Trip report from the long-long ago

[bekkiz]

This was from last year, 12/6-12/8. I have a website w/pictures but every time I post the link it doesn't work....so I'll just copy and paste!

2001-12-06 -- Thursday

We left for the airport at about 10 AM. When we arrived we noticed that out flight was delayed about an hour, which would make us miss our connection in Salt Lake City. The Delta agent put us on a flight that left in about 40 minutes that went through Atlanta instead. I got pulled over for a metal detector scan, and at the gate Adam had to get his carry on bag searched and another metal detector scan. We had a 2-hour layover in Atlanta and we ate at Chili's. I had a grilled chicken sandwich, and Adam had chicken crispers. We both got some tasty frozen yogurt while waiting at the gate. Our flight to Orlando arrived on time at 11:00 PM.

Rabbitt, our driver from YourRide.Net, met us at the baggage claim with a bright pink sign (Bikki and family (= ). Rabbitt drove us to our hotel and gave us advice on other things we could do while in Orlando. We arrived and checked in at Portofino Bay at about 11:45 PM. Check in was a breeze, and we got a first floor, bay view king bed room with a huge bathroom. It was perfect! I saw the hotel better in the morning, but even at night I thought it was beautiful all lit up.
Our room was right near the dock for the water taxi, and we had a cute little patio with an awning. They really captured the essence of an Italian coastal town with stairs and piazzas. I was certainly impressed. I had been up since 5 that morning, so I fell asleep really quick, but Adam was up until 3 AM.

 

[bekkiz]

2001-12-07 -- Friday

I woke up about nine and read for a ½ hour. I tried to get Adam up at 9:30, but he was super sleepy. The weather channel said it was going to be hot and humid, and boy, was it! We grabbed a quick breakfast at the café of bananas and juice, and hopped on the water-taxi to Islands of Adventure. IOA was great. We rode Hulk twice in a row with no wait at all. Then we went to Spiderman and waited about 15 minutes. Adam liked this a lot, but it was 3-D so I shut my eyes every time a bad guy jumped on the car. We walked through Marvel Super Hero Island, Toon Lagoon, and Jurassic Park. It was early and we did not want to get wet yet, so we decided to put off the water rides until later.

We got in line for Dueling Dragons, but there again was no wait. We had heard Fire was better, so we did Ice first. Actually, we did it twice. Then we did Fire twice in a row as well. I decided that Fire very well could be my favorite roller coaster ever!

By this time we were both super hungry and we ate at Mythos. I had a bowl of corn and lobster bisque and a Chinese chicken salad. They both were great, but the salad was huge and could only eat half of it. Adam had a grilled chicken sandwich with bacon. We shared a warm chocolate cake with bananas. The food was awesome, but the whole restaurant was just so impressive. Everything from the décor to the plates and silverware was so neat. I loved how all of the gods and goddesses were carved into the walls of the 'cave' we were in. It was beautiful.

After lunch, we were full and decided to take it easy until our lunch settled. We went straight into Poseidon's Fury. The show was a bit cheesy but there was a part where you walk through a tunnel of water. The water is pushed in huge jets around a bridge. The sound was cool, as well as the fact you see the underside of water! We did have to wait for the show, about 20 minutes because we had just missed the previous one. We then walked over to Seuss Landing. It was decorated for Christmas, with funny shaped Christmas trees and wreaths. Every so often, tiny 'snow' bubbles would come down…it was very nice. We went on Cat in the Hat, which was cute.

We thought it was a good time to go on the water rides, so we walked back to Jurassic Park. Luckily we had brought ponchos from our last Disney trip, although we didn't really need them -- it wasn't that wet. However, after that we went on Duddley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls and were so glad to have our ponchos. People were getting soaked. We didn't have to wait in any lines for either of these rides. We headed back around to Marvel Super Hero Island, and Adam went on Doctor Doom's Fearfall, a ride that shoots you up one of two tall towers quickly then bounces you around a bit.

We had just enough time to catch The Eight Voyage of Sinbad show. Again, cheesy but enjoyable. We then went on Ice and Fire again, both walk ons. Then we headed for Hulk as our last ride, and as we approached it started to rain, so on the coaster we were getting pelted (they only stop the coasters when there is lightning). It was a little painful but it was the first time either of us had been on a roller coaster while it was raining.

We headed home after that. We had to wait awhile for our water taxi, about 15 minutes. It doesn't seem long typing this, but after a day of 2-minute waits or less, it seemed like eternity. After a quick freshening up, we headed out to dinner at Mama Della's. It was great! Adam had lasagna (served by Mama, of course), which I stole a bite of. It was very good. I had a pasta dish with tons of veggies and chicken. We both finished all of it, which completely amazed us. It was a ton of food! Afterwards, we just walked around the hotel, which is very peaceful and pretty at night. We didn't have to get up early the next day but we were sleepy and went to bed early.

 

[bekkiz]

2001-12-08 -- Saturday

Today we unfortunately had to check out of Portofino Bay, but luckily we were headed to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We woke up around nine o'clock and packed up a bit of our stuff. We had breakfast at the Trattoria del Porto. Adam and I both had the same thing -- fruit, berries and yogurt with a piece of banana bread. The fruit was very fresh and good, but there was tons of it. We could have easily split the order. After that we went and packed up the rest of our stuff, dropped it off with luggage services and took a walk over the Hard Rock Hotel. It was about an eight-minute walk and the Hard Rock was very nice. There was very loud music playing everywhere, but at least most of it was at least tolerable. We sat in the lobby for a little while, but we had to get back to meet our driver from YourRide.com. On the way back I bought a Christmas present for my grandparents -- a super cute Florida snowgirl, complete with bikini and flip-flops. We were then onn the way to WDW

 

[nhrenee]

bekkiz,

Great reports! We also love the PBH and Mama Della's. The food and service are always incredible.

Thanks!!