Caribbean Beach FAQ part V

[mcd2745]

Thanks mcd!!

Another question for you folks: this will be our first trip using the buses, and I know there has been information all over this thread, but I was wondering if someone could give a "rundown" of bus-riding advice and guidelines for us rookies? Any tips on dealing with strollers? How long should we expect things to take? Are there major differences between the different parks and DTD? Just any heads up that would be good for someone to know who has never done this before would be much appreciated! Thanks!

I think so much of everyone's experience and impression of the bus service really does boil down to luck. You can get to the bus stop looking for a MK bus and one comes immediately. However, there could be a family there who just missed the prvious MK bus by a minute and waited 20 minutes for the same bus you just caught. You're both on the same bus, yet, will report a totally different experience/satisfaction level of the bus service based on that trip to MK. And at any given time, you could be the lucky or unlucky one.

CBR is pretty centrally located, so the trips from the resort to the parks isn't bad with the longest being to MK. Once you leave the CBR grounds, it takes about 15 minutes to get to MK, about 10-15 to AK (which shares a bus with Blizzrd Beach), and about 5 minutes each for Epcot and DHS. Downtown Disney shares a bus with Typhoon Lagoon and they are about 10 minutes away - the main difference with the DTD buses is that they run much later than the parks' buses. In general, you should plan to be at the bus stop approx 1 hour before whatever time you need to be somewhere (you could add 10 minutes for MK, maybe 10 less for Epcot & DHS). Never took a stroller on the buses, but know that you will have to fold them up.

Sometimes, you can encounter a long line and wait for a bus back to your resort if you leave a park right at closing after a performance of Wishes/Illuminations/Fantasmic. If you avoid leaving right at those times, you should be fine. If you are at the parks until closing, you may want to have a snack, browse the shops, etc. for a little while until crowds at the bus stations dissipate.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Thanks mcd!!

Another question for you folks: this will be our first trip using the buses, and I know there has been information all over this thread, but I was wondering if someone could give a "rundown" of bus-riding advice and guidelines for us rookies? Any tips on dealing with strollers? How long should we expect things to take? Are there major differences between the different parks and DTD? Just any heads up that would be good for someone to know who has never done this before would be much appreciated! Thanks!

CBR has a great location, making for quick bus rides. There are 7 bus stops within the resort, so allow for up to 10 minutes to make all those stops before actually leaving the resort (usually it's shorter, depending on what stop you are using and where the bus started). Once the bus leaves the resort (I timed it on our last stay there) it is 3 minutes to DHS, 5 to Epcot, 9 to DTD, and 11 to MK and AK. Always allow for up to 20 minutes to wait on a bus, although they usually come sooner.

Hope that helps.

 

[dislover8943]

We just got back from 8 days at CBR. We were in Trinidad South in building 34. Seriously I don't know what people are complaining about when they say it's so far from everything and the place is too big. It took me all of about 5 minutes to walk from my room to the main pool. I am VERY VERY Pooh sized and out of shape, and I have rheumatoid arthritis, and I made it in about 5 minute. I also stopped to snap a few photos along the way.

I'm so glad we didn't change our minds about the pirate rooms after reading about how far away from everything Trinidad South was. I was having second thoughts.

Thank you! I keep reading the negatives and questioning my choice. We are going to be staying in trinadad south as well.

 

[stuffed withfluff]

Thank you! I keep reading the negatives and questioning my choice. We are going to be staying in trinadad south as well.

me too me too me too! we had to book a handicapped room and all they had was the pirate rooms and we were getting nervous, my ma has neropathy or the legs and heart failure so i was concerned about the distance from trinidad south but now i am excited!

 

[dislover8943]

me too me too me too! we had to book a handicapped room and all they had was the pirate rooms and we were getting nervous, my ma has neropathy or the legs and heart failure so i was concerned about the distance from trinidad south but now i am excited!

I think no matter where you stay there is going to be someone that was unhappy about something so we just have to consider that. I'm sure we will enjoy it. Have a great time on your trip

 

[wendyt_ca]

Does anyone know if there is a gym/fitness centre at CBR?

 

[wendyt_ca]

Also I saw that the ipool closes at 10pm??? Is there any pools or hot tubs open past then?

 

[aubriee]

Does anyone know if there is a gym/fitness centre at CBR?

No, the only moderate with a gym/fitness center is Corodado Springs.

 

[mcd2745]

Also I saw that the ipool closes at 10pm??? Is there any pools or hot tubs open past then?

The main pool, hot tubs, and quiet pools are open 24hrs. The slides and kiddie pirate ship play area close at 8pm when lifeguards go off duty.

 

[zima-cheryl]

If you are at the parks until closing, you may want to have a snack, browse the shops, etc. for a little while until crowds at the bus stations dissipate.

Great advice!

This is what we usually do & never have a problem. Busses run a good hour or two after park closing.
We figure why not sit for 45 minutes & relax w/a drink & snack instead of standing in line 45 minutes? We would probably end up on the same bus back either way.

 

[mickeyboat]

We got back yesterday from our stay at CBR. We loved the resort. I asked for Jamaica 45 or Aruba 51 and got Jamaica 46. We loved the room, Mousekeeping was great (we got towel animals our first day and she arranged the kids animals in the window the other days, we got plenty of soap, shampoo and coffee). We loved the location even though we kept getting lost finding our room. We were not bothered by the walk to OPR. We loved the pools, too!

They are refurbishing Caribbean Cay - so we didn't get to enjoy it much.

We didn't like the buses, though. We didn't mind that there were many stops around the resort, but trying to get back to CBR from the parks was not fun, especially at park closing times. The CBR line was always the longest and it seemed to take the bus people a long time to get more buses to the resorts to handle the crowds. It seems to me that if they know CBR is the largest resort, they would plan to have more buses picking up CBR guests. I guess we could have just waited in the parks until the crowd cleared, but we were so ready to get back to the resort!

 

[Ariel on Land]

Thanks again mcd and mom of boys!! We've done Disney often enough lately to have a good grasp on what we're doing, except for the buses, so I just have this fear of the unknown!! I'm sure we'll be fine, but I just have this feeling I'd get there and go, "oh shoot! I should have asked the Dis about this BEFORE I left!!"

 

[wendyt_ca]

We leave tomorrow morning for CBR!!!

 

[cindykelley]

We got back yesterday from our stay at CBR. We loved the resort. I asked for Jamaica 45 or Aruba 51 and got Jamaica 46. We loved the room, Mousekeeping was great (we got towel animals our first day and she arranged the kids animals in the window the other days, we got plenty of soap, shampoo and coffee). We loved the location even though we kept getting lost finding our room. We were not bothered by the walk to OPR. We loved the pools, too!

They are refurbishing Caribbean Cay - so we didn't get to enjoy it much.

We didn't like the buses, though. We didn't mind that there were many stops around the resort, but trying to get back to CBR from the parks was not fun, especially at park closing times. The CBR line was always the longest and it seemed to take the bus people a long time to get more buses to the resorts to handle the crowds. It seems to me that if they know CBR is the largest resort, they would plan to have more buses picking up CBR guests. I guess we could have just waited in the parks until the crowd cleared, but we were so ready to get back to the resort!

Glad to hear you liked CBR since we are going in 4 weeks, but do you know how long they will be refurbishing Caribbean Cay? I can't find any info about it on the websites. It's definitely not a dealbreaker, but I would like to be able to explore everything.

 

[Monorail Fan:)]

Great Pool, Great Food Court, Great Rooms= Caribbean Beach

We stayed in one of the Nemo rooms, and it looked great!
Just keep swimming, Just keep swimming

 

[alayne]

My DH and I stayed at the CBR for our Honeymoon in 1999. We loved it and so we went back and did it all over in 2000. Since then we have been back to Disney (but stayed outside the park - DID NOT LIKE.) and now we are going again.

This time we are taking our son who is 6. My DH and I really wanted to stay at CBR because we had so much fun on our honeymoon and when we saw the new Pirate Rooms we knew our son would have a blast.

We have two Pirate Rooms booked for April 2011 (my mom and two nieces will be going with us) and I can't wait to see the rooms.

The pictures that were posted were great. Thanks for all the great info.

 

[mickeyboat]

Glad to hear you liked CBR since we are going in 4 weeks, but do you know how long they will be refurbishing Caribbean Cay? I can't find any info about it on the websites. It's definitely not a dealbreaker, but I would like to be able to explore everything.

The area where the hammocks are was open, but the playground area was closed. I really don't know how long it will be like that. Hope it is open when you are there, but don't worry, there is still plenty to do!

 

[Moneypenny]

We just returned from our trip 10/22-29 and enjoyed our second stay at CBR! We got our Aruba request and DD was given a crown and wand when we checked in (which was late at night on Friday, so plenty of time for them to give her attention!). Our room was mostly clean, although a bit disty around the baseboards (which I likely wouldn't have noticed if I wouldn't have checked for bed bugs - no evidence of those).

We noticed a definite improvement in the cleaning when Monday rolled around. I'm wondering if the usual housekeeper was off for the weekend, because on Saturday and Sunday the basics were done, and on Monday we had a towel animal, loads of extra towels, soap and shampoo, etc.

Bus service was great except for the two days we slept in and got to the bus stop between 8:45 and 9:30. Both days we then had to wait 20-25 minutes and one of those times it was standing room only. We weren't in a hurry, so no big deal. All other times we had a bus literally within 5 minutes. The only other time we stood was leaving MNSSHP on Tuesday. The line for the bus leaving the park was stretching beyond the corral area, so I thought we'd be in a for a huge wait, but they filled up one bus and another pulled right up, then another. We were on the 3rd bus less than 10 minutes after arriving at the line and there were only about 20 people left in line with another bus pulling in behind us.

We ate at the food court most evenings and it was fine - the options got a little dull after a while, but the food was always the right temperature and tasty enough. The deli counter service area didn't ever seem to be open for dinner, although I do think it was open at breakfast. On our two "sleep in" days we ate breakfast at the food court (other days we had cereal or oatmeal in our room) and it was busy, but we were able to find a table right away.

Our last night DD woke up about 9:30 p.m. (I'll confess DH and I were asleep, too - it was a tiring week!) having thrown up in her bed and on the carpeting. I called housekeeping and someone came to change the bedding right away and to clean the carpet about 15 minutes later. They were very sweet to DD and I felt horrible, but they were nothing but accommodating and friendly.

As someone mentioned, the island is undergoing refurbishment but we never spent much time on the island anyway, so it wasn't a big deal to us (although DH said he did miss listening to Jimmy Buffet as he walked along the trail, lol!)

If you have any questions, just ask and I'll do my best to answer them!

 

[Ariel on Land]

Oh I'm so sorry about your DD!! I hope she felt better soon! Glad you had a good stay and good mousekeeping! Glad to hear they were on the ball with the buses as well!! I am a little bummed about the Cay- it's one of my favorite parts of the resort!

 

[metzgardesign]

....The only other time we stood was leaving MNSSHP on Tuesday. The line for the bus leaving the park was stretching beyond the corral area, so I thought we'd be in a for a huge wait, but they filled up one bus and another pulled right up, then another. We were on the 3rd bus less than 10 minutes after arriving at the line and there were only about 20 people left in line with another bus pulling in behind us.....

Glad you caught the tail end of that fiasco. We caught the beginning of it. Our wait was far longer than 10 minutes. Took the WDW Transpo a while to figure out how to remedy the issue, it would seem.....thus explaining the super long line that extended far beyond the corral area.

But, it did remind us that driving our own vehicle was so much more comfortable, convenient and pleasant than standing butt-cheek-to-butt-cheek on a WDW bus at 1 a.m. (the rest of the week we drove to where we wanted to go).

Overall, the resort was very nice. Yes, the Cay was being worked on, but WDW was nice enough to provide a generator-powered light for the path at night, so that really added to the ambiance (kinda like someone operating a weed-whacker alongside the trail). Did help with seeing the walkway a bit, if'n you didn't look directly into the lightbeam.

We'd stay there again, I believe.