"Would you like that on your Muggle Credit Card"

[kbelle8995]

Why yes I do. My experiences on Memorial Weekend.

Sapphire Falls, Thunder storms and going to Ford's Garage- My opinions. And what I think the summer holds

 

[kbelle8995]

We went down on Friday and came back on Tuesday. I think that this is going to be a busy summer Traffic was unbelievable bad driving down. No you do not need to look everytime some car has a flat tire. We also brought my dad who was going stir crazy which apparently everybody is. Which is Fair enough.

We were staying at Sapphire Falls which has a good pool. We had a good room near the pool and were able to plug our scoter in. Our room was nice and had coffee. I was the only one who visited the Universal park that weekend. We tried some new things.

I love Sapphire Falls but I still think they fall short when it comes to food options. I have to say that CBBR has spoiled me with it's quite good food court. But the Dutch company leaves me cold. Although their gelato is quite good especially the coffee. They didn't have breakfast potatoes when I went. Strong water was far better than I though it was going to be. Although the menu is quite limited. Our waiter gave excellent suggestions. (His selection was a hit.") I would like to go back when they have their full menu back.

 

[kbelle8995]

My first park day was Saturday. I decided to hit Diagon Alley and do some Harry Potter stuff and then just enjoy the park. To this I had to get up and head to the park early. Very early. Early entry was one of the perks for staying at Sapphire Falls is getting an extra hour early. I Think this is a perk that should not be discounted. Just getting a jump on the crowds is a huge help. The park that was open early was Universal Studios. I was to be there at seven. That means getting up at 5:45. I needed to take meds and get some water down me immediately. I managed to get out of the room without waking anybody up. I went down to Old Dutch company. Tried to get some potatoes at Dutch and they informed me potatoes were out. Some frustration about that but I got some juice and hit the boats. Another perk of staying at Sapphire Falls. Boats are great at least until the weather holds out.

I have nothing but good to say about the team members. The ones who let me into the park were enthusiastic and happy. The balm I needed. I headed straight to Diagon Alley. I have footage of me with practically no one around. Oddly the longest line was not for Gringotts but for the Wand pick at Ollivanders. I walked in the store. I was greeted immediately and I got the full treatment. I was the only guest in there. I was looking for the wand with the pink crystal that was interactive. I thought this morning would be a good day to do spells. The TM who helped me was so good and got me the wand I wanted quickly. Plus they asked me about my muggle credit card and I asked about my Muggle discount. (I'm an AP holder)

I wandered around a bit. Doing spells and just exploring without a lot of people. And I scared some poor woman in knockturn alley. Didn't mean too and I felt bad afterwords. I also decided that I needed some thing to eat and wanted some pumpkin juice. I have to visit Leaky caldron. I was seated at the table by a lovely team member who informed me that it was all mobile order and they would bring the food to my table. She walked me through the process and came back to check on me later to make sure that I didn't have issues. I ordered scotch eggs for breakfast and some pumpkin juice. The servers bring the food to you on a tray. They do not touch the food. You remove it from the tray and put it on your table. They sat me near the door which meant I could people watch. Really good scotch eggs and apple salad. Tasty.

Will go into the rest of my time at the park and my day in another post

 

[schumigirl]

kbelle.....how`d I miss this starting!!

Nice start and so many people enjoy the EE benefit.......yes, TM are just fabulous and glad you had that experience too.

Sapphire is lovely, and yes the boat is always so handy. Especially coming home after walking lol......shame they didn`t have the potatoes, we tried them once, just to say we had, and really enjoyed them......and Strong Water Bar.....oh yeah!!

Will look for more to come......

 

[kbelle8995]

For those who want to know. NO. They do not have botted pumpkin juice, Lemonade or that tea. It's down to bottled Gilly Water and that's it.

 

[AuroraluvsPhillip]

Following along, as I'm interested to see how the parks transition to having so many more people. I'm sure it'll be a thing "in progress" for awhile.

 

[kbelle8995]

The rest of my day was interesting. I tried to go on Transformer ride. A ride that has never effected me. But this time I thought I was going to be sick. No more rides. Another point for the TM. Noticed I was by myself and quickly routed me to the single rider line. Which meant I was on the ride almost immediately. I went to a close store and hydrated with some water. More guests were coming in and it was getting more crowded. And with me feeling not my best, I decided to go to the hotel, get some French fries and hit the pool. I slowly meandered around City walk and went to the legacy store. When I did get to the boat, I was the only one on it. I filmed it with my phone. Once I returned joined the rest of my family at the pool. My dad had his scooter and was only interested in sitting and watching us swim. We took some books, his cup and his scooter and found a good table with an umbrella.

Sapphire Falls has a beautiful pool but he had gotten use to the lazy river at CBBR. We couldn't entice him that day to get in the pool. But he seemed to enjoy himself. We also ordered some food from the pool bar. I just wanted some French fries. There was a chicken sandwich which was eaten quickly and deemed good. I went to the room and took a nap. Later that day we went to Ford's Garage over at the Margaritaville resort. There's one closer to Universal but we wanted to check out Margaritaville resort. There was a large car show so they had some of the streets shut down. Ford's garage was good, the burgers excellent. I got an Estate burger which was really good. Our server was fabulous and really attentive. Only problem was the restaurant was hot. They had opened all the windows and the front was completely open. They also have a pub in the area with a good size replica of Big Ben. We went to a Savannah candy store and got pralines to gift to my mother when we got home. Then we went back to the hotel to relax

 

[kbelle8995]

2nd day- I wanted to go to Islands and figured I would not have to get up so early. But holy Moly, It was much more crowded. The line to enter when all the way past the Margaritaville restaurant and into Citywalk. More than a few guests tried to skip the line completely and were quickly turned around by the TMs. Some thought this was the line for the tickets and they could skip it. Nope. It was such a long line that they weren't doing the finger scanner. Scan the ticket and let them in. I hit the Starbucks first. Got some coffee and some breakfast. Was joined by a very needy duck. Didn't feed him though. I then decided to just meander. But the lines weren't that bad. People headed for Velocicoaster and Hagrid's. I wandered through. Went to Hogsmeade and walked around. Didn't too any spells much too crowded. Checked out the new coaster. Did I get on it? Nope. Too hard core for me. There are several places where you can really watch the coaster really Close. It is a beautifully designed coaster with water features as rocks. And since I would probably ride it with my eyes closed in terror. No. Then I went To Camp Jurassic and just explored. I really loved this area and got some really good pictures of in and the park. Almost got sprayed with water from some young guest but saw them coming and managed to get back to a safe spot. What a fun well designed area.

I had a good time and decided to leave and get some lunch. Back to the hotel.

 

[kbelle8995]

Just an aside, there’s a Jurassic park theme done with steel drums that’s played near the coaster. And I’m a bit obsessed with it

 

[disneyseniors]

Kbelle, I am enjoying your report! I won't ride the velocicoaster either, and I love, love the HP lands, especially diagon alley.

 

[kbelle8995]

The rest of the second day. I can't for life of me remember where I ate. It wasn't in the park. I slowly walked around and also found a nice area where I could watch people play fair games while I sat on a bench with a fan blowing full blast on me. The sun wasn't out and it was a nice stop. Plus it was fun watching a family compete for prizes.

Here I have to say that I prefer Island Esthetic wise. It's just a pretty park. And I like the front section. There's a good store where you find some good coverups for a not bad price. (Consider this is a theme park so take that as you will). I saw a pretty navy one that I'm regretting that I didn't buy. Anyway went back to the hotel and met up with my family. Back out to the pool. Oh I remember we went to Disney Springs. We also went to Everglazed and picked up some donuts.

When we came back we had reservations for BigFire. It was slightly stormy but we thought we could over to city Walk before it hit. So we waited and waited for the boat. It never came and the crowd got larger. In all honesty, I don't think the Security people who were maning the station knew either. One looked for the boat. We were told it was either lightning or refueling. After waiting for quite a time, we ended up walking to citywalk. My Dad leading the way and losing us on the scooter but he stopped due to the security guard and he didn't know where we were going destination wise. Next time we are getting scooters too. We managed to ge to the restaurant and ordered our food. Last time we went we loved BigFire. But this time not so much. Neither My sister nor I cared for what we ordered. It was finely prepared but the sauce was so Meh. My father was happy with his. And he had a good portion of food. We will go again but we will order what we did before.

Slight discussion my dad wanted to ride on the scooter on the walk way. The boat was going at this point and we wanted the boat. Dad ended having a great seat on the boat with his scooter. And waved to every passing boat. Back at the hotel, we got gelato and I had a delicious coffee one. And that was it.

 

[kbelle8995]

We did a third day. We hoped to miss the worse of the holiday traffic back home. I will let you know how they went. My sister and I went shopping. Dad opted to stay at the resort. Let me state why I always go shopping in Orlando. Tallahassee is a college town so if you are older than thirty you are going to have a tough time finding suitable clothes for anything than hanging out. Most of our stores don't have a lot of stock unless you are college age or younger. We went to the Millennium Mall. Macy was having a good sale as was Anne Taylor so I got some business clothes to take home. We also went and grabbed a light lunch at Starbucks. Then we went back to the hotel. Dad had plenty of food but at that point we went to Disney Springs. We had gotten him a scooter and unfortunately somehow it was broken when we got to Disney Springs. He had his cane and we were taking a slow walk. If you are there are a busy weekend make reservations for a restaurant than you won't be trying to get into a restaurant at the last minute. It was the same at Citywalk. You must make reservations and if you don't you will be stuck with slim pickens. There's not much Unversal stuff at this point. When we got back to Sapphire Falls and my Dad got coaxed in the pool. It was a breezy night. I took my tablet and read a romance novel. He complained the pool was freezing. It wasn't that bad.

Then we turned in for the evening and wound up watching the Great Escape. Dad picked it and My sister and I let it slide cause James Garner is in it. And we just chilled in the room

 

[schumigirl]

We did a third day. We hoped to miss the worse of the holiday traffic back home. I will let you know how they went. My sister and I went shopping. Dad opted to stay at the resort. Let me state why I always go shopping in Orlando. Tallahassee is a college town so if you are older than thirty you are going to have a tough time finding suitable clothes for anything than hanging out. Most of our stores don't have a lot of stock unless you are college age or younger. We went to the Millennium Mall. Macy was having a good sale as was Anne Taylor so I got some business clothes to take home. We also went and grabbed a light lunch at Starbucks. Then we went back to the hotel. Dad had plenty of food but at that point we went to Disney Springs. We had gotten him a scooter and unfortunately somehow it was broken when we got to Disney Springs. He had his cane and we were taking a slow walk. If you are there are a busy weekend make reservations for a restaurant than you won't be trying to get into a restaurant at the last minute. It was the same at Citywalk. You must make reservations and if you don't you will be stuck with slim pickens. There's not much Unversal stuff at this point. When we got back to Sapphire Falls and my Dad got coaxed in the pool. It was a breezy night. I took my tablet and read a romance novel. He complained the pool was freezing. It wasn't that bad.

Then we turned in for the evening and wound up watching the Great Escape. Dad picked it and My sister and I let it slide cause James Garner is in it. And we just chilled in the room

Yes, can see why you would shop in Orlando instead of where you live!

Mall at Millenia is gorgeous, and we always manage to pick up lots of items there.....shame about your dad`s scooter, i`m sure he was glad you were patient with him and took your time.

And shame he thought the pool was freezing.....I know I do sometimes think the water is cold when no one else does!

 

[kbelle8995]

My wrap out post. We left on the Tuesday, the traffic was still bad, we took the back roads and it took us a really long time to get home. Turns out the scooter was not a big deal for which we were grateful.

It was incredibly busy. If you see a long line don't assume you can skip it especially at the entrance. I have a feeling any holiday this summer will be like this. Make reservations for restaurants even at Universal, Unless you are willing to go off property. All the sit down restaurants were making you make reservations. There are no Walk ups accepted. That might change later.

I did wear my mask. I just didn't feel comfortable walking around without it especially with social distancing gone. I am fully vaccinated but this was my choice. TMs were great and very polite and helpful.

Sapphire falls is a lovely hotel. But my complaint is the food options are limited. The food options are a mixed bag. I will definitely go To Strong Water Tavern again. Now that Aventura is open there is a close food area nearby as well as a full Starbucks. Also the pool hopping options is for now non-existent. You ca go to other resorts and eat.

 

[greenvol]

Mind expanding a bit on your pool hopping experience? Were you turned away from a different resort pool?

We leave next week for a stay at RPR, and were hoping to check out the Sapphire Falls pool on our resort day.

 

[kbelle8995]

Mind expanding a bit on your pool hopping experience? Were you turned away from a different resort pool?

We leave next week for a stay at RPR, and were hoping to check out the Sapphire Falls pool on our resort day.

My sister asked at the front desk if we could pool hop to Cabana Bay and we were told No. That they weren't allowing that at this time. Our experience was that you show the front desk your room key and they give you a key to get into the Pool. They were not doing that when I was there

 

[DoryGirl1963]

Pool hopping hasn't been allowed since the hotels reopened after the COVID closure last year.

 

[greenvol]

Got it. Thank you both.

 

[kbelle8995]

Oddly Tim Tracker filmed a video of Sapphire falls and He went to the same table we were picking at the pool near the splash pad. My Dad loves Tim Tracker and his videos