Cabana Bay vs. Aventura

[disny_luvr]

It's me again!

Sorry for another post. Thank you so much for all the help you have given me so far!

I have booked Cabana Bay Volcano Bay view and I'm very excited about it, but my DH isn't as excited as I am. I just stumbled across Aventura. It looks very nice, but not near as much fun as Cabana Bay. I must admit though, I do like the rooms a little bit more. Anyone stay at both and have any insight to provide? Should we keep Cabana Bay?

 

[Skippyboo]

What do you like about Cabana Bay? Aventura is more modern sleek in design.

 

[disny_luvr]

What do you like about Cabana Bay? Aventura is more modern sleek in design.

I think Cabana Bay looks more fun! We watched a quick video on YouTube of Aventura and it just seemed "dead" compared to CB. The rooms are definitely more modern and sleek at Aventura, which is nice. I think we'll just stay with CB. I'm worried I'll be longing to stay at CB if we stay at Aventura.

 

[Skippyboo]

Aventura and CB are across the street from each other. You can pool hop if you’re staying at any hotel except Dockside and Surfside. So in theory you could stay at Aventura and use the pool and such at CB.

 

[wdwrule]

It's me again!

Sorry for another post. Thank you so much for all the help you have given me so far!

I have booked Cabana Bay Volcano Bay view and I'm very excited about it, but my DH isn't as excited as I am. I just stumbled across Aventura. It looks very nice, but not near as much fun as Cabana Bay. I must admit though, I do like the rooms a little bit more. Anyone stay at both and have any insight to provide? Should we keep Cabana Bay?

I personally love Aventura much better because of their bright new-ish rooms and easy walk to the parks. We’ve stayed at both. Cabana Bay is great too but we found the walk to be a bit further and not as convenient. CB’s food area is great and there’s a great vibe to the whole place but we found the room (family suite) to be very dark and dated.

I never thought I’d like Aventura because it’s a bit sterile and futuristic but lately it’s been our go-to. We love how everything is under one roof and your room is just a quick elevator ride away. Our favorite room there is the Deluxe queen room. It is very spacious and the massive wall of windows is fantastic. The pool is small but you can pool hop to other resorts such as CB. We pool hop next door to Sapphire Falls which also has a lovely vibe and great places to eat/drink such as Strong Water Tavern. Their pool also has a fun slide.

Aventura also has Starbucks and a great food area. We’ve had good quality pho bowls and in the morning, oatmeal with delicious fresh fruit. They have a decent variety of choices in their food area. Their Freestyle machines are open 24/7 so we use it late at night to refill water bottles… we’re big water drinkers and some places close their machines at 10:00 or so.

Either place though is great and has their own sets of pros and cons.

ETA: when we walked past the bus stop at Aventura, there was a bus there almost every time.

 

[patster734]

I personally love Aventura much better because of their bright new-ish rooms and easy walk to the parks. We’ve stayed at both. Cabana Bay is great too but we found the walk to be a bit further and not as convenient. CB’s food area is great and there’s a great vibe to the whole place but we found the room (family suite) to be very dark and dated.

I never thought I’d like Aventura because it’s a bit sterile and futuristic but lately it’s been our go-to. We love how everything is under one roof and your room is just a quick elevator ride away. Our favorite room there is the Deluxe queen room. It is very spacious and the massive wall of windows is fantastic. The pool is small but you can pool hop to other resorts such as CB. We pool hop next door to Sapphire Falls which also has a lovely vibe and great places to eat/drink such as Strong Water Tavern. Their pool also has a fun slide.

Aventura also has Starbucks and a great food area. We’ve had good quality pho bowls and in the morning, oatmeal with delicious fresh fruit. They have a decent variety of choices in their food area. Their Freestyle machines are open 24/7 so we use it late at night to refill water bottles… we’re big water drinkers and some places close their machines at 10:00 or so.

Either place though is great and has their own sets of pros and cons.

ETA: when we walked past the bus stop at Aventura, there was a bus there almost every time.

We haven’t stayed at Cabana Bay, but we did stay at Aventura the week after Thanksgiving, and your viewpoint matches ours.

We really liked staying in the Aventura Deluxe 2 Queen room. Our “wall of windows” faced Disney World, and we could see both the Epcot and Magic Kingdom fireworks at night. Neither my wife or I are pool people so the smaller pool didn’t bug us. We also purchased the refillable cups for the week, and thought it was a good buy considering how easy it was to travel from our room to the Freestyle machines and back.

It’s also a short walk to Royal Pacific, which we did once in the morning for the Breakfast Buffet at Islands Dining with the add-on bottomless mimosas.

The only thing that was probably underwhelming at Aventura was Bar 17. We stopped in once. I think it’s a good idea but didn’t match expectations.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Aventura is sleek & "fancy"/modern compared to Cabana Bay. CB is more "fun"/themed/interesting. Aventura you are guaranteed a short walk to your room. CB you may get a short walk, but I'm pretty sure even the closest rooms at CB are further from the bus stop than the furthest rooms at Aventura. That's because the lobby & walk to the elevators is longer. And there are a whole lot of "not close" rooms at CB.

Aventura is very convenient to walk to SF & use their water taxi / pool. We figured it was probably about the same walk to go across the street to the SF boat vs using the Aventura bus but having to walk through CityWalk, and generally the bus was the quicker option (albeit less fun/relaxing than the boat). I've only used the bus from CB, no issues there.

It's a tough call. I really like both hotels.

 

[wdwrule]

We haven’t stayed at Cabana Bay, but we did stay at Aventura the week after Thanksgiving, and your viewpoint matches ours.

We really liked staying in the Aventura Deluxe 2 Queen room. Our “wall of windows” faced Disney World, and we could see both the Epcot and Magic Kingdom fireworks at night. Neither my wife or I are pool people so the smaller pool didn’t bug us. We also purchased the refillable cups for the week, and thought it was a good buy considering how easy it was to travel from our room to the Freestyle machines and back.

It’s also a short walk to Royal Pacific, which we did once in the morning for the Breakfast Buffet at Islands Dining with the add-on bottomless mimosas.

The only thing that was probably underwhelming at Aventura was Bar 17. We stopped in once. I think it’s a good idea but didn’t match expectations.

Totally agree with you as well! Yes nice convenient walk to RPR… we usually cut through and enjoy the AC (and avoid rain if raining) on the way to the parks.

We don’t frequent the pools either but the few times we have, SF is one of our favorites.

Yes amazing views of Spaceship Earth lit up and fireworks! So cool to see it all from one spot.

We were also underwhelmed with the rooftop bar (although views were great). We just pop over to Strong Water when we’d like a lovely bar experience.

 

[saskdw]

I would say if it was just you and DH stay at Aventura. I think your kids will have more fun at Cabana Bay.

 

[georgina]

Aventura is sleek & "fancy"/modern compared to Cabana Bay. CB is more "fun"/themed/interesting. Aventura you are guaranteed a short walk to your room. CB you may get a short walk, but I'm pretty sure even the closest rooms at CB are further from the bus stop than the furthest rooms at Aventura. That's because the lobby & walk to the elevators is longer. And there are a whole lot of "not close" rooms at CB.

OP said they have a volcano view, I think that means they will be in the towers, which is a longer walk.

Tower rooms are somewhat newer though. I have never stayed at Aventura so can't compare.

 

[chad_1138]

We stayed at Aventura last summer and fell in love with it. We haven't stayed at Cabana Bay, but my wife and I visited and here are my thoughts:

1. Much less walking at Aventura. Walk out your room, maybe 200 feet to the elevator, and down you go!

2. Walking to the parks is awesome. Take the walkway to Sapphire Falls, go out the back to the water taxi, and your at the park in about 15 minutes. The security checkpoint for the walkway is awesome as well. Usually no wait. (You can walk this from CB, but it will add at least 10 minutes depending on where your CB room is).

3. Aventura was very calm. A lot more families stay at CB. Usually there were maybe 30-40 people TOPS in the food court/lobby at Aventura.

4. Haven't seen the rooms in CB, but the Aventura rooms are super nice!

5. Relay the Robot

 

[disny_luvr]

OP here! Thank you very much for all of your responses. I shared them with my husband and you all gave us some things to think about. For now we are going to keep Cabana Bay, but we still have a few months to change our minds, lol. I was talking with someone at work today and she mentioned that they always stay at Sapphire Falls, so I looked at that when I got home and it is so nice! I didn't even bring that up to my husband yet.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Ah, going down those resort rabbit holes. Sapphire Falls is really nice, but obviously also a bit pricier. Their pool is so great.

 

[wdwrule]

OP here! Thank you very much for all of your responses. I shared them with my husband and you all gave us some things to think about. For now we are going to keep Cabana Bay, but we still have a few months to change our minds, lol. I was talking with someone at work today and she mentioned that they always stay at Sapphire Falls, so I looked at that when I got home and it is so nice! I didn't even bring that up to my husband yet.

Haha choices, choices! All three are great and have their own personalities and perks. Whatever you pick, you’ll have a blast being at UO. You can always visit the other resorts while you’re there and plan for the next trip

 

[disny_luvr]

Haha choices, choices! All three are great and have their own personalities and perks. Whatever you pick, you’ll have a blast being at UO. You can always visit the other resorts while you’re there and plan for the next trip

I actually said the same thing! I told my husband we are going to scope out other resorts so we’ll know for next time.

 

[Skywalker3]

They are both great hotels, but very different vibes. Depends on what all you'll be looking for in a hotel. I've never stayed in the new Destino tower at Coronado springs, but I'm thinking Aventura might be comparable to that? We've stayed at Aventura now a few times, and we always enjoy it. It kinda feel like a convention hotel, but we like that. Like we like BLT at Disney.
I did a 1 night stay in June at CB, and I see the appeal. Now, I did find it a little noisy, busy, lots of kids and families, but that's not necessarily bad. We were near the lazy river, and DD and her friend enjoyed it. The pools are really nice, but you can pool hop to the others, to try them out.
It may be comparable to AoA, but with more of the disney moderate amenities. Loved our room location. Didn't get to try Bayliner, but looked lik ea good option. Bus service was REALLY good, but one could walk.
I am loving trying all the different resorts at Universal. I've now stayed at all of them except Dockside, and they're all fun in their own ways. hope y'all get a chance to check them all out. Have a great trip!!!

 

[cschaaf]

We loved the size and layout of Aventura. No room was very far from the central elevator hub, the elevators drop you right in the lobby, and the bus stop is just outside the lobby entrance.

We've stayed at Cabana, I think twice, but have never used the transportation. both times, it would have been a long walk to the bus stop.

The only complaints we had about Aventura were the controlling the TV with an iPad and the bus route.

The bus route was the bigger issue - Aventura shares busses with Cabana Bay, and Cabana Bay is the first stop. One evening, we watched at least 3 busses stop at Cabana, then go right past us. We can only assume that those busses were full, so they couldn't stop at Aventura.

The iPad thing was annoying, but not a deal breaker. The volume was controlled by a slider (instead of +/- buttons) and it was hard to get it to an ideal level. It would jump from being a little too low to a little too loud - like it would jump from 20 - 28 or something like that. Could have just been the iPad we had. It was nice for choosing a channel, though.

We don't care too much about the theming of a hotel - our main priority is the price. If the two were the same price, for us, it's no contest, Aventura would win every time. If Aventura was a bit more, I don't know, say $20-30 per night more, we'd choose Aventura. Any more than that, we'd happily stay at CB.

 

[Jessem1133]

The iPad thing was annoying, but not a deal breaker. The volume was controlled by a slider (instead of +/- buttons) and it was hard to get it to an ideal level. It would jump from being a little too low to a little too loud - like it would jump from 20 - 28 or something like that. Could have just been the iPad we had. It was nice for choosing a channel, though.

Yeah that iPad system is atrocious. Difficult to select shows/channels, and that volume slider...oof. lol
Probably the only thing about that hotel we didn't enjoy...which in my mind makes that a pretty fair trade off.

 

[Splashboat]

It's me again!

Sorry for another post. Thank you so much for all the help you have given me so far!

I have booked Cabana Bay Volcano Bay view and I'm very excited about it, but my DH isn't as excited as I am. I just stumbled across Aventura. It looks very nice, but not near as much fun as Cabana Bay. I must admit though, I do like the rooms a little bit more. Anyone stay at both and have any insight to provide? Should we keep Cabana Bay?

You're doing my research for me. Thanks!

 

[disny_luvr]

You're doing my research for me. Thanks!

No problem! I’m happy to help!