Now that things have finally settled down (read: I can sleep again without visions from Halloween Horror Nights seeping in to my dreams) I am excited to tell you about all of the other amazing stuff I did when I joined the Two Traveling Moms and a handful of other friends for the #FacingFearsTogether event. The first - and maybe most awesome - was the resort where we stayed. The Cabana Bay Beach Resort is Universal Orlando's newest hotel - and by far the coolest one I have ever stayed in.
From the moment you pull on the to Cabana Bay Beach Resort's property, you are propelled back in to the 1950's and 60's - from the architecture to the music playing to the hotel staff uniform. Even the sign out front boasts "Cool Air" and " Color TV"... how cool is that?! Inside the front doors you will find a huge open concept with a great seating area and cute little bar nestled in the corner. The center of the lobby boasts a huge atrium of palm trees. I was waiting for a Jetson's robot to round the corner.
Check in was quick and easy and then we were off to our rooms. I had no idea what to expect when we opened the doors - but I loved it. Suddenly I felt like I had fallen on to the set of MadMen and I was determined to find Don Draper. I have some ummm... suggestions for his advertising.
Mickey and I arrived a day early - hoping to catch some rays by their amazing pools. However the weather had other plans for us, so we hopped the bus to the CityWalk for a fun day of shopping and eating... I mean, what else are you supposed to do on vacation!? The Cabana Bay Beach Resort is one very quick bus ride to CityWalk with buses running every few minutes to take you to and from. I never really watched the route - but I was always amazed with "wow, we are already here!?" I have stayed on other properties where we had three or four stops from the park to our hotel. The Cabana Bay Beach Resort is to and from - no extra stops, no extra passengers, no extra crazy. There and back like you were driving yourself - except you do not have to fight for parking.
We also jumped in the car and headed to the store to stock up on snacks and drinks for the weekend. The room had a great little kitchenette and I was excited to be able to keep Whole30 snacks in the room like apples and cashew butter. The store was not far away and was easy to find with our GPS. Funny enough while we were inside the storm of the century showed up and we stayed inside the store for an extra hour just talking to people - everyone waiting for the storm to pass. It was fun to meet new people - everyone around there seemed so happy and nice - even with being stranded inside for a storm.
The Cabana Bay Beach Resort is perfect for families of all ages. There is plenty of stuff to do right on the property without even having to leave to go to the parks. They have an on site bowling alley, two huge pools, slides, games, restaurants and more. Every morning we went down for a made to order omelette from the Bayliner Diner, and every evening we were met with hot fresh pizza (which sure hits the spot after a night at CityWalk.) But probably my favorite amenity on the whole property is the lazy river. Every evening after returning to the resort it was a race to get our bathing suits on to spend even just a few minutes relaxing on our inner tubes. Best friends, cool cocktails, and a lazy river... it just doesn't get any better than that.
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It was a sad day when we all checked out of the Cabana Bay Beach Resort to head back to reality, but we are already making plans to go back. I have stayed at a lot of "theme" hotels and this one was by far my favorite. I have always heard stories from my late grandparents about trips they took and hotels where they stayed, and the whole time I was there I thought about how much they would have loved a place like this. Sure there were bad things going on in the world - but for just a few days, none of us cared. For the ten of us it was 1955 and the livin was easy. It was a fun vacation I will not soon forget.
*My accommodations were provided by Universal Studios Resort as part of the facing fears together event.
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