Caribbean Beach Resort FAQ

[2BoysMum&Dad]

Originally posted by Dznypal
............So as dumb as it sounds we had the front desk at the CR call the CBR and the next morning we moved back "home"

That must really sound stupid

That really doesn't sound dumb at all! Although we don't really know what the CR is like, we saw bits of it from the monorail. I am sure it is lovely, but I am convinced we made the right choice with CBR.

 

[kinggoofy]

I did not read thru every post..so if this question has been asked and answered already...I apoligize in advance...

What is the best building location ? 2nd best and so on. ?
I am not too worried about the upgrade price. ( closest walk to OPR )

We stayed there 11 years ago for our Honeymoon and we wanted to stay there for this Thanksgiving..but are unable to get AP rate.

We are thinking about it for annual August trip in 2005.

POR is still our favorite...but "variety is the spice of life."

Thanks KG

 

[hulabird]

It depends on what you want to be close to KingGoofy. Some people like being right by OPR (food court) and the main pool, so will pay for a "preferred" room location, which will give you something in Martinique or Trin North. We don't mind a little walking so we like Jamaica the best and always request it and have always gotten it. Building 45 in Jamaica is the closet to the bridge that takes you to OPR, the walk from there is about 3 minutes. The walk is pleasant as you go through a "tropical" rainforest like setting. This is what we love the most about staying in Jamaica. Other Jamaica buildings are ok too, but building 42 for us was a bit of a walk, maybe like 6 minutes. We have stayed in 46 two years in a row and loved it because our walk was short and the location was easy access to the busstop and parking lot (we rent a car) and about a minute to the quiet pool. I would say the worst places would be Trin South and Barbados, these are more of a hike to OPR. We use the food court alot when we stay at CBR so we want to be close to OPR but still have some "quiet" that Jamaica offers. Aruba would also be a good choice if you didn't want to pay the preferred room rate. We always get a King bed and we do pay extra for that, but I feel that is worth it and the room seems alot bigger too. Just my thoughts, I am sure others will tell you their favorites as well.

You will love CBR.

 

[excitedmom]

there are hot chocolate machines beside the pop machines in the food court so with the refillable mug you can get pop, hot chocolate, tea, coffee and there is also lemonade. We loved the feel of the place. very tropical. we missed a few things because they had them closed for frances and wanted to see what ivan was doing before opening them up : re : the tables and chairs outside and the little sitting areas on the island bridge. We had a room in one of the very back buildings of aruba. the walk was very nice. we would let the kids swim while one of us ran and got the breakfasts then after eating we would go back for a shower and get the bus right outside our door with no more than a ten minute wait (more like 5) the longest we waited for a bus was to epcot on sunday the 12th and we waited 20min. in that time the internal bus came around 4 times. We were a little annoyed that they had some of the eateries closed due to lack of people in the resort so we had to have either fries burgers chicken nuggets or pasta every night; but on the opposite side of the coin, we walked on to every single ride without a wait and walked up to every character for pictures and autographs so it all evened out. We noticed a lot of downed trees around the parks but the resort its self looked fine. there was alot of brush on the paths and the paths beside the beach were covered with sand but that was all cleared up by wednesday morning. mousekeeping came by around 10am every day and 2 out of 7 days we got towel animals. We got a corner room (not asked for) but we had the shades drawn all the time we were in there so i would not pay extra for that. I found the all star food court offered alot more diversity but then we weren't there right after a hurricane last year. also, the gift shop in the all stars had more of the snacky late night foods we liked lol. as well the arcade was better at ASMO, CBR didn't offer tickets when you played and it was useless for my 9,8, and 4yr olds. they enjoyed the all star arcade more. but then we only spent about an hour in there so it won't affect my decision as to where we will stay next time lol. Over all, i really enjoyed my carribean stay. it was nice to walk along the path looking at all the nature in the morning and stretch my legs before hitting the parks. altho i did leave my cane in downtown disney. who would i contact to get that back? roflmao

 

[2BoysMum&Dad]

Originally posted by kinggoofy
I did not read thru every post..so if this question has been asked and answered already...I apoligize in advance...

What is the best building location ? 2nd best and so on. ?
I am not too worried about the upgrade price. ( closest walk to OPR )

We stayed there 11 years ago for our Honeymoon and we wanted to stay there for this Thanksgiving..but are unable to get AP rate.

We are thinking about it for annual August trip in 2005.

POR is still our favorite...but "variety is the spice of life."

Thanks KG

Hi KG. After doing loads of reading up on CBR, we decided we wanted to be as near to OPR as possible without paying extra. This meant being in Jamaica 45 or Aruba 51. Both these villages are great and there is a very pleasant walk across the island to OPR which doesn't seem far at all. Despite requesting one of these buildings, we actually ended up in Aruba 54. This wasn't really a problem but did mean we didn't visit OPR as often as we would have done if we were closer.

Aruba 54 is a very long building stretching from the car park at one end to the pool, beach and laundry building at the other. Our room was approximately half way along and made the walk from our car to the room or from the pool etc to our room not far.

You will now have a fridge in your room (or can request one) at no cost. Unfortunately for us, we left just as this scheme was introduced. But there are ice machines on every floor of every building and we used bags of ice in a cooler bag which worked just as well.

Hope you enjoy your visit KG.

 

[excitedmom]

the fridges aren't installed yet btw (or they weren't by the 13th) but you can request one for free.

 

[Cinni]

In january I'm visiting Caribbean for the first time and I do wonder about some things:

1) Does the "internal bus" at the resort stop at the same bus stops as the other Disneybuses?
2) Where does the conference buses stop? Only at the Main entrance? Or at the Old Port Royal too?
3) At the resort are there much streetlights? Or is it dark to go to the room at evenings/night? (seeing ghosts everywhere )

 

[excitedmom]

there are tons of streetlights all along the paths, probably every 10ft or so, it is very well lit and the internal bus stops at the same stops as the other busses. I have no idea about conference busses tho

 

[2BoysMum&Dad]

Cinni, I can confirm what excitedmom said, the paths are well lit and internal buses stop at the same place as the park buses. I also do not know about conference buses - suspect they might only go to Custom House? Maybe someone else can help with that.

 

[Cinni]

Thank you for that information, it sounds reassuring!

 

[safetymom]

CBR FAQ Part 2 is up on the boards. Follow the link below. Please add your comments to the new thread.

 

[neelyfam]

Great thread. we love the CBR. I'm travleing back twice more this fall and wondering if high speed internet has been added yet to any rooms in any of the Moderate resorts? Any pointers to this info would be great.

 

[safetymom]

No high speed at the moderates except for CSR. That is considered a convention hotel. They have high speed and wireless in certain areas.

 

[Patcw]

We will be going to CBR the first week of Dec. I was wondering do they have hair dryers in the room and do they offer toasters for the room.

 

[DNBois]

Yes, they have hair dryers in the each of the rooms as well as coffee makers but I do not believe that they have toasters - you should call your hotel directly and see if they are available.

 

[safetymom]

They do have hair dryers and coffee pots. Not sure about the toaster but there is one in the food court you can use. You can use your own food in their toaster no problem.

 

[mom22girls]

I have seen conflicting answers so just wanted an update--Are there fridges in all the rooms at CBR or do we have to request one and pay for it. Thanks for the info

 

[gingermommy94]

We just booked our trip last week and the CM on the phone told us there would be a fridge in our room. There wasn't one last year when we went, they were still available to rent. The CM told us that they decided to put fridges in the rooms. No charge, just part of the room now. YAY!

 

[safetymom]

They should be in all the rooms by now. If yours doesn't have one you can request one at no charge.

 

[G00fyDad]

This is my families first trip to WDW!! Yeah!! None of us have ever been before. We are staying at CBR for the latter half of October this year. I have 2 questions for everyone. One is resort related the other is not.

First: How difficult is it really to get the room request(s) you ask for? I have heard that it is hard. Since this is our first trip to WDW I want everything to be perfect. I am more excited about my kids going (10 and 2) than me or my wife.

Second: How much should I plan on spending at WDW per day or total for food? I am taking $1000.00. I am hoping that will be enough or it will eat into (no pun intended) our spending budget.