The Cast: Me- (Disney and Universal Fan) 40
DH- ( Likes both but would like to vacation somewhere else for once! LOL) 40
DS- 14 ( Expensive tastes in food $$$$)
DS friend-14
DS- 11( Must see and buy everything in the shops)
DS friend-12
We spent 5 nights at the All Star Sports and then headed to the Hard Rock Hotel on 8/13/01.
We arrived at the HRH around 1 pm and headed to check in. There was no line but they were having a hard time finding rooms to meet our requests, (2 connecting rooms, smoking near pool, on first floor) After playing in the computer for a few minutes they found what we required but said the rooms wouldnt be ready till about 3 pm. Went to the changing rooms near the pool put on our suits and hit the pool. Kids really liked the slide and the large pool but were a little disapointed about how shallow the water was. I think the deepest part is only 4'6" and that is just a small section of the pool. The water felt great it was just the right temp (we all thought the water at the All Star Sports was just a bit too warm) after a hot day at the parks i want to cool off! After a swim the kids went to check out the arcade while we went to walk around the hotel. As everyone here has said we were not disapointed the HRH is a beautiful hotel. Great stuff to look at inside and wonderfully calming and beautiful landscaping outside near the pool ( we found the All Star Sports a bit too loud and crowded for our tastes) it was a nice change. The kids came back to report that there were good games in the arcade (and to get some $$$$$) they also found a pool table, ping pong table, shuffle board and GIANT LIFE SIZE CHESS! They really thought that was cool but i never did get a picture of it because i never had the camera with me at the right time. Sat by the pool with a perfect bloody mary made just the way i like it ( the bartender asked how spicy i wanted it) and even put extra green olives on the pick when i mentioned i liked olives in my BM's. Very nice quick service at the pool bar. I was impressed that the bartender seemed very aware of who was next to be served at the bar. People were spread out around the bar and he served them in the exact order of how we had arrived at the bar. Small thing to some people but i hate when you stand at a bar for 10 mins to get a drink and then someone else just walks up to another section and gets served first. So the HRH received another star in my book anyway. When 3 pm rolled around my DH went to make sure the rooms were ready and then came back to get the rest of us. Up to the room we went and WOWEE beautiful rooms and wonderfully comfortable beds and comforters. I think these are pretty close to the ones at the Portofino( we stayed there in January). The bathrooms are not the giant sized ones at the Portofino but everything you could need was there, makeup mirror, dryer, cotton balls and q-tips, lotion, body wash, shampoo, conditioner. I knew i would be sorry we were only staying 2 nights. We freshened up and relaxed a bit and then headed over to the city walk. We decided to see how long the walk was to citywalk and went out the gate by the pool and started walking. As others have said here it is a short walk and we had no problem.We walked around checked out the shops and stopped for a pizza. We then decided to go to a
movie so headed to movie theater. After the movie we stopped for some ice cream and walked back to the HRH just enjoying the beautiful scenery and plotting our next day at IOA.
Went back to our room took showers and watched a bit of TV before conking out for the night.
Tommorow is IOA.
DH- ( Likes both but would like to vacation somewhere else for once! LOL) 40
DS- 14 ( Expensive tastes in food $$$$)
DS friend-14
DS- 11( Must see and buy everything in the shops)
DS friend-12
We spent 5 nights at the All Star Sports and then headed to the Hard Rock Hotel on 8/13/01.
We arrived at the HRH around 1 pm and headed to check in. There was no line but they were having a hard time finding rooms to meet our requests, (2 connecting rooms, smoking near pool, on first floor) After playing in the computer for a few minutes they found what we required but said the rooms wouldnt be ready till about 3 pm. Went to the changing rooms near the pool put on our suits and hit the pool. Kids really liked the slide and the large pool but were a little disapointed about how shallow the water was. I think the deepest part is only 4'6" and that is just a small section of the pool. The water felt great it was just the right temp (we all thought the water at the All Star Sports was just a bit too warm) after a hot day at the parks i want to cool off! After a swim the kids went to check out the arcade while we went to walk around the hotel. As everyone here has said we were not disapointed the HRH is a beautiful hotel. Great stuff to look at inside and wonderfully calming and beautiful landscaping outside near the pool ( we found the All Star Sports a bit too loud and crowded for our tastes) it was a nice change. The kids came back to report that there were good games in the arcade (and to get some $$$$$) they also found a pool table, ping pong table, shuffle board and GIANT LIFE SIZE CHESS! They really thought that was cool but i never did get a picture of it because i never had the camera with me at the right time. Sat by the pool with a perfect bloody mary made just the way i like it ( the bartender asked how spicy i wanted it) and even put extra green olives on the pick when i mentioned i liked olives in my BM's. Very nice quick service at the pool bar. I was impressed that the bartender seemed very aware of who was next to be served at the bar. People were spread out around the bar and he served them in the exact order of how we had arrived at the bar. Small thing to some people but i hate when you stand at a bar for 10 mins to get a drink and then someone else just walks up to another section and gets served first. So the HRH received another star in my book anyway. When 3 pm rolled around my DH went to make sure the rooms were ready and then came back to get the rest of us. Up to the room we went and WOWEE beautiful rooms and wonderfully comfortable beds and comforters. I think these are pretty close to the ones at the Portofino( we stayed there in January). The bathrooms are not the giant sized ones at the Portofino but everything you could need was there, makeup mirror, dryer, cotton balls and q-tips, lotion, body wash, shampoo, conditioner. I knew i would be sorry we were only staying 2 nights. We freshened up and relaxed a bit and then headed over to the city walk. We decided to see how long the walk was to citywalk and went out the gate by the pool and started walking. As others have said here it is a short walk and we had no problem.We walked around checked out the shops and stopped for a pizza. We then decided to go to a
movie so headed to movie theater. After the movie we stopped for some ice cream and walked back to the HRH just enjoying the beautiful scenery and plotting our next day at IOA.
Went back to our room took showers and watched a bit of TV before conking out for the night.
Tommorow is IOA.
