Orlando’s Best Value Theme Park Hotel - Review
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- Опубліковано 28 чер 2024
- There are a lot of resorts to choose from in Orlando, Florida. I've stayed in many of them, from the beautiful, highly themed hotels which also come at a high cost, to the ultra budget properties, with little to offer. Today I am discovering a very captivating medium, a resort at Universal Studios Orlando that offers both a highly themed experience, but at a low cost. Join me as I find out if it's any good, if it's a better option than Disney's value properties and (of course), if it's worth your money. This is Universal's Cabana Bay Resort.
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Jake’s is it Any Good Score - docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Chapters:
Opening - 0:00
History - 0:32
Room - 1:20
Design & Amenities - 3:13
Pricing - 6:01
Final Score - 7:22
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Bright Sun Travels 2023
Presented in 4k
The proximity to cigarette smoke is part of the theme, it provides an authentic 50s-60s ambiance.
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.
you sound like a communist@@3212009a
Looks like good value. I would find the theming to be nauseating, but it does appear to be a great value.
Smoking would be allowed indoors throughout if that were the case, close as we can get
For that you just go a few miles north of universal to downtown Orlando or pine hills. You can really take in that culture.
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.
It’s super cool, and I do NOT like value girls. I only paid $140 in September- that’s a great price for the amenities. I looooove the pool area.
The bowling is sweet
Even the food at the bowling alley was pretty decent. I was pleasantly surprised the most by that.
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.
i loved the property but i went in October for my birthday and i joked to my friend that we should come back in fallout shelter outfits
God will 2424 my son and cousin s going back there 😊😊😊😊
I am so sorry to hear that.
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.
Sorry for your loss
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.
I think Universal parks are better too. Velocicoaster. need I say more?
And it's so easy to get around and learn the walking paths.
@@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.
@@dindog22 Absolutely! And it's gonna get even better with Epic Universe next year.
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.
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.
Plus the Royal Pacific gives you the line hopper pass, which this hotel doesn't. That alone makes the Royal pacific a better value.
I stayed at both too and actually preferred Cabana Bay. If the free express pass came with the Cabana Bay Resort, I would stay there everytime.
@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.
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.
Nice to see a bit of light towards Universal
More like nice to see a bit of relief for Jake's wallet
@@captaintalon4485 Hahaha
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 LOVE the decor in this hotel! The outside hallway motel look...perfect!
As a floridian, I just stayed there yesterday and the cheapest room they offered was only $104. I'm thoroughly impressed by this place.
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.
Living in the Orlando area, I'm always looking at cool places for short staycations. Thanks to your review, I'm adding this hotel to my list.
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.
I thought those were funny. Kinda a win win for Universal because they can buy the cheap soaps but it works because it's technically on theme, haha.
I remember the Zest commercial when I was a kid. "You're not fully clean until you're ZESTfully clean!"
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!
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.
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....
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.
To be fair, those smoking areas are pretty 1950s as well considering people weren't really concerned about health problems that come with smoking.
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 honestly thought the ipad stuff was just fun, good way to kill time before going to the parks
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.
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.
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.
I love that you guys made this channel, it’s good to see honest unpaid reviews for the world to see.
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.
Such a convenient time to post this because I’m going to Cabana Bay next week-
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.
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
the 8/10 is the overall for amenities, not just for food
Kind of gives the "this was paid for by Universal" vibe.
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
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.
Glad I’m a patreon of the main channel because you’ve just been putting out amazing and detailed content that I’ve been enjoying since day 1!
Visited the Nevele a few months ago (grew up not too far from there) It's incredible how far it's deteriorated from when you filmed it.
I know, it looks so sad. I have a new video about another Catskills resort coming soon on the main channel!
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 stayed in a Family Suite back when Cabana Bay was pretty new in 2019, and it was amazing. I think we only payed $300 to $350 per day. The décor they have to push the 50s and 60s theme is absolutely on point. And the perk of being able to get into Volcano Bay early was amazing as well. We could get good lockers and ride on majority of the big family raft slides before the park even opened. Which was good because about 2 hours after opening, they already had 1.5-2 hour waits! I would highly recommend it to anyone that is going to Universal and especially Volcano Bay.
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!
LOVE THESE REVIEWS!!! Keep them coming🍿
I’ve been impressed with the quality of every video from your new channel, Jake! I hope the videos keep coming! Another great one here by the way
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!! Stayed here with my Mom back in 2019. It was amazing, clean, and had such a unique vibe to it. I loved the 50s/60s motif.
I will say their theming is on point.
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.)
In 2011 my husband and I stayed at the Loews Royal Pacific Hotel. I have fond memories of our stay, mostly because as soon as we checked in my husband proposed to me. We had a lot of fun. The pool was lovely, the food was good (I really enjoyed the dragonfruit sorbet they served near the pool), and they had a luau on our last night. Good times.
As someone who lives 2hrs from Orlando, I’ve gone to most of the hotels there. Cabana Bay is my favorite by far in recent years! Wonderful theming and clean facilities. Never felt like it was crowded. Great perks of getting into the parks early and transportation.
Last time we went, we had to change rooms since our original room had a cleaning timing issue. The hotel compensated us with a free meal and room upgrade. We went down to the awesome cafeteria and got us a chimichanga steak for each of us. Delicious!
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!
Pre-covid I used to stay at the volcano view room for 99 dollars a night in January. One of my favorite hotels.
Thanks as always for the content! Hope you're doing well and will continue to put out such hotel reviews high and low.
No, the secondhand smoke is actually PART of the 50's throwback experience
Whenever I go to Halloween Horror nights I stay at the Cabana Bay, it’s always my fav. I LOVE the theme, and I love the perks to get into Universal.
Love this! Would love to see best pet friendly options! Always great stuff Bright Sun.
Oh my god! That place looks so cool. It really looks like a step back in time with the modern convieniences.
You just gave me a resort to look into for my next vacation. Kudos Jake!😁
Stayed here back in 2021, absolutely loved it even though the jacuzzi and firepits were out of service. Very peaceful which is definitely needed after a day at the theme park.
Great video! Totally agree with your assessment. Despite being Disney annual pass holders, we love the Cabana Bay and have spent a couple weekends there relaxing and enjoying the hotel as our destination. The theming is fantastic!
I was here in 2016. I really liked the Cabana Bay. I spent the last night of my stay exploring and taking pictures of the hotel.
I heard about your videos today while listening to The Dis Unplugged. I haven't stopped watching! You do an amazing job with keeping the viewers attention!! Great work!!!!
I stayed here for 8 nights during HHN, had a pool view family suite which was great to hang out and do some work in, absolutely love this resort. The value is put into context for me because I stayed at a pool view room at Pop Century on the same trip, which worked out to be about $60/night more expensive than CBBR and the room was easily half the size.
lol, the stink bug in the bed at 7:21 is funny as all hell. Not a bed bug.
One of the best hotels in Orlando by far in terms of value and theming. Loved it as a kid.
I never get to see a Bright Sun video when it’s first released!
Really loving this new channel
If you're looking for even more of a value-resort... The endless summer duos. They have a suite for less than the 2bed at cabana bay with the other same perks and the mid-tier. food was reasonably priced for being at a hotel/theme park.
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
You had me at Mid Century Modern theming. Love it!
Stayed there when it first opened. Loved it!!!
I love the look of this hotel and it's aesthetics! Sooo cool!
I love this hotel. Excellent vibes and great amenities. I’ll likely stay here next year when I visit Disney.
I stayed here on a school trip to Universal 2 years ago and it was awesome. Volcano Bay was also the best waterpark that I have ever been to.
Every day there’s a bright sun travels video is a good day
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.
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.
I lived in Florida for two years about years ago now and took my sister with my future wife and she loved it. She was visiting from California and couldn't wait to to go back and stay again. She even did photo shoots by the pool with me as the photographer learning about portrait on an iPhone, because my phone was so old.. Hehe
Those little soaps and shampoos are adorable.
Stayed at the Portifino Bay resort for 2 nights in Christmas 2015. Absolutely incredible resort, we had so much fun! The italian theme really set it apart from everything else. Highly recommend!
My family of 6 stayed here in July 2021. We had the best time!!! It's a beautiful resort. You get early access to Volcano Bey, which was awesome, the pools were great, dining was good. My only negative was the check in processes. The line was around the whole lobby. After flying, delays, and stress of travel, waiting in line to check in for an hour was awful especially with 2 young kids. Over all..... one of the best vacations we had!!
Agreed. My sister and I stayed here several years ago and rated it highly on our personal "value continuum."
I spent 4 nights at Cabana Bay in January 2022, followed by 6 nights at All Star Music. There is no comparison between the resorts at all! I also paid less for my Cabana Bay room than ASM (though my park tickets were included with my Disney stay, so not really a fair comparison). Prior to this I had only stayed at the Deluxe Universal resorts (to get the Express Pass) but I knew I wouldn't need the pass for this trip and was absolutely delighted with every aspect of my stay. On my Volcano Bay day I was actually the first guest into the park since I was staying in the tower nearest the guest entrance! I really couldn't fault anything and would not hesitate to recommend the resort to my friends and family.
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.
Awesome, thank you
Great video. When I saw the title I was hoping it was referring to Cabana Bay. It’s our favorite so far based on price and what you get.
Stayed here twice once in the tower the view was amazing and it was super nice being right next to the park
We stayed here once a few years ago and would absolutely do it again. My family loved it.
This is a wonderful hotel. The theming is second to none. With price being relevant, it's one of the top hotels on property. Give it a shot!
I got to stay here on a high school trip because of the price point!!! One of the most memorable memories I'll have forever!
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. 😊
i stayed there twice, pound for pound, dollar for dollar, it is the best resort hotel on both Disney and Universal. I see you scored it the highest. I concur.
Love the look of this place.
When a friend and I stayed at Sapphire Falls next to Cabana Bay last year, we were throughly surprised at how much was offered to us at a moderate rate resort. The amenities rivaled a deluxe Disney resort.
I stayed at this hotel in Sept and it was a great hotel, I agree with your review
MCM is right in my wheelhouse and they did a fantastic job. I need to stay here
My girlfriend and I went on our first trip together and stayed here, was an absolute Blast! I Would for sure stay here again!
I love Cabana Bay. It's our go to every time we're in Orlando.
My daughter and I stayed there 2 years ago and LOOOVVVEEEDDD it.
My favorite hotel whenever I stay in Orlando. Value for money and for accommodations is fantastic compared to anywhere else.
I agree. Cabana Bay is the best value resort hotel at the Orlando area. It was the first Lowes and most memorable hotel I've stayed at Orlando.
As for the boats to City Walk? Cross to Sapphire Falls and the boats are there ;-)
The tuna at the food court esc area is superb
Love to go back again someday 😌
I tell you, people are really missing out not staying at Universal properties. Even their most budget property (Surfside/Dockside) you can get a room for around $95 a night with the same free perks of early entry and free transportation. The food isn't great but the rooms are fantastic and clean. Never had a bad experience there (minus the food) and it's my go-to for every Orlando trip.
Just got back from staying there last week. It was cool, no complaints. The shuttle to the Universal Parks was very convenient.
Now this is a themed hotel I’d like to stay in!
We stayed in December of 2021 and it was only 132 dollars a night for a volcano bay view! Also, you still have access to the walkway to the main parks as well as volcano bay!