Best hotel for 8 year old boy?

caitcance

Earning My Ears
Joined
Apr 30, 2014
Im a Disney person through and through and my son has thrown me for a loop by requesting Universal for his one on one trip next fall. I have only a vague idea of the differences between the Universal resorts. He will be 8 and is most concerned about having a fun pool with water slide. My criteria is a place with quick kid-friendly dining options (my son has ADHD and does not do well with sit down restaurants that may have slow service). Based on this criteria which hotel would you recommend for us?
 
Yep, Cabana Bay will be great for you guys. The only one with a food court/cafeteria type eatery, a pool with a slide and another pool with a lazy river.
 
If you plan on going to the Universal Parks you should stay in one of the resorts that include Express passes so that you will spend LESS time waiting in line. Plus guests at those hotels receive Priority seating at Universal resort restaurants, most CityWalk restaurants and some park restaurants.

The following Universal resorts include Express Passes and Priority seating:
  • Royal Pacific Resort
  • Hard Rock Hotel
  • Portofino Bay Hotel
You do NOT get Express passes when you stay at Sapphire Falls, Cabana Bay Beach or Aventura.
Express passes can be purchased separately though.
 


The following Universal resorts include Express Passes and Priority seating:
  • Royal Pacific Resort
  • Hard Rock Hotel
  • Portofino Bay Hotel
You do NOT get Express passes when you stay at Sapphire Falls, Cabana Bay Beach or Aventura.
Express passes can be purchased separately though.

Of the three that include express pass, which do you think fits best for us? Thank you and I really value your input!
 
Yep, Cabana Bay will be great for you guys. The only one with a food court/cafeteria type eatery, a pool with a slide and another pool with a lazy river.

I'm a sucker for a lazy river myself! If this is the best fit I'll have to price it out to see if we add express pass will it still make sense. I really do want a food court.
 


Keep in mind that EP are not necessarily needed. A lot depends on how long your stay is and what time of year. We've never bought EP and we've stayed at CB twice and offsite several times. We loved having it at HRH and RPR when we stayed at those, but we've never felt we needed it when not included. We are staying at SF next week and hope that continues to be the same for us.
 
Of the three that include express pass, which do you think fits best for us? Thank you and I really value your input!

Hard rock and portofino have slides.

Hard rock’s pool isn’t really a “swimming” pool though. It’s very very shallow except for at the slide area, and you can’t stay at the slide area to swim.

So...portofino. Which has three pools; one with the slide and it’s very very nice, one that’s tiny, and one nice big rectangular one that’s nice for lap swimming.

BUT! You can pool hop at Uni. Totally allowed.
 
Keep in mind that EP are not necessarily needed. A lot depends on how long your stay is and what time of year. We've never bought EP and we've stayed at CB twice and offsite several times. We loved having it at HRH and RPR when we stayed at those, but we've never felt we needed it when not included. We are staying at SF next week and hope that continues to be the same for us.

Now that you can use Express at the Wizarding World attractions you really do (in my opinion) need Express Pass as those lines back up rather quickly.
 
Price out what it would be to stay at Portofino or Hard Rock for your stay compared to what it would cost to stay at Cabana Bay and purchasing EP. The price difference might be negligible. As mentioned, you may not even need EP at all but if you decide you want it, you could also purchase the EP that gives one ride per attraction instead of unlimited. Depends on how the waits are and if you plan to re-ride. In your instance, the pool at Cabana Bay is probably the best bet as well as the quick service options. We've only stayed at Royal Pacific and Hard Rock, but found the quick service options to be lacking at the deluxe resorts.

If the prices are comparable, the only advantage of the deluxe resorts would be location since you can walk or take the water taxi from each. Cabana Bay is bus only, or a long walk through the path by Royal Pacific.
 
Sorry to do this to you OP, I have another option for you. I will root for Royal Pacific Resort. Here's why. You get the EP included with the room.

It is close to the parks and City Walk. If your son needs a break, you can be back at room in less than 30 mins.

Just because there are no QS in RPR does not mean you are without options. Will you be in the parks a lot? Just do QS there. Or go to CW (10 mins. tops) and have fast food.

The pool at RPR has a water cannon spray area for the kids. I think 8yo is a great age for that. They can't seem to get enough shooting water (and are in your line of sight the whole time). The pool has zero entry for him, too. The bar at the pool has excellent food that can be delivered to your seat via waiter/waitress That is better than QS!

If you want a slide, pool hop over to HRH or PBR. Keep in mind that the exits of the slides will be about 5 feet deep. And you can spend an afternoon pool hopping up to Cabana Bay to check out their food court, also.
 
Sorry to do this to you OP, I have another option for you. I will root for Royal Pacific Resort. Here's why. You get the EP included with the room.

So funny that you just wrote this whole compelling argument when earlier today I saw that water cannon thing and started to dig into Royal Pacific more. I am really liking your reasoning here.

Not knowing the area it is so hard to tell how far apart things are but it's great to know we could be that close to City Walk and all the food options there.
 
So funny that you just wrote this whole compelling argument when earlier today I saw that water cannon thing and started to dig into Royal Pacific more. I am really liking your reasoning here.

Not knowing the area it is so hard to tell how far apart things are but it's great to know we could be that close to City Walk and all the food options there.

We love Royal Pacific, though we don't have kids. The pool area is awesome but no slide as mentioned. They do have a sandy area. There is a quick service breakfast option, but after breakfast it closes and there are only table service options left I believe.

One thing that would deter me - and this is personal preference - is how often I'd actually want to make the effort to go to City Walk for food and/or pool hop for a pool slide. We're staying at Hard Rock in January and the pool will be closed for refurb. Pool in January is iffy, but if it weren't, I would have stayed elsewhere because I know how we are and I know we'd groan about making the effort to pool hop. I also know that at times, especially if its raining, I want quick and easy meal options. Just something to consider. But I don't think you'd be disappointed with RPR!
 
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Not knowing the area it is so hard to tell how far apart things are but it's great to know we could be that close to City Walk and all the food options there.

Well then, imagine you are in Epcot at Spaceship Earth and you want to eat at the UK pavilion. Walking from RPR to CW is the same distance (about 1/3 mile).
 
So funny that you just wrote this whole compelling argument when earlier today I saw that water cannon thing and started to dig into Royal Pacific more. I am really liking your reasoning here.

Not knowing the area it is so hard to tell how far apart things are but it's great to know we could be that close to City Walk and all the food options there.

Yep, it’s really close to get to Citywalk from RPR.

Takes us around 6-7 minutes to reach the Margaritaville building from the hotel.........not long at all. And there are some excellent food choices in Citywalk and at RP too. Bula Bar and Jakes are top notch and you can get take out from Jake’s too.

Nothing is very far away from the hotel at all.

We never pool hop anymore, the RP pool is fine for us, but we don’t have young children. But the pools all have activities for kids and adults alike without being boisterous or too noisy.......and yes, kids love the water cannon.
 
There are lots of ways you can do this. First off, it can depend on when you are going. Like mentioned above, you may not need to EP if you are going in September.

If you really, really want to stay at Cabana Bay....check into the bundled tickets that have admission and express together. They are a better price than getting them individually. Cabana Bay is a great hotel for kids and you may be able to get it at a low enough price that adding the bundled tickets may be a wash in price with the deluxe hotels.

You can also stay at RPR and walk over to Sapphire Falls or Cabana Bay. I did that walk last time I was there and it is an easy walk.
 
I would stay at the Portofino or Cabana Bay. CB if you are going at a low crowd time. Portofino if it's going to be crowded (or u can easily afford it). They have a Starbucks for breakfast & a quick service place, Sal's, that has lunch & dinner. The food there is really good. You can also get food service at the pool which my kids love after a day in the parks. The pools at both hotels are awesome although my DS12 thought the slide at CB was "lame". I think Portofino is nicer than anything at Disney, except maybe GF. It's just beautiful & so well themed. The staff does a lot with the kids at the pool too.
 
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Of the three that include express pass, which do you think fits best for us? Thank you and I really value your input!
Hard Rock. Lots of things going on there that will hold your sons attention. The food options aren’t great, but it only a 5 to 10 minute walk to the City Walk where there are plenty of quick serve options.
 

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