Sapphire falls vs cabana bay

[Shacka1]

Hello!

I'm reading up on the differences.

Cabana -
-buses
-quick service
- is it a more crowded/busy resort? I know at disney the cheaper ones are always so busy and that's my main concern. I want to relax after the parks

Sapphire
-water taxis, will these run if bad weather, we will be there in June
-quick service/food court, is there one? I like the quick grab and go!

We are looking at end of June, it's a $200 difference.

Also for reference, we usually stay at moderate-deluxe resorts at Disney so I think that's what's making me nervous about cabana.

Thanks so much!

 

[macraven]

Water taxis do not operate when lightening is near by

people will walk back to their hotel when the boats are shut down

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Sapphire has a market with grab & go, plus a restaurant & bar. I found their grab & go to be tasty and reasonably priced.

 

[Shacka1]

Water taxis do not operate when lightening is near by

people will walk back to their hotel when the boats are shut down

Oh perfect! I didn't realize you could walk

 

[Shacka1]

Sapphire has a market with grab & go, plus a restaurant & bar. I found their grab & go to be tasty and reasonably priced.

Great! Thank you!!!!

 

[wdwrule]

Hello!

I'm reading up on the differences.

Cabana -
-buses ✔
-quick service ✔
- is it a more crowded/busy resort? I know at disney the cheaper ones are always so busy and that's my main concern. I want to relax after the parks

Sapphire
-water taxis, will these run if bad weather, we will be there in June
-quick service/food court, is there one? I like the quick grab and go!

We are looking at end of June, it's a $200 difference.

Also for reference, we usually stay at moderate-deluxe resorts at Disney so I think that's what's making me nervous about cabana.

Thanks so much!

Just my opinion but we stayed at both and love Sapphire Falls better. SF have bright, fresh rooms and easy walking distance to the parks. We did enjoy the food court at cabana bay and never found it busy like the Disney food courts usually are. In fact, night and day difference.

You mentioned you usually stay at moderates or deluxes at Disney and I think you will definitely be pleased with the feel at Sapphire Falls… As to me it feels like a deluxe.

 

[Shacka1]

Just my opinion but we stayed at both and love Sapphire Falls better. SF have bright, fresh rooms and easy walking distance to the parks. We did enjoy the food court at cabana bay and never found it busy like the Disney food courts usually are. In fact, night and day difference.

You mentioned you usually stay at moderates or deluxes at Disney and I think you will definitely be pleased with the feel at Sapphire Falls… As to me it feels like a deluxe.

Thank you so much!!!! I'm booking SF now!!!! Yay!

 

[wdwrule]

Thank you so much!!!! I'm booking SF now!!!! Yay!

You’ll love it! Wonderful atmosphere. When we find we want more variety for breakfast, etc we’ve walked across the way to Aventura which has a full service Starbucks and a bigger variety of quick service items. It is a literal one minute walk from lobby to lobby… ok maybe 90 seconds . Enjoy! It’s gorgeous and has a more upscale feel. Also, we averaged a 10 minute walk from our room at SF to the little security check point that leads to Citywalk/parks.

 

[Shacka1]

You’ll love it! Wonderful atmosphere. When we find we want more variety for breakfast, etc we’ve walked across the way to Aventura which has a full service Starbucks and a bigger variety of quick service items. It is a literal one minute walk from lobby to lobby… ok maybe 90 seconds . Enjoy! It’s gorgeous and has a more upscale feel. Also, we averaged a 10 minute walk from our room at SF to the little security check point that leads to Citywalk/parks.

Thank you so much! I'm so excited to try universal! If you don't mind me asking, do you islands of adventure is too much for an 8 yr old?

 

[wdwrule]

Thank you so much! I'm so excited to try universal! If you don't mind me asking, do you islands of adventure is too much for an 8 yr old?

In my opinion and thinking of when my kids were that age, no it’s not too much (for my kids). Mine have always been thrill seekers and wanted to get on big roller coasters and rides like Tower of Terror the moment they reached the height requirement though. In IoA, the Marvel area is fun if they’re into that and they also have the Dr Seuss area. Harry Potter areas are in both parks, so there’s that. I think IoA has a good mix of things to do for young ages, including play areas. Everything is well themed. You may want to check out descriptions of rides on the Universal website and/or the app and also check height requirements. The most intense (& one of our favorites) is Velocicoaster but I’m not sure off the top of my head what the height requirement is. There are many vlogs out there on YouTube if you wanted to check out the ride descriptions/scare factor beforehand. Some popular/informative ones are by Taylor Strickland from Orlando Informer, AllEars (Molly), and The Pugh Two. I learned a lot from them (& these boards) when planning Universal since we had only vacationed at WDW prior.

 

[Dawn Peterson]

Thank you so much! I'm so excited to try universal! If you don't mind me asking, do you islands of adventure is too much for an 8 yr old?

not at all. My 8 yr old preferred that park. It has seussland, Jurassic park and Spider-Man in addition to the other half of Harry Potter world

 

[Shacka1]

Thank you both so much! She loves the coasters at Disney and she's pretty tall for her age so sounds like she will love it!

Thank you again for everything, you have all been so helpful

 

[bfrosty]

You'll love it, especially an 8yr old. Be sure to go to the back of Fievel's Land, go past the small water park area and straight to the very back. There's a 2-story interactive ball pit-type area that you can shoot nerf-type tennis balls via air compressed guns mounted on railings!!! You'll spend hours in there!!!

 

[bfrosty]

One BIG thing for me at Cabana Bay - Very thin walls, you will hear everything!!!! Everything else about Cabana Bay is awesome and we love the theming. We stayed about 4-5 times there.

 

[Shacka1]

You'll love it, especially an 8yr old. Be sure to go to the back of Fievel's Land, go past the small water park area and straight to the very back. There's a 2-story interactive ball pit-type area that you can shoot nerf-type tennis balls via air compressed guns mounted on railings!!! You'll spend hours in there!!!

I can't wait!

 

[Shacka1]

One BIG thing for me at Cabana Bay - Very thin walls, you will hear everything!!!! Everything else about Cabana Bay is awesome and we love the theming. We stayed about 4-5 times there.

Im actually a horrible sleeper, I always have to request top floor and bring my sound machine but we booked sapphire falls! Yay!

 

[christophfam]

Have to agree with everyone else. SF is a gorgeous property and I think you‘ll love it. I’d stay there every trip if it offered express. Make sure to checkout Strongwater one night for tapas style dinner (and amazing drinks). Lunch by the pool delivered to my lounger is also a favorite.

 

[Shacka1]

Have to agree with everyone else. SF is a gorgeous property and I think you‘ll love it. I’d stay there every trip if it offered express. Make sure to checkout Strongwater one night for tapas style dinner (and amazing drinks). Lunch by the pool delivered to my lounger is also a favorite.

Thank you for the tips! Can't wait

 

[kbelle8995]

I Am more of a Cabana Bay person, They have better food options than Sapphire falls. You can walk to Adventura if you would like a food court. Strongwater Tavern is very good. I'm not a fan of the Grab and go at Sapphire Falls, just not enough choices for me.

And The sit down is sometimes hard to get into.

 

[lisam70]

I Am more of a Cabana Bay person, They have better food options than Sapphire falls. You can walk to Adventura if you would like a food court. Strongwater Tavern is very good. I'm not a fan of the Grab and go at Sapphire Falls, just not enough choices for me.

And The sit down is sometimes hard to get into.

Agree! Maybe it was just bad timing on our part but the line also moved slow because instead of having separate lines for the made to order coffee drinks and the grab and go items there was just one line. And the breakfast sandwiches were not great. The breakfast buffet is good though.