Do you think I could take any longer to answer your questions??? Work has been crazy and so has home. Portofino was wonderful, we did not eat at any of Portofino's restaurants. We did eat at the Latin Quarter - Citywalk and liked it. I think we ate at Mythos four times, loved it! We also like the restaurant near the Jurassic Park ride. Can't remember the name right now. We stayed in the West Wing as everyone on the boards suggested -- it was an upgrade. We loved our room and the location. I don't recall any book readings in the evening. I find Universal kinda misses the boat in the evening, at the Disney parks, there is always something in the evening to look forward to - but not the case at Universal. We normally go in the morning, leave swim for a while, and then go back -- if we stay until it closes good -- but if not, that's fine also. One thing that was disappointing was that the pool closed at 8PM. So there was no way to go to the hot tub after a long day at the parks unless you wanted to take time away from the parks...sad. Didn't look into the character meal thing, the girls don't have a whole lot of recognition with the characters at Universal -- so we don't waste the time or money. Now Disney is another story -- they have princesses!!! Lastly, the hotel was somewhat decorated, but the way they have it set up there is really no reason for you to continually go to the lobby area. so we didn't see that area much. They began putting up a tree, in the open area outside, but it wasn't even decorated by the time we left. I am accustomed to Disney for Christmas, who magically in one night decorate everything. Each day that we arrived at Universal there was something new decorated or added, which was nice also. We had a wonderful time and are planning to return for Easter. Can't wait.