Portofino Bay Current Construction

[avalonearth]

Wondering if anyone has been to Portofino recently and could update on the construction? I am going in 2 weeks & wondered if they had moved to a different part of the hotel or still same area being worked on? Does anyone have pictures on how it looks currently? Thanks!

 

[wdwrule]

Wondering if anyone has been to Portofino recently and could update on the construction? I am going in 2 weeks & wondered if they had moved to a different part of the hotel or still same area being worked on? Does anyone have pictures on how it looks currently? Thanks!

We were there last weekend to visit Thirsty Fish. Unfortunately it’s in a bit of a mess right now. There was scaffolding along the entire front exterior, but the worst part was navigating the numerous detours. It was tricky just to find the entrance to Thirsty Fish and many outside shops and other entrances were detoured. There’s also some detouring on the walkways to and from the park. We didn’t notice any hindrances on the inside of the resort though… at least the few areas we toured.

As with any renovation though, it is much needed and will be worth it in the end.

 

[nighttowll]

So much worse than I ever expected! Thanks for the pictures.

 

[tony67]

WOW - thought they had finished all this ages ago. I'd be very unhappy with this unless they gave a great discount.

 

[Dakota731]

When will it be completed?

 

[rs1228]

Scheduled to be completed December 2024.

 

[Minnie1222]

Thanks for the update. We're going to Orlando next month and I was planning to book there. I may still proceed since it's the only resort that offers the AP discount. Have to show the picture to the family and see what they think though.

 

[avalonearth]

Thanks for the update. We're going to Orlando next month and I was planning to book there. I may still proceed since it's the only resort that offers the AP discount. Have to show the picture to the family and see what they think though.

I am going there in about 2 weeks. After I get back I will post how it was for everyone!

 

[Minnie1222]

I am going there in about 2 weeks. After I get back I will post how it was for everyone!

Can you please find out if they're only doing the facade on the bay-facing area? Most likely we will book a garden view.

Thanks.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

We were there last weekend to visit Thirsty Fish. Unfortunately it’s in a bit of a mess right now. There was scaffolding along the entire front exterior, but the worst part was navigating the numerous detours. It was tricky just to find the entrance to Thirsty Fish and many outside shops and other entrances were detoured. There’s also some detouring on the walkways to and from the park. We didn’t notice any hindrances on the inside of the resort though… at least the few areas we toured.

As with any renovation though, it is much needed and will be worth it in the end.

View attachment 853092

View attachment 853093

I wonder how long the scaffolding will be up. Gosh, that’s normally such a gorgeous area to take photos.

 

[MaxDrake79]

With these works, all the beauty of the hotel is lost. The impact seems devastating. More and more convinced of my choice. I'll be in July in Orlando but I've booked a hard rock hotel, I don't know if there will be any work there too but honestly I don't think they can be as obvious as at Portofino. Also, hard rock is much, much closer to the parks. I had a doubt whether to change and go to the portofino but at this point I stay at the hard rock. There's no point in moving from there.

 

[wdwrule]

With these works, all the beauty of the hotel is lost. The impact seems devastating. More and more convinced of my choice. I'll be in July in Orlando but I've booked a hard rock hotel, I don't know if there will be any work there too but honestly I don't think they can be as obvious as at Portofino. Also, hard rock is much, much closer to the parks. I had a doubt whether to change and go to the portofino but at this point I stay at the hard rock. There's no point in moving from there.

If it’s anything in July like it is now I would also stay put at Hard Rock. We’ve stayed at PBH before and there’s just something about that ‘Wow’ moment when you round the bend and view its gorgeous facade. However, right now that Wow factor is lost as you stated. In fact, our hearts sank when we arrived for dinner as we weren’t anticipating that much of a change (temporary of course). In addition to that, the walkway isn’t currently direct due to temporary detours and walking is huge to us… we mostly prefer walking over taking the boats. Also right now, just navigating going from room to pool or to some of the restaurants is tricky with the scrim and some roadblocks.

It’s still the glorious, wonderful PBH on the inside though with amazing staff… just not one that we’d stay at currently but this is just our opinion.

 

[wdwrule]

I wonder how long the scaffolding will be up. Gosh, that’s normally such a gorgeous area to take photos.

I’m not sure how long the scaffolding will be up. I know… our hearts sank a little when we saw it in person. We hadn’t anticipated it would be that drastic.

 

[emmabelle]

oh man... we'll be there this coming Friday for a 4 night stay.

 

[Skywalker3]

We stayed one night in March, and it was awful looking. DD was so excited to stay there, and get pictures out front in the harbor, very disappointed. I wish I'd done some more research, and I would've paid a little more to stay elsewhere. No noise at all in our room, but it was just not the experience we'd hoped for. It was the cheapest room of the 3 premiers in March, but it was still about $500 w tax, etc. , so it sure wasn't all that discounted. I have no desire to stay there again, unless it is WAY cheaper than the other 2. We also like the option to walk, and that extra distance from Portofino isn't welcome.

 

[emmabelle]

We stayed one night in March, and it was awful looking. DD was so excited to stay there, and get pictures out front in the harbor, very disappointed. I wish I'd done some more research, and I would've paid a little more to stay elsewhere. No noise at all in our room, but it was just not the experience we'd hoped for. It was the cheapest room of the 3 premiers in March, but it was still about $500 w tax, etc. , so it sure wasn't all that discounted. I have no desire to stay there again, unless it is WAY cheaper than the other 2. We also like the option to walk, and that extra distance from Portofino isn't welcome.

I showed my husband the above picture and we both agree that it's way beyond anything we could of imagined. I stayed at Boardwalk in January and in February and they were doing facade work but it wasn't to this degree.

Edited - I cancelled the stay. We had club level and I don't think it's worth it even with my PH discount.

 

[Karnor00]

I was going to be staying there in August but I saw some other photos like that and decided to switch my reservation to Hard Rock Hotel.

 

[reddog21]

Edited - I cancelled the stay. We had club level and I don't think it's worth it even with my PH discount.

Portifino has far and away the best club level even with the construction going on. We'll be there in August and I have not been swayed yet to book elsewhere.

 

[emmabelle]

Portifino has far and away the best club level even with the construction going on. We'll be there in August and I have not been swayed yet to book elsewhere.

I agree from the pictures their CL looks amazing. If my trip was in August I would wait as well but I was supposed to stay there in 3 days. To me part of the appeal of the resort is the piazza and that is a hot mess. We ended up changing our split US/WDW stay to all Beach Club instead. I'll try again to stay at PBR in August before our cruise.

 

[Koalayum]

Yuck. Had a night booked early May but for $20 more we'll just go to hard rock. If it was just a cosmetic issue that'd be one thing but the idea of detours is an annoyance I could do without. Looking forward to going when it's all done though.