Highlander & Slothful Trio Tour Orlando Hotels Day Ten

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Day 10 Saturday 8th July weather was low 90's cloudy/sunny light rain in afternoon

I was up at 7am and generally made a pest of myself and lo and behold the tribe where up at 7:30am, today we where checking in to the Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal as an anniversary treat for DW and yours truly, by 8:30am we where in hotel lobby now because we where virgin customers we had a voucher for free breakfast at the hotel buffet, only had two vouchers left as DW and DD used two vouchers last Saturday for their breakie, I told DW to take the kids in and use up the vouchers, I also advised her to pay for DS but the server assumed DS was under 12 so he got his free as kids under 12 eat free, I just had my usual coffee in lobby while playing with my pda, the restaurant at QII for those interested is ok not great food and certainly better on offer outside the grounds, we had dinner vouchers which we never used at all, their breakfast buffet was $7 per head which is pretty pricy for what's on offer. Once the tribe where suitably refreshed I called for a cab to take us to PBH, by 9:30am we where checking in, now a litle background I had emailed the hotel to advise them it was our anniversary and I got a reply back saying it had been noted, I also did this with HRH as where staying there on Sunday, HRH did reply as well and they also advised me as I was getting APH discount then my Loews benefits where not applicable for this stay, but they did say they would take note that it was a special occasion, back to PBH the girl checking us in had problems with my accent, which I'm used to but she really wasn't that friendly and never once said anything about us celebrating our anniversary, I asked about Loews gift told it would be sent up later, also advised room not ready yet, didn't really expect it to be, she then seemed pretty confused that I had no cell phone for her to contact me I assured her it was ok and I check back myself, then when I presented my visa debit card for security on room this confused her further, as she wanted a credit card, but finally it was ok and did I understand that even although I was paying with cash I would have a charge against my card for about a week but it would fall away, I said it was ok, although that being said last week RPR didn't put a charge against card as I was paying cash, we eventually get our key cards this has taken 20mins which is pretty unusual as at RPR it’s a lot quicker, we leave our luggage eventually as the desk is unmanned, first impressions of PBH beautiful hotel, staff a litle too full of themselves.

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We get the water taxi to IOA and we are in the park for 10am and I'm glad we have FOTL as queues are already 45min+, a quick run down on day at IOA Hulk 3 times, Spidey 2 times great ride but when you the script off by heart its sad, Dudley once soaked so why not do Bluto's and yes we are now thoroughly soaked, then off to JPRA, overall great time had by us all, wait times where at 90mins+ by noon, also was pleased to see better crowd control express passes where being marked off as used at all rides we finished of with the ride in the sky ride great fun, which was a vast improvement on April, by 1pm we where in City Walk looking for a new swimming costume for DD not an easy task as they all wanted $80 plus and no way was I paying that for her, but luckily fresh produce had a sale and we got one for $40 which she actually liked, and yes she did have plenty with her but guess who forget to pack one for the weekend, I personally think she wanted a cooler one because of HRH stay though (smiley) , we head back to PBH on off chance room is ready and yippee it is ready 2pm so that’s good service, we are in the east wing room 1403, and the room is huge, the bathroom is the same size as our room at QII (smiley), felt like Hillbillies the fact you had sound control for TV in loo and a phone (smiley), we unpacked and DW prepared for her massage at 3pm I had booked this a few weeks before via concierge, I also confirmed our reservation at Tchoup Tchoup for that evening, this was a surprise for DW and she was very pleased, while DW had her massage me and the kids hit the pool and wow this is a good pool area and plenty to keep the kids amused, DS loved the slide and I loved the padded sun lounger's sheer luxury also I admit I had a rum runner at the pool bar and I can report they taste good but at $11 they'd better, unfortunately we where at pool area a litle under an hour when it started raining, it wasn't too bad but kids wanted to leave, so off we headed got as far as Thirsty Fish bar now this bar is a favourite of mine and I visit when we stay at RPR, so we got a table outside under cover and I had a pint of Amberbock kids had cokes plus we had about two bowls of those fish crackers, as it was nearly 4pm we decided to head back to room, but DS wanted to try the games room so he went into Spa to leave a message for DW so that she would bring him back to room, once back in the room I had a call from front desk to say no gift due to APH discount, its still worth trying but must admit RPR and HRH deal with this issue better at check in than PBH, DW arrived back about 4:30pm no son in tow, turns out the spa never passed on the message, pretty bad in my book and no excuse for not passing it on, DW and DD went to collect our DS, DW had a reflexology massage it cost $125 that was incl tip and tax plus a 10% tip, should be pointed out here the price rose by 40% since booking also they had it booked in my name she really enjoyed the spa but she always does, but yet again service not that great.

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More pics of room

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some pics of pool and your truly

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More pics of PBH

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DW has a nap while I take the kids to USO, we walk it and I can say it takes 12mins and yes I am sad I timed it, our first stop is Mummy as I'm hoping for a happy hour beer opposite at Finnegan's but Mummy's broke so off we head to MIB queue is huge over 100min wait (only 10 for us), also it breaks down while we are on it so we are stuck for 15mins, decide to try Mummy again but no joy still broken, we head back to hotel so even with FOTL we only manage 1 ride in 45mins and I expect that’s good going looking at the queue's as we leave, I set the alarm for DW when we left so she's almost dressed for dinner when we get back, and by the way please note no happy hour beer was had, we are all dressed by 6:45pm for our dinner at 7pm, I decide a taxi would be better to arrive rather than the boat etc due to heat/sweat you get the picture, we ask the bellboy at front of hotel for taxi, but he say's it will be a while, and he'll try and get the town car for us and he did so we arrived in style and all it cost was a generous tip, the bellboy had worked previously at RPR and also agreed that some staff at PBH thought a little too much of themselves, he was a student working his way through college, we talked of the shuttle launch turned out his sister in law works at NASA as an engineer so made for an interesting conversation, we arrive at Tchoup Tchoup with a few minutes to spare,

We check in and only have a minute or so before we are shown to our table, our server wishes us a happy anniversary , I had put this in the comments section of our reservation and it was a nice touch mentioning it, DW had a Ki Ora cocktail and its not non alcoholic, I had a Pino Colada Tchoup Tchoup style Bananas, coconut, rum etc very nice paid extra to keep the souvenir glasses, DD had the banana cabana a kids cocktail D just had a coke, we got complimentary Mongolian beef & prawn crackers with dipping sauce while we waited for drinks, for started DW & DD shared dumplings, I had Thai green curry scallop's, DS passed on starters but made up for it with his main course, main courses where DS the Hawaiian platter (ribs, chicken, noodles/pork, Chinese broccoli, and potatoes), DD had pasta with parmesan from kids menu only problem was they added shrimp so we had to send it back, DW had Duck on a bed of rice, I had another starter of Crab cakes for main course, the entrée's where lovely and DS actually managed to give his meal a decent home, for desert I had coconut crème brulee, DD had a trio of sorbet summer fruits, DW & DS both ordered the chocolate covered strawberries from the kids menu, only problem was they never offered kids menu for desert it was only because we where repeat customers we knew they had these on menu, they also stuck candles in both mine and DW's deserts as it was our anniversary, overall the meal was excellent $170 without tip its pricy though and one thing that really bothered me was the state of the gents they where to put it mildly disgusting, I actually had to pick loo roll from my shoe picked up on floor of toilet, it didn't spoil the evening but you really do expect better, it was a little after 9pm when we left. Now DW must have had a good night as she offered to go back to QII with DD to get my vodka, while me and DS got one of the pedal cycle carriages to City Walk, these cycles work on tips only no other fare, only problem was despite getting a taxi it took DW nearly 90mins due to traffic being so bad on I-Drive, both me and DS watched TV till they got back then we all watched a film and I had a vodka, thought I'd better after that effort, we where all asleep by 1am and by the way the beds where like marshmallows really great

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Dinner pictures

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More piccies

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More piccies again

The Highlander Hotel Summer Tour Index

[Guest]

You guys really know how to fill a day in Orlando.

The PBH looks lovely.