i did it

[kirbsam]

i am a confirmed disney fan, but decided to give universal a go this february. we are staying onsite at portofino bay for four nights. we will be there for basically 3 full days. just hope to take things as leisurely as possible and see all we can. looking forward to taking advantage of fotl. and maybe taking in wet n wild one day. any idea how long of a walk it is from portofino bay to the parks?

 

[bubba's mom]

welcome to universal....you'll love it! I think PBH is about 12-15 minute walk from the parks/CW.....you'll have a great time!

 

[Nellas Elensar]

Yeah, but they also have a water taxi, which may be faster. Don't know...never ridden it/stayed at any of the UO resorts.

Nellas Elensar

 

[Cinderella822]

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised! We were when we went last summer and stayed a week at PBH. Loved it. It was so much more laid back and relaxing than Disney. We still love Disney, but Universal is just a different type of vacation. We walked to the parks several times during our stay and it never seemed too far at all, even after walking around the parks all day. It's a nice stroll. The water taxis are great also. Have a nice time and let us know your thoughts when you're back.

 

[robvia]

Great to hear you are staying onsite to get the full effect.

It's 8 minutes from the PBH boat dock to the HRH boat dock. From there it's 5 minutes to USF. IOA is another 5 minutes from that. The boat ride is faster, but sometimes there can be a crowd and the boats don't run if it rains. In that case it's faster to walk and not worry about the shuttle van.
Ask for a room in the West wing, because they are closer to the pool.

 

[patster734]

Be sure to sign up for the LoewsFirst card, if you're not a member yet, and have your stay applied to it. There are a few nice perks for being a member and its free.

http://www.loews-first.com/Loewsfirst.asp

 

[think*tink]

When we were there in Nov. at Thanksgiving, we stayed at Portofino Bay for 4 nights. We loved it. We found that they have a shuttle van that will pick you up and drop you off if you don't want to use the water taxi. It actually can go to all 3 hotels, you just tell him where you are staying. Everytime we rode it we were the only ones. It can be found up front were you can rent a real taxi and drops you off by Universal Studios kind of by the walkway to Hard Rock Hotel and vice versa. It came around 10 - 15 minutes past or before the hour. The driver can tell you better times. The water taxi was always crowded at that time or you had to wait for another one. The driver said a lot of people don't know about the shuttle van. My DH & DD15 walked it one time while I and DD12 took the water taxi. They beat us there, but I'm sure they were walking very fast!!! Something to consider.

 

[Disneyhappy]

We are earnest Disney hfans but love Universal almost eqaully. We have season pases to bothe Universal and WDW. Each site offers soemthing different. WDW cannot beat teh FOTL access for on-site guests. It is the best. Also, there are more hot attraction sin two separate parks vs them being spread out in 4 different parks art WDW. You will also love PBH!

 

[Motherfletcher]

We raced with some family members using the water taxi and others using the resort bus and the bus won hands down.

 

[kirbsam]

my girls and i have been scoping out the universal site and we are really excited. we love disney, but the time was just right for a change. i am sure we will have a great time. and i will write a report when we are done. in the mean time, thanks for all the nice replies. patster, i am applying for my loews first card as soon as i am done posting here.

 

[tlinus]

Congrats on taking the jump - you will love it!!

HOw old are your girls? MIne were 11 and 7 during our stay at the Hard Rock in October and they had a TOTAL blast!!! My 5yo son loved the water slide at the pool.....wish we were there now!!

 

[ReallyFunMom]

Since you are use to Disney you may not know this......... its not a sin to pool hop - its encouraged! So, even if its not warm enough to swim but warm enough to eat lunch outside, you can hit HRH pool area and eat on the patio/bar area by the pool to soak up some of that atmosphere. When we stayed at RPR we had lunch there as a break between parks. It was nice.

 

[kirbsam]

my girls are 14 and 10. and as far as pool hopping goes, that will be a tough thing to do. after all, we have all been chastised for even bringing it up on the disney resort board. it will take all of my will power to even think about it. imagine, pool hopping, what a novel concept. i dont know if i can do it.

 

[tlinus]

my girls are 14 and 10. and as far as pool hopping goes, that will be a tough thing to do. after all, we have all been chastised for even bringing it up on the disney resort board. it will take all of my will power to even think about it. imagine, pool hopping, what a novel concept. i dont know if i can do it.

Go ahead....do it - we won't tell anybody!!!

Welcome to the darkside - We have cookies!!! (from the mouth of my 11 year old!)

 

[ReallyFunMom]

It was sort of funny at checkin the way they "reminded" me I could use all the pools. Never made it to the Portofino but maybe next time when staying at HRH. You find the towel area, show your room key to get a towel and maybe a wristband too. It's a nice perk.

 

[macraven]

for the first time staying on site, you picked a great hotel.

i have stayed in all 3 of them, but the one that has my heart is hrh.


if you need help for your virgin trip to the dark side, post in the universal forums and you should receive lots of help.......or opinions....

we are a helpful group of homies here !!

 

[smnornes]

Hey, us, too! We've been to WDW several times, but just DH and I are coming to Orlando in January to go to Universal and Seaworld...no kids! I'm looking forward to taking things a little easier. At first I was bummed that we weren't going to WDW at all, but after reading through the Universal threads, I'm really excited about our trip!!!