Caribbean Beach FAQ part V

[caira01]

I am starting to freak out!!! I can't wait for our trip. We leave in 9 days!!!! We have a room only rez for AKL our first night (have always wanted to stay there and this will probably be our only shot unless we eventually buy DVC as we have 3 kids and our youngest is 2). We will move over at CBR from the 19-29th. So I have a few questions:

1. I am planning on heading over to CBR to check in about 7am, do you think I should do online check-in or since I am checking in that early should I just do regular check-in so I can request a change if I really don't like the location of our room? We are planning on doing BB this day so we won't be back to the room until like 3 or 4pm anyway.

2. I have read that if you have free dining all adults have to be present at check-in, does my DH have to be there or can I just check-in for us? We have an ADR at Boma that morning and it would be great if he could stay back and get the kids ready.

3. I have print outs (which I laminated ) to decorate our window at CBR, does anyone have any suggestions on how to hang the stuff?

4. Finally we are renting a car (or a van) and I was wondering your opinions....so we have an 11 day mini-van rental for $346 or a premium car rental for $211 (like a Buick Lacrosse or Buick Regal). I am wondering if we should save the $140 and go with the car. My father-in-law thinks the car will be big enough. We have to fit two booster seats and one car seat (not a big one) in the back seat. DH is taking ME so we can send out luggage along with them and I just have to pick up the rental.

Sorry for all the ??'s I am just starting to spaz out!! I already started packing over the weekend and I actually have two suitcases, a 25" and a 23" with just "our extras" in them!

Thanks!! Jenn

Can anyone answer question # 2 ? I have been told by 2 different reservation agents that both adults do not have to be present on the first day of our free dining reservation at cbr, but did not specifically ask the question this way. We are considering swapping from POFQ to CBR because we can have free dining at CBR, but not POFQ, but we have to change flights, so there is a bit of expense involved...
Thanks!
Sarah

 

[mickeystoontown]

Can anyone answer question # 2 ? I have been told by 2 different reservation agents that both adults do not have to be present on the first day of our free dining reservation at cbr, but did not specifically ask the question this way. We are considering swapping from POFQ to CBR because we can have free dining at CBR, but not POFQ, but we have to change flights, so there is a bit of expense involved...
Thanks!
Sarah

We stayed at the CBR in May and we booked under the free dining promotion. There were four in our party (all considered adults) and I was the only one who went to the window to check us in. They never asked to see the rest of my party nor did they ask if they were all present.

 

[Stitch2244314]

I am sure this question has been asked before, but do guests have access to a fax machine at CBR? A CM told us we could ask the front desk for faxing. Does anyone have experience with this and if so, is there a fee? Thank you!

 

[MusiqChic99]

We switched from POP to CBR for our upcoming November trip.

What can we expect from the busses? I know these days no one ever wants to wait for anything, including a Disney bus! I'm not worried about waiting on a bus but how many bus stops are there? I'm assuming CBR doesn't share busses?

Share your experiences!

 

[mickeystoontown]

We switched from POP to CBR for our upcoming November trip.

What can we expect from the busses? I know these days no one ever wants to wait for anything, including a Disney bus! I'm not worried about waiting on a bus but how many bus stops are there? I'm assuming CBR doesn't share busses?

Share your experiences!

We've stayed at the CBR six years in a row and have never had any major issues with the buses. The resort does not share buses with any other resort so when they leave, they are headed straight to the theme parks, water parks or Downtown Disney. There is a bus stop in each of the resort villages (Jamaica, Aruba, Barbados, Martinique, Trinidad North and Trinidad South) and the bus will stop at each before leaving the resort. I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that those bus stops are covered unlike those at Pop. Our longest ride (from the time we sat down on the bus, made the stops and pulled into the theme park bus stop) was 16 minutes. Most times, they were less than that. Of course, if there is a guest using a wheelchair or scooter, the bus driver will have to help them load before leaving the bus stop but that will happen at any resort.

 

[mcd2745]

We switched from POP to CBR for our upcoming November trip.

What can we expect from the busses? I know these days no one ever wants to wait for anything, including a Disney bus! I'm not worried about waiting on a bus but how many bus stops are there? I'm assuming CBR doesn't share busses?

Share your experiences!

CBR doesn't share buses with other resorts, but there are seven stops within the resort (the six "villages/islands" plus Old Port Royale {OPR} - where the food court, restaurant and main pool are). It takes 5-10 minutes to go through them all. The buses are fine, particularly going to the parks. You may have issues when leaving the parks right at closing - especially MK. But that's true of most resorts. The buses are such are tricky thing. Yours and another family can both be going to, say, the MK, The other family missed the previous MK bus by a minute and ends up waiting 20-25 minutes for the next one. Meanwhile, your family gets to the bust stop right as that next bus pulls up. You're both on the same bus, but will report an entirely different experience.

 

[mom2_3girls]

this may be a really stupid question...but does the resort have a schedule of times for the buses? for example MK bus 7:00...etc

 

[mcd2745]

this may be a really stupid question...but does the resort have a schedule of times for the buses? for example MK bus 7:00...etc

nope...no resort does

 

[caira01]

We stayed at the CBR in May and we booked under the free dining promotion. There were four in our party (all considered adults) and I was the only one who went to the window to check us in. They never asked to see the rest of my party nor did they ask if they were all present.

Thanks, I feel much better hearing that!

 

[mom2_3girls]

nope...no resort does

Obviously this is my first time staying on property...when were ready to go do you just go out the the bus stop and hope for the best?

 

[mcd2745]

Obviously this is my first time staying on property...when were ready to go do you just go out the the bus stop and hope for the best?

That's right. The most you should expect to wait is about 20 minutes - and that would only be if you just missed the last bus going to your park of choice. Most likely, it will be much shorter.

 

[milmore104]

Can anyone answer question # 2 ? I have been told by 2 different reservation agents that both adults do not have to be present on the first day of our free dining reservation at cbr, but did not specifically ask the question this way. We are considering swapping from POFQ to CBR because we can have free dining at CBR, but not POFQ, but we have to change flights, so there is a bit of expense involved...
Thanks!
Sarah

We go to WDW every year and I have ALWAYS been the only one to check in. DH usually takes the kids to walk around the resort or to scope out the pool. I've never been asked to have them there w/ me. And we've done FD 4x's now.

 

[EPCOTatNight]

I guess I should join this thread. We were initially booked at Pop for free dining. But, after upgrading to the regular DDP, I decided to price a resort upgrade. It was only a $200 difference, so I went ahead and upgraded to CBR. Now, I need to learn as much as possible about this resort because this will be our first stay there.

 

[EPCOTatNight]

We go to WDW every year and I have ALWAYS been the only one to check in. DH usually takes the kids to walk around the resort or to scope out the pool. I've never been asked to have them there w/ me. And we've done FD 4x's now.

I've had the exact same experience even down to the number of FD trips. I always check in alone.

 

[KELLY]

I guess I should join this thread. We were initially booked at Pop for free dining. But, after upgrading to the regular DDP, I decided to price a resort upgrade. It was only a $200 difference, so I went ahead and upgraded to CBR. Now, I need to learn as much as possible about this resort because this will be our first stay there.

Check out the first page. IT has tons of info. I think we both changed from pop to CBR at the same time.

 

[Miss Hunnybee]

Hi CBR friends! We had a perfectly planned trip at POFQ, but in order to take advantage of the AP discount we have moved to CBR! Now trying to perfectly plan for our new resort and dates. I was hoping you might be able to help me with a few trivial questions. I have only stayed at CBR once, some years ago, and I was the "child" then, not the planner. But I have grown up to be a total TYPE A, commando style planner, so I need some help! We weren't able to get a preferred room, so I've requested a standard room in Martinique. My mom's knee won't be able to make the trip to Old Port Royale a few times a day if we are all the way out. I know requests are not guaranteed, but I was wondering if anyone knew, from the most distant Martinique room, how long is the walk to Old Port Royale?

I have added the request to my reservations (I have three rooms booked for twelve family members), does CBR still accept faxes with room requests a few days before our arrival?

And finally, remember I am Type A - does anyone know how much a quart of milk is at the gift shop/food court? We are Floridians, driving up, thinking it might be easier to just grab milk for cereal while we are there instead of lugging three gallons up with us.

Thanks for obliging me! I'll probably have a hundred more questions before we check in! Thanks for any and all answers!!!

 

[alayne]

Does anyone know what time the food court closes? We had to change our plans and will now be arriving around 11:00 pm Monday night on Nov. 22 and I was hoping we could get a snack before heading off to the room.

Thanks
Allison

 

[saskdw]

Hi CBR friends! We had a perfectly planned trip at POFQ, but in order to take advantage of the AP discount we have moved to CBR! Now trying to perfectly plan for our new resort and dates. I was hoping you might be able to help me with a few trivial questions. I have only stayed at CBR once, some years ago, and I was the "child" then, not the planner. But I have grown up to be a total TYPE A, commando style planner, so I need some help! We weren't able to get a preferred room, so I've requested a standard room in Martinique. My mom's knee won't be able to make the trip to Old Port Royale a few times a day if we are all the way out. I know requests are not guaranteed, but I was wondering if anyone knew, from the most distant Martinique room, how long is the walk to Old Port Royale?

I have added the request to my reservations (I have three rooms booked for twelve family members), does CBR still accept faxes with room requests a few days before our arrival?

And finally, remember I am Type A - does anyone know how much a quart of milk is at the gift shop/food court? We are Floridians, driving up, thinking it might be easier to just grab milk for cereal while we are there instead of lugging three gallons up with us.

Thanks for obliging me! I'll probably have a hundred more questions before we check in! Thanks for any and all answers!!!

For myself it wouldn't be any longer than 5 mins from the farthest Martinique room. Depends how fast you walk I guess. We did an order through Garden Grocer last trip they delivered milk, cereal, juice, fruit, etc to the resort and Bell serivices held it for us until we got there. Never left the room for breakfast!! Makes it a lot quicker for early starts!! As far as I know no Disney resorts take fax requests anymore.

 

[saskdw]

Does anyone know what time the food court closes? We had to change our plans and will now be arriving around 11:00 pm Monday night on Nov. 22 and I was hoping we could get a snack before heading off to the room.

Thanks
Allison

If I remember correctly it closes at 11pm.

 

[bellenbuzz]

My nephew did not want to miss out on the family vacation but he does need to connect his laptop to the internet.....
Can he access Wi Fi or something in our CBR room ????
Please Oh Please I hope so...
Fill us in please
THANKS