Caribbean Beach or Pop Century

[OhAmbs]

Good morning!

We are booked for Pop the week after the Princess Marathon weekend. Caribbean Beach just opened up with a room that is very similar in price($20 more per night). Is the change over worth it? I don't mind paying a few dollars a night more, but I'm worried about some of the stories regarding busses at CBR. While on the Pop thread, the new rooms are getting mixed reviews. DH has never stay moderate so I though it be a nice surprise. POR and CSR are booked up (except for the royal rooms) and we've only previously stayed AoA. What would you do?

 

[Dayman99]

Caribbean Beach was way too big of a resort for us last time. And yes, the buses stop at 5 different internal stops, depending on what area you are staying. Also, I think it's going under major construction with the gondola system getting installed. I just booked Pop for June.

 

[Hopefully]

I do not like CBR. It is the only WDW resort I will never stay at again. Plus there is construction now, resulting in much disruption. This is the reason for the low price. They are trying to fill rooms folks don't want.
I would stay at POP.

 

[Disneylover99]

I'd stick with Pop.

 

[Shellyb84]

I would stay at Pop. CBR is the only resort we've stayed at so far that we have really disliked and would very likely not return to.

We love Pop, and the news rooms are great!

 

[Texasscuba]

Construction did not bother us in November, rude CM's at dinning tent did.

 

[MalkaR]

I would stay at Pop. CBR is the only resort we've stayed at so far that we have really disliked and would very likely not return to.

We love Pop, and the news rooms are great!

May I ask what you didn't like about CBR?

 

[Shellyb84]

May I ask what you didn't like about CBR?

CMs weren't friendly, the layout is confusing, everywhere was so crowded - the pool, food court, walkways, bus stops. I don't like the layout of the pool either. It made it hard to watch DD in the pool without being in there with her. The room itself was fine and clean, that's the only thing I really can't complain about. We really liked the theme and were excited to try it but unfortunately it was a disappointment.

The only other mod we've stayed at so far is CSR and we love it. They are like complete opposites.

 

[Mousemommy1]

We stayed at POP one year and then stayed at CBR the following year (as an upgrade). We spent our CBR stay wishing we had gone back to POP. We didn't enjoy the size of CBR and the multiple internal bus stops. Now mind you, this was in 2011, and there have been upgrades to the resort since then but our housekeeping and maintenance was not very good at CBR. We had some issues with our room that took awhile to get resolved.

That being said, the CM's were wonderful and helpful. I do like the look of the CBR rooms since the remodel and since we are now a family of five, there is the possibility of us staying there again at some point in the future.

 

[mco65]

Only stayed at CBR once but enjoyed it just the same... We stay at POR predominantly.. can't stay at POP any more now that there are 5 of us.. Always like POP the best of the budget resorts... POR the best of the Moderates and have only stayed at Grand Floridian for Deluxe...

I never put much thought into the resort because all have been magical IMO... I do want to stay at the FORT sometime soon as well as some of the other Deluxe resorts but that might have to wait for my rich uncle gets out of the poor house......

 

[JEakins]

I just debated the same 2 resorts and even made a thread the other day. Pop seemed more favoured in responses. We ultimately decided to book Pop because of the new rooms, lack of ongoing construction, less walking and only having a single bus stop. With it being our first visit it seemed like the better choice.

 

[stace1214]

We just had our first stay at CBR and loved it. We did not love the buses though. It was never a long wait to get a bus back from the parks, but the mornings were just awful. We couldn't rely on them to get to PPO reservations or to be as early as we like to be for rope drop. We ended up using Uber each morning. I would absolutely stay there again though. We found the CM's to be the friendliest of any resort we've stayed at. It's definitely a big resort and even though we were about as far away from the main pool as possible, it wasn't more than a ten minute walk at most.

 

[coolbrook]

The pool at CBR has slides, a little one and a bigger one and a kids splash play area. The entire main building is closed right now, but I don't know for how long. Dining is in a giant tent and food trucks. It is not ideal right now, but it is a moderate with queen beds. I guess you just have to decide what is most important in a resort for you.

 

[maxiesmom]

Unless you pay for a preferred room at CBR stick with Pop. Otherwise you can have quite a hike to the main pool and its slide and splash area.

 

[rznhal]

I considered cbr for our stay later this month....when I heard the dining was in a tent that did it for me:-/

 

[Jessicadhx]

To be honest, I've stayed at CBR 3 times and loved it every time.
I love the size of the resort, i really enjoy the walk around the lagoon in the mornings with your refillable mugs heading to the food court before the real heat of the day hits. But yes, it is a big resort and there is extra walking. In all honesty you're never too far away from the bus stops, or a pool for that matter, as theres one for each 'area' of the resort.
Each area of the resort has different theming and is a different colour. Their are small beaches on the lagoon with hammocks and a lovely little island that you have to walk over a bridge to get to (you can often see turtles in the waters there too) and the island has benches, hammocks and a play park its the perfect little hide away.

Although i am bias, I've never stayed at pop and i do hear good things, i just trust the moderates a touch more to be able to relax in them, theyre a little bit more away from the hustle and bustle of value resorts and theres more room to breath. But again, that depends entirely on what you're looking for from your stay.

I know the construction at CBR is abit invasive, id watch one of the walk around tours of the construction works at CBR on youtube, theyre a really good gauge on how its affecting all parts of the hotel.

Anyway, which ever you pick I'm sure you'll have a great time!

 

[CarrieR]

I'm an avid Pop stayer who stayed at CBR on a Priceline deal last year - aka, cheap. This was immediately before the construction started... I was just not impressed. It was okay for the price, but I'd had a night at POFQ for about the same cost and fell in love. My room location at CBR was decent - near a bus stop and a short walk to the food court - and the room itself was fine. However, the new rooms at Pop actually feel a bit more upscale to me. Overall, I would say CBR was just not my "style," it felt kind of blah... and with the current construction I'd definitely avoid. JMO though, others feel differently!

 

[Megara5115]

I really enjoyed our stay at CBR December 2016 and I would love to go back, but even if prices were equal I would still do POP with the amount of construction going on.

 

[Haley R]

I had this same question awhile back and went with pop. Our stay is in February and the overall vote was for pop when I posted a thread. I’m so excited to try pop! It’ll be nice to have AoA right there too.

 

[Dsny4fun]

I stayed at CBR in Sept and I loved it....I have only stayed once in a value and i have never stayed in one again...I prefer moderate hotels (my favorite is POFQ)