, the middle in the back. The one that's half purple is PB&J, the two green ones in front are a mint chocolate and pistachio. I also remember a mocha late, chocolate of course, strawberry, and the blue & yellow one is something fruity:



In total I spent close to $100 on macarons that trip, I kid you not. They are delicious and not inexpensive. I have to say the raspberry macaron at the France booth for Flower and Garden is probably better than these, but I also don't think you can really compare because the center isn't quite the same. Not only do I highly recommend these, I highly recommend pretty much everything inside Toothsome!
Cathy and I both bought some macarons while Pam got one of those huge chocolate cogs and also one of those coffee cups over towards the left of the picture below:



Gorgeous place, right?? Eventually we dragged ourselves out and took the bus back to CBBR. We only had about an hour before we needed to be back at CityWalk to meet up with the group for dinner, but it was supposed to get pretty chilly so we all wanted to grab jackets. We also decided to walk over to Sapphire Falls and take the water taxi back to CityWalk (it doesn't go from Cabana Bay):



That's Cathy taking the picture and Pam down front, the blonde We went through security on the dock which was quick and efficient, and the ride was very pretty. Here are a couple pictures I took on the ride over; first, the plane we saw in the water by Royal Pacific Resort:



And another water taxi not in use:



Soon we were back at CityWalk in search of our dinner destination, Antojitos:



This, if you couldn't tell, is a Mexican restaurant. I love Mexican but I found it kind of an odd choice as I assume there are quite a few people who don't like Mexican? Each team was eating at a different restaurant so it was just our group, Barry's, eating here tonight. It appeared everyone was fine with Mexican but I still thought it a bit odd.
What wasn't odd is that of the 11 of us there (10 agents plus Barry), 10 of us ordered Margaritas! I got the Blackberry Margarita and it was delicious, with sugar around the rim:



You can see in the picture that we also got chips and guacamole made tableside, which was some of the best fresh guac I've had. Cathy also got the Blackbery marg but Pam went for what I guess is their speciality, the Blood Orange Margarita, as did about 7 others at the table. I tried it and while not a fan of orange it was pretty tasty! However when it came time for my 2nd drink I stuck with the Blackberry.
I got the Enchiladas Verde for my meal: Chicken tinga, queso fresco, salsa verde served with sour cream, guacamole, refried beans and house rice:



That is A LOT of salsa verde on there, as well as quite the scoop of cilantro which I am not partial to! I normally like salsa verde but this was overkill. Once I scraped a bunch off the enchiladas themselves were good, as were the refried beans. The rice wasn't bad but that also had cilantro in it. I know many are cilantro fans but I'm one who thinks it tastes like soap. Overall this was a better dinner than the night before and at least I was full. Because we were using a table service meal on our dining plan, dessert was included. However it wasn't our choice, we were being given a type of flan. I'm not a flan fan due to the consistency. I took one bite but it's too bouncy for me While everyone was eating their flan I fled to the ladies room. Along the way I passed these.........cuties on the wall, about 30 of them total, all with a different design painted on their face or their bodies:



And these were the cutest ones! Some of them were downright scary. An employee came by and seeing myself and another guest staring at them explained what they meant, but of course I don't remember........................seriously though, some of those dolls were extremely freaky looking.
I forgot to mention that earlier, while waiting for our entrees, we were all discussing what we did during the day and at the parks. Pam mentioned to the group and to Barry that we took the water taxi from Sapphire Falls back to CityWalk to meet up for dinner. Barry's response: "Oh! You're really not supposed to do that but it's good you got to experience it. What did you think?" Pam asked why we weren't supposed to do that and he told us all that technically, the water taxi's are just for guests of the resorts to which they belong. This as opposed to Disney where anyone can use the boats that go between parks and resorts. Cathy spoke up and asked how anyone would know where we were staying since nobody had asked us or even asked to see a room key, and Barry said "normally" they ask. Huh. OK.

After dinner we split up; the 3 of us spent a little time walking around CityWalk but didn't buy anything. Eventually we made our way down to the bus and got back to the resort in time for Pam to get her evening Starbucks. We all went our separate ways for a bit to call home and I got the boys some stuff from the gift shop which had a nice selection of merchandise. We had another early morning coming up with our first "classroom" training set back on CityWalk in the Blue Man Group theater!

UP NEXT: DID HE SAY LAPU LAPU??​

 

[Raeven]

Something I didn't realize and neither did many of the other TA's in the training. Yup, no passes given out for onsite guests with cars!

With some levels of AP parking at the parks is free, but I still think you pay to park at the hotel every night. We don't bring a car so we've never had to worry about this though.

Um.....it was ok. It was a plain, standard breakfast.

Yeah that's why eating there seems cool, but since I'm not big on the lunch and dinner choices I probably wouldn't. Breakfast would be my pick but it doesn't look like anything special.

good-bye Alrrnps" What, has E.T. never heard the name Ariane before????

ET can't say my name either. I don't even know what was said when I went by.

In total I spent close to $100 on macarons that trip, I kid you not.

I need to try macarons. I've never had one. And I need to buy chocolate at Toothsome. You're a bad influence!

This as opposed to Disney where anyone can use the boats that go between parks and resorts. Cathy spoke up and asked how anyone would know where we were staying since nobody had asked us or even asked to see a room key, and Barry said "normally" they ask. Huh. OK.

I know he's supposed to know, but I feel like that's not true at all...I've never been asked to see a room key or anything when boarding the water taxi. If we stayed at CBBR we were going to take Sapphire Falls water taxi too. You're allowed to travel from resort to resort, and you can eat at the resorts if you aren't staying there so I don't see why they would not allow anyone onto the water taxi. And like I said they definitely don't check if you're a guest of the resort when you get on.

 

[Glam]

I know he's supposed to know, but I feel like that's not true at all...I've never been asked to see a room key or anything when boarding the water taxi. If we stayed at CBBR we were going to take Sapphire Falls water taxi too. You're allowed to travel from resort to resort, and you can eat at the resorts if you aren't staying there so I don't see why they would not allow anyone onto the water taxi. And like I said they definitely don't check if you're a guest of the resort when you get on.

Just to piggy back on this, we stayed RPR, walked to Sapphire Falls, then took their boat to Citywalk
We were never asked where we were staying then or any other time on the boats.

It doesn't make sense that the universal resorts would allow pool hopping, but limit access to the boats, so I also think Barry may be wrong.

BTW, thanks for continuing your TR Ariane, I am eagerly following along. That Antojitos margarita looks yummy!

 

[pepperandchips]

I was starving since dinner the night before was......lacking

Had to go back and finish reading your previous post to figure this out! I had read about portofino but must have gotten distracted and didn't read about the parade or crappy dinner at all. I can't believe they didn't feed y'all something better because I LOVE the food at Citywalk! Gotta admit there are some crappy QS choices inside the Universal parks (as there are at Disney as well) which is why we generally eat lunch and dinner in citywalk or at the resort. Mostly citywalk. And what's crazy is that you can get entrees at places like NBC Sports Grill & Brew or Margaritaville (or Toothsome, I think) for only a few dollars more than that crappy quick service. At least you have the firsthand experience now to share with your guests. "DO NOT EAT QUICK SERVICE IN THE PARKS UNLESS IT IS LUNCH/DINNER AT LEAKY CAULDRON" lol

1. You cannot use the dining plan at the resort eateries (yet), and
2. You do NOT have to have the plan for your length of stay nor does everyone in your room/party have to have the plan or the same plan.

Yeah, number one is why we've never done this (also we don't like quick service very much) but number two is the reason why it's still in the realm of possibilities. You can make a one day dining plan go pretty far if you use your snack and drink wisely AND you can just buy the dining plan at the register if you're already getting an expensive meal! Convenientish.

The coolest part of the new ride was the HUGE Kong animatronic at the end.

Gotta admit I did not like this ride very much. The swinging action with the dinos killed me despite my motion patch. Kong's big ol head and the beginning outside parts were the highlight for me!

I'm not playing favorites or anything lol.

Uh huh. It's okay to love Disney more! They are just vastly different experiences for me.

I can't believe you didn't like Dr. Doom though. True that there is no theming but with express we've only ever had a very very short wait and you get a quick little adrenaline rush as you zoom up, then you can relax and enjoy the endorphins and a gorgeous view of the resort on your slow and gentle journey down. I also love TOT! Wish we had more "window" time on that one though!

After loving it in 2015 it made me disgustingly nauseous for about 2 hours after this time. I felt gross.

Oh no! RRR doesn't beat me up too bad but it's definitely a smoother experience for me in the very front row. Terrifying, but much less likely to make me feel bad. I hate that it made you sick!

E.T. I love this ride! So simple yet so well done.

Yes! I love the Tarzan babies okay really I love all of it.

we heard, "Good-bye Cathy, good-bye Pam, good-bye Alrrnps"

Almost snorted coffee out my nose with this one. Oh, E.T., I love your weird little voice!

And now for my favorite part: the macarons!! Melinda @pepperandchips here's what I was talking about, and right next to this display was another of the same size with all different flavors!!! My favorite flavors were the birthday cake which is the white one with the colored sprinkles in the front and the German chocolate, the middle in the back. The one that's half purple is PB&J, the two green ones in front are a mint chocolate and pistachio. I also remember a mocha late, chocolate of course, strawberry, and the blue & yellow one is something fruity:

Oh.my.NOM!!! I need dis!!! Darn it Alrrnps, I'm gonna have to plan another Universal trip. I knew I shouldn't be reading this report!

We went through security on the dock which was quick and efficient, and the ride was very pretty.

And here is why they don't offer free parking for resort guests at citywalk! Why on earth would you get in your car when you can enjoy this delightful experience?! (CBBR aside since it's bus or walk, but I still wouldn't take my car to the parking garage) I loooove these boat rides. My complaint is that they charge resort guests to park at the resorts. Give me a stinking break I'm already paying you a fortune when there's approximately 900 millionteen hotels right outside the parks on I-drive. Cut me some slack!

I got the Blackberry Margarita and it was delicious, with sugar around the rim:

Um yes. Antojitos margaritas for the win! I had the Grand or something like that there and I seriously think it was the best margarita I've ever had.

That is A LOT of salsa verde on there, as well as quite the scoop of cilantro

I'd have been in heaven but I totally get the "my taste buds receive this as soap" since I have "salmon and tuna taste like ocean garbage" syndrome.

I'm not a flan fan due to the consistency.

Yup, I'm with you on that. Too wiggly! Eek. I wonder if they offer other dessert options on the full menu? Wait who am I kidding, I would just have another margarita for dessert... or walk across the bridge to Toothsome for macarons. I'm starving now!

seriously though, some of those dolls were extremely freaky looking.

Um yes they are lol! I had forgotten about the creepy babies.

Barry said "normally" they ask. Huh. OK.

um, no they don't. I've also never heard you need to be a resort guest since presumably they'd like to encourage day guests to go spend money in the resort shops, restaurants, and bars. Barry sounds like he himself should have gotten some questions wrong in your game!!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Yay more Uni updates!

Fri. 5/19: Marceline to the MK tour 8am

I can't wait to see how you like this tour! I'm hoping to maybe book it as a surprise for Nathan and my mom if it's still around when we go in January for Marathon Weekend...

If you haven't been to Universal you've probably heard that their security is run more effectively than at Disney, and I do have to agree there. Nice and quick, no back up, done before you're in the parks so you have no worries, no stopping once you get to the entrance. They might fail on the airport to resort transportation and paying to park, but they definitely pass on how the do security!

Universal security absolutely wins! I'm usually partial to Disney in pretty much everything, but this was no competition. It'll be interesting to see whether it's a closer race once Disney's new security procedures are in full swing and have the kinks worked out, etc.

Um.....it was ok. It was a plain, standard breakfast. The croissant was very tasty and fresh; I wasn't a big fan of the potatoes and the bacon wasn't quite crisp enough for me. Breakfast sausage isn't my "thang" and the eggs were........not as good as Disney eggs. The theming in there of course is spectacular, as is the theming throughout all of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

I had a gluten free pancake breakfast because I'd heard a bunch of gluten free bloggers rave about it. They tasted like cardboard. I can make much much better gluten free pancakes in my own kitchen. One morning we split the American breakfast though because we'd already had pastries that morning and I could eat the potatoes and bacon, while Nathan could eat the other things, eggs, croissant, etc. It was perfectly fine, but nothing special.

1. You cannot use the dining plan at the resort eateries (yet), and
2. You do NOT have to have the plan for your length of stay nor does everyone in your room/party have to have the plan or the same plan.

Strange that none of the resort restaurants are on board. That would limit things a lot in my opinion. But I like the flexibility in terms of anyone in the party being able to buy it for any number of days.

I would have loved to rest a bit or hang at the pool bar, but Pam is a much bigger Universal fan than a Disney fan and she was really excited to tour the parks with Cathy and I. So about 7 hours of park time it was!

Wooh park time! I agree with Pam here

I don't remember what we did next but I do know we rode the Jurassic Park ride (first time for Cathy) and tried to ride Pteranodon Flyers but we were all too tall to ride without a small human with us. Yes, there is a ride that you can be TOO TALL/BIG/OLD to ride alone!

I find it so disappointing that there's a ride you can only ride with kids! Nathan and I thought about trying to nab one to go on this ride but thought better of it. I find this weird though because I remember going on this with my mom as a small kid and finding it a little scary, so it's strange that it's marketed as only a kids' ride...

I handed them my sunglasses, phone, and purse, so in essence my life, while they went to ride the Minions ride and I went on RRR.
This was a huge fail for me this time around. After loving it in 2015 it made me disgustingly nauseous for about 2 hours after this time. I felt gross.

This would be me everrrrryyy time! Nathan did RRR and he felt a little weird/unsettled/headache-y afterwards. Glad it didn't last long for you.

Next we opted for the safe and familiar to all of us E.T. I love this ride! So simple yet so well done. You know how in the beginning you give a staff person your name, and at the end E.T. says good-bye to you? So when it came time for E.T. to say good-bye to our bike, we heard, "Good-bye Cathy, good-bye Pam, good-bye Alrrnps" What, has E.T. never heard the name Ariane before????

I love E.T.! Disappointingly he didn't seem to be saying names when we rode, and I had been waiting to see Nathan's reaction to it. Oh well.

The food here was nothing special at all and based on just this one experience I have to give the point to Disney QS.

I agree in general about the QS. Disney definitely has the edge. We had QS lunch at Thunder Falls, and it was fine (despite some weird allergy protocols...or lack thereof...) I didn't dislike the meal. But it didn't do much for me.

Not only do I highly recommend these, I highly recommend pretty much everything inside Toothsome!

That's somewhere I'd like to check out if we go back sometime! It looks so neat!

You can see in the picture that we also got chips and guacamole made tableside, which was some of the best fresh guac I've had.

We also ate here and got the tableside guac...verrry cool! Doesn't get fresher than that It was supposed to be gluten free though, but after about 3 people said they'd check and didn't, I found out that the chips I'd almost eaten were fried in the same fryer as things with wheat...so I had to eat my guac with a spoon. Meh. As for our meals though, they were fine...nothing to get super excited about. I'm not a huge mexican food fan, but Nathan likes it, and we both kind of felt "meh" about it. The mariachi band playing when we were there was great though!

Barry's response: "Oh! You're really not supposed to do that but it's good you got to experience it. What did you think?" Pam asked why we weren't supposed to do that and he told us all that technically, the water taxi's are just for guests of the resorts to which they belong. This as opposed to Disney where anyone can use the boats that go between parks and resorts. Cathy spoke up and asked how anyone would know where we were staying since nobody had asked us or even asked to see a room key, and Barry said "normally" they ask. Huh. OK.

Weird! Sounds like they don't really police it in reality...and why would they care? It's not like I've ever seen mile-long lines for the boats or anything. Apparently you ladies are rebels!! I had no idea this was a thing.

 

[kittylady1972]

What a fun day at Universal so far! I have to agree with Raeven above...in all our stays at Universal parks last year (at both RPR and PB) we took the boat a bunch of times and not ONCE were we asked for any kind of room key.

OMG that Toothsome stuff looks AHHH-MAZE-ING! I really want to go there but not sure when we'll fit it into a trip and I don't see us leaving the protective "Disney" world for this next trip to head over there. Still it's on my bucket list for sure.

Sorry RRR made you so sick...that's crazy! I did it a few times last year for our trips and I was just fine on that. However, MINIONS...OMG this was the one ride that made me SOOO QUEASY! That isn't shocking since simulators tend to do that to me, and most of Universal rides have some kind of simulator to them. For some reason I still cannot even think about doing Minions again...but maybe I'll try a non-motion seat next time if the family really wants to do it. I tolerated almost every other Universal parks ride so much better. That one we did first thing in the morning and I feel like it took hours for me to get rid of that feeling!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

OMG!!!! Those chocolates look amaaaaazing!

 

[ariane37]

With some levels of AP parking at the parks is free, but I still think you pay to park at the hotel every night.

Yup, you do, even AP's. At least that's what Barry said and as you know and my other friends who posted after you know, Barry apparently isn't always right lol!

I need to try macarons. I've never had one. And I need to buy chocolate at Toothsome. You're a bad influence!

You NEED to try one! Start with the chocolate raspberry one at the France booth for Flower and Garden next month But the chocolate, I don't think anything at Disney comes to mind that can compare!

I know he's supposed to know, but I feel like that's not true at all...I've never been asked to see a room key or anything when boarding the water taxi.

You and like 4 other people who read my update after you! Either he's wrong or it's NEVER enforced.

thanks for continuing your TR Ariane, I am eagerly following along. That Antojitos margarita looks yummy!

You are welcome, and thank you so much for continuing to read

Just to piggy back on this, we stayed RPR, walked to Sapphire Falls, then took their boat to Citywalk
We were never asked where we were staying then or any other time on the boats.

It doesn't make sense that the universal resorts would allow pool hopping, but limit access to the boats, so I also think Barry may be wrong.

Yeah, that does seem to be the general consensus here! And spoiler alert, we used the water taxi another time and weren't asked for room keys or proof that time, either. I would think between pool hopping and using the water taxi's, pool hopping would be the bigger no-no so it totally sounds fishy to me

must have gotten distracted and didn't read about the parade or crappy dinner at all. I can't believe they didn't feed y'all something better because I LOVE the food at Citywalk!

There were quite a few places on CityWalk I would have loved to eat!

you can get entrees at places like NBC Sports Grill & Brew or Margaritaville

These are 2 of them. Later on in the trip Cathy and I walked through NBC Sports Grill and looked at the menu which looked awesome. We also might have peeked at some of the dishes on tables that people were eating as we walked by, not creepy at all lol, but it all looked so good.

Gotta admit I did not like this ride very much. The swinging action with the dinos killed me despite my motion patch. Kong's big ol head and the beginning outside parts were the highlight for me!

I don't love it either. I'm sure I'll be riding it again if we go back with the boys but I can take it or leave it.

I can't believe you didn't like Dr. Doom though

It's not that I don't like it at all; I just think it's lacking in the theming dept. Plus it only goes up and down once! I'd ride this 10x over Kong though.

Oh.my.NOM!!! I need dis!!!

Told ya, lady!

Darn it Alrrnps, I'm gonna have to plan another Universal trip. I knew I shouldn't be reading this report!

Yes you will, and I think I'll change my Dis name to Alrrnps now

My complaint is that they charge resort guests to park at the resorts.

I know, so cheesy right? When we were told this like all the TA's started saying how not cool that is.

Antojitos margaritas for the win! I had the Grand or something like that there and I seriously think it was the best margarita I've ever had.

I believe it is called the Grand! And when I googled the menu b/c I couldn't remember the name of the entree I had, I found out it's a chain and we actually have one about 20 minutes from my house! Steve and I really enjoy Mexican and while I didn't fall in love with my meal there, I'm totally up for trying another location here. And more of their margaritas

I wonder if they offer other dessert options on the full menu?

Pretty sure they do. I'm thinking either Barry picked the stupid flan or maybe since we were a big party they don't let you choose?

um, no they don't. I've also never heard you need to be a resort guest since presumably they'd like to encourage day guests to go spend money in the resort shops, restaurants, and bars. Barry sounds like he himself should have gotten some questions wrong in your game!!

LOL! If he knew we took the water taxi AGAIN on our last day he'd have flipped!

I can't wait to see how you like this tour! I'm hoping to maybe book it as a surprise for Nathan and my mom if it's still around when we go in January for Marathon Weekend...

Oh I'm sure it'll be around, I believe it's been there for quite some time But I'll definitely write about it in my dining report that I've got going! Not going to do a separate TR for that trip but I'm going to add our May trip onto that one.

Strange that none of the resort restaurants are on board. That would limit things a lot in my opinion.

It's b/c the resorts aren't run by Universal, but the dining plan IS through Universal. Most of their resorts are owned and operated by Loew's and the couple that aren't, still aren't run by Universal. So that's the biggest reason they still aren't included in the dining plan but it seems very inconvenient that they're not.

I find it so disappointing that there's a ride you can only ride with kids! Nathan and I thought about trying to nab one to go on this ride but thought better of it.

Right? At one point during the training it was brought up, and another TA mentioned that no ride at Disney is only for kids nor do you need a kid with you to ride.

It was supposed to be gluten free though, but after about 3 people said they'd check and didn't, I found out that the chips I'd almost eaten were fried in the same fryer as things with wheat...so I had to eat my guac with a spoon. Meh.

that's a pretty big mistake for them to make...................and a crappy way to have to eat your guac, regardless of how delicious it is.

Weird! Sounds like they don't really police it in reality...and why would they care?

Makes no sense. It gets people to CityWalk and the parks, which means they're spending $$, so why wouldn't they want them using any means possible to get there? I really think Barry was wrong, especially after all these reports from others saying they've never been asked.

Apparently you ladies are rebels!! I had no idea this was a thing.

That we are

OMG that Toothsome stuff looks AHHH-MAZE-ING! I really want to go there but not sure when we'll fit it into a trip and I don't see us leaving the protective "Disney" world for this next trip to head over there. Still it's on my bucket list for sure.

If we take the boys in Aug. I want them to go there too, and Ricky wants to do a day at Universal anyway, but I have such a hard time leaving Disney lol. Plus we'll be staying on Disney property which makes it all the more difficult. But it's so cool in there..........

I have to agree with Raeven above...in all our stays at Universal parks last year (at both RPR and PB) we took the boat a bunch of times and not ONCE were we asked for any kind of room key.

Yeah, kinda decided Barry made a mistake. One that he made to 60 women who sell Disney/Universal vacations for a living

OMG!!!! Those chocolates look amaaaaazing!

They are! It's so worth stopping in, you don't have to eat there and even if you don't want to buy anything you can just look around and SMELL

 

[Raeven]

You NEED to try one! Start with the chocolate raspberry one at the France booth for Flower and Garden next month But the chocolate, I don't think anything at Disney comes to mind that can compare!

I'll try all those

You and like 4 other people who read my update after you! Either he's wrong or it's NEVER enforced.

 

[buzzrelly]

Jeez! I don't know how, but I lost track again This is going to take a while!

And I found myself trying to work in lounge time. And I didn't like doing that because there are quite a few things I'm trying to fit in this trip, more than our March trip. So in the end I decided that, while I love the idea of turn down service and little chocolates on my pillow, and Steve loves being on the BW, this trip just wasn't the right one for our first CL stay. Someday we'll do it, just not this May

Smart idea…I don't think I could ever use the lounge enough to justify the extra cost. And to try to schedule lounge time, in addition to all the other things we have to pre-schedule, sounds like a major hassle!

it's like you're on a small street in a small Italian village on the water. Enjoy:

This place looks so appealing to me, especially since DH won't fly and I won't go on a trans-Atlantic cruise, so I cannot figure out how I'm ever going to get to Italy (a dream of mine ).

Here's what I got for dinner:

No. Just no...

this had bologna and some other spiced meat that resembled an Italian Soppressatta but wasn't nearly as good, and no sauce or dressing whatsoever.

I'd be hitting my hidden bag of goldfish crackers back in the room after that dinner

and we were asked to ride on the Mardi Gras floats Whooo!!

Awesome!

I will admit that this didn't really sound so awesome to me until I was standing on that float, waiting to move out to the street from backstage. It was absolutely the coolest thing EVER and the coolest thing we did on the trip.

Looks really cool! Too bad you couldn't take any pictures

I caught my first glance of the new(ish) restaurant, Toothsome Chocolate Emporium. And believe me, it wasn't my last glimpse:

I was HOPING you were going to post pics from here! Those desserts look AMAZING!!

if you get the quick service dining plan you'll get a card for EACH DAY you have the plan. So if you purchase the plan for 7 days you'll get 7 cards.

What a pain in the neck.

So next we went to Dr. Doom's Fearfall!

Yikes! I could never! Good for you!

I went on RRR.
This was a huge fail for me this time around. After loving it in 2015 it made me disgustingly nauseous for about 2 hours after this time. I felt gross.

Boo…sorry

we heard, "Good-bye Cathy, good-bye Pam, good-bye Alrrnps"

LOL!

I needed to get inside Toothsome Chocolate Emporium! By the way, the correct name is Toothsome Chocolate Emporium and Savory Feast Kitchen, just FYI. Pam got that question wrong during one of our training sessions lol. This place is awesome unless of course you hate sweets which of course, means you're nuts. Enjoy the chocolate and dessert porn starting with these over the top shakes:

OMG! Yummmmmmm!!!

In total I spent close to $100 on macarons that trip, I kid you not.

Wow! I've never tried them…looks like they're on my list for next time

we were being given a type of flan. I'm not a flan fan due to the consistency. I took one bite but it's too bouncy for me

Yuck! Totally agree!

Pam asked why we weren't supposed to do that and he told us all that technically, the water taxi's are just for guests of the resorts to which they belong.

That's really a strange policy. Maybe it's something that's not really enforced…you would think you'd want your resort guests to be able to get around easily, if only to spend more money and not leave the property

Can't wait to read more!