Cabana Bay Beach Resort

[Stitch_101]

We must have gotten really lucky!

One thing that threw me off - Shakes is no longer open during breakfast hours.

It was like that last year when I went, basically the same week of the month too. Noon opening time. Maybe it's a seasonal change? I always assumed it had always opened at noon, never knew it had ever opened at breakfast hours.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

It was like that last year when I went, basically the same week of the month too. Noon opening time. Maybe it's a seasonal change? I always assumed it had always opened at noon, never knew it had ever opened at breakfast hours.

It may have been like that last year and I forgot - I've definitely gotten a breakfast sandwich there at some point in time though lol

 

[Jake S]

We must have gotten really lucky!

One thing that threw me off - Shakes is no longer open during breakfast hours.

My all-time favorite Cabana Bay moment happened on the last morning of our trip two years ago. We were having breakfast down in the cafeteria area, with Shakes right behind us at around 9 a.m. There's absolutely no one in line. A young girl (9 or 10) walked up to the counter and ordered a chocolate milkshake and proudly told the person behind the counter, "it's my birthday and this is the birthday treat I picked out."

I hope she's having a good day today.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

I was in the Americana building over Labor Day and had a good room. One of the tower rooms I stayed in last fall was a bit dinged up with fixtures, so it was definitely an improvement.

For the price, Cabana Bay is always a good go to when I don’t need to pay deluxe prices (Portofino would be my go too if it was always sub-$400 but alas….) and Sapphire/Aventura are a little high.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

My all-time favorite Cabana Bay moment happened on the last morning of our trip two years ago. We were having breakfast down in the cafeteria area, with Shakes right behind us at around 9 a.m. There's absolutely no one in line. A young girl (9 or 10) walked up to the counter and ordered a chocolate milkshake and proudly told the person behind the counter, "it's my birthday and this is the birthday treat I picked out."

I hope she's having a good day today.

I hope she does that every year for her birthday lol

I was in the Americana building over Labor Day and had a good room. One of the tower rooms I stayed in last fall was a bit dinged up with fixtures, so it was definitely an improvement.

For the price, Cabana Bay is always a good go to when I don’t need to pay deluxe prices (Portofino would be my go too if it was always sub-$400 but alas….) and Sapphire/Aventura are a little high.

Sapphire's prices are absolutely unreal for a hotel that doesn't include Express

 

[Grabnar]

Sapphire's prices are absolutely unreal for a hotel that doesn't include Express

It's the convention hotel. they're banking on people putting it on the corporate card.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

It's the convention hotel. they're banking on people putting it on the corporate card.

Yeah, I'm perfectly happy walking over to use the boat rather than paying to stay there lol

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I stayed a few months ago and a lot of common areas were looking rough and the specific room I got was in really bad shape too. Trash, food, and used towels in the halls for 48 hours that never got picked up the entire time I was there, peeling paint/wallpaper, torn floor mats, broken light fixtures. In the room the curtains were torn, fridge wasn't working, lights broken, shower head broken. It was such a bad experience. It left me wishing I'd stayed somewhere else.

Sounds like they must have focused on refreshing and fixing these issues the past few months. I’m going to ask Len if we have a break down of CBBR ratings by month.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Sounds like they must have focused on refreshing and fixing these issues the past few months. I’m going to ask Len if we have a break down of CBBR ratings by month.

Yeah, I may have just been lucky but I did not notice any glaring issues last week.

Other than the general uncleanliness near the Freestyle machines in Bayliner Diner, which is almost part of the charm at this point lol

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Yeah, I may have just been lucky but I did not notice any glaring issues last week.

Other than the general uncleanliness near the Freestyle machines in Bayliner Diner, which is almost part of the charm at this point lol

We ran the data but couldn’t find a trend due to not having enough data. But some of our research has pointed out that the resort does need a refurb, so I think you might have gotten lucky.

 

[AustinT]

Sounds like they must have focused on refreshing and fixing these issues the past few months.

Maybe. Hopefully, because my stay as not pleasant at all. This was back in May in the Americana wing.

My stay in March wasn't this rough but it was up there

My stay was mid-May so this lines up.

 

[srbmarc]

Just did my online check-in for this weekend at Cabana Bay for HHN. We had minor issues last year (the battery died in our room's deadbolt and we had to wait in the hallway 30+ minutes for maintenance to come fix it), but overall it's our favorite resort on property. Mainly because of the lazy river. Hoping the refresh you all are talking about is all taken care of by now.

 

[Mad Dog]

Lots of new hotel rates popping up this weekend for stay more save more on the non Deluxe hotels. Many rates better than AP discount rates. I just rebooked my June 2026 CBBR portion of the vacation and saved $720 (suite) extra for an 8 night stay that previously had a nice AP discount. My Portofino 4 day stay was the same though. Checked some dates in November and the non deluxe hotels have better stay more save more rates than before. So I'll probably rebook the non Royal Pacific days.

 

[Kichkinet85]

Lots of new hotel rates popping up this weekend for stay more save more on the non Deluxe hotels. Many rates better than AP discount rates. I just rebooked my June 2026 CBBR portion of the vacation and saved $720 (suite) extra for an 8 night stay that previously had a nice AP discount. My Portofino 4 day stay was the same though. Checked some dates in November and the non deluxe hotels have better stay more save more rates than before. So I'll probably rebook the non Royal Pacific days.

Wow! Over 700? That’s awesome! Just goes to show book the hotels as soon as you can and just keep checking the rates and if it goes down any, call. They will happily switch it over for you. And that way if it goes up it’s no worries as you already have a room.

 

[Mad Dog]

Wow! Over 700? That’s awesome! Just goes to show book the hotels as soon as you can and just keep checking the rates and if it goes down any, call. They will happily switch it over for you. And that way if it goes up it’s no worries as you already have a room.

Yeah, I've been doing this system for a long time and I can't recall a time the discount increased so much from the previous discount. Seems CBBR also lowered the base price for those two periods so that had something to do with the huge price differential. Maybe they'll do a catchup for AP's later, but now those Stay More rates are better. I checked both, so I went with the better discount. A few of those CBBR June day rates were as low as $140 for a Sunday night (Suite Pool View), $152 for Tuesday.....I don't even call. Just retrieve the reservation and click cancel. So easy. But I always do the new booking first, in case the rooms get scooped up.

 

[Skold]

@Mad Dog I have a question for you. But first, exposition!

I've been staying CBBR since it opened. Love the theming, the waterfall pool, the diner. We've sat and watched the diner's vid for hours! Just get a beer at Swizzle and snuggle into a '50s themed booth!

Atomic Tonic and The Hideaway are awesome!

But since the towers opened, the lazy river side is insane. There are no more tables with umbrellas to be had. They re-did the Hideaway bar line! They doubled the number of rooms but made no change to the pools.

It sucks now IMO. What do you see in it that I am missing? My favorite things are gone.

 

[Mad Dog]

@Mad Dog I have a question for you. But first, exposition!

I've been staying CBBR since it opened. Love the theming, the waterfall pool, the diner. We've sat and watched the diner's vid for hours! Just get a beer at Swizzle and snuggle into a '50s themed booth!

Atomic Tonic and The Hideaway are awesome!

But since the towers opened, the lazy river side is insane. There are no more tables with umbrellas to be had. They re-did the Hideaway bar line! They doubled the number of rooms but made no change to the pools.

It sucks now IMO. What do you see in it that I am missing? My favorite things are gone.

I like the other side better, always have. It's has that 50's/60's neon vibe down pat. That said, your thoughts on the tower side have merit. That pool, smaller than the other, gets pretty crowded, but I lost my zest for the lazy river a few years ago, more due to age than anything else. They have the space on that side to do more tables with umbrellas, so they should. But the times we've gone there's rarely more than a dozen or so people at the sand area, so there's still tons of space....Also, the jacuzzi is always filled it seems. Probably because that side seems to be more adult oriented.....The main issue with Cabana is the reservation area which gets crazy at times. But, as I mentioned in my vacation post, there's an easy way around that problem. Just do the check-in online. That way you get the essentially no line desk for check in. Saves a ton of time on busy times of day or if your vacation is scheduled at the same time as the dreaded Orlando Informer meet up days that seem to be sooo often anymore and cause Friday early park closings.