Middle Level Resort Reviews?

jewellmmc

Insane in the membrane!
Joined
Dec 16, 2004
I'm interested in hearing any reports on the middle level resorts? Which one is best? Quietest? Best cafeteria? Gift shop? pool? All advice is appreciated.
 
I would have to say CSR food id great pool is mayan flavored it quiet and is mexican flavoed it also had a health club and has alot more features compared to the other mods
 
I think they're all fine and you should just pick the one you like best.

I don't care for New Orleans, so don't do those (except once to cross them off my list :) ). CBR vs. CSR just depends on my mood. And I've been known to change my mind while driving from the airport to WDW. :teeth:
 
First of all, I’m biased – I love CBR. But I’ll try to give as objective a trip report as possible. We were there this March 24-31. For additional information, check out the FAQ thread for CBR that Safetymom moderates.

We arrived on a Saturday morning about 10:30 am. Although the Custom House seemed busy, I was helped within 2-3 minutes of getting in line to register. The CM was very helpful and friendly, and check-in went very quickly – our room was even ready… until the “key-cutting” computer locked up on everyone. This presented a delay while a CM who obviously was the “computer” guy worked hard to get it up and running. Finally, in order not to delay us further, they issued temporary keys and our tickets separately, and asked us to check back later that day at our convenience. Everyone was very nice about it, and the computer was back up and running later when I stopped back there.

The room was neat and clean, with a small towel animal pen holder left for us. We had paid for a preferred location and had a great room, Trinidad North 3128, a first floor room which opens onto a courtyard, which then overlooks the lake. It was terrific. Mousekeeping did a great job with the room; one day the light over the table had a bulb out, and I left a note with our tip – it was replaced by the time returned. Everything else worked the way it should and looked nice.

The Old Port Royale food court was great again – lots of variety in choices. They were out of the shorter, fatter refillable mugs, but they had lots of the taller car-style refillable mugs. They were expecting a new delivery of the shorter mugs this week, I think. No problem for us; we used them a lot through the week, and I can use this kind in my car now.

Servers at the food court counters were very friendly, and the cashiers were remarkably friendly – even joking with me multiple times. It was spring break for us, and probably for lots of others, so the resort was full, but the lines were never unbearable at the various food court counters, and the cashier lines were surprisingly short – they always had just about all the registers running.

The CM’s really work hard to keep the eating area clean. I’m always surprised how clean Disney World is, but the food court and outdoor eating area at Old Port Royale (OPR) was just really great. There are CM’s walking past cleaning all the time.

The Guest Services/Concierge desk in OPR had some really great staff. They helped me with a couple of things, including seat selection for my flight home (wish I didn’t have to leave!) and were very friendly.

Both gift shop areas were fully and neatly stocked and were also staffed with very friendly CM’s. We paid them back for their friendliness by buying some shirts, hats, etc.

Bus service was excellent. We just missed a bus on one occasion, but another arrived about 15 minutes later – our longest wait. We found most buses returned to the resort through the back entrance, stopping first at Jamaica; occasionally they would return in the front and stop at Martinique first. Didn’t matter to us, but I know that can be a hot topic on the boards here. Bus drivers were generally fun and friendly – there were a couple who were really quiet, but most had some fun with the passengers en route.

There were several high school sports teams, mostly lacrosse and a couple baseball, who were staying at the resort. They were no problem, although the bus ride home from the parks at night could be really loud if we got on with one of the teams. The teams seemed to be staying mostly in Aruba and Barbados, with some perhaps in Jamaica – just judging by where they got off. They were always polite at OPR and were usually kept busy during the day. Just a little rowdy on the buses.

I like to start my day by walking with a refillable mug of coffee around the lake each morning, and I noticed CM’s out early replacing plants, filling in sidewalk cracks, and cleaning literally everything. Part of why I enjoy CBR so much is the bright colors and great landscaping and foliage – it was great to see them out taking care of it every day. I would gladly have taken home the plants they were replacing if only I’d had room in my suitcase… oh yeah, my Ohio weather might not be helpful, though….

The main pool was often crowded, and seemed to be where the sports teams hung out at CBR, so we spent more time at our quiet pool than the main one. The quiet pool was never crowded; in fact, a couple times we were the only ones there. Pools were clean, so were the pool decks.

On our previous visit to CBR, we spent a lot of time on the beach and renting boats on the lake. We didn’t do either at all this trip – certainly could’ve, but we just did other things. None of the beaches seemed real crowded, and they were clean and freshly raked every morning… just makes everything look so nice. Parking lots seemed to be in good shape, although we didn’t drive.

On our departure day, I called bell services for a ride to the Custom House. Right on time, a CM arrived with a van and took us and our luggage to the Custom House in plenty of time for our Magical Express pickup.

I’m just always amazed how friendly all the CM’s are and how clean and bright everything looks. Something really hit us on this visit that made us appreciate CBR more, though. Six years ago, we had stayed at WL on our first trip to WDW. My DS13 and I took the boat from MK to WL one day and walked around the lodge and grounds. He made the comment how much more he likes CBR because the lobby and grounds of WL were so loud. I didn’t really notice that myself, but it made me realize the benefit of the spread-out nature of CBR. With several villages of buildings, it’s easy for us to really escape the crowds and get rest when we need to. The quiet pools are an awesome refuge and really relaxing with so few people in them. Walking around the lake in the morning is, for me, a really special time. I really can’t think of anything I’d change there – well maybe just to be able to stay longer each time.

There are a lot of very complete reviews of CBR, so I’ve tried not to duplicate them. I know everyone has their own favorites for their own very valid reasons, but for us, there’s just no substitute for CBR!

I have some new photos of the resort in the link below. Hope that helps!
 
Are there beaches at both CBS and CSR? And do they both have health clubs?
 
There are beaches at both resorts -- CBR has more beaches, but CSR has a health club and CBR does not.
 
CSR!! Check out my CSR website below for pics and info. I have 108 reviews from CSR guests below too.
 
We loved CBR.
DS loved the gift shop...it was full of "pirate-themed" stuff.
The resort is beautiful!
 
I've stayed at Caribbean Beach Resort (CBR), and Port Orleans Riverside(POR), and thoroughly enjoyed them both!! :sunny:

It's been a few years since I've stayed at CBR, but I was just at POR a few weeks ago. The resort is beautiful and very well kept, as are all of the Disney resorts.

Here are links to my personal pictures, and comments, from my trips to these two resorts. Enjoy! :)

Port Orleans Riverside - May 2007:
http://www.brownfamilyvacations.com/html/POR2007.htm

Caribbean Beach Resort - February 2002:
http://www.brownfamilyvacations.com/html/CBRmain.htm

Caribbean Beach Resort - May 2001:
http://www.brownfamilyvacations.com/html/cbr.htm
 
CSR has the best pool, transportation and food options!! No shared transportation. CSR also has a spa, salon and fitness center.
 
POFQ has a food court that was good, but I am NOT a fan of the Pepper Market at CSR. If you want to eat there, you have to pay a surcharge. I felt like a caged animal, and the food is not very good. I would prefer even the POP food court to the one at CSR.
 
CSR is a great resort! We just returned from our first stay there thanks to buzz's website. It would be my choice in a heartbeat.
 
Just returned from POR our only on-site stay, so I can't compare...but for POR - it fit us very well. Very quiet, excellent bus service (we used the West Depot near our Lodge Bldg 24).

Pools just fine, bike ride nice, wanted to try boats but ran out of time.

Food court OK, somewhat limited choices, did not try BoatWrights. Ate mostlt in parks.

Checkin VERY fast. Airline baggage checkout a little slower, mostly due to guest not staff.

Great trees, wildlife. Not always looking at buildings, plastic, cars, etc.

Mousekeeping just fine.
 
Our family loves CBR:thumbsup2 We leave in 10 days to return "Home":cool1: The theme is what sold us on CBR, the other mods just dont appeal to us. The food court, shopping areas, the pool bar, and bus system is great! I really dont think your gonna go wrong either way, you will be at WDW:banana:
 

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