Caribbean Beach FAQ Part IV

[mickeystoontown]

Thanks for the info about the clothesline.

This will be our longest stay! We've only done 8 days before. I'm really looking forward to exploring this resort. My daughter and I wanted to stay here when we visited in early December, but my mother wanted to go to POR again so that is what I booked. This time dh will be coming with my daughter and me. This is his first visit. He's not into it like my dd and I are, lol. I keep telling him he will have a good vacation and to trust me. It will be really nice to mix in lots of pool time with visiting the parks. I told him he can go take a nap in a hammock on the beach!

The refurb'd Nemo rooms look really nice. DD wanted a Pirate room but I didn't want to spend the extra, I didn't really want to be in Trinidad South, and I told her daddy's feet would not be able to hang off the end of the bed with the "boat" in the way!!

Actually, dd doesn't even know that I booked it. We've been talking about going again and I've been asking her opinion, but she informed me a few weeks ago that if we go again she wants to be surprised!! So....I have to keep it a secret now!!!! This is gonna be tough!

My husband loves to go down to the beach at night and relax in one of the hammocks. He and my son were down there at 11 p.m. the first night we got to the CBR. I went to sleep because I had driven hours and hours that day (while they slept).

I think the pirate rooms look cute but I don't think that I'd spend the extra money for them. If my son was younger, I probably would.

We surprised our 11 year old son with a trip last August. We were originally booked for a vacation in May but had to cancel when I started a new job. When the end of the summer promo came out, my boss told me that was too good of a deal to pass up so we went in August. Didn't tell our son at all until we were about 30 minutes from Disney. We told him we were going on a long weekend road trip. I just knew he would start being suspicious since our drive is between 14 and 16 hours (Depending on traffic and weather). But, he slept, played his PSP, watched movies, etc. and never caught on. Surprising him was soooo much fun!

 

[mickeystoontown]

is there any way to get to a grocery store from CBR if you don't have a car? would we have to call a taxi, or do the busses go where there are grocery stores in the area(are there grocery stores in downtown disney?)?

thanks in advance!

As bravo66 said, there is a Hess station near Downtown Disney. If you don't mind renting a cab, there is a Publix grocery store on Hwy. 192 near the main entrance of Walt Disney World.

 

[krise]

We are leaving for CBR in 5 weeks also!!! Can't wait either!

We head out in 20 days! I'm beyond excited!

 

[DessertGirl]

We decided to go to DW kinda last minute thanks to the 4/3 deal! We were going to go in January, and decided to go now in May. We are going May 12-19th. Originally we were going to stay in the WL, but after seeing the Pirate rooms (I have two little pirates!) we were sold on the CBR. I have some questions for you experts.

1. Does OPR have milk available for breakfast? We were planning on doing breakfast in our room before heading out.

2. What time is check in? Our flight is coming in at 10:30am. So I bet we get to the hotel at about 12:00pm. What do we do if we can't check in? Head straight to the park? What about our stuff?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Tink561]

We booked a pirate room with the free dining promotion this morning. Only one of our sons is going but he and my husband really like the pirate room. I think it is cool too. So our little princess will be walking on the wild side staying at CBR. She will have her fair share of princess things there too.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

We decided to go to DW kinda last minute thanks to the 4/3 deal! We were going to go in January, and decided to go now in May. We are going May 12-19th. Originally we were going to stay in the WL, but after seeing the Pirate rooms (I have two little pirates!) we were sold on the CBR. I have some questions for you experts.

1. Does OPR have milk available for breakfast? We were planning on doing breakfast in our room before heading out.

2. What time is check in? Our flight is coming in at 10:30am. So I bet we get to the hotel at about 12:00pm. What do we do if we can't check in? Head straight to the park? What about our stuff?

Thanks in advance.

Congrats!

Yes, OPR has milk available all day!

I think check in is at 3 or 4. We arrived at 1:00 on our recent trip and were able to get our room right away - even in the section we requested! It's likely that you will be able to check in early, but if not CBR will hold all your stuff and you can use the pool or head off to the parks or whatever. They will give you a number to call later and see if your room is ready!

Have a great trip! May is an awesome time to visit WDW!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

We booked a pirate room with the free dining promotion this morning. Only one of our sons is going but he and my husband really like the pirate room. I think it is cool too. So our little princess will be walking on the wild side staying at CBR. She will have her fair share of princess things there too.

Congrats! Have a great time!

 

[Cory's Gal]

Love the new thread! We are taking our kids April of 2010 and I simply cannot decide on a resort, after reading this I REALLY like CBR! Thanks for all the pics and Momof2DisneyBoys I really loved reading your review and TR! My kids will be 5 and 2 next April so the nice themed pools & zero entry are great! My son at age 5 will be content playing in both pools so that will be nice. My parents will be coming with and my dad sometimes have some walking issues and thinking maybe a preferred location would be best, but I also like the nice walk across the bridge from Jamaica/Aruba and I know my son would love it too so the idea of having a standard room is great too! So many decisions to make, thanks safetymom for keeping everything up to date! This thread is really keeping my interest!!

 

[tikiroom2435]

We are staying at the CBR 21-24 May. This will be our third time to stay there but this time we are getting the Pirate Rooms! I can't wait. I've stayed in other moderate resorts and the CBR is definitly the best.

 

[mickeystoontown]

We decided to go to DW kinda last minute thanks to the 4/3 deal! We were going to go in January, and decided to go now in May. We are going May 12-19th. Originally we were going to stay in the WL, but after seeing the Pirate rooms (I have two little pirates!) we were sold on the CBR. I have some questions for you experts.

1. Does OPR have milk available for breakfast? We were planning on doing breakfast in our room before heading out.

2. What time is check in? Our flight is coming in at 10:30am. So I bet we get to the hotel at about 12:00pm. What do we do if we can't check in? Head straight to the park? What about our stuff?

Thanks in advance.

Congrats on booking your CBR trip!

There is milk available in the food court. The easiest place to get it is in the grab n go section. If I am remembering correctly, there were half gallons available in the store section way over in the corner. We ate breakfast in our room every morning. That way, some of us were eating while the others were showering/getting ready for the day.

Check-in is not until 3:00 p.m. but you can check in earlier than that. If you want to check-in early, they will hold your bags for you until your room is ready. You can also head out to a park if you want to.

We usually check in about an hour or so early and we have always been lucky enough that our room was ready for us. We like to get all our things in our room and immediately head to Downtown Disney to get some "Disney" time in. We hit the bed early that night so that we are fresh and ready to go to the park next morning.

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

Yay!!! I was able to book a trip with FD today, we will be at the CBR 8/15thru 8/23. I couldn't be happier!! We will be celebrating Emily's Birthday, her B-Day is 8/17 and this is going to be the best!!! Sshh! Its a surprise!!!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We just got back from our stay at CBR last night and we LOVED the resort and our vacation. Thanks everyone for the help. I can't wait to go back!

 

[disneybam]

We just got back from our stay at CBR last night and we LOVED the resort and our vacation. Thanks everyone for the help. I can't wait to go back!

So glad you enjoyed your trip! But come on mi vida loca, we need details (what building were you in, how was everything, etc.), and most importantly, pictures! These posts are helping me get through the next months.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Oops sorry!

When I checked into the resort they had no rooms available yet. I checked in around 10 am. I requested Jamaica 45 and he had me in Jamaica 41 so I politely asked for Jamaica 45 and he came back and said yes I would be in Jamaica 45! We left went to MK and then called for our room number later that day.

We were in 4542 and it was literally a 1-2 minute walk to the bus stop and maybe a 3 minute walk to OPR and the pool.

We loved EVERYTHING!!!!!!!! We will definitely stay at this resort again.

The only problem we had was with a lacrosse team that was in our building and right next to us. They were very polite at the bus stops but two nights in a row they were noisy with music and loudness at 2 am. THe first night security broke it up the 2nd night they actually woke my DH (who LOVES his sleep) up. I was dead to the world and they woke him up with the music, banging doors, laughing, talking. He NEVER wakes up so I know it was bad. He called security and then about 5 seconds after he called them they turned the music up louder. My husband went out there and yelled at them. They turned off the music and RAN! Then security showed up 2 minutes later.

Anytime I called the front desk they were on top of everything. They would be over in a matter of minutes with anything. One time we had no toilet paper. One time DD wet the bed and they changed the linens and were always very friendly.

We had lots of character meals, a BBB appointment and DS had the pirate cruise in CBR.

Anymore questions just ask. If you want more pics ask and I'll see if I have them.

Here are a few pics of the resort:

This is the pool area and me in front of our room

Views from the bridge to OPR

The pirate cruise at CBR

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Yay!!! I was able to book a trip with FD today, we will be at the CBR 8/15thru 8/23. I couldn't be happier!! We will be celebrating Emily's Birthday, her B-Day is 8/17 and this is going to be the best!!! Sshh! Its a surprise!!!

Congrats!

We just got back from our stay at CBR last night and we LOVED the resort and our vacation. Thanks everyone for the help. I can't wait to go back!

Welcome back! Sounds like your trip was nearly perfect!!

Thanks for sharing. Love the pictures!

PS- My DH has been known for yelling at loud people at hotels too!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Oh yes and my DH is hooked adn said he will never stay off site. He loved the fact that he did not have to drive. That sealed it for him. LOL And the dining plan. He loved not having to worry about food and the convenience of it.

 

[disneybam]

Thanks for the review and pictures! The pool looks so inviting at night. I'm hoping there are no "groups" near us when we go in July. My first trip to Disneyworld in 1977 was with my school band so I do understand, you put a group of friends together and you will have noise, fun for them, but not for us. Thanks again, it's so nice to hear all of the recent great reviews of CBR.

 

[MinnieNurse]

Thanks for the review and pictures. I cannot wait until August. It feels like it will never get here.

 

[Moneypenny]

We were just at CBR last week(March 24-29). We loved it and I'm so appreciative of all the information on this site.

We did online checkin which was a breeze. There was just one couple ahead of us and we were all checked in within about 10 minutes of arrival at the resort. We were in Aruba 53 which was a couple of minutes from the bus stop and about 5 minutes to OPR (probably could have cut that time down but 4.5 year old DD is a slow walker). Our room was very clean and the mousekeeper left a little towel guy the first day. Each day she would do something different with it and the animals DD brought for sleeping with. One day they were in the window looking out at us, another day they were on the bed with the TV on and DD's monkey holding the remote. We loved coming back each day to see what the critters were up to!

There were no groups in our area that we noticed and it was very quiet and peaceful. DD enjoyed both the main pool and the quiet pool. The buses were great and we usually only waited 5-10 minutes. The first night was our longest wait when we caught a bus to MK at about 5:30. I think that was about a 20 minute wait.

We never had trouble finding a place to eat at the food court, although it was certainly busy at breakfast time. The food was good - nothing was bad and nothing was fantastic - but it was all fine. We had breakfast there a couple of days and dinner each night. There was enough variety that we had something different each of the 5 nights. We had lunch at the parks and breakfast in our room a couple of days.

The staff were all very helpful. I bugged the ladies at the concierge desk in OPR several times and they always had the answer we needed. Bell Services was also very helpful (we had an insanely early departure and needed van pickup to Custom House). It was all arranged for us and went smoothly. The only issue we had was that the mousekeeper accidentally took the basket to the coffee pot, but we called and they delivered a new pot to us within 10 minutes.

We ordered water from Costco which was delivered the day before we arrived. I forgot to ask about it when I checked in, but we called once we got to the room and, again, it was delivered within 10 minutes.

DH loved the theming of the resort! Every day when we walked over the island to the pool or OPR he just sighed with contentment! DD loved being able to play on the beach. She would actually ask to leave the parks to come back and swim and play in the sand, so that is saying a lot about the resort!! The quiet pool never had more than a few people in it. The main pool was busy, but we were always able to find a chair. The life vests for kids seemed to be in short supply, but we were able to scrounge one up when needed. The gift shop also sold Nemo arm floaties for $3. We got those for DD and she actually preferred them to the life vest so we stuck with those.

We were sad to leave and will definitely go back!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

We were just at CBR last week(March 24-29). We loved it and I'm so appreciative of all the information on this site.

We did online checkin which was a breeze. There was just one couple ahead of us and we were all checked in within about 10 minutes of arrival at the resort. We were in Aruba 53 which was a couple of minutes from the bus stop and about 5 minutes to OPR (probably could have cut that time down but 4.5 year old DD is a slow walker). Our room was very clean and the mousekeeper left a little towel guy the first day. Each day she would do something different with it and the animals DD brought for sleeping with. One day they were in the window looking out at us, another day they were on the bed with the TV on and DD's monkey holding the remote. We loved coming back each day to see what the critters were up to!

There were no groups in our area that we noticed and it was very quiet and peaceful. DD enjoyed both the main pool and the quiet pool. The buses were great and we usually only waited 5-10 minutes. The first night was our longest wait when we caught a bus to MK at about 5:30. I think that was about a 20 minute wait.

We never had trouble finding a place to eat at the food court, although it was certainly busy at breakfast time. The food was good - nothing was bad and nothing was fantastic - but it was all fine. We had breakfast there a couple of days and dinner each night. There was enough variety that we had something different each of the 5 nights. We had lunch at the parks and breakfast in our room a couple of days.

The staff were all very helpful. I bugged the ladies at the concierge desk in OPR several times and they always had the answer we needed. Bell Services was also very helpful (we had an insanely early departure and needed van pickup to Custom House). It was all arranged for us and went smoothly. The only issue we had was that the mousekeeper accidentally took the basket to the coffee pot, but we called and they delivered a new pot to us within 10 minutes.

We ordered water from Costco which was delivered the day before we arrived. I forgot to ask about it when I checked in, but we called once we got to the room and, again, it was delivered within 10 minutes.

DH loved the theming of the resort! Every day when we walked over the island to the pool or OPR he just sighed with contentment! DD loved being able to play on the beach. She would actually ask to leave the parks to come back and swim and play in the sand, so that is saying a lot about the resort!! The quiet pool never had more than a few people in it. The main pool was busy, but we were always able to find a chair. The life vests for kids seemed to be in short supply, but we were able to scrounge one up when needed. The gift shop also sold Nemo arm floaties for $3. We got those for DD and she actually preferred them to the life vest so we stuck with those.

We were sad to leave and will definitely go back!

Welcome back! Thanks so much for the awesome review! I'm so glad everything went so smoothly for you and your family enjoyed CBR! We love it too!