Our first onsite report-05/29-06/01/04 LONG!

[fmelchor88]

Saturday-05/29/04 - Tuesday 06/01/04
Hotel-Portofino Bay Resort
4 adults(ME, my partner, and 2 friends)

Saturday-05/29/04
Arrived at MOC and our limo was already there to take us to Portofino.
Arrived at the hotel around 1:30 p.m. and requested a early check in. Guess what the room was ready! BUT was told the room that I requested and paid for thru the Universal web site was not available. They were sold out Ok, I was mad at this point. Per the hotel desk clerk, the reservation only GUARANTEES a room NOT the room type! They credited the difference to my room and gave us(group of 4) free breakfast for each day we were there. That made things alot better. Went to the room and WOW The room was great. We changed and went and had lunch at the Latin Quarter(Another WOW) We then headed to the Cinplex and saw Day after tomorrow. Back to the hotel and ordered pizza and had some drinks with our table overlooking the bay. Went back to the hotel for some sleep and a early wake up call.......

Sunday-05/30/04
Woke up around 7:00a.m. and then went had breakfast on Universal.
:thewave:
Then we took the boat over to Universal studios and were able to do T2, ET, Men in Black, Shrek and twister before lunch. Thanks to FOTL Had lunch and were went to the Mummy WOW! What a ride. We waited for about 25 mins the stand by line was over 2 1/2 hours!
Next up was Back to the future and JAWS and then the Horror make up showFunny.......... Off to the hotel had some dinner and went to bed...........

Monday-05/31/04
Memorial Day-VERY HOT DAY............

Had breakfast on Universal again!
Over to Islands of Adventure. First up was the HULK First time on the HULK.... It was Great! Then we did The water rides all before lunch. Once again thanks to FOTL... Did some shopping and then we did Dueling Dragons First time again! Did both fire and ice.. Love em! We were then off to Universal and did the Mummy twice.....

Off to the hotel for some snacks and then to the pool. We had Cabanna #4. Back to the room about 7:30p.m. and then back to the room to freshen up for City Walk. Most the Clubs were closed We had a few drinks and back to the hotel by 12:30a.m.

Tuesday-06/01/04
Woke up early(7:00a.m.) had breakfast. Again on Universal! Did some resort shopping and checked out and headed to Animal Kindom Lodge for a 5 night stay.


Over all-This was the 1st time staying onsite. I will NEVER again stay off site again! The FOTL access is the best. The hotel and staff were the best I have seen in a long time. Iam a huge Disney fan but I would have to give the Portofino Bay resort higher marks over Animal Kingdom Lodge on this trip. A side note, we did not stay on the Club Level at Universal but where else would the hotel service knock on your door every evening and ask if there is anything we needed for the night! Not once did the staff of AKL do that!

Sorry for the long report............

 

[MadamG2U]

Thanks for the great report. We are going in August and I can't wait. We have requested 2 bayview rooms. May I ask what room were you in? How far was the walk to the dock?

August just won't come quick enough!

 

[SpideyHulk24]

Great report! Thanks for sharing. Sounds like you have become an addict to Universal like the rest of us!

 

[fmelchor88]

MadamG2U-We were in 1498. On the west side of the resort. Please use the exits instead of the elvators. We found this to be much faster. The walk from the elvators to the room was rather long.

 

[BarbaraMB]

2 1/2 HOUR WAIT FOR ROTM?! I just can't imagine that, especially in the heat. I am sure they weren't exactly thrilled to see people getting in before them, over and over and over again. Can you imagine going back on express several times to ride it again and these people standing in the heat watching this? If that isn't enough to justify staying at one of the resorts I don't know what is.

 

[KFISCHER]

Did you eat at the hotel?

 

[themepark]

Thanks for sharing your report. Glad to have you in the ranks of Universal Onsite Hotel Addicts!

 

[Teris]

Great report! I am surprised about the room thing tho. It makes one pause before using the Universal Vacations site to book their vacation.

I love the AKL, it's my favourite Disney Resort,, so now I am really excited about the PBH if you like it better than the AKL.

Are you going to post your Disney part of the trip for us here too? Or perhaps post the link to it if you post it on the Disney forum

 

[fmelchor88]

KFISCHER-We only had some quick bites. We mostly had lunch and Dinner at City Walk. A little to high for my blood at the hotel...

TERIS-I will be posting the WDW trip report later today.

We have just decided to book a weekend stay for Halloween. Does anyone know when they start posting info for HHN?

Thanks

 

[fmelchor88]

Hey I just became a Dis Veteran!!!!!!!!!:thewave:

 

[Teris]

Woo!,,lol

Hey,, I am from Houston too My teenage daughters still live there, so I end up splitting my time between there and the UK.

How hot is it there right now?

I have been considering booking for the HHN for my daughter's birthday. I took her to the Disney one two years ago, and we loved it. Do you know if guests dress up for the Universal one?

I guess it's time to start a thread about it really,,lol.

 

[fmelchor88]

About 88 not bad for this time of year. It was hotter in Orlando than here in Houston.

 

[Minniespal]

Great report ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[Slacking]

Originally posted by BarbaraMB
2 1/2 HOUR WAIT FOR ROTM?! I just can't imagine that, especially in the heat. I am sure they weren't exactly thrilled to see people getting in before them, over and over and over again. Can you imagine going back on express several times to ride it again and these people standing in the heat watching this? If that isn't enough to justify staying at one of the resorts I don't know what is.

As far as I know, the wait for RotM has hardly ever gotten that high. But even if it does, the line is inside.

 

[fmelchor88]

The 2 /12 hour wait was on Memorial Day. It was very crowded that day. The lines were inside for FOTL but the standby line was out the door..

 

[highlander447]

Great report FOTL can be addictive