Help decide! Cabana Bay vs Surfside

[JungleCruiseFan]

Hello, please help us decide which resort to stay at this spring break! We have gone back and forth a hundred times and can’t decide!
We are a family of 4, 2 girls ages 9 and 6. We have been a Disney family since before the kids were born, they have been everywhere in Disney and love it. We got Universal APs this Christmas and just drove in from in laws house 3 times, had fun and want to spend some time at a Universal resort. We have never been to a Universal resort before. Our favorite resorts at Disney are Saratoga Springs, Pop Century, Caribbean Beach, Animal Kingdom Lodge and Yacht Club.
This is not our big summer vacation so our budget is not as big as it usually is for Disney. Our options are
2 bedroom suite at Surfside
Standard room at Cabana Bay
Both are the exact same price with the savy traveler discount.

So the reason we can’t decide is from all the YouTube videos, we like the room a lot better at Surfside, it looks newer, fresher, and obviously a 2 bedroom will be a lot more comfortable. However we like the resort itself much better at Cabana Bay, bowling, better pools, ability to walk, food, movies by the pool etc.

We will be there for 6 nights 7 days, planning on 3 days in the parks, 1 day at Disney Springs and Beaches and Cream at night. We love going to the pool but my girls don’t swim if it isn’t hot out, which isn’t guaranteed for spring break. We love Disney in August for that reason.

So… for those that have more experience in Universal than we do, where would you stay? We have the room booked at Surfside right now because we wanted to make sure we had a place before they ran out. Thanks for taking time to read this long winded post and give suggestions!

 

[DL1WDW2]

I love Cabana Bay but only if I am booked in a family suite poolside interior entry. I have stayed at Dockside and was surprised that I liked the resort so much .
I guess I would choose the 2 bedroom Surfside over a standard room at Cabana Bay .

 

[Skippyboo]

Cabana Bay is closer to the parks, other universal hotels and City Walk. More pools plus lazy river. You can pool hop to other hotels pools which you can’t do at Endless/Surfside.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

At Cabana Bay you have much better pools (& lazy river), and the option to pool hop to the other resort pools. Spring break has a pretty darn good chance of being hot out. Especially if your spring break is April.

Why only 3 park days if you have APs? The ability to pop in on the other days is one of the major perks of having the AP. I can never be at Universal and not pop in each day, even for planned "sleep in and take it easy" days.

Are you planning to spend that time actually in the room, or perhaps making some meals in the room? That would be the only thing that would push me to Surfside. But personally, we just use the room for sleep/ showers/ naps, so the smaller room at CB works just fine for us. With several days of hanging around / no real plans, that would be a wonderful opportunity to head over for a swim at Portofino Bay or Sapphire Falls - and that would solidify my choice for CB.

Will the girls share a bed or would you need to budget for a rollaway at CB? Rollaway or making a floor bed will also significantly reduce available space in the standard CB room.

Really, your question is whether you will spend more time in the room (Surfside) or more time exploring the resort(s) (CB).

 

[JungleCruiseFan]

At Cabana Bay you have much better pools (& lazy river), and the option to pool hop to the other resort pools. Spring break has a pretty darn good chance of being hot out. Especially if your spring break is April.

Why only 3 park days if you have APs? The ability to pop in on the other days is one of the major perks of having the AP. I can never be at Universal and not pop in each day, even for planned "sleep in and take it easy" days.

Are you planning to spend that time actually in the room, or perhaps making some meals in the room? That would be the only thing that would push me to Surfside. But personally, we just use the room for sleep/ showers/ naps, so the smaller room at CB works just fine for us. With several days of hanging around / no real plans, that would be a wonderful opportunity to head over for a swim at Portofino Bay or Sapphire Falls - and that would solidify my choice for CB.

Will the girls share a bed or would you need to budget for a rollaway at CB? Rollaway or making a floor bed will also significantly reduce available space in the standard CB room.

Really, your question is whether you will spend more time in the room (Surfside) or more time exploring the resort(s) (CB).

Why only 3 park days? I guess because we never really updated our plans from when we first decided to go for spring break. We originally were going to rent a house and would have to drive in each day.
That and at Christmas we did 3 days, one at islands, one at studios and one where we park hopped each time and we pretty much did everything. I’m thinking though that we need to rethink our plans now that we are staying onsite.
As far as more time in the room or more time at the resort I guess that’s really up to the weather. When I say my girls only swim when it’s hot I mean we have been in Disney in august and they got cold swimming at night!
I just saw they opened a malt shop at Cabana Bay, we were thinking maybe if we stayed there we would do that instead of heading out to beaches and cream again, we were there this summer and Christmas so we could take a little break from it.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to share your suggestions very helpful!

 

[sunnybunnies]

Our kids swim in a heated pool when the air is 50 degrees, so we're not the measuring stick, but with kids that young we'd choose Cabana Bay and spend half the day, each day, in the pools (CB's pools or pool hopping). Then in the evening there's bowling and the malt shop. Easy choice.

Now, though, we have teens and so the two bedroom makes more sense. But we'd be giving up a lot with those pools (and we would use them).

What about split stay?

 

[JungleCruiseFan]

Our kids swim in a heated pool when the air is 50 degrees, so we're not the measuring stick, but with kids that young we'd choose Cabana Bay and spend half the day, each day, in the pools (CB's pools or pool hopping). Then in the evening there's bowling and the malt shop. Easy choice.

Now, though, we have teens and so the two bedroom makes more sense. But we'd be giving up a lot with those pools (and we would use them).

What about split stay?

We were thinking about a split stay, we actually do them every Disney trip, this summer we did 6 at Pop Century then 12 at Saratoga Springs then 2 at the Yacht Club for our first ever 3 resort vacation, we usually do 2, one cheaper resort and then one more expensive resort.
I think for 6 nights and the fact that the only appeal of Surfside is the room and not the actual resort we should just stick to one resort. Really leaning Cabana now. How does the pool hopping work? Any pools worth going to? We haven’t been to any Universal Resorts.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Pool hopping: show your room key at the front desk another resort, and they'll give you a pool key (a room key that solely unlocks the pool area). Voila.

Any of the other resort pools would be nice for a visit except for Aventura, which is just a more basic pool.

I would rank Sapphire Falls as the best, but you can see photos of the pools online or in the first few posts of the individual resort stickies on here.

I found Portofino's changing room difficult to find and frankly disappointing, especially considering the caliber of the resort. But maybe there is a better one elsewhere there? It was a 2-3 stall restroom with one outdoor shower only, and not located at the main Beach pool area. It was over at a secondary pool area (Villa pool). Plus I couldn't get the lockers to actually lock. Maybe I couldn't find the correct changing area? But I asked a staff member at the spa next to the main pool, and that's where they directed me. It wouldn't stop me from hopping there again, but I wouldn't do it at night because there was more walking outside while wet. The Portofino main pool (the Beach pool) is lovely & fun, with water slide, and the resort itself is beautiful & detailed.

In comparison, Sapphire's changing room is very nice, connected directly to their pool, large with multiple indoor showers, many lockers which functioned easily, restrooms & actual changing rooms - you know, a legit changing area for a pool/gym at a nice hotel.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

with kids that young we'd choose Cabana Bay and spend half the day, each day, in the pools (CB's pools or pool hopping).

This was my thought also.

Have you considered adding Volcano Bay to your APs? Would up the budget for sure, but with an easygoing week planned plus I assume another summer trip also, it might be worthwhile. Although if you're pool hopping to several different pools it might equate to the same thing for the kids regardless, especially if they wouldn't do the more "adventurous" slides. Or if the VB blockout dates mean you would have to upgrade the actual AP level too then it is much less worthwhile.

 

[JungleCruiseFan]

This was my thought also.

Have you considered adding Volcano Bay to your APs? Would up the budget for sure, but with an easygoing week planned plus I assume another summer trip also, it might be worthwhile. Although if you're pool hopping to several different pools it might equate to the same thing for the kids regardless, especially if they wouldn't do the more "adventurous" slides. Or if the VB blockout dates mean you would have to upgrade the actual AP level too then it is much less worthwhile.

We don’t want to add volcano bay, my girls aren’t into any water park rides yet, just the basic slide at the resort pools at Disney is more than enough for them. Our big summer trip is actually Hawaii this year, usually it’s Disney.
We got the Universal passes because this Christmas we were going to go for 2 days that were non consecutive, the day after Christmas and New Year’s Eve. We saw that the preferred APs were not that much more so we said let’s give it a shot since we weren’t getting Disney APs this year for the first time in a long time. So long story short we used them for 3 days at Christmas, will use them the week of spring break and will probably get in another 3 days next Christmas vacation before they expire.

 

[christophfam]

Since you’re a new pass holder … have you checked the AP rates? Maybe you can swing a night or two at a premium resort with an AP rate? One night would give you two days of express, two nights three. Certainly would be useful during spring break. If you’re going near Easter, doubt you’ll find an AP rate, but other weeks if you check frequently you may be able to grab a weekday.

 

[DoryGirl1963]

I wouldn't want to have 4 people crammed into a Standard room for that many days/nights - maybe consider a Family Suite at Cabana Bay?

We've never stayed at either Endless Summer resort but CBBR is our favorite Universal resort. We always get an Poolside Exterior Entry Family Suite - & it's just me & hubby, LOL!

 

[georgina]

I have never been to Surfside. I know it is newer. I always look at the lowest rate there, and then opt for Cabana Bay because I like the resort, but one of my favorite things is being able to walk to VB, which you aren't doing.

I also frequently pool hop to Portofino Bay, as an adult I prefer the Villa pool (and I think the changing rooms there are fine for a quick change just to go back to the resort). The Beach pool looks nice for kids. It's a beautiful resort and the pizza at Sal's isn't bad. Sapphire Falls is nice and certainly closer. At your kids' ages, they may just be happy at the CB pools.

 

[JungleCruiseFan]

We ended up switching to Cabana Bay and upgraded to the family suite. More than we wanted to spend but I’m sure we will have a blast. It seems like staying here will really give us the “Universal Bubble” feel. We love the Disney Bubble and feeling like the entire vacation is an escape to a magical place.
Having a hot tub in case the weather isn’t super warm, movies but the pool which we have always done in Disney, more food options and the walkway to the parks were probably the biggest pluses for us.
We got the exterior entry suite for two reasons, 1 we would rather have the window in the living room and 2 we would like to be by the water slide pool as it’s my understanding that is the closest to the walkway which we would utilize if we are close to it, but not if we had to walk for 10 minutes through the resort before we even get to the path.

 

[DoryGirl1963]

You won't regret upgrading ! We like the exterior entry ones for the window being in the living room, too & yes, they are closest to the walking path. We always use the busses though - they're excellent! Have a wonderful time