Cabana Bay versus Royal Pacific - crowd level 2

[tinkerbell1112]

Hi all, so we are about 90% certain we'll be heading to Florida mid-November. The 3 days we have set aside for Universal are showing crowd level 2 at both parks per touringplan.

My friend and I originally thought RPR because of the free express pass (and I've stayed there), but it's certainly less expensive (about $500 per family) to stay at CB.

The express passes in August last year SAVED us. However, it almost looks like we wouldn't necessarily need them if the crowd level is 2? Does it still benefit you to have them even if crowd levels are that low? I guess it's more of a poll of "what would you do"?
thanks in advance!

 

[AmberK24]

I think there are still some attractions what will save you time having express, however, at that low crowd time, I think I would go for the cheaper option. If I was only going to the parks for 1 or 2 days, or going with crowds, EP is $$ well spent, but over the course of 3 days, I think you will be just fine without them.

 

[Brenda Kim]

Cabana Bay, and if the waits are too long, which in November it shouldn't be too much of an issue, you can always buy the express pass in the parks for one day and still save money. Realistically with 3 days even if you have to wait an hour for say Kong, or FJ, you can still ride everything. I just enjoyed my stay at Cabana Bay more than RPR, the room seemed fresher and the since there are 2 separate pool areas, the one on the lazy river side was always calm and relaxing. The only thing I liked better about RPR is that the boats take you to the middle of City Walk, where as the buses at Cabana Bay take you to the parking garage for drop off. The restaurants and bars are better at Cabana Bay as a whole.

So the express pass when the real line is 20 minutes or less, doesn't do much. When we stayed at RPR during the slow time, we actually road the rides so many times in a row, we actually became a little sick of them. Which I did not even think was possible before, but turns out my limit of Men in Black is about 6 rides back to back, within one hour.

 

[sandam1]

Save the money! On our trip last September, we had similar crowd levels and a similar number of days and EP would have been a waste.

 

[wagman67]

I agree with the consensus, here, save your money...if you end up in a line (or two) where the wait is long, console yourself with the thought of how much you saved. If you find yourself waiting on everything, then you have learned a lesson for next time (I don't think you will have this problem)...or go spend some money on Eps.

Helpful tip: get the phone app and look at the wait times for rides you want to ride and decide which one to hit when.

 

[tinkerbell1112]

Thanks all. I enjoyed that we could walk from RPR to the parks, can you walk to them from Cabana Bay?

 

[paceyswife]

Thanks all. I enjoyed that we could walk from RPR to the parks, can you walk to them from Cabana Bay?

If I remember correctly, it's about a 10-15 minute walk. Very easy. We even walked back to the hotel after a full day in the park and that was with the August heat!

 

[macraven]

Took me almost 20 minutes walking from Cbay to the park


Maybe I'm a slow poke.....

 

[tinkerbell1112]

Thanks everyone.

 

[paceyswife]

Took me almost 20 minutes walking from Cbay to the park


Maybe I'm a slow poke.....

Lol!! We were probably walking fast! Kids had ants in their pants for first time going and husband has long legs so we have to walk fast to keep up!

 

[tinkerbell1112]

hmm - just checked again and Sapphire Falls is now showing availability. (it wasn't the first time I checked). I think if I am going to forego the express passes, THIS is the hotel I'd choose. wow. just looked at the pictures.

 

[shanew21]

The biggest difference between SF and CB is the water taxi. It's usually very slightly more expensive than CB.

As for RPR, skip it on a crowd level 2 day. Anything over level 6 I'd say get the Express Pass, but you won't need it when you're going.

 

[toonaspie]

We're doing Cabana Bay only cause we're first-times to UOR, and I'm the type (from tradition I guess) where you start at the cheap hotels and work your way up in future visits. If we ever go back to UOR after this, it would either be to stay at the upcoming Aventura or one of the deluxe hotels (depending on the time of year).

I thought about SF but that bathroom situation with the barndoors and the air vents sounds pretty bad. I hope they're working to fix that.

 

[schumigirl]

hmm - just checked again and Sapphire Falls is now showing availability. (it wasn't the first time I checked). I think if I am going to forego the express passes, THIS is the hotel I'd choose. wow. just looked at the pictures.

SF is so much nicer, feels much better quality and better laid together than CBay........beautiful resort!

I would still opt for EP, even on so called quiet times.

Last 18 days of September we have seen some awful queues on so called quiet days. Checked back last year and on a Wednesday end of the month we saw minions 100 minutes and Kong was 75 minutes.

I wouldn't say it's a quiet time anymore, maybe quieter.......but you can still see crowds and queues......we certainly did.

 

[nkereina]

I also would choose SF over CB, due to the water taxi. I agree that the walk from CB to City Walk was a solid 20 minutes and if I remember correctly, I believe we crossed an intersection as well.