Cabana Bay vs. HRH

[acamusic]

We've booked HRH for next week, mostly for the benefit of EPs. Never been to UO before and we are watching lots of videos and seeing very small crowds. Combine that with the fact that our teenage boys are BIG and we need space in our room. We get an extra bed instead of a rollaway at CB and a better bathroom arrangement, plus we save over 1K. I'm having a hard time justifying the extra cost to stay at HRH vs. the crowd levels and the extra space/bed at Cabana. What am I missing?

 

[DisneyLifePapioNe]

We've booked HRH for next week, mostly for the benefit of EPs. Never been to UO before and we are watching lots of videos and seeing very small crowds. Combine that with the fact that our teenage boys are BIG and we need space in our room. We get an extra bed instead of a rollaway at CB and a better bathroom arrangement, plus we save over 1K. I'm having a hard time justifying the extra cost to stay at HRH vs. the crowd levels and the extra space/bed at Cabana. What am I missing?

Staying at HR will put you very close to the parks, you will also get express pass.

If you plan on a lot of park time and don’t mind a short bus ride as your main source of transportation, or a decent walk from CB and no express pass then the $1000 savings might be worth it, CB is a great Universal resort that many love and continually return to.

If it’s next week you might still have somewhat low crowd levels still and not having express won’t be such a big deal.

I believe a family suite at CB is 430 sqft and a standard room at HR is 375 sqft so maybe decide which would be more important a little more space to spread out, being able to breeze through the parks with EP or saving $1000?

 

[andieb0602]

Something else to consider if you're looking at a family suite at CB is that it also has a kitchenette with a dorm-sized fridge and microwave which is nice for an in-room breakfast or heavy snacks/drinks. We stayed in a family suite during a slow time last November and it usually took us 10-15 minutes to get from the resort (via bus) to get through security at Citywalk. We took the boat from Sapphire Falls once morning and the timing was about the same but a more relaxing experience. A bonus is that, if you plan on going to Volcano Bay, you can walk there *very* easily from CB.

If you think you'll be staying in the parks for most of the day and not going back-and-forth a bunch (or parks in the morning, VB in the afternoon/evening) I would strongly consider changing to CB. If you want to be able to go back-and-forth easier and don't want to deal with virtual queues I would stay at HRH.

 

[ClapYourHands]

I'd go with CB this trip. Assuming you'll be there for a few days, you can easily get in all the rides/attractions with relatively short waits if you are strategic in your touring plan. You're going to be there at a very HOT time of year, so you're probably not going to want to be in the parks all day anyway. It's super fast and easy to get back to CB for a rest or dip in the pool during the heat of midday. No matter where you stay onsite, you'll get early morning access, which can help you knock out a headliner or two, and get you in the park early enough to join the virtual queue for Hagrid's coaster, which currently does not have EP, and is reported to be the best ride there.

Another option might be to do a split stay. If you keep 1 night at HRH, you will get 2 days of EP, which is more than enough time to do all or most of the attractions. When we went a few years ago, we had EP, and basically did everything we wanted to do in the first two days, and spent the next two days going back to our favorites. However, I know that rates go down the longer you stay at one particular hotel, so a split stay might be more expensive than the cost of one night at HRH. Still, it wouldn't be $1000 more.

 

[nkereina]

I think it was Islands that closed for capacity over the weekend. I'm not sure what wait times looked like when that occurred, but I know some wait times shortly after opening were in the 30-45 minute range. While that's slower than normal, EP would cut that down to 5-7 minutes in most cases. Plus, with EP getting you in the queue and on the ride faster, there's less time spent outside in that June Florida heat! Also, you can easily walk to the parks from HRH and would have to bus from CBBR.

 

[jeni1072]

I though CB was the smallest room I've every stayed in my whole life, and one of the reason that as much as I love the theming I will not go back. The HRH room is huge and we love it.

 

[hhoope01]

While CBR's doesn't have the smallest rooms I've ever stayed in, it does seem to have the smallest rooms of all the Universal on-site hotels. And those rooms tend to be a little more "spartan" than the Premier hotel rooms, but CBR does have a lot of other things that make it very unique among the onsite hotels (i.e. bowling alley, lazy river, food court, its own entrance to VB, etc.).

Standard room sizes:

CBR: 300 sqft
Aventura: 314 sqft
Endless Summer: 313 sqft
SFR: 321 sqft
RPR: 335 sqft
HRH: 375 sqft
PBR: 450 sqft

I once stayed at the Pere Marquette in New Orleans, they have a 1 Queen room at 119 sqft. I do believe that is the smallest hotel room I've ever stayed in.

 

[serene56]

We are booked in the two bedroom suite at endless summer. I was contemplating moving to cabana bay but after seeing my key factors were not opened yet I decided to stay. Royal pacific was 1000 more. For a smaller room and a cot for my 5th person

 

[tlaw66]

we took a long trip to Florida went to Disney for 9 days then to universal for 4 days. Will tell you that me kids loved the ep enough to tell me the wanted more time at universal next time they had twice as much fun not having to wait to get on all the rides in my opinion if you have older kids the hrh is worth the extra money have fun