I'd pay the $40 more for the Portofino over Royal Pacific unless you're on a tight budget.

For May 9-11 you can get the Portofino for $149/night and the Hard Rock for $137/night on Hotwire (the 5 star and 4-1/2 star on Hotwire, respectively). The 4 star they show *might* be the Royal Pacific, though the price seems awfully low. The Royal Pacific does come up as a 4 star on Hotwire.

Personally I think the Hard Rock is super convenient because it is such a short walk to everything and you can park your car in their lot and go offsite so easily from the hotel or parks ... but that's my personal preference.

Transportation from Portofino is by bus or boat if you don't want to walk (about a 15 minute walk) ... I'm not sure about Royal Pacific, not having stayed there yet.

You can get transportation by boat from Hard Rock, but it's really not worth it ... the walk is so short anyway.