Portofino and Wilderness Lodge

[gina2000]

I need some honest, unvarnished opinions. We have reservations at both hotels with one day double booked at both. I've been inside Wilderness Lodge and it's awesome. I know we'll enjoy our stay there. I've also heard absolutely fabulous things about Portofino and am really, really looking forward to our time there.

My question....I'm currently staying at Portofino for 3 days and Wilderness Lodge for 4 and can go either way with the extra day.

We love both parks, so location, location, location is not a factor. The hotels themselves are.


Anyone care to make the comparision?

 

[Fan2CSkr]

Okay honest and unvarnished opinion!
In my opinion, they are very differently themed hotels. Portofino rooms are larger (much) and more plush.I have not stayed at WL but I did take a tour. Its a beautiful hotel! I hope to stay there in the future.


WL is more lively. You will find Portofino to be more relaxed and quieter. What time of year will you be there? Will your extra day be a resort day only? Will you have kids with you what are the ages?


I cant compare the pools because I didnt experience WL's pool. But I do love the grounds at Portofino. Are the prices comparable? oh yes if you add the day at Portofino they are offering 4th day free that could be an option for you to check into as well.


Either way you cant go wrong you have 2 great choices! Good Luck in deciding! We were faced with a similar choice for our December trip and decided to just split it 4 nights at Poly and 4 nights at a Universal Hotel.

 

[gina2000]

We have a son, aged 8. Our "swing" day will be a pool day for some members of our group and a park day for DS and DH (I think).

We'll be there in early November.

 

[antmaril]

I can't compare the hotels because I have not stayed at the Wilderness Lodge. However, we had a great stay at Portofino Bay over Labor Day weekend. The hotel is lovely and the rooms are quite large. Our family loved the Portofino Bay.

What I really wanted to recommend to you is that you do Disney first. As I'm sure you know, because you are staying onsite at Universal, you will have Express Access to all the rides - you won't stand in line longer than 5-10 minutes - most are walk-ons with your room key. If you do Universal first, you will hate standing in those lines at Disney. However, if you do Disney first, you have Universal to look forward to. We split our stays last year and I was so happy we did Disney (Beach Club) first - I would not have been happy at Disney after going to the front of the line at Universal.

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[Gator Kate]

Hi gina 2000,
I have stayed at both and much prefer the Portofino. IMHO Loew's hotels are better quality in general then any of the Disney resorts. The rooms are larger, more tastefully decorated, comfier beds( also triple sheeted) and better insulated for sound. The Wilderness decor was just too rustic for our taste, rooms smallish and we didn't care for most of the food options. The lobby is spectacular though! Guess it's really a matter of personal preference. Good luck and have fun.

 

[macs4us]

I have not stayed at Portofino, but have stayed at Wilderness Lodge. I suggested my sister and her family spend their last night at WDW (after 11/01 cruise) there - the rooms were looking bad. I spoke with a manager and she informed me that the rooms were overdue for a refurb - a lot of wear and tear due to the number of kids that stay there. She wasn't sure when the room refurb would start, as it kept getting put off (probably because they closed some parts of moderate hotels down, and needed the space at WL).

We have loved WL in the past, but wouldn't stay there again until the refurb is done.

Hope you have a great trip!!!

 

[Muushka]

As much as I love WL, I would also choose Portofino. I agree that it is a nicer hotel with many more amenities than WL.

To me, each has a very nice pool, neither one better than the other. My only complaint about Portofino was that at night it was sort of desserted. But HRH and City walk are a short walk away!

PS we own at VWL, which is as nice as Portofino

 

[damo]

I've stayed at both Hard Rock and Wilderness Lodge. I haven't stayed at Portofino. I would really not go back to stay at WL only to visit. The lobby is lovely but the rooms are very small, rather unkempt, and very "Hotel 6" ish. They are in very, very bad need of an update and I stayed there 3 years ago! From what I've heard Portofino is nicer than Hard Rock, so my choice would be Portofino, (if it were my choice!)

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Dude, Portofino Bay is absolutely goregous! I have never stayed at the Wilderness Lodge but I have been inside the lobby and do desire to stay there.


The beds at PBH are very comfy, I could have spent my entire vacation in the room sleeping.

 

[KProuty]

The pool at the Portofino is MUCH MUCH nicer! It has a zero depth entrance, which means you can wade in. It has an awesome slide, and a waterfall. The only other Disney pool that is better is the Yacht and Beach Club (and that is MUCH better.) We have stayed at the Wilderness Lodge Villas and the Grande Floridian (after the pool redo.) We have also stayed at the Poly, but before the pool was redone. Portofino is bigger and better. The transportation from the Portofino is much better as well. If you do ANYTHING at MK that is outside the normal bounds of closing times, you will find yourself on a bus to get home rather than a boat. (Watch out if you go to the Xmas parties or enights.) If you can, try to get an upgrade to the kids suite at the Portofino. It is truly magical.

Katherine