Cabana Bay, Do you feel it's worth it?

[Kathy427]

To Everyone who has stayed at Cabana Bay, your opinion matters to me.

Do you feel it's worth the price to stay there for (2 adults 1 junior) and get your Express Passes seperately for four days in the park to go to Universal?

We're planning to drive down (Mid-end September).
1.What do they charge for parking per day?
2.Do you have to pay for Wi-Fi?
3.Is there transportation from the hotel to Universal?
4. Is there a charge per person?
5. How would you rate your overall experience there?
6. How is the food quality, hospitality service there?
----------------------------------------------------------
OR> would you rather plan your trip for 5 nights and stay at the
Hard Rock Hotel; Bite the Bullet and get your Express Passes with your stay. We never stayed there either, so anything info about that hotel would be greatful.
Thanks so much.

 

[pixeegrl]

I believe I just read in another thread that parking is $10 a day. As for getting your Express pass separately....I would not even think about staying at one of the non Deluxe resorts. The purchased EP is good for only one time per ride for one day. Staying onsite gives you unlimited EP from the day you check in (you can check in as early as 7 am) until park closing the day you check out. So even one night gives you two full days of unlimited. What we do if we are arriving later in the day is stay off site our arrival day and departure day to lower the price. I know this didn't answer your other questions just the EP question. I'm sure others will chime in as well. When we go next year we will probably stay at CB our arrival and departure day just to check it out. It looks like a fun hotel.

To Everyone who has stayed at Cabana Bay, your opinion matters to me.

Do you feel it's worth the price to stay there for (2 adults 1 junior) and get your Express Passes seperately for four days in the park to go to Universal?

We're planning to drive down (Mid-end September).
1.What do they charge for parking per day?
2.Do you have to pay for Wi-Fi?
3.Is there transportation from the hotel to Universal?
4. Is there a charge per person?
5. How would you rate your overall experience there?
6. How is the food quality, hospitality service there?
----------------------------------------------------------
OR> would you rather plan your trip for 5 nights and stay at the
Hard Rock Hotel; Bite the Bullet and get your Express Passes with your stay. We never stayed there either, so anything info about that hotel would be greatful.
Thanks so much.

 

[Kathy427]

Any responses help me out during my planning., I try to spend 2 days in each park, but I'm thinking about HHN(2 days) to in my planning.
My vacations are always non stop- go-go-go, and I try to keep a schedule in between because we never really get to spend alot of time at the gift shops, just real quick after the ride and then my daughter says
com'on lets go again and again on the rides. Now being 11 soon, she loves the Marvels and still HP.

 

[damo]

Cabana Bay just opened on Monday. It's going to be tough to get a lot of responses from people who have stayed there.

When are you going? That will alter how much having the unlimited express pass will affect your stay.

 

[Kathy427]

I'm looking to go the from Sept 23-28th this year.

 

[damo]

Generally, September is very slow. This year it will be busier but you may be just fine without the express.

 

[zimaaaaah]

For the time we are going the pricing was just about the same to stay at Royal Pacific with the Express Pass or stay at Cabana Bay and buy the Express Pass. We are 4 adults for ticket purposes. My deciding factor was the extra space. With two teenagers, having only 2 queen beds and 1 area to get ready is not the best. At Cabana Bay we get the 2 queens plus sofa bed and extra sink, and the kitchen area.

We aren't people who care how fancy a hotel is though; we tend to go toward functionality first.

Just my two cents worth.

 

[RMulieri]

Cabana BAy isnt for us ..We love Portofino Bay , the proximity to the parks and the boatride there and we love the express passes .We only vacation 7 days a year and when we do we splurge.It helps we are only a family of 3 .it all comes down to preference and vacation styles.We spend ALOT of time at the resort , so for us Portofino is perfect

 

[zimaaaaah]

Cabana BAy isnt for us ..We love Portofino Bay , the proximity to the parks and the boatride there and we love the express passes .We only vacation 7 days a year and when we do we splurge.It helps we are only a family of 3 .it all comes down to preference and vacation styles.We spend ALOT of time at the resort , so for us Portofino is perfect

I think it's great they are giving us all options now. Maybe when we are down to just my husband & I in a few years we can take your approach.

 

[Manders77]

For the time we are going the pricing was just about the same to stay at Royal Pacific with the Express Pass or stay at Cabana Bay and buy the Express Pass. We are 4 adults for ticket purposes. My deciding factor was the extra space. With two teenagers, having only 2 queen beds and 1 area to get ready is not the best. At Cabana Bay we get the 2 queens plus sofa bed and extra sink, and the kitchen area. We aren't people who care how fancy a hotel is though; we tend to go toward functionality first. Just my two cents worth.

but to my knowledge when you buy the express pass is only one ride per attraction. So I think it depends on your plan. For me it's not worth it since my small ones can't ride many big attractions but the small coasters or dr Seuss they want multiple rides. Once Dd6 rode woody woodpecker 10 times in a row in 2012. So unlimited express to alleviate longer waits is great for us. I remember one time I was a local at that time we went and had to wait 40 minutes for the fish in dr Seuss. Mainly because people in express kept coming and they took priority. Now when we go next year we are looking at hard rock.

 

[damo]

but to my knowledge when you buy the express pass is only one ride per attraction. So I think it depends on your plan. For me it's not worth it since my small ones can't ride many big attractions but the small coasters or dr Seuss they want multiple rides. Once Dd6 rode woody woodpecker 10 times in a row in 2012. So unlimited express to alleviate longer waits is great for us. I remember one time I was a local at that time we went and had to wait 40 minutes for the fish in dr Seuss. Mainly because people in express kept coming and they took priority. Now when we go next year we are looking at hard rock.

You can purchase the unlimited as well.

 

[zimaaaaah]

but to my knowledge when you buy the express pass is only one ride per attraction. So I think it depends on your plan. For me it's not worth it since my small ones can't ride many big attractions but the small coasters or dr Seuss they want multiple rides. Once Dd6 rode woody woodpecker 10 times in a row in 2012. So unlimited express to alleviate longer waits is great for us. I remember one time I was a local at that time we went and had to wait 40 minutes for the fish in dr Seuss. Mainly because people in express kept coming and they took priority. Now when we go next year we are looking at hard rock.

Sorry my bad! That pricing was for the unlimited version.

 

[KELLY]

We went with portifino for our trip. We got the room for less than 200.00 a night and EP was the deal breaker for us.

 

[saskdw]

Anyone know the sq ft of the standard rooms and suites? I don't see it listed on the website.

 

[pad406]

Cabana Bay std rooms are 300sq ft, suites 430sq ft. If you do a dummy booking and scroll down you'll see them near the end

 

[bumbershoot]

...but the small coasters or dr Seuss they want multiple rides. Once Dd6 rode woody woodpecker 10 times in a row in 2012. So unlimited express to alleviate longer waits is great for us.

Yep. And in that 10 times I bet others got to ride maybe twice. We've found that even in a slow time the EP makes a difference. Might not feel like a big difference with each ride, but it adds up at the end of the day!


The only time I can see staying at Cabana Bay is if we're actually doing a WDW vacation with a rental car. I can't imagine a time of year when I would WANT to hit Universal without an express pass. But I'm addicted to the EP, LOL.

 

[bjakmom]

We'll be staying at Portofino the last week of Aug, but I am seriously considering going over to Cabana Bay for our day off. Maybe rent a cabana once I hear the info about them - I think it looks like a fun place to hang out for the day - DGrD10 will love it!

 

[stlrod]

I've stayed at all 3 of the others but am considering a 2 night stay at Cabana Bay at about the same time as you. We are going to be at WLV at WDW and have allotted 1 day to see the new HP area. We taxi's over to Universal in December and it was really easy and the purchased limited express pass was enough for one day. Since we are only planning on one day at the parks on this trip, we could do the same thing again but are thinking of changing our plans. This trip is 6 adults so we would have 3 rooms. It probably makes more economic sense for us to stay at Cabana Bay and then buy the 2 park express pass. It really depends on the circumstances. We love HRH, like Portofino and RPR is "okay" (the pool is really shallow.) What is probably influencing me to stay at Cabana Bay rather than RPR is that RPR is likely to be in the renovation process at that time and I've been hearing the rooms are a bit run down. We like to try "new" hotels. Also, as you've figured out simply because you are making the comparison, keep in mind that the unlimited express pass at the other hotels is not "free"--the cost is factored into the cost of the hotel room.

 

[Poly-Anna]

Cabana BAy isnt for us ..We love Portofino Bay , the proximity to the parks and the boatride there and we love the express passes .We only vacation 7 days a year and when we do we splurge.It helps we are only a family of 3 .it all comes down to preference and vacation styles.We spend ALOT of time at the resort , so for us Portofino is perfect

 

[Poly-Anna]

We'll be staying at Portofino the last week of Aug, but I am seriously considering going over to Cabana Bay for our day off. Maybe rent a cabana once I hear the info about them - I think it looks like a fun place to hang out for the day - DGrD10 will love it!

The pool looks great and the lazy river should be open by then. Plus they have a bowling alley. So we'll take a day and visit.