Walking Distances

[tzolkin]

I'm looking for info about the walking distances (and routes) from the hotels to the parks.

I just booked a 5 night trip staying at Portofino and am just curious about the walk. The only real info I found was google maps says it's 2 miles.

Just wondering about the kids going off on their own, making multiple trips back to the room per day, etc.

We can certainly just see when we get there, but I've been spoiled by the over-abundant info on the Dis about the Disney resorts (including detailed maps and very explicit info about getting from any one place to another).

 

[Robo56]

Tzolkin if you go to the Universal web site go to the maps at the bottom of the home page and click on the resort wide map pdf. You can pull that up and see the walkways clearly.

Portofino is my favorite resort with 3 pools and lovely rooms. Largest rooms of the deluxe resorts.

That being said it is the farthest of the resorts from the parks. Take a look at the Portofino sticky under the Universal Resorts and Hotels information. Schumigirl has created a great sticky with everything you will ever want to know about Portofino. Lots of helpful information. This is a very nice way to familiarize yourself with the resort.

As you look at the map you can see that the walkways from all the resorts wind along the same route as the water taxis take to Citywalk to unload everyone.

It's is a 15-20 minute walk from Portofino to Universal.

We never walk we just take the water taxi and enjoy the ride and then unload at Citywalk for the parks. You can also take the bike taxi for a tip to the driver. Water taxi is free.

Don't know how old your children are?

I don't have a problem with the my grandchildren splitting off on their own together as granddaughter was 18 and grandson 12 when we where there in May.

Water taxi is safe and runs every 15 to 20 minutes. Water taxi stops running at 2 am.....LOL...we have never been up that late.

Enjoy all the perks while staying onsite like like Early entry, Unlimited express pass, pool hopping at all the resorts and priority seating at restaurants.

If you have anymore questions I or someone here will be happy to help you.

Have a great trip to Universal

 

[damo]

We generally walk but we take the shortcut through the HRH parking lot. You can find that info in the Portofino thread. Takes about 10 minutes.

 

[tzolkin]

Thanks, Robo56!

I did see the resort-wide map, but I wasn't sure how to scale that was. When I looked for walking directions on Google maps it has you go on the other side of the waterway (off the bottom of the resort map), through City Walk, and then back over to the right to get to Universal.

We don't mind a long walk, but I just wanted to have a sense of whether it's close enough to easily go back and forth during the day. You mention 15-20 min, so that should be about one mile, not two. That seems more manageable when you factor in all the other walking you'll be doing throughout the day.

My oldest is 17 (headed to college next month) and I have a 5th and 7th grader. Our last Disney trip was planned around them being able to go off and enjoy some sibling bonding time. We stayed in the Epcot resort area so they could easily walk to Epcot and HS, so I think they would really enjoy being able to walk to the parks during this trip. Disney was easy for them to navigate alone because they have been going since they were little, so I'm just hoping to get them a little familiar with the Universal layout so they feel comfortable venturing out on their own.

Not sure if we will get any pool time (going during winter break so DD will be home from college), but they look beautiful.

 

[mjhtvchick]

This is the best overview of the walking routes I have seen:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1p4a5iN0miTd3slvUvAuCYpE7KmQ

Sapphire Falls hasn't been added in yet, but you can see where it connects into the walking path from Cabana Bay.

If you wanted to get back to the resort quicker during the day, all the resorts except Cabana Bay are serviced by a very quick water taxi from Citywalk. Cabana Bay is serviced by busses from the parking area.

 

[damo]

Here is the shortcut map. It saves about 5 minutes.

 

[tzolkin]

Thanks, everyone! All this info is very helpful.

 

[gotomu212]

RObo56 mentioned the water taxi and I wanted to expand on that and say that to me it is a great option for the kids. The pickup in right at Citywalk outside the entrance to the parks (and across the little bridge but right in the middle of all the restaurants) and then the Portofino Dock is right there next to the West Tower and in the middle of the common Bay Area.

With a 17 year-old there I wouldn't have any issue with them taking the walking path, but the water taxi makes it so the younger ones would always be "in a crowd" or on the hotel grounds and there's no way to get lost between the entrance and the water taxi spots.

The water taxis are also free which confused us the first time since they were called taxis (our dumb moment).

 

[tzolkin]

RObo56 mentioned the water taxi and I wanted to expand on that and say that to me it is a great option for the kids. The pickup in right at Citywalk outside the entrance to the parks (and across the little bridge but right in the middle of all the restaurants) and then the Portofino Dock is right there next to the West Tower and in the middle of the common Bay Area.

With a 17 year-old there I wouldn't have any issue with them taking the walking path, but the water taxi makes it so the younger ones would always be "in a crowd" or on the hotel grounds and there's no way to get lost between the entrance and the water taxi spots.

The water taxis are also free which confused us the first time since they were called taxis (our dumb moment).

Thanks for the additional info.

I'm assuming they are similar to the boats for the Epcot resort area at Disney.

My DH doesn't like to stand around waiting when he could be moving, so we usually walked between the resorts and the parks when staying in the Epcot resort area, but when the kids went out on their own they often took the boats so they are familiar with that. I will just make sure they know where everything is during our first day and I'm sure they can find their way around after that.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Also just to mention, the water taxis come very frequently. My husband is the same and wants to keep moving, but is willing to wait the short time for the water taxi. They seem to run multiples, so it’s not like you are waiting for one boat to make the whole trip.

 

[shawthorne44]

RObo56 mentioned the water taxi and I wanted to expand on that and say that to me it is a great option for the kids. The pickup in right at Citywalk outside the entrance to the parks (and across the little bridge but right in the middle of all the restaurants) and then the Portofino Dock is right there next to the West Tower and in the middle of the common Bay Area.

With a 17 year-old there I wouldn't have any issue with them taking the walking path, but the water taxi makes it so the younger ones would always be "in a crowd" or on the hotel grounds and there's no way to get lost between the entrance and the water taxi spots.

The water taxis are also free which confused us the first time since they were called taxis (our dumb moment).

Well, that isn't as dumb as you think. I've read about bike taxis to Portofino. You pay by tipping well.