ksdave
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2001
- Messages
- 1,255
OK, I'll try to make this as detailed as possible with the limited time I have. We (DW, DD 13, DS 11, and I) arrived at MCO on-time Jan. 31st around 9:20 PM. Flights on Delta were good. Picked up car from National Emerald Aisle (Dodge Stratus) and headed for the Bee Line. Arrived at Comfort Suites Universal, checked in, went to TGI Fridays for late dinner, then back to CS for a little sleep.
Awoke early Saturday morning and arrived at PBH at 7:30 AM. Initial impression for all was "Oh my God, we're staying here??". Could not believe we had gotten a room for $170 on the Entertainment rate. Went in to get key cards. The wonderful woman at the reception desk (her name tag said DJ) was extremely attentive. When I gave her my name and asked her if we could pre-check in, she said, "We have a room all ready for you now, Mr. Borden". I almost fell over. I had never had any hotel offer a room that early in the day, particularly at a high-end resort. She never checked for our Entertainment card either. We decided to use the valet parking, the bellboy immediately loaded our bags from the car and we were in the room by 8:00 AM. We were in the west wing, bayview room 4367. The room was very large, the bathroom was huge, and the view was incredible. Beds are so comfortable, I slept like a baby the whole time. We quickly unpacked our park things, packed the sandles and towel in a small bag, and headed for the boat dock. Boat service was very prompt and convenient. Never waited more than 10 minutes the whole trip.
We arrived at IOA, got our tickets from the eticket booth, got our Preferred AP's (buy one, get 2nd at half price), and headed for the Hulk. Just as we reached the loading area, DD started to cry hysterically and said "I don't want to do this!!". She is afraid of heights and the look up the launch tube made her hysterical. My DW took her back down the entrance ramp while son and I loaded up. Since I have a middle ear problem, I had taken Bonine the night before and that morning. Unfortunately, it didn't work on the Hulk
. By the time the ride ended, I was all nautious and that was the end of the big roller coasters for me this trip. The rest of the day was great. Mythos was wonderful as always, did all the rides multiple times, and the supposed "cold weather" (71 degrees) felt great to us.
Upon return to PBH, went to Mama Della's for dinner. The food was incredible, as was the service, and Mama came over and spent quite a bit of time with us.
While showering the next morning, I really started to dread the idea of checking out and having to drive over to Tampa that night. On a whim, I called the front desk and asked if there was any chance we could stay another night at the $170 rate. They immediately said "No problem. Just bring down your key cards and we'll issue new ones". The kids and DW were jumping around like we had just won the lottery when I told them!! We decided to go to USF at opening and did everything at least once by 2:00PM (FOTL is great!!). Went back to PBH, put on the bathing suits and headed around the corner to the beach pool. This is definitely the nicest hotel pool we had ever seen. The kids absolutely loved the "castle" slide, the service from the bar was wonderful (she was cute too), and the staff keeps the area very clean and organized. My DW and I felt so relaxed. We hadn't had a relaxing time like that since our Norwegian cruise last summer. Kids wanted to do Citywalk that night, so we headed over to Nascar Cafe for dinner (DS's choice) and drinks at Margharitaville (DD's choice). Good time was had by all.
Monday the parks were virtually empty!! We did the checkout process (they only charged me two days for valet parking), had them put the bags in storage, and headed out. We did Studios in the morning then headed back to IOA for the rest of the day. We did Dudley three times, Jurassic twice, and Bilge Rat Barges twice. Weather was really beautiful. We also finally got to see Sinbad and I got a great videotape of the entire show. Last thing we did was son going on Hulk twice in the front row while DW and DD did Storm Force and I took more pics and video. We ate dinner again at Mama's, got the car and said a sad farewell to PBH. The trip to Tampa was real quiet and the arrival at the Comfort Inn was really disappointing after our three days at PBH.
I'll be posting pics on my website in a day or two for those who are interested. We've already started to make plans for the next trip to UO and PBH in November.
Awoke early Saturday morning and arrived at PBH at 7:30 AM. Initial impression for all was "Oh my God, we're staying here??". Could not believe we had gotten a room for $170 on the Entertainment rate. Went in to get key cards. The wonderful woman at the reception desk (her name tag said DJ) was extremely attentive. When I gave her my name and asked her if we could pre-check in, she said, "We have a room all ready for you now, Mr. Borden". I almost fell over. I had never had any hotel offer a room that early in the day, particularly at a high-end resort. She never checked for our Entertainment card either. We decided to use the valet parking, the bellboy immediately loaded our bags from the car and we were in the room by 8:00 AM. We were in the west wing, bayview room 4367. The room was very large, the bathroom was huge, and the view was incredible. Beds are so comfortable, I slept like a baby the whole time. We quickly unpacked our park things, packed the sandles and towel in a small bag, and headed for the boat dock. Boat service was very prompt and convenient. Never waited more than 10 minutes the whole trip.
We arrived at IOA, got our tickets from the eticket booth, got our Preferred AP's (buy one, get 2nd at half price), and headed for the Hulk. Just as we reached the loading area, DD started to cry hysterically and said "I don't want to do this!!". She is afraid of heights and the look up the launch tube made her hysterical. My DW took her back down the entrance ramp while son and I loaded up. Since I have a middle ear problem, I had taken Bonine the night before and that morning. Unfortunately, it didn't work on the Hulk
. By the time the ride ended, I was all nautious and that was the end of the big roller coasters for me this trip. The rest of the day was great. Mythos was wonderful as always, did all the rides multiple times, and the supposed "cold weather" (71 degrees) felt great to us.Upon return to PBH, went to Mama Della's for dinner. The food was incredible, as was the service, and Mama came over and spent quite a bit of time with us.
While showering the next morning, I really started to dread the idea of checking out and having to drive over to Tampa that night. On a whim, I called the front desk and asked if there was any chance we could stay another night at the $170 rate. They immediately said "No problem. Just bring down your key cards and we'll issue new ones". The kids and DW were jumping around like we had just won the lottery when I told them!! We decided to go to USF at opening and did everything at least once by 2:00PM (FOTL is great!!). Went back to PBH, put on the bathing suits and headed around the corner to the beach pool. This is definitely the nicest hotel pool we had ever seen. The kids absolutely loved the "castle" slide, the service from the bar was wonderful (she was cute too), and the staff keeps the area very clean and organized. My DW and I felt so relaxed. We hadn't had a relaxing time like that since our Norwegian cruise last summer. Kids wanted to do Citywalk that night, so we headed over to Nascar Cafe for dinner (DS's choice) and drinks at Margharitaville (DD's choice). Good time was had by all.
Monday the parks were virtually empty!! We did the checkout process (they only charged me two days for valet parking), had them put the bags in storage, and headed out. We did Studios in the morning then headed back to IOA for the rest of the day. We did Dudley three times, Jurassic twice, and Bilge Rat Barges twice. Weather was really beautiful. We also finally got to see Sinbad and I got a great videotape of the entire show. Last thing we did was son going on Hulk twice in the front row while DW and DD did Storm Force and I took more pics and video. We ate dinner again at Mama's, got the car and said a sad farewell to PBH. The trip to Tampa was real quiet and the arrival at the Comfort Inn was really disappointing after our three days at PBH.
I'll be posting pics on my website in a day or two for those who are interested. We've already started to make plans for the next trip to UO and PBH in November.
You ate at Mama's twice! Great food! Sounds like a wonderful time was had by all
Thanks for all the details!
.
