If we can DREAM it, we can do it! ..... another 30 day vacation Update 02/07

[dizneeat]

The pizza looks incredible.....I just discovered a pizza truck from a restaurant in nearby Summit, NJ. It parks at our Farmer's Market on Saturdays and their pizza tastes JUST like Italy. I discovered it's because they use San Marzano tomatoes which were grown in Italy, the flour comes from Naples, and the cheese is imported as well. It is to die for, the very best pizza, and it looks just like what you had! YUMMY!

Hope the rest of your trip was fun!

Ellen, even though I am getting ahead of myself, but the pizza was absolutely wonderful! I was very happy with my choice.
I am glad you can get really nice Italian pizza too! It really are the ingredients that make a great pizza!

The rest of our trip was fun too ..... did a lot of shopping AND eating.

Oh, what a beautiful drive! I definitely have to visit Austria within the next few years..a beauty and history not to be missed!

Prosciutto Pizza....oh my goodness....can hardly wait for Via Napoli in January!

Another priceless view - you & Tom definitely are the queen and king of getting fabulous views!

Looking forward to reading more... trust you had safe travels home (assuming you are home now?).

HUGS!

It was a picture perfect drive both ways, Christine. We really enjoyed it a lot and had lots of fun.

The pizza was incredible - more pizza experiences are to come.
And the view was really awesome! We could not believe our eyes when we opened the curtains and blinds and saw the water view.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 1, August 11

Let’s get this show on the road …….. or in the air - Part 3

So we hopped onto the fake monorail and into the main airport building where we then rolled our luggage over to the Hyatt, got into the elevator and went up to check in, which was quick and easy and we were on the way to our room in no time.
We opened the door and were stunned again. The room was huge, clean and inviting

and had a huge patio with a view of a lot of international planes.

We got settled, rested a little, then remembered that we had ordered our Owner’s Locker box to the hotel and went down to the front desk to inquire about it.
All the front desk employees were busy, but we were lucky that the one who had checked us in became available within a few minutes. We told her that we were looking for our box and she called luggage services and was told that it was not there. We knew it had to be there, as, as soon as we had arrived Tom had gotten a text letting us know that it had arrived at the hotel in the morning.
Again, we explained that it HAD TO be there and another phone call later it still had not been found. She again asked for a mail tracking number and we repeatedly told her that there was no such thing, that it had not been delivered by mail, but by van.
After a few minutes she asked if she could see the message, which meant that we had to go back to the room to fetch Tom’s phone. Once we returned to the front desk, the receptionist was busy again and there was only one other still working.
Then finally we showed her the message and she called down to luggage services for a third time.

Nope, not there.

We both were getting pretty nervous by then, as we had packed having in mind that we had lots of things in the US, including shorts, toiletries and other things. Since we still didn’t give up the receptionist called over her supervisor, who, after explaining it to her seemed to perfectly know what we were talking about, got on the phone and within a minute assured us that our purple box would be delivered to our room within the next 15 minutes.

Yippie! We finally headed back to our room, picked up some drinks from the machines on the way back to our room and settled to wait for our purple box. It didn’t even take 10 minutes and there was a knock at the door and our Owner’s Locker was delivered.
We opened it up and found a few more surprises we had completely forgotten about. By then we had started to become hungry and thirsty again, so we decided to head down to the food court.
Needless to say, when you leave the Hyatt you have to walk past the Disney Store there and we could not get past it without checking it out. We spent quite a bit of time in there, even picked up some Coconut Patties

and then continued our way over to the food court. We were shocked to see that they were already closing shop when we arrived and we couldn’t bring ourselves to buy some Nathan’s hot dogs which were already piled into containers to the side. After we had gotten over the initial shock of everything closing, we had a look around and Sbarro’s seemed to be the one with still lots of things on offer, so we picked up some pizza.

We got four different pieces and decided to share them all, so we could sample them all. Our choices were a slice of Tomato pizza,

one slice of the Cheese pizza,

one with Italian Sausage

and one slice of Pepperoni pizza.

Well, while they still looked good in the case, once they were microwaved to heat them up again and taken to the room they were not all that tasty at all. Don’t get me wrong, I am sure this is pretty tasty pizza, but at the end of the day and after being microwaved it wasn’t all that yummy.
In the end it was our mistake for not completely binning the idea of eating in the food court and just heading for the hotel restaurant instead or ordering room service. Well, live and learn and we will not repeat that mistake next summer as we have already decided to stay at the Hyatt again next year.

Once we had eaten our dinner, we enjoyed some more time out on the patio, watching cars and planes coming and going in the dark and by 10pm after a really long day (keeping in mind that Europe is 6 hours ahead of Florida and it was already 4am for our inner clocks) we fell into bed and tried to watch a little TV, but without much success, as we both fell asleep pretty soon.

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Nice update, Karin! I've wondered if that Hyatt would be a nice place - the room photos look very nice and what a great TV! (the room reminds me of the new Disney room refurbs - not as Disney specific like years ago)

Did the door to your room look out over the Lobby? Whenever I go through MCO I look up at the lobby rooms and it reminds me of WL and GF or Concourse in the case of the Contemporary Resort. Love stepping outside our room and looking down at a beautiful lobby or excitement of the Concourse. (geez, does everything remind me of Disney!!)

Sorry about the pizza....sbarro must be in almost every Mall in America now - we've never been fond of it, but thought maybe that was because we're spoiled by Boston, NY and Chicago pizza. Would have thought the food court at such a busy International Airport would have stayed open another hour or so.

Beautiful rainbow - what a lovely welcome to the U.S.!

 

[jamiesgirl]

Loved the rainbow...perfect start to a magical vacation! Your room looks beautiful, especially the large balcony. As for the Sparro pizza, we've had it at the airport, waiting to board our plane home & didn't think it was very tasty either.
So happy that you enjoyed your week-end in Italy & looking forward to both TR's now!!!

 

[HowieHowie]

I've always wondered what the rooms look like in the Hyatt, now I got a peek and they do look wonderful. I especially love the view, Rachel & I would be out on the balcony looking at the planes, Rachel wouldn't want to come in. We eat at Sbarro's at our mall, it isn't all that bad, but definately not as good as the pizza places we have by our house. I too am suprised that the food court isn't opened late considering it is an international airport, but Scott just said JFK doesn't stay opened late either.

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Me too about the balcony! I'd have been watching those planes until all was quiet!

 

[podsnel]

UGH. Sbarros. Even without the microwave, that's no Italy pizza!

 

[dizneeat]

Nice update, Karin! I've wondered if that Hyatt would be a nice place - the room photos look very nice and what a great TV! (the room reminds me of the new Disney room refurbs - not as Disney specific like years ago)

Did the door to your room look out over the Lobby? Whenever I go through MCO I look up at the lobby rooms and it reminds me of WL and GF or Concourse in the case of the Contemporary Resort. Love stepping outside our room and looking down at a beautiful lobby or excitement of the Concourse. (geez, does everything remind me of Disney!!)

Sorry about the pizza....sbarro must be in almost every Mall in America now - we've never been fond of it, but thought maybe that was because we're spoiled by Boston, NY and Chicago pizza. Would have thought the food court at such a busy International Airport would have stayed open another hour or so.

Beautiful rainbow - what a lovely welcome to the U.S.!

Christine, it definitely is a really nice hotel. The beds were super comfy and the rooms were spacious. Loved the large bathroom too!
No, our room did not look out over the airport lobby. We had booked an executive room which offers a balcony/patio on the outside, not looking inside the airport.
But I really DO understand what you mean about the Contemporary, though. Boy, is that an absolutely amazing hotel.

This was my first brush with Sbarro's in all the years we have travelled to the US. Tom had tried it in NY about 20 years ago and was actually looking forward to it. Well, he was as disappointed as I was in the end.

I had actually looked up the closing times of the airport foodcourt, but with all the mix up with our Owner's Locker we had lost track of the time and when we finally decided to walk down and with the Disney Store "in" the way ...... - never mind, we have already decided to just get room service next summer.

Loved the rainbow...perfect start to a magical vacation! Your room looks beautiful, especially the large balcony. As for the Sparro pizza, we've had it at the airport, waiting to board our plane home & didn't think it was very tasty either.
So happy that you enjoyed your week-end in Italy & looking forward to both TR's now!!!

We loved the rainbow too - perfect welcome to the US!
Tom and I were pretty impressed with the room and it felt super huge after being locked into a plane seat for 10 hours.
I am pretty happy to hear that it was not just my opinion that the pizza could have been better. I blamed it on being micro waved, but it looks like it is not all that great in the first place.

I've always wondered what the rooms look like in the Hyatt, now I got a peek and they do look wonderful. I especially love the view, Rachel & I would be out on the balcony looking at the planes, Rachel wouldn't want to come in. We eat at Sbarro's at our mall, it isn't all that bad, but definately not as good as the pizza places we have by our house. I too am suprised that the food court isn't opened late considering it is an international airport, but Scott just said JFK doesn't stay opened late either.

Elaine, we can really recommend the Hyatt. We so enjoyed our short stay there. And even with the huge balcony, once you closed that balcony door you could not hear a thing.
We loved spending time out there, especially in the morning with a cup of coffee in hand.
Well, we learned that airport foodcourts are not your best option - next time we will get room service and camp in front of the TV.

Me too about the balcony! I'd have been watching those planes until all was quiet!

We did just that, Christine, watched the planes, but if your body tells you it is 6 hours later, you "give in" sooner or later.

UGH. Sbarros. Even without the microwave, that's no Italy pizza!

I guess we learned our lesson about airport foodcourts, Ellen. Room service or the hotel restaurant will be the way to go in the future. ........ and as far as Italian pizza - I guess we will just have to return to Italy for it.

 

[pas130]

Thank you, Jeanette!
We really had a fun time in Italy.

I'm so glad Karin you needed some downtime after that MegaCation and the shock to your system of returning back to reality..

Thanks for the pics from the MCO Hyatt

I am more than sure one day I'll stay there...probably if we ever get a 6am flight home....I do NOT want to be awake at 3am for DME

The kids would love the balcony & the planes....plus there's the Pool!!!

 

[monica23535]

What? Even the Krispy Kreme in the food court was closed??

The rooms do look very nice at the Hyatt, I specially like the view of the planes and the rainbow

I'm glad you got your Owners Locker sorted out eventually!

 

[dizneeat]

I'm so glad Karin you needed some downtime after that MegaCation and the shock to your system of returning back to reality..

Thanks for the pics from the MCO Hyatt

I am more than sure one day I'll stay there...probably if we ever get a 6am flight home....I do NOT want to be awake at 3am for DME

The kids would love the balcony & the planes....plus there's the Pool!!!

Thank you, Jeanette - we really were "ready" for another vacation.

We were very impressed with the Hyatt and I am sure it would be perfect for either an early flight out or a late flight in, as it was for us.

The balcony of the executive rooms was awesome. Just what we needed, some space to stretch our legs and to watch planes come and go.

What? Even the Krispy Kreme in the food court was closed??

The rooms do look very nice at the Hyatt, I specially like the view of the planes and the rainbow

I'm glad you got your Owners Locker sorted out eventually!

Yip, even the Krispy Kreme had closed up shop!

The rooms are really nice at the Hyatt and we have already decided to go back next summer.

 

[dizneeat]

Now, I have a little bit of news concerning next summer's vacation for you all.

During our stay at the Southernmost this summer we found an offer on the desk that we found interesting. It offered a 10% discount if we booked another stay by the time we checked out.
First we laughed it off, then we started thinking about it, and when we checked out I handed in my filled in reservation request. I was told that I would be contacted within the next two weeks and we let them know that we would still be travelling and they told us we would be contacted after September 12.

Well, last week I called the Southernmost and asked about the offer and was told that it was only good until Dec 31, 2012. Okay, no problem, but then we were not going to book right away.

Fast forward to today, when I find an email from an unidentified source, titled Reservation Confirmation.
So I open it and what do I find ...... they honour our request and I indeed have a reservation with a nice discount pending at the hotel. Would I please call them back to confirm?

YES!!! I would and I did call them back and we are now all set to stay at the Southernmost again and this time with a nice discount!
We still have nearly 11 months until we go, but our summer 2013 vacation could not have started with a nicer planning detail.

Oh, and since we are on the subject of planning ........

We have gone back to looking into airfare (free flights) to Paris for a weekend. Keep your fingers crossed ....... this school year is off to a great start vacation wise.

 

[jedijill]

You truly work to vacation! I like how you roll. Great job on getting the discount...great customer service on the resort's part.

Jill in CO

 

[dizneeat]

You truly work to vacation! I like how you roll. Great job on getting the discount...great customer service on the resort's part.

Jill in CO

We sure do!

I am very happy they got back to us and were true to their word. Every dollar saved is a dollar more for Mickey.

 

[Linda67]

Nice update Karin
We nearly stayed at the Hyatt before our cruise in May but ended up going to WDW for one night
In hindsight the Hyatt would have been a better choice but it never occurred to me that all the food places would close so early!
Somehow that food court pizza doesn't look as good as the photo from Italy

 

[englishrose47]

All caught up Karin !!Great you had pixie dust at immigration!! Sorry about the pizza !! I admit I didn't read all the chatter but I have to get caught up on all my threads plus start my Universal report !! Which I think I will do as a TR as it is more inline with the Dis !!!

 

[dizneeat]

Nice update Karin
We nearly stayed at the Hyatt before our cruise in May but ended up going to WDW for one night
In hindsight the Hyatt would have been a better choice but it never occurred to me that all the food places would close so early!
Somehow that food court pizza doesn't look as good as the photo from Italy

You really should take the Hyatt into consideration if the need arises again, Linda.
Their staff is very nice and friendly and the rooms are comfy and large. We loved the patio/balcony and being able to watch all the aircraft.
I did check the opening times of the foodcourt and it stays open until 9am, but with the hiccup of the Owner's Locker we spent more time than we thought we would and completely forgot about the foodcourt closing.

The pizza in Italy was VERY different to the ones we had at the airport I can assure you.

All caught up Karin !!Great you had pixie dust at immigration!! Sorry about the pizza !! I admit I didn't read all the chatter but I have to get caught up on all my threads plus start my Universal report !! Which I think I will do as a TR as it is more inline with the Dis !!!

Well done, Rosie!
Don't appologize about the chatter, Rosie. I know how it is to catch up on threads, I DO understand.
PLEASE, let me know about your trip report, once you have started it - I do NOT want to miss it.

 

[MEK]

This is the first time I have seen pictures of the Hyatt. Very nice. The rooms are really nice and its pretty cool to sit outside and watch the airplanes fly by.

Bummer about the Owner's locker being MIA. I guess not a lot of them get delivered to the Hyatt.

Yeah for already planning your summer vacation for next year.

 

[Wicket's Mom]

I was really interested in seeing the rooms at the Hyatt. It was a very nice room & balcony. It would be so cool watching the planes come & go.

Sbarro is not doing well, seems like I did read something about the company going into bankruptcy. Sbarro's is not a favorite of mine either.

 

[OurDogCisco]

Great pictures of the Hyatt. We stayed there once a long time ago and it was all a blur to me so, cool to see the rooms. I don't remember ours having a balcony though. Did you get a special room? Because that looks totally cool to watch the planes land and take off.

Enjoying your trip report...