Any opinions on Cabana Bay and Sapphire Falls compared to Royal Pacific

[ajb_tic_tac]

On my last trip some years ago we stayed at Royal Pacific. Loved the hotel.

However I do always like a change. Forgetting about express pass and how the hotels are rated the theme and look of Cabana Bay really appeals to me.

Also Sapphire Falls is new for me.

Any opinions on how these two hotels compare to Royal Pacific (when excluding the express pass perk at Royal Pacific)?

Andrew

 

[zbsigpi]

I have not stayed at SF so I cannot comment on that hotel. However, if you are just comparing hotels.
If you enjoy the time frame (1950's) then yes you will truly have a good time between the decor, the music, and the videos playing in the dining area. The pools are nice, the room layout in a family suite is great.
We enjoyed the time we spent at the resort but we found it a little 'loud', not in volume but just in the overall theme, kinda sensory overload.
I personally prefer RPR over CB but that is IMO.

 

[lynnfitz]

We stayed at SF last summer, prior to that we stayed at RP. I personally give RP the edge-I just like the layout of the hotel a little better-the pool area I liked a little more, and we also enjoyed Jakes over the restaurant at SF. I think RP is a little more tropical (nicer lobby in my opinion). That being said, I still think SF is a lovely hotel, really no complaints, just like the "feel" of RP a little more. I also like the area around the pool at RP, there are a few shops, and they always have nice relaxing music playing. Really can't go wrong with either, just give RP a little edge in my book.

 

[pigletto]

We have stayed at Portifino once, RPR five or six times, and Cabana Bay three (soon to be four) times. I thought Portifino was very nice , the rooms were very large, and I am in no hurry to go back. We've stayed at nicer hotels, and I don't need to pay that kind of money for a theme park trip.

We love RPR, love the theme and the atmosphere and the pool area, but the rooms are too small for us now. We kind of reluctantly moved to CBBR because we wanted more space for our family (two adults and two teens). We LOVE it there. It's extremely laid back, great atmosphere for families, perfect sized family suites, great food court , Starbucks in the lobby, lazy river and awesome pools. It's just fun and screams theme park vacation to us.

When we stay elsewhere in the world or go cruising we look for more luxiourous accomodations. For a Universal trip Cabana Bay just checks all the boxes for us. We've only been over to Saphirre Falls to use the water taxi. It's lovely looking but there is something that doesn't do it for me. It's just lacking in personality in some way that I can't quite put my finger on. I think it's just a matter of personal preference but between SF and RPR.. I would always choose RPR.

 

[schumigirl]

Being honest I dislike Cabana Bay. For us, it's too brash and like pp I find it too "loud" in many ways........but many love it so it's purely our personal preference. Nothing about it appeals to us.

Sapphire Falls is lovely. We really like it there and spend quite a lot of time over in StrongWater Tavern The rooms are lovely and we love the feel of the place. Hoping to have a couple of nights there this year during our stay to RP.

But, we would always choose RPR over any of the hotels. It suits us. The restaurants, rooms, pool and general feel of the hotel has everything we require.

 

[cfoxga]

Our first trip was to CB back in April. We loved Universal (enough to setup another trip in October), but are looking to stay elsewhere. There were parts that were okay, but it definitely had a "value" side to it. I didn't care for the food court and the repetitive videos they played. It could have been so much better. It had the right cosmetic look, but doesn't execute it very well. I think the real kicker was the walk over to SF to catch the ferry; it was just too much extra walking after a long day in the park. We took the bus a couple of times, but the ferry ride just felt like the proper way to enjoy the resort.

We're currently booked at SF at about the same rate as we payed for CB. We only walked through a small part of the resort when going to the ferry, but it seemed a lot nicer than CB. I guess we'll be able to make a proper comparison then. But in the end, it really depends on what you want out of your hotel...

Chris

 

[macraven]

I've been to the two non deluxe hotels for meeting up with friends and spent a couple of hours at each


Nice to visit but for staying onsite, it would be rpr for me

Rpr has my

 

[ajb_tic_tac]

Thank you for all the very helpful thoughts. Reading all the comments I think RPR will continue to be the hotel for us. I love tropical theme and coupled with the great pool area it perhaps can't be beat for us (only being a couple and room size not the most important thing).

I will definitely be interested in visiting CBBR (as the theme really appeals to me) and trying out Strongwater Tavern at SFR.

 

[lynnfitz]

As far as room size, not sure if it's in the budget, but they have the King suite at RP which gives you a little more room-I got a APH discount for this August. Enjoy!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

We've stayed at HRH 5 times, RPR 3 times and CB once. They are all great!

We are too spoiled by EP to give it up. We won't land at MCO until almost 11:00 PM so we are trying SF for one night. Then we are transferring to RP for three nights. No AP rate rooms available yet for our 4th night so if nothing becomes available at RP withbthatvrate we willvswitch to CB for our last night.

Then we head to at Augustine beach for a week before taking DD to move into her dorm at Flagler College