I think they could have done more with the themes. Where are the race riots? Maybe randomly assigning guests a "special immersive experience" of being black at this time or maybe as part of the water park they could have included a dog and fire hose experience. I mean this all in jest, as slightly dark humor.
Shortly before my mom passed away with cancer. She took my young niece and nephew to Universal Studio. Knowing my mom's time was short, I tagged along. We stayed here. Nice hotel & cool theme, reminds me of Fallout. I mom loved it.
True, I felt like I was in one of the Fallout games because the theming is meant to mimic the Atomic Age. Universal hired architects who knew what they were doing. Am glad I stayed there and would love to go back some day.
We stayed at the Royal Pacific when we went to Universal and were shocked at how nice the resort was for the price we paid. It was quite a few years ago, but I want to say it was it was about $250/night but felt like a far more premium hotel. The value Universal hotels offer was a big part of what flipped me from a Disney fan to all in on Universal.
@2744ducksdm what i do is stay at one of the cheaper universal hotels and rent one "throwaway" room at the Pacific loews just to get the free Express passes on both check-in and checkout day.
The soap felt cheap because it probably was. I actually loved the extra charm of using vintage era brands like Zest and VO5, but if I go, I'll probably remember to pack my own.
I stayed at the Cabana Bay's sister hotel, the Aventura, last year. The lobby was fantastic, but the room was really small and its iPad-centric controls were cumbersome and annoying. After watching this video, I thought since both hotels were around the same price-point, I thought I would be getting a similar experience, or at least a similar-sized room. Guess I should have went there instead!
I now consider Aventura and Cabana Bay my two top mid-tiers of Universal. Long weekends I don't mind booking on either of these two. The Endless Summer Beach resorts has become Universal's "value" but truthfully, Cabana is a gem on that level.
Aventura is much easier to navigate and being on the same side of the street as Sapphire Falls makes it ultra easy to take the water taxi to City Walk and bypass the main security hub there. But the rooms are BORING, I didn't think the IPADs were that difficult to use but to be honest I spent more time on my laptop than I did looking at the TV.
I’ve stayed at Aventura twice, but every time the bus stopped at Cabana Bay, I would get jealous. Ventura is nice, and would definitely stay again, but I definitely recommended we stay at Cabana Bay next time. …unless the hotels by Epic Universe are within the same price range.
Jake!!! Beyond happy to see you feature a Universal property(: I have been going to both Disney and Universal since I was very young and Disney has lost all the magic a theme parks is supposed to invoke (for me at least). From the hotel to the parks, the "bottom line" of the company can be seen everywhere(when they started charging for parking at hotels....) and the guest are the ones who suffer. Universal has found a way to keep the theming, mystic magic, whimsical environment and creative dreaming alive all while keeping it financially accessible to the common folk. PLUS they are expanding to ANOTHER theme park with two new hotels! It's an exciting time to be a Universal fan(: hope you cover more about them in the future. We have stayed at all five of the hotels(Portofino Bay is by far the most high end and five star experience), BUT don't sleep on Royal Pacific. RP offers a little bit more perks than Cabana Bay for a minor price increase and it is a complete game changer. Royal Pacific is as nice as the high end hotels at Disney, gives you so many add ons(including fast passes), accessibility, theming and the charming hospitality that ties everything together. Loving the expansion of this channel and excited to follow along with you on more adventures.
I have to agree about Universal hotels. We stayed at Sapphire Falls this past October and it was one of the best hotel experiences we’ve ever had and the boat to city walk felt like a luxury experience
Yes!! I was so looking forward to seeing this after the spreadsheet said it was coming soon!! I’ve been a big fan of Cabana Bay ever since I first stayed there around 2017, in which time it’s quickly become my favorite hotel ever. Everything is just unmatched at everywhere else I’ve been, save for maybe the food. I doubt that it’ll ever be knocked out of the number one spot now!
My family's stayed there at least twice to my memory, once in 2017 in one of the family suites (the small ones with the kitchenette and the 2 queens) i'm used to staying on pullout couches when i travel with family, as a family of 5, and that was by far one of the nicest i've ever slept on. the second time was a smaller, low-key trip over thanksgiving a few winters ago while family had annual passes, and it was just down to four of us, so we made just a plain room work and it was just as lovely. even if i weren't going To Universal, I'd still probably pick there to stay in orlando, unless I were on an absolutely threadbare budget. Not too much fuss to transfer at Citywalk to one of the Lynx buses to get around to other area attractions. It's just that nice.
Universal’s hotels are fantastic. I’ve stayed at both the newer Surfside Inn and Dockside Inn the last few times I went (which are the cheapest hotels on property), and they were just fantastic, with room rates around ~100$ a night, sometimes even less. While they’re not as visually impressive as Cabana Bay (I’m a sucker for MCM), they still feel clean and cohesive.
when i stayed there on a school trip, i got one of the worst sunburns of my life on half of my leg. with us having a strict itinerary and staying out late for group activities, i was unable to buy any aloe/sunburn relief (my dumb 16yr old self didn't think of orlando in the winter would have sun). i ended up back at the hotel this night and caught one of the "gift shops" in the lobby right as they were closing. they saw my leg, made an exception, and picked out two products for me. they werent supposed to do this. the manager even told me how to apply, gave me a "don't do this again" finger wagging, and wished me well. that plus everything covered about the rooms in this video would make me only want to stay here
My family and I stay here every time we go to Universal. We love it! We often walk to the parks. Sometimes we will take the bus or cross the street over the pedestrian bridge (with plants on it) to Saphire Falls to take the boat to the parks.
We stayed here last week for 7 days. Fantastic Hotel. We have stayed in Surfside & Dockside previous (Also good hotels). I don't think we will take less than Cabana Bay going forward. We booked Water Park view and we got got the 10th floor with an amazing view. I'd rather stay at universal and drive to Disney... Universal know how to do hotels.
I stayed here a couple months ago. It was nice, however there were particular little things that pissed me off. Such as the walk from certain buildings to the lobby, just because of the sheer size of the property. Also, the dining area was limited on where you could actually walk into it, and you had to walk all the way around just to get to the drinks. Arcade was also scammy. But it was nice otherwise.
I love cabana bay. The value is insane, especially compared to Disney hotels. The pools are better, the service is better, the rooms are better, the amenities are better, you get house keeping every day, and it’s a third the cost. I mean it has its own lazy river for goodness sake! I can stay at universal and just Uber to Disney, it’s right down the road.
The only gripe I have about this resort is not enough hot tubs. In the "winter" months, families fight over the hot tub. I wished they had built a second one by one of the barbecue pits. However, I enjoyed swimming in the lazy river. You do not have to bring a tube to use it.
It just seems Universal's team is focusing on the experience and just being fun to go to with their parks, Disney seems to be filtering their design decisions on focus groups, outside consultants and corporate branding. I see Universal eating Disney's lunch in the coming years in the resorts.
I find these family rooms hard to justify for actual families in most cases. For a family of four those go for over 600 a night. Which family has that kinda cash for a hotel stay on an annual vacation. A lot of places that offer and cater to families do this as of late with pricing that seems to aim more at those that never wanted kids in the first place and like to pay extra to just shove them off to the entertainment and daycare offers while they drink themselves senseless by noon. There are places that straight up don't offer single rooms anymore or require you to stay at least 3 days "to make memories with family". Not sure what that trend is, but it appears to further push up overall pricing as other hotels see they can get away with it.
Gotta say, I like the theming. It’s nice to see someone embrace bold colors and patterns instead of just painting everything white and battleship grey and calling it ‘elegant’. It’s a bit kitsch, but it’s a resort so it’s supposed to be fun and this is definitely fun. It also seems like they approached the complex as a whole and tied everything together instead of just slapping on a retro veneer.
I love how they topped off the theming with old fashioned Zest and Alberto V05 bottles. And having used those as a kid in the early 1980s, I did remember the smell and those are the real thing, not a generic shampoo and soap in a themed bottle. Alberto has an odor that I never mistake for any other brand of shampoo...
Man, that pricing is ideal for something so special. I hate how boring so many hotels have become for so much money. What a cool little spot. Would love to go bowling there.
Good review. I think the deduction in points for this clever resort having Zest and Alberto hair products in the shower is unwarranted. It's authentic and it's what we had and used. 10/10 for me.
I snitched one of each of the Alberto bottles for the memories. I used those when I was a kid and it's the real thing, not a knockoff in a repurposed bottle with an Alberto label slapped on it. They have a distinctive smell and I could tell it was real Alberto shampoo.
Universal is just getting better across the board. They've easily surpassed Disney in the Hotel category. And are starting to gain ground everywhere else. Cabana Bay blew us away. The Disney resorts left us bitter and confused.
@@Afineaddition And best of all: Universal doesn't force you to use their app to do everything in their parks. The only bad thing? It seems everyone is defecting from Disney so the crowds are getting worse all the time. I refused to believe that in the beginning but was forced to change my mind when season passholders grumbled online about the insane crowds. One time, over the spring break, a youtuber complained that several restaurants in the parks ran out of food because the lines to the counters were so long!
@@largol33t12 I heave heard that Universal is trying to expand their parks and is set to open a new park as opposed to Disney, which charges you for being in the crowd.
Universal has really great hotels, we always stayed there over Disney because it was cheaper and the resort experience is SO much better. We stayed at Portofino and it truly felt like a luxury experience-beautiful property, great food, boat to the parks, and express passes included with the room! Felt like you got the best of both worlds, you can fully enjoying the parks and then come back to this really high end resort vacation. It’s a shame that Disney does not offer something like that-I was shocked watching your Contemporary video and seeing what you got for that high of a price. Even these “value” rooms look leagues better than the Disney premium resorts. It’s Insane how much better the experience could be but they still charge that ridiculous price.
Portofino is the best of the best at Universal and several steps above Cabana. It's a nice hotel and compared to Disney it's a good value. But Disney has gone completely nuts with their pricing IMO.
@@ashleighelizabeth5916 Seriously. I have more kids than a typical room can fit (or that most hotels will allow even if we could manage with a roll-in bed). A 1 BR or even 2 BR villa at Portofino is less than a regular 2 queen room in a Disney moderate resort.
Anyone else shocked by "Food is always something Universal has missed the mark on. 8/10."? 8/10 for me is a fantastic score. I couldn't give that score to someplace that "missed the mark".
Definitely - I had the same shocked reaction to that score. I think he's conflating price point into the other categories too much, especially when "Value" is already it's own category
Hes nuts. Universal is way better than Disneys food. I just ate at both and Disneys hotel food sucks. Universal it felt like luxury food on a lot of their stuff. I think hes being biased towards disney. Universal is more creative with food to
Really really nice hotel, especially for the price asked. I actually love the inclusion of Zest and VO5 shower toiletries, as they both harken back to their popularity in the era this resort's emulating. It's fantastic.
Stayed there a month ago. I agree with this video. Themeing is great, rooms were nice, distance to park is close and buses ran timely. Best thing was that nothing can beat the vibe this place has at night. Looked forward to just chilling on the balcony and looking over the pool every day.
I adore the faux-mid mod styling here. It's the sort of thing I'd love to see more of. I know mid mod furniture is making a comeback; I'd love to see the architectural stylings do the same.
They did a spot on job of getting the 50's-60's theme without going overboard. It looks very nice. For that price point it's hard to beat. Disney on the other hand - ugh....
Cabana Bay IS a themed hotel. It emulates and transports guests to a different time and place. Plastering Disney and Pixar IP on the walls of a Disney hotel is a motif, not a theme, not unless the theme is Disney Store or from the looks of their updated rooms, Ikea showroom featuring Disney wall decals and prints.
The theming is meant to take guests back to the 1950s and the Atomic Age. Am not surprised some teens said they felt like they were in the video game Fallout.
Totally agree with your review. This is our place we stay when visiting Orlando. We've always have had a great time, the staff is very knowledgeable and nice and the rooms are very clean. We book a Volcano view room each time and have gotten lucky with the view! One small price to pay with the volcano view is that the start testing the wave pool alarm pretty early in the day. The walk to Islands of Adventure and USF is about 10-15 min, and is landscaped very well the whole way.
I follow your other channel and haven’t spent as much time here, but I’ve watched several videos today and I just want to say your partner is gorgeous 😍 she has such a natural look that is sooo beautiful! Please let her know that 😊 many thanks (I’ve also really enjoyed the vids, that was just my main takeaway. That and I’ll never be able to afford GF as an adult. But AKL seems to be calling my name)…in conclusion: 👍🏻👍🏻
Stayed for my first time this February and was completely blown away, I was put in the Bayside tower on the 10th floor with an amazing view of the Aventura and Islands of Adventure!
Just my two cents but "food is something that Universal has always missed the mark on" does not belong in the same review as then saying "8/10" to me 'missing the mark' is lower than average i.e
Stayed at a lot of Disney hotels and 2 other deluxe universal hotels but got to say this has a place of my heart. It feels retro, it's the past that didn't exist. Great deal, clean, good transportation, and decent offers. It's a nice hotel option and I am choosing it over a deluxe universal hotels. it's just that nice of a hotel.
@@BrightSunTravels As someone else mentioned Cabana Bay is more on par with Disney's Moderate hotels. Pop is a steal comparatively because it has Skyliner access to 2 theme parks.
I think universal has done a great job. I have zero desire to stay any of the Disney value resorts - I would honestly rather stay a generic but very clean off property random hotel. Disney buses are not really that much of perk. Universal’s higher end hotels are a steal comparatively, and you don’t have sleep in an incredibles themed room. Good on you Universal.
My family stayed at the surfside hotel this past summer and I saw some similarities in the designs Universal used. The lobby looked very similar along with the gift shop and gym close by. There were two long hotel sections with a big pool area in between them. It was actually very nice for what it was.
My wife and I stayed here when we visited USO for our honeymoon. Watching this was nostaligc! I’ll point out that if you don’t mind walking (and running across a few roads) you can take the boats at the hotel across the street to get to the parks. Ince we discovered that, it was the only way we traveled to and from our hotel.
Stayed here with my (now) wife back when I went on a florida trip + cruise for my grad school graduation. We were pleasantly surprised by everything there. From the retro fallout-esque aesthetic, room quality for price, amenities, and activities (the bowling space was great!), everything was surprisingly awesome for the price point.
Stayed at this hotel twice in the last few years. Absolutely love this hotel. Will definitely stay here again. Love the whole vibe of the place. Quick bus ride to the park, or you can take the walking path there, either way it's easy
I went to Orlando in 2017 and stayed at The Point which is very close by, so I saw some of the construction of Volcano Bay and always wondered what it looked like onsite so thanks for the video.
A comment about the Holiday Inn nearby -- I worked at Holiday Inn for a long time, and you'll find a lot of kind of mediocre hotels in prime locations in order to capitalize on rewards points. The HI I worked at was near a naval base, so we'd end up with contractors staying for months at a time, paid for by their employers, and racking up rewards points. If they then use those points to take their families on vacation to Orlando, they're going to stay at any IHG hotel that's available, regardless of quality, because they're essentially getting that stay for free. A lot of those sort of mid-tier chain hotels will have locations in these otherwise saturated, competitive markets, and they absolutely clean up, and recoup some of those points they've given out with minimal effort on their part. (Also, I imagine they do brisk business in group bookings, especially if they're willing to take school teams.)
I put it in perspective with the other resorts and I think because it is only accessible to the parks via bus, it’s less convenient than the walking paths and the boats
We love this hotel we have stayed here plus the Universal Hard Rock and Endless Summer all have been outstanding. Our daughter actually works for the mouse at one of their resorts and its cheaper for us to stay at Universal then at her resort even with the employee discount. BTW I have watched and enjoyed your BSF channel for many years and didn't know entered into our genre with this channel, Im sure you will do well with your film background even in this crowed market. All the best RP
man the design is so cool. Even though it's 50s/60s designed some of the designs kind of remind of the whole 90s Nickelodeon resort designs. I miss when Hotels were fun designed. because modern hotels today became boring and grey like everything else.
Universal Orlando is a far better “resort” than Disney world. Parks are walkable from all hotels that aren’t the endless summer resort, you could walk from cabana bay to Saphire falls and get a boat transport. And the value preposition is unmatched. Disney doesn’t try and compete with anyone, people will pay no matter what. Universal competes with Disney and the iDrive hotels and wins in most categories. We had a trip to the Aventura hotel across the street from here. Not really themed, just a nice clean modern hotel. Just as happy with that
Last year I stayed at Universal’s Endless Summer Seaside. It had a modern California flare which was very nice. A great pool, a good food court, friendly staff, and a short bus ride to the parks with benefits. And we only paid $99 a night!
We are Disney Vacation Club members, so we normally stay on Disney property and Uber up to Universal when we want to go. However, we found a deal a few years ago through Costco Travel for a room at Cabana Bay for only about $20 more a night than the theme park tickets would have cost us, so we just did a longer trip with a split stay. I really enjoyed the hotel and theme, particularly the throwback toiletries and the lazy river. It has its issues, and my wife was not a fan of the service, but overall, it was amazing for the price and even better for what we paid. I will say that the biggest problem with this theme is that you have to have meticulous upkeep, or it goes from well-themed to dated and shabby almost immediately. What was kept up looked amazing, but there were already places where the hotel looked really old and the hotel was still relatively new.
Ive stayed At Portofino, Aventura, and Dockside. Cabana is next on my list of hotels i want to try at Universal. Portofino was worth the value for the express passes for our whole group, but the theming fell short of its potential, and navigating the property was cumbersome. Aventura had the convince of a small footprint, so it was easy to get to and from the rooms, even with a Deluxe room at the end of the hall, though some may find the minimalist theme a bit bland. Docksides biggest draw back was the slightly longer shuttle ride, and how FUCKING FAR some of the rooms are from the lobby, however the rooms themselves and the amenities were were fantastic at the price point.
Another reminder that the only reason Disney still exists is because of how ubiquitous they are. They can’t compete with thier films, they can’t compete with thier parks and they can’t compete on quality. I’d say they were being sustained by thier diehard, “fuck common sense”level fanboys but that clearly isn’t working. They lost $123 BILLION in value in 2022 and they’re currently trading for $88 a share. For reference, Apple is trading for $175 a share snd Netflix for $378 a share. They’re earning a shitload of money but losing far more.
Good as always :) I recommend leaving out the smoking jabs about smoking on a pathways, when the place is right next to I4. LOL Yeah, central FL resident.
I've never understood the big deal with complimentary water in the hotel room. it's water. I have never once noted, noticed, or cared if there were 'complimentary' bottles of water in my hotel room. I mean water is the absolute least thing a hotel could provide and who cares? I can get water if I want it. There's a bathroom with the sink. If I'm thirsty, I got water. That's it. I'm done with my rant. Oh wait - I'm not done yet. So... one hotel left two bottles of Voss water in my room and my date at the time was so impressed. She actually said, "OOOOO, they gave us Voss". I tasted the water. IT WAS WATER. And it tasted EXACTLY like the water that came out of the bathroom sink faucet.
Heck I only paid 150 in Feb! While I really loved the amenities , theme of the hotel, and the volcano bay view, I highly underestimated just how large the resort was. walking those halls after a long day at the parks was daunting. Heaven forbid you forget something in your room and have to walk all the way back down the eternal hallway 😅. But if I had kids I would pick it every time or perhaps get a room closer to the lobby. Volcano bay private entrance was amazing though since we were right next to that. For a less exhausting walk though I highly recommend Aventura across the street. It’s about the same price has a walk way to volcano bay as well and you can easily use sapphire falls water taxi to quickly get to the parks. And most important it’s much more walkable. You can even pool hop to cabana because they are both prime value. 😊
My family and I stayed there in 2021, and we loved it. Disney can not even try compare to anything similarly priced at their hotels. And I know cause I've also stayed at a couple of Disney properties. Sure, some of the food wasn't the best, but there were several options and I really liked some.
I have to disagree with you on this hotel. I've stayed at almost all of the Uni and WDW hotels and Cabana Bay smelled the absolute worst and was the dirtiest. The showers had black mold and the carpets smell so bad,shampooing wouldn't do anything. All in all, bacteria throughout the rooms. We were moved three times, one from mildew carpet, to a suite with black mold in the shower. Finally arriving at a room that had been remodeled. Aside from the poor housekeeping, the staff aren't invested in your satisfaction. That's where Disney will always beat Uni - customer service. It took complaining to a housekeeping manager to get us moved. We will never return. Aventura is the cleanest hotel on Uni property. Stay at Aventura and go eat at CB
