Caribbean Beach FAQ Part IV

[catbertdave99]

What's the best way to get from CBR to the Poly? Just trying to do some plannin' for our trip in late August. Thanks!

Drive if you have a vehicle (we never do, but in this case it would be nice); it will be faster. Otherwise, take the bus to MK, and then the monorail to the Poly.

 

[mickeystoontown]

What's the best way to get from CBR to the Poly? Just trying to do some plannin' for our trip in late August. Thanks!

I'd suggest you take a bus to the Magic Kingdom and hop on the monorail to the Poly.

 

[catbertdave99]

Here’s a review from our recent visit to CBR, Saturday 6/13 through Sunday 6/21:

Who traveled – 3 families, Magical Gathering
My family: Me, DS18, DS15, and unofficially “adopted” son (age 22 - an intern at our church last summer who lived with us and became part of our family)
My next door neighbor, and his DS15
My sister, her DH, and DD9 and DD7

Check-in
We had difficulties with on-line check-in, so my brother-in-law had called Disney to ask about it; they said they’d had trouble with the site at times and they flagged our reservations and told him we should go through the Online check-in Line. We did (there was no line) and sure enough everything was ready!

Rooms
Cool pixie dust part here – I had a preferred location, the other two families had standard, but they were both upgraded to preferred and we had 3 rooms in a row, opening up into a courtyard, Martinique 2621, 2622 (ours), and 2623. Great location, great rooms, loved it!

Cleaning was good, and they did well each day. Here is a “family” they left us:

Food Court
It seemed like a wider variety of items and special menu additions on various days of the week. In particular, they had specialty omelets (kind of a Caribbean flair to them) almost every day that were good. Then for lunch and dinner one of the stations had this Royale Sandwich – get this! It has three types of slices meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and a special sauce (I’m probably leaving something out) on this wonderful seasoned roll – great!! We love the food court and the wide range of selections – we eat there a lot. We did the refillable mugs – we always do, as they’re such a great value for us and we love having more to use here at home! The grab’n’go seemed to have a greater selection of cut-up fruit, or veggies, in addition to the usual choices.

Pool
I can’t begin to say how great the new pool is. They really did a great job. Not just with the pool, either. The theming all around the slides, pool deck, and everywhere is terrific. Everyone seemed to be enjoying it, yet it never seemed like we were out of swimming space. Having two hot tubs is great; the one located behind the new slide (Trinidad North end of the pool) was hardly every used. That area is kind of hidden from everything by the slide “fort” structure, so it would make a nice getaway spot for adults who want peace and quiet, I think. We rarely used the old main pool on previous visits; on this trip, we were all there at least once a day, often more.

Gift Shops
I love looking around these shops; they have great choices and you can pretty much get any essentials you need there. Clothing choices were plentiful, and the Pirates of the Caribbean souvenirs are plentiful! Lots of CBR merchandise, as well as general WDW merchandise.

Resort upkeep
I’m always impressed with the care the CM’s take in landscaping. This visit we saw CM’s with charts of plantings in the various gardens, marking what should stay and what needed to be replaced; then the next day, it was already done. We also saw them changing out flower displays outside OPR. But what really got me was the painting they were doing, touching up trim all over the resort – the workers were all very nice and tried to stay out of guests way as much as possible. Here are a few shots of them working:

Ducks and Lizards
There are a lot of ducks and other assorted birds at CBR. It’s kind of fun. The ducks like to hang out on the beach at night when fewer people are there. We didn’t see them using the hammocks or anything! And the little lizards that dart here and there on the pathways are fun too, and plentiful!

Marina Rentals
8 of us rented a pontoon boat one day – fun!

My sister and her family rented a 4-person surrey bike. My BIL said it was surprisingly easy to peddle (his young daughters didn’t pedal much) around the resort!

Other comments
We really used the resort this time. We all swam in the pool, the kids enjoyed the beach and the hammocks a lot , the food court was great as I said, and the boat and bike rides were a big hit. There’s so much to do, and it was nice to have a fun resort when the younger girls weren’t up to going to a park.

The other thing we noticed for the first time is that each village has a slightly different architectural style, especially in the cupolas (the little steeple-like towers on the buildings). I won’t post the photos, but they’re in the CBR 2009 link below if you’re interested. I just love the way Disney takes care with so many details!

Check-out
I did the Resort Airline check-in by phone (no problem), then received only half of the baggage tags and boarding passes for my family. Concierge Desk at OPR printed the missing boarding passes, but couldn’t provide the baggage tags. Our scheduled pickup by Bell Services never arrived on our check-out day, so we pulled our rolling luggage over to the Custom House. The Airline Check-in CM was very kind and took care of everything quickly. The lesson I learned from this was that you should never check out – just stay forever!

We love CBR and can’t wait to go back. I need to win the lottery!

Dave

 

[jeanylaser]

I can't wait to stay in CBR for January 2010!

 

[MadilynnsMomma]

Dave - thanks so much for all the pics and the great trip report! I CAN NOT wait to get to CBR and experience it for myself!!!

COME ON DECEMBER!!!

 

[Coconuts]

Catbertdave99, your enthusiasm is infectious! I was excited to go to CBR, but as you can read from my signature I always have my doubts. Now after reading your posts, I am super duper excited!!! Your pics were also great. Come on September.

 

[yolie912]

Loved Loved Loved your report ...thanks for the pics...can't wait until I go to the CBR.....

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Loved the report Dave ~ Thanks for sharing!

 

[denise5374]

Dave-Thanks for the pics..they are great!!! Makes me more excited for our August trip.

One question--Is the boardwalk new?

Thanks
D

 

[catbertdave99]

Glad people are enjoying the photos/review... I get just as much from reading reports from all of you!

Dave-Thanks for the pics..they are great!!! Makes me more excited for our August trip.

One question--Is the boardwalk new?

Thanks
D

Yes, sort of. When they did the big pool renovation in 2008, they added the boardwalk area. Safetymom had some great photos of the construction she posted back then. We were really excited to see it in person -- better than you can imagine... it's just really nice!

 

[ehrn]

We decided to go for the upgrade. $400 seems like a lot of $$(it is) but we really need to experience something different and still get to save some money w/free dining. DS-4 is really into swimming right now and just drools over pictures of the pool. I think we'll be spending a lot of time there.
We'll be going Oct 3-10. Can't wait!!!

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

Where online do we go to do online check-in, and how far in advance of our trip?

Thanks!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Where online do we go to do online check-in, and how far in advance of our trip?

Thanks!

Go to www.disneyworld.com and click on My Disney Vacation (top right hand corner). On the next page, enter your reservation number and telephone number in the Online Checkin section.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Oops, forgot to say that online checkin is available ten days or less from your arrival date.

 

[mickeystoontown]

We decided to go for the upgrade. $400 seems like a lot of $$(it is) but we really need to experience something different and still get to save some money w/free dining. DS-4 is really into swimming right now and just drools over pictures of the pool. I think we'll be spending a lot of time there.
We'll be going Oct 3-10. Can't wait!!!

Hooray for you! You're sure to fall in love with the resort and the new pool.

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

Great aerial view of Caribbean Beach Resort.
Although it looks like the picture was taken before the pool was renovated.

http://www.bing.com/maps/default.as...&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&scene=17486142&encType=1

 

[CrabbyPatty]

Huh? Looks like Pop Century to me.

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

Huh? Looks like Pop Century to me.

Oh, sorry, I moved around until I found Caribbean Beach. I didn't realize the URL didn't change.

You can use your mouse to navigate and if you click over to the Aerial view it is a little easier then click back to Bird Eye view and it will have a closer look. You can see all of WDW if you just move around.

How about this link
http://www.bing.com/maps/default.as...&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&scene=17483996&encType=1

 

[MadilynnsMomma]

2nd link brought it right up

 

[luckyme86]

Subscribing- 1st CBR stay coming up in December, I can't wait!