Where are we, Jersey? Bye, Phoenicians! An August 2017 TR * NEW DINING/TR LINKS*

[Steppesister]

Not such a great start with it raining on your parade (in every literal and figurative way possible.). So sorry! But hey, some bright sunshiny spots, so not a total loss. Mickey waffles, lemon drops, queso... Nice!

 

[wdwnut61]

First that’s such great news about Ricky
That’s a bummer about the rain but glad your day ended with drinks

 

[DLHNYC]

I'm enjoying your TR so far! Looking forward to hearing about your visit to Universal. And I love your attitude -- when all else fails, head to the bar. And if there's no bar, find another one, and if you don't like the drinks at that one, find another one. Yes to prosecco!

 

[ariane37]

This is such awesome, news! I'm so happy for you guys!

Definitely good news earlier than we thought!

What?! Well at least you all rectified that later

Boy did we

Ugh...sorry about all the rain. Stupid Florida.

It IS stupid, right? Except Disney, of course

And the sucky food...man was hoping this time would be better.

I was really hoping it would be better too but sadly, not so much. One lunch especially (which I have no pictures of) was so bad and Cathy and I couldn't believe some people liked it

Awesome news! That seemed to go by fast. For me! I'm sure it didn't seem that way for you all!

I know it didn't go quick for Ricky and most of the time it seemed to go slow for me! However the end of P/T did come much sooner than I thought it would, I figured he'd be there until May so it's a pleasant surprise. Part of me always thought he'd do well on be on the "quicker" end of recovering but then another part of me was afraid to hope.

Ugh! We are having the same crap here. Thank goodness we didn't lose power, though a lot of people in town did. We are lucky enough to live in the one are with underground wires so we don't lose power as frequently

We came through unscathed Wednesday But now they're saying ANOTHER Nor'easter Sunday into Monday?? How about you?

I totally forgot to ride this in October Guess I didn't miss much.

IMO, no. Next time you're there do it just to say you've tried it, if you have time and lines aren't long, but to me it's just another simulator ride and nothing stood out. Of course I had my eyes shut for a good part of it lol.

I was laughing at that pic even before I saw you were laughing! It does look ridiculous!

I wanted to take pics of my food and I knew when I took this how weird it would look..............but it didn't stop me

This is awesome!! I'm so happy for Ricky! He must be putting in a lot of hard work to have made such a great recovery in such good time.

Thank you! He has worked harder than a kid his age should have to and I couldn't be prouder. It helped that he was in great shape to begin with but he never missed a p/t session, did his exercises at home religiously, and worked through the pain. He deserves a quicker recovery He just got back from 5 hours at the gym with his friends and I'm so happy he's back there with them! Nervous, but happy!

Uggh, gross!! We're supposed to get that system and/or another one next to it tonight into tomorrow, and neighbouring areas are supposed to get dumped on, but it looks like it may hopefully change over to rain at some point here. I'm done with snow at this point. I'm just worried snow may not be done with me. I hope you keep your power!!

I hope it missed you! We got almost 18 inches but managed to keep our power. Kids had off and then a 3 hour delay Thursday and now we're supposed to have another storm sometime next week

I guess Florida weather is nothing if not unpredictable.

um! I'm sure you weren't long getting that in your mouth!! ...teheh....

Ms. Meaghan I'm shocked!

Oh no! I was so looking forward to hearing about the parade again!! This must have been disappointing! But at least you'd done it before so you knew what it was like. The newbies didn't even know what they were missing.

Cathy, Pam and I were SO disappointed, but not as disappointed as everyone who had never been in the parade! And we are the only 3 in the agency who've done it before Universal seems to do this training every year so fingers crossed we have another change in 2019.

I know people in my school program like this. And we're all about that age, too. They infuriate me. The worst part is that, typically, they're also super nice. Ugh.

Luckily Traci was extremely sweet, so I overlooked her perfect-ness

 

[ariane37]

Congratulations! You will make a fantastic Grandma, or whatever your name will be. It is especially sweet to finally have a little girl in your family, although baby boys are cute, too.

Thank you, we couldn't be more excited! I definitely agree baby boys are adorable and I 'd be just as happy with a Grandson. However since I'm getting a Granddaughter I can say I'm exceptionally happy!!

The name of the sauces would scare me off, but I bet they tasted very good.

I felt that way the first time we ate at Sanaa and even the first time we ate at Boma. However having been there a few times I knew when we started going to Tiffins that I liked most "exotic" flavors. For instance I don't like all the dipping sauces that come with the bread service at Sanaa but I like enough of them that I enjoy getting it. I figured of the 3 sauces I'd like at least 1

I'm very happy for Ricky. I forgot what sports he participates in, but will he be able to do any summer sports?

He got injured playing football which he decided to try for the first time simply for the workout; he's a basketball player. He will definitely be able to participate in the summer workouts at school and work at the basketball camp that his school holds, which is actually a requirement for all JV and Varsity players. He MAY be able to do the summer league he always does if he gets the ok to return to sports from his surgeon by the beginning of July which will be 8 months after surgery. We go back to the surgeon in May which is 6 months and if he doesn't get the ok then, we'll go back the very beginning of July, so fingers crossed!

Your Universal day seems to be a lot less exciting than a day at Disney - just sayin'.

Much less exciting Given my job I really shouldn't say this.................but I'll take Disney over Universal any day

We just got back from a four night stay at the Wilderness Lodge. We have always loved that resort, but we love it even more now. It was our first time staying there since they opened the new villas pool and the remodeled Roaring Forks. We loved that new pool. We had a great time. We kept meeting people from Philadelphia when we were at Geyser Point. It was a funny coincidence

So glad you enjoyed your trip! I cannot wait to return 2 weeks from tomorrow, albeit on the CCV side. We aren't big fans of the revamped RF but LOVE GP and the new pool. How funny that you kept meeting folks from Philly!

We also saw several groups of mostly women who were touring the lodge. I thought they might be travel agents or something similar because they were dressed up a bit.

It's possible We don't necessarily have to dress up but we do need to look "neat".

All the words you want your doctor to say! Fantastic news!!!

Very

How are you fairing so far? It started snowing here about 1:00 and it coming down in HUGE Fat snowflakes!

We got about 18" on Wed. but didn't lose power Are they calling for another storm by you next week? First they were saying Monday for us but now it's moved to Wednesday.......

Is the Jaquar spitting water at the slide? Fun!

It spits on you as you go down. It's a really cool slide, my kids preferred it over the WL pool even though they like WL better than CSR

I have heard many just meh reviews on the Jimmy Fallon ride, Andi and I are going for one day in April to USO, do you think we should skip or try since we haven’t done it yet?

Hmmm.....well, if you don't like simulator rides in general then I say skip it. If you don't mind them you might want to do it to say you've done it, unless you're short on time. But if you skip it you won't be missing anything!

Glad you found a good bar area to spend your evening!

Oh so were we, believe me!

How nice for Barbie to just shake her head in the morning and have great hair, ahh The twenties such great years!

20's were VERY good for my hair lol, and my weight Otherwise not sure I'd go back ........

 

[ariane37]

Happy Anniversary too!!!!! I remembered, because it's Joe's 50th bday today too!!!!! CHEERS!

I can't believe you remembered, thank you And a very happy 50th to Joe!!!!

Not such a great start with it raining on your parade (in every literal and figurative way possible.). So sorry!

The one part of the day we were most looking forward to It was so awesome riding the floats last year and throwing beads out to the crowd, such a rush! And unfortunately they had plans for us the next night so we couldn't switch it around. But at least we'd done it before as opposed to everyone else.

First that’s such great news about Ricky

Thank you We're so thrilled with his progress and it's great to see him smiling again

That’s a bummer about the rain but glad your day ended with drinks

Best way to end a day lol

I'm enjoying your TR so far!

Thank you, so glad you're here!!

And I love your attitude -- when all else fails, head to the bar. And if there's no bar, find another one, and if you don't like the drinks at that one, find another one.

Now THIS would have been a fabulous TR title if I needed one lol. And I would have given you full credit After being forced to stay outside in the pouring rain no way were we going to bed without decent adult beverages!

 

[buzzrelly]

But now they're saying ANOTHER Nor'easter Sunday into Monday?? How about you?

Same! I'm so done with March! Come on April!!

Next time you're there

If I have a say in it, probably not for a loooonnnngggggg time!

 

[MeghanEmily]

I hope it missed you! We got almost 18 inches but managed to keep our power. Kids had off and then a 3 hour delay Thursday and now we're supposed to have another storm sometime next week

Uggh that sounds awful!! The roads have been pretty slushy and nasty here off and on the last few days, but we really did well to escape the worst of it. If I had to guess I'd say we got about 6-8 inches between the two storms, and the roads are already cleared up. *Knock on wood* we've had a pretty mild winter this year, compared to a couple of doozies the last few years. I'm hoping that the worst of it is over now, but you never know with March. I hope you don't get too much snow with the next storm!! You will be soo ready to get to Florida soon!

Cathy, Pam and I were SO disappointed, but not as disappointed as everyone who had never been in the parade! And we are the only 3 in the agency who've done it before Universal seems to do this training every year so fingers crossed we have another change in 2019.

I hope you get another chance next year! It's really cool that they do that.

Luckily Traci was extremely sweet, so I overlooked her perfect-ness

I'm sure she appreciated it. It must be hard to be so perfect all the time.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

We got about 18" on Wed. but didn't lose power Are they calling for another storm by you next week? First they were saying Monday for us but now it's moved to Wednesday.......

Right now they are saying no snow for us. fingers crossed it stays that way! We will see.

It spits on you as you go down. It's a really cool slide, my kids preferred it over the WL pool even though they like WL better than CSR

I would say, the pool is the one thing I am not too too impressed with at Wilderness Lodge. The side is kind of boring.

 

[ariane37]

I would say, the pool is the one thing I am not too too impressed with at Wilderness Lodge. The side is kind of boring.

Agreed. I love love LOVE WL as you know and I think the pool is very pretty; I enjoyed hanging out there last August. But the slide isn't great for older kids. Not thrilled with the new RF either but GP and Territory Lounge make up for that

 

[kastoney]

He's at the gym, and I'm happy to report that just shy of 4 months since surgery, Thursday is his last day of physical therapy WHOO!!

WHOOOO-HOOOOOOOOO indeed!!!!! So happy to hear he is doing so well and hopefully basketball is right around the corner!

In other news, we lost power Friday morning through late Saturday afternoon because of a rather huge snowstorm we had. There are still lots of people here without power and tomorrow we're supposed to get hit with another Nor'easter......I got the text about 3 hours ago that they cancelled school for tomorrow. I'm fine with that, as long as my power stays on!

Hope the second storm wasn't too bad and you all faired it well. Looks like you may be in for another one tomorrow so stay warm.

After we ate we took a final stroll through Panchitos gift shop where they were just starting to fill the pastry case, so I took a picture of these cute PB Cups:

They'd "kill" me if I ate them but dang those look good!

We needed to check in at our Universal resort, Sapphire Falls, by 12:45 and then be in the training room by 1:00. We were thinking we might grab something to eat before 1:00 also, so we said good-bye to Disney around 11:00 and Ubered over to US (I feel so YOUNG and vibrant saying I Ubered!!!)

I'm apparently young and vibrant and didn't even know it

And this I was NOT happy about at all. As we walked over it begun to pour. POUR! We had gotten a poncho in our Universal backpacks we were given so I put that on and it promptly ripped right up the middle. Now I have to hold it together in front. I also have a big, ugly, non Disney Dooney & Bourke purse since we weren't allowed to have anything Disney there that I'm trying to keep dry since it only had a snap closure. Then on top of that, I have the big clunky Universal backpack that I put my jacket in, because even though it was raining it was muggy with the poncho on. I didn't think the backpack was waterproof so I'm holding the poncho together and trying to keep both bags under it Needless to say I took zero pics. I KNOW! I'm mad at me, too!

Yikes!!!! This does not sound like a good experience at all.

THERE WAS NO BAR

​

Um, what?

What restaurant does not have a bar????????? That makes zero sense.

Well. The drink menu at the Amatista bar was awesome. And it was barely crowded! There were a decent amount of people eating dinner at tables but of the 8 barstools only 2 were taken. The bartender Jose was great and this wasn't the only time we'd grace him with our presence

Glad you finally got some much needed sustenance!

Which were Lemon Drop shots. Then she got us some more......and eventually we all made it back to our rooms

Speaking of sustenance, impressive! Not sure I buy uber making you young and vibrant but a good old fashioned shot should do the trick

 

[ariane37]

UP NEXT: DAY 2 PART ONE:
RESORT TOURS! MORE PICTURES THAN ANY OF YOU COULD WANT TO SEE!
​

We had to be up pretty early the next morning to begin our first full day of training, which we started with breakfast at Amatista Cookhouse. If you remember, this is where Pam, Cathy and I hung our hats the night before and it's located on the lower level of Sapphire Falls. I met them in the lobby and we went downstairs around 7:30, as we needed to be done by 8:15.

Amatista offers a breakfast buffet as well as a regular menu, but for our group we were all getting the buffet. I didn't do great taking pictures but here are a few:




A few more pastries:



And another shot of the same table #Ilovecarbs



The rest of the buffet wasn't much to talk about and of all these pastries the only thing that was GOOD was the chocolate pound cake above. They had all the normal breakfast buffet stuff; the fruit was really good and fresh but everything else was......nothing special. Those little cinnamon rolls in the top picture? They are nowhere near the caliber of Disney cinnamon rolls!

I thought these were cute on the table:



Mini hot sauce and ketchup bottles!

I was unimpressed with breakfast but it wasn't necessarily bad, just not special and not someplace I'd choose to go to again should I find myself at Sapphire Falls.
Full and getting close to meeting time we went back upstairs and split into our groups, meaning I left Cathy and Pam My group was pretty cool though, besides Traci my boss (and her mom) were in it and really all the agents were nice. Today we were touring all the Universal/Leows resorts with the exception of one - the Hard Rock Hotel. This sucked because on our training trip last year we also toured them all but HRH so the 3 of us had been hoping to get there.

We didn't really "tour" Sapphire Falls since we were staying there, we just hung in the lobby a bit while our guide talked a little about the resort. Next stop was my favorite from last year, Royal Pacific Resort!

I'm sure I'm preaching to half the choir here but RPR is one of the 3 Universal resorts that includes Express Pass with your stay. We took our own private bus over to the resort which even had a little sign in the window with our agency name on it

And begun our tour outside. While Universal does offer shuttle service to the parks from its resorts it also offers a water taxi from all but Cabana Bay; this is the path down to the water taxi at RPR:



And this is the covered area where they do their security check before you get on the water taxi. I will say, and I said this last year, Universal really does their security quickly and efficiently.
And if you haven't figured it out, RPR is themed similar to the Poly with a South Pacific vibe.



Next we checked out the pool area. This was around 9 am so not anyone swimming, and it was also pretty chilly.




Kids area:



You can't really get it from my pictures but this resort is very pretty with lots of cool foliage outside. Unfortunately lots of it was dead One of the older agents commented on this and asked our guide why so much of the foliage was dead and hadn't been replaced and the guide said it was because of the hurricane (6 months prior). Didn't really make much sense but whatever, just a difference some of us noticed between Uni and Disney.

On to the inside and my absolute favorite part of this resort!! The fountain in the garden area, as seen from the lobby:







Those are real elephants Ok maybe not. However this fountain is the first thing that made me fall in love with RPR and decide that IF we ever stay on property, it would be here.

Ready for some room pics? Because coming up next is just the start!
Continued in next post

​

 

[ariane37]

DAY 2 PART TWO
RESORT TOURS CONTINUED​

Now that we were inside we were taken up to an empty room to have a look around. Along the way we were able to ask any questions we had about the resort.

Here's a standard room:



A little sitting area by the window:










View out the window. First we were told this is a lake view room but then our guide corrected herself and said it's actually a pool view, because the chairs are from the pool area.




I think these rooms are super pretty! However our next stop, even though I'd visited here during our training last year, changed my mind this time as far as which resort is my favorite. After we finished up at Royal Pacific, we moved from the South Pacific to Italy and toured
Portofino Resort!

Before I get to the room pics I'll share some from out back in the courtyard. It's modeled after Portofino, Italy, and while I've never been there nor did I google pictures after visiting the resort, it's absolutely gorgeous nonetheless:



The buildings are shops and restaurants and over to the left in this picture is the dock for the water taxi (with the green awning):



We toured outside for awhile which we'd done last year, so again we passed both pools, the bocce court, the gardens, etc. I didn't take as many pictures this time as I wish I did since this resort is just gorgeous all around, but here's the main pool:



Finally we went inside to the rooms. Last year we toured a Minion family suite which was adorable, but this year we saw a regular room which cemented in my mind that Portofino would be the first Universal resort we'll stay at if we do ever stay on property:



These rooms are so spacious!




PORTOFINO PICS CONTINUED IN NEXT POST

​

 

[ariane37]

DAY 2 PART THREE
RESORT TOURS CONTINUED​

Here are a couple more from the Portofino room:



On the other side of those shutters is the bathroom, and right below the window in the bathroom....



Is the tub.



This is another resort that includes EP with your stay and is normally priced higher than RPR, and you can see why. It's not NOT kid-friendly and I'd probably really only stay here if it's just Steve and I because there are other resorts on property I think the kids will like better but it's just so gorgeous and relaxing.

But, who relaxes in Disney? (oops, I mean Universal )


We had one more resort to tour but I'm saving that so you guys don't throw your computers out the window.

UP NEXT: DAY 2 PART FOUR
CABANA BAY RESORT

 

[ariane37]

WHOOOO-HOOOOOOOOO indeed!!!!! So happy to hear he is doing so well and hopefully basketball is right around the corner!

THANK YOU He's been "playing" almost every day since the therapist said he can "do anything as long as he doesn't try anything stupid" lol. Yeah, real easy for an almost 16 year old boy to do

Hope the second storm wasn't too bad and you all faired it well. Looks like you may be in for another one tomorrow so stay warm.

We did good during the 2nd storm, and yup right now we're supposed to get something Tuesday. Not sure if it'll be enough for a snow day or just a delay, but the kids are out of snow days so this will make their Memorial Day break a day shorter.

What restaurant does not have a bar????????? That makes zero sense.

It's stupidity at it's finest. I should have called you right then and there to come get me

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Those are real elephants Ok maybe not. However this fountain is the first thing that made me fall in love with RPR and decide that IF we ever stay on property, it would be here.

I want to swim with the elephants!They look like they are having fun!

 

[DLo]

Darn it - staying at hard rock in May with my brother and his family - so was hoping to get your opinion. It will first time at Universal for all of us. I must say I like the way the other hotels look so hopefully Hard Rock will be as nice ? I am worried about food though. You don’t seem to have had much luck there

 

[Raeven]

I thought these were cute on the table:

I love mini condiments!

I was unimpressed with breakfast but it wasn't necessarily bad, just not special and not someplace I'd choose to go to again should I find myself at Sapphire Falls.

Same. I wish you got to check out Islands the buffet is so much better.

You can't really get it from my pictures but this resort is very pretty with lots of cool foliage outside. Unfortunately lots of it was dead One of the older agents commented on this and asked our guide why so much of the foliage was dead and hadn't been replaced and the guide said it was because of the hurricane (6 months prior). Didn't really make much sense but whatever, just a difference some of us noticed between Uni and Disney.

While 6 months is awhile there was quite a bit of damage after the hurricane (we were there the following week) and a lot of trees down etc, even by Dec a lot of it was cleared away.

Before I get to the room pics I'll share some from out back in the courtyard. It's modeled after Portofino, Italy, and while I've never been there nor did I google pictures after visiting the resort

I've seen a picture before, and it's spot on! I love Portofino.

Finally we went inside to the rooms. Last year we toured a Minion family suite which was adorable, but this year we saw a regular room which cemented in my mind that Portofino would be the first Universal resort we'll stay at if we do ever stay on property:

I know you only toured this one kind of room, but do you know if king bed rooms are completely different? I don't think we booked a king bed room when we stayed but the room we got had a king bed, and it also had a full bathroom (like an entire room with a toilet on one side of the room, a long sink and mirror area, and a big shower/tub on the other). It was really nice, but looking at this bathroom looked nothing like it, so now I'm confused about what kind of room we had But it was really nice so I'm glad!

 

[wdwnut61]

Thanks so much for the great pics.
I had heard good things about their security.
I’m glad we can do that before getting to the parks.
I agree the fountain at RPH is so pretty.
PBH is gorgeous I want to try HRH in November if we can get a good rate.

 

[kittylady1972]

Loving your reviews so far, but let me add something here. We've stayed onsite at Universal TWICE now. We stayed at Portofino Bay the first time for 3 or 4 nights and while you mentioned you didn't think it would be as kid friendly, I have to disagree. We really loved it, especially the pool area or AREAS as we used both of them. The rooms were so much more spacious also. We even had a character meal there (more like a chance character encounter but it was still cool). We only stayed at RPR once, and it was only for a night, so perhaps I didn't get time to compare as much as we didn't use any of the facilities there other than eat at a restaurant the night we arrived. Still I loved walking around Portofino Bay, but I do think the walk to/from the parks was closer at RPR.

And sucks (again) about the food.