- Joined
- Jul 3, 2014
While I hate to follow @rteetz bomb above (lol!).... here’s my review of our cabana experience. Some of this repeats things I’ve already noted in other posts above but wanted to get everything in one post. Sorry this is so long, but hopefully this info is helpful to those considering a cabana rental. There's a lot to cover!
Was it "worth" the cost? This one is tougher. Disney certainly has these priced at the top end of my personal comfort zone for what is offered at the moment. A part of me thinks they have the price set a little too high based on the current offerings and amenities but I'm sure they're trying to test how far they can go. It would certainly be a better “deal” for a larger group.
I think the setup would be EXCELLENT for extended families who have older folks that don’t want to traipse all over the park. My mother would be happy as a clam sitting there all day with a book.
Would I book it again? Yes, given the right circumstances. Depending on overall trip length, touring plan, etc, I would definitely consider it. For context, this was a short trip for us (3 days, with only 1 MK day). Personally a cabana wouldn’t be that appealing for me on a longer trip where we’re going to be in the MK multiple days.
I suspect some folks will find the location of these to be the biggest negative, and I kind of agree. Tomorrowland is just a bit out of the way from where we usually find ourselves in the park. This wouldn’t be enough for us NOT to book one, but it’s a consideration.
Happy to answer any questions! Thanks for reading.
- First off…this is obviously a Disney experiment… I would expect the details of the cabana rentals in their current form to perhaps change or be tweaked along the way. Everything I say below could change or evolve over time. Heck, the entire concept may fail, who knows. I was asked if I’d be willing to have a 20-30 minute interview survey sometime after our rental.
- Our overall experience was excellent, but you can tell everything about this is "new" for the CMs involved and probably even the execs pushing this into existence.
- I found the initial CM that I made the reservation with had limited information (not surprising), but I was contacted by another CM a few days after I made the reservation who was quite knowledgeable and very informed. He even followed up with me later on a few items. I was not expecting this kind of proactive outreach.
- There are four cabanas and frankly we had trouble even finding our way in to them. Yes you can see the tops of two of them if you're over by Space Mountain but they are otherwise very well disguised. There is certainly nothing there at the moment that even sniffs at Disney trying to sell them in a visual sense.
- The cabana offerings were exactly as described in the announcements to date. You have access from park opening to park close. In our case, it was a holiday party so we had access to the cabana during that event as well.
- It's a semi-private tent with several seating areas pillows, a blanket, etc. They offered a pack-n-play for our 2 year old which we said yes to, but didn't end up actually using. There's a small fridge with drinks and a lockable cabinet for valuables. The cabana is tastefully decorated and very comfortable. I want some of the Tomorrowland posters for my office!
- There is a cabana CM attendant who is pretty much "around" all of the time and you are given a phone number to contact him/her for food or other requests. Worked extremely well. Very professional CMs with great customer service.
- There was a large fruit bowl with apples, bananas, and grapes. Also a snack bowl with chips, goldfish, etc. It was replenished during the day. We did indulge on a couple of Mickey Bars. I was under the impression there’s no limit on the ice cream ordering but I’m not 100% sure about that.
- My biggest gripe is probably the food that was available to order. Bland/limited selection that I’m assuming came from the Lunching Pad or somewhere similar. For this kind of experience I’d prefer to have better dining options available, although I know that’s easier said than done.
- The cabana had one of those tower Dyson fans, but no A/C or heat. We were told they are either considering or will be installing portable A/C and heating units soon. It was a beautiful day with a nice breeze which made the cabana quite pleasant, but you would definitely need A/C or heat depending on the conditions given how enclosed they are.
- One note - the cabanas are right next to the train tracks, especially the "back two" cabanas behind the ones you can see from the outside. The back of our cabana was about 10 ft from the tracks. It's loud for a few seconds when the engine rolls by.... my son loved it actually (and he easily managed a catnap mid-afternoon). You can't really see the train as it's well hidden by bushes. Otherwise, it's actually reasonably quiet. Sure you can hear the buzz of Tomorrowland, but it's really quite pleasant. I particularly enjoyed hearing (and watching) People Mover being evac'd at one point. ;-)
- We had access to a reserved viewing location for:
- FOF parade (Town Square / Flag Pole area).
- The nighttime holiday parade (small reserved viewing area next to the Liberty Square Bridge with benches). This was great by the way and frankly one of the biggest benefits for us.
- Wishes (in this case, Holiday Wishes). We were told the reserved fireworks viewing location was that area on the east side of the Hub in front of The Plaza Restaurant, the one that used to be the FP fireworks viewing area (that part with the fake grass). That area was NOT reserved and we weren't able to actually find any reserved spot, but this could have been user error on my part in that maybe I misunderstood the exact location. Either they were wrong or I was wrong, I'm not sure. Didn't matter though, didn't need a reserved spot. Walked up 2 minutes before fireworks and had a great seat in the old FP viewing area anyway. If you are renting a cabana and the fireworks viewing is important to you, make sure to ask detailed questions about this.
Was it "worth" the cost? This one is tougher. Disney certainly has these priced at the top end of my personal comfort zone for what is offered at the moment. A part of me thinks they have the price set a little too high based on the current offerings and amenities but I'm sure they're trying to test how far they can go. It would certainly be a better “deal” for a larger group.
I think the setup would be EXCELLENT for extended families who have older folks that don’t want to traipse all over the park. My mother would be happy as a clam sitting there all day with a book.
Would I book it again? Yes, given the right circumstances. Depending on overall trip length, touring plan, etc, I would definitely consider it. For context, this was a short trip for us (3 days, with only 1 MK day). Personally a cabana wouldn’t be that appealing for me on a longer trip where we’re going to be in the MK multiple days.
I suspect some folks will find the location of these to be the biggest negative, and I kind of agree. Tomorrowland is just a bit out of the way from where we usually find ourselves in the park. This wouldn’t be enough for us NOT to book one, but it’s a consideration.
Happy to answer any questions! Thanks for reading.
