Universal/Cabana bay November 1-6

[kbelle8995]

I'm going to write a quick trip report.

We stayed at Cabana Bay just because we felt there was more to do at that hotel than at the Disney hotels. We also like the hotel better.

We stayed on the older side of the hotel. The pool was not open which I knew about. It was very quiet, very quiet. We felt like we had the hotel to ourselves. Both the Swizzle lounge and the Atomic tonic were closed while we were there. The Bayliner was completely open and I didn't see any of the menu items missing. We ended up getting dinner there one night and it was cooked for us so we had to wait a couple minutes. We refilled our drinks and ended back. I had two meals at the Bayliner and they were delicious both times.

Also the starbucks was fully opened. We saw the giftshop close early on weekdays.

Now for the bad side of staying there. We had two things break on us one was the lock on our room so we got locked out. We went back and got new keys no luck. So I contacted the front desk and they sent maintanance. He had to get a huge harp to get under the door to open it. we applauded. Which amused both the maintenance people.

The next day our fridge went down and we had to throw out some food which was disappointing. We called the front desk again and they sent a maintenance person again to fix it. It worked but just enough to keep the food cool. So if you're staying in the older section keep an eye on these things.

I will cover the park in my next section

 

[DisneyLifePapioNe]

I'm going to write a quick trip report.

We stayed at Cabana Bay just because we felt there was more to do at that hotel than at the Disney hotels. We also like the hotel better.

We stayed on the older side of the hotel. The pool was not open which I knew about. It was very quiet, very quiet. We felt like we had the hotel to ourselves. Both the Swizzle lounge and the Atomic tonic were closed while we were there. The Bayliner was completely open and I didn't see any of the menu items missing. We ended up getting dinner there one night and it was cooked for us so we had to wait a couple minutes. We refilled our drinks and ended back. I had two meals at the Bayliner and they were delicious both times.

Also the starbucks was fully opened. We saw the giftshop close early on weekdays.

Now for the bad side of staying there. We had two things break on us one was the lock on our room so we got locked out. We went back and got new keys no luck. So I contacted the front desk and they sent maintanance. He had to get a huge harp to get under the door to open it. we applauded. Which amused both the maintenance people.

The next day our fridge went down and we had to throw out some food which was disappointing. We called the front desk again and they sent a maintenance person again to fix it. It worked but just enough to keep the food cool. So if you're staying in the older section keep an eye on these things.

I will cover the park in my next section

We stayed here in September for the first time, we had been by this place several times before, I like giving honest reviews of places I’ve stayed and not a review based on stepping in the lobby or being allowed access to a club lounge......

We were really surprised by CB and really think for this price point there is so much to offer.

We were lucky to have stayed without any issues and our Family Suite was in superb condition so we were very pleased!!!!!

We also attended the HHN 30 lite version!!!!!

 

[macraven]

Kbelle, been waiting all day for you to return and tell us more about your trip!

 

[kbelle8995]

I will write some tonight. Just catching up on my regular job.

 

[kbelle8995]

Here are my thoughts on the park with a few specifications about CB.

The older side is the motel side: open hallways.

We went twice to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.

Sunday we went over, it was very crowded especially in the Hogsmead section of the park.
Apparently the Hagrid coaster was down and people were just waiting for it come back on. It made it impossible to socially distance. The shops were not that bad. I wanted to walk through the Seuss area to look at the Christmas decoration. It was up and most were working. I think I saw one section that was not working.

We also went to BigFire grill. My sister had steak, asparagus and a salad. It was cooked very well. I had a bison burger which was really it good. They let be put the beer cheese sauce on the side. It was really really good. WE are putting that restaurant on our good list.

Thursday we went to the park again. We started at the Today Show café. We ordered the Avocado toast and salmon bagel. The avocado toast was so good. I will want that again. It was really tasty. The service was a bit slow. I ordered on the mobile Universal app. It was easy and they had a section where you could scan your ap to get a discount.

We went to Diagon Alley. I love this area and it was already decorated for Christmas. I took a lot of pictures. Gringotts was only 15 minutes so we went on that. We had a little issue with a hurt knee and getting into the vehicles but the TMs were great and worked with us. We got on the train and got our own compartment. The TMs were very efficient and had bottles of Anti-bacterial to give you before you got on the rides. This was greatly appreciated.

We went to see if we could ride Hagrid's It stated a 60 minute wait. We decided to try it. I enjoyed it a lot to my shock. It really goes fast. I was glad to NOT be at the front. I can't belief that I liked it. Maybe it was the Unicorn.

I also wanted to ride Kong. Since with the Covid there would be no scareactor. There wasn't. We went back to Diagon Alley and got ice cream. Sometime go someone talked about there no cups available. You either get the cone or the souvenir cup. We got Salted Caramel and clotted cream for me. After that we walked to the exit and spent the rest of the day at the lazy river and the pool.

 

[macraven]

Sounds like it was a great trip!

 

[DisneyLifePapioNe]

Here are my thoughts on the park with a few specifications about CB.

The older side is the motel side: open hallways.

We went twice to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.

Sunday we went over, it was very crowded especially in the Hogsmead section of the park.
Apparently the Hagrid coaster was down and people were just waiting for it come back on. It made it impossible to socially distance. The shops were not that bad. I wanted to walk through the Seuss area to look at the Christmas decoration. It was up and most were working. I think I saw one section that was not working.

We also went to BigFire grill. My sister had steak, asparagus and a salad. It was cooked very well. I had a bison burger which was really it good. They let be put the beer cheese sauce on the side. It was really really good. WE are putting that restaurant on our good list.

Thursday we went to the park again. We started at the Today Show café. We ordered the Avocado toast and salmon bagel. The avocado toast was so good. I will want that again. It was really tasty. The service was a bit slow. I ordered on the mobile Universal app. It was easy and they had a section where you could scan your ap to get a discount.

We went to Diagon Alley. I love this area and it was already decorated for Christmas. I took a lot of pictures. Gringotts was only 15 minutes so we went on that. We had a little issue with a hurt knee and getting into the vehicles but the TMs were great and worked with us. We got on the train and got our own compartment. The TMs were very efficient and had bottles of Anti-bacterial to give you before you got on the rides. This was greatly appreciated.

We went to see if we could ride Hagrid's It stated a 60 minute wait. We decided to try it. I enjoyed it a lot to my shock. It really goes fast. I was glad to NOT be at the front. I can't belief that I liked it. Maybe it was the Unicorn.

I also wanted to ride Kong. Since with the Covid there would be no scareactor. There wasn't. We went back to Diagon Alley and got ice cream. Sometime go someone talked about there no cups available. You either get the cone or the souvenir cup. We got Salted Caramel and clotted cream for me. After that we walked to the exit and spent the rest of the day at the lazy river and the pool.

Good to hear about Bigfire, we still have not tried this newer restaurant.

The lazy river is nice!

 

[kbelle8995]

Here's is my wrapup throughts on Universal.

I felt very safe in the parks. Every team member on the rides had bottes of Anti-bacterial gel. Which they gave to you before you got on every single ride. They were not doing Christmas shows or music but the decorations were out and they were beautiful. The team members reacted quickly when they saw someone who was not socially distancing or wearing a mask. I was impressed by how they dealt with the situation. The team member at Cabana Bay reacted quickly to our problems and fixed them quickly. My sister said that it was the domino effect one thing goes wrong and then you notice all the little things. But the team member remained professional and resolved the issues that we had. They apologized to us and we appreciate that. Overall a great time at Universal