Portofino Bay or AK Kidani Village?

[harmsja]

We're planning a week long visit in early June. Kids are 10, 8, and 3 1/2 year old twins. Planning to see Sea World and Discovery Cove early in the week staying at Nickelodeon Hotel with one day for resort fun.
Planning to switch hotels for second half of week for 4 nights. Mom and Dad want something relaxing for them but still with kids activities.
Our options are:
1) 2 bedroom villa - Kidani Village - no Disney parks. Maybe one day to Busch Gardens (Emlo safari area for twins). Or one day Animal kingdom??
2) Portofino Bay Universal - Still comute to Busch Gardens or possibly two half days at Universal to see Suess area, Barney, Curious George, etc.

I think both have good kids activities......what would you do? Is Busch Gardens worth the hour drive from Orlando????

We are planning to return to do the whole disney trip when the twins are 5.

 

[cvjw]

I personally would pick the Kidani Village 2 bedroom. The 2 bedroom villa is huge, with 3 full bathrooms. I would make sure that I got a Savannah view room, and spend the time at Animal Kingdom Park. It is so close to Kidani Village. Kidani Village has a wonderful pool, and you are also allowed to use the pool at Jambo House. There are lots of activities around the resort for kids. My kids spent hours and hours out on the balcony just animal watching.

I personally would not want drive to Tampa for just the day. We did it one year, and it was alot longer a drive than we thought. We choose to stay in Tampa when we visit Busch Gardens.

We love Portofino Bay Hotel, but once you stay in a 2 bedroom Disney villa, there just isn't any comparison in space and comfort- they will spoil you to other hotels.

 

[nytimez]

If you're not going to WDW, stay at Portofino Bay. I love AKL -- I have DVC there -- but Portofino is a wonderful hotel and I would stay there in your situation. It's very much like a Disney hotel -- in fact, it is a lot like a Disney hotel (the Mira Costa at Tokyo Disney Sea).

Beyond that, the Express Pass -- which allows you to skip the lines at many Universal attractions -- makes it worthwhile to stay on property.

 

[jstehman]

Portofino Bay is a higher quality experience for comfort. If you need more space... Portofino has suites. I'm a big Disney fan... but the attention to details at Portofino is unmatched.

 

[bookwormde]

A Kidani 2br is hard to beat, and is on the right side of town if you are going to Busch Gardens.