Best Friend Family Vacation - Part 1 - The Hotel

We are back from a fun filled Best Friend Family Vacation! We spent three nights with Bob, Shannon and the kids at Universal Orlando's Cabana bay Beach Resort! I had been wanting to stay here for a while now and jumped at the chance to invite myself on my best friend's vacation. Let's start with all the ins and outs of the hotel shall we?

This resort is themed to the max with vintage cars parked out front, vintage looking signs and those great retro beach resort colors. The whole resort screamed photo op! I also didn't realize how large this resort was. I payed a little extra for a room with a view of Volcano Bay (Universal's water park) the view, well it was fantastic! But that view also meant being very far from the lobby, the walking trail to the parks, the shuttle pick up and our friends! Our rooms couldn't have been further apart. If I were to do it again I would likely opt for a room closer to the action.

The room was clean and super spacious. We had a mini fridge and a coffee maker, two queen beds and a little seating area. The coffee maker was a pod variety which Tamy has become an expert at rigging with her own filters and coffee to make her own personal pods. The shower door barely opened enough for a person to get out of and the water pressure left something to be desired but not a deal breaker. Cabana Bay is currently doing contactless housekeeping so no one is coming in to make up your room, however, if you need anything you just text the front desk. It was amazing, I texted to ask for extra towels and more coffee supplies and they were delivered super fast in plastic bags hanging from our door.

Other definite perks to Cabana Bay - the transportation was fantastic! We did take the walking trail a couple of times but the more time we spent in the heat the more we leaned toward the shuttle service. We never waited for a shuttle, even when we left the park at the end of the night the shuttle pulled up and we were able to get on. Another fun surprise was finding characters in the lobby throughout the day! We were able to take selfies at a safe distance of course! There is a really nice gift shop in the lobby and the Asian Chicken Wrap at the Bayliner Liner is absolutely fantastic. The Bayliner Diner is the food court, pretty good options, we had that wrap twice!

Cabana Bay also has two pools, one has a slide and one has a lazy river. We spent some time at the lazy river pool as that was closest to our building, we floated around the lazy river, took a dip in the zero entry pool and put our toes in the sand. They have ping pong tables, giant connect four and both pools have a bar and grill nearby. The drawback to the eateries is you have to get food at one window and alcoholic beverages at the bar. We grabbed cocktails one day and drank them inside since it was so crowded but didn't try the food poolside - not this time anyway!

We took a peek into the family suite where Bob and the gang stayed in, a ton of space and really nice! Perfect for a larger family, not so necessary for just me and Tamy.

I desperately wanted to have a drink at the lobby bar Swizzle Lounge. Unfortunately it wasn't open the afternoon we were looking for a cocktail, what I did instead was dress in my Jetsons t-shirt and dragged Tamy out first thing on the morning we checked out to take some photos. Like I said this resort screamed photo op! Early morning strolls around the resort are perfect for grabbing photos!

We had a great stay at The Cabana Bay Beach Resort and though we would stay there again we probably won't right away, only because there are other properties we want to try! Which Universal resort do you suggest we adventure in next?

I'll be back soon with part 2 of our vacation adventures! Let me know if there is something specific you hope to see. I can't wait to hear from you!