CABANA BAY BEACH RESORT Thread..........

The main dining option at CB is their 'food court' area so I'm not sure you mean by diner table option? It's a "counter service" (in Disney-speak) area...several lines for different types of food. You get what you want from wherever you want it - including food from the grab & go coolers or the candy counters - and take your tray to the register. Seat yourself in the dining area.

Yes, there are microwaves in the dining area. Near the Coke freestyle machines.

Enjoy!
 
Awesome report!!! Thank you!!! But i’’m starting to considering not staying there 😔😔😔 charges for parking... charges for the floats on lazy river... 😔😔😔
Cbr got my attention because I really wanted a resort with lazy river... all others around Orlando are more expensive... I’m starting to thinking that maybe it will be better to get a cheaper hotel and buy ticket to a water park than staying in a lazy river resort.
We’re planning to go next may. Family of thre: my husband, myself and our daughter that will be 2y4m by then. We are not going to any universal studios park.

I know your post is pretty old now, but I gather you were planning far ahead so maybe it's still useful to reply while I'm reading old posts here?

Depending on your dates, you might consider a condo/timeshare style resort. You can often get good deals on them and they have a lot of great amenities. Last year our family stayed at Wyndham Bonnet Creek (there's a LONG thread about it in the other Orlando hotels forum here, lots of helpful folks there with tips and advice), which has two lazy rivers and a few water slides, etc., scattered around the property. It's a great place for young kids, lots of on-site activities and outdoor space for them to play. Location wise it's basically within the WDW bubble, but if you're not doing any days at the USF parks then that might not matter for you.
 
The main dining option at CB is their 'food court' area so I'm not sure you mean by diner table option? It's a "counter service" (in Disney-speak) area...several lines for different types of food. You get what you want from wherever you want it - including food from the grab & go coolers or the candy counters - and take your tray to the register. Seat yourself in the dining area.

Yes, there are microwaves in the dining area. Near the Coke freestyle machines.

Enjoy!
Thanks! I was reading,and thought I saw it had a diner...I guess I got confused....
 
Thanks! I was reading,and thought I saw it had a diner...I guess I got confused....

Well, their food court area is named Bayliner Diner, so that's probably where that came from! (Side note - I highly recommend their french fries with the truffle salt. OMG...my trip was last November and I'm still thinking about those fries!)
 


I don't believe they're chipped but they are next to the chipped drinks. I think ethically, I'd pay to reactivate your cup in order to use the coffee and hot chocolate.
Are these the same freestyle cups that you activate and use in the parks, or do the resorts use a different cup?
 


Where are the locations of the interior entrance family suites and the exterior entrance family suites? I wasn't sure if they were scattered throughout the resort. I would prefer to have a room with a pool view near the lazy river.
 
Where are the locations of the interior entrance family suites and the exterior entrance family suites? I wasn't sure if they were scattered throughout the resort. I would prefer to have a room with a pool view near the lazy river.

You’ll want poolside interior for lazy river views!

2F1DAB2F-8B63-4B44-8002-83DA7E6B4943.jpeg
I put this screenshot from maps up to give you an example of the location the top half of the resort will be exterior entry.
 
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So I am going to call to make a room request. I have a poolside standard room booked for Feb 5-8. For those who have been there what are the pros/cons of higher or lower floors? Are higher floors quieter? Are the elevators reasonably quick? (FWIW I am also going to ask to be near the lobby).
 
So I am going to call to make a room request. I have a poolside standard room booked for Feb 5-8. For those who have been there what are the pros/cons of higher or lower floors? Are higher floors quieter? Are the elevators reasonably quick? (FWIW I am also going to ask to be near the lobby).
We found the elevators are quick, there are 4. I don’t see any advantage in floor, as the floors do not open to an open area(like the Contemporary Resort tower rooms). We found the room quiet on the fourth floor. Only thing I didnt like was the wet carpet smell in the halls. Room was great with comfy beds and pillows. Good luck with making a room request. I had made a building request in advance, by phone and email, and they didn’t even acknowledge it was on my reservation at check in.
 
Arrived at 9 PM to a very long checkin line! I didn’t finish checkin until 10. There seems to be a couple of large convention groups. Got upgraded from a standard room to a pool view interior suite for my solo stay.
 
Called yesterday to put in a room request. My mom messed up her ankle and I don't think she'll be fully recovered by the time we go. I've asked for a room as close to the lobby as possible (floor doesn't matter). I guess we'll see if they can do it.
 
Arrived at 9 PM to a very long checkin line! I didn’t finish checkin until 10.

I really wish that Universal hotels had an express check-in system. We've been to CB many times (probably 10+ at this point) and every time the person at the desk wants to show us the pool hours, the bus stop, etc. and precisely how to get to our room. Even after we were very clear that we knew the hotel like the back of our hand. Just get us checked in, give us our room number and keys and move on, particularly if there is a long line.
 
Can someone tell me about the walk to the parks from here?

Are the paths off the main roads or are we crossing streets?

Do we walk to the City Walk security hub or is there a different security check in?
 
Can someone tell me about the walk to the parks from here?

Are the paths off the main roads or are we crossing streets?

Do we walk to the City Walk security hub or is there a different security check in?

There is the garden walking path by the Thunderbird building. If you're on the other side of CB, it'll take you a bit just to get to the start of the path, so you may want to consider a room request on that side of the hotel if you want to be closest to the path. You do security checkpoint by margaritaville at city walk, which is nice and very low key. It is a scenic walk and very nice. If I recall correctly, there is a small street you have to cross if chosing to walk from Cabana bay but theres a pedestrian signal and it's not a big deal. If you want a good idea of the path, check out YouTube videos for "garden walkway from Cabana bay to city walk" and such. One guy timed it at 25 minutes but that's at a slower stroll.

My husband and I don't take the path much anymore to the parks. We always just cross at the CB lobby (they tell you not to do this as there's no pedestrian crosswalk) and get on the boat at sapphire falls.
 
Can someone tell me about the walk to the parks from here?

Are the paths off the main roads or are we crossing streets?

Do we walk to the City Walk security hub or is there a different security check in?
I have never actually walked TO the parks, but I have walked back from them. The path does not go to City Walk, it joins up with the path from RPR so you would go through the RPR walkway security and come out by Margaritaville. Part of the path is a sidewalk along the road (Hollywood Way) and you do cross one smaller road at a light. There is a bridge walkway over Adventure Way.
 
There is the garden walking path by the Thunderbird building. If you're on the other side of CB, it'll take you a bit just to get to the start of the path, so you may want to consider a room request on that side of the hotel if you want to be closest to the path. You do security checkpoint by margaritaville at city walk, which is nice and very low key. It is a scenic walk and very nice. If I recall correctly, there is a small street you have to cross if chosing to walk from Cabana bay but theres a pedestrian signal and it's not a big deal. If you want a good idea of the path, check out YouTube videos for "garden walkway from Cabana bay to city walk" and such. One guy timed it at 25 minutes but that's at a slower stroll.

My husband and I don't take the path much anymore to the parks. We always just cross at the CB lobby (they tell you not to do this as there's no pedestrian crosswalk) and get on the boat at sapphire falls.
Oh duh....I forgot about security at the boats.

Mostly I was thinking it would suck to stay at these places then have to go all the way to the hub.
 
I'm planning to stay at CB on the night I am seeing a concert at Hard Rock Live. How dark is the walk back at night? Should I just get a Lyft ride?
 

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