Saturday, September 10th
Even though I did not get to sleep until 2 am my peepers were wide awake at 7am. I’am typically a early riser and I thought since I did not go to sleep until the wee hours of the morning I would sleep in. Didn’t happen.
The curtains in the room when pulled together are awesome and offer complete darknesss even on the sunniest days, but even that was not going to keep me sleeping this morning.
I had a mission this early morning. I tried not to make to much noise getting ready as not to wake my sister, but she woke up. I told her I was going go to Walmart on Turkey Lake Road and then find a car wash to spray the Lovebug carnage off my SUV.
I drove through some areas with lovebugs on the way up to Universal from my house on Thursday. These bugs will not wash off with regular window washing fluid and they do not come off your vehicle easily.
Along with the above issues the fluids from said bugs becomes acidic and will do serious damage to a cars paint if not sprayed off in a timely manner.
I left and headed to Walmart on Turkey Lake Road. I like to go there in the early morning as it is very easy to get in and shop and get out. If you go in the afternoon or evening it is a madhouse.
This Walmart is very popular and convenient to the Resorts at Universal and the Hotels in the Disney Spring area.
When I got out of the car at Walmart I got a good look at the front of my SUV and it was covered with lovebugs. So the next stop had to be a car wash.
I picked up some water, diet drinks, fruit and some chips and crackers.
After getting my supply’s from Walmart I continued on Turkey lake Road. As you continue on it eventually turns into Palm parkway.
I stopped at the Starbucks drive thru for my Pumpkin cream cold brew and while I was waiting I searched for a car wash on my phone.
There were a couple of very small car washes located just a few blocks away on SR 535, but I needed a heavy duty car wash with a spray hose I could spray with and there weren’t any around.
So drove down 535 E for a few miles and stopped to fill up my tank at a gas station. I asked a lady in the gas staton if knew of any car washes around.
She suggested I drive down make a left on 192 which was about 3 miles away and there would be a large car wash there. So I made the trip down 192 eventually found the carwash and they were busy. I wasn‘t the only one getting lovebugs off their vehicles.
After the car wash I headed back to the resort.
I brought the snacks and some of the drinks up to the room. With the car being sheltered from the sun in the garage I figured we could bring more drinks in as needed as I could not carry that many with the other things I had bought.
When I arrived to the room my sister and I got ready for pool time. It was about 10:30 am. We gathered our needed sunscreen, books, sunglasses etc and off to the pool we went.
There are 3 pools at Portofino. The Beach Pool, The Villa pool and the Hillside Pool.
We decided on the Villa Pool as the Beach Pool can be a bit busier and it is really geared to appeal to everyone but more so families and kiddo’s. They do a lot of fun games and trivia. Also the slide is at the beach pool. I have been down that slide and it is fun.
The Villa pool is more laid back. You usually see more adults there, but kids to come in with their parents at times.
You do use your room key to get into the pool areas.
Once we walked through the gate there was iced fruit water and cups for you to use. There were also plenty of chair towels for the beach chairs and plenty of regular towels.
We found a spot with a couple of umbrellas. It was nice because one of the chairs was on the outside more and I could get some sun.
We enjoyed some reading and I was able to swim a few laps.
After a nice swim I headed back to my chair to prop my leg up and rest.
Around noon we were thinking about some lunch. There had been a very nice pool attendant who had bought around some frozen grapes to everyone at about 11. That was a nice touch.
We were told that there were not enough waiters today so if we wanted food we could mobile order it and pick it up at Splendido at Beach Pool. The Beach and Villa pool are pretty much right across from each other. You walk out of the gate of the Villa pool and across the walk and there is the Beach Pool.
We just left our things on the chairs and walked over to the beach pool sat down at one of the tables and ordered our food.
We decided to order three things and do a sampling meal.
The mozzarella sticks
A Turkey club. This is my favorite sandwich from Splendido.
And the Nacho’s
Everything was delicious and there was food left over, but thats ok. Sometimes it is just nice to have variety. Bryan our waiter was fantastic.
After lunch it was back to the pool for more reading and relaxing. Total pool diva mode…..LOL
At about 3 pm the storm clouds started moving in from the northwest in earnest and the pool attendant came around and ask everyone to exit the pool. Then 15 minutes later he returned and said do to impending storm and possible lightening the pool was closing.
We gathered our towels to put in used towel bin and headed back to the room for shower and bath and a nap.
I thought since this day had been so laid back and picture short I would share a few past photos from my travels to Universal. It is off topic, but hope you like it.
What made me think of these photos in particular was the recent passing of Robbie Coltrane who portrayed Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies. He was a fantastic actor and will be forever remembered as a gentle giant and true friend of Harry and his pals.
May he rest in peace.
A few years ago Universal was doing a yearly Celebration of Harry Potter week. If I remember correctly it was held around the first week of February. During this time some of the stars of the Potter films would be there and there were special presentations and events to attend. Like HHN this event had special events that were separately ticketed.
People came dressed up in their favorite Potter characters. I went one year and it was awesome.
I remember running into a family checking into Portofino that included grandma, mom and two teenage granddaughters who were all in their Potter robes checking in for the event. It was touching to see a family enjoying time together. JK Rowling really created something special for all ages for sure.
There was a guy there dressed as Delores Umbridge. I couldn’t believe his awesome costume. He looked at me and said you want a photo with me and I said heck yes….LOL
And yes he had heels on.
A guy dressed up as Professor Snape and next to him is Bellatrix Lestrange
And this couple came as Arthur and Molly Weasley
It was so sad when this event stopped. Not sure why.
to be continued