Unplugging Staycation Delights: Volcano Bay Fun, Magic Kingdom Surprises, and Dining Pleasures

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today's episode contains information about
Universal destinations andexperiences.
The host's opinions may notalign with the opinions, values
or ethics of NBCUniversal or itsaffiliates.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
We've never had a free show guest.
Contains information aboutuniversal.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Becoming social media account holders.

Speaker 4 (00:30):
You're listening to Orlando, unplugged, celebrating
life in living color with Dustinand Ashley.
Grab a cocktail or a mocktailand let's get unplugged.
Orlando cocktail and let's getunplugged.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Orlando.
So this is literally our secondattempt at doing our intro.
We did a whole intro andrealized that the audio was set
up to only play out of onespeaker.
So if you're listening in likea car or headphones, it would
only play out of, like thedriver's side or your left ear.

Speaker 3 (01:03):
You know what I could go for, though right now?
What one of those volcano baycocktails?
Well, we'll talk about thatlater I know, but I want one
right now what did we talk aboutin our original opening?
Oh, our new intro yeah, it wasreally good.
Um, let us know your thoughtson it and how you feel I really
like it.
I don't know, I just I wasplaying.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
I was playing a couple weeks ago and I just
wanted.
I was like how funny would itbe if our show opened.
Like people are tuning in onthe radio and they're channeling
through like all these randomchannels and see this is when
I'm happy that, like I, I doreally well when it comes to our
social media.

Speaker 3 (01:34):
But when it comes to like our vibing for our, our
intro shit and our music andstuff like that, I am so glad
you've got this so what you'resaying is I am the creative hire
and you are the personalityhire and the financial hire okay
, I'll give you that thank you.
Um so, typically we would havestarted off our podcast with

(01:55):
some pre-show topics wait, waitwe're now on the pre-show
segment.
Well, typically we would havestarted off our show with some
pre-show topics.
However, this week we'vedecided to take a little pause
from that, because I don't knowabout you, but I really needed a
mental break.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
This week has been the whole world.
This week has just been rough,Very, very, very rough.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
So it was kind of nice to unplug, unwind and just
kind of take a break.
Oh my god, unplug.
I did not do that on purpose,so thank you very much.
So this is going to be justkind of us talking about our
vacation, talking about what wedid no, no, our staycation, our
staycation, correct what we did,what we liked, what we didn't
like, and um if we would do itagain so come hang out week ish.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
It was what thursday, friday and saturday oh my god,
it was.
Yeah, it was, it was so weird umwe decided to have a little
staycation, uh, with somefriends, so we stayed at two
universal resorts, two, uh, wewent to universal, we went to
volcano bay and we went to magickingdom yeah, just a little of

(03:45):
a spur of the moment which thatone, that one, was very spur of
the moment which we'll get intoall of that.
Um, but to start off for ourfun week, on thursday I got off
work no, no, you could.

Speaker 3 (03:55):
We have to back up.
We have to back up to wednesday.
Because I'm at the office andyou call me and go hey, what are
you doing tomorrow?
And I was like, um, I don'tknow why.
Well, guess what, you're nowstaying with us at a universal
hotel.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
I was like, okay, I'll pack my stuff, yeah so then
thursday thursday, yes um, Iwent to work and I got off work,
packed up my stuff and then weheaded to universals.
Uh, one of their premierresorts, which is Lowe's
Portofino Bay which was the veryfirst resort Universal and
Lowe's Hotel and Company everpartnered on together and it was

(04:31):
the first resort we had here atthe uh Florida campus for
Universal.

Speaker 3 (04:36):
I don't think I knew that you did not.
No, I've never stayed atPortofino, so this was my first
time.
I'm a Royal Pacific kind ofgirl, so, um, it was my very,
that was my very first timestaying at portofino so this is
a random fun fact and I will sayI cannot.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
It's a fast fact yeah , it's a universal fast fact
fast fact um, I cannot confirmnor deny if this is like the
actual truth, but this is what Ihave been told from several
different people in my life wasthat ste Spielberg was the
person who told Universal tobuild Portofino Bay for the

(05:10):
resort.
So, evidently Universal likewanted to build a resort, but
they didn't know what theywanted to build.
So they called Steven Spielberg, who was a major key player in
Universal Studios Florida, andthey said, hey, what should we
do?
And evidently he took thatphone call while he was sitting
in Portofino Bay, italy, withhis wife on vacation and he said
why don't we build PortofinoBay?

(05:30):
Look at Steven but, again.
I don't know if that is true.
That's what I've heard, butI've never like heard it from
someone that I know is a good,good source for the like
Universal Studios.
So that's a folklore that Ichoose to believe because I
think it's cool.

Speaker 3 (05:46):
I love that he plays such a factor.
I mean, he really does playsuch a factor at Universal.
So that would not surprise methat if his opinion was
something that was taken intoeffect.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah, so what we'll do is we'll break down our stay
and everything towards the end,but to start off, we want to
tell you guys about the resortand some of the amenities that
it has.
So, ashley, I think we'll justbounce off of each of these,
yeah we'll go back and forth.
So Portofino Bay has the Lowe'stitle in front of it because it
is a Michelin star resort.
It's one of their Michelin starresorts.

Speaker 3 (06:13):
Good for them.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
It is one of three premier resorts at Universal
Studios.
What are the other two?
Ashley?

Speaker 3 (06:20):
My favorite hotel, royal Pacific and Hard Rock.

Speaker 2 (06:23):
Hard Rock, which is a partnership between Lowe's
Universal Studios and the actualHard Rock company.

Speaker 3 (06:28):
What a trifecta.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
Mm-hmm.
And when you stay at a premierresort any of those three you
get unlimited Universal Expressfor the dry parks, which is
Universal Studios Florida andUniversal's Islands of Adventure
.

Speaker 3 (06:41):
Which is great because this allows you to skip
the line of all those excessivewait times, especially during
spring break or during anyholiday seasons or just on a
slow day like we got toexperience, which is pretty nice
.
So we got to back to back toback hit up a couple of rides,
which was pretty cool.

Speaker 2 (06:56):
And to plus, I think, the way that Universal does
their express with their resortguests and general, like the
ones they sell in park.
I think it's a great formulathat they have.

Speaker 3 (07:06):
Oh, absolutely, I have never been upset over
having to wait in line if Idon't have express no and having
expresses is great no, becauseI think the, the team members
and obviously the, the corporateoffice have expressed on pat
pretty well, so that you knowratio between regular and the
express is is pretty down pat um, but you also get.
My personal favorite is theearly park admission, so I get

(07:27):
to get in, we?
I?
You get to Resort guest.
Correct.
You get to get into the park anhour early before everybody
else, and that is not just for apremiere.
You also get that if you arestaying at a value resort as
well.
So if you're staying atDockside, at Cabana Bay or
Surfside or many of their otherhotels, you get that extra hour

(07:47):
before everybody else.
So you get to skip the line fora little bit when it comes to
Haggard's or Velocicoaster,which tends to be my two that I
run to when I stay at thoseresorts, or if I'm going over to
Studios, it's heading straightover to Mummy, so that's pretty
nice.
I do like that.
I also really love the factthat there is a water taxi and
bus transportation, because Imyself obviously hate driving

(08:08):
and I don't have to pay to parkat city walk because I'm already
paying to park at my hotel so Iget all those extra amenities,
which is pretty nice and theboat and bus leave an hour after
the park closes um or aftercity walk closes.

Speaker 2 (08:20):
I'm sorry, so you get plenty of time.
Yeah, and the thing I like most, the so the water taxi, I think
is really cool, um, becauseit's only available for four of
the resorts so it's availablefor the three premier resorts
yep and um sapphire falls, whichI can't remember what that one
falls under.
Is it a?
it's a value no, it's not value.

(08:40):
Uh, it's higher than value.
It's because cabana bay is uhvalue, premier value.
I don't remember, but there'sfour, there's four levels.
It's not value.
Uh, it's higher than value.
It's because cabana bay is uhvalue, premier value I don't
remember, but there's four,there's four levels.

Speaker 3 (08:48):
It's level three yeah , because I know it's.
It's the one right before you.
You get um express.
It's one of the ones where theythey fight that, that persona,
whether or not that hotel shouldget expressed or whether or not
it should be considered a valueum another great thing about uh
portof Bay is the Mandara Spa.

Speaker 2 (09:05):
Oh, my gosh so this is the only resort on the campus
that offers a spa, and guestsstaying at any universal resort
can go to the Mandara Spa.
They just have to make abooking ahead of time for spa
treatments, facials, I mean.
They've got everything there,as well as the resorts.

Speaker 3 (09:20):
I was so sad that we did not have time to do this and
that also it was very much soldout.
Um, well, I mean for me I wouldhave paid the cost, but let
somebody give me a nice massage.
I'll pay you for it.
Um, but it was nice that that.
I like the fact that you canbook that with the front desk
agent too, or you can also dothe text to that text with your

(09:41):
your chat your.
It's called chat your serviceyeah, so you could be able to do
that, which was pretty nice.

Speaker 2 (09:46):
However, was not happy that they were sold out,
but good for that hotel thatthey were they also have
concierge at this resort, whichis not something that all of the
resorts at universal have no sothat's nice, um, and then do
you want to talk about the nextone?

Speaker 3 (10:00):
about their themed kid suites.
I mean, I know some of this but, like I, this was my first time
, so I know that some of themare themed.
I think it's themed after likeminions.

Speaker 2 (10:08):
So Portofino Bay is minions.
They have minions there andit's really cool because the
beds are like the little rocketthat the kids sleep in in the
movie.

Speaker 3 (10:14):
Why didn't we sleep in those?

Speaker 2 (10:16):
Because we were not in a kid suite.

Speaker 3 (10:17):
That's ridiculous you guys need to do.
But they do have the club levelrooms, which are very nice.
Very, very looking forward toneeding to book one of those for
my birthday.

Speaker 2 (10:32):
What was that suite that we were talking about, the
presidential suite?
I don't know if that's itsformal name, but yeah, there is
a really nice suite there.
There's like a full suite.

Speaker 3 (10:36):
You get all these amenities that come into it.
I feel like I need to justspend the $6,000 just to test it
out.

Speaker 2 (10:46):
I tried to look online to see it, but I didn't
see like it available forbooking.
No, um, so I don't, I can't, Idon't know all the details you
have to like call to book, likeit's not one of those that you
can just book online.

Speaker 3 (10:55):
I think it.

Speaker 2 (10:55):
I wonder if you have celebrity status yeah, a lot
gotta or a gold amex, yeah, yeahum, and then they also have one
of the great things about thisresort that all universal
resorts have is they have fulland I mean full room service oh
yeah breakfast, lunch, dinner.
I think they even haveovernight room service.

Speaker 3 (11:13):
Yeah, you could order a pizza at 2 am.

Speaker 2 (11:15):
It's beautiful they have steak, they've got
breakfast they've got wine, allthese things that you can be
delivered to the room, and theyget delivered on the platter
with the little yes, the littlelid that comes off we needed to
spend more time, so then I couldhave done that, but I really
also appreciate this priorityseating now.

Speaker 3 (11:30):
This is for all restaurants, not just at a
select, select restaurants, notall I think it's all fine dining
restaurants at city walk I justlooked it up online.

Speaker 2 (11:39):
It says it literally.
It just says at um what, whatdid I just say?
At select just says at what didI just?
Say At Select.
It says at Select restaurantsin.

Speaker 3 (11:48):
I think the only one it doesn't do is Hard Rock and
Bubba Gump's and Margaritaville,because those aren't
universally owned, you don't getpriority seating at Circus
McGurkis.
Well, circus McGurkis is aquick service restaurant.
Yes, they have your own littlespot at Cafe 4 just for you Get
your pizza, rob would be overthe moon.
But I do know that you do getthat at Vivo, big Fire and

(12:12):
Twosomes I can speak for thosethree and this allows you to
kind of get it's almost like anexpress access to the restaurant
.
So, you do get a shorter waittime, you're going to be the
first one that is going to beseated, compared to those that
are just now getting on the waitlist.

Speaker 2 (12:26):
however, do you show like your room key you do yep.

Speaker 3 (12:29):
However, this does not get you to go ahead of those
with a preset reservation, somy recommendation on this is to
still make your reservation,because that guarantees you a
spot at that time but, priorityseating just guarantees you to
be ahead of those that are onthe wait list interesting, yes,
um, so that was very.

Speaker 2 (12:43):
Can we, can we talk about this hotel, though?
Like, yes, I I did, justguarantees you to be ahead of
those that are on the wait list.
Interesting, yes, so jumping.

Speaker 3 (12:46):
Can we talk about this hotel though?
Yes, I did.
Okay, we do have to preferencethat.
Portofino Bay was going througha construction situation here.
It was very heavily constructed, but we were warned and given a
heads up prior to our bookingand, once we did check in, that
they were like hey, pleasepardon all of our't.
I know they don't call it pixiedust, obviously, because that's

(13:08):
disney's thing, but what'suniversal's?
Is it just dust?

Speaker 2 (13:11):
uh, unit.
Well, I don't know if they useit at the resorts, but it's a
set enhancement in progressbecause it's a movie sets they
did.

Speaker 3 (13:18):
They did kind of, you know, give us a heads up, but
you know I didn't mind the factthat this was going on.
I do need to stay once againafter the construction is all
done to kind of give a better.
I want to see a lot more things, but I still think it was
pretty easy to get from point ato point b.
Yeah, like I don't feel likethe construction was too much in
the way of everything, I mean Idon't think our view was as

(13:40):
good as you you anticipated withthis however, I don't think I
had a struggle with getting mymorning coffee or getting to our
dinner reservation.
We were right next to thatStarbucks girl, yeah which was
so great, but I don't feel likeI was constricting on how to get
to anything.
It was very simple and veryclear cut.

Speaker 2 (13:58):
Yeah, I agree with that.
And to preface so Portofino Bayopened in the 90s.
I don't remember exactly whenin the 90s.
So portofino bay opened in the90s, I don't remember exactly
when in the 90s, um, but if I'mnot mistaken, she either is or,
if she's very close to 30 yearsold oh, wow um, so you know, she
definitely needs to be broughtinto the 21st, 21st century.
Um, I mean, even like theirhotel buttons and the lights on

(14:19):
the elevator, like those are theold incandescent lights and
everything.
But it fits so well because itis a recreation of the real
portofino bay in italy yeah, itwas really pretty yeah, and that
, that bay, that oh, it's justthe bay is beautiful and I love
it the bay, but okay, so let'stalk about oh, is that the spot
where we were sitting?

Speaker 3 (14:39):
the piazza, the piazza oh, with the boats that I
I really wanted to get into but, but you did not.

Speaker 2 (14:44):
You would have stepped in that water and you
would have slid right down thatconcrete and the algae and I
would have laughed.

Speaker 3 (14:50):
Probably.

Speaker 2 (14:52):
So I want to talk about.
There's a restaurant there thatI have never eaten at before.
I've stayed there once beforeand then I've resort hopped, as
they call it, where you justkind of go and experience it.
But there is a place calledMamadela's Ristorante.

Speaker 3 (15:07):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (15:08):
And it is one of the fine dining establishments there
.
Now they don't have like adress code or anything.
There is another restaurantwe'll talk about in a minute
that does, but it is consideredfine dining where when you go
into the restaurant, you go intoMamadela's home and this
restaurant looks just like anactual home.
There's different rooms and thething I love about it is it's

(15:28):
not formal dining in the senseof the chairs and the tables.
When you go in, every table inthere is a different type of
table, every chair is adifferent type of chair, almost
as if those chairs had beenthrifted from old antique shops
across the Bay of Portofino andthat is the furniture that mama
has in her home.

Speaker 3 (15:45):
Yeah, I think it kind of vibes with that, like it
matches the whole aesthetic ofI'm in my house, because I
remember growing up as a kid myfurniture and my dining room
never matched Like.
My parents had different piecesof furniture in their living
room and my grandmother's housewas the exact same way, so it
was kind of nice to like.
Oh, this is kind of feels likehomey house was the exact same
way, so it was kind of nice tolike, oh, this kind of feels

(16:06):
like homey, like I'm gettinglike yeah, grandma's cooking
hanging out here in in thesefunky chairs.
I mean, the table we sat at twoof the chairs didn't match, and
then we had a booth on the side,so I kind of appreciated the
fact that this was kind of justa little like yes, it was fine
dining.
I very much felt like, I mean,there was numerous forks, it was
, it was you know the.
The servers were wearing tiesand suits, it was.

(16:26):
It was very high class.
However, it was kind of likehigh class laid-back class it
was good.

Speaker 2 (16:32):
It was very thematic, and one of the things that is
the coolest part aboutmamadela's is they actually have
singers that stroll through therestaurant and serenade you to
live music and there's no costfor it.

Speaker 3 (16:45):
It's, it's a part of that experience, I love it of
mama della's love it, and I lovethat they weren't just singing
like italian opera music theywere singing like modern music
as well like what was they sung?

Speaker 2 (16:56):
happy birthday to a couple tables.
What was one of the songs?

Speaker 3 (16:59):
oh gosh, they sing so many I'm trying to think.

Speaker 2 (17:01):
I can't think of the name of any of the songs right
now, because one of them was asong that we knew we're like
wait a minute, that's notitalian music, but it's kind of
neat.

Speaker 3 (17:09):
It was kind of nice.
Um, I did really, really loveour server, though I really did
like I can't remember his nameand I'm so sorry, I feel so, so
bad that I cannot, but I thoughthe was so good.
Like we all know, when it comesto restaurants, they're,
they're, they're my pride andjoy.

Speaker 2 (17:29):
I love being at restaurants.
You guys have got a hugebackground in it.

Speaker 3 (17:31):
I do, I really do.
Um, so when we go out to eat,especially at those places, I
tend to kind of take I don'twant to say like control, but
like I take a lead when it comesto that and I critique very,
very aggressively.
And this man kept up with me,dude, like he was like in the
same vibe as I was, he was inthe same mood that I was.
It was great he was able to tomeet up with our common like,

(17:54):
with what we were looking for hewas able to to.
I felt like we didn't wait verylong for our food.
Everything came out piping hot,which was if it needed to be
hot, it was hot.
If it needed to be cold, it wascold.

Speaker 2 (18:05):
Um, I felt like we were never sitting there waiting
longer than two minutes forrefills, like I feel like he did
very, very well for for thatservice yeah, and so while we
were there, I had I'm going totry to say all of this stuff
properly, but it's going to be astruggle the insalata mamadella
uh-huh, which was dressingwhich was mixed green or it was.

(18:28):
That was the dressing.
Ok, so that was the dressingmixed greens, bell peppers,
carrots, cherry tomatoes, whichI picked off and a balsamic
vinaigrette.
Yes, it was delicious.
I like I am really weird whenit comes to vinaigrettes, but I
was like I'm going to try thisone one.
I'm not a huge fan of darkvinaigrettes, but I'm gonna try.
That was the best salad on parthat beat out the salad that we

(18:52):
talked about earlier in ourseasons, that I had at ancient
lore village.
No shame on ancient lorevillage.
That is a delicious salad, it'sa dressing that was one of the
best salads I have ever had togo back.

Speaker 3 (19:03):
Have to go back just for that salad.

Speaker 2 (19:05):
Go to lunch?
Yeah, I'm here for it, just forthe salad.

Speaker 3 (19:09):
They had an option of a take on a caprese salad.
However, it wasn't your typicalcaprese it was a burrata
caprese and it was sitting onthe thickest piece of delicious
Italian bread I've ever had.

Speaker 4 (19:24):
That was really good oh my god, it was so good, and
it was good the amount ofbalsamic that was glazed all
over that bowl.

Speaker 3 (19:30):
I could have put like .
If it wasn't for the fact thatthe servers were staring at me
and people were in that room, Iwould have looked at bowl head
clean.

Speaker 2 (19:38):
It was so good uh yeah, and the thing I liked
about my salad is it was glutenwhich I am no longer gluten free
.
I will fill you all in nextepisode.
We have a life update.

Speaker 3 (19:49):
We need to do a life update and it was fully
vegetarian.

Speaker 2 (19:52):
Yeah, and those.
The only reason I brought thatup is that they like advertise
that in their menu, but that wasreally delicious.
And then for my main course, ordid you have any?
Do you have anything else withyour appetizer?

Speaker 3 (20:04):
Your wine and then for my main course, or did you
have any?
Do you have anything else withyour appetizer?
Yeah, I had a delicious,delicious glass of gas.
I hate you.
I had a delicious glass ofCabernet it was their house
Cabernet which he was like thisisn't just house Cabernet, like
you're going to love this, andhe did.
It was a little on the sweetside and a little on the dry

(20:26):
side, so it's a nice combinationof both and it paired
beautifully with that appetizerso it was great.
I was really really happy withit yeah, oh and the bread wait
oh, we have to talk about thebread.

Speaker 2 (20:37):
I love the fact that not just did they bring out this
massive piece of bread like aloaf of bread, but they also
brought out these deliciouslittle garlic sticks yeah and
then they brought out a wholebowl of roasted garlic and I was
just so here for it and whilewe're here in this fancy
restaurant, dressed all nice, Ipick up one of those garlic
sticks and I hold it and I lookat your brother and I go I like

(21:04):
I don't know him.
It's the intrusive thought everymale has when they pick up any
form of stick or anything.
That is long we just we have todo it.

Speaker 3 (21:12):
No, we don't have to, but we have to.

Speaker 2 (21:14):
It was a TikTok trend and now that we will do it for
the rest of our world.
It's a pop culture referenceand you know Harry Potter is a
part of Universal, so it fit.
But for my main course I lookedat several different ones and I
really wanted to try somethingnew.
But then I thought they havespaghetti and meatballs, and it

(21:34):
was a ground beef brisket,meatballs with marinara and
sauce, and let me tell you, itwas so good, it smelled
delicious.
It was.
I was just like, just like I'mgonna be stereotypical and I'm
gonna get the spaghetti andmeatballs at an italian
restaurant.

Speaker 3 (21:49):
Uh and it was really good and I enjoyed it.

Speaker 2 (21:51):
It was, it smelled delicious and I had a little bit
of leftovers and I accidentallyleft them in the fridge when we
checked out and I feel reallybad I'm sad for you.

Speaker 3 (21:58):
I'm sad for me I had their fantastic veal piccata.
I love piccata.
Like I'm a big fan of chickenpiccata, I'm a big fan of veal
piccata.
I just I love lemon and capersand capers are like how did I
describe it to you?

Speaker 2 (22:12):
like a little salty, little little circles little
salty circles I just love thembecause I was like is that like
fish eggs or something?

Speaker 3 (22:20):
no, they're just like I don't know.
I really don't know what theyare the.

Speaker 2 (22:23):
The meal itself was good, but it was a little too
salty for me.
I think the capers just was toomuch of a bite for me.
I don't think I'm a caper fanloved it.

Speaker 3 (22:33):
And then I paired so beautifully with a sauvignon
blanc um, which is what theyrecommended.
Uh, our server actuallyrecommended it for me and it
paired beautifully.
I loved it yeah and rob and hisfettuccine Alfredo.

Speaker 2 (22:46):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (22:46):
That whole bowl was gone.

Speaker 2 (22:48):
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 3 (22:48):
That thing disappeared.
I don't remember what Jordangot.

Speaker 2 (22:51):
I don't remember either, was it lasagna?

Speaker 3 (22:52):
I don't know.
No, the chicken parm.
Oh yeah, the chicken parm.
He got the chicken parm.

Speaker 2 (22:56):
I forgot, which they didn't call it chicken Parmigina
, parmigina, yeah, parmigina,but that was.
It was fun.
We went at about nine o'clock,so we kind of went after the
dinner rush.

Speaker 3 (23:07):
We did.
It was nice.
It wasn't super busy, it wasvery quiet Because we also got
there as a big party was leaving, so that was nice.

Speaker 2 (23:15):
So it was good.
We had a fun time.
The bill was I wouldn't say itwas a bit high it was, but it
was it's more.
It is a fine diningestablishment so it's not a
quick service, it's not, uh, youknow, all of garden if you've
been to vivo on city walkproperty, I would.

Speaker 3 (23:32):
I would compare the two of the prices being the same
okay I.
I would say they're relativelyclose to that.
Even if you've been to big fireor twosome, I would say that's
pretty much on the same range asthis establishment and I'll say
we didn't have any children inour group but I did see several
families in there.

Speaker 2 (23:46):
I did Several families with children.

Speaker 3 (23:49):
I did notice that the mama had a kids menu option on
there.

Speaker 2 (23:52):
Oh, she did oh okay.

Speaker 3 (23:53):
It consisted of spaghetti and meatballs.
It consisted of chicken, parmand a fettuccine Alfredo.
Okay, so children sizes, yeah,yeah, so I think that was pretty
nice that she was able to,which makes sense for me because
of the fact that you are goinginto mama's house, so it would
make sense that mama would haveoptions for just about anybody.
But you know what I reallyloved?

(24:15):
That there was only two pagesin the menu.

Speaker 2 (24:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (24:19):
It was very clear, cut, very simple.
It wasn't overwhelming.
It was here's an appetizer, ifyou want it, or a salad, or they
had minestrone soup, which weneed to go back because I want
to try, and then here's yourentrees and that was it, and
then, like they had a book, theyhad a little dessert.
I think it was tiramisu andsomething else was.
It was a dessert option andthen, and I'll go like a wine, a

(24:39):
cocktail list and that was it.
And you're like this is sobeautiful, like I feel like more
restaurants should be like this.
I cannot stand it when you walkinto restaurants and it's like
here's a 15 page menu, have atit.

Speaker 2 (24:51):
It's just so much, just it's overwhelming so we're
going to continue to talk aboutmamadillos for just a moment.
Um, there is another restaurantat portofino bay and it was my
absolute favorite the last timeI stayed there, because it's
where I went to breakfast yes umnow, this restaurant is
currently closed.
It is the.
I can't pronounce that tar oh,oh uh.

(25:14):
Trattatoro trattatoro I thinkdel porto, I think it might be
that um, which is considered acasual full-service restaurant
um it's family-friendly, fairwith a touch of italian oh um,
their menu looks so good that iswhere they also typically hold
the breakfast buffet.
Yeah, um, or you can order a lacarte.
Well, it is closed as a part ofits remodel, so mamadella's is

(25:37):
hosting the breakfast buffet,right?
now so I was so happy when Irealized that they still had the
breakfast buffet and it was atmam Della's and it was all the
same foods yeah, um, that youwould get if the at the other
restaurant.
So we went back the nextmorning for breakfast again.
Server fan oh my god, he wasgreat and when he learned that
we were just locals here on astaycation, we weren't treated

(25:59):
any differently than people whotravel from around the world to
go eat there.

Speaker 3 (26:03):
Um, as a matter of fact, we actually had several
conversations with him about ourfavorite things here in this
area, and he also recommended acouple things that we had never
done, because we were headed toVolcano Bay the next day.
So it was kind of nice that hewas giving us recommendations on
what to do and what not to do,because he was also a local that
has done all these things.

Speaker 2 (26:18):
So that was kind of nice.
We were heading to Volcano Baythat day, yes, but then he gave
us fresh, squeezed orange juiceand coffee and water and he was
just.
It was really great service,really good service.

Speaker 3 (26:30):
I highly recommend that buffet.
That was fantastic.
And the lady who made my omelet, oh my gosh.
I, as many know, I'm not eatingvery much meat right now,
except for chicken, if that so,it was so great to me that she
was like, oh, you want everysingle cheese option and every
single meat or every singleveggie option?

(26:51):
Okay, let me feel you shouldhave seen this omelet.
I wish I took a picture, but Iwas so hungry just scarfed the
whole thing down.
But it was huge and I thoughtthe price of that was relatively
inexpensive too.
It came out to what?
32 per person for the buffet,30, 30 dollars uh, I believe, I
think it was 30, between 30 and35.

(27:12):
Let's go with that as a nicelittle range just in case I
don't remember but I thought itwas so good um it was scrambled
eggs and potatoes and bacon andsausage they had watermelon,
watermelon.

Speaker 2 (27:22):
They had an entire fruit section too.

Speaker 3 (27:25):
And the yogurts yep, you can make your own little
yogurts.

Speaker 1 (27:28):
And fresh fruit yep I thought it was great biscuits
and gravy and I like I am anappalachian boy and I like my
biscuits and gravy.

Speaker 2 (27:36):
We make them with bacon grease and sausage grease
and they're delicious.
This is not how they maketheirs.
I don't think it has a verydistinct and different flavor
than what I'm used to inappalachia, but it's still so
good and I love the flavor to it.

Speaker 3 (27:51):
It was so soft, it was great, I love breakfast, um,
so at universe, so at portofinobay.

Speaker 2 (27:56):
One of the great things about this that we had
mentioned is all of theserestaurants that we're talking
about.
They are all just within astone's throw of the piazza most
of them are on the piazza,which is just this large area
around the center of the resortthat is at the bay, and we'll
talk more about what happens onthe piazza throughout the year.
But as you wrap around thepiazza there's also a starbucks

(28:17):
which we went into and that wasone of the most delicious
peppermint white mochas with oatmilk and no whipped cream that
I have had in a long time I justlove them.

Speaker 3 (28:26):
I don't always get starbucks like my hotel.
One of my hotels obviouslyserves it, but it's not.
It's an affiliate of starbucks,so it's not a full starbucks,
so I kind of miss oh, it wasyeah, we don't get like any
extra stuff, like I can't get abrown sugar shaking espresso
with gopher on top, which is, ifyou know, you know that's my
go-to.
I will be so sad if they everget rid of that.

(28:46):
I'll be like I don't know whatto order anymore.

Speaker 2 (28:48):
Yeah, um, but you know what I did, really like
well, I was going to talk uh thethe place inside the starbucks
as well oh, the gelato place,yeah, the gelata, gelata, teria,
yeah, which is a quick servicerestaurant that serves artisan
gelato milkshakes, smoothies,biscottis, coffee and espresso I
love that she let us the castor the team member there, let us
try those samples too she did,and it was, it was delicious and

(29:10):
it was good.

Speaker 3 (29:11):
We gotta go back yes, um.

Speaker 2 (29:13):
Do you want to talk about vice?

Speaker 3 (29:14):
don't want to talk about vice.
Yes, I would love to talk aboutvice.
So vice is um, a fine diningdress code report, uh, resort or
business casual attire.
So they will look at you andtell you that if you are wearing
a t-shirt and shorts, you arenot allowed to come into that
restaurant we gotta say it'slegal name oh, the vice
restaurant.

Speaker 2 (29:31):
Yes, yes, which I will say on the universal mobile
app it said it does say that,uh, resort or business casual
attire is recommended.
So I don't know what that Idon't know.
Don't show up not looking nicebut yeah, it is a very nice
restaurant correct now.

Speaker 3 (29:48):
This began in 1926 as a small trattoria in milan no,
it's trattoria trattoria inmilan which is now the
international network of vice.
Now it offers a northernitalian cuisine and a sub perb
service in an excellent andelegant atmosphere.
Have you seen this menu?

Speaker 2 (30:07):
I had.

Speaker 3 (30:08):
I didn't even know this restaurant existed until
this day okay, so because it'sin a part of the resort that I'd
ever go to okay, so we went,you, you left the resort for for
a tad bit and we went over tothe thirsty fish, which we will
get into next.
But you have to pass thisrestaurant in order to get to
the thirsty fish.
Each table has its own littlelike candle and like white linen

(30:30):
was on top of this and it waslike the waiters had like
napkins over their arms and itwas like they're wearing suit
jackets and I'm just like I wantto eat there by myself, alone,
in an elegant silk dress.
I want to drink a whole bottleof wine.
It was so beautiful and it waslike they had those, you know

(30:51):
the Italian, like big candlesthat are like in wine bottles.
And they're like overflowing.
That was sitting on the tables.
It was so pretty, like justpassing by.
It looked pretty and it smelledso good.
I just I need to eat there now,yeah, so I am sad because one
thing that I didn't get to dowhile we were there and it's my
favorite thing to do when I goto portofino, even if I'm not

(31:14):
staying there is get an espressomartini from the thirsty fish
oh, we went to the thirsty fishand if you have not been, even
if you're not staying atportofino, I recommend that you
pop over there and get a drinkand sit outside in the piazza,
or even just sit inside of thethirsty fish, because this was
such a fun experience when wewent.

(31:34):
The singers that were that werein mamas were getting a drink at
the thirsty fish so they weresinging inside the thirsty fish.
It was so cute.
They're like and we weretalking to the bartenders who
were wonderful, and he was like,yeah, they do this every night.
Like literally, we get livemusic every single night and
it's not on purpose and it'sjust so good, but it's, it's
fantastic.
It's like upscale meetsdownscale, a downtown kind of

(31:58):
vibe, and it's like laid back,but it's, it's like higher end
at the same time.

Speaker 2 (32:04):
It's really nice when there's no construction going
on, because there isconstruction actually happening
to the outside of the building,that that is, in All of the
doors and windows in the ThirstyFish are open and there's
tables sitting outside andinside, so you can sit on the
piazza and you can watch thewater taxis come and go while
you drink and socialize.
It's a fun place.

Speaker 3 (32:23):
It was really nice because we got to get a nice
little nightcap and we sat onthe piazza as it was dark and
they had like lights everywhereand it was really pretty and we
got to hear the water and that'swhen I actively wanted to get
in one of those boats.

Speaker 2 (32:35):
Yeah, now, one place you did not go while you were
here and this is where somewhereI have eaten before is Sal's
Market Deli, which is a quickservice restaurant, and then the
stairs to the lobby and thenthis house okay, yep, so this is
more like what people are usedto in resorts is the grab-and-go

(32:59):
place?
it's not a, it's not a quickservice or a cafeteria, but they
do pizzas, sandwiches, salads,meats, cheeses, fruits, and then
they have like your grab-and-goso you can buy beer and wine,
you can buy pop tarts, you canbuy cup of noodle type things in
there.
So it's kind of like aconvenience store and a pizza

(33:20):
place and there is dining.

Speaker 3 (33:22):
There is dining in there, though, but it's very
limited.
It was I wouldn't say it's likea full sit down place yeah, I
think there's like.

Speaker 2 (33:29):
I think there's like 10 menu items in total and that
includes like all the pizzas.
You can buy all the sandwichesand there's probably about 10
tables.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
Um, I feel like it's more.
So take it with me.

Speaker 2 (33:39):
I've never been I've never been in the dining portion
that they have, because it'sthat little separate room.
I've never actually been inthere so I have no clue how big
it is.
But I want to say I reallyloved when we rounded the corner
and we saw the fam those threegirls sitting inside eating and
that one girl was just a big oldbite of that sandwich dude like
she, it was her wholepersonality trait.

Speaker 3 (33:58):
She was like, let me just it was and it was it was
really funny so bad for herbecause there's this window
where all these people arewalking past and this poor girl
just like body weight in thatsandwich bite.
I bet you that's what you and Ilook like, though, after we eat
out, like somebody videotape usat mama mama, yeah, we'd be

(34:21):
screwed.

Speaker 2 (34:22):
And then do you want to talk about the last, last
food establishment we have?

Speaker 3 (34:26):
that's uh splendido's right.
Um so splendido's bar and grillis a full service and bar.
This offers appetizers, pizza,salad, sandwiches, wraps, tacos,
um platters, platter, I don'tknow why the sevens in the notes
?
That was a mistake like youcould get like seven platters.
You can get like sevendifferent platter, options.

Speaker 2 (34:44):
Kids, you can get like a chicken tender platter
like big platters that can feeda family.

Speaker 3 (34:49):
Oh nice, yeah.
So yeah, seven platter, sevenpeople, makes perfect sense.
I don't know where this one'slocated, though um, I think it's
over near the beach pool.

Speaker 2 (35:00):
Well, there's three different pool locations at this
resort.
I think they have the mostpools which we're about to get
into, but I think it's over nextto beach pool, which is the one
that has the big water slide,uh, and it's like the family
hangout place rob and I walkedover to the villa pool and this
one has the hot tub and it has aTV that you could like.

Speaker 3 (35:15):
They were playing movies on.
They were playing alien versusmonsters on this TV and it was
super cute to watch.

Speaker 2 (35:20):
There should have been the beach pool.

Speaker 3 (35:22):
No, no, no, we saw the Villa pool.
It was massive, huge, she saidit was the biggest one in.
Villa is the biggest one onproperty.

Speaker 2 (35:28):
It was it's over there by the I didn't know they
did movies over there.

Speaker 3 (35:31):
Yeah, it's got a massive projection screen over
there.
It's so cute and they offerlike different waters and stuff
that you can get complimentaryand they have sunscreen and
tanning lotion complimentary aswell.
I did not know that.

Speaker 2 (35:42):
To preface.
So there are three poollocations.
And what's great is, they'reall very different.
So you've got the beach pool,which is kind of like the family
pool.
That's one that has the waterslide.
Family pool, that's one thathas the water slide.
It has a sandy beach.
Um, that's where they do a lotof games, activities.
That's where I know of them totypically stream movies.
It sounds like they werestreaming a movie at villa that
day too yeah um the villa poolsare a little more.

(36:05):
I felt like this was more likeadult vibe it's, it's the happy
medium yeah it's the place thathas the hot tub, but they also
have rentable cabanas in thevilla pool area where you can
get a fan, refrigerators, aphone, a plasma tv, um, they
have more upgraded lounge chairsjust out on the lawn and it's

(36:25):
also I think I already said justwhere they have the hot tub.
And then there's hillside pool,which I've never been to, and
portofino bay markets this as aquiet and secluded place to
relax.

Speaker 3 (36:35):
This is not one of those ones that you go in there
making a lot of noise and fromwhat I was told from the lady
she said that hillside there wasa team member that we were
speaking to rob as rob waswatching the movie, um, and she
was like, if you're looking forquiet away from I think she
assumed that rob was my child.
She was like, if you're lookingfor quiet away from your kid,

(36:55):
she was like go to hillside.
I was like why, what is that?
She's like there's literallyteam members over there that
would be like hi, you're beingtoo loud, you gotta go or be
quiet.
I was like no way.
Look at that I want that job,give me that job telling a whole
bunch of children hi crotchgumballs quiet be quiet.

Speaker 2 (37:15):
This is the quiet place.
Yes, um, and there's lots ofshopping.

Speaker 3 (37:19):
Yes, but I like that it was not like an overwhelming
shopping experience, like theyhad the universal store.
Um, then they also had therewas a beach store right across
from, uh, the thirsty fish,which had, like some, some.
I feel like this was kind oflike the portofino shop so
there's four stores located inportofino on the piazza.

Speaker 2 (37:41):
There's altamoda, la ancora sure which I think is
supposed to be like the anchormemories, the portofino and
obviously the universal storebut I love how they call it uni
Store.
I called it Uni Store.
Oh, I thought that's what itwas called no.
I abbreviated it to the UniStore U-N-I, which is what a lot

(38:02):
of Orlando locals will do.
Instead of saying Universal,they'll call it Uni.

Speaker 3 (38:05):
Yes, because we're all very lazy.

Speaker 2 (38:07):
Yes so no, it's the Universal Store.

Speaker 3 (38:15):
We literally have a nickname for everything because
we refuse to call anything bytheir actual name velocity
instead of velocity coaster here, we could do a whole episode on
that okay, we know what we'redoing.

Speaker 2 (38:24):
Stop um.
So the free amenities for thisplace.
Do not stop with everythingthat we've been talking about,
obviously not even food andbeverage and shopping is not
free.
But one of the most amazingthings that I think sets this
resort apart from any resortthat we have at Universal is the
Musica della Nota, which iseach evening at sunset.

(38:44):
The Harbor Piazza comes to lifewith a complimentary showcase
of classic opera and poperafavorites sung by talented
performers, and this is done forfree.
Usually it's done on thebalcony that faces so like if
they're in the lobby ofportofino bay.
They come out onto a balconyover the piazza and sing to you
and the sun is fading behind you.

(39:04):
And they're on this balcony andit's beautiful.
Right now, with theconstruction, they have been
relocated just down to thepiazza and it looks like they
were near the harbor line nextto um the fish, the salty fish
thirsty, thirsty fish.
Thank you, um, and I didn't getto see it because, uh, we were
at dinner or we were going todinner, so we'd missed it.

(39:26):
Um, but it is so cool, um, andI absolutely, absolutely love
that I've never seen it, so nowwe have to go back, oh most
definitely.
And then obviously, thatdoesn't always happen every
single night.
It depends on if the performersare available and what the
weather is like, true?
And then another really coolthing that happens on the piazza

(39:47):
is called harbor nights.
Have you ever heard of this?
no, I haven't tell me so harbornights is a special event,
nights that happen on the piazza, so, like New Year's, I know,
is one they have every year andthen they do a couple of
different events throughout theyear.
It is a separate ticketed eventso you can still get around the
piazza and you can get to therestaurants and stuff.
But in order to get into HarborNights it is a ticket, a

(40:12):
ticketed event that ranges from$79 for Standing Harbor, $109
for VIP and $850 for a privatetable.
That includes reserved seatingfor up to 10 people at a private
table for your entire party.
How.
And there's music, there's allsorts of.
I mean, when I first moved toOrlando, that was one of the

(40:33):
things that I heard about.
When it comes to the resorts atUniversal is Harbor Nights
parties.
That's so cool and people dressto the nines.
They're in evening gowns, suits, I mean.
They're wearing.
I can't think of a good brandright now.
Gucci they're wearing.
Gucci and Dolce Gabbana.
I mean, it is legitimately likeyou're in la at a party.

Speaker 3 (40:57):
Love that and it's pretty cool I love that they
also do weddings oh, really,tell me all about those she's
like I didn't read that note noactually I just don't.

Speaker 2 (41:08):
I'm my thoughts on weddings, so you go ahead and
talk about weddings um, somediterranean is your experience
at a stunning recreation of aseaside villa of portofino,
italy, at lowe's portofino bayhotel, you can expect an
exceptional wedding experiencesurrounded by unparalleled
beauty, elegance and romance onthe italian riviera.

(41:29):
Um, so again, it's like it'sout there on the piazza for the
most part, um, and they doweddings and private events.
They also have a convention andconference space on the other
side of the resort that has itsown separate entrance into the
resort.
Um, so they have ballrooms,escalators that go down, some
beautiful artwork down there,and they've got several large
ballrooms and conference spacesthat they can hold events at,

(41:51):
which is pretty cool.

Speaker 3 (41:52):
Happy for those people.
So we did as we spoke about inthe episode.
About, well, in this episode isthe all-out construction that
Portofino has been going under.
They're looking to do some.
You could kind of tell therewas some outside updating that
was happening.
It looks like they werepainting, reconstruction some
things.
So the resort was built in the90s, which makes sense as to why

(42:16):
we're seeing all of thisconstruction.
I think they're looking to kindof reinvent the wheel a little
bit here, update you know what'sgoing on when you're gonna make
epics opening soon so we'regonna, you're gonna see a huge
spike in attendance.
Oh, absolutely, so.
It did take a while for us toget where we wanted to.
However, you were still able torock around the piazza, which
was nice.
And.

(42:36):
I felt like we were able tostill get, like I said, from
point A to point B.
So I don't think any of theconstruction was necessarily in
the way.
However, it did.

Speaker 2 (42:45):
You had to detour.

Speaker 3 (42:46):
Yeah, and I do think it kind of takes away from like
the look of the hotel.
Portofino is very beautifulwhen it is not under
construction.
So this is just kind of.
It's definitely one of thoseones, as it was my first day,
that I do need to stay thereagain after the construction is
there, so I can fully appreciateall of the fact that I don't

(43:07):
have to rock around somestaffling.

Speaker 2 (43:09):
Also I forgot to mention there is also a VIP
lounge in the lobby.

Speaker 3 (43:13):
I did see that.
Forgot to mention there is alsoa vip lounge in the lobby.

Speaker 2 (43:17):
I did see that and we need to become vip members so
we can sit in there.

Speaker 3 (43:18):
I don't know how that happens, but we can.
Yeah, hey, universal, make usvip people.
Hey, do you want to talk aboutthe um?
Wait, wait, wait.
Before we get into this, can wetalk about how comfortable, how
that room was, please?
Oh yeah, we didn't even talkabout our room no, we need to
talk about that first.
I know we this is a veryimportant thing and I want you
to talk about it.
However, that was probably oneof the most beautiful rooms I've

(43:38):
stayed in.
In a while that bathroom oh, Icould have lived in that
bathroom yeah, so we had areservation for a garden view
room yes um, so it overlookedthe garden which is kind of the
piazza no, no no, no, is there apiazza view?

Speaker 2 (43:57):
it's called harbor view oh, a harbor view.

Speaker 3 (43:59):
I didn't know that.
Yes, oh, I love that.

Speaker 2 (44:01):
Yes um, so we had two were they king size?

Speaker 3 (44:08):
they had to be.
They were huge.

Speaker 2 (44:09):
I don't remember if they're king or queen I have a
feeling they're king, because Ifeel like we were in smaller.
We were on a smaller bed whenwe changed resorts yeah,
definitely um, but it comes.

Speaker 3 (44:19):
It had mini fridge tv yep um desk but the bathroom
alone carpeted, which I lovedyes, it had a safe for for any
of your valuables, which wasnice, had an ironing board the
bathroom was about as big as aroom, as a like standard hotel
room yeah, it was huge.
I mean it had a bathtub, whichwas nice.
I had double sinks, a toiletand also had a shower.

(44:41):
Um, it also came with a wholebunch of towels and a full-size
mirror was on the back of thedoor.
Also came with your amenitiesof shampoo, conditioner, body
wash, lotion shower cap, showercap cotton swabs ear, ear things
your cotton.

Speaker 2 (44:55):
What are those called ?

Speaker 3 (44:56):
Ear ear.

Speaker 2 (44:58):
I don't know, I just forgot what they were called.

Speaker 3 (45:02):
Ear ear cleaners no Cotton.
I thought they were cottonswabs, no, maybe it is cotton,
no cotton swabs, cotton padscotton pads, cotton balls.
They had pads, cotton ballsthey had there's a two glasses
in the bathroom for when youbrush your teeth and you have a
little rinse.

Speaker 2 (45:19):
Yeah, that was really nice and they give you like a
little paper plate that you canset your jewelry, or yeah I put
all my earrings on there, whichis nice and I want to take a
second to talk about the chat,your service that universal has
at their resorts.
So upon check in um, they senda welcome text message to the
phone number registered to theperson who had the reservation
so it was for me.

Speaker 3 (45:37):
Did find out, though, that you can add phone numbers
to that.

Speaker 2 (45:39):
You can, yeah um, you can change the phone number, do
whatever you want.
So they send you a welcome textmessage and say, if you want to
accept, yes, or if you.
If you respond and say yes,they send you a link that'll
give you all the informationabout the resort, the
restaurants and all of thesethings, literally, and then they
tell you that link that'll giveyou all the information about
the resort the restaurants andall of these things, literally
right there.
And then they tell you that youcan text this phone number 24-7

(45:59):
while you're there for anythingthat you need.
So we actively used thatservice because we wanted an
extra blanket.

Speaker 3 (46:05):
Their blankets were fantastic by the way, oh, 10 out
of 10.

Speaker 2 (46:08):
So we text them at like 11 o'clock at night and we
said, hey, can we get an extrablanket to our room?
And at night, and we said, hey,can we get an extra blanket to
our room?
And, um, I had two differentagents respond.
So one agent responded.
They said yes, we'll send thatright up, and I said thank you.
And after I said thank you,another agent followed up and
asked if there was anything elsethat they could assist us with
for that night and I just Ithink it was great and I think
it was a lot of fun and I reallyenjoyed that oh, my god, it was

(46:30):
fantastic.

Speaker 3 (46:31):
I love that, like I loved it.
And those blankets I need them,universal.
Please sell part of fiona'sblankets to me, please, and
thank you.
Okay, so we check out we finishbreakfast we check out yep,
jordan, I head to my housebecause we have to check on baby
b and you head home.
But you didn't head home.

(46:53):
No.
Do you?

Speaker 2 (46:57):
want to what happened Ashley.

Speaker 3 (47:00):
What happened to your car?

Speaker 2 (47:05):
Oh, that was not what I wanted, so I you put a nice
little dent in your car.
I was parked in a compact carparking spot because I have a
compact car.

Speaker 3 (47:18):
You no, you don't have a compact car, you have a
two-person smart car.
So it is, it looks like a go.

Speaker 2 (47:23):
It is a compact car it's a go-kart um your mic's cut
now I think um I'm okay and Iget out on the main road with
you and jordan and I'm lookingat you guys at a red light.
I go through the red light andI look in my rear view mirror to
change lanes and I realize Idon't see my driver's rear view
mirror.
And I focused for a second andI realized that my mirror had
been folded in and I didn'tnotice it while I was in the

(47:44):
garage.
So I'm immediately like oh no,because there was a large SUV
that parked in a compact parkingspot, clearly marked beside me
and evidently in the morningwhen they went to check out they
I don't know how my mirror gotpushed in because there was no
damage there but just behind mydriver's side door is a big,

(48:05):
huge dent the size of abasketball and they ingrate like
it dig, dug into the car andscratched up my paint.
And I didn't realize.
I didn't realize the dent untilI'd made it to my destination.
So I got out, did what I neededto do and I called you guys and
said I know I'll catch up withyou.
I'm going to head back toPortofino just so I can update
them on the situation and get areport done In case I decide to

(48:28):
fix this.
I'll need it for insurancepurposes.
So I went back to Portofino andI have to commend the staff
there.
So I walked inside and I wasgreeted by their lobby person.
They kind of have someone thatfloats around the lobby.
I let him know that I needed tospeak with security due to a
vehicle accident happened in theparking garage.

(48:49):
He first and foremost asked ifI was okay, if I was involved.
I told him I was, but it wasn'tnecessarily a car wreck.
And he asked again if I wasokay, if I was involved.
You know, I told him I was, butit wasn't necessarily a car
wreck.
And he asked again if I wasokay.
And then he walked me over tothe front desk where I had a
front desk assist me.
I just let him know.
I said, hey, I need to speakwith security.
And she was like, can I askwhat it's for?
And I said, yeah, my car gothit in the parking lot overnight
and I just need to do a reporton it.

(49:12):
So she she was like, yeah, letme, you know, take care of that
for you.
She said, do you mind if I stepto the back and notify my
manager of the situation?
And I said absolutely, that'sfine.
So she walked to the back.
She came back out a few momentslater with a water bottle.
That was so nice.
And said that her manager wantedme to have a water bottle.
And then her manager came out amoment later.
They all asked if I was okay.
I felt like I was royalty inthis moment.

(49:34):
They were so nice and so kindto me and I understand it,
because you know we pay a lot ofmoney to stay in places like
this and something like that isnot something that you want to
happen when you're on vacation.
But c'est la vie, is the world.
It happened.
It wasn't anyone at Portofino'sfault.
You know.
It's a parking garage, vehiclesare moving, it's what happens.

(49:54):
Was I upset?
Absolutely.
Was it universal reporterpheno's fault?
absolutely not um so parkingcompact cars I waited a little
while for security to come andhe came and we chatted in the
lobby for a moment.
We walked out, looked at thecar.
He took my registration andinsurance information uh, gave
me some resources that I coulduse for um the orlando police

(50:14):
department if I wanted a formalpolice report, done um and
things.
And he took my information andyou know, he he said he was
grateful that I myself was okay,um, and that I think that
really speaks volumes to me umto know that when you park in a
parking garage and self-park, itis considered um at risk
parking.
Does you park anywhere in aparking garage?

(50:35):
Um, and I feel as though theydefinitely went the extra mile
to make sure I was taken care ofand that I felt uh appreciated
by them and I think they did afantastic job.
And whoever hit my car in theparking garage, you're a duty
head.
You um didn't even leave a notein my windshield to say you're
sorry.
I don't care if you would haveleft your driver's information
and insurance information.
If you'd have just left a notethat said you were sorry, I

(50:56):
would have been better, but itis what it is do better um so we
did universal the day before sochecked out of portofino, did
what we need to do, and then wemet up at universal's cabana bay
beachort for our second leg ofour journey yes, we did um and

(51:17):
um, cabana Bay Beach Resort is aprime value resort, so it's
going to be on the second of thefour levels, so we're two below
the premier resorts.
Um, and it is, uh, withinwalking distance of Volcano Bay,
which is pretty neat, uh.
But the thing I like most aboutit is it is a vibrant retro
style place.
They have family suites,they've got standard hotels type

(51:40):
rooms, they've got pools, allsorts of stuff, but the resort
mimics a florida beach resort ofthe 1950s or 60s do you know, I
heard the best thing todescribe this hotel it is like
hairspray.
The movie threw up in thishotel I can see that it's like
that and like fallout before thebombs drop.

(52:01):
I've never seen it, so you'reobsessed well, I have to say
that because the fallout seriesreleased like two days ago, um
welcome to the 50s.

Speaker 3 (52:10):
Is it the 50s or 60s?

Speaker 2 (52:13):
it's the 60s oh well, but stop singing before we get
a cease and desist john travoltawill come after me yeah, so we
didn't really participate in alot of the amenities at the
resort for this day because ouruh at this point all day at
volcano bay we did.
I was actually pleasantlysurprised at how long we stayed
at volcano bay, but we'll talkabout that in a moment.

(52:33):
So in port, uh, in portofino,in universal's Bay Beach Resort,
which we are just going torefer to as Cabana Bay, moving
forward, yes, but we'll not besaying entirely large.
They have.
Their newest addition is theShake's Malt Shop, where you can
get milkshakes and ice cream,and you can get adult milkshakes
.

Speaker 3 (52:49):
Filled with booze.

Speaker 2 (52:51):
They have, we Filled with booze they have.

Speaker 3 (52:52):
We did not participate in this and I'm very
sad we did not.
I know.

Speaker 2 (52:54):
We looked at doing it and we thought about doing it
that night, but we ran out oftime because they closed before
we got back to the hotel.
Correct, they have BaylinerDiner, which is a quick service
style cafeteria, so it's like afood court.
Yep.
So you go in.
There's several differentlocations with different types
of food that you can um get youmeet up at the register's pay.

Speaker 3 (53:14):
The dining area for this place is massive it's like
a cafeteria um like a schoollunchroom, cafeteria size it's
huge, oh yeah, size wise.
Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (53:25):
It's, but I love like the architecture, because
they've got like the roundtables and then they have square
tables and boots the tvs thatwere playing all over the place.
They have black and whitemovies that were playing.
They're just projectors, butlike of cartoons yeah, they
played like 1950s commercialsand cartoons.
Yeah, that was cute.
It's massive.
I like that.
They have the Hideaway Bar andGrill, which is out by the pools

(53:46):
.

Speaker 3 (53:47):
Yes, jordan and I participated in this.

Speaker 2 (53:49):
That's usually where I get my piña colada, but I
didn't get one this day A piñacolada.
If you like, piña colada.

Speaker 3 (53:59):
And he thinks I'm going to get the Z-Sin-A-Sist
Lord.

Speaker 2 (54:02):
I also like Was that song by Jimmy Buffett?

Speaker 3 (54:04):
I have no idea.

Speaker 2 (54:05):
Because if so, then we won't get a Z-Sin-A-Sist.
Oh rip.
No, I just meant because he waswild and crazy, not because
he's dead.

Speaker 3 (54:13):
There's also Atomic Tonic Galaxy Bowling, which we
have participated in in the past, swizzle Lounge, which is very
adorable, and they also havelive music that plays at this at
night.
They also have a Starbucks andthey have their room delivery
pizza place, which is called.

Speaker 2 (54:31):
De Delicioso Pizza.
Delicioso Pizza.

Speaker 3 (54:34):
Love it.

Speaker 2 (54:35):
It is the same pizza that they serve in the bay liner
diner too.

Speaker 3 (54:38):
Yes, it is now.
That's it, because we didn'treally spend, we slept.

Speaker 2 (54:44):
No, we got to talk about the room, so we stayed in
one of the towers yes, we did,and the towers were an addition
to the resort.
After the resort opened.

Speaker 3 (54:56):
And these are.
I think these opened around thesame time Volcano Bay opened.

Speaker 2 (54:59):
They opened, they started construction when.

Speaker 3 (55:02):
Volcano Bay was being when.

Speaker 2 (55:02):
Wet n' Wild closed.

Speaker 3 (55:04):
Yes.
Because Wet n' Wild used to bewhere Volcano Bay is now, and I
think the whole purpose of thesetwo towers being built was so
that you could get the view ofVolcano Bay.

Speaker 2 (55:12):
Yeah, and we had an incredible view it was.

Speaker 3 (55:14):
It was very nice um two queen or it was two queen
beds uh tv, mini fridge table uhsmaller bathroom however, you
know, what I did like about thisbathroom was the fact that the
shower and the bathroom wereclosed door, and then there's a
separate area that had the sinkin the mirror to get ready.
Now the family suites therethose are my favorites because

(55:37):
when you go into a family suite.

Speaker 2 (55:39):
You walk in and you're in the kitchenette oh
very nice.
You turn left and you have aformal living room with a couch
that actually pulls out into asleeper sofa, and then you have
this really cool wall with asliding door.
Behind that door there is twobeds, and then there's the
bathroom.
But here's the cool part aboutthe bathroom.

Speaker 3 (55:55):
Lay it on me.

Speaker 2 (55:56):
When you are looking at the sink so you've got the
sink directly in front of you.

Speaker 3 (56:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (56:00):
And if you step up to the sink you're right at the
counter.
Turn right, you have a doorthat goes to the toilet.
Love that Turn left.
You have a door that goes tothe shower and another sink.
That's nice.
So the problem that everyonehas when you stay in a hotel
room.

Speaker 3 (56:16):
Especially with multiple people.

Speaker 2 (56:16):
People are trying to take a shower and you got to go
to the bathroom.
You either got to go all theway to the lobby or the pools.

Speaker 3 (56:21):
Or you wait until that person's done taking a
shower.

Speaker 2 (56:23):
And you don't have to do that in the family suites.
And they have a really cool.
It's kind of like a walk-incloset there.
That walk into this little tinyroom and they have things.
It's pretty cool that's gonnahave to be our next room for the
next vacation yep, and I wish Ihad thought ahead of time to
find music to play for this nextsegment um but I don't okay.

Speaker 3 (56:42):
Yeah, that works.
I think that's lilo andstitch's new song, but we're
just gonna ignore it okay um oneof the big things, wait, wait
before we start volcano baytopic have you been here before?
Was this your first time?

Speaker 2 (57:01):
this was like my third or fourth time okay, yeah
being there um, but I I got tolearn a lot more.
So my.

Speaker 3 (57:07):
So when I go there, I usually do like three of the
three same attractions, and thenI leave buddy, give us the
history of of EB, because I knowyou want to.

Speaker 2 (57:15):
I am going to.
So there's two different formsof information here, and I had a
feeling you were going to belike oh God, that's a lot.

Speaker 3 (57:22):
It's so much, it is a lot, but you are the only one I
know.
That is like I will talk aboutit all.

Speaker 2 (57:28):
Well, this is what I think is so cool.
So Volcano Bay is a water parklike you've never seen before.
Because Universal doesn't totethis as a water park I'm so
sorry, you're good, they tote itas a water theme park.
A water theme park, and I thinkthat I mean.
In my opinion, I think thatstands true, because it is
completely unlike a water parkI've ever been to before.

(57:49):
So the lore of Volcano Bay.

Speaker 3 (57:52):
Are you ready?
I'm listening.
I'm listening.

Speaker 2 (57:55):
So it all began with a fiery god called krakatau.
He, through his wrath and fury,dominated the land.
He couldn't contain theadventurous spirit of his
daughter, tainui she fell inlove with a native youth named
kala, and when her fiery,protective father learned of
their romance, he flew into arage and he banished kala
forever to the sky, where hebecame the moon.

(58:18):
Overcome with grief, tai nui'stears became the sea.
It was then that krakataurealized that he had not only
succeeded in destroying whatmattered to him most, his
daughter's happiness.
So at that point, he was thendetermined to reunite the young
lovers.
So he reached into the sky, or,excuse me, he reached into the

(58:38):
earth and pulled it into the sky, creating the volcano of
volcano bay.
Krakatau trapped the remains ofhis anger and jealousy, uh, in
the form of a fire spirit, vol,whom is imprisoned deep inside
this volcano.
So this is how the sky, sea andearth unite to form the paradise

(58:59):
of volcano bay oh, wow andwhat's really amazing about this
and I didn't know this prior tothis visit we went inside the
volcano.
You can actually go inside itand when you go inside, if you
look hard enough, you canactually come face to face with
Val.

Speaker 3 (59:16):
Yeah, we talked to him.

Speaker 2 (59:17):
We did, and that is what I thought was so cool.
He's real, he's a real firespirit that you actually get to
speak to, and we held aconversation with him it was not
a robot.
It was a real thing.

Speaker 3 (59:28):
Correct and I really, really, really, really love the
fact that he gave us the samehistory lesson that you just
gave to us well, he didn't giveus that history lesson but he
gave us a similar he gave us thelore of the people do you have
that listen?
Do you want to know it?

Speaker 2 (59:40):
of course, okay, so the lore of the waturi people.
Before they came to volcano bay, the waturi traversed the ocean
in outrigger canoes in searchof a new home.
According to the, the legend, amystical fish named Konoku Was
destined to guide them.
The voyagers took them To thefar corners of the South Pacific

(01:00:01):
and wherever they went, theWatsuri embraced the customs,
music and art Of the many peoplethey encountered.
But, alas, nowhere did theyfind Konoku.
On that search, on and on, theysearched, until they came to
every edge of the world.
It was then there they foundKanuku playing in the waves.

(01:00:22):
Within a day, kanuku and thewinds of fortune led the
travelers to the shores ofVolcano Bay.
The Waturi knew that at longlast they had found home, and
the Waturi believe in livinglife to its fullest and creating
stories through adventure.
So when you go to volcano bay,everyone that you see, there is
a part of the watari tribe andthey're welcoming you to volcano

(01:00:45):
bay to enjoy and have funthat's so cute it is.
I really like I'd been three orfour times and I never had dug
into that folklore and actuallyrealized that there's a lot of
in-depth storytelling with thisplace.

Speaker 3 (01:00:59):
I didn't know that.
Look at me Learning somethingnew every day.

Speaker 2 (01:01:03):
The ride names one of my favorite things.
Do you know how they greet you?

Speaker 3 (01:01:08):
How do they greet you ?

Speaker 2 (01:01:09):
Kia Ora.

Speaker 3 (01:01:11):
Didn't you tell me that's not actually Hawaiian?

Speaker 2 (01:01:13):
It comes from Australiaralia I do believe so.
There's a several differentphrases um that they use
throughout volcano bay.
I don't remember 100, what kiaora means, but it's a.
It's essentially like welcomefriends.
Oh, very nice.
Um, so it's fun to see that,but um, let's get in and talk
about our day at volcano bay.

(01:01:33):
Oh my gosh, I would love to dothat because I had a blast I did
um, so do you want to talkabout how volcano bay is
different from other water parks?

Speaker 3 (01:01:43):
and the fact that I have to have a band on me what
is it called?
A tapu tapu a tapu tapu I hatethis thing.
I love and I hate this thing.
I wore this for 2.2 seconds,got yelled at for not wearing it
.
I actively wanted to throw itaway because it was so big and
bulky yet you wear an applewatch okay, but here's the thing

(01:02:03):
though my apple watch is tiny ataboo taboo is not tiny and
also the band, I think, is whatis so uncomfortable with it.
The band has this little notchat the very top of it that hooks
into the strap.
And then you have this siliconeother strap that hooks on.

Speaker 2 (01:02:19):
It's literally an Apple watch, but it's all
silicone, yeah, and I don't likeit.

Speaker 3 (01:02:23):
Well, let's talk about the good things, about it,
and I also was having thisweird feeling that my wrist was
vibrating, but it wasn'tactually vibrating, so I had
this like no, it probably wasvibrating, because it does
vibrate.
I know, but I think because Ithought it was my Apple watch
and I was waiting fornotification and then every time
it would vibrate I'd look at itand go.
Nobody's texting me.

Speaker 2 (01:02:39):
Oh, so the tapu tapu um is integral for your entire
operation at volcano Bay.
Um.
So volcano Bay listened toguest feedback and to guest
feedback, and when they werebuilding this water park they
were asking guests theiropinions on things, and the
number one thing that peoplesaid is they hated waiting in

(01:03:00):
line at water parks.
Are you okay over there?
Yeah, I'm taking my earringsout because they're hurting my
ears.

Speaker 3 (01:03:04):
Ah yeah, no, that's annoying.
I think that's.
The worst part about being at awater theme park is the fact
that you do have to wait in linefor things and those lines can
get really long.
Plus, it gets hot and your feetget hot because you're not
wearing any shoes, so that getshot and it's just like okay,
I've spent four hours waitingfor a ride and I've only done

(01:03:24):
one thing.

Speaker 2 (01:03:25):
Well, the great thing about the Tapu Tapu is at
Volcano Bay.
They do not have the standardqueue line that you see at water
parks Nope.
So they the standard queue linethat you see at water parks
nope.
So they have what's called thevirtual queue and that's one of
the main top, or one of the mainthings that you use your tapu
tapu for.
You can, when you decide youwant to go ride a ride, you go
to the entrance of the ride andyou tap in on a totem and it

(01:03:45):
gives you a time to return, andthen you go out and you do
whatever else you want in thepark yep, I love that.
I thought it was great um, soyou can go do like Te Awa, the
fearless river, which is like alazy river but not lazy or other
things, while you're waitingand then it buzzes and it tells
you when it's time for you toreturn to ride that ride.
You can also you link yourExpress to it.

(01:04:07):
So if you get Express orExpress Plus, you can just go in
and tap in at the ridesimmediately and you can use it
to access your lockers.
You can set up to four people.
Give them access to a singlelocker, um, but then talk about
like one of the coolest thingsthat they do with tapu I don't
know what's the cool thing theydo, the tapu pay, or tap to pay,

(01:04:30):
as they call it to pay.

Speaker 3 (01:04:32):
Yes, I like this because I'm not one that like
likes to have my phone or mycredit card or my ID or all
these things that I need.

Speaker 2 (01:04:39):
Soggy money.

Speaker 3 (01:04:40):
Soggy money.
Taputapu allows you to linkyour credit card with a PIN
number that you set up prior toentering Volcano Bay, and I can
pay using it.
It's almost like if you goneyworld and you you link your
magic band with a credit card toyour magic band.
Similar concept here, exceptit's all waterproof.
Yep, so, and?

(01:05:01):
And the other thing that I didread is that you can actually
limit if you want your childrento have access to this so like,
say, if I put my credit card andI want rob to have access to it
, I can go.
Okay, rob only gets access tolike 50 bucks, or I want him to
only have access to like 20.
Or if you got small childrenthat are like, oh, I can have
ice cream for breakfast, lunchand dinner tap, tap, tap.

(01:05:23):
They can be like.
No, you don't give them accessto it at all, which I do like,
so this allows you to go up tothe bar.
Yes, you will still need tohave your ID with you.
So until universal or the stateof florida allows us to to have
photos as a not just photos,but like some sort of way for us
to to realize that people over21 are here to purchase alcohol,
you do have.

(01:05:43):
You do are required to showyour id, um, but you're able to
pay using that.
So it's one less card I have toget out of my locker yep, and
you just link it through theUniversal Studios mobile app.
Yeah, it's also nice to do thatwhen it comes to getting food.
So when we went to go get ourtacos and our nachos, it was
simple and easy for us to kindof boop done, ready to go, which

(01:06:05):
I really appreciated.

Speaker 2 (01:06:06):
You want to talk about the festering frog.
Is it festering or feastering?
Feastering, feastering frog.

Speaker 3 (01:06:11):
I think Volcano Bay has one of the best water park
food I have ever eaten.

Speaker 2 (01:06:17):
I have always enjoyed the food that I have eaten
there.

Speaker 3 (01:06:18):
Oh my God, I love it.
And if you go to Volcano Bay,get the tacos, get the tacos,
get the nachos, get the pokebowl.
It is so good.

Speaker 2 (01:06:32):
It's literally a little quick service spot that
is shaped into a frog.
Yeah, it's a thatched roof andit's in the shape of a frog.

Speaker 3 (01:06:35):
You cannot miss it, and next to it is a bar, so
you're able to get tacos andthen a drink, but their tacos
are.
It comes with two tacos,plantain chips and it's I think
I want to say it was like $11.99, $12.99, something like that.
It's very reasonably priced.
They also offer a poke bowlwhich is loaded up with a whole

(01:06:59):
bunch of things and a wonderfulvinaigrette sauce that comes on
top of that, which is alsosimilar in the 13 to 15 range,
which is great.
And then they offer one of mypersonal favorites is the nachos
.
They're loaded up with all thefixings on top of it, and that
ranges again in that 13 to 15price range.
They offer coke products, um,and bottles of water, and you
can also get, um, some differentkind of, uh, mexican beer, so
you get modelo or corona, whichis an option here.

Speaker 2 (01:07:17):
Love that, hmm so, yeah, the, the loaded nachos are
topped with chili cheese, sourcream and jalapenos.
Um, and I know you've had thatbefore.
For this particular day, weboth got the same thing.

Speaker 3 (01:07:26):
We got the chicken tacos, which is marinated,
grilled chicken, lettuce, onions, cilantro, queso fresco on a
soft flour tortilla and it waslike a purple tortilla yes, blue
, no, it's blue blue yeah Irecommend that you get the taco
sauce that comes with that and xthem for an extra side of sour
cream and uh, the other they hadwas the taco carne asada.

(01:07:46):
Yep, the carne asada option,for which is the same toppings,
the same fixings and that sameplantain chips that come along
with it, but you get an optionof either the carne asada or
chicken yep, and it was reallygood.

Speaker 2 (01:07:59):
I was almost tempted to go back and get more it was
so good.

Speaker 3 (01:08:01):
And then you do have that option of that poke bowl
which is um a salmon poke bowl?
I believe yes um, and it comeswith, like I said, probably one
of the best vinaigrettes I'veever had.
It's very delicious um.

Speaker 2 (01:08:12):
And that doesn't mean they have more restaurants on
park.
They have sushi yes uh, in anarea of the park they've got a
social club up towards the front, which is where I used to
always get this like coconutchicken thing they also have
options for if you're notfeeling super adventurous.

Speaker 3 (01:08:26):
They have, like, a pizza, burgers and hot dogs spot
as well.
So if you do have those pickykids that are just not so ready
to try something crazy, theyhave that kid-friendly options,
which is pretty nice.
Yep and then we Can we talkabout the very disappointing ice
cream situation please.

Speaker 2 (01:08:41):
Okay, sure.
So I wanted to try somethingcalled the Waturi Fusion, which
is an ice cream that has fourdifferent flavors.
It's got like banana, blue,raspberry, peach and strawberry.
I think Something like that Imay have it wrong, um, but it
has like four different flavors.
It's called the roteri fusion.
It was really cool.
I was super excited to get itit looks beautiful too.
Um, apparently they're instagramworthy ice cream machines were

(01:09:04):
broken and all they hadavailable at that time was
chocolate ice cream and I stoodthere for so long waiting for it
before I realized what washappening and it was really sad.
But that's okay, because I'llget a roteri fusion next time we
go back, because it's the onlyplace on the park that has like
soft serve ice cream.
They have like ice creamsandwiches and stuff throughout
the stores, but that is the onlylocation that has the soft

(01:09:25):
serve there's a bug I'm reallysad yeah, there is, and it keeps
moving and it keeps freaking meout I really enjoyed the dancing
dragons boat bar the dancingdragon boat bar.
Yeah, that was pretty good,that's where we both got a drink
, so we both this time aroundthey have uh, it's a full bar,
but they also have specialtycocktails that come in a volcano
bay souvenir cup okay, I'mgonna do it.

Speaker 3 (01:09:48):
I'm gonna let them in on the little secret here.
What if you don't want thesouvenir cup?

Speaker 2 (01:09:55):
it is cheaper for you to put it in a plastic cup I
already have the souvenir cup soI asked if I can get it in just
like the regular cup, because,um, I already have a souvenir
cup and I just I didn't want topay for another souvenir cup

(01:10:15):
because I don't need one, and hesaid that that was fine.

Speaker 3 (01:10:17):
So it's the same price as the refill.
So the regular cocktail withthe souvenir cup is 17.
With the non-souvenir cup inthe plastic cup it is 13.50i and
it's the same size it's thesame exact size, so get it in
the plastic cup.

Speaker 2 (01:10:34):
We got the volcano bay rum punch oh so, which was
cruisin, aged light rum, bacardiraz, fresh pineapple juice,
grenadine, and topped withbacardi black and a flower it
was so pretty it was, and it wasso good oh, it was delicious
until jordan knocked mine overgrip, but that's okay, we
forgive him because he bought memore drinks later, um, but I

(01:10:59):
mean we went, we rode umkrakatau which is the water
coaster.
I just realized we haven'ttalked about the rides um.
We rode krakatau, which is thewater coaster.
Did we ride makapuiki?

Speaker 3 (01:11:12):
the tube ride.
The tube ride, do you remember?

Speaker 2 (01:11:14):
I think that's what, when the one it was called was
maka let me uh fill in the deadspace while I pull this up oh,
um, I do you know.

Speaker 3 (01:11:21):
What I really did.
Like, though, that we did, thatwe didn't have to wait for, was
the action lazy river.

Speaker 2 (01:11:25):
That was a blast uh teawa, the fearless river yes,
so we.

Speaker 3 (01:11:28):
You have to wear a life vest for this.

Speaker 2 (01:11:31):
It is mandatory it is certified coast guard what it's
a certain, it has to be acertified coast guard life
jacket you have to wear a lifejacket.

Speaker 3 (01:11:40):
It's mandatory.
Don't get anything even adultsyeah, literally you have to wear
one um, because, and if I feellike, if you don't wear one, you
were asking to drown and I didactively drown um, and there was
.

Speaker 2 (01:11:54):
This is so fast, so quick, so fast, um, it is
fantastic though has a tidalwave that comes down every
little bit and it's got that,the beating of the beating of
the drums right before the waveshit and it has waterfalls,
which is pretty good.

Speaker 3 (01:12:08):
Um, no, this is great .
I really really like that.
I also.
We also did their regular lazyriver um low, you do not have to
wear a life jacket for this.
This is your typical lazy river.
There's tubes.
You don't have to have a tube,um, but it is very much chill
this is a very 360 differencefrom um the action river.
That is there.

(01:12:29):
It is your typical hold on.
Let me give you the legal namekopika y winding river.

Speaker 2 (01:12:30):
Love it, your typical lazy river.
That's what this is.
You go through a cave that hasreally cool lights yes, your
typical.
Hold on, let me give you thelegal name kopika y winding
river.

Speaker 3 (01:12:34):
Love it, your typical lazy river.
That's what this is you gothrough a cave that has really
cool lights yes, very pretty,very picturesque, I feel like
every spot that we did, evenlike the rides, even the um, the
action, or even the, the watercoaster, even the tube ride that
we did, it was very picturesquespots that we were going into.

Speaker 2 (01:12:52):
Um, tell them about the fun tap to play option of
your tapu tapu and how thatinteracts with uh, the winding
river so when you actually wearyour tapu tapu, you get the
option to do what's called tapto play.

Speaker 3 (01:13:05):
So this is like there's little spots that you
can totems totems that you cantap your tapu on and then you
can screw with people that areactively inside of these spots
it triggers waterfalls fountainsum one spot.
We literally drowned that poorgirl.

Speaker 5 (01:13:21):
We sure did.
We killed, got her right in theface yeah, we did she, she was
like how did that happen?

Speaker 2 (01:13:26):
these totems are also located all around the park,
not just in capicola no, they'reeverywhere.

Speaker 3 (01:13:31):
So, um, we were able to do some in the cave, which
was cool when you get to meet umthe head, the, the vol thank
you.
When you get to meet him um,there's also moments that you
can do that during um any of thetwo brides.
There's some extra spots there.
There's some extra spots whenit comes to the action river and
the lazy river, and there weresome even spots during um, uh,
just walking around that we thatyou could kind of like let up a

(01:13:53):
geyser, you would let up umspots for like sprinklers and
stuff like that.
So it was pretty neat thateverywhere you went you were
able to to kind of interact withnot just with your family, but
with other families to toliterally get them drenched yep
and the other.

Speaker 2 (01:14:08):
I just looked it up.
So the other ride that we rodewas um puihi of the makapuiki
round raft ride.

Speaker 1 (01:14:15):
So it's two slides side by side it was fun we had.

Speaker 2 (01:14:17):
We rode with two random strangers um and I said
we all had a blast, though thatwas so much fun and so
terrifying.

Speaker 3 (01:14:23):
Do you remember when we went down the drop?
He was like whoo, yes, um andthat was fun.

Speaker 2 (01:14:28):
So we did have a 200 minute wait for um the k of tau
which is the big water coasterthat they have.
It's their like number oneattraction, um.
But the great thing about it is, once you wait in the virtual
queue and it's time for you toride, you go into what's called
a buffer queue and that bufferqueue can be up to 15 minutes
long.
Um, we got in line.

(01:14:50):
It said it was time for us toride after 200 minutes we it was
walk on, we walked right ontoour boat, our raft, and we rode
and we were like in and out inno time and it was an absolute.

Speaker 3 (01:15:00):
I just wish that ride would go longer, because it is
so good.
It's a fun ride.
I thought that was a blast youknow what makes me sad?

Speaker 2 (01:15:06):
we got some air time too that you wouldn't ride
koakiri body plunge with me.

Speaker 3 (01:15:13):
So maybe it was, I think it was just.
It was a long day we were outin the sun.

Speaker 2 (01:15:18):
We didn't get sunburned, but we got right on,
we got crisp and it was likeokay.

Speaker 3 (01:15:22):
Also it was like one of those situations where, like
you walk.
Okay, here's my if you're goingto vb.
I would recommend that you buysome water shoes, because that
concrete hurts.

Speaker 2 (01:15:34):
And here's the thing the concrete's not hot because
at Volcano Bay they missed thesidewalks with water.
It's the bridges and the sandeverywhere that gets under your
feet.

Speaker 3 (01:15:43):
And it hurts, like it actively hurts.
So I will not be going toVolcano Bay without some water
shoes the next time that we go.
It was quite painful.
My feet hurt.

Speaker 2 (01:15:52):
They're still recovering from it yeah, one
thing we didn't do this goaround, because we've done it in
the past is which is the bigbeach when you first enter at
the base of the volcano.
That is also a wave pool.
It's a giant wave pool and ithas two different modes.
It's got to like tame waves,which is like waves, and then
it's got like raging waves likedrown you kill, you waves but, I

(01:16:13):
did like where we sat it waskind of like secluded off to the
side, which is nice.

Speaker 3 (01:16:16):
We did have a very pretty view of the action river,
which was great.
We also got to see some of theum ika muana the rides, yeah,
ika muana which one's that ikamuana.
That's the blue and green slideyep, we got to see some of those
we said actually we sat underuh, but it's also kind of nice
to kind of like take a breakfrom all the the water in the
rides and from from literallyfrom all the people, and just

(01:16:39):
kind of like we brought ourbooks.
We just kind of rested for alittle bit huh.

Speaker 2 (01:16:43):
The area of the park that we were in is the river
village love that so it'sactually broken down.
You've got wave village, rivervillage and rainforest village.
It's broken down into threesections.
So we were in the rainforest ornot rainforest we were in the
river vidge because we were overnext to the rivers that was
really pretty.

Speaker 3 (01:17:00):
Yeah, no, I was a big fan.
The only thing that I felt likeit was that I I wish wasn't was
I felt like I was literallyhaving to walk everywhere around
my butt to get to my elbow,like I felt like I was going
around in circles and I had noidea where I was like the whole
entire time I was just like areyou guys lost?

Speaker 2 (01:17:16):
because I feel lost I do realize now, since we, since
this was the first time I wentto the volcano, I just realized
you can actually cut through thecenter of the park if you go
through the volcano because, um,if you go in, you go in next to
kira uh koakiri body plunge andyou can come out next to kala
and tainui.
Serpentine body slides verynice um, and I wasn't.
I didn't think that there was acut through, but there totally

(01:17:38):
is.
Um, you can walk through thewaterfall in the volcano we
remember we did that I didn't.
I didn't want to because I wantto get wet again, because it was
cold, but we did um, but we didum.
And then they have other, um,other attractions there at the
park.
They They've got tons of other.
They've got the oh yeah and ohno drop slides, where oh yeah

(01:17:58):
drops you at the end of theslide, it drops you six feet
into a pool, and then the oh nobody slide drops you.
I think it's like 10 feet intoa pool.

Speaker 3 (01:18:06):
That was good, though I feel like that was we weren't
.
We did not open it, we did notclose it.

Speaker 2 (01:18:17):
We were there, we got there.
What about noonish?

Speaker 3 (01:18:18):
and we left probably about five or five or six
somewhere.
We left around five because itwas before they closed.
Yeah, so we, we were there, forI think that was enough time.
I mean, you definitely couldhave done.

Speaker 2 (01:18:23):
I could have done a full day, but I'm glad we didn't
do a full day yep, and then onelast thing I want to touch base
on volcano bay, and then we canmove to what we had for dinner
yes, please um.
So, um, there are some premiumservices that volcano bay offers
.
I don't know the pricing ofthem off the top of my head, um,
but they offer cabanas.
They have private cabanas andfamily cabanas, um, if you rent

(01:18:44):
those and it's like 600, I thinkthey're going from anywhere
between 600 to 900 right now, aswe're in the summer um, but
it's for the full day.
You get a private cabana thatyou can close, the curtains on
three sides, unlimited towelrefills, a mini fridge, a tapu
totem in your cabana, so youdon't have to go to the ride to
tap in.
You can make your reservationfrom inside your cabana correct.

(01:19:07):
You get a designated server who,when you order food you can
mobile order food on the appthey will deliver the food to
you at the location just thinkabout all the tacos I know and
then they have, uh, premiumseating, which gives you two
lounge, two lounge chairs, a bigcanopy that you can open and
close, a lock box between yourlockers, a designated server to
bring you food to your drinksyour food or drinks to your

(01:19:29):
location, and then they havereserved seating, which isn't.
I think you get towels with it,but it's just like a couple of
uh sun tanning chairs.
There's not really shade.
They have umbrellas in the areabut you don't get like a
designated shaded area correctbut you do get designated
seating um, and all of those arethe premium and reserve seating

(01:19:51):
are located at watsuri beach.
The cabanas are located allacross the property.

Speaker 3 (01:19:56):
They're everywhere.

Speaker 2 (01:19:57):
And they have two family cabanas and those fit
like 16 people.

Speaker 3 (01:20:01):
Yeah, they're massive .

Speaker 2 (01:20:02):
Yeah, they're huge, but that's cool.
And to get in and out ofVolcano Bay, we got to walk from
Cabana Bay because we werestaying next door.
It's one of the amenities ofCabana Bay.
You have walking access.
Bring your room key.
But if you, yes, bring yourroom key, but if you're not
staying at cabana bay, oh myashley, do you want to run
through?
Do you?
Have you ever gone in?

Speaker 3 (01:20:20):
that way.
Okay, that's the only way I'veever gone, because I've never
seen a cabana bay, so this wasthis was easier than the normal
way, so if you are correct,however, this was a process
correct.
So if you are attending volcanobay for the day, you start off
your morning by parking at citywalk in the south garage in the
south garage, you'll let yourperson know, or the the team

(01:20:42):
member know.
When you go in and you pay topark, you'll let them know that
you are visiting volcano bay andthat is where you would need to
park.
They will assist you in showingyou which garage you are headed
to, and then you park yourvehicle and you get on a bus, a
specific bus only for anaccordion bus, only for volcano
bay gas.
So this does not take you tocity walk, this does not take

(01:21:02):
you to islands or to studios.
It only, only only takes you tovolcano bay.
You get on that bus, you headover to volcano bay, then you go
through security, then you getto volcano bay oh, you know, you
go through security and thenyou go down into the ground.

Speaker 2 (01:21:14):
Oh yes, down through a tunnel, through a tunnel
escalator up an elevator?

Speaker 3 (01:21:20):
well, they do have elevators.
So if you do have a wagon,stroller or a wheelchair or an
ecv, you do have access to that,so it is a wheelchair
accessible.
They do have an elevator foryou.
However, if you do not need oneof those, you are going up an
escalator, then you're goingthrough ticketing, then you go
through the entrance, then yougo through ticketing, then you
go through the.
Hey, you've made it.

(01:21:41):
Scan your tickets and it's a tap, a tap, the most beautiful
entrance, because you round thecorner and you see waturi beach
and that's gorgeous and at night, but it's such a process to go
that way at night they shine redlights under the water so it
looks like lava coming off oh,it's beautiful.
It's so pretty um, but yeah,it's really cool um but I would

(01:22:01):
definitely recommend staying atcabana bay because you get to
walk and skip all of that mess,which was so much better I will
say, though, I think it was avery innovative process for
universal to come up with whenthey they built this in a small
triangle up against i4 and Ithink they did a great job of
being able to do that and to getyou to and from volcano bay

(01:22:22):
fairly quickly correct when weleft volcano bay, we met up with
rob and zach yes and, um, acouple days the day before that,
uh, one of my bosses.

Speaker 2 (01:22:35):
I was like I really want good asian food in orlando
and I just I haven't found aspot yet if anybody has any good
recommendations on chinese foodasian food please let us know
yes, because we're stillactively looking he did name a
place that I think was prettygood a little pricey but still
pretty good and it's calledbento I've been here before of
orlando, dr phillips yes it'sits official full name if you

(01:22:58):
are local to the area.

Speaker 3 (01:22:59):
This is right next to american social, or as, or as
many of us know it as, amso um,it's also right next to
chick-fil-a, chick-fil-a andbunt cakes yep, it's everything
bunt cakes.

Speaker 2 (01:23:11):
I'm sorry, uh, it's actually located at 7335 west
sand lake here bam plugged it.
Um.
So if you look on google, itsays about 10 to 20 a person,
which I do think is comparable,if you're not me and ashley,
because we walked in and I waslike I want a bento box and I
want sushi and you were like Iwant a 20 sushi platter and I

(01:23:34):
want soup and whatever it wasthat you ordered for rob.
We were just like give useverything literally and in it
was it was good.

Speaker 3 (01:23:41):
I, like you, know what my favorite part about it
is is the five of us are sittingthere actively eating.
We're like, hey, what do wewant?

Speaker 2 (01:23:48):
to do.
Wait before you, before yousaid what did you eat?

Speaker 3 (01:23:50):
oh god, I had so much I had.
So the sushi box comes with aPhilly roll to start and then
you get your option of twoadditional specialty rolls that
you get to pick.
So it comes with six pieces ofeach of those, and then I also
got.
It also comes with a gingersalad and a seaweed salad, and
then I also got miso soup andadditional and an additional
sushi roll, which was theirdynamite roll, and additional

(01:24:16):
and an additional sushi roll,which was their dynamite roll.
Um, and it was so good.

Speaker 2 (01:24:18):
And then I got a diet coke.
I got the sweet and sour bentobox, which came with sweet and
sour chicken, white rice, lomein or chow mein, depending on
who you are a ginger salad.
But I requested no ginger and Igot what I call shrimp sauce,
some Some other people call yumyum sauce.

Speaker 3 (01:24:32):
The world calls it a yum yum sauce.

Speaker 2 (01:24:34):
You're the only weirdo that calls it shrimp
sauce, garlic, green beans andwhat I just call the crispies.
If you go to an Asianrestaurant and they give you
little crispy crackers, they'recrunchies.
Crunchies, yeah, but they werelike coated in sugar, they were
like a dessert crunchy.
They were good and then I got aspicy tuna roll.
No, it was like spicy crab orspicy shrimp, I don't remember

(01:24:55):
it was delicious it wasdelicious bites of it and you
got miso soup, which was alsogood.
Yes, it was um, but what?
Oh, and an egg roll oh yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:25:03):
And we got an egg roll, oh yeah.
Okay, now can I talk about whathappened yes my favorite part
about hanging out with all ofthese boys and always being the
only girl, because julia worksand I love her and I love when
she hangs out with us and I missthe fact that she was not with
us girl boss however, I reallylove the fact that these boys
are just like, hey, let's dosomething fun.
What should we do?

Speaker 2 (01:25:23):
well it was, it was early, it was only like 6 37
o'clock.

Speaker 3 (01:25:26):
Had closed early because they had grad bash going
on which is massive very hectic.
Try not to schedule yourvacation around grad bash going
on, um, which is massive.
Very hectic, try not toschedule your vacation around
grad bash.
Um.
So we were like, what do we do?
What do we do?
And um, all of a sudden, thenext thing you know, we're in
the car on our way to magickingdom.
We're going to magic kingdomand it was so much fun, it was

(01:25:48):
such a spur of the momentdecision.
None of us were prepared forthis whatsoever.
It was insane.
And it was so good, it was sofun.
We got to park at thePolynesian because, um, you had
dining reservations.
I, I did, if you know, you know,and that's all I'm gonna say.
So we headed into the Poly.

(01:26:09):
It was cold that night.
Yeah, it was so chilly, so Igot a sweatsh Poly.

Speaker 2 (01:26:12):
It was cold that night.

Speaker 3 (01:26:12):
Yeah, it was so chilly so I got a sweatshirt
because it was cold.
So, thanks to, I got a newlittle Disney sweatshirt.

Speaker 2 (01:26:19):
And then we headed into Magic Kingdom, took the
monorail over, To preface,though, one of the main reasons
we did this is Jordan and I wentto Magic Kingdom last week, and
we went late A couple daysbefore this, I thought we went
at, went, we went late.
A couple days before this, Ithought we went at like we got
there at eight o'clock at night,yep, and the Happily Ever After
fireworks show was at 845 thatnight, yeah, so we dashed around

(01:26:41):
it and started riding rides,and then it ended, and then
shortly after that.

Speaker 3 (01:26:48):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (01:26:49):
It died yeah, it died .
The crowds they left by like 945.
So the last hour and a halfthat the park was open, it was
empty and we got to doeverything that we wanted to.
So I was like let's go, it'sabout to be fireworks time and
it happened exactly as it is thefireworks happened and then the
park cleared out it was so nicewell, and we got to do
everything.

Speaker 3 (01:27:10):
We hit up pirates of the well we first started at
over in Tamarland.

Speaker 2 (01:27:13):
Well, we started at the Emporium no.
Because Rob got you a surprise.
He was like he goes, keepAshley busy.
And then immediately not 30seconds later you're like
where'd Rob go?
And I was like don't worry,he's an adult.
Help me find a sweatshirt,because I was freezing.

Speaker 3 (01:27:27):
He knows that.
Suppose that every time I go toDisney World, I always, always,
am wearing a pair of ears.
I never go to Disney Worldwithout a pair.

Speaker 2 (01:27:38):
Not when you're doing a spur of the moment trip.

Speaker 3 (01:27:40):
But this was such a spur of the moment trip that
obviously I didn't have time tocome home and grab a pair.
So when we walked into MagicKingdom I felt naked, like I
felt like people were staring atme because I wasn't wearing a
pair of ears.
And this kid you know, like ofall this, like sibling times,
that like I want to strangle him.
Rob is a 10 out of 10 siblingand he picks up on things

(01:28:02):
without having to be toldanything and he is such a sweet
kid he really is and hesurprised me with probably now
my new favorite pair of ears,which are Pirate of the
Caribbean themed ears, and Ihave pictures.
They are Pirate of the cataboonand I love them so much and
they're.
They have like the littlepirates logo in the middle of
them and they're probably my newfavorite now that I have.

(01:28:23):
And he was, oh my god, it wasso cute because you guys are all
gone and we were sitting in theemporium and I was waiting for
you guys to join and he goes ashash, I found these new pair of
ears, what do you think?
And he pulls them around, likefrom behind his back and he,
well, wait, I have to go back upbecause he was like I have this
new thing I want to show you.
And I was like, okay, he goesclose your eyes.
I'm like okay, well, he takesmy glasses off my face and he

(01:28:45):
puts something on my head andI'm like what the frick is going
on?
And he puts these on and thenhe tries to put my glasses back
on.
But because the ear, where theears were, he was having a hard
time putting my glasses back onsounds right so I put my glasses
back on and he goes look, Ifound these new pair of ears
what do you think?
And I put them on and he goes.
And I was like stop.
And he goes.
I got you a new pair of ears.

(01:29:06):
I know you said you felt naked,so now you don't feel naked
anymore.
Here you go.
I hope they're okay.
And I was like no, you didn't.
He's like yeah, I did.
And I was like stop I literallywanted to cry in the middle of
the emporium.
And then my favorite part is,jordan comes over and jordan
goes are you buying this?
I was like rob already did.
He bought them for me.

(01:29:27):
It was so cute.
And then we headed totomorrowland we did, we headed
straight for yes carousel ofprogress because, I haven't
gotten to attend it.

Speaker 2 (01:29:36):
The last three times I've been to magic kingdom and
it upsets me because it's one ofmy favorites it is so good and
I don't know if you notice this,but the best part is so we go
in and we sit on the second toback row so we can see
everything and the show startsup and you know there's, there's
a great big, beautiful tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (01:29:51):
Shining at the end of every day.
Every one in our group.

Speaker 2 (01:29:54):
We're trying to be quiet, to be respectful of
everyone else in the theater,but we're all singing.
Did you realize?
The couple behind us startedlaughing at us Because they were
like oh my God, these fullgrown adults are over here
singing this word for word,Speaking the show lines word for
word.
Yeah, we were, and I'm reallysad that I've never been on

(01:30:15):
carousel when it messes up.
I totally want to one day.
But it was really good and itwas fun because we got to
journey with a family through umthe last century and see how
the world changed.
And then what do we go ride?

Speaker 3 (01:30:28):
the people mover the tomorrow night.
No, we were at space.

Speaker 2 (01:30:30):
No, we were at space.
I'm sorry, we were at SpaceMountain.
And what did I finally get todo on Space Mountain?

Speaker 3 (01:30:37):
Have a whole entire train to ourselves.

Speaker 2 (01:30:39):
You got the front row , which resulted in me getting
the front row.

Speaker 3 (01:30:42):
I'm so proud of you.

Speaker 2 (01:30:42):
I've always wanted the front row and do you know,
because I've never gotten toride in the front row.

Speaker 3 (01:30:47):
It was violent.

Speaker 2 (01:30:56):
Let me tell you something.
I thought I was going to diebecause you do, because then I
could see everything.
Yes, and you realize you cansee nothing but shadows of metal
and rebarb going by your headat 30 miles an hour, um, and I
just remember there were severaltimes it was like oh god, oh
god, I'm gonna die, oh god, andit was so much fun.
I will say I do not like theback seat.
I don't like any of that.
If you are, if you are a man,do try not to sit in the back
seat.

(01:31:16):
You won't have to anymorebecause, yeah, you're, yeah it
is, it's a man problem.
Um, I, because I had to do thatwith jordan the other day.
He was like I don't like theback, will you ride?
And I was like sure.
Then I rode back there and Irealized it very quickly why
jordan did not want to ride inthe back seat because it's
horrible and then afterwards iswhen we were the people mover
and I got upset over this goahead so the ride, he stopped or

(01:31:38):
did whatever, and it stoppedright as our group got to load
separated so the four you, zachand rob all sat down in one car
and you can only fit four peopleto a car, so we knew we were
gonna have to sit me and jordan.
We're gonna sit in the one rightbehind you guys, but the guy
puts up the chain and walks awayand then they restarted the
ride, but the man took so longto get back we were all in our

(01:32:00):
own separate car that you guyswere on a different train or
driven train.
That's right we got set on acompletely different train and
I'm not gonna.
I was a little irritatedbecause the man knew that we
were all a party yeah but wasjust like go here.
And I was like, but okay, andwe got to ride in the train all
by ourselves, um, but I was alittle upset that I didn't get

(01:32:22):
to ride with you guys and thenwe hauled our booty over to
haunted mansion on road.
Haunted mansion I believe thatthat ride is haunted.
You know why?
it is haunted because every timehatchback hat box hat box every
time I get into the scene withmadame leota it just stops,
because the world hates me itcomes to a complete stop every

(01:32:44):
time the world hates me.
That's why um, but I also lovethat because I love madame leota
and I love that scene.
You, on the other hand, wasscreaming like a banshee because
you didn't like that scene.

Speaker 3 (01:32:53):
I don't like that scene.
I don't like on a mansion why,because it scares me I'm almost
28 year old woman come out tosocialize they do?

Speaker 2 (01:33:05):
what did your hitchhiking ghost do to you guys
?

Speaker 3 (01:33:07):
uh, put a beard on, robin, removed my head oh, he
turned my head into a balloonlove that took my head off and
then went and it blew up like aballoon.
Love that for you.
And then you know what myfavorite part about this whole
night was what we got a Mickeyon a stick.

Speaker 2 (01:33:20):
We did, we got.
You got a Mickey on a stick, weRob got a pretzel, a pretzel.
And me and Zach and Jordan gotand let me tell you that was the
best coca-cola I have had in mylife crispy sprite, dude.
It was so crispy, those drinkswere dude, it was so great.

(01:33:41):
And then we rode piratesbecause I had the pirates ears.
But wait, without giving awaytoo much I had to have that
candied bacon.
If you know, you know I wantthe candy bacon um, I wanted it
right now, then.
No, we rode um, we rode wedidn't ride pirates next we rode
, oh no we did right.

Speaker 3 (01:33:56):
There is we rode pirates um we had an entire boat
to ourselves.

Speaker 2 (01:33:59):
That was so cool we were in the middle of the boat,
so we didn't get wet nope, itwas great um, and the big scene
with the big boat looked so cool.

Speaker 3 (01:34:06):
The mist was just on point.
That was so fantastic.
It was so good.

Speaker 2 (01:34:09):
The smells and then we went over to tiana's and we
looked at tiana's new ride wesaw some what we could see, and,
um, they were not testinganything that night and rob beat
zach's booty on checkers, whichwas very fun to kind of just
get a little nice little breakfrom for a second, a pay phone
that still works we did um andthen we rode big thunder
mountain the wildest ride in thewilderness and I'm sorry but

(01:34:33):
that was probably the worst rideof big thunder I've ever had,
because of the guests um, I gotto write yo.
Yeah, there were some folksbehind us that were just being
obnoxious, I mean screaming likehigh pitch.

Speaker 3 (01:34:45):
We hadn't even started the ride or gone down
like any point.

Speaker 2 (01:34:48):
That was terrifying, and you already go through a
room where there's a really highpitch noise, and so they're
screaming oh my god, it washorrible but the thing that
irritated me and zach the mostwe were flying, I mean that
thing was I was coming up out ofmy seat, it was in some good
air time, rob and I were sittingnext to each other and I was
like lean, I was literallysliding the girl behind us every
time, um, you would come to aplace where it looks like you

(01:35:09):
could reach up and touchsomething, she would tell her
friends to jump and grab it stopit and her friend was like
that's how you get a broken armnot just a broken.
Oh god, I hate people and I wasjust like it was they were.
They were really loud andobnoxious and annoying, um, but
it was.
One part was really funny,because jordan was sitting in
the middle of his seat and itwas me and zach in the back and
then jordan in the middle andthen he was just like he had

(01:35:31):
both of his arms up and we hitone of those curves so fast.
It was pitch black.
So all I can see is Jordan'ssilhouette.
The next thing I know, jordan'ssilhouette disappears.
I see it rip off to the leftside and then it was just gone
and for a second I was like, ohmy god, the turn was so sharp
for him, his whole bodycollapsed into the seat he died

(01:35:52):
and it was hilarious rip jordanand then we got to ride the
monorail back.

Speaker 3 (01:35:57):
We rode the monorail, oh, wait, then we exited, but
we went through all of thestores on the left hand side
because I made you guys walkthrough all of them oh yeah yeah
yeah, and I was like, actuallyI gotta go, I'll go take care of
some doggies yeah, but youstill enjoyed it because you got
to see some bushy things that Iknow on your list that you want
.

Speaker 2 (01:36:17):
I really want.
So apparently Loungefly hascome out with a new Tomorrowland
bag and Tomorrowland fanny pack.
Yes, and I couldn't find themthat night.

Speaker 3 (01:36:26):
I think it's probably because it was in Tomorrowland
and not in that store.

Speaker 2 (01:36:29):
I'm going to have to look for them.
The only thing that sucks isthey're gonna be like 89, hey
you want to go?

Speaker 3 (01:36:34):
but I want them at 9 46 we'll get there we'll get
there with just enough time toride space mountain once let's
go no, um no, gas prices are toohigh to do that this week and
then we took the monorail backto our hotel back because we
parked at the Polynesian.

Speaker 2 (01:36:54):
So and you made friends with people I always
make, as you always do.

Speaker 3 (01:36:57):
I made friends with people in the Haunted Mansion
too yeah, you sure did from.
Michigan, love it, and thenmade friends with people in the
monorail.
That was fun, and then I makefriends everywhere I go yeah,
but then we.

Speaker 2 (01:37:12):
So after that, zach gave us all a ride back to the
resort.
He dropped us off.
Me and Jordan stayed one nightat Cabana.

Speaker 3 (01:37:19):
Bay.
Oh, had a delicious McChickenwe did.

Speaker 2 (01:37:22):
We got a McChicken and some fries on our way in
that night and we watched Bluey.
I love Bluey.
I will wholeheartedly admit I'ma 30 year old and I will watch
Bluey because it's adorable.
And then we slept, ashley.

Speaker 3 (01:37:37):
Dustin.
That's going to be our newintro guys.

Speaker 2 (01:37:41):
Yes, but we had a very good sleep.
We slept till about 10, 9.30,10.

Speaker 3 (01:37:45):
Do you know what happened when I came home, what?
I took a nap until 5 o'clock.

Speaker 2 (01:37:50):
I went to work.

Speaker 3 (01:37:51):
I went to bed.

Speaker 2 (01:37:52):
I went to work.

Speaker 3 (01:37:53):
Must be nice.
It was so nice.

Speaker 2 (01:37:56):
And that was, that was our staycation guys.
We had.

Speaker 3 (01:37:58):
That was it.

Speaker 2 (01:37:58):
And you know what was great is as much food as we had
and drinks and buying a shirt.

Speaker 3 (01:38:03):
I don't think I spent that much money.

Speaker 2 (01:38:05):
I spent less than $150.
No, no, no, I take that back.
I spent less than $200 becauseour dinners were a bit expensive
.
However, jordan technicallyplayed for my dinner at Mama
Della's because we split theroom.

Speaker 3 (01:38:22):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:38:22):
So I used.
Well, I guess he didn't pay forit then, because I used what he
paid me for his share of theroom.

Speaker 3 (01:38:28):
Anywho, this is confusing.

Speaker 2 (01:38:31):
But yeah, so I spent probably around $200 over course
of uh two and a half days, um,but I loved it because I got
experiences that were amazingand I did get a t-shirt from
disney, which I love.
It's like an acid wash shirtwith the castle on it um.
But other than that, we paidfor experiences and food and

(01:38:51):
dining and fun, and I think thatit was well needed and well
deserved.

Speaker 3 (01:38:56):
Yeah, we got to hang out with friends, which is
always a blast, and we got tocelebrate Rob.
Yeah.
Because Rob landed his dreamjob he did this week.

Speaker 2 (01:39:06):
And we're super proud of him for it.

Speaker 3 (01:39:07):
I'm beyond proud.
I'm beyond proud, like I am nowrepresenting uh, as I wore his
t-shirt while we were playing inthe park for where he's going
to work.

Speaker 2 (01:39:19):
And I am a very, very proud big sister, and if I talk
anymore I'm gonna start crying,because I did well, we want to
hear from you guys is there atheme park that you want us to
have our next staycation at?

Speaker 3 (01:39:31):
and by next staycation I mean just go spend
the day at, because hotels areexpensive, I would love to do
have our next staycation at andby next staycation I mean just
go spend the day at, becausehotels are expensive.
I would love to do a littlemini staycation at my Disney
resort because our annual passholder stuff gets us a little
discount.
Okay, Better yet if betweenUniversal Disney.

Speaker 2 (01:39:44):
Let us know.
Is there a resort that you wantus to go check out Do you want
to know more about?
Do you want to help us, helpyou plan your vacation?
Let us know, we'll totally letyou know, shan.
If you want to be a sponsor ofthat episode, you totally can,
and get us a hotel room can'twait for her to come back down.

Speaker 3 (01:40:02):
I'm really excited.

Speaker 2 (01:40:03):
I miss little shan we need to do sea world I'm
waiting.

Speaker 3 (01:40:07):
We have to wait because you know what happens in
two weeks for sea world what myfavorite festival in the entire
world, which is sea world sevenseas festival is that the food
one?
That's the food one it is seaworld's version of food and wine
, and I think it is fantastic.
I think, to be honest with you,I'm gonna probably get some
crap for this, but I do thinkit's probably one of the best
fest food festivals, because itis only local food here in the

(01:40:29):
state of florida oh it's locallocal breweries, local wineries,
local alcohol and local food.

Speaker 2 (01:40:35):
You know what all this talk about food's doing.

Speaker 3 (01:40:36):
Making me hungry.
It's making me hungry.

Speaker 2 (01:40:37):
I think it's time for dinner.
So, friends, we want to thankyou guys for joining us today.
I know this was a bit of alonger episode.
We went on a tangent because wewanted to tell you guys about
all of the fun and give you hereat Volcano Bay.
So until next time, stay safe,stay educated.

Speaker 3 (01:40:53):
And share our podcast with your friends, your family
and, of course, your favoritebartender.

Speaker 2 (01:40:56):
Hey, don't forget, follow us on those social media
channels.
You can find a link to all ofthose social media channels at
OrlandoUnpluggedPodcastcom.

Speaker 3 (01:41:04):
Oh, and don't forget to like and subscribe and make
sure to keep an eye out for allour fun photos that we took of
our little staycation, because Ihave a lot.

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