Staying at Carrabian Beach this time. Any thoughts good or bad???

[GoneDisney]

This is our third trip to Disney World and we are staying at the Carrabian Beach because of the Free Dining this time. We prefer Port Orleans. But, no free dining there. I don't know this resort, so any thoughts good or bad?

 

[dansdad]

Congrats!! CBR is our favorite moderate. Check out the CBR FAQ thread. Lots of great info.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2495213

 

[GoHerbie]

We're the same as you and strongly prefer POR. We stayed there on our first 2 trips, then did CBR before Christmas last year. Big mistake - CBR just didn't click with us, and we drove over to the POR food court for lunch 1 day and missed it a lot. On our most recent trip 2 months ago we stayed back at POR.

The fact that free dining isn't available at POR likely shows you they have no problem filling up the place, but CBR is less popular so free dining is available.

The CBR food court seemed more like a value and the POR food court is definitely nicer. If you like Hollywood Studios a lot, CBR is very close.

You might love CBR, so it doesn't hurt to try it out.

 

[Mousemommy1]

This is our third trip to Disney World and we are staying at the Carrabian Beach because of the Free Dining this time. We prefer Port Orleans. But, no free dining there. I don't know this resort, so any thoughts good or bad?

We stayed at CBR in 2011 because that was the only available resort for FD when we booked. We really didn't care for it for several reasons but I suggest that you book a preferred room because the resort is huge...although if you like POR you might be used to it.

If we stay at CBR again, we will definitely do preferred. Even though it wasn't our favorite resort, we had a great trip! CBR is really pretty and it's neat to look across the lagoon and see SSE and you can also see the higher fireworks from IllumiNations from certain areas at CBR.

Give it a shot, you may love it, you might hate it, but you're still going to have a great time, it's Disney!

 

[Magalex]

We stayed at CBR in June 2007 & June 2012. We had wonderful stays both times. We usually request Jamaica or Aruba. We got Jamaica both times. We are very close to the bus stop & the bridge over to the main pool & food court. I love the walk over the bridge. The landscaping is beautiful. Our DS(12)loved the main pool. We rented a watercraft one day & that was lots of fun. Rooms have always been cleaned. All the CMs were especially friendly this past June!!! ENJOY your Trip

 

[Suelala]

It's my favorite resort. This time I am staying at Pop to save a little money, but would like to be back at CBR in the future. The grounds are beautiful...enjoy the white sandy beach, the soft colors, and the little island with tropical flowers and a little playground.
I had no problem with the dining, there is a good variety of food and was always good.
Hope you enjoy it!

 

[mickeystoontown]

We have stayed at the CBR 8 times so it's pretty obvious that we love the resort. From what I have heard the walks at POR and CBR are about the same. We have stayed in both preferred and non-preferred and our longest walk (from one of the furthest buildings to Old Port Royale) was a little over 7 minutes and that was only because we were behind a very slow moving couple pushing a double stroller. Our walks from the other non-preferred locations were about 5 minutes. My mother who is 78 had no problems getting around the resort.

Each of the resort villages has their own bus stop, quiet pool, beach and laundry facility.

As far as the bus transportation goes, we have never had any issues even though some of our travel dates included Star Wars Weekends, Memorial Day, early to mid-May and early to mid-August. The resort is centrally located so it doesn't take long to get to any Disney destination.

The food court has a nice variety of foods to choose from at breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you want to just grab a bite to go, there are some pre-packaged snacks in the resort store or you can grab something from the grab-n-go station in the food court. I posted pictures of the selection from the store over on the CBR pic thread. You can also request that the servers put your food items on a to-go plate and then ask the cashier for a bag to carry your items out in.

The main pool is awesome! It was redone a few years back and is now zero entry and has two slides. For the younger kids, there's a separate play area just for them near the main pool. Weather permitting, movies are shown in the Old Port Royale courtyard and marshmallow roasts are held on the beach between OPR and the village of Trinidad North.

At night, you can see some of the higher Illuminations fireworks from several spots around the resort. Our favorite spots to see them are on the Martinique beach or from the OPR courtyard.

If you have some extra resort time, I'd suggest that you rent one of the watercraft, a surrey bike or a bicycle from the marina. One of our favorite things to do is take a spin or two around the resort on the bikes.

I have lots of pictures of the resort in my trip report (link is in my signature below) and on the CBR pic thread.

If you think of any specific CBR questions, feel free to ask and I'll try to answer them.

 

[twinboysmom]

We had very low expectations going into our stay at cbr in April and came out loving it. The grounds are lovely and tranquil and even though it was at capacity during our stay it never felt crowded. The food court was average. Personally, I don't think any of them (value and moderate) are any better than any other with the exception of CSR. The main pool is fantastic and beautifully themed and of course, each village has its own quiet pool (they were usually empty during our stay).

We stayed in Trinidad South, the furthest area from the pool and food court. I never thought the walk was that long, maybe 7-10 minutes. But we are not ones to have to refill the mugs all the time either. We had fantastic bus service with the exception of one afternoon during our stay but I never recommend a resort based on bus service. There are always threads about how terrible bus service was at all the resorts.

Our room was immaculate and mouse keeping was great. All of the CM's we encountered were wonderful as well. I never thought it was the resort for us but we really enjoyed our stay.

 

[Stbissell]

We stayed at CBR last year and had a great time. I think the people who complain usually do not research the resort and don't like the size. Like others said, request Jamaica or Aruba. I think the walk across the bridge to the pool and food court is nice and relaxing. The pool is great, the theme is nice and the food court is good. No complaints here. We would go back but have some other resorts we want to try. Enjoy.

 

[Belle83]

CBR was the first resort I stayed at and I liked it a lot. I was only 14 at the time, but definitely enjoyed it. I like the theme the most out of all of the moderates. I stayed there again when I was in college and liked it. It's a large resort, but has about the same # of rooms as POR I think.

I stayed in Jamaica both times and think that's the best area without paying for preferred rooms.

 

[Sue M]

We stayed at CBR in Aug 2007 and thought it was quite nice. We stayed in Jamaica, close enough to main amenities without paying preferred.
Loved the beach and swaying under a palm tree in a hammock
We had good transportation, and thought the food court was fine.
Beautiful landscaping. Be sure you explore the bridge.

We love POR, it's our fav moderate, but there is nothing wrong with CBR, and enjoyed our stay there very much.

 

[Jaco5nc]

We just spent last week at CBR for the first time and really enjoyed it. I was nervous because I read A LOT of negative reviews. It is large and spread out but I personally loved that! After all day at the parks and being with large crowds to come back to a tranquil resort and hardly see a soul was amazing. Now, if you have any type of mobility issue you may not enjoy this resort because of its size. There is an internal bus (which we never used). The park busses were awesome, never waited more then 10 minutes and never once had a full bus! We did have an issue with our door not working properly and really wished there were queen beds but other then that it was great! Awesome pool area too. We are going back in January most likely and might consider staying there again. Have a great trip !

 

[GoneDisney]

Thanks everyone for the great replies. I enjoyed all of them.

 

[sissy_ib]

Hi, I am thinking about CBR for February. Why is it so much cheaper than the other moderates? Is it not as popular because it is so spread out? Why request Jamaica or Aruba? Location? I wont have a car.

 

[mickeynut1]

We had one stay at CBR and loved it!!!! The atmosphere was beautiful, the pool was great, the food court was great and had a lot of variety, and the bus transportation was awesome. Have a great trip......CBR is a very nice resort .

 

[dansdad]

Hi, I am thinking about CBR for February. Why is it so much cheaper than the other moderates?

CBR is the same price as POR and POFQ and it's $5 cheaper than CSR.

Is it not as popular because it is so spread out? Why request Jamaica or Aruba? Location? I wont have a car.

I don't think it's any less popular than the other Mods. People have different tastes as far as theming goes. Jamaica and Aruba are a short walk across the bridge to OPR and the Main pool and it's a very pretty walk. Jamaica 45 is our favorite because we like the yellow color of the buildings.

 

[Paradise18]

The double beds are what keep us away from CBR. If they ever switch to queen beds I'd happily stay there. I definitely like the theme.

 

[sissy_ib]

CBR is the same price as POR and POFQ and it's $5 cheaper than CSR.




I don't think it's any less popular than the other Mods. People have different tastes as far as theming goes. Jamaica and Aruba are a short walk across the bridge to OPR and the Main pool and it's a very pretty walk. Jamaica 45 is our favorite because we like the yellow color of the buildings.

The weekend I am looking it is cheaper with no discounts.
And with the room only discount it is much cheaper than other moderates. I am going the weekend of the Princess Half using the discount. Almost $300 less than POFQ for 4 nights.