Best bang for buck out of these 2 resorts?? CBR ASM

[cavesrus]

OK couple questions......

What are the restaurants like on these properties etc?

Bus service for each location good bad ugly?

Preferred room or not?

yes i know one is value and one isnt lol!

Is preferred or standard needed at either for bus stops. Also last trip we mears BC / or uber in the am to sleep in a bit more when not walking.

Cost difference is about $1300 which im ok with either way we do not usually spend a ton of time at resorts we usually stay at spot we can walk to a park though.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Since you usually stay where you can walk to a park this will be a bit of a system shock so I’m gonna say CBR, not preferred so you can request near the Skyliner for DHS/EP access. Baby steps to saving money since you don’t have to save the $1300 this trip. (CBR doesn’t have elevators though.)

You could split the difference and go Pop Preferred. That would actually be my choice. The no elevators is a deal breaker for me at CBR.

 

[cavesrus]

Since you usually stay where you can walk to a park this will be a bit of a system shock so I’m gonna say CBR, not preferred so you can request near the Skyliner for DHS/EP access. Baby steps to saving money since you don’t have to save the $1300 this trip. (CBR doesn’t have elevators though.)

You could split the difference and go Pop Preferred. That would actually be my choice. The no elevators is a deal breaker for me at CBR.

TY I was thinking That and room looks a bit bigger as well with the pull down sleeper like in boardwalk and POR.

At ASM I did upgrade to a preferred room. With that price.

At CBR i did a stand view. with price.

Is the walk crazy to bust stops at each location?

Also last trip we mears BC / or uber in the am to sleep in a bit more when not walking.

 

[cavesrus]

Since you usually stay where you can walk to a park this will be a bit of a system shock so I’m gonna say CBR, not preferred so you can request near the Skyliner for DHS/EP access. Baby steps to saving money since you don’t have to save the $1300 this trip. (CBR doesn’t have elevators though.)

You could split the difference and go Pop Preferred. That would actually be my choice. The no elevators is a deal breaker for me at CBR.

pop preferred at ASM or AOA or PC?

 

[gottalovepluto]

pop preferred at ASM or AOA or PC?

A Preferred Room at Pop Century. It’s on the Skyliner so Skyliner benefits at a price point midway between value and mod.

CBR is a massive resort so it has multiple bus stops. I think the All Stars each only have 1 but I’m not certain.

 

[brockash]

OK couple questions......

What are the restaurants like on these properties etc?

Bus service for each location good bad ugly?

Preferred room or not?

yes i know one is value and one isnt lol!

Is preferred or standard needed at either for bus stops. Also last trip we mears BC / or uber in the am to sleep in a bit more when not walking.

Cost difference is about $1300 which im ok with either way we do not usually spend a ton of time at resorts we usually stay at spot we can walk to a park though.

When are you going? If it's during rainier months, it'd be a no brainer for us and we'd 100% save the money and stay at ASMo (no preferred needed everythings pretty close and we've always had good bus experiences.)

If it's not during the rainy months, then we may consider staying at CBR. We do love the skyliner...when it's up and running smoothly). Having said that, the resort is huge and in our experiences the buses can kinda be a pain if for no other reason just the fact that there are so many. It feels like it takes forever to get out of the actual resort. Walking to the lobby and main pool can be a haul depending on where your room is.

We prefer the food court at the all stars, however CBR also has a table service restaurant if that's important to you. CBR also had a pool slide, zero entry and a hot tub, which values do not.

 

[lanejudy]

I'm not sure if by "ASM" means All Star Music (ASMu) or All Star Movies (ASMo) though both will be similar with regards to my response:

• Restaurants --
  • the values (All Stars) has only the 1 food court style quick service location, though walkable to the other 2 All Stars for their (similar) food court restaurants. No sit-down table service restaurant at the value resorts.
  • Moderates (CBR) has both quick service and table service dining options.
• Bus --
  • the value resorts (All Stars) have 1 bus stop for the whole resort. The furthest rooms may have a bit of a walk; Music gets the most complaints about this but I've stayed there and never felt it was a huge distance.
  • The moderates (CBR) are rather sprawling resorts and have multiple bus stops. It isn't hard to be relatively "close" to a bus stop.
• All Star resorts use only buses as transportation. CBR will have the Skyliner to 2 parks and bus to the other 2 parks and DS.
• Preferred room -- is typically close(r) to pools and/or food and/or transportation, but it may not be closest to all 3 of those amenities. Note that All Star Music also offers family suites in the preferred buildings.
• The moderate resorts have larger rooms. To the point of the table/bed murphy at the values that might make the room seem larger if you don't need the 2nd bed and keep it stowed. If you need the 2nd bed, it does get tight.

 

[loves to dive]

Resorts, like food, are somewhat subjective and everyone is going to have their favorite. First is ASM movies or music? Makes a difference as one is bigger than the other. Music is a little bigger than Movies so if you get all the way in the back it can be a walk to the front. Music, does however, have the suites which provide a lot of room. So I'd probably go preferred in Music if you didn't want to walk. The rooms are slightly larger in the moderate than the values. CBR is large and has multiple bus stops so it's possible if you don't take the bus to the front, you are going to walk a bit. I'm not sure if all the rooms in CBR have been updated yet. Both have outside hallways. Both have food courts, CBR has a TS restaurant as well. The value bus stops are not shaded but do have actual ques. The moderate bus stops have cover but do not have ques so it can be like the running of the bulls to get onto the bus. CBR has the sky liner, AS is only buses. The sky liner is actually a deal breaker for me but not in the way for other people. I'm not a fan and you couldn't pay me to stay in a resort that has that for transportation to my two favorite parks.

 

[ilovebassets]

We stayed at CBR, non-preferred room, last summer without a car and loved it. (Big departure for our family that typically does FW Cabins or SSR 1 or 2 bedroom with our car.) The walk to the Riviera Skyline was super quick and gave us access to a much wider range of restaurants and resorts to enjoy in addition to being easy transportation for Epcot and DHS. The CBR bus stops were close enough and the buses seemed to come in a very reasonable amount of time. We enjoyed Sebastian's table service and the feature pool.

The only downside was the bus ride home from MK at closing which was INSANELY bad. Worst bus experience in all my years at Disney. Waiting well over 30 minutes for a bus to arrive while multiple buses arrived and left practically empty for other resorts and then got packed in like sardines. Driver took multiple wrong turns and took well over 30 minutes to get back to the resort. It was a nightmare. It wouldn't stop me from staying there again, but it was bad enough that it would make me reluctant to ever try leaving at closing again (unless you are wiling to hang around until well after closing).

 

[cavesrus]

When are you going? If it's during rainier months, it'd be a no brainer for us and we'd 100% save the money and stay at ASMo (no preferred needed everythings pretty close and we've always had good bus experiences.)

If it's not during the rainy months, then we may consider staying at CBR. We do love the skyliner...when it's up and running smoothly). Having said that, the resort is huge and in our experiences the buses can kinda be a pain if for no other reason just the fact that there are so many. It feels like it takes forever to get out of the actual resort. Walking to the lobby and main pool can be a haul depending on where your room is.

We prefer the food court at the all stars, however CBR also has a table service restaurant if that's important to you. CBR also had a pool slide, zero entry and a hot tub, which values do not.

we are going end of march. ASMO is the resort sorry didnt think of the MO and MU. lol

 

[cavesrus]

I'm not sure if by "ASM" means All Star Music (ASMu) or All Star Movies (ASMo) though both will be similar with regards to my response:

• Restaurants --
  • the values (All Stars) has only the 1 food court style quick service location, though walkable to the other 2 All Stars for their (similar) food court restaurants. No sit-down table service restaurant at the value resorts.
  • Moderates (CBR) has both quick service and table service dining options.
• Bus --
  • the value resorts (All Stars) have 1 bus stop for the whole resort. The furthest rooms may have a bit of a walk; Music gets the most complaints about this but I've stayed there and never felt it was a huge distance.
  • The moderates (CBR) are rather sprawling resorts and have multiple bus stops. It isn't hard to be relatively "close" to a bus stop.
• All Star resorts use only buses as transportation. CBR will have the Skyliner to 2 parks and bus to the other 2 parks and DS.
• Preferred room -- is typically close(r) to pools and/or food and/or transportation, but it may not be closest to all 3 of those amenities. Note that All Star Music also offers family suites in the preferred buildings.
• The moderate resorts have larger rooms. To the point of the table/bed murphy at the values that might make the room seem larger if you don't need the 2nd bed and keep it stowed. If you need the 2nd bed, it does get tight.

ASMo sorry didnt think of that last night. we like the movie theme fore than music.

 

[cavesrus]

Resorts, like food, are somewhat subjective and everyone is going to have their favorite. First is ASM movies or music? Makes a difference as one is bigger than the other. Music is a little bigger than Movies so if you get all the way in the back it can be a walk to the front. Music, does however, have the suites which provide a lot of room. So I'd probably go preferred in Music if you didn't want to walk. The rooms are slightly larger in the moderate than the values. CBR is large and has multiple bus stops so it's possible if you don't take the bus to the front, you are going to walk a bit. I'm not sure if all the rooms in CBR have been updated yet. Both have outside hallways. Both have food courts, CBR has a TS restaurant as well. The value bus stops are not shaded but do have actual ques. The moderate bus stops have cover but do not have ques so it can be like the running of the bulls to get onto the bus. CBR has the sky liner, AS is only buses. The sky liner is actually a deal breaker for me but not in the way for other people. I'm not a fan and you couldn't pay me to stay in a resort that has that for transportation to my two favorite parks.

Does the skyliner run smoothly now or is it still down alot like monorail does from time to time? and you can only get to those 2 parks from the SL or buses as well but prob just less buses?

 

[brockash]

Does the skyliner run smoothly now or is it still down alot like monorail does from time to time? and you can only get to those 2 parks from the SL or buses as well but prob just less buses?

It runs smoothly if the weather is cooperating. If it goes down the hassle is not worth it to us. Disney's communication and lack of real/efficient plan for when the skyliner goes down is really pathetic in our opinion. While we will stay at a skyliner resort in the winter months; we most definitely will not in the summer due to the higher chance of rain and it going down somewhat frequently.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Does the skyliner run smoothly now or is it still down alot like monorail does from time to time? and you can only get to those 2 parks from the SL or buses as well but prob just less buses?

Skyliner runs fine unless there is lightening in the area and then it closes (and they run buses instead which can take some time to get running). Being closed for other reasons quite rare.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

We stayed at CBR, non-preferred room, last summer without a car and loved it. (Big departure for our family that typically does FW Cabins or SSR 1 or 2 bedroom with our car.) The walk to the Riviera Skyline was super quick and gave us access to a much wider range of restaurants and resorts to enjoy in addition to being easy transportation for Epcot and DHS. The CBR bus stops were close enough and the buses seemed to come in a very reasonable amount of time. We enjoyed Sebastian's table service and the feature pool.

The only downside was the bus ride home from MK at closing which was INSANELY bad. Worst bus experience in all my years at Disney. Waiting well over 30 minutes for a bus to arrive while multiple buses arrived and left practically empty for other resorts and then got packed in like sardines. Driver took multiple wrong turns and took well over 30 minutes to get back to the resort. It was a nightmare. It wouldn't stop me from staying there again, but it was bad enough that it would make me reluctant to ever try leaving at closing again (unless you are wiling to hang around until well after closing).

Did you leave at park close or after the fireworks? We almost always stay until the park closes and then peruse the stores etc. and by the time we get to transportation it's not bad at all. We never leave after the fireworks because that is when it's a mad house.

 

[ilovebassets]

Did you leave at park close or after the fireworks? We almost always stay until the park closes and then peruse the stores etc. and by the time we get to transportation it's not bad at all. We never leave after the fireworks because that is when it's a mad house.

We left after park closing and not after the fireworks. We hopped on the Tomorrowland People Mover and Astro Orbiter and hung around Main Street before heading out.

 

[tzeitel]

We have stayed at mods and values. Mostly values since we are rarely hang out at the resort.

Last time we stayed at ASMo for the first time and it was pretty good. I took advice from someone here and requested near the pool (booked a standard) and was put in the Mighty Ducks section. This was perfect as it was by a pool, laundry room (long stay) and super close to transportation and food court - not from ASMo but to the ASMu!
Did not have to wait too long for buses and they were never full.

I prefer Pop (even before the skyline) but their prices have gone up so much it's just a better value to stay at a mod or ASMo.

 

[cavesrus]

Just a FYI we choose to save the $ and go with ASMu and then i received email a few days later offering me to upgrade at a discount so they offered CBR with a huge discount, so we move to CBR hopefully Jamaca location or Aruba.

 

[maxiesmom]

I would go Pop Century. I didn't care for the food options at CBR. And it is a huge resort. Unless you pay for a preferred location you can have a good walk to the main pool/gift shop/restaurants. Pop is easier to get around and I like their food court. Plus you still get the skyliner for a fraction of the cost of CBR.