How we can make our stay at CBR a good one!

[cam&phoebsmom]

We are going to CBR in Jan. and have booked the pirate room for our stay. I have read in some reviews that folks love POFQ (where we have stayed the past 2 times) but hated CBR.

We will have our car there with us and have an 8yo and a 3yo at the time.

If you have stayed at CBR and liked it OR did not like it-what would you recommend to make the stay a good one?
My 8yo is very excited to be staying in a pirate room, so i know we are going to do it. I am just wondering if you found anything that would help us enjoy it even more.
TIA for your ideas!

 

[UGAFan0829]

My DH and I stayed at CBR in 2007 and loved it. Of course this was before they did the refurb with the themed rooms, but we really enjoyed ourselves. I think the biggest complaint about the resort is it's size and how spread out it is. We were fortunate enough to have been in Trinidad North, which was one "island" over from Old Port Royale, but even if we'd been further away, I don't think it would have changed our opinion. We don't have kids, so I can't really help you there...sorry! I think the thing we liked most about the resort was that we really felt as we were on some tropical island somewhere. That and the themeing was so relaxing. We enjoyed walking to OPR and seeing the beautiful landscaping. Having your car will definitely be an advantage for you, as you could drive to OPR if you feel it's too far to walk.

 

[Mom2SamandJames]

We stayed in a pirate room in September with our two boys ages 21 months and 4 1/2 years. We absolutely loved it. You won't need anything to make your stay more enjoyable. We seldom waited more than 5 or 10 minutes for buses. We only used our car to go to a park one day. There is a quiet pool in the pirate rooms section that we used at night. The main pool is great. We were able to walk to the main pool area and food court in less than 10 minutes with both our boys.

Since my oldest is totally into pirates, we got him Chip and Dale stuffed animals dressed like pirates, and every day when we came back to the room, our mousekeepers had posed them in different locations. They did the same to our youngest son's Donald and Goofy. The boys would run in our room every day to see where their buddies were.

I made all of us Mickey pirate applique shirts to wear our first day in the park, and we got lots of comments and attention from cast members everywhere, including the hotel and bus drivers. Just play up the pirate theme, and let your son have a blast!

Our whole family loved CBR. We would go back there in a heartbeat!

 

[Gabes_mommy]

I have stayed at POFQ 4-5 times and we just stayed at CBR for the first time in Sept. We loved CBR! The rooms are all renovated and are a bit larger than POFQ and the pirate rooms look really cool. The feature pool area is amazing! The whole resort is so lush and pretty. My DS loved watching the turtles and fish from the bridge at OPR.

We loved CBR just as much as POFQ. I think you'll have a wonderful time.

 

[snookiedoodles]

I stayed in the Pirate Room last Feb....1st one in room!!!

That being said.....I loved the room, but hated the location!


I will never book this room again, just a gimic to rent out rooms in a bad location....sorry

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

We've stayed at all the moderate resorts at least once. In many ways it comes down to a matter of taste about which one you like. I like CBR; DW likes POR. The tropical theming makes me happy.

Having said that, CBR is laid out in a very large and long plan. When we stayed at CBR I booked a room in Trinidad (north?) very close to the main pool and OPR. It was worth the few extra dollars to be in such close proximity, and nice to just take a step outside our door and have use of a hammock on the beach which was almost always unoccupied.

Not to rain on your parade, but those pirate rooms are a long way from the food court and main pool. I personally would not recommend booking one just because of the inconvenience of using the resorts facilities. Another thing about CBR is bus service. Because the bus must make so many stops before leaving the resort you must plan for extra time getting to parks.

 

[mickeystoontown]

While we haven't stayed in a pirate room at the CBR, we have stayed at the resort 4 times. I walked over to Trinidad South (where the pirate rooms are) to look around and then timed my walk back to Old Port Royale. It took me 6 1/2 minutes at a leisurely pace.

The resort is absolutely beautiful. Try to work in time to laze around on the beach or swim in the newly refurbed main pool. The island in the middle of the lake is a nice getaway too. Have you thought about booking a pirate cruise for your 8 year old? They leave from the CBR marina.

I have tons of pictures of the CBR in my trip report if you'd like to look at them. Just click the link in my signature.

 

[safetymom]

I have stayed at CBR so many times I have lost count. If you have a car and are concerned about walking you can drive to the main pool and food court.

I agree with the previous poster. I stopped to take pictures along the way and it was less than a 8 minute walk. I find I did more walking when I stayed at the Wilderness Lodge.

 

[dfmalone]

Although we have have never stayed in a pirate room, we love CBR. My suggestion would be one, get a room in Trinidad North, which is located right next to the resort food court (2 min walking distance) not to mention the bus stops right outside both the food court and hotel. Go out and rent the water crafts, hit the arcade and private pool each section has, or the main pool. Make it FUN!!!!!!, we had a BLAST, stay other places but still keep coming back to CBR

 

[Nancyg56]

We are booked for a second stay at CBR. I loved POFQ and originally planned to stay there once again but decided that DH would really enjoy CBR's theme. I stayed in Martinique the last time and have booked a preferred room this time. The Pirate rooms are a distance away from the feature pool and OPR. My family likes to hit the food court a few times a day and I would not want to either take the long hike or wait for the bus when I want a cup of coffee or a snack. We also enjoy the pool and I don't like to plan any "travel" time

There is a thread devoted to CBR, it is informative and you will be able to get a lot of feedback there too.

 

[Disney Dreamin]

We are getting ready to book our third visit to CBR. Our 1st time we were in Trinidad North which we loved because it was so close to the main pool. Our last visit we stayed in Trinidad South where the Pirate rooms are now located. This location was ok but is a bit of a walk to the food court and main pool. If you have a car it's fine. The resort is great and the new pool is a big fav with the kids. We considered other value and maderate resorts for our next trip an everyone agreed we wanted to go back to CBR. I think you'll love it!

 

[G&J's Mom]

We LOVED CBR. They were 7 and 5 when we last went, now 9 and 7. They are very excited to try the new pool. We stayed in Trinidad South before the rooms were refurbed into pirate rooms and we loved the location. The OPR was not a bad walk at all, and the kids liked the turtles, birds, fish, lizards and other beasties along the way. It was enjoyable and peaceful.

You might want to check out the Pirate Cruise for your 8 year old. My 7 year old wants to go next trip.

If I am not mistaken I think they have kids activities by the pool, but someone in the know could certainly verify that.

Enjoy your trip!

Denise

 

[Aubie881]

We are staying at CBR for our 3rd time in five years May 2010. Take a walk around the resort, it is very nice. Only about 20 minutes, with young kids maybe a little longer. If you do not like your location this trip, the walk will geive you a good idea on where to stay next trip. Buses have been great all trips. Food court is alright, and the kids will love the main pool.

 

[DisneySherpa]

We were at CBR in May, Pirate room, and absolutely loved it...

We we're in placed in building 38, courtyard facing, and steps away from the bus stop, quiet pool, and beach area. One thing I prefer about this village is that it's well "contained" and laid out. The walk to the main building and pool area was about 8-12mins depending on our speed... by no means unbareable or even noticable given the scenery and walk!

While the walk to the Main building was a breeze... I found that at times, all I really wanted was to refill my mug or grab a snack, and the walk just wasn't worth it. My biggest regret was that I didn't bring/order snacks and drinks to keep in the room! We flew down and we're on the Dinning Plan, so it wasn't even something that had crossed my mind. Consider placing a small order with GardenGrocer.com if your flying or stoping on your way if your driving.

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

Thank you all! Our last trip to POFQ I don't think I went to the food court one time so I am not too concerned about that. We are driving down and plan on bringing "vacation cereal" (what my kids call the little boxes of sugary cereal we don't allow at home) and will buy milk to keep in the fridge for the mornings. I think my DH would over over and buy bananas at the FC in the morning, but we will just plan ahead for that. My DH already said he was bringing his own coffee for the machine in those little packs you don't ned filters for, and I am bringing sodas in the car with us so I think that will help.

Since we have our own car our plan is to drive in ourselves in the mornings and for our return mid-day (we always take a mid-day break b/c of our younger child). When we go back to the parks for our evenings we will take the bus in, so we will be less pressed for time and not as worried about how long busses will take.

Thank you for all the good words-I will be sure to check out the trip reports and the CBR thread more thoroughly. I was just starting to second guess our fun plan, LOL .

 

[mickeystoontown]

Thank you all! Our last trip to POFQ I don't think I went to the food court one time so I am not too concerned about that. We are driving down and plan on bringing "vacation cereal" (what my kids call the little boxes of sugary cereal we don't allow at home) and will buy milk to keep in the fridge for the mornings. I think my DH would over over and buy bananas at the FC in the morning, but we will just plan ahead for that. My DH already said he was bringing his own coffee for the machine in those little packs you don't ned filters for, and I am bringing sodas in the car with us so I think that will help.

Since we have our own car our plan is to drive in ourselves in the mornings and for our return mid-day (we always take a mid-day break b/c of our younger child). When we go back to the parks for our evenings we will take the bus in, so we will be less pressed for time and not as worried about how long busses will take.

Thank you for all the good words-I will be sure to check out the trip reports and the CBR thread more thoroughly. I was just starting to second guess our fun plan, LOL .

Your plans sound a lot like our's when we stay at the CBR...except we let Disney do all of the driving for us even though we drive to Disney.

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

This is the 1st time we will have a car with us. I know we won't be driving to MK but I think we will at least drive once to the other resorts and see the difference with the busses and driving ourselves.
The 1st night we have reservations at Chef Mickey's. I think we may drive over to the Contemporary and park there and monorail into the park. We will monorail back for dinner, see the fireworks from the balcony, and then drive back to the room without having to wait for late-night bus service.

Last trip we had more than one occasion where the bus system REALLY failed us-once it took over an hour and ended with me making a phone call to the POFQ desk directly for us to get a bus back mid-day. It happened again our last day so my DH is not convinced that the bus is the way to go, LOL.