Shuttles from Cabana Bay to WDW

alanandtom

alanandtom

New Member
Hello,

Unsure whether I've posted this under the right thread, but here goes...

I have just booked my first ever trip to Orlando with my boyfriend for 15 nights in April - ecstatic isn't quite the word!

I've read a few different forums now all questioning the same thing - what is the best way to get to and from Universal's Cabana Bay Resort to the WDW parks (we're planning on visiting over 7 days)?

We've looked into car rentals, but understand that, with parking, it could get pricey, Uber's and also shuttle busses. Is it possible to get a shuttle to Sea World, then onto Disney Springs and get on their transportation system? If anybody can recommend the best and most cost effective way to do this, it would be much appreciated!

Also, any other hints and tips for our first Orlando venture would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks,
Tom x
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
If you don't want to rent a car (or can't find one that will be well under $300 for the week, including taxes, fees and gas costs), your most cost-effective option (and incidentally, the most convenient of all the options, IMO) would be to use a ridesharing app (Lyft or Uber). I recommend downloading both, and then you can see which offers a better price for each trip at the moment you go to arrange it. You can pay/tip your driver through the apps themselves (no need to carry cash). Expect to pay about $15-$20 each time you travel to/from WDW and Universal (at an average of $35/day, you're looking at $245 in park-to-park transportation costs -- a figurative drop in the bucket compared with how much you've saved by staying at a Universal hotel rather than on WDW property).

Taking a shuttle to Sea World and/or taking buses from DS (unless you're planning to spend time at DS already) would add a LOT of unnecessary time and frustration to your trip, while saving only a few dollars. I wouldn't recommend it!

Enjoy your vacation! 15 nights - sounds amazing! :)
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
LAKid53

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
Uber. I've done it. Best way to go. It will be about a 20-25 ride from Universal to WDW due to all the construction on I-4. Once you're at a Disney park, you can take Disney buses to other parks or resorts. And you can take the Disney bus to Disney Springs after 4pm if you want to eat there after a day in the parks - great restaurants and shopping. Tip: tell your Uber/Lyft driver to drop you at the Contemporary resort the day you want to go to Magic Kingdom. Otherwise, you'll get dropped at the Transportation and Ticketing Center and then have to take the monorail or ferry to Magic Kingdom. The Contemporary resort is a 5 minute walk to Magic Kingdom. All other parks you will be dropped off close to the entrance.

We stayed at the Cabanas. Really liked it. Really nice food court area. You will take a bus from the hotel to the parking garage where you will go through security and then walk to City Walk. From there you go left for Islands of Adventure and right for Universal Studios...or is it the reverse? If you've not bought your tickets for Universal yet, you might want to consider getting park to park. You won't be able to ride the Hogwarts Express without that type of ticket as Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios are considered separate theme parks. The Express runs between Hosgmeade in IoA to Diagon Alley in the Studios. It's a cool ride. Do you have plans for Volcano Bay? Cabanas is right there and I think you can walk to it. It's a great water park. We wished we'd spent two days, there was so much to do.

When are you going in April? The Star Wars Dark Side races at Walt Disney World are the weekend starting April 20th. There will be road closures/delays in the early AM and the parks will be crowded that weekend.
 
Upvote 0
alanandtom

alanandtom

New Member
Original Poster
LAKid53 said:
Uber. I've done it. Best way to go. It will be about a 20-25 ride from Universal to WDW due to all the construction on I-4. Once you're at a Disney park, you can take Disney buses to other parks or resorts. And you can take the Disney bus to Disney Springs after 4pm if you want to eat there after a day in the parks - great restaurants and shopping. Tip: tell your Uber/Lyft driver to drop you at the Contemporary resort the day you want to go to Magic Kingdom. Otherwise, you'll get dropped at the Transportation and Ticketing Center and then have to take the monorail or ferry to Magic Kingdom. The Contemporary resort is a 5 minute walk to Magic Kingdom. All other parks you will be dropped off close to the entrance.

We stayed at the Cabanas. Really liked it. Really nice food court area. You will take a bus from the hotel to the parking garage where you will go through security and then walk to City Walk. From there you go left for Islands of Adventure and right for Universal Studios...or is it the reverse? If you've not bought your tickets for Universal yet, you might want to consider getting park to park. You won't be able to ride the Hogwarts Express without that type of ticket as Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios are considered separate theme parks. The Express runs between Hosgmeade in IoA to Diagon Alley in the Studios. It's a cool ride. Do you have plans for Volcano Bay? Cabanas is right there and I think you can walk to it. It's a great water park. We wished we'd spent two days, there was so much to do.

When are you going in April? The Star Wars Dark Side races at Walt Disney World are the weekend starting April 20th. There will be road closures/delays in the early AM and the parks will be crowded that weekend.
Click to expand...

Uber looks like our best option! We're planning on visiting Volcano Bay once, but we have two spare days where we might just treat ourselves to round two!

We're going just after, arriving on 24th April, so maybe narrowly missing the Star Wars races?

Thank you very much for your help!
 
Upvote 0
alanandtom

alanandtom

New Member
Original Poster
Weather_Lady said:
If you don't want to rent a car (or can't find one that will be well under $300 for the week, including taxes, fees and gas costs), your most cost-effective option (and incidentally, the most convenient of all the options, IMO) would be to use a ridesharing app (Lyft or Uber). I recommend downloading both, and then you can see which offers a better price for each trip at the moment you go to arrange it. You can pay/tip your driver through the apps themselves (no need to carry cash). Expect to pay about $15-$20 each time you travel to/from WDW and Universal (at an average of $35/day, you're looking at $245 in park-to-park transportation costs -- a figurative drop in the bucket compared with how much you've saved by staying at a Universal hotel rather than on WDW property).

Taking a shuttle to Sea World and/or taking buses from DS (unless you're planning to spend time at DS already) would add a LOT of unnecessary time and frustration to your trip, while saving only a few dollars. I wouldn't recommend it!

Enjoy your vacation! 15 nights - sounds amazing! :)
Click to expand...

Hello!

Yes, I think we're going to get an Uber here there and everywhere and we'll steer clear of the bus option.

Thank you very much for your help.

Thomas
 
Upvote 0
yensid67

yensid67

Well-Known Member
alanandtom said:
Hello, We've looked into car rentals, but understand that, with parking, it could get pricey, Uber's and also shuttle busses. Is it possible to get a shuttle to Sea World, then onto Disney Springs and get on their transportation system? If anybody can recommend the best and most cost effective way to do this, it would be much appreciated!

Also, any other hints and tips for our first Orlando venture would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks,
Tom x
Click to expand...
Hey Tom I rented a car in Kissimmee for $242.50 for 8 days through AVIS 1621 John Young Parkway.

If you tell us where you are staying we can probably give better advice! IF you are on property then the best place to rent a car is at the Car Care Center at the Magic Kingdom, if you are flying into Orlando try Alamo, they seems to be the best and cheapest most times!
 
Upvote 0
James J

James J

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
yensid67 said:
Hey Tom I rented a car in Kissimmee for $242.50 for 8 days through AVIS 1621 John Young Parkway.

If you tell us where you are staying we can probably give better advice! IF you are on property then the best place to rent a car is at the Car Care Center at the Magic Kingdom, if you are flying into Orlando try Alamo, they seems to be the best and cheapest most times!
Click to expand...

In OP's original post he says that he's staying at the Cabana Bay Resort, Universal if that helps?
 
Upvote 0
Rob562

Rob562

Well-Known Member
One question for the OP... Have you considered shortening your stay at Cabana Bay and splitting your nights between Cabana Bay and a Disney resort? Perhaps something like 7 nights at a Disney Value or Moderate followed by 8 nights at Cabana Bay? (or vice versa)

I just did an Uber fare estimate on their website, and it gave me about $15 one-way without a tip from Cabana Bay to Epcot (centrally located on property, so some places are more, some less). That's $30/day plus tips just in transit, not to mention time spent. I'd at least price out what it would be for a room at a Disney hotel. See how much the price difference is between a night at CB and one at Disney when factoring in the daily Uber fares on top of the CB rate.

If you start at Disney, you'd get free Magical Express from the airport, then free buses while on-property. Then you'd only have to take one Uber from Disney to Cabana Bay, stay there for the rest of your trip, and then one more Uber ride to the airport (or however you were planning on getting between the airport at Cabana Bay originally)

-Rob
 
Upvote 0
alanandtom

alanandtom

New Member
Original Poster
UPDATE*** So, in a turn of events, we've changed our booking and are now spending 7 nights in the Disney value resort, Art of Animation, then off to spend 8 nights at Universal's Cabana Bay Beach Resort - overall, the cost has now increased by £42 - but for the sheer convenience of the Disney shuttles and other perks (MagicBand/Magic Hours), it's worked out for the best! Thank you all for your help and advice - we figured this out by estimating Uber/Lyft/Minibus costs against hotel reservations.

It's time to jet away (89 days and counting)!

Tx
 
Upvote 0
BAChicagoGal

BAChicagoGal

Well-Known Member
I did a WDW/Universal trip a few years ago, and it was great. Pop Century followed by Cabana Bay. Both resorts have great transportation systems to their respective parks.
 
Upvote 0

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom