Sapphire Falls Resort

[snayberry]

We did 35 nights on site in 11 months at Universal when Diagon opened. I was starting to feel like a local. I know I did my fair share in propping up the Orlando economy.

That's a lot of nights and days in Orlando, dude.

 

[IAmFloridaBorn]

Colors remind me of South Florida, Dade County specifically.

 

[Mad Dog]

That's a lot of nights and days in Orlando, dude.

And every single day was a ton of fun and relaxation. Can't beat staying on site at Universal.

 

[snayberry]

And every single day was a ton of fun and relaxation. Can't beat staying on site at Universal.

No Disney, in the mix?

 

[Mad Dog]

No Disney, in the mix?

During that stretch, not a day of Disney...........We went to Disney last Oct. for two weeks. We made 2 day trips to Universal cause we were homesick for it. We like Disney, but it's not a relaxing vacation. You have to plan out everything and we'd rather do spur of the moment things. Heck, when at Universal, we change our plans multiple times every day. You can't do that at Disney or you'll end up in lots of really long lines and no access to restaurants. Plus, there's too much traveling at Disney. Universal, every things a short walk or boat trip away.

 

[UK-Trigg]

During that stretch, not a day of Disney...........We went to Disney last Oct. for two weeks. We made 2 day trips to Universal cause we were homesick for it. We like Disney, but it's not a relaxing vacation. You have to plan out everything and we'd rather do spur of the moment things. Heck, when at Universal, we change our plans multiple times every day. You can't do that at Disney or you'll end up in lots of really long lines and no access to restaurants. Plus, there's too much traveling at Disney. Universal, every things a short walk or boat trip away.

100% this.

 

[IAmFloridaBorn]

During that stretch, not a day of Disney...........We went to Disney last Oct. for two weeks. We made 2 day trips to Universal cause we were homesick for it. We like Disney, but it's not a relaxing vacation. You have to plan out everything and we'd rather do spur of the moment things. Heck, when at Universal, we change our plans multiple times every day. You can't do that at Disney or you'll end up in lots of really long lines and no access to restaurants. Plus, there's too much traveling at Disney. Universal, every things a short walk or boat trip away.

We're spur of the moment type of park goers too. We will be doing something in one park and be like "Eff It" lets go to Islands and come back lol.

 

[Mad Dog]

We're spur of the moment type of park goers too. We will be doing something in one park and be like "Eff It" lets go to Islands and come back lol.

Our exact quotes too.

 

[Teebin]

Wow, I never saw them planting trees at Uni or Dis. I wanna piss my pants! BTW, that is a schefflera actinophylla
on the left... and the octopus leggy things poking out of the top are its flowers. And I don't care that you could care less.

 

[Mad Dog]

Wow, I never saw them planting trees at Uni or Dis. I wanna piss my pants! BTW, that is a schefflera actinophylla
on the left... and the octopus leggy things poking out of the top are its flowers. And I don't care that you could care less.

Yeah, we were watching them plant the Courtyard areas on our walks to CBBR the other week. One moment bare soil & concrete. The next moment Palm trees & foliage galore. Kind of like a Houdini magic trick. AMAZING. :thumbsup:....and I was mulching & transplanting ornamental grass & threadbare coreopsis around my new pond today, so I completely understand the excitement.

 

[Teebin]

coreopsis

Coreopsis is used in a funny line in Thurbers Carnival. I have found it funny since I was a teen.

 

[IzzyB]

Wow, I never saw them planting trees at Uni or Dis. I wanna piss my pants! BTW, that is a schefflera actinophylla
on the left... and the octopus leggy things poking out of the top are its flowers. And I don't care that you could care less.

You and my husband would get along. He loves gardening and planting stuff. Lol

 

[SkiBum]

During that stretch, not a day of Disney...........We went to Disney last Oct. for two weeks. We made 2 day trips to Universal cause we were homesick for it. We like Disney, but it's not a relaxing vacation. You have to plan out everything and we'd rather do spur of the moment things. Heck, when at Universal, we change our plans multiple times every day. You can't do that at Disney or you'll end up in lots of really long lines and no access to restaurants. Plus, there's too much traveling at Disney. Universal, every things a short walk or boat trip away.

I was trying to convince my wife to stay at Portofino Bay on an upcoming trip. However, she didn't want to miss Disney and so we're staying at Port Orleans. She agreed to one day at UNI/IOA and two days at Disney (doesn't like spending much more than four days which kills me). So, my plan this year is to go to UNI/IOA but to take the boat or walkway to Portofino Bay. Try to build her interest in going there.

 

[IAmFloridaBorn]

Are there any details on the cool looking slide that they are adding to Sapphire?

 

[Mad Dog]

I was trying to convince my wife to stay at Portofino Bay on an upcoming trip. However, she didn't want to miss Disney and so we're staying at Port Orleans. She agreed to one day at UNI/IOA and two days at Disney (doesn't like spending much more than four days which kills me). So, my plan this year is to go to UNI/IOA but to take the boat or walkway to Portofino Bay. Try to build her interest in going there.

Take the boat. The walk is the best of the resort walkways but it's fairly long and on a" hot afternoon" it may not impress her. The lagoon, with the resort ringing it, is a great romantic scene, as the boat emerges from a small tunnel under a bridge. Stop by Sal's, pick up a bite to eat and a beer or wine, and have it outside on a table on the Piazza. Make sure to walk back to the two main pools, then to the lobby, the elegant staircase with huge chandelier & grand piano down to the conference rooms, and the Piazza outside the lobby.

 

[Scott W.]

During that stretch, not a day of Disney...........We went to Disney last Oct. for two weeks. We made 2 day trips to Universal cause we were homesick for it. We like Disney, but it's not a relaxing vacation. You have to plan out everything and we'd rather do spur of the moment things. Heck, when at Universal, we change our plans multiple times every day. You can't do that at Disney or you'll end up in lots of really long lines and no access to restaurants. Plus, there's too much traveling at Disney. Universal, every things a short walk or boat trip away.

I've just started to test the waters with FP+ and already I'm starting to hate it more than I thought I would. I'm really not liking the idea of having to select a day to go to a park and plan what order we do rides in. Things change on a holiday, a day you thought you might want to go to a park, you might want to sit by the pool but then you don't want to lose your FP for that day. I've also just read that Be Our Guest fills up months in advance which is a bit of a joke.

I don't know if it was you or @UK-Trigg I was talking to about it but that ticket my dad sent me had 3 park days and 4 water park days left on it which I'm considering a massive result.

 

[SkiBum]

I've just started to test the waters with FP+ and already I'm starting to hate it more than I thought I would. I'm really not liking the idea of having to select a day to go to a park and plan what order we do rides in. Things change on a holiday, a day you thought you might want to go to a park, you might want to sit by the pool but then you don't want to lose your FP for that day. I've also just read that Be Our Guest fills up months in advance which is a bit of a joke.

I don't know if it was you or @UK-Trigg I was talking to about it but that ticket my dad sent me had 3 park days and 4 water park days left on it which I'm considering a massive result.

I do not like FP+ at all. My ideas for what I'm going to do on a specific day change sometimes as I am getting dressed. Plus, you have to set up the FP+ times to fit where you think that you'll be. In addition, if you book a late vacation, good luck with getting any of the premier rides. The Seven Dwarves Mine Train is always booked unless you want to try at 2:00 AM on the first day that you can set a reservation. The rumored cost of $4.0B gave me an irritating system, a plastic wristband, and some infrastructure that probably only cost 1/8 of the total. With $3.5B, WDW could have added a number of rides to increase capacity instead of having an adverse effect on ride times.

I cannot wait to arrive at UNI/IOA and to begin appreciating parks that have already added a number of new attractions since I was last there. No stagnancy. I love WDW but it would be nice to have actually had some more new attractions instead of what is there.

 

[Jon84]

I've just started to test the waters with FP+ and already I'm starting to hate it more than I thought I would. I'm really not liking the idea of having to select a day to go to a park and plan what order we do rides in. Things change on a holiday, a day you thought you might want to go to a park, you might want to sit by the pool but then you don't want to lose your FP for that day. I've also just read that Be Our Guest fills up months in advance which is a bit of a joke.

We did loads of stuff adhoc on our trip a few weeks ago. We did put some hard to get FPs in before we left, but on the whole it was very much just going on the app and getting a FP as and when.

And BoG, according to the app you could get same day reservations all Memorial Day weekend for Dinner. And you can still get Reservations for Thanksgiving (our next trip, and obviously a busy time).

 

[Nick]

We did loads of stuff adhoc on our trip a few weeks ago. We did put some hard to get FPs in before we left, but on the whole it was very much just going on the app and getting a FP as and when.

And BoG, according to the app you could get same day reservations all Memorial Day weekend for Dinner. And you can still get Reservations for Thanksgiving (our next trip, and obviously a busy time).

This.

As a local, I play around with the app a lot and very rarely find it hard to get FP+ or does the system make it hard for me to "wing it". We're actually going to DL in a month and my mom, who generally just finds things out as they happen or when I mention, was weirdly upset that we'll have to run around to get our FPs. For us, FP+ actually helps us relax more than we used to in the parks as all we need to do is click on the app and all the info or whatever we want to do (whether it be book a FP, check wait times or get a restaurant reservation) is at our fingers. WDW by far has the best app - much better than Disneyland's, Uni's or Seaworld's.

 

[Joel]

I was at the Studios this weekend and took some photos of Sapphire Falls construction, enjoy! (Part 1 of 3)

Photos were taken on Sunday, May 29th and Monday, May 30th.