A Magical 10 Night Trip, The 10th Month and The Orlando Trifecta- PTR - UPDATED 10/2 About This Page:

[SuperDave]

After All of This and They Still Can’t Get It Right!



Saturday, March 11th
First thing I tried to do today was to try to resolve my credit from the B Resort. Although, they did issue one, it was applied to the wrong account, which is now closed. I’m tired of dealing with the B Resort, so instead of calling them again I called American Express in the hopes they can resolve this. After all of this and they still can’t get it right!

I talked to James and told him my situation with the original charge being on my old card and the hotel put the credit on the old card. He confirmed this as there is no way I can get a credit on a closed account. He said I could have a check mailed to me for the credit amount of $140.96 or have the credit transferred to my current card. I chose the transfer, which is what I had the B Resort do originally, but they switched it back. James applied the transfer and it should show up in my account transactions in about 48 hours. I’m glad I finally got this resolved. I will check my account in a few days.


Saturday, March 18th
I didn’t check for my credit on my American Express account during the week as somehow I forgot about it. It’s official as I could see there is a credit for the B Resort in the amount of $140.96 dated Tuesday, March 14th. I’m glad this is finally resolved and over with! This shouldn’t have been that difficult for the B Resort to take care of as I’m sure they deal with similar transactions often!

Sunday, March 19th
I called Universal Orlando Resorts reservations and inquired about why the rates for the Royal Pacific for my proposed dates of October 4-7 have increased in standard rooms from $243 to $304 per night. Meanwhile, the water view rooms are $267 per night. I talked to Brian and he said these rooms are nearly sold out for my dates, using the “Stay More, Save More” promotion. This is amazing as nearly 7 months out! The water view rooms still have plenty of availability. He mentioned it may be because of the Halloween Horror Nights, which will be occurring during my stay. I told him I’d be going to this and he said it’s a lot of fun.

I was hoping for the $243 per night rate in a standard room, but I was waiting for the billing cycle on one of my credit cards to change over to the next period before making a reservation and putting down a one night deposit. He said I could keep checking back online or calling as some of these rates may open again.

The rate isn’t that bad and a water view room would be nice, but I won’t be spending that much time in my room. I decided to book it. It’s $259 for October 4-5 and $275 for October 6-7 for a $267 average. It is a king bedroom, which I try to get when possible as it makes the room more spacious than having two queens. Total was $1,202.40 for four nights. Put down $291.60 for a one night deposit.

I like the tropical feel to the resort and has lots of amenities with many restaurants, lounges, shops and pools. Also, included with my reservation is early park entry like Disney’s Extra Magic Hours. I also receive the Unlimited Universal Express Pass, which is a great perk and is worth $89 per day. This is included if staying at the Hard Rock or Portofino resorts as well. This makes up more than the difference between my hotel and the Sapphire Falls Resort, which is a moderate. I also can take advantage of the boat transportation from my resort to Universal, which I’m sure I’ll use.

Later in the day, I began making some of my ADRs for the Universal portion of the trip. I made one through Open Table for Emeril’s Tchoup Chop Restaurant in my resort. I booked it for my arrival day on Wednesday, October 4th at 7 pm. It’s Asian style cuisine and the décor looks quite amazing from the photos I’ve seen on the Royal Pacific website.

There are a few more eateries in Universal I’m interested in and I checked into them and the menus. Unfortunately, some don’t take reservations or can’t be booked yet. BICE at the Portofino resort looks like a great possibility and is upscale Italian cuisine. It has a great menu with Cheryl and Tara giving it great reviews in their TRs. I plan to dine here on my last night on October 7th. The booking period is 60 days out, so I’ll wait.

There are a couple of restaurants on CityWalk that I may try. One is The Cowfish, which has an interesting combination of sushi and burgers on their menu. Tara and Cheryl liked this place as well. I will probably go here for lunch on my first full day on October 5th. I also may try Emeril’s on CityWalk as well for lunch on my last day on October 7th, but not sure yet as I plan to have a big dinner at BICE that night, so we’ll see. The Cowfish doesn’t take reservations, but I’ll be going here for lunch when CityWalk isn’t busy like it is at night. Emeril’s does take reservations but I’m going to wait on this one.

Another one is Anojito’s Authentic Mexican Cuisine also on CityWalk. Unfortunately, they are only open for dinner and may be difficult to squeeze this one in. There is one open day for dinner which is Thursday, October 5th, but that’s the night I’m doing Halloween Horror Nights and I probably won’t have time to have a nice sit down dinner beforehand. That’s why I am having lunch this day at The Cowfish. I will probably have some small bites back at my hotel before going to Halloween Horror Nights or perhaps in Universal.

There is one more restaurant I would like to try and this one is at the Sapphire Falls Resort. The Strong Water Tavern has a tapas and ceviche menu and focuses on cuisine of the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America. They are also known for having an extensive variety of rums. No reservations are accepted, but it shouldn’t be a problem. There is indoor and outdoor seating with the latter overlooking the lagoon. I think this could be a good choice. Earlier for lunch I will be dining at Sharks Underwater Grill at SeaWorld and this may be a good place after a big lunch as they feature tapas and small bites.



NEXT: More Reservations and Transportation Options!