ENDLESS SUMMER RESORT.

[Keyser]

Looks like we will be at Surfside in August. As I try to plan ahead, I do have a couple of questions:
1) I understand that buses are fast/frequent, but how long would you say it would take to get from the US/IoA entrance to the hotel (or vice-versa)? For example, if we were planning to take a break in the afternoon from those parks, how much time would be eaten up just in leaving the park, getting back to the hotel, and then returning? Or, along the same lines, if we needed to leave the park to be at the hotel at a particular time (such as to get luggage and go to the airport), how long should we allow?

2) I read above that the buses were just a few minutes to CityWalk, but how about to Epic Universe? Do they run about as frequently, and are they direct, or do you have to go to take 2 buses (like to Citywalk then to EU) or something?

Thanks!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Bus to CityWalk is pretty much constant, in the really busy times (park opening) you may have a short wait to board & buses will be very full ("if you can see floor, there's room for more"), but they will pretty much have a bus waiting as soon as one fills up. I think I have only ever waited more than 15min for a bus ride once or twice, and normally that's at quiet times while they wait for a fuller load - meaning that you're at least waiting seated on the air conditioned bus.

I would say it's probably safe to guess 5-15min from getting to the bus stop to stepping off the bus. You hit a bus that just left, waiting to fill up the next bus, uncooperative traffic lights, I'm sure it could go over that. Actual time on road is probably 5min average.

Walk from park gates to bus, depending on walking speed, maybe 10min. Keep in mind you will need to go through security on the way back in, they're efficient but could still be 5min.

My official guesstimate:
Walk from park gate to bus stop = 10min
Await bus to pull away = 1-10min
Bus ride = 5min
Hotel break
Await bus to pull away = 1-10min
Bus ride = 5min
Security = 2-5min
Walk from security to park gate = 10min
Total mid-day break transit time = 34-55min. Less if you walk fast.

Epic Universe - approx drive time maybe 15min? They have a bus lane so traffic is less of an impact. Hotel Epic buses may be shared between hotels, but they don't go to CityWalk, it'll be a dedicated Epic bus.

 

[mlggator22]

We are coming for a week in October. Everything seems to be booking out like crazy. We are spending most of our time at WDW staying at AKL Villas (daughter works for Disney so we are getting a really good rate). We have 5 adults in our room. However, the AKL villa did not span our entire trip, so we are going to have to switch hotels for the last night.
Since we are doing Universal last, we thought we might stay at a Universal hotel that last night. Because of the number of people, we are thinking of this hotel.
I have stayed at Royal Pacific and Portofino Bay and had great experiences there. But I don't want to pay $1000+ and have to get a roll out cart.

I stayed at Cabana Bay with 5 people and did not have a good experience. When we checked in the room was not cleaned properly and was gross. They were full and couldn't move us. Had the cleaning crew come in again, but were kinda rude about the whole thing and I was a bit freaked out the whole time wondering if they really a thorough cleaning the second time.

I would love to know what you guys think of this hotel. It is me, my husband, my daughter and her boyfriend and my son staying there. I think we will mostly be in the parks all day and won't need to use the pool. Just a clean and comfortable place to sleep.

Also, do they store luggage?

Thanks for any help.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I would love to know what you guys think of this hotel. It is me, my husband, my daughter and her boyfriend and my son staying there. I think we will mostly be in the parks all day and won't need to use the pool. Just a clean and comfortable place to sleep.

We stayed there a couple of years ago and liked it. It was me, DH, DS, and our nephew (both early 20s) so 4 adults. We enjoyed the surf vibe a lot - very open and airy feeling. The suite was enough space, and the view from up high was good. The QS place was fine, there was a Starbucks if you like that, and there was a pool bar as well. I think our only slightly negative observation was that the towel hooks were in kind of weird spots? I remember taking pics by the big surfboard letters in the lobby.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

We were upgraded from a standard room to a 2 room suite - just the two of us. The room was clean (to be fair, we've never had a problem at any of the Universal hotels, and we're not picky). We've since stayed in a standard room and that was also fine. It does have a nice beachy feel, and I didn't find the lobby to be busy - Cabana Bay seems to be the busiest lobby.

Any of the Universal hotels store luggage, it's quite convenient.