Thank you so much for the support. I couldn't have finished this without all of you cheering me on
We truly had a wonderful trip. Despite the minor issues I had with club level hours and operations, Portifino Bay was an amazing resort and we would definitely visit again. You could spend a few hours just walking around exploring everything. The pool was very nice and the boat service to the parks is extremely efficient. Having a Starbucks on property was also very nice.
The room was very comfortable and housekeeping was always on point. We saw the same ladies nearly every day amd they always said hello and checked if we needed anything before we headed out each day or when we came back.
We ate at Thirsty Fish and Sals Market. Both were very good. Sals pizza wasn't exactly Via Napoli or dare I say as good as the glue that holds
@lostpro9het together, IL Totinis, I mean IL Mulino. But it was good for the price. Sandwiches were good and Thirsty Fish has a great burger. Both have plenty of outdoor seating with great views of the hotel plaza.
The only cons (and these are minor) would be the lack of any adults over the age of 25 working there and I only say this because we got a lot of "I'm not sure" as answers when we had a question. And as I've already mentioned, the club level was far from the experience we had at Lowes Royal Pacific two years ago. Food and snack selections were very basic and often seemed to be re-heated from days prior.
I wasn't a fan of having to scan your room key to get in and then having to give your name and room number to the kid at the podium before you could enter. I totally understand the need to scan your room key, but the kid at the podium verifying you right after they watched you scan your card was a bit silly IMO.
The lounge itself was very nice and lots of room to relax and find a seat amd the views were good too.
The Parks:
One of the most enjoyable aspects of this trip was not having to use our phones for everything. You really do notice the difference quite quickly compared to a Disney trip.
No virtual queues and not having to get up at 7 AM to select attractions adds a slight level of relaxation. No park reservations and no time frame for park hopping adds a level of spontaneity as well. When you add express pass to the mix it seriously makes your time at the park's stress free and plain ol fun!
The higher cost of the room at portofino Bay was absolutely worth it since express pass was included. Especially if you have a family with several children everybody gets the express pass and that can save you a lot of money Versus staying at 1 of the less expensive resorts and then having to pay for express pass.
What universal lax in size compared to Disney is definitely made up for by having a better experience at the parks in our opinions.
We also recognize that due to the size of Disney and the much higher volume of guests they have to have a system such as genie plus and virtual cues. And those features definitely have their benefits. Hagrids motorbike adventure can be very frustrating because even when we roped dropped and went directly to the attraction it was already over a 100 minute wait. VQ would've been nice.
Between visiting at a time of year when crowds were low and having express pass it allowed us to basically ride everything twice in the 1st 2 days of our trip. And we were not rushing around trying to get a high attraction count for the day.
With that being said, by day 3 of our trip we were itching for a little Disney magic. Our original intention with this trip was to spend the entire 5 days at universal to really get to know the parks and resorts better. And while we were absolutely having a great time And enjoying ourselves, it was such a wonderful feeling when we entered the Yacht Club that evening to have dinner at Ale and Compass.
It wasn't just the "We're finally back at WDW" feeling we all know so well. It was a complete shift of our mental state from the joy and excitement of Universal to feeling "home" when we walked into YC. The same lounge we've visited a dozen times. The same food, the same drinks, and even the same after dinner routine of going to a park amd riding the same attractions we've done a bazillion times. We didn't want to let go of it.
It was a pleasant reminder of how special WDW is to us. All of it.
We have come to love USO. We are excited to go back soon and experience more of it. In the end, we learned what we kinda already knew- that adding a few days at USO before a Disney trip will be the best option for us.
Thanks everyone for following along! PTR for our upcoming trip begins next!
