Caribbean Beach Resort - Is it worth the extra $400 to upgrade to? HELP!

[dis_guy]

Mickeystoontown: your post was terrific... and more pictures please!

Sigh, those pics just make me want to get on a plane and leave the snow behind, like tomorrow!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Mickeystoontown: your post was terrific... and more pictures please!

I'm glad my review was helpful. Like I said, when I was planning our first CBR trip, I wanted a super detailed report and simply couldn't find one. Here are more pics. (I really need to put them in better order but when I uploaded them on Photobucket, I wasn't paying much attention):

The CBR food court:

Found this concrete alligator peeking out of the landscaping on the island:

The entranceway to one of the island paths:

The CBR has lots of gorgeous flowers and shrubbery:

A couple of the Martinique buildings:

The marina:

Old Port Royale from the main pool side:

 

[mickeystoontown]

Here's a few more. Again, not in very good order:

We stayed in a newly furbished Nemo room and I was afraid it would be overwhelmingly cute but it wasn't. It was just right.

The safe. My husband has epilepsy and takes a lot of meds. We were able to fit in all his meds, a portable DVD player, a PSP, a set of keys and a slim wallet.

The dresser with new flat screen television. The coffee pot is on the left of the tv and the ice bucket is on the right.

Another dresser pic. The refrigerator is in the section with the door open. I did this to give an idea of how large the fridge is.

Various shots of the beds and the bedspreads with hidden Mickeys. You can also see the nightstand between the two beds:

The bathroom. Not a great picture.

Sink/closet area:

Nemo wallpaper border:

Privacy curtain pulled closed:

Bench with large storage drawer:

Table and chairs:

We had a corner room so we had the extra windows:

Lighting above the beds:

 

[mickeystoontown]

Still more pics. These are from 2007 and pre-digital camera:

Water mice on the CBR lake:

More flowers:

One of the Martinique buildings. Notice the pretty landscaping:

My son giving the CBR two thumbs up:

The parking lot landscaping.

The CBR entranceway:

CBR castmembers doing the limbo with kids in Old Port Royale:

These were taken from our upstairs room in Martinique:

Somewhere, I have some that I took on the island this past August. I'll look for those and will post them in a bit.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

YES ~ CBR is definitely worth the extra money!! CBR is very lush, tropical, beautiful, and relaxing ~And the new pool is awesome!!!

There is lots of CBR info and more beautiful pics in my recent review ~ the link is in my signature!

 

[DjdBrit]

Reading all this makes me want to saty here. Can anyone tell me what its like to stay there without a car?

 

[Stitch2244314]

Reading all this makes me want to saty here. Can anyone tell me what its like to stay there without a car?

Oh it's fine... I tend to think you don't need a car anywhere if you're staying on Disney property. There are 7 bus stops around the resort, so chances are you're going to be pretty close to one of them at any given time. I've stayed at CBR twice and I can't remember ever really having any bus problems. You should be perfectly fine without a car.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I was originally booked at POP but upgraded to the CBR when the 4/3 deal came out.

I have never stayed onsite but that new pool just sucked me in. Also I think DH and I will LOVE the tropical theme. We love tropical places and now we can get a tropical vibe and WDW all in one!!!

DS is 8 and all he wants is that pool!!! He can not wait!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Reading all this makes me want to saty here. Can anyone tell me what its like to stay there without a car?

We never have a car and it is just fine! In fact we had the best bus service of any of our WDW trips on this recent stay at CBR! And the walks from the rooms to OPR can be just a few minutes to up to 7-10 minutes depending on which village you stay in. We never mind the walks because the resort is so beautiful!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Reading all this makes me want to saty here. Can anyone tell me what its like to stay there without a car?

We drive to WDW so we have a car at our disposal. But, we never drive it. Seriously, over three ten day long trips, we have driven our car a total of 4 or 5 times. We thought it might be easier to drive to Epcot but it really wasn't so the car got parked that evening. The next trip, we went offsite to buy something at Old Town for my mother and then we drove to Downtown Disney. I wished we had of just taken the bus to Downtown Disney!

The transportation at the CBR is so good that we take the buses everywhere. Because the CBR is centrally located, it doesn't take long to reach any Disney destination. It's so nice to let somebody else do the driving and at the end of a hot and humid day, it's refreshing to get in an air conditioned bus!

 

[CanadianImagineer]

I don’t want to spend the extra $400 and then look back and wish I would have saved our money.

Unfortunately this is pretty much exactly our thoughts a couple of years ago. Before trying CBR we'd stayed at ASMo and loved it. The next time around we thought we'd try a mod. We ended up in Trinidad South. Now this may or may not have been the reason why we didn't like CBR as much, but it just didn't have the same "magic" to it. Don't get me wrong - the beaches and theming are great, it really feels like you're in the carribean! The rooms are also good and well themed, though honestly we noticed no difference between them and the values. We weren't disappointed in CBR by any means, we just preferred ASMo by far. The Disney theme, relatively compact layout, and far superior food court are what attracts us. I wouldn't spend that amount of money to upgrade to CBR, actually I wouldn't really want to take a free upgrade either. Hope this somewhat helped!

 

[Pinkpony]

All the wonderful hype about CBR and lovely pictures is what persuaded us to stay at CBR, just like you're reading now. We were so disappointed; it just didn't live up to the hype. We were shocked when we got home that even our pictures of it looked better than it actually was. There's just something about "being there" to get the true experience, I guess. I think if you go in with lower expectations than we did, it might work for you. The value rooms are just as nice, though, minus a fridge, but a cooler works for us. You'll have a good time either place you stay, but it's our entire family's opinion that it wasn't worth the extra money.

 

[ZImkoucl]

All the wonderful hype about CBR and lovely pictures is what persuaded us to stay at CBR, just like you're reading now. We were so disappointed; it just didn't live up to the hype. We were shocked when we got home that even our pictures of it looked better than it actually was. There's just something about "being there" to get the true experience, I guess. I think if you go in with lower expectations than we did, it might work for you. The value rooms are just as nice, though, minus a fridge, but a cooler works for us. You'll have a good time either place you stay, but it's our entire family's opinion that it wasn't worth the extra money.

I agree! We had a terrible stay at CBR and I won't ever return. Save you $400 and go with the value.

 

[MaryAz]

I just upgraded to one of the new pirate rooms at CBR for our trip in May. We were at the POP. We are excited!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I just upgraded to one of the new pirate rooms at CBR for our trip in May. We were at the POP. We are excited!!

YAY ~ Have a great time!

 

[Stitch2244314]

I just upgraded to one of the new pirate rooms at CBR for our trip in May. We were at the POP. We are excited!!

Congrats! I'm sure you'll love it.

 

[outstandinfarmer]

Unfortunately this is pretty much exactly our thoughts a couple of years ago. Before trying CBR we'd stayed at ASMo and loved it. The next time around we thought we'd try a mod. We ended up in Trinidad South. Now this may or may not have been the reason why we didn't like CBR as much, but it just didn't have the same "magic" to it. Don't get me wrong - the beaches and theming are great, it really feels like you're in the carribean! The rooms are also good and well themed, though honestly we noticed no difference between them and the values. We weren't disappointed in CBR by any means, we just preferred ASMo by far. The Disney theme, relatively compact layout, and far superior food court are what attracts us. I wouldn't spend that amount of money to upgrade to CBR, actually I wouldn't really want to take a free upgrade either. Hope this somewhat helped!

Thanks for the reply. It makes me feel a lot better because I tried calling to upgrade to the CBR and it is full. It wasn't yesterday, and it's full today. So I guess we're staying the the ASMo. It's my family's first time going (except for me) and I want everything to be so special and perfect. You've made me feel better because now we have no choice. I know we are going to have a wonderful time though, and now we can just use that $400 towards something else.

Thanks!

 

[shane_cromer]

I'm glad I read this thread first. Thanks

 

[ADisneyQueen]

I think if it's your first trip, a value will be fine. You won't be at the resort that much anyways. On our first trip we stayed at ASMO and were thrilled just to be at a Disney resort. It has so much magic compared to all the chain hotels you've probably stayed at before.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

I've stayed at CBR and ASMo (2x). This year we were going to try ASMu, but I decided to switch to CBR. For my mom's first trip (in 30+ years) I wanted to her stay at ASMo. You can't beat the Disney theming and with two small boys, I think it's a great choice for you. This time, I wanted her to have more of an island feel so I decided to try CBR again. I will say, I loved CBR last time we stayed there, although I did feel like sometimes there was a long wait for the buses and when you come back at night, it seems to take forever to drop everyone else off. I also thought there was a lot of walking involved, but we need the exercise, so we're giving it another try. It's definitely a different vibe, more relaxed and island-y Don't be disappointed that you'll be at ASMo, you'll have a great time and so will the boys. Be sure to check out each area, specifically the Mighty Ducks pool and the Toy Story section. It's really a lot of fun. Also, you can walk over to ASMu (through the walkway behind the Mighty Ducks pool) and check out that resort as well! Enjoy.