Caribbean Beach FAQ Part IV

[Colleen27]

We're hoping for a Sept trip and I was planning all along on staying in a Value again, but then my 2 older girls saw the pirate rooms and that was the end of that. Now we're going to have to re-budget and see if we can swing a stay at CBR. I'm wondering about the beaches, though -- are they truly recreational beaches, or are they just part of the landscaping? Can the kids build sandcastles while Mommy and Daddy lie around on beach towels? I know this is a dumb question but I'm really not clear on this!

Thanks!

They can, but be warned - the layer of sand isn't very deep, maybe 4", and the dirt below is very dark, almost black, and muddy! I let my 11 & 8yos play in the sand on the beach outside our room while I got the baby ready, and ended up having to toss the 11yo in the shower and have him get on some clean clothes before we could leave for the parks.

The playgrounds are on the beaches too, which is nice for getting some parental downtime while the kids are occupied.

 

[mickeystoontown]

For all of you planning a 2010 stay at the CBR, please come and join my countdown. I'll be keeping the first post updated to include travel dates and celebrations. Who knows? Some of us might actually meet each other.

Here's the link to the countdown thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=34778596#post34778596

 

[seadd67]

We're hoping for a Sept trip and I was planning all along on staying in a Value again, but then my 2 older girls saw the pirate rooms and that was the end of that. Now we're going to have to re-budget and see if we can swing a stay at CBR. I'm wondering about the beaches, though -- are they truly recreational beaches, or are they just part of the landscaping? Can the kids build sandcastles while Mommy and Daddy lie around on beach towels? I know this is a dumb question but I'm really not clear on this!

Thanks!

I know what you mean,we are face the same thing but Its kind of both me and my DS.We where planing on doing pOP again and felt pretty good about It,but the more we talk about it and watching the disney video (did not help)the more we wanted to stay In one of the Mods. Then we then could not decide between the CBR or pOR riverside,and then of course now we want to stay at both!!. So now we are looking at doing a split stay at both.Lucky my DS Is 16yo so maybe we can get away with just staying In a regular room!!,but who knows maybe by that time we put the deposit down we will end up doing that to.But here to I will have to re budget for our July trip,thats ok part of the planing I love to do to.

 

[julirina]

They can, but be warned - the layer of sand isn't very deep, maybe 4", and the dirt below is very dark, almost black, and muddy! I let my 11 & 8yos play in the sand on the beach outside our room while I got the baby ready, and ended up having to toss the 11yo in the shower and have him get on some clean clothes before we could leave for the parks.

Great to know! Note to self: do not allow kids to bury one another in the sand. Thanks, Colleen!

 

[jerseygirl81]

On our trip 2 weeks we went to CBR to check it out and eat in the food court before leaving the Pop to come home we booked a stay here for next year. The music they were playing was caribbean Christmas music which I loved, does anyone know if you can purchase a cd of this music perhaps at the resort? Thanks, Linda

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

On our trip 2 weeks we went to CBR to check it out and eat in the food court before leaving the Pop to come home we booked a stay here for next year. The music they were playing was caribbean Christmas music which I loved, does anyone know if you can purchase a cd of this music perhaps at the resort? Thanks, Linda

Yes, they've got a CD at the gift shop at OPR. It get's even better though. Not only do they play stealdrum style music (which as you've noticed might also have a seasonal thing going on) at the resort but..............

you can run into the music on busses to and from CBR also. Not all of the busses, but still. It's a nice touch. Never gets old hearing it after a day at the parks and being reminded of where I'm about to go back.

I'm nuts though. I've spend my last trip at AKL club level. Always wanted to do AKL, but once I was there? Don't get me wrong; it was great. But it wasn't CBR. I would place CBR above AKL in a hart beat when it comes to the look of resort, feel, music and groundscaping. I hopefully will do deluxes again, but that would be because of the convenience of having parks closer and having multiple TS-choices at the resort and room service. Otherwise I would never again even think about anything else than returning to CBR.

 

[Susiesnowflake]

It looks like the National Dance Team Championship kids were given the option of staying at All-Sports or CBR for their 2/5-2/7 event. Does anyone know where the Disney Field Hockey Showcase kids will be 2/3-2/7? I had booked a CBR stay during this time frame and am a bit concerned with the crowds of kids/groups.

 

[jerseygirl81]

Yes, they've got a CD at the gift shop at OPR. It get's even better though. Not only do they play stealdrum style music (which as you've noticed might also have a seasonal thing going on) at the resort but..............

you can run into the music on busses to and from CBR also. Not all of the busses, but still. It's a nice touch. Never gets old hearing it after a day at the parks and being reminded of where I'm about to go back.

I'm nuts though. I've spend my last trip at AKL club level. Always wanted to do AKL, but once I was there? Don't get me wrong; it was great. But it wasn't CBR. I would place CBR above AKL in a hart beat when it comes to the look of resort, feel, music and groundscaping. I hopefully will do deluxes again, but that would be because of the convenience of having parks closer and having multiple TS-choices at the resort and room service. Otherwise I would never again even think about anything else than returning to CBR.

Thanks for the info. Linda

 

[MusicMouse]

It looks like the National Dance Team Championship kids were given the option of staying at All-Sports or CBR for their 2/5-2/7 event. Does anyone know where the Disney Field Hockey Showcase kids will be 2/3-2/7? I had booked a CBR stay during this time frame and am a bit concerned with the crowds of kids/groups.

It looks like the Field Hockey kids have been given the option of All-Stars or Port Orleans, not CBR (which is a relief, because we'll be there then, too ).

 

[pmdeve]

We are planning our Dec 2010 trip and I would like some help with location. I have mobility issues and can't walk very far. Also, during our stay, I will be renting a scooter. What section would you suggest especially for getting onto the bus before it gets crowded.

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

We are planning our Dec 2010 trip and I would like some help with location. I have mobility issues and can't walk very far. Also, during our stay, I will be renting a scooter. What section would you suggest especially for getting onto the bus before it gets crowded.

Don't fret about the busses, really.

When using an ECV, you might want to rethink being close to Old Port Royale. While it does have it's benefits to be close (as posted on the other topic, I've been in a room that is located about IN opr), CBR is a lovely resort. It's perfect for a morning stroll to OPR with it's lush landscaping. Especially with the ECV it will no longer burn up your energy to get there, so you might just find to be very comfy in one of the many other locations.

If you DO want to be close to OPR and it's a dealbreaker; book a preferred room. With those, you will be guaranteed a location in either Trinidad North or the closest 3 buildings of Martinique.

As far as the busses go; they each have their own starting point, depending on where wants to go. So one village might work for MK, but might not be the first bus stop for DTD. Not that it really matters, imho. I've gotten on at almost all of the stops. Because of roomlocation used Trinidad North and Martinique a lot. That wasn't the first stop for many busses, never had a problem.

Great thing about CBR; it's spread out. This scares of people BIG time. Especially those with mobility problems, which imho isn't needed as soon as somebody uses a moterized aid. Won't hear me complaining about this though. I tend to see a lot less folks with a mobility aid at CBR than I've seen during my stay at AKL and other bus stops. Don't think I've ever had to skip a bus from resort to park because there were already 2 other wheelchairs/ECV's on the bus. From park to resort; only once or twice after park closing.

Location would depend a lot on personal likes. As stated before; close to OPR or not? Some want to be close to Custom House. Others prefer having a courtyard view (lovely by the way!) and are happy if that wish is granted, never mind in which village. Or folks that like being a bit away from both OPR and CH as to get a more private feeling. You might have a liking for one of the colours of each village. It all depends on your own likes.

I've never requested anything but left it up to the magical 'powers that be'. Always turned out to be a great decision. I'm doing the same for my next stay.

One thing you might want to know though; accessible rooms are basically assigned as soon as Special Needs dep. gets involved. Since there is a small inventory, they assign these rooms at time of booking. They will not inform you of this, nor tell you the roomnumber as of course in between booking and checking in a lot can still happen. Things can get changed around. But, you can see where it might be different for these rooms with regards to making location requests after doing the initial booking and getting them granted.

 

[pmdeve]

Thanks so much for your reply.

 

[happy2go2wdwmom]

We had a free upgrade to CBR a few years ago when the main pool was being spruced up---we LOVED it there! I am planning a May 2010 trip now and kept thinking that we really should try another mod like PORFQ but I am afraid I'd miss CBR so much and that we lucked out being able to go to the best resort (CBR)!! I wonder, w/ the new $500 GC special offer, can we possibly do a split stay w/ the GC deal?? I'd only want maybe one night at POR or PORFQ if CM's can arrange this. Is this possible?

 

[KimRaye]

I wonder, w/ the new $500 GC special offer, can we possibly do a split stay w/ the GC deal?? I'd only want maybe one night at POR or PORFQ if CM's can arrange this. Is this possible?

Tell me about this $500 GC offer, please?

 

[safetymom]

We had a free upgrade to CBR a few years ago when the main pool was being spruced up---we LOVED it there! I am planning a May 2010 trip now and kept thinking that we really should try another mod like PORFQ but I am afraid I'd miss CBR so much and that we lucked out being able to go to the best resort (CBR)!! I wonder, w/ the new $500 GC special offer, can we possibly do a split stay w/ the GC deal?? I'd only want maybe one night at POR or PORFQ if CM's can arrange this. Is this possible?

Each hotel stay would be a separate reservation. You would need to have 5 day tickets on each reservation to get the gift card.

 

[happy2go2wdwmom]

Each hotel stay would be a separate reservation. You would need to have 5 day tickets on each reservation to get the gift card.

TKS---hmmmm, so then can I possibly only stay 5 nights w/ the $500 GC package (1 night at POR and 4 at CBR) but buy an EXTRA 5 days worth of tickets that I could upgrade to no expiration and use during a BB stay?

 

[safetymom]

No you would need to have a 5 night stay on each one.

 

[happy2go2wdwmom]

No you would need to have a 5 night stay on each one.

Ahhh thought so, oh well, my Disney dreaming gets very unrealistic at times! We ONLY stayed at POP last July b/c of finances---we really love PC, too, but even my penny-pinching DH felt spoiled after a tremendous stay at CBR! He vowed that he'd never want to stay anywhere else...even though we HAD to stay at PC, we missed the great accomadations at CBR asnd we're lookign forward to a t May '10 stay---thanks for this FAQ thread!! Darling grand children, BTW!!

 

[britfish]

does anyone remember the slide and pirate pool hours in Aug?

 

[coupon*clipper]

MUST mark this thread for reading ALL 154 pages bit by bit!

I stayed at CBR the year it opened--Thanksgiving 1988 to be exact. It was beautiful! I wish I could remember exactly which village we stayed in. I do remember never waiting longer than 10 minutes for a bus. We are considering Disney for the end of this year, and I think CBR might be a good moderate fit for us.