WDW, DCL and DL- arent you jealous!!
Cast Me, Wendy, 32, High School Biology teacher from Aberdeen, Scotland
Doreen aka mum, 67, retired
Yes just reading the title must make you so jealous but bear in mind I have saved all year for this. Mum and I always vacation together since my dad died. We have a great system- I pay and she drives. We get on very well- she is as big a Disney nut as I am.
I have posted all the trip on the trip report board but include here only details of our HRH stay.
Tuesday 17th July
Checked out of the timeshare and checked into the Hard Rock Hotel by 9.30am. They saw my Loews card and asked me what gift I wanted. I also asked for the bathrobes to be in my room. Unfortunately I had to phone and ask for them to be delivered.
Of course our room wasnt ready but we got our all important room keys for FOTL access. I had got the entertainment rate for the garden view room so it only cost $117.50- well worth it for the perks.
We headed to IOA and did Cat in the Hat and One fish, two fish. The keys worked like magic and werent those in line jealous! Loved the new Poseidons Fury- it made much more sense now. I plucked up the courage to do Duelling Dragons and loved it. It was getting near lunch time so did Spiderman (walking past a 90min line). We had lunch at the Latin Quarter and then headed back to the hotel. Our room was ready and Brad- one of the brilliant bellman took our luggage down to our room. What an awesome room- all white with blue throw pillows on the beds. As for the beds- so comfortable. There was a CD player and we had been given a CD at check in. The toiletries were great- all with one word on them- the shampoo, rinse, the lotion, skin, the pencil, write etc. I was fully expecting the spare toilet roll to have something on the grey cover but it didnt!
We got dressed for the pool but just when I got the towels a thunderstorm erupted. So we retreated to the Beach club bar- what hardship! The pool is amazing. Loads of loungers and a great pool slide which adults can go on. And yes you can hear the music under the water.
We were rather late leaving our room so we missed the turndown service- you just have to phone for it. They did give us 4 of the inaugural magnets though which are now on our fridge.
We headed back to IOA and I did the fire side of dragons- think I prefer the ice side. Also did the Seuss Landing rides again. We viewed the fireworks from the lagoon- they were good and the music really complimented them.
Next we went for a meal at the Hard Rock Café. I had applied for an All Access card on the internet and had been given $10 free credit and because it was my birthday month I was also given another $10. So this meal was free, despite having onion ring , burger and a sundae.
Wednesday 18th July
I was down at the pool at 8.30am. There are few elevators in the hotel and if like us you are in the far wings of the hotel it is easier to go out the fire exits to go the pool or the parks. Just remember to take your room key to get back in.
We headed to the water rides at IOA. You get totally soaked so we just planned to do those. Of course we did spiderman first. Then Dudley Do right and then the raft ride. Soaked we went to Jurassic Park and got even wetter. Ravishing after all our effort we went Blondies and had the Dagwood special. When we arrived back in our room the TV was on and the beanies mum had bought had the remote control.
The next logical move was the pool. A very relaxing few hours was spent here. We wanted to explore Portofino so we walked along the waterway. What a gorgeous hotel. We had a panino at Sals and explored the shops. Rather than walk back we took the water taxi to City walk and the water taxi to our hotel.
Earlier there had been a message on our phone telling me to pick up something at the front desk. It was an invitation to the Managers reception. What fun we had. There were only about 15 guests, lots of drinks and canapés. We had a long chat with Lou, the manager and Greg the guest services manager as well as the executive chef. We ended up staying there for about 3 hours. They were gauging peoples opinions- what a nice way to do it. When we arrived back at our room the room was decorated with the light up torches- my great niece loves them
I went back to Universal, in the rain and did Men in Black for the first time, then Jaws and Kong. The fireworks there were very good also.
I grabbed some cinnamon sticks and pastries from City Walk and headed back to the hotel.
Thursday 19th July
We had a late check out of 2pm, so I headed to the pool before we went to Universal. We both did MIB- I got the highest score! Then headed to IOA. After all the great recommendations we had to try Mythos. What a gorgeous restaurant. We had a salad, wood fired pizza and cheesecake for $20 including tip. We wouldnt have been much less at a counter service restaurant and this was so much more relaxing. Our last ride was spiderman- bypassing a 90 min queue.
Back to the room to find our keys wouldnt work- fortunately a security guard let us in- he did phone the front desk to check it was our room. Then unfortunately it was time to leave. No problem until we had to swipe the room key to leave the car park. Well it wouldnt work and it seemed to take forever before somebody came to let us out. Meanwhile a queue was building up behind us!
This hotel was so worth the money! We both loved our stay and are still speaking about the room. We could have stayed at the hotel the whole stay but that would have been a waste of the FOTL perk!
Cast Me, Wendy, 32, High School Biology teacher from Aberdeen, Scotland
Doreen aka mum, 67, retired
Yes just reading the title must make you so jealous but bear in mind I have saved all year for this. Mum and I always vacation together since my dad died. We have a great system- I pay and she drives. We get on very well- she is as big a Disney nut as I am.
I have posted all the trip on the trip report board but include here only details of our HRH stay.
Tuesday 17th July
Checked out of the timeshare and checked into the Hard Rock Hotel by 9.30am. They saw my Loews card and asked me what gift I wanted. I also asked for the bathrobes to be in my room. Unfortunately I had to phone and ask for them to be delivered.
Of course our room wasnt ready but we got our all important room keys for FOTL access. I had got the entertainment rate for the garden view room so it only cost $117.50- well worth it for the perks.
We headed to IOA and did Cat in the Hat and One fish, two fish. The keys worked like magic and werent those in line jealous! Loved the new Poseidons Fury- it made much more sense now. I plucked up the courage to do Duelling Dragons and loved it. It was getting near lunch time so did Spiderman (walking past a 90min line). We had lunch at the Latin Quarter and then headed back to the hotel. Our room was ready and Brad- one of the brilliant bellman took our luggage down to our room. What an awesome room- all white with blue throw pillows on the beds. As for the beds- so comfortable. There was a CD player and we had been given a CD at check in. The toiletries were great- all with one word on them- the shampoo, rinse, the lotion, skin, the pencil, write etc. I was fully expecting the spare toilet roll to have something on the grey cover but it didnt!
We got dressed for the pool but just when I got the towels a thunderstorm erupted. So we retreated to the Beach club bar- what hardship! The pool is amazing. Loads of loungers and a great pool slide which adults can go on. And yes you can hear the music under the water.
We were rather late leaving our room so we missed the turndown service- you just have to phone for it. They did give us 4 of the inaugural magnets though which are now on our fridge.
We headed back to IOA and I did the fire side of dragons- think I prefer the ice side. Also did the Seuss Landing rides again. We viewed the fireworks from the lagoon- they were good and the music really complimented them.
Next we went for a meal at the Hard Rock Café. I had applied for an All Access card on the internet and had been given $10 free credit and because it was my birthday month I was also given another $10. So this meal was free, despite having onion ring , burger and a sundae.
Wednesday 18th July
I was down at the pool at 8.30am. There are few elevators in the hotel and if like us you are in the far wings of the hotel it is easier to go out the fire exits to go the pool or the parks. Just remember to take your room key to get back in.
We headed to the water rides at IOA. You get totally soaked so we just planned to do those. Of course we did spiderman first. Then Dudley Do right and then the raft ride. Soaked we went to Jurassic Park and got even wetter. Ravishing after all our effort we went Blondies and had the Dagwood special. When we arrived back in our room the TV was on and the beanies mum had bought had the remote control.
The next logical move was the pool. A very relaxing few hours was spent here. We wanted to explore Portofino so we walked along the waterway. What a gorgeous hotel. We had a panino at Sals and explored the shops. Rather than walk back we took the water taxi to City walk and the water taxi to our hotel.
Earlier there had been a message on our phone telling me to pick up something at the front desk. It was an invitation to the Managers reception. What fun we had. There were only about 15 guests, lots of drinks and canapés. We had a long chat with Lou, the manager and Greg the guest services manager as well as the executive chef. We ended up staying there for about 3 hours. They were gauging peoples opinions- what a nice way to do it. When we arrived back at our room the room was decorated with the light up torches- my great niece loves them
I went back to Universal, in the rain and did Men in Black for the first time, then Jaws and Kong. The fireworks there were very good also.
I grabbed some cinnamon sticks and pastries from City Walk and headed back to the hotel.
Thursday 19th July
We had a late check out of 2pm, so I headed to the pool before we went to Universal. We both did MIB- I got the highest score! Then headed to IOA. After all the great recommendations we had to try Mythos. What a gorgeous restaurant. We had a salad, wood fired pizza and cheesecake for $20 including tip. We wouldnt have been much less at a counter service restaurant and this was so much more relaxing. Our last ride was spiderman- bypassing a 90 min queue.
Back to the room to find our keys wouldnt work- fortunately a security guard let us in- he did phone the front desk to check it was our room. Then unfortunately it was time to leave. No problem until we had to swipe the room key to leave the car park. Well it wouldnt work and it seemed to take forever before somebody came to let us out. Meanwhile a queue was building up behind us!
This hotel was so worth the money! We both loved our stay and are still speaking about the room. We could have stayed at the hotel the whole stay but that would have been a waste of the FOTL perk!
