Caribbean Beach FAQ Part IV

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

Don't know if I have seen this here or not but I took some quick videos of the new water slide. Most of it is dark but you get the idea.

DD waiting for the go sign.

Me going down with the camera.

You can click on the little square in the bottom right hand corner for full screen. My DD really enjoyed it.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Don't know if I have seen this here or not but I took some quick videos of the new water slide. Most of it is dark but you get the idea.

DD waiting for the go sign.

Me going down with the camera.

You can click on the little square in the bottom right hand corner for full screen. My DD really enjoyed it.

Awesome video, thanks for sharing!

 

[1hero2princesses]

My trip is in about 25 days. Is ok to call and put a building request in? Do they honor them at all or just ignore them? Is it better to make the request while checking or is your room already assigned and it does you no good then? Also, what are the closest, non-prefered (couldn't afford it) buildings to the food court and pool? What buildings would you suggest I request? My kids are 5,4 and 2 and I really don't want a 25 minute walk or another bus ride to go swim or eat. I know I might not get a request (actually I have tried before and not gotten one at another resort) which makes me wonder if they even attempt to honor them. I think I asked the best buildings before but there are so many pages on this thread I can't find it!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

My trip is in about 25 days. Is ok to call and put a building request in? Do they honor them at all or just ignore them? Is it better to make the request while checking or is your room already assigned and it does you no good then? Also, what are the closest, non-prefered (couldn't afford it) buildings to the food court and pool? What buildings would you suggest I request? My kids are 5,4 and 2 and I really don't want a 25 minute walk or another bus ride to go swim or eat. I know I might not get a request (actually I have tried before and not gotten one at another resort) which makes me wonder if they even attempt to honor them. I think I asked the best buildings before but there are so many pages on this thread I can't find it!

I think they try to honor requests as much as possible. But no guarantees.

There is not a location that is a 25 minute walk to anywhere. Not even close. We walked from the furthest buildings out to OPR (main pool, food court, etc) and it took us 7 minutes. And if you didn't book a pirate room you won't be in that section anyway. Each village has it's own bus stop, so you are never far from one.

The closest non-preferred locations are Aruba 51, Jamaica 45, and the rest of the Martinique buildings that are not preferred. We have stayed in Aruba 51 once and Jamaica 45 once, loved both locations. Both under 5 minutes to OPR and a bus stop.

I would call now and add your request to your reservation. Then you can always mention it again at check in.

Good luck!

 

[deedeew80]

Don't know if I have seen this here or not but I took some quick videos of the new water slide. Most of it is dark but you get the idea.

DD waiting for the go sign.

Me going down with the camera.

You can click on the little square in the bottom right hand corner for full screen. My DD really enjoyed it.

Great video! I didn't even know adults were able to go on the slide!!! Can't wait to go now!!!

 

[CTPacky]

The old sit down restaurant was Captains Tavern, or Table. It had a small bar in there. Must have been nice on those "cold" January nights.............

 

[MFLetou]

I read the blog, but they must not have realized that indeed, there was a full service restaurant.We stayed at CBR the year it opened, 1988, again 1989, 1990 & 1991 (we needed a change from Poly & CR ). There absolutely was a TS restaurant and we ate there several times.

It was lovely! White tablecloths, real china...much nicer than Shutters. It was an elevated open area - if you are familiar with the CBR food court, there is an area to the left - up those stairs used to be a TS. We remember it very well and had many nice meals there. It was closed/roped off when not open, so it could not be used for food court seating.

We were shocked when we returned in 2004 to find the area turned into food court seating - and when Shutters is not open, that seating can be used as food court over flow (felt tacky to us, not like a real restaurant since guests could use the tables anytime Shutters is not open). Shutters is not nearly as nice - we think of it as barely better than the food court, not a real TS as previously. The original was very nice and not inexpensive.

Eric, I think it was The Captain's Table, but will need to go through an old WDW box and find the CBR newsletter from the '80's to be sure. Back in those days there was also rocking chairs outside along the porch, Bob Marley music playing throughout the resort - these days it sounds like Caribbean elevator muzak to us.

Ah, those were the good 'ole days. CBR was a beautiful tropical resort when it opened. No bland Nemo theme, rather lovely tropically themed rooms, each Village with it's own color scheme outside as well as inside - the comforters etc, all unique to each Village. Rooms are larger than other mods -we may be biased because we stayed there when it was new, but it was outstanding.
Ahhh....sweet memories.

Interesting. It sounds like it was a much nicer place than Shutters (not that I've been there). I wonder why they got rid of it? Did they shut it down and immediately open Shutters, or did they think they could just shut down TS at CBR, then realize they made a mistake and open Shutters in a different spot?

Very odd.

 

[safetymom]

I never ate at the Captains Table but I remember it well. I remember it being there one year and the next time we went back it was gone and Shutters was open. It was at the same time they redid the food court area. We used to love to sit up on the elevated area and the kids watched TV while eating their breakfast.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Thought I'd share some pictures of our most recent CBR stay. We were given a free upgrade to a preferred location. Woo! Hoo! The room was clean when we arrived and mousekeeping did a great job keeping it that way throughout our 10 day stay.

Bus transportation to and from the parks ran efficiently. The only time we had to wait was the morning we were headed to Typhoon Lagoon. The bus to Typhoon Lagoon also goes to Downtown Disney. There were two ladies who were waiting when we got there. They said they had been waiting about 10 minutes for the TL bus. After about 10 more minutes, they used the phone to ask where the TL/DTD bus was. They were told there was one on the way and that they usually didn't run as many buses in the morning because DTD didn't open until later in the morning. About 5 minutes later, a TL/DTD bus pulled up. Thankfully, TL was the first drop off. Other than that, we never waited long for a bus.

The food court had the usual assortment of food. Everything we ordered was good and hot (or cold when it was supposed to be.) They now have whole pickles as a snack credit. They are in the refrigerated section in the grab n go station. I did notice that the fruit and cheese platter that used to be in the grab n go station was not there any more. We never had a problem finding a clean table and noticed that there were at least two castmembers walking around and wiping down the table when guests left them.

We used resort package pickup a lot (we did a lot of shopping this trip....sorry wallet). We received messages on our voice mail that we had packages waiting on us. Everybody with the exception of one lady at package pickup was nice. I don't know if she was having a bad day or what. She wasn't rude...she just wasn't too nice. I just blew it off because I was in Disney!

As always, the resort was absolutely beautiful. They were working on the resort grounds while we were there....power washing walkways, cutting tree limbs, freshing up the flower beds, etc.

We rented a surrey bike one afternoon from the marina. We rode around the resort twice in 30 minutes time. We laughed and giggled the entire time. It was soooo much fun.

Another afternoon, we swam in the Martinique quiet pool then went over to the beach and lazed around in the hammocks. It was so peaceful. Like we hadn't a care in the world.

We had such a good time at the CBR that we've decided that we're going back for our 5th stay in 2010.

This is just a sampling of the pictures I took. I have more in my trip report as well as pictures of the room. If you'd like to have a look see, just click on the bottom link in my signature.

More pictures in the next post.

 

[mickeystoontown]

The view from our door:

We walked over to Old Port Royale and it took us about 2 minutes. We were that close.

This was parked in the parking lot outside Old Port Royale:

More pictures coming up.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Pictures I took during an early morning stroll:

For those of you wondering if you should stay at the CBR, you can now see why we absolutely love this resort.

 

[Dylan_&_Blake's_mom]

Can anyone tell me if you rent a rollaway I heard it is $15 plus tax but is that per night or per your stay? THanks

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Per night, plus tx. Wish it was per stay!!

 

[Coconuts]

What days are the kids pirate cruise offered and what time is it?

 

[Dylan_&_Blake's_mom]

Per night, plus tx. Wish it was per stay!!

OUch, thanks though. I guess that makes up my mind about bringing an air mattress or just using the rollaway.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

What days are the kids pirate cruise offered and what time is it?

It is on Sunday's, Tuesday's, and Friday's at 9:30am.

My kids loved it! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2074555&page=6

 

[WithDisneySpirit]

The pictures are so beautiful!!!!!!!!!

I just made a ressie for CBR this fall to stay there for the first time since our honeymoon in July 1998!!! We stay at OKW usually but we wanted to pay cash and be there for the TOT run Oct 24

Anyway, what is the best building to request if you only have a standard room?

And...can anyone settle a bet between me and darling hubby? He thinks Shutters was open on our honeymoon and I said absolutely not! We went and ate there on our seventh wedding anniversary trip and now he's all confused... I can't remember the year though

I've read the opposite--I simply don't remember, but some of the guide books specifically mention that when the resort opened in 1989, it didn't have a table service restaurant.

Its impossible to know the answer to that question without knowing what year the poster stayed at CBR though!

Here is my original post...our honeymoon was in July 1998 as I mentioned I do not think there was a table sevice that year whatsoever. At least, I was not aware of it. I wish I still had my guidebooks from that year - I'll have to look.

One more question though, the ressie CM did not mention if we could have a king size bed in our standard room. Is that a request I can make?

 

[lustergirl]

Gorgeous pictures!!

 

[safetymom]

King Beds are a bookable category at CBR. If you want a king bed you should book that category, the chances of getting one just by requesting it are slim.

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Beautiful photos! Thanks for posting so many!!