Aug '14 Trip Report: The Ride-Chickens go to Universal/Portofino Bay

[ArwenMarie]

Decided to write a trip report! My first one! We're back in the daily grind and I want to re-live our August trip, just for fun. And when you have loads of iPhone pictures what better thing to do with them than post them on the internet!

So first, introductions...we are the Ride-Chickens. No, that's not our real name. But that ties into the name of the trip report. Universal has that reputation of being for people who like to ride crazy coasters all day, but even Ride-Chickens can have a great time there, for multiple days even! And...we aren't big Harry Potter fans!

(Just a note....We're not all Ride-Chickens as my husband and son would be quick to tell you, but I'm the one writing this report.)

Anyway, so here we are...



What? We're not only Ride-Chickens, we're stick figures? Yep. Unfortunately, due to my husband being a privacy freak when it comes to the internet, no pictures of us. But lots of other pictures!

Introductions: Thanks to Disney for that DisneySide thing where you get to make a stick-figure drawing of yourself!

DH: Shown here in a RunDisney tee shirt even though he has never done a RunDisney race. Not a Ride-Chicken technically, but he has to hang around the rest of us.
Me: Aren't I adorable?
DS11: Will tolerate WDW, but loves Universal.
DD8: Likes Universal but loves WDW

Our Plan

We stayed onsite at Universal back in February. It was our first trip to Universal ever. It seems that from now on, we aren't going to be able to go on an Orlando vacation without seeing both Uni and WDW!

Once our DS realized that there were parks there that weren't inundated with princesses and Mickey-heads, he was sold. Our DD on the other hand, is a hard-core Disneyphile. She still has fun at Universal, but I don't think she would let us to go Orlando without a visit to the Motherland. So split trips it will be.

We planned four nights onsite at Universal staying at Portofino Bay, with three full park days at Universal. Then we were going to move offsite for three nights and do 2.5 days at the WDW parks.

Without further ado, let's get started!

 

[labordefam3]

Subscribing! We are going for a 5 day onsite visit at Cabana Bay in December. There are three of us, and I'm the only one in the fam who is not a roller-coaster chicken so looking forward to all of your non- roller-coaster fun!

 

[ArwenMarie]

Saved

 

[rebbyparker]

Subbing!

 

[ArwenMarie]

We landed after a pleasant 2-hour flight and started the trek from MCO to Portofino Bay.

Checking my trusty Dark Sky app on the way over I saw this...

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Feels like 104°? Can't be that hot. Famous last words.

We're here!

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Pulling up to Portofino Bay...Love this entrance. It's very cool and understated, not revealing anything about how pretty this hotel really is.

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Some pictures of the lobby...

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View of the Harbor Plaza from the lobby. The Harbor Plaza is what makes Portofino Bay special. My dear husband probably heard me say one hundred times, "I just love this plaza."

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Off to our rooms! We had booked two regular connecting rooms with the AP discount. The AP discount combined with the low rates of the last week of August (for those daring enough to brave the heat and possible hurricanes and lucky enough to not be back in school yet) made it quite reasonable.

Upon arrival, there was some scurrying about as they didn't have two connecting rooms. That would have been a real shame if my husband would have had to stay with the kids while I relaxed in solitude all night in my own private room But luckily, a manager found something...two connecting Deluxe rooms! Deluxe rooms are just like the regular rooms but they have some extra square footage, which is nice.

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The rooms were on the ground floor overlooking the Villa Pool. But not really because of the landscaping. But still very pretty...

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One thing that drives me bananas about the Loews Hotels at Universal is the lack of a mini-frig in the room. I know that's how most hotels are, and that they do convention business and all that, but I guess Disney has got me used to having that darn frig! I did like the Keurig though.

There is a cute little chair in the corner with a curiously-shaped ottoman. My kids got a real good chuckle at this last year, making up conspiracy theories that the Mouse broke in and left these everywhere as a reminder. Seriously, did no one notice this when they were decorating/purchasing these?

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Next up...Where we attempt to swim in Orlando in the evening in late August!

 

[ArwenMarie]

Subscribing! We are going for a 5 day onsite visit at Cabana Bay in December. There are three of us, and I'm the only one in the fam who is not a roller-coaster chicken so looking forward to all of your non- roller-coaster fun!

Subbing!

Yay!

 

[chs27]

Cute idea of stick figures standing in for you! I got around this by not telling hubs about the DIS boards, sneaky, sneaky. Also, I could complain without hurting feelings.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Ooooooh, I'm in!

I think our next trip is going to be a Universal one, and as a fellow ride chicken, I am sure I will be able to totally relate to many things in your report!

PBH looks gorgeous. We were at RPR on our first Uni trip and we became instant fans of the Loews hotels. I think PBH is even grander than RPR.

Can't wait to read more.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Cute idea of stick figures standing in for you! I got around this by not telling hubs about the DIS boards, sneaky, sneaky. Also, I could complain without hurting feelings.

LOL! Welcome!

Ooooooh, I'm in!

I think our next trip is going to be a Universal one, and as a fellow ride chicken, I am sure I will be able to totally relate to many things in your report!

PBH looks gorgeous. We were at RPR on our first Uni trip and we became instant fans of the Loews hotels. I think PBH is even grander than RPR.

Can't wait to read more.

Hi Gina! I've been reading your trip report too, seems like you guys had a blast!

 

[ArwenMarie]

Now we were famished and in some serious need of food. Off to Sal's, which is the quick-service at Portofino.

Some pictures from the walk over...

This is right outside the door to our hallway, just love this little area...

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We noticed that they had put a Starbucks in since our last trip in February (not pictured, hidden by those trees). Not sure if it fit in with the theme that great, but at the same time, always happy to see another source of coffee

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If you look closely at the pictures of the buildings, you can see that a lot of the trimwork and other details are not real, they are painted on the stucco. At first I thought that was some sort of theme-park cost-cutting measure, but it turns out that is actually a tribute to the original. According to a little brochure in the room:

"Artists who painted the exteriors of our buildings used the same elaborate painting technique, trompe l'oeil, used hundreds of years ago in Italian fishing villages."

Neat!

Also love these mosaics they have around the harbor area...

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Onto Sal's! We love Sal's. The pizza is excellent for pizza outside of the NY/NJ area (yes I'm biased ). Their chicken caesar salad is a staple and the sandwiches are also good. It feels very cozy and the staff are so, so nice. Sal's also has all kinds of snacks, milk, drinks, etc which also came in handy.

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Then we went and got our Express Passes.

After that, the kids wanted to go swimming. So we got all ready for that and headed out to the main Beach Pool, which has the cool "Roman-aqueduct-themed" pool slide that the kids love.

We got there and this is what we saw...

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A beautiful pool that was empty and closed! It didn't seem like there was bad weather in the area. Apparently we were in a state of denial, so we hopped over to the Villa pool and this is what we saw...

Another beautiful pool, devoid of people.

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This is when we figured out that lightning must have been the culprit even though we didn't see any. Ah Orlando!

My husband and I were secretly relieved as we were tired, but the kids were pretty bummed so we went over to Sal's to have gelato.

Then, back to the room, to get ready for the next day.

We tried to come up with a plan but we decided just to go with the flow. That's one great thing about Universal...you can just go with the flow.

We did have the Superstar Character Breakfast scheduled for the next morning at Cafe La Bamba at Universal Studios, so we would start with that and see where we would go from there!

 

[Threeboysandachickie]

Great report! I love the pictures

 

[mrsabbott]

Beautiful pics!! I can't wait to read/see more!!

 

[ArwenMarie]

Great report! I love the pictures

Thanks!

 

[ArwenMarie]

Beautiful pics!! I can't wait to read/see more!!

Thanks!

 

[ArwenMarie]

We ventured out to take the boat over to Universal Studios. First up on our agenda was the Superstar Character Breakfast.

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So pretty!

Unfortunately, we just missed the boat, but there was a bike guy there. Very tempting, very tempting. So we went for it!

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Nice greenery along the way

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We arrive!

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I love the boat, but I think I enjoyed the bike ride just as much. The kids got a kick out it and said they wished we had one of these at home. I guess so my husband and I could give them rides around the neighborhood LOL. The drivers work for tips only, and with the four of us crowded in, the driver deserved a good one.

Quick note regarding the "bubble" that everyone always talks about...I realized that I feel like I am more in the bubble when I am staying onsite at Universal than when I am onsite at Disney. I think it's amazing how immersed you feel, especially considering where the resort is located.

Walking in...

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Onto the breakfast...

Universal Superstar Character Breakfast

Buying tickets to this seemed a bit convoluted. First I bought the tickets online and got a confirmation number. Then I had to call and book the time. Not a big deal, but kind of seemed like there was an extra step in there. The tickets came in the mail, so that part was easy.

We went in and picked our breakfast from the menu...

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Cafe La Bamba is set up as a quick-service. I LOVED THIS. I have a hard time with some of the busier buffets at WDW, I guess it's a phobia of sorts. I know, not rational, but whaddya gonna do. Anyway, I was so happy to see that this wasn't a buffet. I loved choosing at the counter, having it plated and brought over and then getting seconds (and thirds!) the same way.

Onto the characters. First come out the Nick characters. There was an emcee and she made a big deal that these are the NICK characters. I don't know why. Anyway, here they come!

Two old faves...Ohhh who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

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Dora and Diego. They were cute, but it was hard to come up with something to say to them!

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Next up were the "Superstars"! So said the emcee...out comes..E.B.? Just kidding. He was super cute.

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Next was the ninja girl bunny from Hop. My kids knew these characters, I had no idea who they were other than knowing they were from that movie. She was great though, she was doing ninja moves all around.

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Finally, the stars of the show, Gru and a minion! Gru was awesome, he was acting kind of annoyed and tired, which wasn't a surprise knowing Gru!

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We tried to give Stuart a banana! It was cute, he tried to eat it.

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This breakfast was a great way to start our trip and I was so happy we did it. Started us out with a big breakfast and we had some fun at the same time.

 

[rnorwo1]

Joining in while we are waiting for our Feb trip!

 

[CuriouserDinah]

Loving your review so far. Great pics! Can't wait to read the rest!

 

[HairyChest]

Im in! Reading this brings memories of my own trip

 

[ArwenMarie]

Joining in while we are waiting for our Feb trip!

Loving your review so far. Great pics! Can't wait to read the rest!

Im in! Reading this brings memories of my own trip

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

The bike ride sounds like soooo much fun!! Something I would love to try on our couples trip in May, but wondering if we might ... ugh ... exceed the weight limit for the poor driver. DH is a BIG guy, and well, I'm no Tinkerbelle either .

Loving your pics . I am growing very excited for our Universal trip!