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Old 5 Aug 22, 07:02 PM  
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Floridatilly
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Which Universal hotel and resort fee question

For our dates there isn’t much price difference between these three prices (not enough for the price to be the deciding factor)
We will be staying there for 10-14 nights and we will want to use the pool/pools daily and get an uber or walk if possible to IDrive the odd afternoon to eat at Miller’s etc.
Our preferred needs/wants are: a quiet room, fun pool with a choice of a quiet pool.

Endless Summer - looks clean, modern and fresh plus it has more space for us (suite) walkable to IDrive
Concern is that the reviews are very mixed 😬😬

Cabana Bay - looks like it has really good pools, more room for us as its a suite like Endless Summer. I think you can’t walk to off site restaurants so would need uber.
Concern is that it looks noisy. I know that sounds strange 😂😂 how can something ‘look noisy’ but for some reason it looks like it will be a noisy place.

Lowes Sapphire falls
Looks beautiful, pools look beautiful and also looks peaceful.
Concern is we would have to pay for a roll away bed each night of our stay, I think thats $25 so this would make this hotel the most expensive.

If we book via Virgin holidays, are the resort fee’s included?
If not, how much are the fee’s?
We recently stayed at Swan & Dolphin, the resort fee was $35 per night
Thank you
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Old 5 Aug 22, 08:07 PM  
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Egon
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Got back from a 12night stay in endless summer dockside. Great hotel with only a few issues imo.

1: The pool is too shallow, tops out at 4ft even in the center, its great for chilling in, but sometimes you want a bit of a swim.

2: The elevators are bad, you are always waiting in a queue. Admittedly not a long queue but enough of one on many many occasions for me to get slightly tired with it.

Other than that, absolutely perfect.
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Old 5 Aug 22, 08:12 PM  
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elmspenguin
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There is no resort fees at any of the resorts, the only fee is car parking but if you book via virgin holidays the car parking is included at Cabana Bay, you would have to still pay at the other 2 hotels.

We haven't visited Endless summer so can't comment but have stayed at Sapphire falls and it is a lovely hotel, when we stopped there we walked over and used Cabana bay pool with the lazy river and the food court and didn't find it noisy but we only spent a few hours there.

Sapphire falls only has one pool, Cabana bay has 2 but neither are classed as quiet pools. One thing to note is that if you stay at Endless summer you can only use the pools there but if you stop at Sapphire falls or Cabana bay you can pool hop and use the pools at RPR,HRH and PFB as well so plenty of choice.

Ubers from SF and CB to i-drive are around $10 each way. Although you could get the boat from city walk to Portofino Bay and its about a 10 minute walk from there to Millers on Kirkman road.
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Old 7 Aug 22, 12:32 PM  
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Floridatilly
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Thank you so much! We have decided on cabana bay 🤩🤩
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Old 8 Aug 22, 11:48 AM  
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Letterhead
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Originally Posted by Floridatilly View Post
Thank you so much! We have decided on cabana bay 🤩🤩
It's a great resort. We stayed there not long after it opened and thought it was excellent. We do not like the look of the WDW value resorts at all, as I feel offsite or a partner hotel would just provide a much better experience for the same price, but at Cabana Bay we didn't feel ĺike we were staying at a value level resort. The bus transport was also superb. Far superior to anything we have experienced at WDW (another reason I'd be reluctant to stay at a WDW resort not connected to a park by a non-bus means of transport). My only criticism, which tbf is a criticism I have of Universal in general, was there wasn't a decent table service restaurant. However we loved the foodcourt, possibly too much, as we ended up changing our evening plans for a night out to eat at at resort on a few occassions!

Have you picked what room type you want?
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Old 8 Aug 22, 12:22 PM  
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m2k00
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At cabana bay now and while hotel is busy it is not noisy in your rooms etc. obviously can be by the pool etc but no different
to any if her big hotel resort I have stopped at. Never had a wait for a lift and often only ones in the lift.

Also the bus service is great, never had to wait more than a few mins for a bus, most of the time walk straight into one.
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Old 8 Aug 22, 01:12 PM  
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Floridatilly
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Thank you, it really sounds great. We will need a family suite because we are a family of 5.
My daughter is Harry Potter mad and we are currently on our Universal part of our holiday, it’s taking a minimum of an hour to get there and often 2 hours to get back to our villa, if there is sn accident (which is quite often) its longer. Our villa is amazing but the traffic is totally ruining the experience so we need to be onsite next year no extra space is worth all this sitting in a car 😝😝
We have stayed at POR, CBR, YV & Swan & Dolphin in the past and absolutely loved every one of them. When you say Cabana Bay us a value resort is it on CBR/POR level or does that mean like the pop value Disney resorts?
Thank you
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Old 8 Aug 22, 02:21 PM  
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If you’ve not booked yet I’d really recommend Endless summer over Cabana Bay. We stayed at both last month and have stayed at all the universal resorts.

Dockside was amazing. We were in a family suite so 3 proper beds with one actual separated bedroom. Only one issue with noise in the 8 nights. Great food court and buses were the best I’ve ever experienced in Orlando. It’s a value resort but has lots of little things that make it feel a bit more special.

We moved to Cabana Bay for 9 nights, our room was miles away. It was tired and a little grubby, only time I’ve ever felt the need to buy antibacterial wipes on holiday. The family suite set up was ok but we much preferred the 2 bedroom layout of Dockside.

Both resorts were bustling but Dockside seemed to cope more. Cabana Bay ran out of refillable mugs to buy. Often ran out of pool towels or didn’t put them out till well after the pool was open. The pools and lazy river were nice, the bowling great, location good but food court was more expensive, buses not as good and it did feel very much like a value resort.

If you want to spend time on idrive endless summer, either one might be a better fit.

Don’t get me wrong all our niggles at Cabana were little but it’s the only universal resort I wouldn’t stay at again.

Sapphire is beautiful and feels like a luxury resort without the crazy price tag, love the location, pool and boat.

Aventura I’d pick every time over Cabana as well, have you looked at their deluxe I think it is rooms? I also noticed for next year their standard rooms were cheaper than a 2 bed at Dockside.

Still to decide which one we will go for next year.

I know a lot of people like Cabana bay but it just wasn’t for us.

Just saw your comment above Cabana is not on par with port Orleans more all stars!

Sapphire on par with beach club imo.

Aventura like a Disney moderate but all internal and more modern.

Dockside I’d place above art of animation and a nearly a moderate, the 2 beds anyway.
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Old 12 Aug 22, 10:04 AM  
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Letterhead
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Originally Posted by Floridatilly View Post
Thank you, it really sounds great. We will need a family suite because we are a family of 5.
My daughter is Harry Potter mad and we are currently on our Universal part of our holiday, it’s taking a minimum of an hour to get there and often 2 hours to get back to our villa, if there is sn accident (which is quite often) its longer. Our villa is amazing but the traffic is totally ruining the experience so we need to be onsite next year no extra space is worth all this sitting in a car 😝😝
We have stayed at POR, CBR, YV & Swan & Dolphin in the past and absolutely loved every one of them. When you say Cabana Bay us a value resort is it on CBR/POR level or does that mean like the pop value Disney resorts?
Thank you
I would say Cabana Bay is more on the same level as CBR/POR. There has been more effort out i to the themeing than "Big dalmatian outside", and the resort isn't particularly sprawling. The furthest rooms are probably within 5 minutes walk of the main section of the building.
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