Which hotel

[2mom]

This will be our first trip 2 adults 2 kids 12&16. Would any hotel be better than the other. We stay at the deluxe resorts at WDW and do like to take breaks and enjoy the resort. Any advice for a newbie would, I would be thankful for.

 

[RMulieri]

All 3 of the current resorts( Royal Pacific, HArd Rock and Portofino bay) are deluxe resorts.The newest one, Cabana Bay ( also the cheapest) is a moderate .Of the 3 deluxes , they are all fantastic, all within a short walk or a boatride away.You cant go wrong with any of them.None of the resorts have balconies ( except Portofino, and they only have a few rooms with them).Portofino has the largest rooms on site, but is the furthest from the parks ( still not all that far).Pool Hopping is allowed between all the resorts.Hard Rock and Portofino have pool slides, Royal pacific has a water play area.Kids your ages generally like Hard Rock because of its rock music vibe.

 

[2mom]

Thank you!! That is exactly the information I needed.

 

[RMulieri]

Also..The current 3 deluxe resorts come with the unlimited express pass perk for its resort guests.The new moderate, will NOT have this perk.ALL resorts particiapte in early entry ( right now it is only at IOA, but once the Harry Potter expansion open this summer at the studios, the studios will likely have it too)

 

[Selina]

This will be our first trip 2 adults 2 kids 12&16. Would any hotel be better than the other. We stay at the deluxe resorts at WDW and do like to take breaks and enjoy the resort. Any advice for a newbie would, I would be thankful for.

Hello. We have been to Hard Rock Hotel twice, Royal Pacific Resort 4 times and Portofino once. Similar age kids. Out of the 3 on site hotels we all love Royal Pacific Resort best. Last year we booked one week in HRH and one week at RPR. unfortunately Loews made an error and booked us 2 weeks at HRH and because we were so disappointed not to be going as planned to RPR for our second week, gave us a luxury suite in the Portofino. The rooms at Portofino are absolutely beautiful , but the downside was that either the restaurants closed early or on Wednesday evenings the italian we liked was closed. This was in the height of the summer. Also the bars were dead, not much atmosphere. But the staff were very friendly and had a nice pool areas but i think your children would find Portofino too quiet. So Hard Rock Hotel as a first timer but also consider what we did year before last - have your first week at The Hard Rock Hotel and have your second week at Royal Pacific Resort - nice sandy beach, peaceful, the Hawaiian beat and hula hula

This year we are doing something completely different and have 12 nights at RPR and 5 nights at The Don Caesar St Petes Beach.

 

[heidijanesmith]

We have stayed at PBH x1 and HRHx2 and loved HRH. Our teens loved HRH's vibe, pool and the whole HRH atmosphere. The pool is so fun for kids, good music, games, DJ and tons of activity to keep our teens there all day.

We liked PBH, but it was too far for us to walk on a long hot day. We used the rickshaws (work on tips) all trip as the boats were always too crowded or had to wait too long.

We love how close HRH is to the parks 3 min to UA and 5-6 min to IOA. We always take a mid-day break and being so close for us was a must.

 

[2mom]

Thank y'all for the hotel info. This is so exciting. My next step will be meals and must have snacks.

 

[erinsmom03]

Great info here! We are looking at our first stay at Universal this Easter. We have a 10 year old. Royal Pacific looked really appealing to me, but the pool at Hard Rock and Portofino Bay look like she would really enjoy more (slides). Pool hopping between resorts is ok? That would be great!

 

[macraven]

pool hopping is fine.

just bring your hotel card so you can get towels at the pool.

many of the onsite guests pool hop.

 

[Disneychick75]

Our daughter is now 22. She and her friends always liked the Royal Pacific best which surprised me because they are rock n roll people.