Background
Me-28 yo disney lover
DH-25 yo work-a-holic in need of a vacation
My DH and I went on a trip to Orlando in Feb. of 2000. It was our first trip to Florida and we had a travel agent plan the whole trip. We stayed four days at CBR at WDW and then went on a three day disney cruise. We had a great time; in fact we had such a great time we decided to go again. As soon as we got back, I began planning our Florida trip for 2001, but this time I did it all myself. After reading all the wonderful tips and trip reports on the DIS, I knew our trip would have to include a visit to US/IOA and a stay at Portofino Bay.
We decided on a sat, sun, mon night stay at PB. I found a garden view room on travelscape.com for 179.00 per night. I joined Loews first and 1 week prior to our arrival I faxed a request to the hotel asking for a complimentary upgrade and I gave them my loews first number. About 20 minutes after I sent the fax, my DH got a phone call from the hotel. They thanked us for the fax and said they would be giving us an upgrade to a deluxe pool room view, king bed room in the villas. We were thrilled.
We traveled first to WDW (I have posted on the appropriate board) and on Sat we were off to PB. We arrived at about 5:00-we had spent the day at Discovery Cove. A porter greeted us upon arrival, immediately took our bags and we opted for valet parking. Check-in was a little slow, but the front desk agents were very professional and courteous. The delay also gave me the opportunity to view the very impressive lobby. I have one word for this hotel-BEAUTIFUL!
After check-in we headed up to our villa room and were equally impressed with both the size and luxury of our room. We had a great view of the villa pool. The bed in the room was huge and the tv actually had HBO. If you have ever stayed at disney you know they have very few tv watching options. Our bags arrived about 15 minutes later, we unpacked, took a shower in the huge bathroom and got ready for dinner. We were both exhausted from our day and decided to stick around the hotel on our first night. We walked around the hotel and decided to eat dinner at Trattoria Del Porto. They were having a buffet that evening that looked delicious. My DH ordered the buffet and I ordered a Portofino cristo sandwich off the regular menu. We washed down our dinner with a delicious bottle of wine-I think it was a chianti. Dinner was awesome and we sat in the restaraunt for quite a while. The buffet was incredible. They had two chefs with very fresh ingredients making pasta dishes to order as well as a large selection of entrees, salads, and desserts. We were very impressed with the restaraunt. After dinner we strolled along the bay and then decided to call it a night. PB has the most comfortable beds and absolutely fabulous down pillows. We got a great night's sleep anticipating our first day at US. Stay tuned for part two!!!!
Me-28 yo disney lover
DH-25 yo work-a-holic in need of a vacation
My DH and I went on a trip to Orlando in Feb. of 2000. It was our first trip to Florida and we had a travel agent plan the whole trip. We stayed four days at CBR at WDW and then went on a three day disney cruise. We had a great time; in fact we had such a great time we decided to go again. As soon as we got back, I began planning our Florida trip for 2001, but this time I did it all myself. After reading all the wonderful tips and trip reports on the DIS, I knew our trip would have to include a visit to US/IOA and a stay at Portofino Bay.
We decided on a sat, sun, mon night stay at PB. I found a garden view room on travelscape.com for 179.00 per night. I joined Loews first and 1 week prior to our arrival I faxed a request to the hotel asking for a complimentary upgrade and I gave them my loews first number. About 20 minutes after I sent the fax, my DH got a phone call from the hotel. They thanked us for the fax and said they would be giving us an upgrade to a deluxe pool room view, king bed room in the villas. We were thrilled.
We traveled first to WDW (I have posted on the appropriate board) and on Sat we were off to PB. We arrived at about 5:00-we had spent the day at Discovery Cove. A porter greeted us upon arrival, immediately took our bags and we opted for valet parking. Check-in was a little slow, but the front desk agents were very professional and courteous. The delay also gave me the opportunity to view the very impressive lobby. I have one word for this hotel-BEAUTIFUL!
After check-in we headed up to our villa room and were equally impressed with both the size and luxury of our room. We had a great view of the villa pool. The bed in the room was huge and the tv actually had HBO. If you have ever stayed at disney you know they have very few tv watching options. Our bags arrived about 15 minutes later, we unpacked, took a shower in the huge bathroom and got ready for dinner. We were both exhausted from our day and decided to stick around the hotel on our first night. We walked around the hotel and decided to eat dinner at Trattoria Del Porto. They were having a buffet that evening that looked delicious. My DH ordered the buffet and I ordered a Portofino cristo sandwich off the regular menu. We washed down our dinner with a delicious bottle of wine-I think it was a chianti. Dinner was awesome and we sat in the restaraunt for quite a while. The buffet was incredible. They had two chefs with very fresh ingredients making pasta dishes to order as well as a large selection of entrees, salads, and desserts. We were very impressed with the restaraunt. After dinner we strolled along the bay and then decided to call it a night. PB has the most comfortable beds and absolutely fabulous down pillows. We got a great night's sleep anticipating our first day at US. Stay tuned for part two!!!!
Since DH and I are going to be taking our first adults-only trip to Universal in March, I especially enjoy reading reports of other visits without kids. 
