Trip Report **completed**Our not so perfect, but good enough July 2021 trip

Hi, all! It took me much longer to get this started than I wanted, but my computer decided it didn't have room for any more of my photos and I had to get an external hard drive and transfer some in order to start! We've also been a little busy getting everything ready for Logan to leave for Iowa in 2 weeks!

So, if you didn't follow along with my PTR, we were supposed to be on a cruise to celebrate Logan's HS graduation, but instead had to switch gears and decided to spend a few days at WDW.

Now, the specifics:
Who: Me (Amy), my husband Brian, Logan (18), Lily (16), and Owen (13)
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Where: Cabana Bay Beach Resort and Pop Century

When: July 11-20, 2021

Why: as I previously mentioned, this trip was to celebrate Logan's HS graduation. He asked for a cruise, so I do have another one scheduled for next June and we quickly threw together the Disney portion of this trip (so I guess we can call this his preliminary graduation trip!!)


We had some truly magical moments on this trip and some definitively un-magical moments as well! Unfortunately, our first day held one of the most un-magical moments.

We drove from Ohio and always try to leave very early to try to avoid as much traffic as possible. We set an alarm for midnight and our goal was to leave the house between 1 and 1:30 am. We were spot on!
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We made a quick stop at McDonald's for Cokes and were on our way. It was smooth sailing all the way to northern Florida. We even made it through Atlanta with no drama or slow downs!!
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Florida was stop and go the whole way, but we still made decent time and were pulling in to Cabana Bay Beach Resort about 4:00 which was about 1-1.5 hours later than we had anticipated, so not too bad! However, that is official check in time, and the parking area was a mess, as was the lobby!
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Luckily, they had sent me an email that allowed me to check in prior to arrival and that line was fairly short! The regular line was wrapped all the way around the lobby and was said to be 2 hours long! Brian dropped me off and found a parking spot that he probably shouldn't have been in to wait for me and sent Logan in to the lobby to guide me back to the car!

Now for the most un-magical moment of our trip! I had booked a 2 bedroom volcano view suite as a surprise for Logan since it was his celebration trip and I thought it would be cool to see the volcano lit up at night and watch all the activity in the park from our room. I paid way more than I normally would for a room, but felt it was a reasonable splurge. Well, we get to our room which happened to be on the second floor and this was our view:
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Yes, that is the back of a service building and the very tip of the volcano!! I don't understand how they can charge the same amount of money for this view as they can for the higher floor rooms (which I did request)! They need a lower partial or obstructed view charge for the rooms on this floor. I did say something and no one cared at all and basically told me to stuff it! Needless to say, we won't be back there any time soon!
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The room, with the notable exception of being handicapped accessible, was very spacious and had a nice floor plan. There was a main living area that had a sleeper sofa and the kitchenette.

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Then there was the "master" bedroom with its double (maybe a small queen) bed and a bathroom across the hall from it. (this was the accessible bathroom which we did not like as the drain didn't work well and water was all over the floor after our showers and left a big puddle right in front of the door to the hallway!)
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Then there was another regular bathroom between the two bedrooms, and another bedroom with 2 double beds.
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TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We settled in a little bit and then made our way to CityWalk for dinner. We had a later start than planned since we arrived later and check in took longer than expected, so we had to go right to Big Fire to make our reservation time. We really enjoy the walk to CityWalk using the garden path they have.
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TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We checked in at Big Fire and were told they would text me when the table was ready and it may be awhile, so we could go shopping or whatever while we waited, so we headed next door to one of the Universal stores. However, as soon as we walked in the doors, I got the text that the table was ready, so we headed back.
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I loved the light fixtures!
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It had a very industrial feel to it, while still having a lodge type feel to it as well.
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We started off with a bread appetizer with garlic herb butter and orange marmalade. It was very good.
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TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Lily ordered the filet with seasonal vegetables.
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Logan ordered the filet with fries.
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Owen and I shared the filet with carrots and smashed potatoes. We also had a side of the pork belly mac and cheese. When I see smashed potatoes, I think of mashed potatoes with the skin left on. That is definitely not what we got. We got cooked potatoes that were "smashed" flat! They were awful, but everything else was delicious!
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Brian ordered the bison burger and fries. He liked it, but decided he will get the filet in the future if we go back!
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We ordered the tableside s'mores for dessert. They were served with regular marshmallows, specialty vanilla and chocolate marshmallows, chocolate bars, peanut butter cups, and graham crackers. There was enough for each person to have one, but they would have brought more out if we had wanted it. They were nothing spectacular, but a fun way to end the dinner!
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TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
tiere bis unters dach hello GIF by SWR Kindernetz

I’m here! Sorry about your view! I am not impressed with how Universal handled that situation!
Looking forward to the rest of your report.
Welcome! Yes, their lack of empathy for my situation was what made it so bad! I understand that someone has to have those rooms and I only reserved it for 2 night, so better to upset me than someone who is staying for 5 or more days, but still, at least act like you care and try to do something to make me feel better! I am happy to say that Disney handled our un-magical moment there much better!
 
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