Help needed - Cabana Bay or Royal Pacific - Jan 2017

[darcoops]

Hi all,

Travelling over from Australia in January 2017. We are a family of 5 and currently have CB booked from 01/28 to 02/05. Thinking of upgrading to RP as it has the express pass. We will have 4 day Park to Park tickets - will we need express pass at this time of the year?

Also after opinions on which hotel is bests in general.

 

[keishashadow]

The HP celebration is from January 27 - 29, I'd assume it'd be crowded in the parks.

Google crowd calendar for the park those days, Undercover tourist has a free one

IMO it's night & day experience as to having FOTL vs not.

Best is subject term, I have always considered the RP to be a deluxe property. Haven't stayed @ CB (pictures I've seen remind me of a disney value property with a nice pool/amenities) and probably won't as there is no boat transportation, unless you'd walk over to SFalls.

The shuttle drops you off where the security line near parking garage area can be really long vs the short one @ the boat docks.

 

[macraven]

If I was traveling from as far away as you are, would not think twice to staying at the hotel that offered free unlimited ep


Might as well try to work it into your budget and change your room to rpr or hrh or pbh

Let yourself have more time to enjoy all the parks and city walk

Ride waits can eat up parts or your park days
We never know how crowded a park can be until we are there

If hotels are sold out and we are aware of it then it will be a known fact your facing line waits for rides and shows

 

[jack presley]

I was there at the Harry Potter weekend this year (not planned, didn't know about it when booking) and both parks were very busy. The express pass was very handy.

 

[angierae]

We were there January 8-12 this year. We had EP. While it wouldn't have been strictly necessary, it was SO NICE to have. We were able to do things over and over again and not worry about lines at all. I will definitely never go back without them.

 

[georgina]

While I agree that the OP may want EP for those dates, I am here at Cabana Bay now and ride waits are very low. I walked into IOA at 10:30 this morning and the wait for Kong was 10 minutes. Forbidden Journey was posted as 10 but was a walk on. Hulk was also no wait, Spider-Man said 15 minutes but I did not ride that. Even Minions only said 15 minutes this evening, Mummy was no wait and RRR was very short too. Gringotts was down temporarily. This is my first time without a EP and it is fine.

 

[Mom3girls]

The difference in price for your week is $420. Here are your two options, RPR and CB. You will LOVE Royal Pacific and the EP will be soooooo worth it for your trip which coincides with Harry Pottter weekend!!! You will have so much time to relax and enjoy the resort bc of the EP

 

[macraven]

For your family of 5 to have a week at rpr with free unlimited ep for an additional $420, is a deal


For 7 days that would be about $12 a day for the ep each

Check the prices for what the ep for 2 park days would cost pp

 

[bumbershoot]

I would absolutely stay at RPR for that timeframe.

 

[darcoops]

Thanks for the reply's and we have booked RPR!.

 

[macraven]

Thanks for the reply's and we have booked RPR!.

Good choice !

You will enjoy the stay there !

 

[schumigirl]

Thanks for the reply's and we have booked RPR!.

Yep, glad to hear you've booked RPR!

It's a beautiful hotel and as others have said having EP is marvellous.........we use it even on quieter times......

Hope you have an amazing trip!

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

We just returned from a two night stay at RPR and loved it. We coincidentally have another trip to Universal planned for February with son, daughter in law and granddaughter, and yesterday I called to change resorts from Cabana Bay (which we had reserved) to RPR. IN addition to having the express pass included for all party members, RPR is a beautiful resort and the boat service to Universal is great, it is also easily walkable.

Now I will tell you that at RPR the food options are much more expensive. We took a walk on our check-out morning over to Cabana Bay to check it out, and had a quick and very tasty egg and bacon breakfast in the food court. No food court in RPR, for a quick breakfast the only option is a "grab and go" area in the lobby bar with a number of over-priced items such as muffins, bagels, etc. We also stopped at Sapphire Falls to look around and they have a nice deli type eatery that you could walk over to, honestly it is a hike to get to Cabana Bay and you have to cross a busy street. For a stay of your length you might want to buy breakfast items to have in the room, which is what we plan to do. There is a Keurig coffee maker in the room and a small refrigerator.

 

[darcoops]

We just returned from a two night stay at RPR and loved it. We coincidentally have another trip to Universal planned for February with son, daughter in law and granddaughter, and yesterday I called to change resorts from Cabana Bay (which we had reserved) to RPR. IN addition to having the express pass included for all party members, RPR is a beautiful resort and the boat service to Universal is great, it is also easily walkable.

Now I will tell you that at RPR the food options are much more expensive. We took a walk on our check-out morning over to Cabana Bay to check it out, and had a quick and very tasty egg and bacon breakfast in the food court. No food court in RPR, for a quick breakfast the only option is a "grab and go" area in the lobby bar with a number of over-priced items such as muffins, bagels, etc. We also stopped at Sapphire Falls to look around and they have a nice deli type eatery that you could walk over to, honestly it is a hike to get to Cabana Bay and you have to cross a busy street. For a stay of your length you might want to buy breakfast items to have in the room, which is what we plan to do. There is a Keurig coffee maker in the room and a small refrigerator.

Thanks for the info & will do.