Taryn's Mad Hatter Adventures

11/15/2020

The time had finally come! We were making the move to Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort. This resort is so much fun! It’s inspired by 1950s and 1960s Florida beach resorts, with retro decor and theming all throughout. It features two pools, a lazy river, a bowling alley, and more!

We woke up leisurely at Boulder Ridge Villas, packed up, and headed to the lobby. The plan was to Mobile Order our breakfast, eat in the lobby, and then Lyft to Cabana Bay. One side note about Mobile Order at Wilderness Lodge…it took FOREVER! We waited and waited and there weren’t even that many people there. Anyway, I took at quick screenshot so I could remember how long it took to get from the Disney area to the Universal area because I hear the question asked a lot! The answer on this particular day…about 23 minutes. I also want to note, Lyft and Uber both service this area. You can compare pricing by pulling up each app. Lyft always seems to be cheaper!

We felt super safe, and the app makes it super easy. You can see everything right on the app, you pay, and can add your tip. Our total with tip was $25.32. I had a $6 credit Lyft gave me though, so we paid $19.32. Way cheaper than paying for shuttle transportation, which is generally $20-35 per person one way. Our driver was super Covid conscious. He wore a mask, and had this plastic divider up between the front and back seats. He also had hand sanitizer available.

We arrived around 10:30 a.m. and went into the lobby to check in and get our park tickets. We knew we were early, but they will hold your luggage so you can go to the park. We were lucky and our room was ready! We were given our keys and directed to another counter to get our park tickets. Universal is a little bit different than Disney as far as tickets go. With Disney, your tickets are either mailed to you if you get ticket only, picked up at will-call (but you can still connect to your account with the confirmation number), or you use a MagicBand that you already have, and the tickets can still be connected to your account. If you have a package, the tickets are already included when you link your resort reservation to your My Disney Experience.

At the ticket desk, we presented our email confirmations. They then printed out hard copy tickets for us to use to get into the parks. I highly suggest lanyards when traveling to Universal! You will need your room key and your park tickets, and they are easily accessible if you have a lanyard.

Our room was in Building 6–The Americana. If I’m being honest, it was a hike with our luggage to get to our room! The resort is pretty big. We were booked in a standard level room.

The room was SUPER CUTE! And very clean. I loved all of the little retro touches…the colors, the toiletries!!, the clock! I thought the theming was great.

Up next, we head to Universal!