Disney's CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT Information & Questions

[ENJDisneyFan]

I am considering buying these for our trip but I’m also wondering— can I just ask for 10-12 pods at the start of the week? I feel like I shouldn’t have to purchase and pack something offered free in the room. Would CBR provide these if requested?

They’ll give you extra if you ask.

 

[mrscoobs]

Does the Magical Express pick you up at Old Port Royale & if so, will bell services help you get your luggage there? We're in Trinidad.

Luggage services in front of resort can take you and your luggage to your room if you would like if the room is ready when you arrive or deliver luggage once room is ready. When we got off the Magical Express with our bags our room was ready and they transferred us and our three bags over to Jamaica. When we checked out they picked up our bags and held them so we could use the Jamaica bus stop rather than hauling luggage back up before Magical Express departure.

 

[DisneyJade]

Luggage services in front of resort can take you and your luggage to your room if you would like if the room is ready when you arrive or deliver luggage once room is ready. When we got off the Magical Express with our bags our room was ready and they transferred us and our three bags over to Jamaica. When we checked out they picked up our bags and held them so we could use the Jamaica bus stop rather than hauling luggage back up before Magical Express departure.

Thank you for sharing this. Can you tell me how you and your bags were transferred upon arrival? Was it via internal bus? We’re you separated from your luggage? Did you have to wait long for transportation? TIA!

 

[mrscoobs]

Thank you for sharing this. Can you tell me how you and your bags were transferred upon arrival? Was it via internal bus? We’re you separated from your luggage? Did you have to wait long for transportation? TIA!

We did not wait long as it was the bellman that we were speaking to that drove us. It was a black Van-looked like they had about 4 they used to perform this service. Bags traveled with us-we were on 2nd floor and the Bellman carried them up the stairs and to our room for us. I was surprised at last part and tipped a bit more since there are no elevators. He was the one that mentioned about the checkout procedure to call to store bags before our departure.

 

[DisneyJade]

We did not wait long as it was the bellman that we were speaking to that drove us. It was a black Van-looked like they had about 4 they used to perform this service. Bags traveled with us-we were on 2nd floor and the Bellman carried them up the stairs and to our room for us. I was surprised at last part and tipped a bit more since there are no elevators. He was the one that mentioned about the checkout procedure to call to store bags before our departure.

Great info. Thank you!

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

Back yesterday from our extended weekend stay at CBR 2/11 - 2/15
I know transportation is always a big question, especially at CBR! So here is the run down from the President's Day / Valentine's Day / Mardi Gras perfect storm of holidays!
2/11 - we rented a car (normally we would Uber), felt the Uber was one of our biggest risks we couldn't control. Arrived at CBR @12:50 pm, room was not ready. And we knew we couldn't make it to HS for the 1:00 RotR virtual Queue. Ordered lunch via MDE, waited almost 30 minutes for food to be ready at a non-busy time. Our room was ready by the time we were done eating. Moved the car, dropped our stuff in our room Aruba 55. Took the Riviera Hub over to the main Hub, transferred and then into HS. Left HS about 5:45, took the Skyliner to Epcot. When we were ready to leave Epcot it was pouring down rain (I mean buckets and buckets). Skyliner shut down. We had to walk from the back of the park to the front, to then stand in an endless line. Disney is unable to pivot quickly when the weather hits and now every person from CBR, AoA, Pop and Riviera now need to get on a bus. It took us more than hour to get back to our resort.
2/12 - MK day - park was open 9:00 a - 10:00 p - about 7:20 am we went to Riviera mobile ordered coffee from Primo, walked out the Riviera bus stop. Waited about 20 minutes for the bus to arrive, we were in the park super quick, park was open by the time we arrived about 8:05 am, walked to Space Mountain. They started the rides about 8:30. Stayed ALL DAY, walked out to the buses at park closing or just after. The line for CBR was huge. We took the Riviera bus. But we were in Aruba 55, so a super close walk.
2/13 - AK day - park was open 8:00 a - 8:00 pm - we used the Aruba bus stop. We arrived at our bus stop about 7:15. We waited about 10 minutes for the bus. We were in the park and in line for FOP by 7:50 am. Mid-day, took the bus back to CBR. About 5:30 we walked over to the Riviera Skyliner station to head to Epcot. We were about the 5th grouping back waiting. It took a while and the line behind us was building quickly. I joked with the Cast Member that they needed to send more empty cars from the main Hub. He said the ratio is 1 empty car every 12. My son was counting, it was about 15 - 17 cars before an empty one arrived. Epcot closed at 11:00. We left about 10:30. The line for the Skyliner was wrapped down towards Boardwalk. It took about 35 minutes for us to get on the Skyliner.
2/14 - HS then MK - HS opened at 9. MK closed at 11:00 pm - we walked down to the Skyliner Hub, not the Riviera Station. We were in line about 7:20 and about the 10th grouping back. They opened the gates to the Skyliner at 7:30. They moved some of us up into 2 queue lines right by where the cars would load. They were controlling the number of CBR people coming in from the line. The AoA line was running and they moved some of that line into the center of the Hub lines. None of the AoA line were in the super close queue lines. They started loading the cars at 7:50 am and we were in line being held outside of the temperature check tent until 8:15 am. Once inside we walked to Rockin Roller Coaster. Left HS about 5:15. There was a big line for the Skyliner, it was back towards the bus station. It moved quick. We were back at CBR by about 5:50. We had 7:45 dinner reservations at MK, so we were at the Aruba bus station by 6:50 pm. With me questioning if we would make it. The posted bus time on the boards and in the apps are not right, so you really don't know when a bus is coming. Bus arrived about 7:10. Driver dropped us off right by the temperature check tent. We didn't have to walk from the actual bus stop. We were inside and checked in for dinner by 7:30 pm . We closed down the park, walked out to huge lines at CBR and we took the Riviera bus.

Generally not huge issues using the buses. I don't think any of us think Disney does a great job of sending buses often enough. Be creative. If there are 4 of you but only 3 seats, tell the driver one of your kids can sit on your lap the entire time. There is no standing, no over crowding of buses. But I think they should be running more frequently especially at the end of the night.

I know I was anxious about making it to the park opening, generally we did without issue. AK we got a late start, I didn't set the alarm on my phone correctly. At least we didn't over sleep on our HS day!

 

[trishadono]

Back yesterday from our extended weekend stay at CBR 2/11 - 2/15
I know transportation is always a big question, especially at CBR! So here is the run down from the President's Day / Valentine's Day / Mardi Gras perfect storm of holidays!
2/11 - we rented a car (normally we would Uber), felt the Uber was one of our biggest risks we couldn't control. Arrived at CBR @12:50 pm, room was not ready. And we knew we couldn't make it to HS for the 1:00 RotR virtual Queue. Ordered lunch via MDE, waited almost 30 minutes for food to be ready at a non-busy time. Our room was ready by the time we were done eating. Moved the car, dropped our stuff in our room Aruba 55. Took the Riviera Hub over to the main Hub, transferred and then into HS. Left HS about 5:45, took the Skyliner to Epcot. When we were ready to leave Epcot it was pouring down rain (I mean buckets and buckets). Skyliner shut down. We had to walk from the back of the park to the front, to then stand in an endless line. Disney is unable to pivot quickly when the weather hits and now every person from CBR, AoA, Pop and Riviera now need to get on a bus. It took us more than hour to get back to our resort.
2/12 - MK day - park was open 9:00 a - 10:00 p - about 7:20 am we went to Riviera mobile ordered coffee from Primo, walked out the Riviera bus stop. Waited about 20 minutes for the bus to arrive, we were in the park super quick, park was open by the time we arrived about 8:05 am, walked to Space Mountain. They started the rides about 8:30. Stayed ALL DAY, walked out to the buses at park closing or just after. The line for CBR was huge. We took the Riviera bus. But we were in Aruba 55, so a super close walk.
2/13 - AK day - park was open 8:00 a - 8:00 pm - we used the Aruba bus stop. We arrived at our bus stop about 7:15. We waited about 10 minutes for the bus. We were in the park and in line for FOP by 7:50 am. Mid-day, took the bus back to CBR. About 5:30 we walked over to the Riviera Skyliner station to head to Epcot. We were about the 5th grouping back waiting. It took a while and the line behind us was building quickly. I joked with the Cast Member that they needed to send more empty cars from the main Hub. He said the ratio is 1 empty car every 12. My son was counting, it was about 15 - 17 cars before an empty one arrived. Epcot closed at 11:00. We left about 10:30. The line for the Skyliner was wrapped down towards Boardwalk. It took about 35 minutes for us to get on the Skyliner.
2/14 - HS then MK - HS opened at 9. MK closed at 11:00 pm - we walked down to the Skyliner Hub, not the Riviera Station. We were in line about 7:20 and about the 10th grouping back. They opened the gates to the Skyliner at 7:30. They moved some of us up into 2 queue lines right by where the cars would load. They were controlling the number of CBR people coming in from the line. The AoA line was running and they moved some of that line into the center of the Hub lines. None of the AoA line were in the super close queue lines. They started loading the cars at 7:50 am and we were in line being held outside of the temperature check tent until 8:15 am. Once inside we walked to Rockin Roller Coaster. Left HS about 5:15. There was a big line for the Skyliner, it was back towards the bus station. It moved quick. We were back at CBR by about 5:50. We had 7:45 dinner reservations at MK, so we were at the Aruba bus station by 6:50 pm. With me questioning if we would make it. The posted bus time on the boards and in the apps are not right, so you really don't know when a bus is coming. Bus arrived about 7:10. Driver dropped us off right by the temperature check tent. We didn't have to walk from the actual bus stop. We were inside and checked in for dinner by 7:30 pm . We closed down the park, walked out to huge lines at CBR and we took the Riviera bus.

Generally not huge issues using the buses. I don't think any of us think Disney does a great job of sending buses often enough. Be creative. If there are 4 of you but only 3 seats, tell the driver one of your kids can sit on your lap the entire time. There is no standing, no over crowding of buses. But I think they should be running more frequently especially at the end of the night.

I know I was anxious about making it to the park opening, generally we did without issue. AK we got a late start, I didn't set the alarm on my phone correctly. At least we didn't over sleep on our HS day!

Thanks for posting. In January we stayed at YC and walked to HS. We left room around 7:45 for the 9A open and were also let in at 8:15. . So you think we should leave our room 7:15-30? We have done all the new rides several times we probably just head to RR lol , still our favorite.

 

[Sweet Pea Reed]

Excited to see that booking is now available!!!! I can't wait to return to CBR in February 2022, after 2 years of postponing. Interesting to see that mid February, some dates are unavailable for standard rooms. Anyway, cheers to the Caribbean!!!

 

[Sue M]

Back yesterday from our extended weekend stay at CBR 2/11 - 2/15
I know transportation is always a big question, especially at CBR! So here is the run down from the President's Day / Valentine's Day / Mardi Gras perfect storm of holidays!
2/11 - we rented a car (normally we would Uber), felt the Uber was one of our biggest risks we couldn't control. Arrived at CBR @12:50 pm, room was not ready. And we knew we couldn't make it to HS for the 1:00 RotR virtual Queue. Ordered lunch via MDE, waited almost 30 minutes for food to be ready at a non-busy time. Our room was ready by the time we were done eating. Moved the car, dropped our stuff in our room Aruba 55. Took the Riviera Hub over to the main Hub, transferred and then into HS. Left HS about 5:45, took the Skyliner to Epcot. When we were ready to leave Epcot it was pouring down rain (I mean buckets and buckets). Skyliner shut down. We had to walk from the back of the park to the front, to then stand in an endless line. Disney is unable to pivot quickly when the weather hits and now every person from CBR, AoA, Pop and Riviera now need to get on a bus. It took us more than hour to get back to our resort.
2/12 - MK day - park was open 9:00 a - 10:00 p - about 7:20 am we went to Riviera mobile ordered coffee from Primo, walked out the Riviera bus stop. Waited about 20 minutes for the bus to arrive, we were in the park super quick, park was open by the time we arrived about 8:05 am, walked to Space Mountain. They started the rides about 8:30. Stayed ALL DAY, walked out to the buses at park closing or just after. The line for CBR was huge. We took the Riviera bus. But we were in Aruba 55, so a super close walk.
2/13 - AK day - park was open 8:00 a - 8:00 pm - we used the Aruba bus stop. We arrived at our bus stop about 7:15. We waited about 10 minutes for the bus. We were in the park and in line for FOP by 7:50 am. Mid-day, took the bus back to CBR. About 5:30 we walked over to the Riviera Skyliner station to head to Epcot. We were about the 5th grouping back waiting. It took a while and the line behind us was building quickly. I joked with the Cast Member that they needed to send more empty cars from the main Hub. He said the ratio is 1 empty car every 12. My son was counting, it was about 15 - 17 cars before an empty one arrived. Epcot closed at 11:00. We left about 10:30. The line for the Skyliner was wrapped down towards Boardwalk. It took about 35 minutes for us to get on the Skyliner.
2/14 - HS then MK - HS opened at 9. MK closed at 11:00 pm - we walked down to the Skyliner Hub, not the Riviera Station. We were in line about 7:20 and about the 10th grouping back. They opened the gates to the Skyliner at 7:30. They moved some of us up into 2 queue lines right by where the cars would load. They were controlling the number of CBR people coming in from the line. The AoA line was running and they moved some of that line into the center of the Hub lines. None of the AoA line were in the super close queue lines. They started loading the cars at 7:50 am and we were in line being held outside of the temperature check tent until 8:15 am. Once inside we walked to Rockin Roller Coaster. Left HS about 5:15. There was a big line for the Skyliner, it was back towards the bus station. It moved quick. We were back at CBR by about 5:50. We had 7:45 dinner reservations at MK, so we were at the Aruba bus station by 6:50 pm. With me questioning if we would make it. The posted bus time on the boards and in the apps are not right, so you really don't know when a bus is coming. Bus arrived about 7:10. Driver dropped us off right by the temperature check tent. We didn't have to walk from the actual bus stop. We were inside and checked in for dinner by 7:30 pm . We closed down the park, walked out to huge lines at CBR and we took the Riviera bus.

Generally not huge issues using the buses. I don't think any of us think Disney does a great job of sending buses often enough. Be creative. If there are 4 of you but only 3 seats, tell the driver one of your kids can sit on your lap the entire time. There is no standing, no over crowding of buses. But I think they should be running more frequently especially at the end of the night.

I know I was anxious about making it to the park opening, generally we did without issue. AK we got a late start, I didn't set the alarm on my phone correctly. At least we didn't over sleep on our HS day!

Thanks for the mini Trip report! Sounds like it may be better to stay in Aruba! Transportation at park closing has always been a problem it seems. When we stayed at the MK resorts trying to get on a boat or monorail was ridiculous. Bus transportation to resorts from parks at closing always bad. Don’t know why they don’t add more busses at park opening and closing.

 

[DMLAINI]

We have a pirate room so we'll be in Trinidad. Will buses for Magic Kingdom be there early in the morning with room for us or should we walk to Martinique?

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

We have a pirate room so we'll be in Trinidad. Will buses for Magic Kingdom be there early in the morning with room for us or should we walk to Martinique?

The buses stop at each area in the resort. It's hard to know if there will be room on the bus. That is always the big unknown at CBR.

 

[DavidMagic]

The buses stop at each area in the resort. It's hard to know if there will be room on the bus. That is always the big unknown at CBR.

What is the order of busses/do you know? We are also staying in a Pirate themed room and want to make sure we don't get screwed with the bussing.

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

What is the order of busses/do you know? We are also staying in a Pirate themed room and want to make sure we don't get screwed with the bussing.

I "believe" the order the buses pick up for MK is: Martinique / Main Bldg / Barbados / Trinidad / Jamaica / Aruba. If you look at a map, the bus entrance is up by Riviera, they enter there and then circle around CBR.

When we came back from AK, they dropped off at Jamaica then Aruba (we go off- we were in Aruba 55) / but then they would loop past Riviera and then over to the other side. But when we got on the bus for AK, they had already looped around CBR and we were the last pick up.

We stayed at CBR January 2020 and I found the bus order to be the same as I have listed above.

 

[numberonenole]

We have never stayed here before but are excited at the opportunity! How do we request a room by the Skyline?

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

We have never stayed here before but are excited at the opportunity! How do we request a room by the Skyline?

After I did our online check-in (weeks before arrived), the app gave me the option to make requests. Close to Skyliner was one of them. There was also a check box for "room being ready" as a priority over my request. I also checked that box. We lucked out - Aruba 55. And we go into our room about 1:30 pm.

 

[DisneyJade]

If we check in early (days or weeks ahead), do we lose the ability to receive a refund?

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

If we check in early (days or weeks ahead), do we lose the ability to receive a refund?

not a clue! That is a question for the Disney Chat on their website. We were in the window of we could cancel up until the last minute, because of COVID. Here is the Disney FAQ

 

[DisneyJade]

not a clue! That is a question for the Disney Chat on their website. We were in the window of we could cancel up until the last minute, because of COVID. Here is the Disney FAQ

Hmm. I can't tell from the FAQs. We will be in that COVID-cancel-up-to-last-minute window too. I've been afraid to check in early, because I'm worried that once we do, it will negate our ability to cancel.

 

[dansdad]

If we check in early (days or weeks ahead), do we lose the ability to receive a refund?

No.

 

[DMLAINI]

How long is the walk approximately from Trinidad to The Riviera? I just made a breakfast reservation there & we're in a pirate room.