I know NOTHING

[Jara50]

Have been to Orlando about 7 times but never to Universal. My teen girls wanted to do Universal and their very generous grandmother just told us she booked us for four nights at the Portofino during end of March!!! She got us something called "Park to Park Tickets". So ,I don't know anything about Universal. Here are some questions since I have to say you people seem like you have some sort of College degree (a PHD even!) in all things Universal.

So: Is the hotel nice? CAn we walk to the parks? Where can we have a good but QUICK breakfast? What don't we want to miss? How long does it take to get through each park, on average. Where should we eat dinner?

Any thoughts would be appreicaited.

 

[stwyatt]

we go to orlando every 5 yrs with our son, this november will be our 4th time. we "stumbled" onto universal the first time we went, and now it is the only place we stay. the hotel is great, i actually have stayed at the other 2 resorts, but have walked thru pbh. it is the considered the best of the 3--and the other 2 are top notch. it's about a 10min walk to the parks, but i would guess most guests take the boats. for a quick breakfast, we always go to to citiwalk a few minutes before the parks open. there's a cinnabon, burger king, and my favorite, pastamore that serves breakfast pizza by the slice. one slice feeds 2. As far as dinner, the hotel restaurants are pretty good, we've eaten at the kitchen in the hard rock hotel the most. citiwalk has a number of restaurants that are pretty good. to be honest, we always have a car and go offsite for dining half the time. we like texas de brazil, orlando ale house(always surprised because it doesn't look like a good place), and the multitude of restaurants in dr. philips just a few minutes away. have fun, and you will get great info here, just as i have

 

[heidijanesmith]

Have been to Orlando about 7 times but never to Universal. My teen girls wanted to do Universal and their very generous grandmother just told us she booked us for four nights at the Portofino during end of March!!! She got us something called "Park to Park Tickets". So ,I don't know anything about Universal. Here are some questions since I have to say you people seem like you have some sort of College degree (a PHD even!) in all things Universal.

So: Is the hotel nice? CAn we walk to the parks? Where can we have a good but QUICK breakfast? What don't we want to miss? How long does it take to get through each park, on average. Where should we eat dinner?

Any thoughts would be appreicaited.

We stayed at PBH for the 1st time in July. We really did not like the hotel, but it was still a beautiful, clean hotel. We requested to be close to the boat launch and pool as my DH has mobility issues. The room we were assigned was the farthest away from both of our requests. When I asked if there was a room closer, we were told very rudely that there was not. I understand that requests are just that, requests not guarantees, but I did not appreciate the rudness of the front desk staff. The rooms are large and the bathrooms are huge, clean and have a beautiful italian decorating. We did not care for the dining options at PBH, too many sit-down eateries. We did like the casual pool bar/eatery, but it was not open early enough or late enough for breakfast or dinner during our stay. We usually ate all of our meals at the parks or at City Walk. City walk has many places to eat, sit down or more informal too. I would have enjoyed the hotel more if they had more places for us to eat casually in the hotel.

Overall the benefits, early entry and unlimitted express pass make staying at PBH totally worth it for our family. We are going to try a different onsite hotel next year, as PBH just wasn't quite our cup of tea.

PBH is the farthest on-site hotel, but the boat transportation makes a quick trip to the parks. You can walk, but for us that wasn't a good option. We liked using the rickshaw rides(takes donations) as they were always available, no waiting and super quick.

We were able to tour IoA with early entry to HP, break back to PBH and then back again at night and saw everything as many times as we wanted to, even during the crowds of July...thanks to early entry and the unlimitted express pass. Same with US, plenty of time to tour, take a break and see all that we wanted in one day.

Hope you have a great time

 

[phamton]

She got us something called "Park to Park Tickets".

Park to park tickets are the same as Disney park hoppers. You can go back and forth between the parks as often as you want.

 

[PrincessOp]

Let me just be the first to say.... Lucky!!!!!

Ok, now onto PBH -- in my opinion, it is simply amazing. My all-time favorite hotel, bar none, on Universal OR Disney property. Gorgeous, gorgeous atmosphere, multiple beautiful pools (the Castle pool is really something to write home about -- my kids still tell their friends about it to this day) and never feels crowded -- just peaceful and lovely. There ARE many sit-down restaurants, but there's also a little deli with counter-service pizza and gelato that was outstanding (and my whole family of four ate for about $35 -- and it was GOOD). Honestly, I love this hotel -- the staff has always absolutely bent over backwards for my family. I have been lucky enough to travel extensively in the US, as well as to London, Paris, and Rome -- and I believe it is the most beautiful hotel I've ever stayed in. I cannot imagine you will be dissapointed.