So I got back from my conference. Thank you for the helpful tips.
I didn't have time to experience the pools, or much of what the hotel had to offer. While the conference was great and I learned a lot, I wont go into that here.
Had this been a family vacation, we would have come away from it pretty happy. We usually spend as much time as we can in the parks. So the hotel being clean, and the room being comfortable is key, and the Cabana Bay Beach was.
They put me in the Americana section, room 5503 (5th floor). It was very close to the elevator, but I couldn't hear that. I did hear the "neighbors" from time to time at night. If I got up against the window, and looked to the left, I could see the top of the Hulk coaster, Dr. Doom's Fearfall, Dudly Do-right.
When I was checking in, and asked, the person behind the desk said that I would have to walk to the conference areas in the Royal Pacific, so that is what I did. They had signs saying "do not cross here" at the Adventure Way intersection right out front. So instead, I ended up following the Castaway building to the walk way and bridge over Adventure Way down near the Hollywood Way intersection, then up, around and into the Sapphire Falls resort lobby and walk the rest inside... 1.25 miles one way in 75 Degrees, 80% Humidity, and sun, as you can probably imagine, I was sweating when I got there. BUT the walking too and from really helped my back feel good!! I had surgery a few years ago, and lately its been really hurting, doing that much walking, 2.5miles for the round trip, and lots of walking session to session accounted for over 5 miles each day, really helped! I know I could have tried an Uber, but I figured until one got to the hotel, and got back to drop me off between the Royal Pacific and Sapphire, it probably would have taken longer than the walking, so why spend the money.
As for the hotel. The room was nice. The beds were a little uncomfortable at first, but by the second night I found my spot and slept pretty good the rest of the week.
The conference provided breakfast and lunch, so I mostly just ate dinner at the Bayliner Diner. The food was what I expected. Basic (burgers, dogs, pizza, chicken), but good for what they had. The Jerk Chicken with basmati rice was a treat. It was seasoned perfectly, the chicken fell off the bone and was tender and juicy. Unfortunately there were evenings the condiment dispensers were empty, and the packet bowls only had honey mustard, so I had to walk around to find yellow mustard for my hotdog one night, and hamburger the other. While I got the refillable resort mug, occasionally the Coke Freestyle machines were coming up empty. I usually went for regular Coke or Vitamin Water Zero, and I'd often find the machines had categories of drinks (i.e. Coke, Powerade, Vitamin Water, Vitamin Water Zero) blacked out (i.e. empty), so I'd have to walk around and check each machine. One night, I did see a repair man working on a machine, so maybe they were just malfunctioning?
The gift shop had a nice assortment of T-shirts, towels, backpacks, and other items. So I did manage to get a few souvenirs before I checked out.
The Starbucks was always full and had a long line. I didn't stop there.
