Is CBR worth a try???

[NHBelle]

I LOVE Disney and am currently booked at the Contemporary with Free Dining. This is a VERY expensive trip (10K) and as we get closer and realize it's going to take us two years to pay it off I can't help but think maybe my family of 5 should suck it up at stay at CBR (POR is not available). We are so excited about the monorail but is it work the 3K we would save by downgrading? We tried to stay at CBR once but it seemed way too big for us and we ended up changing resorts. I am so torn.

 

[Iowamomof4]

Could you book a preferred room at CBR? That way you'd be close to the main pool and the food court. If you did that, the resort wouldn't feel nearly as big. Busing to the parks and back can take a little extra time with all the stops, but if you can just be prepared for that it isn't so bad. We really enjoyed our rooms at CBR but I think I'd want to be in the preferred section if possible if we went back.

 

[mmafan]

why not try animal kingdom lodge....it will be a lot cheaper than contemp..and still a deluxe.....cbr is a great place too but it is spaced out so there is walking involved to get anything cbr is always my 2nd choice animal kingdom my 1st.....

 

[Barbara76]

How about CSR? We did POR last time and this time we are trying out CSR. I am sorry I can't give you real advice. I am not sure I would pay an extra 3k *just* for the monorail, but if there are other reasons you are excited for CR it might be worth it, only you know.

 

[NHBelle]

Our problem is that we are a family of 5 so AKL is out and so is CSR (JR Suite is as much as CR) and I don't know where the rooms for 5 are located (are they close or far?) Unfortunately we don't have a lot of choices. There are not even any value resorts open at this point.

 

[dansdad]

If our family was asking about CBR the question would be How GREAT is CBR?!?! It is our favorite Moderate by far. Unless you are staying in a Pirate Themed Room, CBR has the same sized foot print as POR and CSR. 85% of the non preferred rooms are a 3-7 minute walk to the Food Court and the Main Feature Pool. We were huge POR fans until having to switch to CBR for Free Dining years ago and we can't see ourselves staying anywhere else. We've tried to book other resorts but something always pulls us back to CBR.

 

[dansdad]

Our problem is that we are a family of 5 so AKL is out and so is CSR (JR Suite is as much as CR) and I don't know where the rooms for 5 are located (are they close or far?) Unfortunately we don't have a lot of choices. There are not even any value resorts open at this point.

There are rooms that sleep 5 in every village except Trinidad South which is 100% Pirate Themed Rooms. The Pirate Themed Rooms are the farthest from the Food Court and Main Feature Pool.

 

[minnie mum]

I'm not sure anyone could persuade someone who starts off by wondering how BAD a resort is. I'm not sure that discussing the brand new room refurbs or the fact that they have the largest rooms of all the mods would make a difference. Or that you could choose to stay in a preferred room, close to the main building and pool. Or that bus transportation to MK is only 10 minutes longer than the walk from CR would be and is faster than taking the monorail to Epcot.

But I know that I would do whatever I could to avoid being in debt for 2 years just for a vacation. Shaving 30% off that bill by staying at a very nice mod resort would be a no brainer for me.

 

[Iowamomof4]

I'm not sure anyone could persuade someone who starts off by wondering how BAD a resort is. I'm not sure that discussing the brand new room refurbs or the fact that they have the largest rooms of all the mods would make a difference. Or that you could choose to stay in a preferred room, close to the main building and pool. Or that bus transportation to MK is only 10 minutes longer than the walk from CR would be and is faster than taking the monorail to Epcot.

But I know that I would do whatever I could to avoid being in debt for 2 years just for a vacation. Shaving 30% off that bill by staying at a very nice mod resort would be a no brainer for me.

You said it so well!

 

[NHBelle]

LOL...I am looking at pics and the refurb rooms and pool do look great. I am strongly leaning towards going for it. I just feel like we are never in the room anyway. My only problem will be that the kids are super excited about the Contemporary.

 

[RustManFan]

The title of this thread is really annoying.... CBR is a great place to stay but if you feel you would be slumming it in a non-deluxe.... I cannot assist you.

I agree with the earlier poster. I would never stay somewhere that was going to end up taking me 2 years to pay off.

The Moderates fit my style for that very reason and that my fellow guests seem to love them as much as I do.

The kids should be excited about the opportunity to go to WDW regardless of resort!!

 

[morrismhs]

Don't know your dates but what about a deluxe suite at Wilderness Lodge? Will not be as cheap as CBR but would save you over CR and it is club level so you would get some food as well.

 

[Iowamomof4]

LOL...I am looking at pics and the refurb rooms and pool do look great. I am strongly leaning towards going for it. I just feel like we are never in the room anyway. My only problem will be that the kids are super excited about the Contemporary.

I don't know how old your kids are, but in my family we would sit them down and explain that while we really wanted to go to the Contemporary, it would be much too expensive. We'd explain that we haven't been able to save enough money to pay for it now and being in debt is no way to live. It's a very important lesson for kids, right? I think they could learn a lot through this process! Perhaps you'll be able to work together as a family and save for that dream vacation in a year or two, but for now the best thing might be to do what you can afford, not what you wish you could afford. It would be very tough, indeed, but for us it would be worth it. I wish you well as you decide what to do!

 

[amandaleigh2]

At this point could you even switch and get free dinning? I believe those discounts ended a while ago. I love CBR. With all the walking we do everyday in the parks, walking around the resort doesn't upset me much. I just think of it as more calories burned for all the junk food I'm eating. $3000 is a lot of money to be saved, especially since you seem to be funding this trip on credit. Definitely worth a downgrade to me.

 

[NHBelle]

I wasn't trying to sound rude...I changed the title. I am mostly concerned about the transportation. We love pop because it has one bus stop. Boardwalk is also available and would save us some (not as much as CBR) but at least we could walk to Epcot. I think the busses would drive us crazy, but still is worth looking at because of the savings.

 

[NHBelle]

At this point could you even switch and get free dinning? I believe those discounts ended a while ago.

Since we are almost at the 45 day mark people are canceling and there is a tiny bit of availability since we have it already we can modify if something is open. I will call and see what our choices are. I wish I could check online.

 

[RustManFan]

But the buses are part of the WDW experience!

 

[dansdad]

I wasn't trying to sound rude...I changed the title. I am mostly concerned about the transportation. We love pop because it has one bus stop. Boardwalk is also available and would save us some (not as much as CBR) but at least we could walk to Epcot. I think the busses would drive us crazy, but still is worth looking at because of the savings.

Just for reference, even if you're the first stop at CBR heading to a park it is quicker to do that loop than to leave BWI then stop and pick up Swan and Dolphin guests. Now granted, you can walk to Epcot and walk or boat to DHS from Boardwalk. Just wanted to point that bit out after staying at both CBR and BWI. We feel the fact the every village at CBR has their own bus stop as a big plus. You are always very close to one.

 

[prisjoyce]

My family enjoys CBR. We think it's a fun resort, and the size/amount of walking has been entirely overblown, in my opinion. We have stayed in Barbados and Jamaica, and my youngest was fine with the walk to & from OPR and the bus stops. The first time, my eldest wasn't sure about trying it b/c she loved POFQ, but I pulled up some pictures of the pool and paths online and she changed her tune. Now it's the only place she wants to stay.

So if you assume that CBR is a perfectly acceptable option, the question becomes whether the monorail and proximity to MK is worth the extra money to you. Only you can answer that.

Regardless of where you stay, I hope you enjoy your trip!

 

[loves to dive]

If it were me, and this is just me, I'd switch. I'm not overly fond of CR, I understand if you want to spend most of your time at MK the monorail is tempting but really the buses are not that bad. Have you been to CBR and walked around? I've never been there, one of the few resorts I have not visited although I plan on fixing that on my trip next week. The reason I ask, is you hear a lot of people complaining about the sizes of some of the resorts and all the walking and until you've done it yourself you can't really gauge how you would feel. I was worried about staying at POR, one the buses and two the size. Neither was a problem, seriously I walked the entire perimeter and over to PORFQ in about 15 min, not walking fast and I'm not young. As far as buses, you aren't going to get away from using them no matter what resort you stay in unless you either have a car or you plan on only visiting the park that is closest to that resort. If you stay at any of the Epcot resorts, you are going to bus to at least AK, possibly MK. If you stay at the MK resorts, you are going to bus to AK, possibly HS. If you stay at AKL you are going to bus everywhere. For $3000, I'd tell the kids you are going to Disney, it's all good.