First solo trip (I guess this is now a trip report)

[Charade67]

Thanks everyone. I’ll try to post before I go to bed tonight.

 

[Charade67]

Quick post before I go to sleep.
Woke up at 4:30 this morning after waking up at 1:00 and 3:00. Got to the airport just after 7:00 for a 9:00 flight. I had to fly to Charlotte, NC and then to Orlando. Both flights were uneventful although I had a 3 hour layover in Charlotte. I discovered that you can rent little rooms in the airport where you can take a nap. It was tempting, but a little pricey.

I used Tony Hinds for my transportation to the hotel. He picked me up himself (I was a new client) and took me to Publix and then the hotel. We had a very nice conversation alone the way. I will definitely use his service again.

I checked in and decided to relax a little before dinner. I have a very nice view from my room.



I met Lynne G, Sue M, Bobbie68 and her husband for dinner at Amatista. It was really nice to meet some of the people I have been posting with for the past 4 years and to put faces to the names. We talked for several hours, but unfortunately forgot to take a picture.

Well, it’s late and I need to get some sleep. I’m going to try to do early entry tomorrow, but not certain that will happen.

 

[Robo56]

I met Lynne G, Sue M, Bobbie68 and her husband for dinner at Amatista. It was really nice to meet some of the people I have been posting with for the past 4 years and to put faces to the names. We talked for several hours, but unfortunately forgot to take a picture.

Charade that is a nice view from your window.

So nice to hear you were able to meet up with Lynne, Sue, Bobbie68 and her hubby.

 

[macraven]

It is always so much fun to meet homies
You can put a face with a name at that point

Had a lovely chat with Sue M and disxuni yesterday!

 

[Charade67]

I meant to do some posting while I was actually at the resort, but sleep won out in the end.

I want to post some more room pictures. Sapphire Falls was a really nice hotel. I stayed on the third floor, guesthouse 2, with a lagoon view.







My favorite part of the room was the lighted mirror in the bathroom.



I discovered that if you touch this square


You can make the light brighter, dimmer, or turn it off completely. (Little things amuse me.) I used the dimmest setting as a nightlight.

The one thing about the hotel that confused me was the layout. I was on the third floor, the lobby is on the fourth floor, Amatista and the exit to the water taxi was on the first floor. If I took the guesthouse 2 elevator to the 1st floor I could not get to the restaurant or exit. I had to take the elevator (or stairs) to the 4th floor lobby and then use the lobby elevator (or stairs) down to the 1st floor. If there was a way to use the guesthouse elevator to get to the 1st floor restaurant would someone please enlighten me?

I only have one minor complaint about my stay and that is that I didn't get housekeeping service yesterday.

I mentioned before that I met a few of the Disboard members for dinner at Amatista. That was a fun night. Lynne G brought me a nice little gift of Halloween candy and a cute fabric ornament. Sue M and I did some trading. I brought her a Scooby Doo shirt and she brought me some coffee I can't get where I live.


I think everyone enjoyed their food ay Amatista. I ordered the Jamaican Spiced Chicken Pasta. It was very good and not too spicy.
We ended up talking for about 3 hours that night. When I finally got back to my room I had intended to post, but instead went to sleep. I wanted to attempt early entry the next morning.

 

[J'aime Paris]

Lovely view from your room!

Awesome meet up with the SANS people!!

Did you end up at Strong Water Tavern during your stay?

 

[Charade67]

Did you end up at Strong Water Tavern during your stay?

I don’t drink alcohol, so no Strong Water for me. If the others had wanted to go I would have joined them and had a Coke, but we all stayed at Amatista for several hours.

 

[J'aime Paris]

I don’t drink alcohol, so no Strong Water for me. If the others had wanted to go I would have joined them and had a Coke, but we all stayed at Amatista for several hours.

Yes, they do have some yummy cocktails!

But they also serve some wonderful food, and delish desserts!

 

[Charade67]

I didn’t even think about looking at the food. I’ll file that away for next time.

 

[schumigirl]

I meant to do some posting while I was actually at the resort, but sleep won out in the end.

I want to post some more room pictures. Sapphire Falls was a really nice hotel. I stayed on the third floor, guesthouse 2, with a lagoon view.

View attachment 610196

View attachment 610197

View attachment 610199

My favorite part of the room was the lighted mirror in the bathroom.

View attachment 610204

I discovered that if you touch this square
View attachment 610205

You can make the light brighter, dimmer, or turn it off completely. (Little things amuse me.) I used the dimmest setting as a nightlight.

The one thing about the hotel that confused me was the layout. I was on the third floor, the lobby is on the fourth floor, Amatista and the exit to the water taxi was on the first floor. If I took the guesthouse 2 elevator to the 1st floor I could not get to the restaurant or exit. I had to take the elevator (or stairs) to the 4th floor lobby and then use the lobby elevator (or stairs) down to the 1st floor. If there was a way to use the guesthouse elevator to get to the 1st floor restaurant would someone please enlighten me?

I only have one minor complaint about my stay and that is that I didn't get housekeeping service yesterday.

I mentioned before that I met a few of the Disboard members for dinner at Amatista. That was a fun night. Lynne G brought me a nice little gift of Halloween candy and a cute fabric ornament. Sue M and I did some trading. I brought her a Scooby Doo shirt and she brought me some coffee I can't get where I live.
View attachment 610209

I think everyone enjoyed their food ay Amatista. I ordered the Jamaican Spiced Chicken Pasta. It was very good and not too spicy.
We ended up talking for about 3 hours that night. When I finally got back to my room I had intended to post, but instead went to sleep. I wanted to attempt early entry the next morning.

Nice room! And yes, sleep is good!

Yes, the layout is quite original with how you can`t get directly to the exit for the boats or Amatista directly. You get used to it though.

You got some nice gifts, how lovely.

Amatista is nice, but certainly consider Strong Water for next time.....food is so good, and you can get plenty of non alcoholic offerings.......or so I`m told.....lol.....we do love Sapphire Falls, I`m glad you enjoyed your stay.

 

[Charade67]

Nice room! And yes, sleep is good!

Yes, the layout is quite original with how you can`t get directly to the exit for the boats or Amatista directly. You get used to it though.

You got some nice gifts, how lovely.

Amatista is nice, but certainly consider Strong Water for next time.....food is so good, and you can get plenty of non alcoholic offerings.......or so I`m told.....lol.....we do love Sapphire Falls, I`m glad you enjoyed your stay.

The layout was definitely weird, but not a deal breaker.
I’ll go to Strong Water if there are others who want to go. I don’t think I would want to go alone. I just realized that aside from breakfast (which was small and quick) I only ate one meal alone.

I’m keeping all the candy that Lynne gave me for myself, but the coffee is for my husband.

 

[Pumpkin1172]

You had a great room and view!

That so thoughtful of @Sue M to bring you some Timmy's coffee. When I seen the picture I was like " WHERE did she find tim's coffee in Orlando

I would love to see Strong Water. DH doesn't drink, and I'm not a huge drinker, but it would be nice to experience if we could fit it into a trip. I wouldn't be a " must do" on our list either, but we definitely like to see and visit venues like that.

Can't wait to hear more!!!!

 

[Charade67]

That so thoughtful of @Sue M to bring you some Timmy's coffee. When I seen the picture I was like " WHERE did she find tim's coffee in Orlando

My husband found some in EPCOT once. We have a Tim Hortons in VA, but it’s about a 4 hour drive for us.

 

[Charade67]

Day 1 - Saturday October 2

I woke up at 5:10. Usually if I am up that early I will try to get back to sleep. I decided to make early entry instead. I got to the park right at 7:00. It was so weird to see it without crowds. The last time I was at Universal was in April (Spring break) of 2019. I went straight back to Harry Potter and walked onto Gringotts. I've never just walked on before. There was a little girl in front of me who was scared to ride. Her parents and a couple of other people were trying to convince her that she would love it. I hope she did. After the ride I just wandered around and looked in some of the shops. It was so nice browsing the shops without a lot of other people there. I texted this picture to my husband to show him how light the crowds were.


The crowds started to increase, so I decided to move on. I walked over to MIB, but it was not open yet, so I wandered over to The Simpsons. I had not ridden this one before. I was literally the only person in line at this ride. It was kind of surreal. I have heard people say that this ride makes them sick. It didn't bother me, but I can see how it could bother some people. It was very shaky and jerky.

Next up was E.T. for the nostalgia and then Transformers. Transformers is not a favorite of mine. It's another ride that I find to be too shaky and jerky. I made my way over to The Mummy next. This is another ride that I have never ridden. I am not a fan of thrill coasters, but this one was mild enough for me. I enjoyed this ride and thought it could have been a bit longer.

My next ride was Fast and Furious. I was completely underwhelmed by this one. Something called Fast and Furious should have been much faster. After this ride I wandered over for visit with Bruce.

They should bring this ride back.

At this point I wanted to go back to the front the park for Minions, but got turned around and ended up heading back the other way. I decided to go back to MIB. I enjoy this ride, but I am a terrible shot. If you ever want to feel really good about your shooting ability just ride with me.

It was now 10:30 and I was getting really hungry. I set out to find a crepe cart that I had heard about. I found the cart, but it wasn't open yet. There was already a line, so I joined. I got the smoked brisket crepe. Yum!


I wanted to go back for one of the dessert crepes, but was afraid if I ate another then I wouldn't be hungry for dinner, and I had dinner reservations.

After lunch I stopped at the AP lounge and got my very first button.


I was right across from The Bourne Stuntacular, so I decided to go in. I know very little about the Bourne series, but that didn't matter. The show was clever and really well done. Unfortunately the day was starting to catch up with me. When you start nodding off during a stunt show then it is time to go back to the room and take a nap.

As I was leaving the park it started to rain. By the time I got to the boat I was drenched. I went back to my room to dry off and nap, but didn't get much of a nap. I woke up when my brother texted me to tell me he had found Jelly Babies at his local Publix.

At 5:30 I met bobbie68 and her family for dinner at Antojitos. We had a nice dinner (I got a chimichanga) but it was difficult to talk due to the noise level. They had a band performing. I was expecting typical Mariachi music, but instead we were treated to the chicken dance and Sweet Dreams (Eurythmics). I was not expecting that, A woman at the table behind us entertained us by getting up and dancing a few times. After dinner we went our separate ways. I did a little shopping and went back to the hotel.

Tomorrow - IOA.

 

[J'aime Paris]

Wonderful start to your trip! That crepe looks delish!

 

[AuroraluvsPhillip]

I definitely want to try a crepe next year, they look delicious.

 

[Charade67]

I definitely want to try a crepe next year, they look delicious.

They had some dessert ones that looked really good too.

 

[Sue M]

I meant to do some posting while I was actually at the resort, but sleep won out in the end.

I want to post some more room pictures. Sapphire Falls was a really nice hotel. I stayed on the third floor, guesthouse 2, with a lagoon view.

View attachment 610196

View attachment 610197

View attachment 610199

My favorite part of the room was the lighted mirror in the bathroom.

View attachment 610204

I discovered that if you touch this square
View attachment 610205

You can make the light brighter, dimmer, or turn it off completely. (Little things amuse me.) I used the dimmest setting as a nightlight.

The one thing about the hotel that confused me was the layout. I was on the third floor, the lobby is on the fourth floor, Amatista and the exit to the water taxi was on the first floor. If I took the guesthouse 2 elevator to the 1st floor I could not get to the restaurant or exit. I had to take the elevator (or stairs) to the 4th floor lobby and then use the lobby elevator (or stairs) down to the 1st floor. If there was a way to use the guesthouse elevator to get to the 1st floor restaurant would someone please enlighten me?

I only have one minor complaint about my stay and that is that I didn't get housekeeping service yesterday.

I mentioned before that I met a few of the Disboard members for dinner at Amatista. That was a fun night. Lynne G brought me a nice little gift of Halloween candy and a cute fabric ornament. Sue M and I did some trading. I brought her a Scooby Doo shirt and she brought me some coffee I can't get where I live.
View attachment 610209

I think everyone enjoyed their food ay Amatista. I ordered the Jamaican Spiced Chicken Pasta. It was very good and not too spicy.
We ended up talking for about 3 hours that night. When I finally got back to my room I had intended to post, but instead went to sleep. I wanted to attempt early entry the next morning.

It was my pleasure picking you up some Tim’s! That was quite the excursion trying to get down to the restaurant! Ended up taking the stairs down after trying to find elevator to get there!

it was great having our little Dis meet! It was just like old friends meeting over a meal! Lovely meeting in person you, Lynne, Bobby and her Mr!

Also had a meet with Mac and Disxuni In the park. Very busy day!

I’ve been tired too getting back to room. I tried posting once but woke up with ipad on my chest! I don’t think I moved at all that night!

I conquered the Velosticoaster or however you spell it. Was great fun but sure glad I had taken my Bonine! That was it for coasters for the day. The rest of my group went on Hulk after. I chilled on a bench holding everyone’s bags!

Today I did Hulk! Just can’t do both in one night!

Tomorrow is my off day. Will get up and start packing, but not setting any alarm!
At 12:40 Concierge arranged a ride for me to get to Walgreens drive through to do Covid test to return home.

 

[Charade67]

I conquered the Velosticoaster or however you spell it

Today I did Hulk! Just can’t do both in one night!

You are much braver than I. I used to ride coasters a long time ago, but can’t handle the thrill coasters now.

 

[macraven]

Safe travels back home Sue!
Don’t think I did any coaster rides this last trip
So you did more coasters than I did this month

Charade, and you did Potter coaster rides didn’t you?