The drive from the Savannah airport to Universal Studios Orlando was decent.  At that hour of the night, the traffic had lessened, and God allowed us to move smoothly, although at a slower speed had just John been driving (I am more timid).

I was all but exhausted as we pulled in to Cabana Bay at 1:06AM.  I pulled up under the awning and left my car to start the check in process.  Thankfully, the lobby was vibrant, if not subdued.  It didn’t feel like we were there in the dead of night.  Multiple Team Members were at the counter and there was another family checking in, and a dad with sons getting some upgrades to their passes.

John arrived just as I was heading to the counter for our check in.  The Team Member, Amanda, was lovely.  She asked if our flight had been delayed and we gave her the Cliff Notes version of our trip.  She sweetly waived our parking fee (which would have needed to be for TWO cars now) and asked a peer to add notes to our map as she disappeared.  When she returned she had some free drink vouchers for us.  She didn’t need to do any of those things, but how nice to feel seen.

Parking was hard to find that late in the night, but I scored a spot close to the building.  We got Noelle and Nan in to the first of the two rooms we could locate.  We mistakenly thought our room would be right next door, but then located it on the rear of the building, directly behind the first room.

Once John had found us (his spot was further away), we got Marie and Tab into their room with Nan and Noelle the other six of us headed to our room.

It was cute.
But at that point…

We got Johanna and Katriel’s bed made up (borrowing a pillow from the first room).  And we were lights out by 2AM. 

I woke in the morning and tip toed to the bathroom and back to bed.  I had no idea what time it was, but normally a very early riser, I was afraid to reach for my iPhone, etc., and wake other sleepers.  It wasn’t too long before I decided maybe I should check.

It was after 7AM. 
I started to get myself around and saw a text from Marie saying they, too, were up and getting ready.  Slowly we all rallied and emerged into a new day.  The same day?  What day is this?

It was warm and sunny.

We dressed in swim gear, and packed up our day bags.  We also put all our belongings in the cars except what we’d need to change into dry clothes.  Sunscreen in hand, we headed to find breakfast.  (Remember, I’d left my two eggs bakes in the big van).

We did a bit of exploring on the way to breakfast.  We saw the bowling alley where I had hoped we would bowl 10PM the night before.  So much for splurging for a hotel…
C’est la vie.  We were alive.

We went to Bayliner which was a glorified food court.  Many different options (like stations) provided different opportunities.  The sticker shock on food prices hit us like bricks.

We had to eat at separate tables, but there would be enough togetherness this week and that a big group reality.

Marie had a salmon and caper sandwich.

I had a croissant with eggs and bacon and cheese and was happy a fruit side was an option over fried potatoes.

After breakfast, we looked around a little more and shopped in the big Universal store. 

And we headed for the pools.
It was a quiet day and we easily found chairs by the pool with a slide.  Despite our official check out at 10AM we were allowed to stay for the day. I’d originally planned to visit our hotel pool and then later visit another resort’s pool.  At this point, less was more.

Free iced drink and reusable cup.

Kids swam and sunned and enjoyed lawn games.

As lunchtime approached we went to the Hideaway Bar by the lazy river side of the park.  We cut through the lobby and Bayliner.

This restaurant told us they couldn’t accommodate food allergies.  Ugh.
So John and Stewart went into Bayliner where they were able to hook him up with Fettuccini Alfredo and chicken.

Marie, Tab and I had shrimp tacos.  I got fruit again!

Johanna loved her cheeseburger with a side of apples.

Tab got fries with her tacos.

I believe these are Noelle’s chicken nuggets, and fries.

We stayed on that side of the resort to use the lazy river, and we mingled with some of the locals.

I started getting the occasional, “How long are we going to stay, Mom?”  I was weighing the value of more swim time (at the $$$ hotel) vs the value of settling in to the rental (there had been little sleep) when it started to sprinkle. 

So we started a gentle process of packing up to go.  First we went back through the lobby and visited the stores a little more.  Then we cleaned up our lounge chairs and changed into clothes.  Then I went and got our other free drink (Starbucks!) before finally moseying to the vehicles. 

Look what they do!  Clearly we had missed that the night before.

We decided to get some dinner on the way to our rental house.  GPS indicated it would be almost an HOUR to get to the rental.  This was NOT how it was supposed to be, but as we found out day in and day out – the construction project on the I-4 exit by our rental made traffic a nightmare.

We went for CiCi’s Pizza.  Which is not very wonderful.  But it was very affordable.  And it solved the “what to eat” question for the night.  We had to be at the rental by 6PM for our grocery delivery slated for between 6PM-8PM.

We made it to the rental, and I sent Tab in with my phone to grab some photos before we trashed the place.

Nan’s room.

Johanna’s and Katriel’s room.

The bathroom they would share.

John’s and my room.

Marie, Tab and Noelle’s room.

The girls’ bathroom.

Stewart’s and Nigel’s room.

The boys’ bathroom.

Groceries arrived by 7PM and it was funny what did not come… but whatever.  We’d make it work.
Because we were alive.
And exhausted.
And adventure was calling early in the morning!