First trip - POFQ or CB? Please help.

[kathy23]

Hi everyone. We are in the middle of planning our first trip to Disney. We have decided to stay on and are looking at the moderate resorts. I have a two year old and a six year old. Would you please share your opinions regarding POFQ or CB? Would we better off at one over the other. Price is about the same so that is not a factor in our decision. Thanks so much!

 

[maxiesmom]

Two questions: Are you going to have a car?
Are you willing to pay extra for a preferred room location??

POFQ and CBR are about as different as can be, and still both be moderate resorts. POFQ is the smallest Disney resort, and CBR is one of the largest.

I have stayed at both, with a stay at CBR this past December. And I can tell you that I wouldn't stay at CBR again without a car. POFQ is so compact everything is a short walk away. CBR is so large that you may have a bit of a walk to the food court or main pool area.

 

[Lurch]

I am in the same boat so to speak. My first trip is booked and we went with POFQ. My thoughts were it is within walking distance to another resort so its like 2 for one. Also, there is direct boat transportation to DTD. Finally, transportation to the MK seemed to be smoothest with this resort.

That said, should 30%+ room discount be offered for September, we are jumping to the WIlderness Lodge for direct boat transportation to the MK.

 

[kathy23]

Thanks for the responses. We are NOT going to have a car but will be getting a preferred room at CB if we go with that resort. I heard that the preferred rooms are closer to the main things like bus stops, pool, etc. If we do NOFQ we would just get a regular room.

Anyone know how the pools compare - I do see us hanging out there during our stay.

 

[maxiesmom]

Anyone know how the pools compare - I do see us hanging out there during our stay.

The feature pool at CBR is way nicer than the one at POFQ. POFQ only has a small slide. There is a splash area by the pool at CBR and a pool area just for little children.

 

[carly chloe]

We always stay preferred at CBR and the rooms are close. The pool is the best for kids!! Zero entry pool and a private kids pirate ship water play area. We love CBR. They also have a kids meal that comes in a sand pail.

 

[kathy23]

Thanks again everyone. It looks like the pool set up at CB might be better for us with the 2 year old. I saw that we NOFQ shares the pools with Riverside. Is there a zero entry pool there or a place for smaller kids to play? Can you walk between those two hotels?

 

[Stefjp]

We are staying at POFQ this coming April. POFQ guests can use POR facilities and Vice versa. There is an entire website dedicated to this resort full of useful info at www.portorleans.org

 

[dminnie]

If you do decide on CBR, you could save the money on preferred and ask for building 45 or 51. They are just across the bridge from the pool and food court. It might be a little bit more walking, but it's a pleasant walk across with a little nature area in the middle of it.

There are no quiet pools at FQ, but you can use the POR pools. It's kind of a long walk between the resorts. We drove when we wanted to pool hop between them.

 

[maxiesmom]

If you do decide on CBR, you could save the money on preferred and ask for building 45 or 51. They are just across the bridge from the pool and food court. It might be a little bit more walking, but it's a pleasant walk across with a little nature area in the middle of it.

I wouldn't. We stayed in Jamaica 44, right in the little courtyard area, and it was a good walk to the pool and food court. I don't mind walking, but I got sick of the hike to the main area after a few days. Looking back, I should have paid for preferred.

 

[Sheaboys]

We were in Jamaica 45 this past August, we loved the location. The little kid area was great, so was the main pool. Only thing is, we only went 1x, the crowds were so thick, no place to sit and put your stuff down. I had all our stuff (there are 7 of us) on 1 chair. Your kids will love the kid area, it was great!

It may have been the time of day we went, but it seemed packed everyday, we enjoyed the "quiet" pool every day.

 

[my2disneyboys]

We have stayed at both and we have little kids. POFQ has a better food court- Beignets! I love that everything is a 2 minute walk- especially getting your coffee in the morning or the walk to the bus! The rooms are queen beds and all the rooms are newly renovated! AND the boat to DTD is awesome and relaxing - the resort is beautiful and relaxing.

CBR has a better pool area for sure! WAY better! The resort is also beautiful and fun! Everything is just so far away from eachother- one thing I really DID NOT like at CBR is that you have to take a bus to the custom house to check in and then another bus to the resort/building.

We had amazing trips at both resorts I was afraid to check out the CBR because we loved POFQ so much but we all (18 of us) loved CBR too!!

 

[UpstateMick]

CBR hands down. Food court at POFQ is awful...and creepy and small. We stayed there last February with a 6 year old and would never stay there again. We are heading back to CBR...it is SO much nicer!

 

[mickeynut1]

We've never stayed at POFQ, but we loved everything about CBR. The grounds were beautiful, the pool was great (which has been redone since our stay), the food court was great with alot of variety, and the bus transportation was excellent. We wouldn't hesitate to stay at CBR again.

 

[jude&jonah]

I honestly would pick based on theme if I were you! I think they're about equal personally (each has pros and cons- obviously the con of CBR being the bus system and yet there are things about POFQ that don't appeal to me too) and so I think it comes down to if you want a small quaint lousiana feeling resort or a more sprawling carribean colorful resort.

I am staying at CBR this year- because I love to stay at more tropical places.

With all this said- I actually vote for CSR for you. I consider CSR to be very similar to CBR- but just nicer. Would stay there this year except I just did in 2011.

 

[danceintherain]

Our last trip was at CBR, and we have reservations for POFQ for April.
Here are a few things to consider:
- CBR IS much larger. However, I didn't find the walk to be that bad from our room in Barbados 13 to Old Port Royale (the food court pool area). We did it at least once a day.
- CBR has a zero entry pool AND a kid splash area. We didn't use either while we were there, because our son was only 3 months old, but they did look nice. We did use the quiet pool in Barbados which was almost immediately outside our door, and we were the only ones using it at the time.
- POFQ has queen beds instead of doubles. I'm happy that we stayed at CBR before we actually needed a second bed, because we went with a king size, and didn't have to deal with the doubles.
- CBR doesn't have elevators. There are only 2 floors, and you can request a ground floor room (we got our request) but it's entirely possible that you could end up in the position of carrying one or both of your children up the stairs should they fall asleep on the ride back, in addition to anything else you may have with you.
- POFQ only has one bus stop. Yeah, sometimes they share with POR, but POFQ will be the first to get dropped off and picked up. This reduces the chances of standing slightly.

We really loved CBR, and I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again, but we like to try new places. It's also good to know some of the drawbacks going in, so you can adjust your expectations accordingly.

 

[clapton]

We have been going to Disney forever! We have stayed at practically every hotel. We stayed at both CBR and POFQ when the kids were young and we did not like POFQ at all! The food court is not good at all. The pool is small and the overall theme of the resort was not to my liking. CBR is larger but the pool is great for small children and the food selection is by far superior to POFQ. Whatever resort you choose just have a great time and enjoy the experience. I guarantee you will come back again!

 

[MickQuinn]

Have been to both and prefer POFQ. No contest really.

CBR always smelled old and musty. Even with a preferred room, it seemed like a hike to the food court and pool. AC in the room did not work well and was noisy.

POFQ was great. Friendlier cast members, smaller food court - but better quality. Most of all, we loved not having to walk so far back to the room with a tired child and POFQ only has one bus stop. Having to do all of the stops at CBR was a drag. We were in a nice corner room right across from the laundry and pool, maybe 100 steps to the food court. We also enjoyed the boat to DTD and the entertainment at both Scat Cat's (POFQ) and River Roost (POR).

 

[twinboysmom]

Hi OP. we stayed last April in a pirate room on cbr. We LOVED the resort. About the size, yes, it is a large resort. All of the pirate rooms are in the Trinidad south section which is the furthest from the amenities. We stayed in the furthest building. It took us 7-11 minutes to walk to the pool. It really wasn't that big of a deal. Our room was immaculate and mouse keeping was wonderful during our stay. The food court was just average in my opinion. The resort was at capacity but never felt crowded. It was relaxing and tranquil and the grounds are beautiful.

The best part for us is the pool. It's wonderful for children (and adults too). Zero entry as mentioned with 2 slides. The pirate play area has multiple small slides and water features and is GATED. It is also for the under 48" crowd and we saw this enforced. Our boys loved it and I liked the gate. We liked this pool so much that we pool hopped (legally, DVC member staying on points) when we stayed at another resort in September.

We haven't stayed at POFQ (yet). It's the only moderate we haven't made it too. We're originally from new Orleans it seems a lot like home. I know it is well loved on these boards. It also has queen beds where as cbr only has full. Whichever resort you decide, have a great trip.