First time at UO. Many questions in the comments

monica9

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 3, 2011
Hi. I'm new to UO but go to WDW quite often.
What kind of transportation does Cabana Bay have to get to each park/city walk?
If we are booking a standard room, is there a specific area we should request? CAN you put requests at the Universal resorts?
Where is the best place to book the resort? I heard booking the resort and tickets should be separate and not as a package
Is there an app that you link your resort and ticket confirmation to?
Do they have anything similar to fast passes that you can book ahead of time?
It says on Fridays that characters greet at Cabana Bay. Are the characters always different? Is it worth going back to the resort to do this if we only have 3 days at the parks or is it crowded for the meet and greets?
I'm assuming Uber is our cheapest way to get from WDW to UO? How about getting from UO to MCO?
Any other helpful hints? Thanks so much!
 
Also, we are going to take advantage of the buy2 get2 days free. We have a 12 year old and 3 year old. 12 year old and I will want to go on every big coaster. Is there a child swap if my husband wants to try one?
If we have 3 1/2 days, which parks do you suggest? I'd like to see City Walk also. Is it worth using a half day there?
 


Hi. I'm new to UO but go to WDW quite often.
What kind of transportation does Cabana Bay have to get to each park/city walk?
If we are booking a standard room, is there a specific area we should request? CAN you put requests at the Universal resorts?
Where is the best place to book the resort? I heard booking the resort and tickets should be separate and not as a package
Is there an app that you link your resort and ticket confirmation to?
Do they have anything similar to fast passes that you can book ahead of time?
It says on Fridays that characters greet at Cabana Bay. Are the characters always different? Is it worth going back to the resort to do this if we only have 3 days at the parks or is it crowded for the meet and greets?
I'm assuming Uber is our cheapest way to get from WDW to UO? How about getting from UO to MCO?
Any other helpful hints? Thanks so much!
Hi I agree with pp we don't know a lot of how the parks will open, but I think some of the stuff will stay the same. The biggest thing for awhile will be capacity limits.

Cabana Bay is an amazing resort, we usually stay there 1 to 3 days every trip. They have busses to the park or you were able to catch a boat from Sapphire falls across the street. However there are no cross walks so could be a little tricky. I think cabana will keep their busses when they reopen but change capacity limits.

Yes you can request areas of the resort when you book. I find calling reservations or on line is good. You are right it is better to book the resort and tickets separately. The cancellation policies are easier for that. Personally I like the indoor rooms in the towers. They face the pool and lazy river it is better for rain. We like the family suites for 4 of us a little more room.

There is no linking tickets and resorts like Disney. If you stay at one of the three premiere resorts you get unlimited express pass and early entry. Cabana bay will have early entry but doesn't include express pass. You can buy them the day you go if it is busy. Outside of that no fast pass system. You don't reserve rides ahead of time. You usually don't need dinner reservations. Sometimes it is cheaper to get a room one night for unlimited express pass for 2 days. You don't have to actually stay there. We have done it twice.

We use a car service by Tony Hinds. He has threads on him. He is amazing to use. We have him pick us up at the airport stop at a grocery store then to the resort. We go back to the airport after the trip. He is fair for his price. If I fly I use him.
Uber would probably be the best to and from Disney.

Cabana has a great food court. Love the lazy river.

Universal is totally different trip, it is more laid back with less planning.

Anything else just ask :goodvibes
 
Hi I agree with pp we don't know a lot of how the parks will open, but I think some of the stuff will stay the same. The biggest thing for awhile will be capacity limits.

Cabana Bay is an amazing resort, we usually stay there 1 to 3 days every trip. They have busses to the park or you were able to catch a boat from Sapphire falls across the street. However there are no cross walks so could be a little tricky. I think cabana will keep their busses when they reopen but change capacity limits.

Yes you can request areas of the resort when you book. I find calling reservations or on line is good. You are right it is better to book the resort and tickets separately. The cancellation policies are easier for that. Personally I like the indoor rooms in the towers. They face the pool and lazy river it is better for rain. We like the family suites for 4 of us a little more room.

There is no linking tickets and resorts like Disney. If you stay at one of the three premiere resorts you get unlimited express pass and early entry. Cabana bay will have early entry but doesn't include express pass. You can buy them the day you go if it is busy. Outside of that no fast pass system. You don't reserve rides ahead of time. You usually don't need dinner reservations. Sometimes it is cheaper to get a room one night for unlimited express pass for 2 days. You don't have to actually stay there. We have done it twice.

We use a car service by Tony Hinds. He has threads on him. He is amazing to use. We have him pick us up at the airport stop at a grocery store then to the resort. We go back to the airport after the trip. He is fair for his price. If I fly I use him.
Uber would probably be the best to and from Disney.

Cabana has a great food court. Love the lazy river.

Universal is totally different trip, it is more laid back with less planning.

Anything else just ask :goodvibes
Wow thanks so much for the info! This is exactly what I was hoping for. I know the ins and outs of Disney but no clue about Universal so this was very helpful. Thanks again
 
The Universal App is great for ride wait times and show schedule. Especially staying at CB with no express pass, the wait times are very helpful. I believe you can link your tickets in the App. But it is a good idea to have the physical tickets as a backup.

City Walk is directly outside the parks. You will go through security, then you can traverse City Walk and the 2 parks at your leisure (1 or 2 parks, depending if you have park-to-park tickets). It's primarily a wide variety of dining options (quick service through fine dining), with a movie theater and 2 good mini-golf courses. Not necessarily a destination for half the day, but you can pop out at lunch or grab dinner easily during your park days.

Are you planning to go to Volcano Bay?
 


The Universal App is great for ride wait times and show schedule. Especially staying at CB with no express pass, the wait times are very helpful. I believe you can link your tickets in the App. But it is a good idea to have the physical tickets as a backup.

City Walk is directly outside the parks. You will go through security, then you can traverse City Walk and the 2 parks at your leisure (1 or 2 parks, depending if you have park-to-park tickets). It's primarily a wide variety of dining options (quick service through fine dining), with a movie theater and 2 good mini-golf courses. Not necessarily a destination for half the day, but you can pop out at lunch or grab dinner easily during your park days.

Are you planning to go to Volcano Bay?
Thanks! No, just IOA and UO. Didn’t realize city walk was right there with the parks. So it won’t take too much time getting there. We can actually just leave one of the parks and go to city walk for an hour just to check it out? We are doing 4 nights at Disney and then waking up and heading to cabana bay to check in quick and then heading to universal. I’m going to consider that 3/4 of a day at the park. Then full day at the IOA, then 3/4 of a day at the universal plus swim at resort and then the last day get the latest flight and do half day at IOA. Sorry if that’s confusing. My 3 year old daughter is obsessed with the minions so might do the breakfast with despicable me but not sure yet. Hoping to see them at cabana bay too. This is ideally what we would like if all goes back to normal by November. No idea what to expect. Thanks for the help.
 
We can actually just leave one of the parks and go to city walk for an hour just to check it out?
Yes. You will walk through it back and forth to the bus stop for CB. It makes it very easy to grab lunch there, if you don't want to eat at the parks. Or dinner after the parks close, on the way out. There are a lot of good places. Universal's website has menus including prices for all the City Walk and park restaurants.
 
Monica, since you are so new to UOR, have a read of the many stickies at the top of the forums and have a check of the website where you can get an idea of the park layouts and more.

The stickies cover almost everything you should need.

It has ride descriptions and where things like restaurants and bathrooms are.

Also check out Google Earth....you can see how far away everything is from other places. It is so much fun planning a first trip anywhere..... :thumbsup2
 
Yes. You will walk through it back and forth to the bus stop for CB. It makes it very easy to grab lunch there, if you don't want to eat at the parks. Or dinner after the parks close, on the way out. There are a lot of good places. Universal's website has menus including prices for all the City Walk and park restaurants.
Thanks!
 
Monica, since you are so new to UOR, have a read of the many stickies at the top of the forums and have a check of the website where you can get an idea of the park layouts and more.

The stickies cover almost everything you should need.

It has ride descriptions and where things like restaurants and bathrooms are.

Also check out Google Earth....you can see how far away everything is from other places. It is so much fun planning a first trip anywhere..... :thumbsup2
Thanks. Good idea. I will do that!
 
What kind of transportation does Cabana Bay have to get to each park/city walk?
Buses. You can also walk, but you will cross an intersection and I found it to be long-ish. Doable though if you're all able-bodied and the weather is decent. I have also heard of others walking across the street to Sapphire Falls and using the boat from there.

Where is the best place to book the resort? I heard booking the resort and tickets should be separate and not as a package
True that its best to book resort and tickets separately to retain the most flexibility. We book the resort directly with Universal and usually buy our tickets from Undercover Tourist. If you are doing 4 park days or more, consider an annual pass - the price difference is negligible, you receive restaurant discounts, and you can get some awesome passholder rates at the hotels. Often, the annual pass is worth it even if you don't intend to return in the year, just for the discounts at the hotels.

Do they have anything similar to fast passes that you can book ahead of time?
PPs mentioned express pass. This is optional and available for purchase for Cabana Bay guests. The three "deluxe" resorts include it with their stay. If you are considering purchasing express pass, you may want to compare that against the cost of staying at one of the deluxe resorts. Many find the cost difference to be negligible, so they decide to stay at a deluxe resort for the unlimited express pass that's included. Plus, its very easy to walk or boat from all three deluxe resorts.

Express pass is a much better system than Disney's fast pass, IMO. With the unlimited express pass, you can enter the express pass queue on all rides whenever you want as often as you want. For the cheaper one time use express pass, you can enter the express pass queue on all rides one time that day, at any time you want. Unlimited express pass offer the most flexibility, allowing you to tour the parks at your leisure. We wouldn't go without it.

I'm assuming Uber is our cheapest way to get from WDW to UO? How about getting from UO to MCO?
We've used Tony Hinds as well as the car services that are out front of the Universal resorts - they are town cars, but available on demand. Their prices were comparable with Tony. IMO, Uber/Lyft is the cheapest. We use that most often to get between Universal and WDW, and also Universal and MCO.

If we have 3 1/2 days, which parks do you suggest? I'd like to see City Walk also. Is it worth using a half day there?
As mentioned, City Walk doesn't require admission and does not need a lot of time dedicated to it. I would spend a full day at Islands, a full day at Universal, and then use the rest of your time to re-ride and visit anything you missed. If you have park-to-park admission, its easy to walk or ride the Hogwarts Express between both parks (you must have park-to-park tickets for Hogwarts Express). For us, City Walk is just a place we spend our evenings at - we usually get dinner, browse the stores, have a drink. With kids, you likely won't spend much time there outside of dinner and maybe mini golf, if you're so inclined. IMO, City Walk restaurants are better than most, if not all, of the in park dining so we usually plan most of our meals at City Walk. Its close enough where you can exit and re-enter the park without it being too inconvenient, and you're still within the secured area so you won't have to go through bag check again.
 
Buses. You can also walk, but you will cross an intersection and I found it to be long-ish. Doable though if you're all able-bodied and the weather is decent. I have also heard of others walking across the street to Sapphire Falls and using the boat from there.


True that its best to book resort and tickets separately to retain the most flexibility. We book the resort directly with Universal and usually buy our tickets from Undercover Tourist. If you are doing 4 park days or more, consider an annual pass - the price difference is negligible, you receive restaurant discounts, and you can get some awesome passholder rates at the hotels. Often, the annual pass is worth it even if you don't intend to return in the year, just for the discounts at the hotels.


PPs mentioned express pass. This is optional and available for purchase for Cabana Bay guests. The three "deluxe" resorts include it with their stay. If you are considering purchasing express pass, you may want to compare that against the cost of staying at one of the deluxe resorts. Many find the cost difference to be negligible, so they decide to stay at a deluxe resort for the unlimited express pass that's included. Plus, its very easy to walk or boat from all three deluxe resorts.

Express pass is a much better system than Disney's fast pass, IMO. With the unlimited express pass, you can enter the express pass queue on all rides whenever you want as often as you want. For the cheaper one time use express pass, you can enter the express pass queue on all rides one time that day, at any time you want. Unlimited express pass offer the most flexibility, allowing you to tour the parks at your leisure. We wouldn't go without it.


We've used Tony Hinds as well as the car services that are out front of the Universal resorts - they are town cars, but available on demand. Their prices were comparable with Tony. IMO, Uber/Lyft is the cheapest. We use that most often to get between Universal and WDW, and also Universal and MCO.


As mentioned, City Walk doesn't require admission and does not need a lot of time dedicated to it. I would spend a full day at Islands, a full day at Universal, and then use the rest of your time to re-ride and visit anything you missed. If you have park-to-park admission, its easy to walk or ride the Hogwarts Express between both parks (you must have park-to-park tickets for Hogwarts Express). For us, City Walk is just a place we spend our evenings at - we usually get dinner, browse the stores, have a drink. With kids, you likely won't spend much time there outside of dinner and maybe mini golf, if you're so inclined. IMO, City Walk restaurants are better than most, if not all, of the in park dining so we usually plan most of our meals at City Walk. Its close enough where you can exit and re-enter the park without it being too inconvenient, and you're still within the secured area so you won't have to go through bag check again.
Thanks for all of your help. As far as the annual pass, think we are going to be eligible for the buy 2 days get 2 days free so it’s not worth it since we definitely won’t be back next year as we have another vacation already booked. I really need to look in to the express pass and also the deluxe resorts. We are going first week of November. Everything is up in the air now and no idea what the parks are going to be doing at that time so it’s so hard to plan. Will they be crowded? Will they be dead and I won’t need the express pass? Will most things be closed? Ugh. Can wait until we get and idea of what 6 months from now holds! I haven’t booked our resort yet and nervous they will book up quick like Disney resorts do. Our Disney resort is already booked. We are really interested in doing the despicable me breakfast but waiting so hopefully they have availability. I just booked two restaurants at our 180th day at 6am for wdw and by 7am I looked back and both days were booked. I’m not sure if it’s that intense for universal character breakfasts
 

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