Caribbean Beach FAQ Part IV

[BenA81]

Do you have these posts available...Goingin Febuary

part 2 http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=655543

part 3 http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1698427&referrerid=93883

get your popcorn ready, thats a lot to read...

 

[dis_guy]

I will be right on your heels! I've got 16 days!!! Please do come back and tell us ALLLL about it!!! Have fun!

And we're right behind you! We leave Dec 21!

 

[dis_guy]

daannzzz, loved the photos! Thanks. Especially liked the "duck-cam" shot. Got right down there didn't you?

Thanks again!

 

[KimRaye]

And last and most depressing!

What IS that back there?! We saw the beginning of construction 3 years ago from TN, and now there's something to the right of that?! What IS IT? Thanks for the pics!!!

 

[jheigl]

What IS that back there?! We saw the beginning of construction 3 years ago from TN, and now there's something to the right of that?! What IS IT? Thanks for the pics!!!

This is probably wrong, but to me, it looks like Bay Lake Tower next to the Contemporary. Maybe you aren't even talking about the building in the back right of the picture!

 

[WDWisOurHappyPlace]

What IS that back there?! We saw the beginning of construction 3 years ago from TN, and now there's something to the right of that?! What IS IT? Thanks for the pics!!!

It's Bonnet Creek Resort: source wikipedia.com

Bonnet Creek Resort is a 70-acre (280,000 m2) area located in the southeast corner of Walt Disney World. It is not owned by Disney, but is bordered on three sides by Disney owned land. The entrance is located just east of the entrance to Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort. The concept was to set up a cluster of luxury hotels. There is currently a Fairfield Resort and work is being completed on a 500 room Waldorf Astoria, a 1000 room Hilton Hotel, a 400 room Wyndham Hotel(opening 2009), and an 18 hole golf course.[1]




Great shots daannzzz!

We are leaving in 13 days for our first trip Needless to say we are all really excited. I changed our ressie from POR to CBR but now I'm trying to decide what to do next. I have read it's best to fax a request and seems that the top requests are for Aruba and Jamaica...so my questions are:

1. How do you go about making a request? What does it need to say etc.

2. It is DH, myself DD (3) and my niece (6) going where do you guys suggest requesting?

3. How much is it it to upgrade to preferred rooms and is it worth it?

Thanks so much!!

1. Call Disney Reservations and ask for your requests to be put on your reservation. If you want to fax, there is a sample fax letter somewhere on allearsnet.com. If you can't find it, let me know and I'll look it up for you.

2. If you are staying in a standard you are right, it seems many people like to request Aruba or Jamaica.

3. We liked our preferred room, it cost $25 extra per night. It's a very individual opinion. Being close to the main building is important to us for our reasons. If you plan on going to the main pool, food court, etc. preferred is nice.

And we're right behind you! We leave Dec 21!

We'll be checking in the same day as you! But not at CBR this time.

 

[MMrules]

I just got back from a wonderful vacation at CBR It was my 4th time staying there (1997 honeymoon, 1998, 2006 with an 11 month old and 2009 with a 2 and 4 year old).

We stayed at Trinidad South in an updated Pirate themed room!!! My boys absolutely loved the room and pirate theme. I will say that the beds are a bit small so if you are tall it may be a problem (we are not so it was ok for our family). The rooms were clean and adequate sized. I did ask for building 34 and was granted that wish Even though people will say that it is a long walk to the main pool and Old Port Royale it was about 5 minutes at most. My sons loved walking along the paths and looking for birds and other wildlife. (I will recommend strollers at the resort because little legs can get tired).

As for swimming in December...it is a mixed bag. I have been there in Dec. when it was 60's and then in 2007 went and it was 80's everyday so swimming was great. So far this year, Florida has been above average in temps. so you may be able to swim in Dec. . The newly refurbished pirate pool is fantastic!!! My boys absolutely loved the kiddie pool They had so much fun splashing, waiting for the huge bucket to dump on them and the great waterslides made just for their size!!! It is a great place for small ones to swim!

We ate burgers, chicken nuggets, chicken caesar salad and a chicken sandwich from the food court. All of the meals were served hot, fresh and in a timely manner. We had the free dining plan so snacks and dessert were great too, although normally we wouldn't get dessert. We didn't eat at Shutters so I can't comment on how the food was there. I found the cast members at the food court and stores very friendly.

We had a great time at CBR!!!I will definitely stay here again, although I do want to try other hotels as well just to experience them all. But as a returning guest, obviously it is our home!!!


1986-offsite at some lousy place
1997- CBR (honeymoon)
1998-CBR
2003-BC
2004-Disney Wonder 4 day cruise
2006-CBR (with 11 month old)
2007-AKL (2 1/2 and 11 month old)
2009-CBR (4 and 2 1/2 year old)

 

[BenA81]

thanks for the report, I'm hoping we experience similar temps as you so we can get some pool time

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I just got back from a wonderful vacation at CBR It was my 4th time staying there (1997 honeymoon, 1998, 2006 with an 11 month old and 2009 with a 2 and 4 year old).

We stayed at Trinidad South in an updated Pirate themed room!!! My boys absolutely loved the room and pirate theme. I will say that the beds are a bit small so if you are tall it may be a problem (we are not so it was ok for our family). The rooms were clean and adequate sized. I did ask for building 34 and was granted that wish Even though people will say that it is a long walk to the main pool and Old Port Royale it was about 5 minutes at most. My sons loved walking along the paths and looking for birds and other wildlife. (I will recommend strollers at the resort because little legs can get tired).

As for swimming in December...it is a mixed bag. I have been there in Dec. when it was 60's and then in 2007 went and it was 80's everyday so swimming was great. So far this year, Florida has been above average in temps. so you may be able to swim in Dec. . The newly refurbished pirate pool is fantastic!!! My boys absolutely loved the kiddie pool They had so much fun splashing, waiting for the huge bucket to dump on them and the great waterslides made just for their size!!! It is a great place for small ones to swim!

We ate burgers, chicken nuggets, chicken caesar salad and a chicken sandwich from the food court. All of the meals were served hot, fresh and in a timely manner. We had the free dining plan so snacks and dessert were great too, although normally we wouldn't get dessert. We didn't eat at Shutters so I can't comment on how the food was there. I found the cast members at the food court and stores very friendly.

We had a great time at CBR!!!I will definitely stay here again, although I do want to try other hotels as well just to experience them all. But as a returning guest, obviously it is our home!!!

Welcome back! Glad to hear you had a great time at CBR. The next time we stay there we will be getting a pirate room! We too do not find the walk to take all that long from TS to OPR.

 

[jeanylaser]

I got confused which room in the CBR has Standard room! We really want to stay in CBR!

 

[BenA81]

Does the re-fillable mug station have Barq's Root Beer?

Is there a listing of all available drinks?

TIA

 

[deejohn]

This is our 4th stay at CBR. My girls love the beaches and hammocks. Last year we went swimming after we got back from the parks, because the water is heated.

Dec weather is a hit or miss. One trend we noticed is that during the day it is comfortable and at night the temp drops about 15-20 degrees, so bring a jacket.

 

[safetymom]

Trinidad South is all Pirate Rooms. The rest of the resort is Nemo themed rooms.

 

[Colleen27]

We're only 3 weeks out and decided to downgrade our resort to save some money since we just found out our boiler needs replacing ASAP, so I'm revisiting all the plans I've made to adjust for being at CBR instead of the Poly and I have questions! I much appreciate any help you CBR vets can offer, since this will be our first stay there.

Is there any sort of juice available for the refillable mugs at CBR, or just soda/coffee/tea?

We have a waterview pirate room booked and have requested 1st floor. Is there any particular building or area that is better than the rest, or should I leave well enough alone and let the room assigning gods determine our fate?

What is the best park transfer spot for getting to/from other resorts? Epcot, since CBR is close? How long does it take to get to MK or Epcot early in the morning?

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

We're only 3 weeks out and decided to downgrade our resort to save some money since we just found out our boiler needs replacing ASAP, so I'm revisiting all the plans I've made to adjust for being at CBR instead of the Poly and I have questions! I much appreciate any help you CBR vets can offer, since this will be our first stay there.

Is there any sort of juice available for the refillable mugs at CBR, or just soda/coffee/tea?

We have a waterview pirate room booked and have requested 1st floor. Is there any particular building or area that is better than the rest, or should I leave well enough alone and let the room assigning gods determine our fate?

What is the best park transfer spot for getting to/from other resorts? Epcot, since CBR is close? How long does it take to get to MK or Epcot early in the morning?

I'm not sure about the drinks/juices. I think there is a picture of the drink station somewhere in the beginning of this thread. I know there is lemonade there.

The quickest park to get to from CBR is DHS. 3 minutes once you leave the resort. But Epcot is only a 5 minute ride too. MK & AK are 11 minutes. And DTD is 9. So you won't be too far from anything. Allow up to 10 minutes for the bus to make it's rounds to all the bus stops within the resort, if you would happen to get on at the first one. Most times it takes less than 10 minutes though, more like 8.

Have a great trip.

 

[jennyleettu]

It's Bonnet Creek Resort: source wikipedia.com

Bonnet Creek Resort is a 70-acre (280,000 m2) area located in the southeast corner of Walt Disney World. It is not owned by Disney, but is bordered on three sides by Disney owned land. The entrance is located just east of the entrance to Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort. The concept was to set up a cluster of luxury hotels. There is currently a Fairfield Resort and work is being completed on a 500 room Waldorf Astoria, a 1000 room Hilton Hotel, a 400 room Wyndham Hotel(opening 2009), and an 18 hole golf course.[1]




Great shots daannzzz!






1. Call Disney Reservations and ask for your requests to be put on your reservation. If you want to fax, there is a sample fax letter somewhere on allearsnet.com. If you can't find it, let me know and I'll look it up for you.

2. If you are staying in a standard you are right, it seems many people like to request Aruba or Jamaica.

3. We liked our preferred room, it cost $25 extra per night. It's a very individual opinion. Being close to the main building is important to us for our reasons. If you plan on going to the main pool, food court, etc. preferred is nice.



We'll be checking in the same day as you! But not at CBR this time.

Thanks for the info. I'm going to have to figure out what to request....decisions decisions!

 

[jeanylaser]

thanks for the info! We think that CBR is a great choice for my birthday in January 14, 2010!

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

Is there any sort of juice available for the refillable mugs at CBR, or just soda/coffee/tea?

Besides that, I do remember hot chocolate (mom didn't like it) and lemonade. Don't know about juice.

What is the best park transfer spot for getting to/from other resorts? Epcot, since CBR is close? How long does it take to get to MK or Epcot early in the morning?

Depends on the resort you want to go to. For the epcot area; just hop onto the first Epcot or DHS bus that comes along. From either park it's a nice stroll or boatride to resorts like YC, BC, BWI etc.

For MK area; hop onto the MK bus and at the MK hop onto the monorail. Since the monorail comes by more often than busses and the busses tend to stop at multiple resorts in the MK area it would take a lot longer to hop onto the resort bus at either DHS or Epcot.

For AKL; hop onto the AK bus. From there, it is only like 1 minute on the bus to AKL grounds. That bus does stop at Kidani Village first though, so that adds a minute or 2 before you're actually at Jambo House.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

We're only 3 weeks out and decided to downgrade our resort to save some money since we just found out our boiler needs replacing ASAP, so I'm revisiting all the plans I've made to adjust for being at CBR instead of the Poly and I have questions! I much appreciate any help you CBR vets can offer, since this will be our first stay there.

Is there any sort of juice available for the refillable mugs at CBR, or just soda/coffee/tea?

We have a waterview pirate room booked and have requested 1st floor. Is there any particular building or area that is better than the rest, or should I leave well enough alone and let the room assigning gods determine our fate?

What is the best park transfer spot for getting to/from other resorts? Epcot, since CBR is close? How long does it take to get to MK or Epcot early in the morning?

Please post when you get back and let us know what you think of the resort.

 

[sherabby]

There is no juice on the drink station but there is pink lemonade. I also recall fruit punch. We mostly took the pink lemonade. In the am we could have hot chocolate and I used my mug for hot tea.