crabbymom
Slythermom to 2 'claws and a Princess
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2012
Hello! Welcome to my first attempt at a trip report! I have gotten so much information from the reports here I wanted to throw my experience in the ring as well. I'll start with introductions:
Me (Rachel) - Single mom to two boys and a girl
Jarod - My oldest son (21)
Tyler - My younger son (16)
Katie - My daughter (7)
Michael - My brother
Peter - My Brother In Law
Jarod, Tyler and myself are Annual Pass holders. We fly down 4-6 times a year just for a few days whenever we can. Between Allegiant and Frontier Airlines I can usually find pretty cheap airfare just about all the time. We have stayed offsite on points, at Cabana Bay (twice this year) and Adventura (once). This time, with six of us going, we needed some more space. I snagged a pretty good passholder rate for a Kid Suite with a Connecting Queen at Sapphire Falls. That would essentially give us three bedrooms and two bathrooms...perfect. Plus, I had been dying to stay a SF for a while now (Thanks @schumigirl!). We always stop there for Strong Water Tavern and the water taxi, but now I actually wanted to stay there as well.
Michael and Peter had last been to Universal when Dueling Dragons was still there and Katie hadn't ever been that she remembered (she'd been, but she was a toddler.)
This would also be the first time (that she remembers) that she would be flying on an Airplane...her last time was actually in First Class to Las Vegas, so probably best that she does not have that to compare to on our Allegiant flight! We flew down late on a Thursday night...8:30pm departure/10pm arrival at Sanford.
I had booked a private van through Mears and he was waiting in baggage claim for us to arrive. We got to Sapphire Falls just after 11pm and everyone abandoned me to stand in line for check in while they went to Strong Water Tavern for beverages...to be fair, they brought me one in line!
The line to check in was surprisingly long for that late at night and it appeared that they only had two employees checking people in, however there were three...just one was being monopolized by a woman that was apparently not happy. The Universal employee handled the situation amazingly well and I was hoping he would check us in so I could be super nice to him to make up for her....anyone else do that? Well, it turned out that he was the one to check us in and he could not have been nicer or more accommodating. At nearly midnight with children in tow, we were all nearing our end, but he was so fun and funny and even the kids got into the spirit. Next it was time to drop the kids off in the room and head back for real drinks! I was really excited to see the Kid Suite with Connecting Queen...we were on level 4 which is the same level as the lobby and bar, building 2, rooms 83 & 85. Boy was that a long walk! But the Room!!!!
For some reason, I don't have a picture of the King room that is connected to the kid suite...but it looks just like the Queen Suite just with one bed. Since it was so late, I did not have a good idea of what our view would be, except I knew it was a pool view. Then we were off to Strong Water! I knew just what to ask for! Fool's Gold!!
Oh. My. Goodness!!! This drink can only be described as Divine!!! It will certainly be my go to drink from now on there. We ended up only staying for one drink since it was so late and we were planning on doing early entry the next morning so off to bed we went!
Stay Tuned!
Me (Rachel) - Single mom to two boys and a girl
Jarod - My oldest son (21)
Tyler - My younger son (16)
Katie - My daughter (7)
Michael - My brother
Peter - My Brother In Law
Jarod, Tyler and myself are Annual Pass holders. We fly down 4-6 times a year just for a few days whenever we can. Between Allegiant and Frontier Airlines I can usually find pretty cheap airfare just about all the time. We have stayed offsite on points, at Cabana Bay (twice this year) and Adventura (once). This time, with six of us going, we needed some more space. I snagged a pretty good passholder rate for a Kid Suite with a Connecting Queen at Sapphire Falls. That would essentially give us three bedrooms and two bathrooms...perfect. Plus, I had been dying to stay a SF for a while now (Thanks @schumigirl!). We always stop there for Strong Water Tavern and the water taxi, but now I actually wanted to stay there as well.
Michael and Peter had last been to Universal when Dueling Dragons was still there and Katie hadn't ever been that she remembered (she'd been, but she was a toddler.)
This would also be the first time (that she remembers) that she would be flying on an Airplane...her last time was actually in First Class to Las Vegas, so probably best that she does not have that to compare to on our Allegiant flight! We flew down late on a Thursday night...8:30pm departure/10pm arrival at Sanford.
I had booked a private van through Mears and he was waiting in baggage claim for us to arrive. We got to Sapphire Falls just after 11pm and everyone abandoned me to stand in line for check in while they went to Strong Water Tavern for beverages...to be fair, they brought me one in line!
The line to check in was surprisingly long for that late at night and it appeared that they only had two employees checking people in, however there were three...just one was being monopolized by a woman that was apparently not happy. The Universal employee handled the situation amazingly well and I was hoping he would check us in so I could be super nice to him to make up for her....anyone else do that? Well, it turned out that he was the one to check us in and he could not have been nicer or more accommodating. At nearly midnight with children in tow, we were all nearing our end, but he was so fun and funny and even the kids got into the spirit. Next it was time to drop the kids off in the room and head back for real drinks! I was really excited to see the Kid Suite with Connecting Queen...we were on level 4 which is the same level as the lobby and bar, building 2, rooms 83 & 85. Boy was that a long walk! But the Room!!!!
For some reason, I don't have a picture of the King room that is connected to the kid suite...but it looks just like the Queen Suite just with one bed. Since it was so late, I did not have a good idea of what our view would be, except I knew it was a pool view. Then we were off to Strong Water! I knew just what to ask for! Fool's Gold!!
Oh. My. Goodness!!! This drink can only be described as Divine!!! It will certainly be my go to drink from now on there. We ended up only staying for one drink since it was so late and we were planning on doing early entry the next morning so off to bed we went!
Stay Tuned!