Hey guys, I know this is long, but it has good info for the folks staying at Atlantis. A friend I'm going with emailed it to me. Think it's from Tripadvisor. It's almost time!
Tips and tricks for those of you doing the condo thing...
1. Pack snacks from home for your days in the waterpark such as granola bars, peanutbutter crackers, fruit snacks, mixed nuts, etc.
2. Other things to bring with you are: coffee, filters, laundry pods, dryer sheets, dishwashing pods, salt, pepper, sugar. Go to the dollar store at home. It will save you a bundle. These things are not supplied in the condos.
3. Make a list of groceries and have your taxi driver stop at the Super Value grocery on your way from the airport. There is a liquor store just across the parking lot as well. Get some bottled water, but not a bunch. A 6 pack should do, then get a few gallon sizes of water and refill your bottles. The water on Paradise Island tastes nasty.
4. Don't pack too much. The condos have washers and dryers. Put them to use. Save the extra room in the suitcases for the snacks you are bringing along with a bunch of sunscreen. If you run out, a 10 oz bottle will set you back anywhere from 21 to 28 dollars.
My best tip...Prices IN Atlantis are ridiculous. We didn't eat a single dinner there! You CAN get eat lunch there reasonably by sharing though! The sandwiches are HUGE and easily feed 2. and the meal deals at the huts are fairly well priced (by their standards!). The hot dogs are insanely large. The alcoholic drink prices, however, are RIDICULOUS. BUT right across from the Harborside is a small plaza with a Dunkin Donuts (free Wi Fi and prices aren't bad!!), Anthonys Pizza (pretty good!), a small market and pharmacy, and a liquor store. You can pack a cooler (the Point will even provide you with ice!) and bring whatever you want to the beach and have a $2 cocktail instead of a $10 one!!!
1) Pack one suitcase you can check with food and snacks. I packed a soft-sided cooler bag in the suitcase with items that are very expensive to purchase there like expensive, gourmet cheeses, salami, and boar's head sandwich meats. I packed snacks like small packaged nuts, microwave popcorn, fruit snacks, pop tarts (something my kids never get at home so these were a big hit), tortillas, peanut butter and jelly, and some family-sized boxes of mac and cheese. 2) Order any other grocery items you will need like eggs, milk, bread, fruit, etc from FoodStore2Go.com. Harborside does provide a shuttle once a day to a local grocery store at the cost of $8 per person (which we did on our last trip), but FoodStore2go delivers to your condo at the designated time you provide them for $9 (plus we tipped the delivery guy). They deliver it to your condo and unpack it and put it in the fridge. This is much better than dragging your kids to the grocery store or stopping on the way from the airport. Everyone is tired and grocery shopping does not sound fun when you've just arrived after a day of traveling. The website is great because you can even select the brand you want and most are brands you would see in the states. 3) We would typically have breakfast before we headed out and some days I would make everyone a sandwich for lunch and pack some chips and carrot sticks or whatever. I always take a small cooler bag (frozen water bottles work great to keep it cool) to take food and drinks to the pool and always pack some ziplock bags for packing sandwiches. We did not do this every day. Some days we would eat lunch at one of the outdoor restaurants but it's nice to mix it up. Some nights we would go out for a really nice dinner and a couple of nights we ate at the condo. 4) If you are wine snobs like we are, pack a couple of bottles of really nice wine. Purchase some "wine diapers" and then I always pack the wine diaper inside one of the huge ziplock bags just in case. We've done this for years and have never had a bottle break yet ( I do realize that I have just jinxed myself!). So, we packed some $100+ bottles to enjoy on the balcony with some of our expensive cheeses and fruit on nights when the kids were too exhausted to go out for dinner. They were thrilled with their mac and cheese and we were thrilled with our nice wine. A crappy $5-$7 bottle will run you at least $30 at the liquor store and will probably fun 5-6 times cost at a restaurant in Atlantis. So, if you like nice wine, be prepared. 5) There is a liquor store across the street and liquor is actually cheap. We ordered some mixes from the food2go guys and had some nice cocktails at a reasonable price. 6) I've read 3 posts that said bring a dish towel and I did and I was glad. 7) pack some of the new laundry detergent pods in a zip lock bag. My idea of a vacation is no cooking and no laundry but it is so nice to throw in swimsuits and bath towels every couple of nights. They only clean mid-week at the Atlantis unless you pay for daily maid service so it was nice to have clean, fresh towels. The machines are very small so plan on doing twice the loads you are expecting and you will have enough detergent. 8) Pack plenty of sunscreen. A small bottle will run you around $20 bucks. 9) Take advantage of the interactive fish feedings. Even the 13 year-olds seemed to really enjoy this. 10) If you go to the beach (right between the coral and royal towers is a good place) bring a zip lock bag for each of your kids filled with bread crumbs. The fish will love it and so will your kids. 10) Play bingo in the coral towers at least once. 11) As far as restaurants, it really depends on your family. Between our four trips we've eaten everywhere from The One and Only Ocean Club to Nobo to the Balls and Brauts out on the beach. Bimini road is a good place for kids because it is loud and the food comes relatively fast. Marina pizza is also great for a quick meal for the kids. You would think that the Deli in the marina would be fast but it is by far the slowest and most aggravating place to eat at Atlantis. The waiters make you feel like they are doing you a favor to bring your food. Every time we go, we say we will never go again. Hopefully, I will actually remember this next time. We had a terrible experience at Virgil's BBQ. We had never been there and it was recommended by some friends. We paid $50 (not including the 22% tax and gratuity) for a 10 piece platter of fried chicken that looked and tasted like it had been under a heat lamp for most of the day and the dry-rubbed ribs were dry. The only decent thing we ate was the mac and cheese and hush puppies. UGH! I would not recommend it. Carmines food was good and again a great place for kids. If you are staying at Harborside, the restaurant at the property (the Point) is a casual outdoor dining place. The food is not gourmet but is fine. The breakfast buffet they do in front of the aquarium is also fun for the kids. 12) We used Cheryl's taxi service. They were great! 13) We did the dolphin experience at Blue Lagoon this time. It was nice because you had a 30 minute fairy ride out to the island. 14) bring coffee filters. 15) There is a duncan doughnuts across the street which the kids loved in the morning. 16) If you are going with really little kids there are some wonderful little slides for them over by the pyramid and kids area but they are kind of hard to find. 17) If you are going with toddlers to 4-5 year olds that don't swim, don't get on the current without putting a life jacket on them It is not a lazy river!! You can get tipped out of your tube. 18) If you are going to the current area, it is actually closer to take the shuttle to the cove than to get off at the Royal Tower. Hope this helps! Atlantis is a great family destination -- have fun!
