Disney's CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT Information & Questions

I just got back yesterday morning and here are a few thoughts/tips:

Overall, I like CBR. I know a lot of people call it "Poly lite", but I would say it is more "Old Key West Lite" in terms of overall resort feel. It is more chill, and spread out like OKW. We got two rooms, a king and 5th sleeper connecting in Jamaica 42 - room location was perfect. It was a 5 minute walk to Centertown, 2 minutes to the Gondola station.

The Good:
1) Gondola access. If you aren't planning on riding the Gondolas, I would not stay at this resort, period. They are a game changer here. I could get to HS in 10 minutes from my room.
2) The new Centertown is very nice - very chill vibe. I did not eat at Sebastian's unfortunately, but the QS food was surprisingly good. Banana Cabana is a cool hangout spot.
3) We used the coffee stand at the Gondola station almost every morning. It is super handy if you are staying in Jamaica village.
4) The rooms are really thoughtfully set up - very roomy, lots of electronics ports, big TV, comfy beds. I slept great all week.

The Bad:
1) The quiet pool in Jamaica was being repaved. However, it was filled with water the day we left so it should be close to being done.
2) The gondolas were quiet when walking around the resort, but when walking through the Jamaica/Aruba area in certain spots, you could hear repeated chimes from Gondolas above. One person we talked to who had a room in that area said they heard them constantly and it was annoying.
3) The Riviera resort really does detract from the overall feel of the resort - the two styles clash completely.

The Ugly:
1) The buses. I have stayed at a lot of resorts (see ticker) and the buses at CBR were the worst, BY FAR. Many times it took 30-45 minutes for buses to AK, DS or MK to get to the Jamaica stop. The times guide for the buses was often wrong or not functional. It would say a bus was coming at 7am, then keep updating minute by minute until the bus finally arrived at 7:30am. The buses were always packed. My husband never sat on one bus the entire trip. It was so bad, I would recommend that you budget extra and use an Uber/Lyft or Minnie van to get to those parks, or pad your timing by an hour to get anywhere. They were still running TONS of Epcot and HS buses, mostly empty. They need to reallocate some of these for the other parks.
2) Be careful of wet walk ways on the slippery floors. My husband slipped on a puddle and fell down a half a flight of stairs - not hurt, but had a sore knee for a few days.
 


I just got back yesterday morning and here are a few thoughts/tips:

Overall, I like CBR. I know a lot of people call it "Poly lite", but I would say it is more "Old Key West Lite" in terms of overall resort feel. It is more chill, and spread out like OKW. We got two rooms, a king and 5th sleeper connecting in Jamaica 42 - room location was perfect. It was a 5 minute walk to Centertown, 2 minutes to the Gondola station.

The Good:
1) Gondola access. If you aren't planning on riding the Gondolas, I would not stay at this resort, period. They are a game changer here. I could get to HS in 10 minutes from my room.
2) The new Centertown is very nice - very chill vibe. I did not eat at Sebastian's unfortunately, but the QS food was surprisingly good. Banana Cabana is a cool hangout spot.
3) We used the coffee stand at the Gondola station almost every morning. It is super handy if you are staying in Jamaica village.
4) The rooms are really thoughtfully set up - very roomy, lots of electronics ports, big TV, comfy beds. I slept great all week.

The Bad:
1) The quiet pool in Jamaica was being repaved. However, it was filled with water the day we left so it should be close to being done.
2) The gondolas were quiet when walking around the resort, but when walking through the Jamaica/Aruba area in certain spots, you could hear repeated chimes from Gondolas above. One person we talked to who had a room in that area said they heard them constantly and it was annoying.
3) The Riviera resort really does detract from the overall feel of the resort - the two styles clash completely.

The Ugly:
1) The buses. I have stayed at a lot of resorts (see ticker) and the buses at CBR were the worst, BY FAR. Many times it took 30-45 minutes for buses to AK, DS or MK to get to the Jamaica stop. The times guide for the buses was often wrong or not functional. It would say a bus was coming at 7am, then keep updating minute by minute until the bus finally arrived at 7:30am. The buses were always packed. My husband never sat on one bus the entire trip. It was so bad, I would recommend that you budget extra and use an Uber/Lyft or Minnie van to get to those parks, or pad your timing by an hour to get anywhere. They were still running TONS of Epcot and HS buses, mostly empty. They need to reallocate some of these for the other parks.
2) Be careful of wet walk ways on the slippery floors. My husband slipped on a puddle and fell down a half a flight of stairs - not hurt, but had a sore knee for a few days.
I am worried about our stay in December with regards to the bus situation. We will be a party of 4+baby WITH a stroller. My son is not a hugely patient person so I've warned him to pack his patience along with our granddaughter! We have a pretty full Magic Kingdom itinerary so we will just pad our travel time a little more. Our last two nights are at CCV so the ferry will be a much needed reprieve from the buses at CBR.
 
I am worried about our stay in December with regards to the bus situation. We will be a party of 4+baby WITH a stroller. My son is not a hugely patient person so I've warned him to pack his patience along with our granddaughter! We have a pretty full Magic Kingdom itinerary so we will just pad our travel time a little more. Our last two nights are at CCV so the ferry will be a much needed reprieve from the buses at CBR.

When I stayed in October I made sure to check MDE before leaving the room. The bus times were very accurate. I never waited more than 2 mins longer than the quoted arrival time when leaving my room for any bus. Coming home was different, because you cant check the times and there will always be a luck factor. We did 10 park days and returned by bus for all of them, plus 2 Disney Springs bus journeys home. We waited for 25 mins once at Disney Springs and 15 mins once at HS (this was when Skyliner was down that time)... every other time we waited less than 10 mins. Buses were not an issue for us. Don't be scaremongered. Sometimes you're lucky and sometimes you're not but even if you're not, you're still in Disney with the family! Dont let it kill your buzz.
 
1) Gondola access. If you aren't planning on riding the Gondolas, I would not stay at this resort, period. They are a game changer here. I could get to HS in 10 minutes from my room.
2) The new Centertown is very nice - very chill vibe. I did not eat at Sebastian's unfortunately, but the QS food was surprisingly good. Banana Cabana is a cool hangout spot.
3) We used the coffee stand at the Gondola station almost every morning. It is super handy if you are staying in Jamaica village.
Thanks for the info! What time were you at the coffee stand / able to hop on the Gondolas to parks? I read they keep getting delayed, too?
 


From Jamaica 42 it was a 3 minute walk to the Gondolas/Coffee kiosk. The Kiosk is right outside the CBR station.

I wasn't "scaremongering" about the buses, just relating my experience, which was fairly poor. I personally think that the Gondolas are throwing the entire CBR bus schedule out of whack, and that they will adjust it in time. I wanted people to be prepared to wait or take an Uber if you have a time sensitive event to get to or want to guarantee rope drop.
 
From Jamaica 42 it was a 3 minute walk to the Gondolas/Coffee kiosk. The Kiosk is right outside the CBR station.

I wasn't "scaremongering" about the buses, just relating my experience, which was fairly poor. I personally think that the Gondolas are throwing the entire CBR bus schedule out of whack, and that they will adjust it in time. I wanted people to be prepared to wait or take an Uber if you have a time sensitive event to get to or want to guarantee rope drop.

Jamaica and Aruba can get a little more unlucky with buses unfortunately. Another option for time sensitive travel while still using the buses is walking over to Old Port Royale bus stop, especially if you got lucky with building number for your room in Jamaica and Aruba to cross the lake.
 
From Jamaica 42 it was a 3 minute walk to the Gondolas/Coffee kiosk. The Kiosk is right outside
This is a Joffrey coffee kiosk, right? We may have to factor in some extra $$for the budget for this. Do they make lattes and fancy coffee?
Jamaica and Aruba can get a little more unlucky with buses unfortunately. Another option for time sensitive travel while still using the buses is walking over to Old Port Royale bus stop, especially if you got lucky with building number for your room in Jamaica and Aruba to cross the lake.
Unfortunately we are in a Pirate room and will cross over to the Skyliner station from there. Hopefully we'll get our room request which will be closer to the gondola station.
 
I am worried about our stay in December with regards to the bus situation. We will be a party of 4+baby WITH a stroller. My son is not a hugely patient person so I've warned him to pack his patience along with our granddaughter! We have a pretty full Magic Kingdom itinerary so we will just pad our travel time a little more. Our last two nights are at CCV so the ferry will be a much needed reprieve from the buses at CBR.


It's good to be prepared but try not to worry too much. We have friends at CBR now that have been there since last Friday and they have been extremely happy with the buses so far. During the morning rush, Jamaica and Aruba have been getting their own buses so once you get on at the Trinidad stop, you'll be on your way. The longest they have waited for a bus either leaving CBR or the parks has been under 10 minutes. Hope you have a great trip!
 
This is a Joffrey coffee kiosk, right? We may have to factor in some extra $$for the budget for this. Do they make lattes and fancy coffee?

Unfortunately we are in a Pirate room and will cross over to the Skyliner station from there. Hopefully we'll get our room request which will be closer to the gondola station.

I don't think many people that book Pirate Rooms know about requests or what to specifically request so you have pretty good odds. I've always gotten my request, and even a specific room number in October that we had been in on a past stay.
 
Also just randomly sharing, I'm going to Disneyland at the beginning of December and it feels weird how different the planning is and sucks there is no CBR there to stay at.
 
Can anyone link me to an updated map of this resort that includes the Skyliner in the map? I will be visiting this resort for the first time and just trying to figure out where everything is, thank you very much.
 
The Skyliner stations are on either side of Aruba and Jamaica on any map. I haven't seen any updated maps online except in the My Disney Experience app. Google satellite view you can see the stations on either side of the buildings with blue roofs too.
 
It's good to be prepared but try not to worry too much. We have friends at CBR now that have been there since last Friday and they have been extremely happy with the buses so far. During the morning rush, Jamaica and Aruba have been getting their own buses so once you get on at the Trinidad stop, you'll be on your way. The longest they have waited for a bus either leaving CBR or the parks has been under 10 minutes. Hope you have a great trip!
Good to know. It’s about time they split up the busses in the morning at CBR. We haven’t stayed at CBR for years, but when we did Jamaica was usually first pick up, it being right by the service entrance. But all that has changed.

I think Disney has been having problems resort wide with busses from time to time. I don’t think the problem is related to one resort. 2 yrs ago we were at Pop and had horrible waits, longest I’ve ever had. But we heard other resorts were having problems too. Then after we left heard from a friend staying there a month later and busses were back to the usual.

Also just randomly sharing, I'm going to Disneyland at the beginning of December and it feels weird how different the planning is and sucks there is no CBR there to stay at.
True, but there are so many hotels across the street! For much cheaper. I went to DL last Dec and loved it. Especially because they change HM to Nightmare Before Christmas, and Small World. I wish WDW did this. And Space Mtn is so much better. Not sure if it’s Hyperspace Mtn for Christmas or not.
Love the Carsland decorations, and the Santa trail at DCA. Enjoy your trip!
Tip: Max pass! So worth it.
 
2) The gondolas were quiet when walking around the resort, but when walking through the Jamaica/Aruba area in certain spots, you could hear repeated chimes from Gondolas above. One person we talked to who had a room in that area said they heard them constantly and it was annoying.
I'm curious if anyone here has experienced noise they could hear IN their room from the Skyliner? I hadn't heard this before, but now I'm curious about it.
 

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