We are back! :)

[SammieG]

We are back (just!) from 18 nights in Orlando...

A very good.. but mixed trip!

We flew into Miami (and saved £1500 by doing so) with BA. Fantastic flights both ways... superb entertainment system.. and flights ontime and not full of lots of families, so much quieter and more relaxing.

We arrived in Orlando after a night in Miami to strange weather for August.. almost cool.. and very cloudy - Definitely the coolest and unsunniest August we have ever been there! (this is our 6th August visit I think)...

We stayed the first three nights at the villas at wilderness lodge - wow they are amazing!! Our favorite DVC resort I would say... out of AKV, OKW, BCV and VWL.

This was great with the jet lag as we could get out and into MK early on the boat. We thought the weather was odd.. but actually it worked well in terms of park touring for us.. wow its so much easier to get around with temperatures in the late 70s!!

We left VWL and went to Silver Lake Resort..
This is a nice resort... not my favorite but well appointed and clean... and ok .. we are soooo spoiled with the HGVC where we usually stay..

Then FAY arrived..... we rescheduled our visit to the Portofino Hotel for two nights as that was the tuesday and wednesday that Fay was hitting...and they were happy to change it for us.
WOW.. is all i can say about the portofino bay hotel..
I love disney... and everything disney.. but i have to say.. this hotel knocks the socks off anything that disney have. Its expensive ( a little cheaper than the GF).. and at $330 a night.. it should be good... but wow.. we felt so pampered and special at that resort... and also with the FOTL access to Universal.
Really enjoyed Universal and Islands of Adventure.. although i didnt do many rides..but the boys loved it

By Saturday (the day we arrived at Portofino Bay) of this week the weather had improved no end.. and we saw sun!

Overall a good trip.... Great flight back..oh how i love BA compared to Virgin!

Lots of other highlights!... but no time now to share!

Sammie x

 

[raph_b]

Sounds like you had a great trip

 

[wayneg]

Welcome home,
You should have been there August 2003, that was crazy, torrential rain from 3pm-11pm almost every day.
Thankfully this time we were on a 4 night cruise when Fay hit, Captain changed the itinery around and went further out into the ocean so we more or less avoided it
Have you looked into getting an Annual pass at Universal for room discounts, they send me an email every 3 months or so offering AP rate for Portofino from around $160/night

 

[DisneyB2B]

Glad you had a great time cant wait for your TR

 

[Beth__WDW23/6/02]

Welcome back.
Sounds like you've had an amazing time

 

[SammieG]

Welcome home,
You should have been there August 2003, that was crazy, torrential rain from 3pm-11pm almost every day.
Thankfully this time we were on a 4 night cruise when Fay hit, Captain changed the itinery around and went further out into the ocean so we more or less avoided it
Have you looked into getting an Annual pass at Universal for room discounts, they send me an email every 3 months or so offering AP rate for Portofino from around $160/night

No, we missed it that year.. we went May and October......and had great weather both times.

We did go September 98 though and it rained and rained and rained...so much so that they actually put sand bags outside our room at Dixie Landings.... !!!

Thanks for the heads up about Universal.... it might be something we do in future...the front of the line access is really out of this world. You get the impression youre part of a very exclusive group!... and well i think thats a nice feeling on vacation... a little pampering
We were trying it out as have not been there since 98... now DS is 8 it was a perfect park for him.. and he is growing tired of disney as we have done it so many times!

Sounds like you had a great time too Wayne!

 

[jns]

Welcome back

was wondering did you drive or take a bus from Maimi
and how long did it take

 

[Pinky166]

Welcome back Sammie. Are you going to do a TR? I would love to hear more about it and see some pics.

 

[Snowy-girls]

Welcome back Sammie.Glad you had a good trip.x.

 

[wayneg]

Thanks for the heads up about Universal.... it might be something we do in future...the front of the line access is really out of this world. You get the impression youre part of a very exclusive group!... and well i think thats a nice feeling on vacation... a little pampering
We were trying it out as have not been there since 98... now DS is 8 it was a perfect park for him.. and he is growing tired of disney as we have done it so many times!

Sounds like you had a great time too Wayne!

Below is list of AP rates that were on offer for this Summer + bonus for staying 3 or more nights. Sometimes worth getting 1 AP in the family, other times not.

We used to get Front of line access with our AP, was annoyed they took the privelige away for us but don't miss it really, If we want to do the popular rides we get in early. I think longest line this trip was New Simpsons ride at 15 mins. Rides we wanted to do were mostly walk on. Main reason we do Uni is for Curious George water area, spent about 6 hours there again this trip

Yes had a great trip Thanks, can't wait to go back again in 7 weeks

On-site Loews Hotels

Stay On-Site During Extra Value Weeks and Get More Out of Your Vacation


Stay three nights or longer and receive a Universal Orlando® Resort Savings Guide with $150 in food and merchandise discounts throughout the resort, plus an AMC Movie Experience Pack^.

Loews Royal Pacific Resort from $134*
Hard Rock Hotel® from $139*
Loews Portofino Bay Hotel from $164*

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

Hi Sammie - we just arrived home from Miami yestereday, too, after three weeks.

We stayed at the Portofino when Fay hit - we were already booked in for one night from our villa just to get FOTL, but exended it when all the doom and gloom about the storm on the TV/radio got to us! Don't really know what all the fuss was about

Will be doing a mini trippy soon

 

[sandshal]

Can you believe we were at the Portofino on the 19th August too!!!!

 

[Netty]

glad you had a good time Sammie!

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Sounds good

 

[SammieG]

Hi Sammie - we just arrived home from Miami yestereday, too, after three weeks.

We stayed at the Portofino when Fay hit - we were already booked in for one night from our villa just to get FOTL, but exended it when all the doom and gloom about the storm on the TV/radio got to us! Don't really know what all the fuss was about

Will be doing a mini trippy soon

wow.. were you on our flight?? not sure how many BA flights there are.. but we travelled back on BA flight at 20.50

We were due to be at Portofino for 19th and 20th but changed our ressies when the storm hit... glad it was ok even with the storm

 

[disneyholic family]

welcome back!!

 

[Minniespal]

Sounds as though you had a lovely time Sammie.

Portofino is my fav Universal hotel. I just love everything about it.

 

[colmat]

Hi, do you mind saying what you paid for your flights and when you booked them? we wern`t supposed to be going next year but have booked for free dining for 10 nts from 23rd aug(couldn`t resist} really need to find cheaper flights but too early to check scheduled now and I would like an idea if its do-able or not

 

[wicket2005]

Glad you had a fantastic time.

I totally agree about staying onsite at Universal, it is a whole different experience. It meant no need to get to the parks early because of the FOTL passes plus you could go in at any time of the day and have no problem with lines. We have stayed at the RPR last year, this year HRH and are booked to go back to RPR next year. After staying at these resorts we have totally spoilt ourselves and don't want to stay anywhere else.

 

[SammieG]

Welcome back

was wondering did you drive or take a bus from Maimi
and how long did it take

We drove from Miami... and it took about three hours