Captain H00k's Caribbean Beach Resort Review

[CaptainH00k]

Hello everyone! My girlfriend and I recently returned from our 6 day/5 night stay at Caribbean Beach Resort and I just wanted to give my personal review of the property.

We waited in a very fast-moving Magical Express check in line at Orlando International Airport and went to wait for a bus. Less than five minutes later, we were on a bus that shuttled us quite rapidly to Disney World. Caribbean Beach happened to be the first stop on the Magical Express bus from the airport, so we got off and landed at the Custom House.

View From Magical Express Bus To Caribbean Beach Resort Entrance

Custom House Clock

Custom House Cast Member Windows

There were a few people there before us, but within a couple of minutes we were checking in with a very friendly and helpful Cast Member. Although we knew much about the resort from reading and planning, she gave us a pretty thorough spiel about services, buses, and the Key to the World card with charging privileges. I'd say from the airport Magical Express check-in to completion of Caribbean Resort check-in a total of about one hour to one hour and 15 minutes had passed (this was great for us because our flight leaving Houston had been delayed and put a small dent into our vacation time later in the day.)

We reserved a King Bed Room and requested either the village of Jamaica or Martinique and we were assigned Jamaica 4228.

Our Room

After using the Internal Resort Shuttle bus to get from the Custom House to Jamaica, we arrived at our room and it was beautiful. The view from our room faced the lake which was amazing!

The View From Our Room

It was also very convenient to the Jamaica beach, the Jamaica village pool, and Caribbean Cay as well as Old Port Royale via the Cay.

Jamaica Beach

Jamaica Pool

Jamaica Beach Playground

Caribbean Beach Resort Marina

Caribbean Cay

The Old Port Royale Has A Large Food Court Area, Shutter's Restaurant, Shops, and Arcade

The room itself was nice-sized with a very comfy bed. Everything in the room functioned properly and was very clean throughout. The bathroom was immaculate with a shower that had a good temperature and pressure, good toilet, and great sinks and dressing area. We never heard a peep from our next-door neighbors when we were actually in the room.

The resort is chock full of animals; we saw lots of bunnies, cranes, lizards, ducks, and birds of all sorts. The Jamaica pool was nice as well. It isn't huge, but the guests who used it were never crammed with other families. At it's most shallow, I believe the pool is three feet, six inches and at the deepest point, it's right at six feet. The Jamaica beach was beautiful - hammocks and plenty of reclining beach chairs to enjoy.

Cranes?!

Fish!

Bunny!

Even The Ducks Love The Beach!

This resort is a bit spread out, which is now a fact that I think people tend to over-exaggerate, but the bus service is amazing. Buses for the parks we visited each day were very frequent and never full until returning to CBR at park closing which is very understandable. The bus stops are covered and have fans (that didn't help a ton during the summer heat) with four benches to sit on and vending machines to use while waiting. I did walk from Jamaica to the Custom House once and while I wouldn't advise it if the resort shuttles are running (I went around 6:30 AM before the shuttles started,) it's not taxing or a bad walk at all if needed.

I would strongly recommend Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort to any guest to Disney World choosing to stay on property. It's quiet atmosphere makes it great for singles, young couples, older couples, and more mature families and it's plants, animals, theming, and recreation makes it attractive to families with young and old kids alike.

We had a great time and everyone at Caribbean Beach went out of their way to help and make our stay as enjoyable and pleasant as possible.

 

[safetymom]

Thank you for the review. I am glad you had a great time at CBR. Could you do me a favor and copy and paste your review and pictures into the CBR FAQ thread?

You will help others planning their CBR vacation.

 

[CaptainH00k]

Thank you for the review. I am glad you had a great time at CBR. Could you do me a favor and copy and paste your review and pictures into the CBR FAQ thread?

You will help others planning their CBR vacation.

safetymom, you know I'm gonna look out for you! I posted my review in your thread first!

Thanks for your kind words and your help in my planning with your thread and pictures!

 

[cdotla]

Thanks so much for your report!!! Can't wait for my stay at CBR in just over a month!

 

[2minny]

We stayed in Jamaica building 44, just home yesterday. You did a great job reviewing the place, love the pictures. We too loved CBR and checked in without a line, enjoyed the main pool and jamaican pool. Great time!

 

[CaptainH00k]

Thanks so much for your report!!! Can't wait for my stay at CBR in just over a month!

You're very welcome! You're going to love CBR (and the Disney Parks of course!)

I must admit, I'm jealous of everyone going in the next month or so since I just got back. Take me with you!!!!!!!

We stayed in Jamaica building 44, just home yesterday. You did a great job reviewing the place, love the pictures. We too loved CBR and checked in without a line, enjoyed the main pool and jamaican pool. Great time!

Jamaica is a really great village at CBR! Thanks for the compliments and your post. Glad you guys had fun as well!

 

[Carol D]

Great report! Love the pictures!!

 

[CaptainH00k]

Great report! Love the pictures!!

Thanks a bunch Carol!

 

[NeverlandPixie]

How would the CBR rate for a solo?

Also, I am going in March/April, and I know the main pool will be closed. Do you think the quiet pools will suffice?

Thanks.

 

[CaptainH00k]

How would the CBR rate for a solo?

Also, I am going in March/April, and I know the main pool will be closed. Do you think the quiet pools will suffice?

Thanks.

I think CBR is great for anyone. Like I said in the review, the key "selling points" for a solo/single traveler would be it's quiet and peaceful atmosphere, great "Disney Moderate" price point, great amenities for the price, excellent bus service to and from the parks, and the food court and shopping choices at Old Port Royale.

The quiet pool should be more than adequate for taking a quick dip or even swimming and splashing around a bit in. I never used the main pool, but since it was August when we went, the main pool was surely quite a bit more full than any of the village pools would've been.

Thanks for reading and posting! Have fun!

 

[NeverlandPixie]

Much thanks (and in case I didn't say so before, great review and pics).

I'm very intrigued by CBR (even though I stayed there 10-11 years ago), and I think I'll give CRO a call and switch from POR!

 

[CaptainH00k]

Much thanks (and in case I didn't say so before, great review and pics).

I'm very intrigued by CBR (even though I stayed there 10-11 years ago), and I think I'll give CRO a call and switch from POR!

Thanks again!

I don't want to be responsible for a switch, but if you do decide to go with CBR, I'm pretty darned sure you won't be disappointed with it.

At any rate, here's hoping the time passes quickly for your trip!

 

[MICKFan]

Thanks so much for your super review of your stay at CBR....I"m so glad to hear this as I am going to be there NEXT month!!! I will be going solo, but meeting 7 other ladies there....I also will be flying out of HOuston...hope my flight is not delayed...Meeting them at airport in Orlando and our flights come in 5 minutes apart!!

I am really getting excited reading all these reviews about CBR and what a great resort it is!!!

 

[CaptainH00k]

Thanks so much for your super review of your stay at CBR....I"m so glad to hear this as I am going to be there NEXT month!!! I will be going solo, but meeting 7 other ladies there....I also will be flying out of HOuston...hope my flight is not delayed...Meeting them at airport in Orlando and our flights come in 5 minutes apart!!

I am really getting excited reading all these reviews about CBR and what a great resort it is!!!

Thanks a bunch! Again, I'm jealous of all your "soon to be leaving"-ers!

I'm sure you'll have much better success than we did with our departure flight! CBR is really amazing; having just visited it for the first time after reading so much about it I wonder why so many people (at least post the 2002 renovation) dislike it?!

Especially with the dedicated bus service!

Thanks again.

 

[lpandorf]

Thanks for your nice review. I just booked CBR today. I've been to CSR 2x, most recently in June '07 and POR in 2004. I loved both resorts but kind of wanted to try something new and deluxes were not in the price range since were already there (work conference but still had to pay to fly family down and their tickets). But I've read a lot of not so great reports about CBR and was a little nervous about my choice, esp since I've had such great experiences at the other Moderates. I will look forward to our upcoming trip in November.

 

[2minny]

I'm jealous too, just home and am ready to go back We stayed at POR twice and really liked it, but found our "home" in CBR this trip!

 

[i_dont_like_gloves]

Love the review!

Thinking of staying here in May. But was wondering about its location. Is it in a good position for quick access to the parks via the busses?

 

[CaptainH00k]

Love the review!

Thinking of staying here in May. But was wondering about its location. Is it in a good position for quick access to the parks via the busses?

Thanks a bunch!

As far as the buses are concerned, CBR is centrally located on property, so it's in a good place for some of the overall shorter "time on bus" minutes for each of the parks. When we were there last week, the longest I remember waiting for any given bus in the morning from the time my butt was at the bus stop was about 10 minutes. In Jamaica, we usually only hit between two to four other villages before leaving CBR, so that was maybe another 3-5 minutes. The bus ride to almost any park from CBR once we left the village loop was between 8 (MGM) and 15 (Magic Kingdom/Downtown Disney Pleasure Island stop) minutes.

So total time from getting to bus stop to stepping foot at your destination was about 20-30 minutes. I really hesitate to say 30 minutes, because it never felt that long.

The bus service during a pretty busy period of the year at CBR was excellent in my opinion.

Hope that helps!

 

[cdotla]

Wow - there's three of us in a row staying at Jamaica - I hope it doesn't become that popular!!!

Of course, I only REQUESTED to stay there - no guarantee. I will be very disappointed though if it doesn't work out.

In my mind, Jamaica is hands down the most classy of the buildings. I love the yellow!

Your TR with all the great pics really reminded me of the importance of posting a nice TR after you return. I LIVE for reading recent TRs on CBR now that I am so close to leaving. So reassuring and it is great for building the excitement!

And of course, like you, I will be sure to link it on SafetyMom's thread!

You're very welcome! You're going to love CBR (and the Disney Parks of course!)

I must admit, I'm jealous of everyone going in the next month or so since I just got back. Take me with you!!!!!!!



Jamaica is a really great village at CBR! Thanks for the compliments and your post. Glad you guys had fun as well!

 

[simonkodousek]

Thanks for the great review! It sounds like a great resort!