POP or Carribean Beach with Kids???

brandy1126

Earning My Ears
Joined
Aug 10, 2010
We currently have a free dining package booked at Pop Century for this november. We have decided to upgrade our dining plan so we can have a table service meal as well. The price difference between upgrading the dining plan and upgrading to carribean beach is only $100 for our 7 day trip, so not much of a difference. We can't decide whether to stick with pop or go for CBR. Pop seems so kid friendly and rates a lot higher on tripadvisor. But CBR is a moderate! I know they have the hot tubs and waterslides.... Such a tough choice!
 
Never been to pop but love cbr! Dd loves the pirate ship pool with water slides & dumping buckets.
 
Well I have never stayed at CBR and won't because I cannot stand a resort with multiple bus stops. If you are not at the first bus stop, your chances of getting a seat on the bus are not so great. I also don't like how large the resort is. My sister stayed there and said she couldn't stand how far they had to walk to refill their mug. I refill my mug a good bit. She said it would be empty before they got back to their room. :sad2: That would drive me crazy! LOL I also like that POP has one bus stop and I think POP has some of the best bus service on property.
Now the #1 reason I won't ever stay at CBR.... One of the CMs I have become friends with that is in mgt... told me he has seen more snakes when he worked at CBR than anywhere else on property!! That did me in!:faint:
He said he saw more there than he cared to see in his lifetime! So Thanks, but No Thanks!! I know they are everywhere down there, but when he told me that...I was NO GOOD anymore! NOT happenin' for me!! :scared1: He said he has yet to spot one himself at POP since he has been there. He didn't see them at the Grand either... saw a one or two at the other hotels he has worked at. But he said at CBR he saw them all the time! :scared1:
 


I've stayed at both and would do CBR. Both are great resorts, but for $100 difference, I would want all the moderate amenities. I typically stay at pop but checked into CBR yesterday. Couldn't get over how much nicer the towels and mattress was. Also the slides and hot tubs! Yes it is big, just request a close room and you'll love it. The kids loved pop but when they saw CBR they couldn't stop thanking us for coming here. (Ps we are not in a pirate room)
 
I have stayed at both and would also choose CBR. The pool area is awesome. I loved that the pool was zero entry. And my kids loved the pirate waterplay area for kids under 48." There is also a great playground on Caribbean Cay. The resort is bigger than Pop, but it was so quiet and relaxed. We didn't have to walk that far to get to the food court and we were close to a bus stop. We were not the first stop and never had a problem getting a place to sit.
 
We currently have a free dining package booked at Pop Century for this november. We have decided to upgrade our dining plan so we can have a table service meal as well. The price difference between upgrading the dining plan and upgrading to carribean beach is only $100 for our 7 day trip, so not much of a difference. We can't decide whether to stick with pop or go for CBR. Pop seems so kid friendly and rates a lot higher on tripadvisor. But CBR is a moderate! I know they have the hot tubs and waterslides.... Such a tough choice!

We've never stayed at Pop, but we loved everything about CBR and that would be my choice without hesitation.
 


For a $100 difference, I would stay at CBR. I've never stayed there but they have queen sized beds in the room verses the full sized beds at Pop.
 
For $15 more a day I wouldn't think twice: CBR. Larger rooms, far better pool for children.

You can pay a bit more for a 'preferred' room, if refilling your mug and being close to the food court/pool/nightly marshmallow roast and movie is important, but the farther away rooms are quiet and there are 'quiet' pools scattered throughout the resort.

Depending on the age of your kids, the CBR pool is far, far better: for younger children there is a fenced off pirate themed area just for them! Everyone else has a great pirate themed pool with slides. And the pool is right next to the food court, pool bar, evening marshmallow roast and movie. I think only teenagers would prefer the pool at Pop (because the slide wouldn't be exciting enough for them at CBR). Moderates have all the towels you want right at the pool.

I've never seen a snake at CBR, or anywhere else at Disney. Not saying they aren't there, just seems unlikely to be a particular problem at any one resort over another.

Yes, CBR has multiple bus stops. If you have a rental car, ignore that issue. If you are relying on the buses, well, its kinda hit or miss the amount of time you wait and number of stops to sit through. Its not perfect, but the bus stop for CBR at the parks is closer than Pop so, well, you save some time in walking.

I don't dislike Pop, but the benefits of CBR with kids I think are well worth $15 a day.

PS You can see the Epcot fireworks (a bit - the top 1/3rd of them I'd say) from the beach area near the preferred rooms/food court pool bar area. Nice when you are just hanging around the resort at night.
 

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