Sapphire Falls Resort
- Thread starter Brian G.
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Yeah it was shock to him. He is in the parks almost as much as bioreconstruct
- Jul 18, 2008
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- Jun 29, 2013
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This is true about the boats only letting one at a time pass because I just watched a youtube video and there is an actual stop light there. The boat was completely stopped for about 5 minutes waiting on 2 other boats to come by first. So I can definitely see how that might take longer.
Haven't they always allowed only one boat under the bridges? I guess maybe there is just better pacing near Portofino...thinking about it, I think Sapphire would have two bridges to clear so I guess with boats coming and going to SF and RPR causes a backup for I think the HRH doesn't go under a bridge, just the Portofino one does (if my memory is correct.
Oh well, I am staying at SF for the 2nd week of HHN that I booked super early for the meal credit...then instead of trying to make a short trip this month, I decided to book for the 1st weekend of HHN. With the Fl Res or AP rate, CBBR was the same cost as SF, I was going to get CBBR by my wife felt the boat transport made SF the better choice...doesn't matter to me, I am sure we will enjoy both stays, I just wish my family was more willing to take the walking paths...
Oh well, I am staying at SF for the 2nd week of HHN that I booked super early for the meal credit...then instead of trying to make a short trip this month, I decided to book for the 1st weekend of HHN. With the Fl Res or AP rate, CBBR was the same cost as SF, I was going to get CBBR by my wife felt the boat transport made SF the better choice...doesn't matter to me, I am sure we will enjoy both stays, I just wish my family was more willing to take the walking paths...
Yeah, the Portofino boat has the extra bridge to go under. During busy times Portofino has more than one boat, but one will wait while the other goes under the bridge. But HHR & Portofino both go under the Citiwalk bridge, so they toot their horn when the other is approaching.
Thanks! I was forgetting the City Walk bridges. I knew I heard them announcing were they are at whenever they approach a bridge. I believe each resort has three boats they can use for the busy times ( it might even be four) I just recall someone told me once when they got the new boats for SF.
Yeah, plus they'll move the boats around from another resort if they have a party going on that they're moving to the parks. I've seen that at Portofino when they have a corporation party on the Piazza, and then move them all the guests to whichever theme park is reserved for the party. The boats just keep coming, one after another, but only one through the Portofino tunnel at a time. Often, they'll just wait at the other side of the Portofino lagoon until the one on the dock is loaded.
I haven't stayed at Portofino for about a year so I can't remember about the traffic lights there, but this is the set up Sapphire Falls/Royal Pacific bridges.
Green = Two-way bridges
City Walk bridge is a 2-way bridge with boats allowed to go opposite ways at the same time
Red = One-way bridges
There are 3 one way bridges between City Walk and RPR's Volleyball Bay. There are traffic lights on either side of the three bridges as indicated by the traffic lights. The final Sapphire Falls bridge is also one way (I know because our captain radio'd in saying she was about to depart and go through and just as we got enough of an angle to look through the bridge, another boat was coming our way and she had to slam the boat in reverse to avoid collision.
Blue = Sapphire Falls lagoon which isn't shown in Google Maps yet
Yellow = waiting areas for the boats when the traffic light is red
Green = Two-way bridges
City Walk bridge is a 2-way bridge with boats allowed to go opposite ways at the same time
Red = One-way bridges
There are 3 one way bridges between City Walk and RPR's Volleyball Bay. There are traffic lights on either side of the three bridges as indicated by the traffic lights. The final Sapphire Falls bridge is also one way (I know because our captain radio'd in saying she was about to depart and go through and just as we got enough of an angle to look through the bridge, another boat was coming our way and she had to slam the boat in reverse to avoid collision.
Blue = Sapphire Falls lagoon which isn't shown in Google Maps yet
Yellow = waiting areas for the boats when the traffic light is red
Forgot to mention, parking is currently free at Sapphire Falls. I believe the machines that give you a ticket when entering and receive payment upon exit aren't working. This is based on me pressing the button to get a ticket and not receiving one, then leaving 2 days later without paying.
Does anyone know if there are specific building, wings, floors, rooms that could be requested (knowing that requests are not guaranteed) specific to overlooking IOA versus Royal Pacific versus Cabana Bay etc... ?
Rooms overlooking Cabana Bay are generally "pool view" rooms since you also see the pool view. These are one step (about $10-$20) above the lower level rooms which I think look at other towers / grassy areas. The "Lagoon View" rooms are one step up (again about $10-$20) from Pool View rooms, and those are the ones that will look over Royal Pacific and IOA. Before requesting whether you're in the tower facing RPR or the other Facebook IOA, you need to make sure you pay for that room level. After that I'm sure you can request to be in that tower. I was just able to request all 3 of our rooms for HHN at Sapphire to be next to each other a few months in advance.
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Parking machines should be activated any day now. But if you dine at the table service restaurant or Strongwater and ask your server for validation, you get free self parking or $5 valet!
We are staying for 2 weeks starting from the 24th, I emailed the hotel customer services asking for view of IOA and they emailed back confirming this will be no problem.
Great news!
Even better news! We absolutely loved Strongwater Tavern tapas, and the breakfast buffet at Amatista was so fresh and amazing so looks like we should have free parking everyday! Just will need to exit the garage and enter again each day lol.
No problem its sapphirefallscustomerservice@loewshotels.com, I got from there comments on Trip advisor, they responded quickly also which was appreciated. They advised thetadded the preference of higher floor facing the theme parks. They have very few in the standard room category but it is a possibility.
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Taylor Strickland, owner of Orlando Informer, just did his official review of Sapphire Falls. He calls Sapphire his favorite on site Universal hotel resort.
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