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Thank you for watching. Planning to have the next Portofino Bay video up this weekend. :)

The only rules we are aware of is that it costs $50 a night to have the dog in the room, only two dogs can stay and you need to have proof of recent vaccinations, if they ask for it. For, they have never asked for the paperwork.

@@matpmod yes, my mistake. Main point was we have multiple days this year vs. just one in the past for how we did it.

I only know because I wanted to get Rush of Fear for my 2 week visit from the UK, but the last night you can visit on that ticket is 22nd September, and we are there until the 1st October, so didn't work out. Had to buy the much more expensive Frequent Fear pass.

@@matpmod they always find a way to get the money from us. Sorry to hear that.

@anna_delk606 It was a limited edition release last year from Mooncat - here’s a link to the company www.mooncat.com

That's awesome! Flipping big birds

@@themagicalmcds oh for sure, I didn't realise how big they are up close 🤣 we encountered about 11 of them the other day in one of the car parks at SS, crazy how they're not bothered by humans

Thanks for watching and happy to help! Yeah, just a lot of meh. But hey, $30 blazers! :)

I would say it's a mix of things. I would still say go...but just wait till the novelty wears off a little (or go very early). :)

Hopefully it will calm down in a few weeks. Also, I had no idea NY & NJ doesn't have a sales tax on clothes. One more reason to go. :)

Thank you so much! We will be toasting to you tonight from Universal Studios! :)

@@themagicalmcds oh nice!!! Have a great time at HHN!!!

Hello! And thank you for watching. We will for sure add Art of Animation to our list of hotels to visit with Molly. And thank you for the tips you mention as well. We will be sure to follow that advice. We are staying at the Portofino Bay hotel with her this weekend for Universal Horror Nights, so I will make sure we beef up our dog-centric comments and content for that visit. We also plan to stay at the Fort Wilderness Campground in October, so look out for that. The biggest piece of advice we have is to spend as much of the first day and the first night with your pup in the room as possible. Getting Molly used to the new surroundings was huge for us. And then follow that with a nice healthy walk after the first night, if you can. We were helped because we were only at the resorts for these stays, If we were going to be at the theme parks, I honestly don't know what strategy we would use. I suspect mid-day breaks would be part of the plan. We did try using anxiety medication for Molly, but we have since stopped. It didn't seem to be working and we also didn't like playing guinea pig with her for new medications. Finally, the dog stroller was a huge win. I was a little reticent to get one as yes, I do think they are a little ridiculous. But after using one for these stays, I don't care what people think. Those things rock and they will make your life and your pup's life much better--especially when it's hot. :) PS--the room we stayed at in Riverside was ideal. It was a corner room and very secluded. The exact room number is in the room tour section of that video. :)

@@DianeSchmidt-js4ig the gas certainly was a bargain. And no arguing the bathrooms are pretty clean. :)

Wow! It sounds like you are going to have a great time. We would have loved the hot tub on the balcony. Please let us know how your trip goes!

@@themagicalmcds Will do! 🩷

They did not, at least for our room. That said we did not ask for one either, so it's possible.

We agree with more rides and lands. And we will be sad to see Dinosaur go to. Really sad they are going to scrap Tom Sawyer Island for the Cars ride when they have so much room back there.

@@BarbaraAnne0731 we wish we would have had you with us when we stayed! Good to know! :)

The new lands look amazing!

@shanew7361 So we can’t speak to a butler as we didn’t have one, but I can’t imagine we really missed out … The staff was excellent & helpful when we required assistance & I can’t recall anything I would have requested of a butler … The restaurants don’t take reservations but our waits were never that bad - 30 minutes max & there are plenty surrounding bars to grab a pre-meal cocktail if you’re so inclined 😉 The alcohol selection for club guests is really only available in the club lounges & pools - I’m not sure if there is higher quality alcohol available in the bars & restaurants because we never requested a specific brand when ordering cocktails off the menus. There is nothing we would recommend you avoid necessarily - in our experience, the consistency varies wildly so our mediocre at best dinner at Waves for instance might be a standout to you & your travel party. Hope you have a wonderful time in November!

Thanks for the visit

Yeah, not cheap. I think they were about $5 USD each. But I was so happy to find some. I would stop at a market on the way to the hotel next time. Heck, even check the duty free store when you arrive at the airport. :)

Honestly, it depended on the pool. I felt the club pool on the Zilara side was cooler, as it got more shade. That said, I didn't feel like any of the pools felt that warm. Also, the water at the "water park" was nice and cool. But saying they are cool and refreshing might be a stretch for some. :)

Wow...great questions. We had many of the same questions ourselves... 1. Are you a hostage to the food…is there other food within walking distance? Yes, you are hostage to the food. That said, you do pay for it given that this is an all-inclusive. The only thing within walking distance would be some other resorts, which are also all-inclusive and I doubt they let offer la carte though it's possible they might. You can take an Uber to town or the nearby marina, but we did neither. The food is, frankly, hit or miss. It can range from quite good to a let down. We found that opinions were all over the map and what one liked, another hated and vice versa. We think the consistency is also spotty - for example, one night at the hibachi table might be terrible (& dependent on your chef) while the next night was awesome despite it being the same food/offering. 2. How is the A/C? I can tell you that even on the top floor of building six on the Zilara side, our room was a meat locker. I actually opened the sliding door to let the hot island air in on occasion because I got the room so cold, and I LOVE it cold. 3. How is the water pressure and temp? I found the pressure wanting. Not terrible, but could be much better. The handheld in the shower had a good spray setting, so I used that when I wanted a power wash, but it still was not where I wanted it. That said, it was good enough for me for the week, and I prefer firehose strength. 4. Are the pools heated? In the summer, they don’t need to be. I would say there were on the warm side. I can’t speak for other times of year. I think I read they were cold at certain points. I also can’t speak for the swim up rooms. 5. Issues with privacy? For us, no. We had plenty. I think it would only be an issue in the swim up rooms, which all share a common pool that is visible but not accessible to the rest of the resort. 6. Issues getting a chair? Not once for us. We always found plenty of great spots at both pools on the Zilara side. The club pool on the Ziva side was busier but even there we found a great spot the one time we went over. Beach chairs are even easier to come by. I promise, you will never need to get up early and go claim chairs (but you can if you want to). 7. Can you rent a cabana? Yes, but we did not. They looked comfortable but not enough for us to want one. There are no dedicated servers for them. No fans. No lockers. No TVs…extras like that. It’s just a huge nice mattress with an awning in a pretty good location. 8. How is the WIFI? In the room, it was great. Outside of the room, it got spotty. I found the closer you were to being under cover or in the main areas, the better it was. Overall, not a complaint for us. 9. Are there hot tubs? Yes, many. Two in each main pool and one in each club pool. And they are huge. In the summer, they are kept warm, but not hot. Otherwise I am not sure people would use them. 10. Is there resort noisy? No, not at all. Quite the opposite. The lone exception might be the music at the main pool on the Ziva side, which was a little loud for our taste. But that was it. 11. Was the seaweed bad, ocean swimmable? In July, the seaweed was on the moderate side, but not a nuisance. Yes, I suppose the ocean is swimmable, but it's very shallow-even 100 yards out. It’s waist deep or less that far out. Still you could swim if you want. Snorkeling, however, would suck. Too cloudy and no wildlife to speak of. 12. Reservations for dinner? They do not take them. It might be nice if they did, as waits could be an hour at peak times for certain places. We waited 30 minutes max, which never bothered us. There are plenty of places to sit and drink while you wait. 13. What does club level get you? It gets you access to the two club lounges (one for each resort), access to the club pools (which have their own swim up bars) and a swift private check-in and checkout process. The lounges also have food (in addition to top shelf alcohol) and they are never busy. We like to drink and having access to better liquor was a huge deal for us. We would do it again, no question. 14. Mosquitos? There was only one night when we both got bit. We had dinner on the Ziva side on The Blind Butcher lawn and then over to a concert on the main lawn near the Larimar Spa and we debate where we got attacked but it was in one of these two, if not both areas. Otherwise not a problem at all. We would go back, but not right away. Too many nice resorts in other locations we want to try. That said, we always felt like we were in paradise. The service, for the most part, was great and we had a wonderful time. I would say adjust your expectations on getting the best food ever (because many reviews raved about it) and you will have a great time. 😊

​@themagicalmcds We are booked for November club level. Did you utilize the butler service? Is it an additional fee? Do you feel it was a value or worth using? Also, your video was very helpful. We are staying at Zilara. Recommendations on airport transfers or things to avoid at the airport? Thank you kind sir.

@@shanew7361 we did not use the butler service. Honestly, the team in the club lounge will take care of everything for you at no charge. We booked via costco travel and they provided transportation. It was very easy at the airport, but only because we secured it ahead of time. I would check with the hotel about a good transfer company and book ahead of time. Ride to/from the airport is only about 15 minutes.

@themagicalmcds Thank you for the information. Do you recommend a vip or fast pass for arrival and departure days at the airport? We are flying in on a Sunday and leaving on a Thursday. I don't enjoy waiting in customs/immigration lines if I have a choice. Thanks.

@@shanew7361 It really depends on when you arrive/leave. We got lucky. Not a lot of planes landed when we got there and not a lot leaving when we departed. I would likely roll the dice again, but I do not have a huge aversion to lines, assuming they are not catastrophic. But if you have the extra cash laying around and would prefer not to deal with it, I say go for it. :)

@@syerega thank you so much! You’ve been around for much of our early journey! :)

Glad you liked it!

No idea on why there were so many handlers. The crowd did keep trying to cross the street. That could be one reason. Also, one float appeared to have some issues at one point. Not sure extra staff helped with that though. Not a very long parade, but yes...amazing floats. :)

You are right. We just decided to use the quiet pools instead. :)

Ah, that makes sense! Thanks for the information. :)