Image by Universal Orlando

I recently visited Universal Orlando with my family where we stayed in a family suite at Loews Cabana Bay Beach Resort. This was the perfect fit for our family of four. Universal Orlando offers four (4) **soon to be five (5) on-site resorts: Loews Cabana Bay Beach Resort, Loews Royal Pacific Resort, Loews Hard Rock Hotel, Loews Portofino Bay Resort, and coming this summer, Loews Sapphire Falls Resort. There are great benefits offered to guests who stay at these on-site resort hotels. One of the biggest perks (in my opinion), is the early park admission to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. Other benefits include complimentary transportation to and from the parks, Wet & Wild, and City Walk, character experiences, Golf Universal Orlando program, resort wide charging privileges with your room key, and more! Guests who stay at the deluxe level resorts (Royal Pacific, Hard Rock, and Portofino) also receive Universal’s Express Pass and priority seating at restaurants throughout the resort. It was a no-brainer that we wanted to stay in an on-site resort hotel.

As a mom of a 16 year old son and a 9 year old daughter we prefer to stay in larger rooms when traveling so everyone has their own personal space. The family suites at Cabana Bay are fabulous and affordable! The suites run around $250 per night for a courtyard family suite, $270 per night for a courtyard family suite poolside, and $280 per night for a tower family suite poolside. We stayed in a tower family suite with a fabulous view of the Lazy River Courtyard.

View from Tower Suite – Image by Caroline Knowles

DIStracted Tip – I would definitely recommend the courtyard poolside family suites as they have direct access to the pool area. The door to your room opens directly to an open-air hallway steps from the pool. While we enjoyed being in the tower with interior hallways, it would have been a lot easier to access the resort amenities had we been in a courtyard room.

Each of the family suites offer 430 square feet with the ability to sleep up to six (6) adults. There is a living room with a pull-out sofa and a 40″ flat panel television offering HD channels, a kitchenette with a mini refrigerator, microwave, sink and a Cuisinart Single Coffee Pod Brewer. While the resort has an on-site Starbucks, I prefer to make my own cup of joe each morning in an effort to save money.

The suite offers an extra large bedroom with two (2) queen-size beds an an additional 40″ flat panel television. Other amenities include an iron, ironing board and in-room safe located in the large walk-in closet.

Bedroom Image by Caroline Knowles

The large bathroom has preparation space for up to three (3) people at once. The shower/bathtub is located in one room with the toilet in another. This setup definitely helped my family get ready quicker each morning so that we could be at Islands of Adventure each morning for the early park admission to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

There is a sliding partition that separates the living area/kitchenette from the bedroom. My son brought along his Xbox and entertained himself in the living area (he slept on the sofa bed) long after the rest of us went to sleep.

We usually don’t spend a lot of time in our hotel room, however, our recent visit the last week of May changed that. The summer heat in Orlando is almost unbearable! We hit the parks each morning when they opened and stayed until lunch time. We returned to our resort where we spent hours enjoying the large pools (there are two at Cabana Bay). My favorite part was relaxing in the lazy river. There are lifeguards at every corner so I had no problem letting my children roam adult-free.  Of course we were back in the parks by 5:00 p.m. when the heat started to subside.

DIStracted Tip:  Bring your own inner tubes when you visit. The resort offers a pool-side stand where you can purchase one (prices ranging from $6.00 to $15.00). However, you can certainly buy one at WalMart for a lot cheaper.

Another huge bonus to staying here is the in-house 10 lane bowling alley, Galaxy Bowl. My kids love to bowl so it was incredibly convenient to have this offered inside the hotel. The resort is themed as an iconic beach resort from the 1950’s and 1960’s.

Image by Universal Orlando

I will say that all of the Loews resorts at Universal Orlando are all equally fabulous. Last year I stayed at Loews Portofino Bay Resort on an adult-only trip and truly feel it is one of the nicest luxury resorts in all of Orlando. The amenities are over the top and access to Universal’s Express Pass was awesome. That being said I feel that Cabana Bay Beach Resort was above and beyond the best fit for my family. I think anyone with children would love the extra space offered in the family suites as well as all of the family friendly amenities.

Are you planning a visit to Universal Orlando? If you would like a no-obligation quote, please let me know! Magical DIStractions Vacations can get you there with all of the bells and whistles!

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