CBR..tell me the good, the bad and the ugly!!

[lauracitawita]

We love POFQ, and really liked CSR.

We just had to book CBR in order to get the free dining deal this morning. I know nothing about this resort.

Anyone want to share their experiences!?

Thanks!

 

[dansdad]

It is our favorite moderate by far. You made an excellent choice. Ever since we had to try CBR for Free Dining years ago, we haven't been able to go back to POR or POFQ. Come check out the very informative and friendly CBR FAQ Thread.

http://disboards.com/threads/the-ne...ort-faq-thread-part-viii-updated-4-7.3348628/

Check out pages 1 and 2. They should answer just about any questions you could have. Then post to say hi and add any questions not answered in the first 2 pages.

 

[Kevin355]

Nothing negative about it. Some will complain about it's size, but I have had zero problems with the size of the resort. I have had both knees replaced, and it is not longer than a 7-10 minute walk from anywhere in the resort to OPR. Beautiful set-up, nice scenery, and like the motif.

 

[lauracitawita]

Thank you so much for those replies! I feel so much better!!

 

[cate2]

My first year there was last year and I loved it. I think all of the rooms have been refurbished now. They're tastefully decorated - queen size beds, some with an extra pull down bed (that was a pleasant surprise for us). The grounds are beautiful, the beach cozy with hammocks. The kids loved the pool - I loved the quiet.
We'll be staying again this summer

 

[Nancyg56]

I like this resort. I know it is pretty widespread, but booked a preferred room and was content. I will say that my family did not like it at all. They felt the resort was too large with too many bus stops.

I enjoyed the walk the food court every morning. The grounds are pretty, and the beaches are inviting. I would relax with coffee and just enjoy the view.

The colors are tropical! In a good way!

The food court is large, plenty of options to choose from and lots of seating. It is loud but it is supposed to be.

The restaurant, Shutters, is still one of our favorites. The food and the service were both excellent.

Our room was nice and clean, and Mousekeeping was excellent.

I really do think it is worth at least one stay to see if you like it.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

I think it gets a bad rap because of it's size. but I don't it's much bigger than the other mods unless you're comparing it to POFQ. The pool is great ane the rooms have just been refurbed. There are multiple bus stops, but we've never had a problem with them.

 

[nkereina]

We stayed last November, during free dining. Just my opinions:

The good:
-Food court had good options, good size.
-Pool itself was nice.
-Refurbished room was nice, very quiet.
-No issue with getting our room request (Jamaica 45).
-Bell services was helpful.

The bad:
-BUSES. Yikes. No bueno. The resort was at capacity due to free dining and they were not prepared.
-Did not care for the chopped up seating area at the pool. Also very small seating area for the size of the resort.
-Resort is LARGE. Considerably larger than POR or CSR where we've previously stayed. Too large to even spend any time walking around taking in the resort, like we've done elsewhere.

The ugly:
-So large we couldn't even walk from Custom House to our room - had to take the internal shuttle, and have our bags delivered (not allowed on internal shuttle). Luckily we arrived late and bell services was only 20 minutes behind us.
-There was an instance when the bus depot behind Old Port Royale got so crowded, people had to wait behind it in the parking lot because there was no room. Buses would fill quickly and never made it through all the bus stops. No formal line at the bus depots, so people would waltz up and board before people who had been waiting there for 20+ minutes. People were losing their minds.

Hopefully CBR is better prepared to be one of only two moderates offered under free dining this year.

 

[Nancyg56]

I think it gets a bad rap because of it's size. but I don't it's much bigger than the other mods unless you're comparing it to POFQ. The pool is great ane the rooms have just been refurbed. There are multiple bus stops, but we've never had a problem with them.

Now I am not sure of the veracity of this statement, but a bus driver told us CBR was larger than the MK, and the largest resort in area on WDW property.

 

[Nancyg56]

We stayed last November, during free dining. Just my opinions:

The good:
-Food court had good options, good size.
-Pool itself was nice.
-Refurbished room was nice, very quiet.
-No issue with getting our room request (Jamaica 45).
-Bell services was helpful.

The bad:
-BUSES. Yikes. No bueno. The resort was at capacity due to free dining and they were not prepared.
-Did not care for the chopped up seating area at the pool. Also very small seating area for the size of the resort.
-Resort is LARGE. Considerably larger than POR or CSR where we've previously stayed. Too large to even spend any time walking around taking in the resort, like we've done elsewhere.

The ugly:
-So large we couldn't even walk from Custom House to our room - had to take the internal shuttle, and have our bags delivered (not allowed on internal shuttle). Luckily we arrived late and bell services was only 20 minutes behind us.
-There was an instance when the bus depot behind Old Port Royale got so crowded, people had to wait behind it in the parking lot because there was no room. Buses would fill quickly and never made it through all the bus stops. No formal line at the bus depots, so people would waltz up and board before people who had been waiting there for 20+ minutes. People were losing their minds.

Hopefully CBR is better prepared to be one of only two moderates offered under free dining this year.

Yea, the Custom House was what put my DD and DSIL over the edge. We had DME, so our bags were delivered, and we were there in October, so not too crowded, but there are instances you want to use the Custom House for services, and it was not fun. That was when they told me never again. I liked it, but I did not need to get to Custom House.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I've stayed there twice and loved it both times.

Both times we drove from NJ so we checked in at the Custom House and took our own bags to our room. I never had to go back to the Custom House again.

We stayed in Jamaica 45 or Aruba 51 and the walk to OPR/food court/pool was very short.

The food court had decent offerings.

We NEVER had an issue with the bus in two stays there. We were at the stops by 8 am, did midday breaks at the pool and back out around 5.

The kids splash area was a huge hit for my DD. DS loved the pool slide. I'm not a big hot tub person so I didn't do that.

The pool area was very good too.

I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

Yea, the Custom House was what put my DD and DSIL over the edge. We had DME, so our bags were delivered, and we were there in October, so not too crowded, but there are instances you want to use the Custom House for services, and it was not fun. That was when they told me never again. I liked it, but I did not need to get to Custom House.

We drove, but we never visited the Customs House after we checked in so it wasn't a big deal. There was another concierge desk in OPR that we were able to use the few times we needed assistance.

 

[Astylla]

CBR was my first choice for the FD promo even though I've never stayed there ; I was very lucky to beat thge rush and book something early on the west coast online.
Previously I wasn't sold on paying moderate prices for double beds , however that has since been resolved which makes me very happy.
I love the feel of the resort by photos , videos and reviews I have seen.

I think the con of the size can definitely be an issue with young kids or adults if they don't enjoy walking time. For myself and DH , we go out of our way to walk around resorts so we will likely set aside at least a full day just to enjoy the resort.

I think keeping in mind pros and cons can be overall due to interpretation and based on personal preferences. I do think you should try to book the room class that best suits your family - I can understand why those like preferred but in our case chose Pool/Water view. I think with some flexibility and planning any resort can be enjoyable. I'm certainly not saying bus situations can't have their issues or be frustrating but at least it's somewhat reliable and included with the resort.

Every resort from Value to Villa has it's fans and not fans from a million reasons. Just try your best to enjoy it !

 

[hookedonears]

We love POFQ, and really liked CSR.his resort.

Anyone want to share their experiences!?

Thanks!

CBR was our one time, and only drift away from Delux Resorts. As far as a resort goes, it was perfectly fine, room fine, pool fine, food fine, everything was fine. Negative for us was the location. For us, the most important thing is location, location, location. It just took longer to go everywhere. Bus waits seem to be longer as well. Rooms are divided into 5 areas called islands, with each having a bus stop. When a bus fills up at lets say the 2nd bus stop, the driver radios ahead to the next bus coming along, and the next bus driver will skip the first 2 stops and go to the 3rd. Sounds perfectly understandable, though if you're going to the MK, it's tough seeing a MK bus just pass your stop by, when you've been waiting for what seems like 20 minutes.

 

[huntconn]

We've stayed there previously and thought it was an attractive, well themed moderate resort. We had a rental car so the buses were not an issue for us. We also had a room in a preferred location so we were close to the Port Royale main area. I could definitely see disliking being so far from the main area if we were in one of the more distant villages. This is a good time to stay there due to all of the rooms being recently refurbished.

 

[casey5457]

We've stayed at CBR 4 times, including November 2013 with Free Dining. It's by far one of our favorite resorts. So peaceful and relaxing! It is a large resort, but manageable. I hope you love it as much as we do!

 

[hookedonears]

We've stayed there previously and thought it was an attractive, well themed moderate resort. We had a rental car so the buses were not an issue for us. We also had a room in a preferred location so we were close to the Port Royale main area. I could definitely see disliking being so far from the main area if we were in one of the more distant villages. This is a good time to stay there due to all of the rooms being recently refurbished.

A rental car would definitely alleviate the bus and wait time issue. Disney transportation, however adds to the magic for us. Having to drive and park in giant parking lots just seems to take a little bit of the magic away.

 

[dansdad]

Yea, the Custom House was what put my DD and DSIL over the edge. We had DME, so our bags were delivered, and we were there in October, so not too crowded, but there are instances you want to use the Custom House for services, and it was not fun. That was when they told me never again. I liked it, but I did not need to get to Custom House.

I'm sorry they didn't realize that the only thing you need to go to the Custom House for is to check in and pick up ME. Everything else can be done at the Concierge Desk at OPR.

 

[nkereina]

I'm sorry they didn't realize that the only thing you need to go to the Custom House for is to check in and pick up ME. Everything else can be done at the Concierge Desk at OPR.

Bell services pick up and storage as well. We didn't need to return to Custom House until the end of our trip either, but the whole check-in process being there did stink. Since we had our luggage with us, our options were either to make a 20 minute walk rolling our 50lbs suitcases, which the CM strongly advised against, or allow bell services to take it while we took the internal shuttle. And of course, tip bell services. Worked out ok for us because bell services wasn't busy, but if they weren't able to deliver our bags right away, it could have been problematic.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

Bell services pick up and storage as well. We didn't need to return to Custom House until the end of our trip either, but the whole check-in process being there did stink. Since we had our luggage with us, our options were either to make a 20 minute walk rolling our 50lbs suitcases, which the CM strongly advised against, or allow bell services to take it while we took the internal shuttle. And of course, tip bell services. Worked out ok for us because bell services wasn't busy, but if they weren't able to deliver our bags right away, it could have been problematic.

I guess I didn't think about that. If we had used MDE we would have had to either used Bell Services or pulled our luggage with us whether check in was in the same building as the food court or not. With the bridge across the lake, we just didn't see much difference between the farthest rooms at CBR or the farthest rooms at POR.