Universal Orlando Trip Report July 3-8, 2004
Just Hubby and me this trip. Special thanks to the folks on this board for answering all of my questions and giving invaluable information and help. We saved money and time, having such great advance info.
Travel
Flights to and from Boston on American were luckily uneventful. Both were on time. Going down the plane was full. Coming home on Thursday, plenty of seats available, and we were happy to get the exit row seats.
Rental car from Avis. Easy pick-up and drop-off right across from the terminal. Doesnt get any easier! Had a mid-size vehicle (4-door Grand Am). Felt the 5 day rental for $114 was a very good value. We only needed to go back and forth to the airport and to Downtown Disney one evening to see LaNouba, but the rental price was definitely cheaper than a sedan service and/or taxis.
Portofino Bay Hotel
I cannot say enough good things about this hotel! It was wonderful!
The service and staff at this facility are excellent. Kudos to whomever is in charge of their training programs. Every employee you encountered said hello and/or asked how we were. It was a true pleasure.
We checked in around noon on 7/3. I had reserved a garden view room and we were upgraded to a deluxe room in the villa wing at no charge. We were also given a bottle of wine (a nice Chilean Chardonnay) and we have since discovered that we received the airline miles bonus as well! I had an entertainment rate of $186 a night, so I wasnt expecting any of the perks, but was very pleasantly surprised.
When we returned later in the afternoon our room was ready. The room was on the third floor overlooking the villa pool. Very nice room. The bed was wonderfully comfortable. Nice to have the in-room coffee maker. Loved having the little stereo system (boy, do I ever miss 103.1 Orlando a fantastic jazz station). Had a love seat with ottoman and a round table with 2 chairs. Bathroom was huge. Nice soaking tub. Large double sink area and freestanding shower stall. Nice bath products (soaps and shampoo, etc.) Regular hair dryer (not one of those useless wall mounted things). Plenty of towels.
The Bellman asked us not to empty the in-room fridge and was able to bring us a separate fridge at no additional cost. He was most helpful.
The pool areas were really nice. Not as large as I though theyd be, but nice. The beach pool was always packed and loaded with kids. The only chance I got to go down the water slide was late in the evening, and even then, there was several kids in line. We spend more time at the villa pool as it was quieter. When the kids came over from the beach pool at 10pm when it closed, thats when wed go back to the room. The hot tub and cool-off pool were quite nice as well. Where we were right on the villa pool, we never made it to the pool area at the end of the east wing. Also, because the pools are so shallow (deepest part is only 5 feet), the water was like bath water. Had to be 80-something degrees easily, and therefore not very refreshing!
We asked to be in a quiet area and believe they worked hard to accommodate us as during our 5 night stay we heard virtually no noise, and were not disturbed. Especially the first couple of nights, being the holiday weekend, the hotel was full and we figured the place would be buzzing, but even though they were full, you never got that feeling.
Enjoyed the variety of shops on site at the Portofina. Nicely done and nice variety of things.
The Parks
Wow! We had such a great time. We had 4 and ½ days to see and do everything, so we knew we could do this at a leisurely pace and really enjoy it. And I have to say, at the end of the trip, I am glad we had the time we did, because in all honesty, two days would just not be enough, even with FOTL access, to really see everything and take it all in. Yes, two days would probably get you on all the rides you would want to go on, but to really look around and take in the parks design, flora and fauna, and unbelievable detail, does take more time. We enjoyed that part of the trip just as much as all the rides we went on.
The first three days, being the 4th of July holiday weekend, was really, really crowded. So navigating was difficult at best. You kinda had to crawl along with the crowd. Tuesday and Wednesday were much better as even though it was very busy, you had room to navigate and walk at the pace you wanted to.
The weather was sweltering hot. With highs in the 90s and very high humidity, it was unbelievable. Coming from Boston, even though its summer here too, we still needed a couple of days for our blood to thin a bit more and to adjust to the extreme heat. We altered our schedules though, so we were going to the parks mid-afternoon and staying pretty much til closing and then sleeping in late in the morning, going out for a leisurely breakfast (brunch), shopping and those type of things during the late morning noon time hours to avoid the worst of the days heat.
On the afternoon of our first day, Saturday, we took the hotel boat ride over to Citywalk and went to Islands of Adventure. Headed right for Spiderman. Showed the hotel card and went into the express line. However, the wait was pretty long. We waited 25 minutes, but we didnt care, because first time through was awesome. I just love, love, loved this ride! Spiderman ended up being our favorite ride in IOA and we rode it over and over again. Fortunately this was the only long wait we had with FOTL, with most of our waits, in both parks, averaging 5-10 minutes going forward.
Hubby rode the Hulk. I really wanted to go, but I have terrible inner ear problems, and motion sickness, so I didnt dare try it. I had to take Bonine twice a day as it was to survive all the other rides as it was. He loved it and went on it a few more times during our trip. Loved getting soaked on Ripsaw Falls, Bilge Rat Barges, and Jurassic Park River Adventure. We wore our bathing suits with t-shirts and planned accordingly for these rides, as you really do get soaked. It felt so good though, with the extreme heat.
David also rode the Dueling Dragons. He liked both, and didnt prefer one over the other.
Even though there are a lot more rides and shows in Universal, we spent a lot of time in IOA. The theming, and detail of the park were just fantastic. We really enjoyed wandering around looking at everything.
In Universal we absolutely loved Shrek 4-D. We went every day because we just enjoyed it so much. (Of course nothing beats the first time, and the element of surprise!) We noticed the lines for Shrek were the longest, 90 to 120 minute waits. Can you believe it?! We couldnt. Staying on site, as folks have said over and over again, really is the only way to go. Theres no way Id stand in line for anything for that long, it would be a sure way to ruin a vacation.
Loved Revenge of the Mummy. We went on Saturday afternoon, but the ride was down, and turns out, it was down until the next day. We rode it twice on Sunday. FOTL is awesome, we got off, went right back around and in again for another go. We went a couple of days later, and were glad that we did because what we didnt realize was that some of the parts of the ride werent working properly when we went on Sunday, so at least we got to see it all working correctly. I do feel bad for the folks who waited in line forever, only to be turned away because the ride went down. Or to miss it entirely. Thats gotta be frustrating for sure. Oh, be careful when you sit in an outside seat. My right elbow got banged up pretty bad in the vehicle. It was swollen and bruised and hurt for a couple of days.
The locker area was pretty neat that scanned your finger print. However, the waits were kinda long because it took people a while to figure things out. They were handy though.
Also loved Men In Black. We must have gone at lease a dozen times over the few days we were there. It was just so much fun. I was pretty consistent with my scoring, always around 140,000 to 150,000. One ride I got the big bonus and got 420,000!! I loved looking at all the monsters the theming in this ride was just fantastic.
The new technology in the rides really does show. We went on Back to the Future, Twister, Earthquake, and Jaws. We enjoyed them all, but not as much as Mummy, MIB and Shrek. We also enjoyed T2, Animal Planet Live, and Beetlejuices Music Review. We thought the Horror Make-up Show was ok probably because it wasnt what we thought it was going to be. Its more of a comedy act, where we thought thered be more make-up demonstrations.
It rained every day, usually late afternoon and some of the thunder and lightening storms were pretty severe. The rides would of course be shut down, but wed just do the inside stuff during those times. Really didnt put a damper on our trip at all. Plus where it was so hot out, it felt good to rained on!
Transportation to and from the Portofino to the parks was fast, easy and efficient. You could take the boat from the harbor, a shuttle bus from the front of the hotel, or walk. We did all three. We only walked in the evening because of the heat. Only took 15 minutes from Citywalk back to the Portofino.
A few times we had to utilize the bus because during the thunder/lightening, the boats dont run. They were quite a bit busier then, and really not enough on line for all the folks, so sometimes we had to wait an extra 10 minutes for the next bus. There was one incident at the Portofino, where this guy totally went off on the bus driver, screaming and yelling because he and his family werent allowed to cram into the bus, as it was full, and the driver had a specific head count allowed. Chill guy, youll get there, its vacation!
Dining
We ate at Mythos in The Lost Continent in Islands of Adventure twice. Once for lunch, and once for dinner. The food is excellent and is in a very fun atmosphere. Everything was great, from the imaginative appetizers, to the salads, fish, risotto, pizza, and oh-my-god, the warm chocolate banana gooey cake was to die for.
We went offsite to Perkins for breakfast twice. They do a great job on breakfast. I wish we had this chain up here in the Boston area. They blow the pants off of Dennys, Bickfords, and House of Pancakes combined!
Stopped at Publix Supermarket and picked up a few snacks and breakfast items. Also water, as at the hotel and parks, it was price gouging at best.
We had a lunch at The Croissant Moon Bakery in Islands of Adventure. Sandwiches were very good and the fruit and potato salads sides that came with it were very good as well.
We had burgers at Richter Burger in Universal Studios. We were starving, as we hadnt eaten all day (it was around 7pm), but made the mistake of ordering doubles! These burgers were huge!! A single would have been tough to finish. Plus they came with french fries and the condiments bar, which was huge (set up like a salad bar) with lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, etc.
We ate at Margaritaville in Citywalk. Food was excellent. Really enjoyed it there. If we had more time, we would have come back a second time.
Citywalk is really nicely done. It has it all over Downtown Disney. We went to Downtown Disney as we had tickets to see La Nouba (which was a fantastic show), but Downtown Disney just didnt compare to Citywalk.
We had Gelato at the shop onsite at the Portofino. It was really, really good.
We had dinner at Mama Dellas at the Portofino, and Im sorry folks, but this was the worst meal of our trip, and in fact, it was one of the worst Italian restaurants I have ever been to. The service was very good, no complaints there, but Im sorry, the quality of the food just didnt match the price. I had veal marsala, which was edible, but at $27.95, I would expect an excellent/superb meal. It was Olive Garden at best for quality of food, and the portions were quite small as well. My husband had a carbonara dish, which unfortunately was even worse than mine, and in no way resembled a true carbonara dish. Shame on them.
The next evening we had reservations for Emerils Tchop Chop, but we called to cancel because we were running late at the park, and we were nervous about our bad experience at a hotel restaurant the night before. Maybe we missed a good meal, but we ended up having an absolutely stellar dinner at Del Friscos Steakhouse in downtown Orlando. (Their specialty is of course steak and they serve Australian lobster tail.) This restaurant was superb in every sense of the word, and we rate it as one of the all-time best meals we have ever had. I cannot recommend this establishment enough!! Everything and everyone, from the atmosphere, hostess, to our waiter, the wine, meal, all were just fabulous. The vegetables were so fresh and cooked to perfection, my lobster bisque was to die for, and our filet mignons you could cut with a spoon. The orange cake with mango dipping sauce for dessert was hands down, the best cake I have ever had in my life. Boy do I wish I could get my hands on that recipe. Del Friscos should definitely be added to the Do Not Miss list!
Misc.
Alcoholic beverages were pretty expensive wherever we went. Typical mixed drink price was $7.50. Were not big drinkers, but we bought a nice bottle of rum and some fruit juices and made our own rum punches in the room or for when we were poolside.
We debated whether we wanted to stay in one of the parks for the fireworks on the 4th of July. Everyone was hyping them up. We ended up doing so, but it was disappointing for us. They were ok, but definitely not what we expected. I know they do them throughout the entire month, but we figured with it being the 4th of July, that theyd be a little extra special. They really werent. It only last about 10-12 minutes and the fireworks werent anything special. We were in IOA behind Mythos, right on the lagoon. The music they played was great though. Crowds were huge. We hung and waited for them to dissipate and went on a few rides before leaving.
Well, I think thats pretty much it. Thanks again to all the folks on this board who helped me out. Id be happy to answer any questions! Take care!
Just Hubby and me this trip. Special thanks to the folks on this board for answering all of my questions and giving invaluable information and help. We saved money and time, having such great advance info.
Travel
Flights to and from Boston on American were luckily uneventful. Both were on time. Going down the plane was full. Coming home on Thursday, plenty of seats available, and we were happy to get the exit row seats.
Rental car from Avis. Easy pick-up and drop-off right across from the terminal. Doesnt get any easier! Had a mid-size vehicle (4-door Grand Am). Felt the 5 day rental for $114 was a very good value. We only needed to go back and forth to the airport and to Downtown Disney one evening to see LaNouba, but the rental price was definitely cheaper than a sedan service and/or taxis.
Portofino Bay Hotel
I cannot say enough good things about this hotel! It was wonderful!
The service and staff at this facility are excellent. Kudos to whomever is in charge of their training programs. Every employee you encountered said hello and/or asked how we were. It was a true pleasure.
We checked in around noon on 7/3. I had reserved a garden view room and we were upgraded to a deluxe room in the villa wing at no charge. We were also given a bottle of wine (a nice Chilean Chardonnay) and we have since discovered that we received the airline miles bonus as well! I had an entertainment rate of $186 a night, so I wasnt expecting any of the perks, but was very pleasantly surprised.
When we returned later in the afternoon our room was ready. The room was on the third floor overlooking the villa pool. Very nice room. The bed was wonderfully comfortable. Nice to have the in-room coffee maker. Loved having the little stereo system (boy, do I ever miss 103.1 Orlando a fantastic jazz station). Had a love seat with ottoman and a round table with 2 chairs. Bathroom was huge. Nice soaking tub. Large double sink area and freestanding shower stall. Nice bath products (soaps and shampoo, etc.) Regular hair dryer (not one of those useless wall mounted things). Plenty of towels.
The Bellman asked us not to empty the in-room fridge and was able to bring us a separate fridge at no additional cost. He was most helpful.
The pool areas were really nice. Not as large as I though theyd be, but nice. The beach pool was always packed and loaded with kids. The only chance I got to go down the water slide was late in the evening, and even then, there was several kids in line. We spend more time at the villa pool as it was quieter. When the kids came over from the beach pool at 10pm when it closed, thats when wed go back to the room. The hot tub and cool-off pool were quite nice as well. Where we were right on the villa pool, we never made it to the pool area at the end of the east wing. Also, because the pools are so shallow (deepest part is only 5 feet), the water was like bath water. Had to be 80-something degrees easily, and therefore not very refreshing!
We asked to be in a quiet area and believe they worked hard to accommodate us as during our 5 night stay we heard virtually no noise, and were not disturbed. Especially the first couple of nights, being the holiday weekend, the hotel was full and we figured the place would be buzzing, but even though they were full, you never got that feeling.
Enjoyed the variety of shops on site at the Portofina. Nicely done and nice variety of things.
The Parks
Wow! We had such a great time. We had 4 and ½ days to see and do everything, so we knew we could do this at a leisurely pace and really enjoy it. And I have to say, at the end of the trip, I am glad we had the time we did, because in all honesty, two days would just not be enough, even with FOTL access, to really see everything and take it all in. Yes, two days would probably get you on all the rides you would want to go on, but to really look around and take in the parks design, flora and fauna, and unbelievable detail, does take more time. We enjoyed that part of the trip just as much as all the rides we went on.
The first three days, being the 4th of July holiday weekend, was really, really crowded. So navigating was difficult at best. You kinda had to crawl along with the crowd. Tuesday and Wednesday were much better as even though it was very busy, you had room to navigate and walk at the pace you wanted to.
The weather was sweltering hot. With highs in the 90s and very high humidity, it was unbelievable. Coming from Boston, even though its summer here too, we still needed a couple of days for our blood to thin a bit more and to adjust to the extreme heat. We altered our schedules though, so we were going to the parks mid-afternoon and staying pretty much til closing and then sleeping in late in the morning, going out for a leisurely breakfast (brunch), shopping and those type of things during the late morning noon time hours to avoid the worst of the days heat.
On the afternoon of our first day, Saturday, we took the hotel boat ride over to Citywalk and went to Islands of Adventure. Headed right for Spiderman. Showed the hotel card and went into the express line. However, the wait was pretty long. We waited 25 minutes, but we didnt care, because first time through was awesome. I just love, love, loved this ride! Spiderman ended up being our favorite ride in IOA and we rode it over and over again. Fortunately this was the only long wait we had with FOTL, with most of our waits, in both parks, averaging 5-10 minutes going forward.
Hubby rode the Hulk. I really wanted to go, but I have terrible inner ear problems, and motion sickness, so I didnt dare try it. I had to take Bonine twice a day as it was to survive all the other rides as it was. He loved it and went on it a few more times during our trip. Loved getting soaked on Ripsaw Falls, Bilge Rat Barges, and Jurassic Park River Adventure. We wore our bathing suits with t-shirts and planned accordingly for these rides, as you really do get soaked. It felt so good though, with the extreme heat.
David also rode the Dueling Dragons. He liked both, and didnt prefer one over the other.
Even though there are a lot more rides and shows in Universal, we spent a lot of time in IOA. The theming, and detail of the park were just fantastic. We really enjoyed wandering around looking at everything.
In Universal we absolutely loved Shrek 4-D. We went every day because we just enjoyed it so much. (Of course nothing beats the first time, and the element of surprise!) We noticed the lines for Shrek were the longest, 90 to 120 minute waits. Can you believe it?! We couldnt. Staying on site, as folks have said over and over again, really is the only way to go. Theres no way Id stand in line for anything for that long, it would be a sure way to ruin a vacation.
Loved Revenge of the Mummy. We went on Saturday afternoon, but the ride was down, and turns out, it was down until the next day. We rode it twice on Sunday. FOTL is awesome, we got off, went right back around and in again for another go. We went a couple of days later, and were glad that we did because what we didnt realize was that some of the parts of the ride werent working properly when we went on Sunday, so at least we got to see it all working correctly. I do feel bad for the folks who waited in line forever, only to be turned away because the ride went down. Or to miss it entirely. Thats gotta be frustrating for sure. Oh, be careful when you sit in an outside seat. My right elbow got banged up pretty bad in the vehicle. It was swollen and bruised and hurt for a couple of days.
The locker area was pretty neat that scanned your finger print. However, the waits were kinda long because it took people a while to figure things out. They were handy though.
Also loved Men In Black. We must have gone at lease a dozen times over the few days we were there. It was just so much fun. I was pretty consistent with my scoring, always around 140,000 to 150,000. One ride I got the big bonus and got 420,000!! I loved looking at all the monsters the theming in this ride was just fantastic.
The new technology in the rides really does show. We went on Back to the Future, Twister, Earthquake, and Jaws. We enjoyed them all, but not as much as Mummy, MIB and Shrek. We also enjoyed T2, Animal Planet Live, and Beetlejuices Music Review. We thought the Horror Make-up Show was ok probably because it wasnt what we thought it was going to be. Its more of a comedy act, where we thought thered be more make-up demonstrations.
It rained every day, usually late afternoon and some of the thunder and lightening storms were pretty severe. The rides would of course be shut down, but wed just do the inside stuff during those times. Really didnt put a damper on our trip at all. Plus where it was so hot out, it felt good to rained on!
Transportation to and from the Portofino to the parks was fast, easy and efficient. You could take the boat from the harbor, a shuttle bus from the front of the hotel, or walk. We did all three. We only walked in the evening because of the heat. Only took 15 minutes from Citywalk back to the Portofino.
A few times we had to utilize the bus because during the thunder/lightening, the boats dont run. They were quite a bit busier then, and really not enough on line for all the folks, so sometimes we had to wait an extra 10 minutes for the next bus. There was one incident at the Portofino, where this guy totally went off on the bus driver, screaming and yelling because he and his family werent allowed to cram into the bus, as it was full, and the driver had a specific head count allowed. Chill guy, youll get there, its vacation!
Dining
We ate at Mythos in The Lost Continent in Islands of Adventure twice. Once for lunch, and once for dinner. The food is excellent and is in a very fun atmosphere. Everything was great, from the imaginative appetizers, to the salads, fish, risotto, pizza, and oh-my-god, the warm chocolate banana gooey cake was to die for.
We went offsite to Perkins for breakfast twice. They do a great job on breakfast. I wish we had this chain up here in the Boston area. They blow the pants off of Dennys, Bickfords, and House of Pancakes combined!
Stopped at Publix Supermarket and picked up a few snacks and breakfast items. Also water, as at the hotel and parks, it was price gouging at best.
We had a lunch at The Croissant Moon Bakery in Islands of Adventure. Sandwiches were very good and the fruit and potato salads sides that came with it were very good as well.
We had burgers at Richter Burger in Universal Studios. We were starving, as we hadnt eaten all day (it was around 7pm), but made the mistake of ordering doubles! These burgers were huge!! A single would have been tough to finish. Plus they came with french fries and the condiments bar, which was huge (set up like a salad bar) with lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, etc.
We ate at Margaritaville in Citywalk. Food was excellent. Really enjoyed it there. If we had more time, we would have come back a second time.
Citywalk is really nicely done. It has it all over Downtown Disney. We went to Downtown Disney as we had tickets to see La Nouba (which was a fantastic show), but Downtown Disney just didnt compare to Citywalk.
We had Gelato at the shop onsite at the Portofino. It was really, really good.
We had dinner at Mama Dellas at the Portofino, and Im sorry folks, but this was the worst meal of our trip, and in fact, it was one of the worst Italian restaurants I have ever been to. The service was very good, no complaints there, but Im sorry, the quality of the food just didnt match the price. I had veal marsala, which was edible, but at $27.95, I would expect an excellent/superb meal. It was Olive Garden at best for quality of food, and the portions were quite small as well. My husband had a carbonara dish, which unfortunately was even worse than mine, and in no way resembled a true carbonara dish. Shame on them.
The next evening we had reservations for Emerils Tchop Chop, but we called to cancel because we were running late at the park, and we were nervous about our bad experience at a hotel restaurant the night before. Maybe we missed a good meal, but we ended up having an absolutely stellar dinner at Del Friscos Steakhouse in downtown Orlando. (Their specialty is of course steak and they serve Australian lobster tail.) This restaurant was superb in every sense of the word, and we rate it as one of the all-time best meals we have ever had. I cannot recommend this establishment enough!! Everything and everyone, from the atmosphere, hostess, to our waiter, the wine, meal, all were just fabulous. The vegetables were so fresh and cooked to perfection, my lobster bisque was to die for, and our filet mignons you could cut with a spoon. The orange cake with mango dipping sauce for dessert was hands down, the best cake I have ever had in my life. Boy do I wish I could get my hands on that recipe. Del Friscos should definitely be added to the Do Not Miss list!
Misc.
Alcoholic beverages were pretty expensive wherever we went. Typical mixed drink price was $7.50. Were not big drinkers, but we bought a nice bottle of rum and some fruit juices and made our own rum punches in the room or for when we were poolside.
We debated whether we wanted to stay in one of the parks for the fireworks on the 4th of July. Everyone was hyping them up. We ended up doing so, but it was disappointing for us. They were ok, but definitely not what we expected. I know they do them throughout the entire month, but we figured with it being the 4th of July, that theyd be a little extra special. They really werent. It only last about 10-12 minutes and the fireworks werent anything special. We were in IOA behind Mythos, right on the lagoon. The music they played was great though. Crowds were huge. We hung and waited for them to dissipate and went on a few rides before leaving.
Well, I think thats pretty much it. Thanks again to all the folks on this board who helped me out. Id be happy to answer any questions! Take care!
