bfrosty
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2006
Universal Studios Voyage 4/2/15-4/7/15
Cabana Bay Beach Resort @ Universal Studios w/4-day Ticket Package (both parks)
Thursday, April 2nd – Flight/Cabana Bay Beach Resort
Friday, April 3rd – Universal Studios Islands of Adventure/Universal Studios
Saturday, April 4th - Universal Studios Islands of Adventure/Universal Studios
Sunday, April 5th - Universal Studios Islands of Adventure/Universal Studios/Mass
Monday, April 6th - Universal Studios Islands of Adventure/Universal Studios
Tuesday, April 7th – Flight Home
***Please not that @ The Cabana Bay Beach Resort, you only get into the Harry Potter sections of the parks an hour early. I think at Royal Pacific, Hard Rock and Portofino you get the Unlimited Express pass. I can't verify that though. The normal Express pass allows you to ride each ride once per visit.
Travel/Hotel Checkin – Great flight down via Southwest Airlines, we used the Mears Shuttle R/T service. Mears was great, friendly and fast. Mears transportation is located on Level 1 at MCO. We made one stop at the Ren@SeaWorld to drop a few passengers off. Check-in at CBBR was normal as expected; just flashed a credit card for charges and our room was ready NOW!!! About 2:30pm local time. (Advantage over Disney) – we had our luggage with us, didn’t have to wait 3-4hrs for DME to deliver it to the room. We were able to unpack and enjoy the pool instantly. We checked out the grounds, located the food areas (Bayliner Diner, Starbucks, Bowling Alley, Bars by Pools) Found the firepits, beaches, games, lazy river. Lots of amenities at the hotel, just as many as a Disney resort.
The Room – We stayed in room 4603; a tower room in the main building. Just behind the Bayliner Diner, there was an elevator. Floor 6, out the elevator and our room was third on the right, very close and convenient. I did notice a lot of noise from the window and our lock off door, moreso than a Disney resort. Our room faced the parking garage and street. Our two queen beds and put out sofa was plenty of room for our family of 5. The kitchen had a sink, college-size refrigerator (bigger than Disney), coffee maker, microwave. Two extra chairs and two coffee tables. Two flat screens, two sinks, shower/tub, separate toilet area, inwall safe, iron, ironing board, closet. Very roomy, but may be tight for 6 adults. Not a lot of room to eat a meal in the room itself. All furnishing were new and fresh, some of the furniture didn’t even looked used at all. It is a very bright room, white walls and bright colors. I’m a big Wilderness lodge fan and I like the dark colors, seems more comfortable and relaxing. Floor to ceiling windows was really nice and the ceiling height was 9’. Most hotels are like 7’6”, so this made the room feel bigger than it was.
The Parks – We didn’t have the Unlimited Express passes that come with the other three hotels (Royal Pacific, Hard Rock or Portofino), but we did get into Harry Potter an hour early each day. So, for Friday, Saturday and Sunday we opted to be at the gates at 7am. This wasn’t a big deal, since we typically leave our house for school about 7am. We woke at 5:30am each day to the Optimus Prime telling us to join him and the ride. Ate breakfast in room (Cinnabon 6-pack) delicious!!! The first few mornings, at the bus stop at 6:30am, at the park by 6:45am. It’s only about a 5min ride to the parking lot drop off at the bottom of the escalators.
I’m going to be generic here…we visited each park each day using the “Hogwarts Express Train” to move from park to park. The mornings were full of people from the resorts, the weather was a cool start but was very warm by 1pm-5pm each day. We did so much by 10:30am that we wondered what was left to do. 4-days gives you plenty of time to casually visit the parks and ride when you want. Now, by 12pm to 7pm the crowds were full on strong. I’d say most popular rides like Harry Potter, Hulk, Water Rides and such went to 60min-90min. Both Harry Potter worlds were packed by 11am each day…so much that it was shoulder to shoulder walking. Ugh!! =(( It was fun and it added a lot of energy and excitement to be there in the thick of it.
RIDES –
Our favorite – Harry Potter’s Forbidden Journey
2nd Place – Escape from Gringott’s
3rd Place – The Dragon’s Challenge
4th Place – The Mummy
5th Tied – Rip Saw Falls and Popeye’s Bilge Rat Barges
6th Place – The Simpsons Ride
7th Place – Rip Ride and Rocket Rollercoaster
8th Place – Transformers 3D
9th Place – The Hulk
10th Place – Spiderman 3D
11th Place – Shrek 4D
The worst – Despicable Me 3D ride (Luckily, it was open at 7am and rode it @5min wait.) I couldn’t imagine waiting 85min to ride it. That ride was like 60min-90min wait time each day.
The Most Anticipated ride – The New KING KONG ride, it looks amazing from the outside already.
The Most disappointing, but looked exciting ride? – The Pterradon Flyers. You have to be between two different height measurements to ride the gondola-type ride. My DD10 was the only one, but she didn’t want to ride it alone.
The Best playground areas – The Fievels mouse area, Jurassic Camp area and Dr. Seuss play areas.
Citywalk Impressions – This area was located as you travelled from the bus stops to the park entrances. It was okay, just a lot places to waste your money. We did end up eating at COWFISH (sushi/burgers) and it was very good. We had truffle fries (fries/bacon/cheese), bento boxes. In addition, we did stop at Cinnabon to get a box of 6-Cinnamon rolls that we ended up eating for breakfast a couple mornings. They are so delicious without being too sweet. I highly recommend them over Starbucks pastries.
Food Reviews –
@Cabana Bay Beach Resort
The Bayliner Diner was the main food court area with 4 stations to choose different food types. Sandwich station, Pizza’s/Flatbread, Grill area, Pasta area. A salad bar and frozen yogurt bar too. Along with some snack type stuff and coolers of beverages. We didn’t opt for the $17.99 drink cups, just asked for water cups mostly. Our favorites here were the Flatbread pizzas (BBQ brisket and Buffalo Chicken), kids cheese pizza, breakfast wraps, fruit bar, pancakes and waffles. The fruit was amazing and so were the bananas at the checkout. Frozen yogurt was delicious too, Mango Sorbet, Birthday Cake, Chocolate, Vanilla and Choco/Van twist. We didn’t eat at the pool areas or the bowling alley. We did grab a few bakery items at Starbucks, but they were not that great. Our bakery item was from Cinnabon at Citywalk.
@citywalk – Cowfish
The Cowfish restaurant is fairly new to city walk (6-months old). It is located at the split between both parks (IOA and US). We rode the elevator up to the 2nd floor. The menu was vast and lots of variety. The food was excellent. The Truffle fries, bento boxes and burgers all tasted top quality. The décor was fun and exciting. Touchscreen games built into the bartop, fun booths, fishtanks both real and digital were located throughout.
@universal Studios – The Simpsons area
The Simpson food area is a combination food court area. We had chicken waffles, flaming moe drink and chicken nuggets. The food was horrible, the décor was amazing. It was very busy here when we visited. I was not impressed at all.
@islands of Adventure – Mythos Restaurant
I want to start by saying we ate here twice. The décor was amazing, great food and atmosphere. The inside took you away from the parks and into a quiet world. Our favorites here were the Spanakopita, Sushi for appetizers. Main courses; Pad Thai w/Shrimp & Chicken, Mahi Mahi, Beef Medallions. Deserts; Banana Gooey Cake and Peanut Butter/Oreo Ice Cream. Mythos was our favorite restaurant and even beat out Cowfish.
@Diagon Alley - The Leaky Culdron
We ate Lunch here and the food was amazing. It was a sitdown, but they delivered your food to the table. The Leaky Culdron was a hybrid counter service/sitdown restaurant. I've heard that they serve breakfast too. It was lightning fast delivery of our food. We enjoyed the Guinness Beef Stew, Fish and Chips and Bangers&Mash. We had a great time here and recommend it. No ressies necessary.
Our final impressions –
We thoroughly enjoyed our little 4-day trip to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. The new Cabana Bay Beach resort was a great place to stay, excellent transportation (padded bus seats) quick ride to park and easy dropoff and pickup. The rooms were big, plenty of amenities for a family of 5, a bit cramped for 6 though. Great onsite food with lots of variety, places to eat inside and outside, excellent pools, bars poolside, bowling alley, firepits, sand beaches, games to play and seating areas both public and semi-private. They also have movies playing at sundown. A PG-13 one the lazy river side and a G movie playing on the slide side.
The two parks were amazing and we loved a lot of the rides we didn’t know existed. Our favorite areas were the Harry Potter sections. We love the Forbidden Journey ride and the train back and forth between the areas. We agree that they should expand Harry Potter world to take over the whole park, plus add a Harry Potter themed hotel and serve butterbeer everywhere on property and at the resorts (wishful thinking) =))
It’s definitely a theme park for older kids (Pre-Teen and up), but we did see a few dozen strollers here and there, but not much for little ones to do at the parks. The play areas I mentioned above and the Hogwarts Express was about it.
I want to recommend highly “CowFish” and “Mythos” restaurants. Please be sure to visit them at least once on your trip.
At first we started to compare this to Disney, but after the 2nd day we forgot and were consumed by Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. It is very different and that’s a good change of events and scenery compared to Disney’s Parks and Resorts.
Enjoy your next trip, I hope this was informative and enjoy the photos.
Cabana Bay Beach Resort @ Universal Studios w/4-day Ticket Package (both parks)
Thursday, April 2nd – Flight/Cabana Bay Beach Resort
Friday, April 3rd – Universal Studios Islands of Adventure/Universal Studios
Saturday, April 4th - Universal Studios Islands of Adventure/Universal Studios
Sunday, April 5th - Universal Studios Islands of Adventure/Universal Studios/Mass
Monday, April 6th - Universal Studios Islands of Adventure/Universal Studios
Tuesday, April 7th – Flight Home
***Please not that @ The Cabana Bay Beach Resort, you only get into the Harry Potter sections of the parks an hour early. I think at Royal Pacific, Hard Rock and Portofino you get the Unlimited Express pass. I can't verify that though. The normal Express pass allows you to ride each ride once per visit.
Travel/Hotel Checkin – Great flight down via Southwest Airlines, we used the Mears Shuttle R/T service. Mears was great, friendly and fast. Mears transportation is located on Level 1 at MCO. We made one stop at the Ren@SeaWorld to drop a few passengers off. Check-in at CBBR was normal as expected; just flashed a credit card for charges and our room was ready NOW!!! About 2:30pm local time. (Advantage over Disney) – we had our luggage with us, didn’t have to wait 3-4hrs for DME to deliver it to the room. We were able to unpack and enjoy the pool instantly. We checked out the grounds, located the food areas (Bayliner Diner, Starbucks, Bowling Alley, Bars by Pools) Found the firepits, beaches, games, lazy river. Lots of amenities at the hotel, just as many as a Disney resort.
The Room – We stayed in room 4603; a tower room in the main building. Just behind the Bayliner Diner, there was an elevator. Floor 6, out the elevator and our room was third on the right, very close and convenient. I did notice a lot of noise from the window and our lock off door, moreso than a Disney resort. Our room faced the parking garage and street. Our two queen beds and put out sofa was plenty of room for our family of 5. The kitchen had a sink, college-size refrigerator (bigger than Disney), coffee maker, microwave. Two extra chairs and two coffee tables. Two flat screens, two sinks, shower/tub, separate toilet area, inwall safe, iron, ironing board, closet. Very roomy, but may be tight for 6 adults. Not a lot of room to eat a meal in the room itself. All furnishing were new and fresh, some of the furniture didn’t even looked used at all. It is a very bright room, white walls and bright colors. I’m a big Wilderness lodge fan and I like the dark colors, seems more comfortable and relaxing. Floor to ceiling windows was really nice and the ceiling height was 9’. Most hotels are like 7’6”, so this made the room feel bigger than it was.
The Parks – We didn’t have the Unlimited Express passes that come with the other three hotels (Royal Pacific, Hard Rock or Portofino), but we did get into Harry Potter an hour early each day. So, for Friday, Saturday and Sunday we opted to be at the gates at 7am. This wasn’t a big deal, since we typically leave our house for school about 7am. We woke at 5:30am each day to the Optimus Prime telling us to join him and the ride. Ate breakfast in room (Cinnabon 6-pack) delicious!!! The first few mornings, at the bus stop at 6:30am, at the park by 6:45am. It’s only about a 5min ride to the parking lot drop off at the bottom of the escalators.
I’m going to be generic here…we visited each park each day using the “Hogwarts Express Train” to move from park to park. The mornings were full of people from the resorts, the weather was a cool start but was very warm by 1pm-5pm each day. We did so much by 10:30am that we wondered what was left to do. 4-days gives you plenty of time to casually visit the parks and ride when you want. Now, by 12pm to 7pm the crowds were full on strong. I’d say most popular rides like Harry Potter, Hulk, Water Rides and such went to 60min-90min. Both Harry Potter worlds were packed by 11am each day…so much that it was shoulder to shoulder walking. Ugh!! =(( It was fun and it added a lot of energy and excitement to be there in the thick of it.
RIDES –
Our favorite – Harry Potter’s Forbidden Journey
2nd Place – Escape from Gringott’s
3rd Place – The Dragon’s Challenge
4th Place – The Mummy
5th Tied – Rip Saw Falls and Popeye’s Bilge Rat Barges
6th Place – The Simpsons Ride
7th Place – Rip Ride and Rocket Rollercoaster
8th Place – Transformers 3D
9th Place – The Hulk
10th Place – Spiderman 3D
11th Place – Shrek 4D
The worst – Despicable Me 3D ride (Luckily, it was open at 7am and rode it @5min wait.) I couldn’t imagine waiting 85min to ride it. That ride was like 60min-90min wait time each day.
The Most Anticipated ride – The New KING KONG ride, it looks amazing from the outside already.
The Most disappointing, but looked exciting ride? – The Pterradon Flyers. You have to be between two different height measurements to ride the gondola-type ride. My DD10 was the only one, but she didn’t want to ride it alone.
The Best playground areas – The Fievels mouse area, Jurassic Camp area and Dr. Seuss play areas.
Citywalk Impressions – This area was located as you travelled from the bus stops to the park entrances. It was okay, just a lot places to waste your money. We did end up eating at COWFISH (sushi/burgers) and it was very good. We had truffle fries (fries/bacon/cheese), bento boxes. In addition, we did stop at Cinnabon to get a box of 6-Cinnamon rolls that we ended up eating for breakfast a couple mornings. They are so delicious without being too sweet. I highly recommend them over Starbucks pastries.
Food Reviews –
@Cabana Bay Beach Resort
The Bayliner Diner was the main food court area with 4 stations to choose different food types. Sandwich station, Pizza’s/Flatbread, Grill area, Pasta area. A salad bar and frozen yogurt bar too. Along with some snack type stuff and coolers of beverages. We didn’t opt for the $17.99 drink cups, just asked for water cups mostly. Our favorites here were the Flatbread pizzas (BBQ brisket and Buffalo Chicken), kids cheese pizza, breakfast wraps, fruit bar, pancakes and waffles. The fruit was amazing and so were the bananas at the checkout. Frozen yogurt was delicious too, Mango Sorbet, Birthday Cake, Chocolate, Vanilla and Choco/Van twist. We didn’t eat at the pool areas or the bowling alley. We did grab a few bakery items at Starbucks, but they were not that great. Our bakery item was from Cinnabon at Citywalk.
@citywalk – Cowfish
The Cowfish restaurant is fairly new to city walk (6-months old). It is located at the split between both parks (IOA and US). We rode the elevator up to the 2nd floor. The menu was vast and lots of variety. The food was excellent. The Truffle fries, bento boxes and burgers all tasted top quality. The décor was fun and exciting. Touchscreen games built into the bartop, fun booths, fishtanks both real and digital were located throughout.
@universal Studios – The Simpsons area
The Simpson food area is a combination food court area. We had chicken waffles, flaming moe drink and chicken nuggets. The food was horrible, the décor was amazing. It was very busy here when we visited. I was not impressed at all.
@islands of Adventure – Mythos Restaurant
I want to start by saying we ate here twice. The décor was amazing, great food and atmosphere. The inside took you away from the parks and into a quiet world. Our favorites here were the Spanakopita, Sushi for appetizers. Main courses; Pad Thai w/Shrimp & Chicken, Mahi Mahi, Beef Medallions. Deserts; Banana Gooey Cake and Peanut Butter/Oreo Ice Cream. Mythos was our favorite restaurant and even beat out Cowfish.
@Diagon Alley - The Leaky Culdron
We ate Lunch here and the food was amazing. It was a sitdown, but they delivered your food to the table. The Leaky Culdron was a hybrid counter service/sitdown restaurant. I've heard that they serve breakfast too. It was lightning fast delivery of our food. We enjoyed the Guinness Beef Stew, Fish and Chips and Bangers&Mash. We had a great time here and recommend it. No ressies necessary.
Our final impressions –
We thoroughly enjoyed our little 4-day trip to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. The new Cabana Bay Beach resort was a great place to stay, excellent transportation (padded bus seats) quick ride to park and easy dropoff and pickup. The rooms were big, plenty of amenities for a family of 5, a bit cramped for 6 though. Great onsite food with lots of variety, places to eat inside and outside, excellent pools, bars poolside, bowling alley, firepits, sand beaches, games to play and seating areas both public and semi-private. They also have movies playing at sundown. A PG-13 one the lazy river side and a G movie playing on the slide side.
The two parks were amazing and we loved a lot of the rides we didn’t know existed. Our favorite areas were the Harry Potter sections. We love the Forbidden Journey ride and the train back and forth between the areas. We agree that they should expand Harry Potter world to take over the whole park, plus add a Harry Potter themed hotel and serve butterbeer everywhere on property and at the resorts (wishful thinking) =))
It’s definitely a theme park for older kids (Pre-Teen and up), but we did see a few dozen strollers here and there, but not much for little ones to do at the parks. The play areas I mentioned above and the Hogwarts Express was about it.
I want to recommend highly “CowFish” and “Mythos” restaurants. Please be sure to visit them at least once on your trip.
At first we started to compare this to Disney, but after the 2nd day we forgot and were consumed by Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. It is very different and that’s a good change of events and scenery compared to Disney’s Parks and Resorts.
Enjoy your next trip, I hope this was informative and enjoy the photos.
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