First trip!

[Dopey's Girl]

I bit the bullet and decided to give Disney a bit less of my hard earned money, and am finally going to go to Universal. I'm a total Harry Potter nut, so I'm super excited.

Any one have any input on Portofino Bay? I wanted something a bit more relaxed than Hard Rock...good choice? Nice rooms? Any thing I must do or see at the hotel?

[faline]

Haven't stayed at, or visited, that resort. We have stayed at the Royal Pacific several times and have been quite comfortable at that location.

[NJGIRL]

Be careful...once you come over to the dark side you may not want to go back.


Just my two cents having been an onsite visitors many times..... Go for the Hard Rock.... for a few reasons.

While there is a boat to take you to City Walk from PB it will take you longer to wait for it than it will take you to walk from the HR to the Studio. PB is the furthest hotel out of the three. This may effect you for the early morning openings. I also found the walk from the boat to the hotel to be a little hot in the sun (no shade). I didn't find the price difference between the two hotels to be worth it. The RP & HR are relaxing hotels (not like a Disney value). PB is a very nice hotel but seemed a little stuffy to me. Just my opinion.

[Pally]

We have stayed at the Portofino and loved it. The ambiance is top notch. We did not find it to be stuffy at all. Acutally, we found it to be very relaxing and kind of romantic. Food is very good at the different restaurants and quick serve cafe. We stayed during the christmas season in a club room. Beautiful time to visit.

We are thinking of going this fall and I had suggested trying one of the other onsite hotels. My husband would like to go back to Portofino. Our kids liked Portofino better than the Wilderness Lodge. I was surprised by this.

The Hotel is large. Our room was great with plenty of room. The beds were a dream. The hallways can be long depending on where your room is. Lots of stairs (Don't have to use them) in some places which adds to ambiance. The pool is quite nice.

We did not mind the travel time to the park. It is a nice boat ride. I do agree that the wharf you have to walk to seems to be far. Actually, I think it is in a out-of-the-place spot at the far end of the resort. All in all I highly recommend this hotel if it is in your price range.

Off course, front of the line passes do not hurt. Last time we visited we stayed off site and ended up paying extra for those passes. Really missed them.

I am sure what ever you choose you can't go wrong. Have fun.

[Princess'Mom]

My DD and I are splitting our trip between WDW and Universal this year. We start off at WL and finish up the trip at RP. I am a bit nervous about the Universal trip as I haven't been there before. Not sure what to expect, but we are up to the challenge!

We would appreciate any advice!

Thanks!

[BrerGnat]

No advice to offer as I've not stayed at any of the deluxe resorts (although I can TOTALLY vouch for Cabana Bay...it was pretty great!).

You are going to have a blast at the Harry Potter areas! It's a fan's dream come true!

[MizMissy]

Enjoy your trip!

We have not tried Portofino Bay yet. My kids LOVED HRH. It has a more modern feel to it that I really liked also. I also loved the feel of the lobby areas of the Royal Pacific, but liked the rooms at the HRH better. Kids loved HRH for the pool and the slide. No slide at RP, but there is a water play area. And, you really cannot beat walking to the parks from HRH and RP (HRH is closer to US).

My one complaint about both hotels is that the pools were kind of hectic. Crowded and not so easy to find chairs together during the busy times in the afternoons, but the service by the staff at both was top notch. I think Portofino Bay has a main pool and a quiet pool so that is the one benefit of the hotel that I thought would be a very nice option.

I don't think you can go wrong with your choice. Loew's hotels are just very nice no matter which one you choose.

[Princess'Mom]

Thank you all for the advice! We are looking forward to it.

[dragon73]

We have stayed at all three deluxe hotels, and as others have said, there really isn't a bad choice.

My top pick would definitely be Portofino. It seems more laid back than the other two. And as stated, the beds are amazing. So much so that we actually purchased one from our local furniture store the minute we landed back home. It's a Stearns & Foster Luxury Euro Plush Pillowtop for anyone wondering

The ONLY drawback to the resort was the distance from the parks. Both HRH and RP are an easy hike to the parks and City Walk. PB is more of a distance, but certainly doable. We relied on the boat exclusively and never found that we waited long.

Any of the three will make you happy, but Portofino will always be our first pick.

The Harry Potter lands made us go from "casual fans" to "obsessive fans" fairly quickly. The amount of detail is jaw dropping. It didn't take long for these two 40 year olds to buy wands at Ollivander's and start acting like kids. I would love to quit my job and permanently move in. A townhouse in Hogsmeade would be perfect...

Have a great time!!