Sapphire Falls or Cabana Bay

klmmom

Earning My Ears
Joined
Aug 18, 2008
We are planning our first trip to Universal this June. We are a Disney family and have always stayed on Disney property. We would like to try something new this summer. I am trying to decide between Sapphire Falls or Cabana Bay. I have two teens ages 14 and 16. Which would you recommend? Which has been most recently refurbished?

Thank you!!
 
Sapphire Falls opened in 2016 and Cabana Bay in 2014. Neither have been refurbished yet. With your sized family, I would go with the family suite at Cabana Bay.

I assume you know that those two hotels do not come with the unlimited express pass like Hard Rock, Royal Pacific and Portofino Bay.
 
I don't live far away but I'm going in March just for the heck of it. We picked Sapphire only because of the boat transportation. I thought My toddler might enjoy that.
 
We stayed a CB on our first trip in a family suite. The kids (DD9 and DD10 at the time) liked the pools, and we liked the extra sitting area. Looks like it is 320 sq ft for SF and 430 for CB, so things might get a bit cramped with older kids. We did walk through th SF lobby once and it looked very nice.

The boat at SF is great. You do have the ability to walk from CB to SF, but it can be a hike depending on where you are in CB.
 


We stayed in CB a year and a half ago, and walked through SF to get to the boat. We agreed that based on what we saw of the lobby, SF wasn't enough of an upgrade to spend the extra money. If I wanted an upgrade, I'd do one of the better hotels.
 
We stayed in CB a year and a half ago, and walked through SF to get to the boat. We agreed that based on what we saw of the lobby, SF wasn't enough of an upgrade to spend the extra money. If I wanted an upgrade, I'd do one of the better hotels.
We stayed a CB on our first trip in a family suite. The kids (DD9 and DD10 at the time) liked the pools, and we liked the extra sitting area. Looks like it is 320 sq ft for SF and 430 for CB, so things might get a bit cramped with older kids. We did walk through th SF lobby once and it looked very nice.

The boat at SF is great. You do have the ability to walk from CB to SF, but it can be a hike depending on where you are in CB.

Not my thread, but I appreciate these comments. I may reconsider room choices.
 
To me having easier access to the boat makes Sapphire worth it. Cabana Bay does have a nice lazy river if you are interested in that and is also closer to volcano bay if you plan to do water park.

Unlike Disney the annual pass for universal is only slightly more than a 2 day ticket so if you are going for a few nights might also be worth it to check out the annual pass holder hotel thread on this board and see what discounts you can get there (only one person in your group would need the pass).
 


The boat ride from sapphire falls was a nice way to start and end the day. Also loved the pool. Pool area was perfect for my 3.5 year old but there is also a water slide your kids might like. We rented a pool side Cabana and it was perfect.
 
I think it depends on what holds more value to your family. We love CB, but we love Volcano Bay and the short walk. I also like the theming and the size of the Family Suite. the lazy river and pool area sealed the deal for me. If those things don't appeal, or if the boat ride and pool set up is more valuable to you at Sapphire then there's your answer. I actually just booked our return trip spending the first half at Portofino to get the EP, and the second half at CB in the bigger suite. I'm excited to hit the wave pool with DS again.
 
We've stayed at both. If it were my first trip AND we were getting a regular room, I would choose SF.

The Family Suite at Cabanna Bay was really nice (we're a family of 3, one teen) we will choose that again over a regular hotel room when we visit Universal until it's just the two of us again.
We really use the kitchenette though. We drive so we load up on groceries and have at least one hot meal in the room each day. And we stay 7-10 nights.

If the pool experience is a big part of the vacation for your teens or you are going to the water park more than once then choose CB.

If it were a shorter stay for us I would choose SF (or RPR).


We really though we would miss the water taxi but the bus service is amazing compared to Disney!
 
If you are getting the suite at CB, I would choose that over SF in your situation (for the added space). If you are not getting the suite, I would choose SF in your situation (standard rooms bigger). And since you can pool hop at UO, you can enjoy both pools no matter which resort you end up in.
The endless summer resorts may be a good fit for you also- have you looked at those?
 
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