Caribbean Beach FAQ part VI

[HiHoOffWeGo]

dansdad is right on and if you get parking lot view you will find it does not matter. I second dansdad completely. I am not there to pull the curtains and sit and look at the view.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hi guys!

In 14 years of going to WDW, we've done something we've never done before...made a decision for a last minute trip. We're going during the third week of May. I never do anything without thorough planning, so this is really freaking me out, lol.

Anyway, because we're only a month away from our trip, we missed out on resort discounts, so no deluxe for us this year. We've decided to try CB...please tell me I won't miss the deluxes too bad!

I've booked a preferred room, but I'd still like to put in some requests. My priorities are:

1. fairly close walk to a bus stop
2. nice ambiance - doesn't necessarily have to be water view, but just not blacktop.
3. being close to a pool is nice, but not necessary...this will be a short 5-night trip, so I'm not sure we'll be able to make it to the pool.
4. proximity to the play area is not an issue

Which area/building should I request?

Also, is Shutters any good? Thinking about eating there for breakfast one morning...what time do they open?

Any advice on making the most of this resort will be very much appreciated.

TIA!

I'd suggest either Martinique 25 or 26. When we stayed in Bldg. 26, we used the OPR bus stop because it was closer.

As far as having to look at a parking lot, I'll second what the others have said, we really don't just sit and look out our windows that much while on vacation. Take a look at this post: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=48133490&postcount=1007

to see what a parking lot view looks like. I also posted others before that.

 

[Ariel Wanna-be]

I would say that Martinique 26 will put you close to the OPR bus stop, the main pool and the food court. IMHO when staying at a moderate the view is irrelevant. There is no balcony, your room opens right up to the outside walkway. The only way to see any kind of view is to have the blinds open which puts everyone in the room on display to anyone walking by. Also at CBR especially, if our room ever faced the parking lot there is so much lush vegetation between the buildings and the parking lot that it's very pretty.

Our last couple trips we have eaten at Shutters and really enjoyed it. It used to get a bad rap a few years ago, but they got a new head chef about 2 years ago and you can tell.

I hope you enjoy CBR as much as we do. It is our favorite moderate. The relaxed, laid back atmosphere is such a nice change from the craziness of the parks. We usually schedule 1.5-2 days to just enjoy the resort. We like to rent the surrey bikes or just stroll around the lake. The resort is gorgeous. We also like to grab a drink and sit on the Martinique beach and watch the higher illuminations fireworks. You can definitely hear them.

I'd suggest either Martinique 25 or 26. When we stayed in Bldg. 26, we used the OPR bus stop because it was closer.

As far as having to look at a parking lot, I'll second what the others have said, we really don't just sit and look out our windows that much while on vacation. Take a look at this post: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=48133490&postcount=1007

to see what a parking lot view looks like. I also posted others before that.

Thanks guys. I found a map earlier, and it looks like Martinique 26 would work. I'm less concerned with the view than the overall ambiance (such as not walking out of the room and onto asphalt). Looking at the pictures it seems like the vegetation is sufficient to block any "reminders of the real world!"

However, I've been doing more research and I have to say I'm getting worried about my choice...it seems CB gets the most negative reviews of the mods. I was hoping it would be "Poly Lite," lol.

Have y'all stayed at other mods and still feel that the CB is your favorite? Even over POFQ, which seems to have the biggest fan base?

.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Thanks guys. I found a map earlier, and it looks like Martinique 26 would work. I'm less concerned with the view than the overall ambiance (such as not walking out of the room and onto asphalt). Looking at the pictures it seems like the vegetation is sufficient to block any "reminders of the real world!"

However, I've been doing more research and I have to say I'm getting worried about my choice...it seems CB gets the most negative reviews of the mods. I was hoping it would be "Poly Lite," lol.

Have y'all stayed at other mods and still feel that the CB is your favorite? Even over POFQ, which seems to have the biggest fan base?

.

I know that several posters here on the CBR thread have stayed at multiple moderates and still find the CBR to be their favorite. One of them in particular has stayed at several deluxe resorts and moderates and still says that CBR is their favorite mod.

We are "stuck" on the CBR and always chicken out on trying another moderate resort. However, we are giving the French Quarter a one night try in May.

Most of the complaints that you'll read about the CBR are about the resort's size. Others may be about the condition of the room. I've read a lot of negative reviews over the last year or so relative to mousekeeping not doing a good job cleaning. Having said that, those reviews have been at all levels of resorts....from value to deluxe. I can honestly say that we have never had any issues arise during any of our multiple stays. The rooms have been in good condition and clean.

As far as walking out onto asphalt, that's not going to happen until you get around the corner of a building. Just as you mentioned, the landscaping blocks out the "real world".

 

[dansdad]

Thanks guys. I found a map earlier, and it looks like Martinique 26 would work. I'm less concerned with the view than the overall ambiance (such as not walking out of the room and onto asphalt). Looking at the pictures it seems like the vegetation is sufficient to block any "reminders of the real world!"

However, I've been doing more research and I have to say I'm getting worried about my choice...it seems CB gets the most negative reviews of the mods. I was hoping it would be "Poly Lite," lol.

Have y'all stayed at other mods and still feel that the CB is your favorite? Even over POFQ, which seems to have the biggest fan base?

.

We have stayed at POR and POFQ and we prefer CBR over both. True, it doesn't get much love on the DIS. The biggest complaint I see is the size and the double beds. We feel the size is way overstated. But since you are staying preferred, even that supposed issue is eliminated.

As with any resort, even the deluxes, you can get a bad room or service. We have gotten neither at CBR. It's your vacation/decision and you have to do what you feel is right. But we have recommended CBR to many friends and family and all have been extremely happy so far. All that have made subsequent trips to WDW have stayed at CBR again. By no means is it the Poly, but for the $$ we feel it is an awesome tropical setting.

 

[Ariel Wanna-be]

Thanks for the reassurances.

We are going to give it a try. The pictures look great, and I like the fact that it's relatively close to Epcot (our favorite park). Double beds are not a deal-breaker for us....we usually only spend about 5 hours a night in them, lol.

.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Thanks for the reassurances.

We are going to give it a try. The pictures look great, and I like the fact that it's relatively close to Epcot (our favorite park). Double beds are not a deal-breaker for us....we usually only spend about 5 hours a night in them, lol.

.

It's definitely close to Epcot. The ride will take about 10 minutes once you get on the bus. If you want to see my review of the CBR and lots of pics of the resort, click on the Excuse Me link in my signature below.

 

[pktbMouse]

Ariel wanna be.. you will love it..we have tried all the rest and CBR is our fav. I think the size is greatly exaggerated too, so much so we have not booked a preferred room this year. As many will tell you, the most relaxing bit about CBR is walking around looking at the beautiful plants, flowers, bunnies, ducks, birds, fish, turtles and tranquil lake. This is our 6th year going back and we find it hard to consider another resort now for the $$. We have never had an issue with housekeeping or a dirty room and we love the food court. The kids love the pool. Im sure you are going to have a wonderful vacation and wont be disappointed.
Did I mention I will be there in 10 days time!!!!!!!!!!!! YAYYYYYYY

 

[Ariel Wanna-be]

Thank you...the more I look the more excited I get!

.

 

[HiHoOffWeGo]

43 days till CBR. Lisa, you are such a great sales person for WDW especially CBR that you should get a special discount or at least a free meal.

 

[mickeystoontown]

43 days till CBR. Lisa, you are such a great sales person for WDW especially CBR that you should get a special discount or at least a free meal.

That's what my boss says! I'd love it if Disney did give me some kind of shout-out. I'd even take a measly free Dole Whip.

 

[mickeystoontown]

A while back, someone asked me for some detailed information on the Caribbean Beach Resort. I thought that I'd share it here in the hope that it answers any questions that some may have. Part one:


Many people talk about just how large the Caribbean Beach Resort is. Yes, it is a big resort but this means that the guests are distributed evenly throughout the resort and you won’t feel crowded. We have been at the resort when it was at full capacity and we would have never known it had I not been chatting with the castmember who told me at check in.

The resort is made up of 6 villages: Barbados, Martinique, Aruba, Jamaica, Trinidad North and Trinidad South. All buildings in the village of Trinidad South have been redone with a heavy pirate theme. All other rooms in the resort have a slight Nemo theme.

During three of our stays, we were assigned to Jamaica Buildings 41 and 42. Our upstairs rooms faced a beautiful courtyard. The walk to Old Port Royale was about 5 minutes and that was at a nice leisurely pace. The walk to the bus stop, the quiet pool and the laundry facilities took just 2 minutes. We especially liked crossing over the bridge and through the island to reach the main pool and food court.

During our 2007 stay, we were placed in a non-preferred Martinique building. The walk to all CBR destinations took approximately the same amount of time as our walk from Jamaica.

In August, 2008, we were assigned to one of the then new Nemo themed rooms. When I booked the trip, there were no standard room locations available and we had to pay for a preferred location. We were placed in Martinique 25 and, again, our walk was short and pleasant.

When we checked into the resort in August, 2009, we were pleasantly surprised to find that we had been given a free upgrade to Martinique 26 even though we had paid for a standard location. Martinique 26 was the closest building to Old Port Royale meaning our walk was super short. As a matter of fact, we were so close to Old Port Royale that we used their bus stop instead of the Martinique bus stop.

In 2012, we stayed at the CBR twice. Pre-cruise, we were in Barbados and our walk took us a little over 6 minutes most times. We did get behind a young family pushing a stroller so that took us a little longer. After the cruise, we were in Aruba and our walk was the same as that when we stayed in Jamaica.

There are four categories of rooms at the CBR.

Standard location rooms: These are located in the villages of Barbados, Jamaica, Aruba and some buildings in Martinique and Trinidad North.

King bed rooms: These are scattered throughout the resort but not in Trinidad South.

Water view rooms: Disney’s version of a water view room (at any resort) can mean you’ll either be looking at a swimming pool or a lake. They even consider it a water view if you have to look way over to one side so you can get a glimpse of the water. In my opinion, I’d save my money and not book a water view.

Pirate theme rooms: These are all found in the village of Trinidad South. Some complain about the walk from Trinidad South to Old Port Royale but I timed my walk and it was less than 7 minutes walking at a leisurely pace.

The rooms at the CBR are a bit larger than the other moderates at 340 square feet. Believe me, when you start getting all of your people and all their luggage into the room, you’ll be glad you have the extra space.

Most rooms have two double beds but there are some that have a king size bed. There are no king size beds in the pirate themed rooms.

The pirate themed rooms have beds that look like pirate ships, the dresser stacked crates, the nightstand is a barrel and the table is a compass. The privacy curtain has a large skull and cross bones on it. There is also a bench in the room. Even the carpet is themed to look like boards.

In the Nemo themed rooms, the furniture is more traditional in style but includes the same pieces as the pirate themed rooms. Everything is bright and colorful with Nemo characters on the bedspread. The wallpaper border has Nemo characters on it as well. The privacy curtain is a light orange color.

In both type of rooms, there are two sinks in the sink/closet area. The closet has a long closet rod with about a dozen wooden hangers. I usually bring along more and just leave them there when we leave. There is a small safe in the closet area. It’s pretty slim but we have been able to store a portable DVD players, my son’s PSP, a wallet, all of my husband’s epilepsy medications and a set of keys in the safe.

All rooms come with a hairdryer, iron, ironing board, refrigerator and coffeemaker at no extra charge.

The bathrooms are the typical hotel/motel bathroom size. The bathrooms in the pirate rooms have the Flying Dutchman etched into the shower wall. The bathrooms in the Nemo rooms have a pretty flower etched into the shower wall.

Mousekeeping has always been great. We have gotten several towel animals during each of our four stays. The trash was taken out and our floor vacuumed daily. We were always supplied with fresh towels, washcloths , shampoo and soap. They also replinished our coffee supply each morning. I tip our mousekeeper(s) by leaving an envelope on the nightstand.

I can honestly say that the CBR rooms are really quiet. As with just about all Disney resorts, you can occasionally hear the “power toilets” flushing next door but it’s not bad at all. We hardly ever heard our neighbors. If they were walking by and were talking loudly, we would hear them. Most times, it was just quiet.

Each village has their own quiet pool. During the hot months, they can become a bit crowded but that’s to be expected. That being said, we have also gone to the quiet pool and found ourselves all alone. Laundry facilities are located near each village quiet pool. You can swim and do laundry at the same time!

The white sandy beaches in each village are swept clean each night. It’s so nice and relaxing to just sit in a beach chair or laze in a hammock. Several of the beaches have small playgrounds for the kids to play on.

The walk around the promenade is very pretty. You can get a real feel of the resort by walking the 1.4 mile promenade. At one point, you will walk on wooden walkways through a wooded area. The flowering trees and bushes are everywhere. Plenty of picture taking opportunities along the way.

The refurbed main pool can get crowded in the Summer months but, like at all Disney resorts, that’s to be expected. The pool is now zero entry and has water slides for all ages. There is a play area just for kids which is really cool. There’s a slide and water tumbles out of a huge bucket. Really nice!

Also located near the main pool are two new hot tubs, a hair wrap station, umbrella tables and a pool bar.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention a little tip I gave my 70 something year old mother when she traveled with us. From your resort village, find the sign that points you in the direction of the beach. Once you make it to the beach, you'll be on the promenade that goes all the way around the resort.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Part two:

At the resort marina, you can rent pontoon boats, canoes, watermice, bicycles and surrey bikes. For the kids in your group, there’s a pirate adventure cruise at a price that won’t kill your pocketbook. The kids are taken out on the resort lake in a pontoon boat and they search for pirate treasure. Lunch is included in the pirate cruise price.

Old Port Royale houses the store, the food court, a Concierge desk and the arcade. The store is divided into two sections with one side selling Pirates of the Caribbean and tropical merchandise. They even sell coconut postcards that you can mail home to friends and family. The other side of the store sells the more traditional Disney merchandise such as snowglobes, t-shirts, purses, watches, hats, scrapbooking items, etc. One corner of the store has a small selection of over the counter meds., magazines, breads, baby food, drinks, chips, etc.

Old Port Royale is also where package pickup is located.

The arcade is not super large but it had plenty of games and room to keep up with the crowds.

The food court is set up in sections. You simply go to each station, order and get your food and then go to a central cashier. Easy to do.

The grab-n-go section has fresh made sandwiches, salads, yogurt, fresh fruit, pies, cakes, veggies and dip, lots of fresh baked breads and pastries and other items. At the pizza station, you will find pizzas, pastas, large deli type sandwiches and fresh tossed salads. Burger, chicken strips and hot dogs are served at another station. The kids’ chicken meal is served in a plastic sand pail with a shovel that the kids get to keep. Comes in real handy on the beaches. Yet another station has rotissiere chicken, roasted turkey, vegetables and hot sandwiches.

At breakfast, an assortment of breakfast meats, Mickey waffles, fresh fruit, pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns and omelets are served.

Shutters is the full service restaurant located on property. You check in at Old Port Royale.

The food court seating area is large and we have never had a problem finding a table. The self serve drink area goes in a circle with several drink stations. On the condiments bar, there are hot tea bags, honey, assorted jellies, parmesan cheese, hot pepper sauce and fixings for burgers. There are also a couple of microwaves and toasters available for use.

If you want to take your items to go, just tell the CMs who are plating your meals. They will provide you with tops for the dishes. At the register ask the CM for a bag. They will give you a large brown bag with handles which makes for easy carrying.

Hopefully, this will help out those who were like me when I was planning our first stay at the CBR.

The CBR does not share transportation with any other resort. Each village has their own bus stop which are covered. The bus stops have several benches, cola machines and newspaper machines. Buses have always ran efficiently during each of our four stays. The only time we have had a semi-long wait (less than 30 minutes) was for a morning bus to Typhoon Lagoon and Downtown Disney. Should you encounter troubles with any bus at the CBR, simply pick up the phone at the bus stop. There’s a directory near the phone telling you which option to push for assistance.

Because the CBR is centrally located, it wont’ take you long to reach any Disney destination. Yes, the CBR buses do stop at each bus stop before heading out of the resort. But, it really doesn’t take as long as you would think to leave the resort. When we stayed in Jamaica, I timed our trip to Hollywood Studios. From the time we sat down on the bus, made our way around the resort, left the resort and pulled into Hollwood Studios bus stop, it took just 11 minutes. The drives to other parks were short and sweet too.

Even though we have a car at our disposal, we don’t drive it. We let Disney do the driving for us! Last year, we did take our car to Hollywood Studios but only because we wanted to get there super early for Star Wars Weekend.

If you are in the resort and don’t want to walk to your village or to Old Port Royale, simply go to the nearest bus stop and wait for the Internal Shuttle bus. It makes stops at each village.

 

[pktbMouse]

well I was excited before but after reading all that Lisa...Ive just had a meltdown...lol I know all this stuff too.. but its great to read it anyway...getting too excited...must...not ..explode !!

 

[mickeystoontown]

well I was excited before but after reading all that Lisa...Ive just had a meltdown...lol I know all this stuff too.. but its great to read it anyway...getting too excited...must...not ..explode !!

I thought the same thing when I was writing it a while back. All I could think of was being back at the CBR.

 

[RHMH]

Good Morning to all - can't remember, does the mini frig have a small freezer compartment at the top?

Thanks

 

[mickeystoontown]

Good Morning to all - can't remember, does the mini frig have a small freezer compartment at the top?

Thanks

No freezer compartment. I have turned the fridge on the coldest setting and put water bottles up against the very back of the fridge and the next morning they will be slushy. Not frozen though.

 

[RHMH]

No freezer compartment. I have turned the fridge on the coldest setting and put water bottles up against the very back of the fridge and the next morning they will be slushy. Not frozen though.

Thanks Mickeystoontown for the information. Slushy is better than nothing right?

 

[dansdad]

Thanks Mickeystoontown for the information. Slushy is better than nothing right?

One trick to getting your water bottles closer to freezing is to make sure you leave the cabinet door open that houses the fridge when you're in the parks during the day. This allows for better air flow and the fridge works much better this way. Our first morning as we were walking out the door to the bus, I opened the door all the way. When we got back that night, 3 or 4 of the bottles were 50% frozen. It's hard to leave it all the way open when in the room getting ready or sleeping (don't want to walk into the open door when walking to the bathroom in the dark), so I would prop it open with a wash cloth.

 

[RHMH]

One trick to getting your water bottles closer to freezing is to make sure you leave the cabinet door open that houses the fridge when you're in the parks during the day. This allows for better air flow and the fridge works much better this way. Our first morning as we were walking out the door to the bus, I opened the door all the way. When we got back that night, 3 or 4 of the bottles were 50% frozen. It's hard to leave it all the way open when in the room getting ready or sleeping (don't want to walk into the open door when walking to the bathroom in the dark), so I would prop it open with a wash cloth.

Dansdad - Appreciate your advice, makes sense...