Caribbean Beach FAQ part VI

[caravarela]

Hi, first time CBR visitor and I have a building question. I'm doing my room requests, and we want 2nd floor but I don't know what building to request. We did standard view. I'd like to be near the dining building for morning coffee runs, and near a laundry facility. Are any buildings preferable to others? Thanks!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hi, first time CBR visitor and I have a building question. I'm doing my room requests, and we want 2nd floor but I don't know what building to request. We did standard view. I'd like to be near the dining building for morning coffee runs, and near a laundry facility. Are any buildings preferable to others? Thanks!

There are laundry facilities in each of the villages so you won't be far from one no matter which village you are placed in. As far as building requests go, that's a tough one for me simply because we've stayed all over the resort and have never had a super long walk. Even our walk from Barbados 11 (one of the furthest standard buildings from OPR) was just 7 minutes. Having said that, our stays in Jamaica and Martinique have been nice.

 

[caravarela]

There are laundry facilities in each of the villages so you won't be far from one no matter which village you are placed in. As far as building requests go, that's a tough one for me simply because we've stayed all over the resort and have never had a super long walk. Even our walk from Barbados 11 (one of the furthest standard buildings from OPR) was just 7 minutes. Having said that, our stays in Jamaica and Martinique have been nice.

Thanks, glad to hear that no building is "too far" for fast morning coffee runs.. and definitely glad to hear the availability of laundry rooms. One of the worst for me was the Poly.. there was only one laundry room and it was a long walk from our building dragging my stuff along! My husband goes through clothes like mad so laundry on vacation is inevitable for me.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Thanks, glad to hear that no building is "too far" for fast morning coffee runs.. and definitely glad to hear the availability of laundry rooms. One of the worst for me was the Poly.. there was only one laundry room and it was a long walk from our building dragging my stuff along! My husband goes through clothes like mad so laundry on vacation is inevitable for me.

My husband is the same way. Even though we are in Disney for almost two weeks, he will only buy about a week's worth of shorts. So, like you, I am doing laundry while on vacation. Thankfully, the laundry rooms are right near the quiet pools and beaches so I can relax while the clothes are washing.

My 79 year old mother was able to make the walks from Jamaica and Martinique easily so I'm sure that you'll be fine.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Thanks, glad to hear that no building is "too far" for fast morning coffee runs.. and definitely glad to hear the availability of laundry rooms. One of the worst for me was the Poly.. there was only one laundry room and it was a long walk from our building dragging my stuff along! My husband goes through clothes like mad so laundry on vacation is inevitable for me.

I'll chime in too! I was just at CBR last week in Barbados 11, which is pretty much the farthest standard room from Old Port Royale. I did the walk many times and it never took me more than 6-7 minutes, and I stopped to take pictures every few feet! Not only is the walk not long at all, it is gorgeous along the lake with think vegetation and landscaping, etc. I never felt like it was a far walk, and I did it with a bag of stuff I bought at Calypso Trading Post too and it didn't faze me.

I didn't do laundry this trip, but passed the pool and laundry area daily for several of the villages. As Mickeystoontown said, there is no in each village so it's not far from any building.

 

[caravarela]

I'll chime in too! I was just at CBR last week in Barbados 11, which is pretty much the farthest standard room from Old Port Royale. I did the walk many times and it never took me more than 6-7 minutes, and I stopped to take pictures every few feet! Not only is the walk not long at all, it is gorgeous along the lake with think vegetation and landscaping, etc. I never felt like it was a far walk, and I did it with a bag of stuff I bought at Calypso Trading Post too and it didn't faze me.

I didn't do laundry this trip, but passed the pool and laundry area daily for several of the villages. As Mickeystoontown said, there is no in each village so it's not far from any building.

Thanks for the feedback! I ended up just requesting 2nd floor. We are checking in pretty early, so with hoping for our room to be ready early and wanting 2nd floor, I decided not to push my luck with a certain building request too. I'll let the chips fall where they may and just hope for the best

Is the food court good for breakfast? I doubt we'll be around the resort much for lunch or dinner, but may hit it a time or two.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Thanks for the feedback! I ended up just requesting 2nd floor. We are checking in pretty early, so with hoping for our room to be ready early and wanting 2nd floor, I decided not to push my luck with a certain building request too. I'll let the chips fall where they may and just hope for the best

Is the food court good for breakfast? I doubt we'll be around the resort much for lunch or dinner, but may hit it a time or two.

Yes, tons of options. I ate breakfast there a couple of times and was very happy with the selection and quality of the foods.

 

[Bentleycgc1]

Yes, Banana Cabana has the new beer menu. Not all of the new beers were in stock as of last friday though.

Thanks. Hopefully they will be fully stocked in November when we go.

 

[sewmess]

I have to echo smith02: we've never had a bad experience at CBR - never had any unexpected visitors in the form of insect, reptile or amphibian (or mammal for that matter) - never had a room that was unbearable - and we expect to walk on vacation so the size of the resort is never a problem.

DH enjoys reading "bad" reviews of various resorts because most of the "horrible" issues are things that are a) out of Disney's hands or b) subjective. We do agree that if CMs are surly, unhelpful, unconcerned or don't seem to have any kind of solution, that is worse than the problem. But we're both in customer service too.

We'll be checking in Saturday and can not wait!!!

 

[disneyfantotheend]

We will be at CBR on November 14TH. I can't wait. We have been there two other times and LOVE it. My question is regarding the laundry. Please tell me you can still use quarters to do laundry? I really do not want to use a credit card to do a load of laundry.

 

[mickeystoontown]

We will be at CBR on November 14TH. I can't wait. We have been there two other times and LOVE it. My question is regarding the laundry. Please tell me you can still use quarters to do laundry? I really do not want to use a credit card to do a load of laundry.

When we were there in May, the machines still used quarters and, I believe, others who have been since have said they still used coins. Maybe PhoenixStrength peeked in during her stay. Steph?

 

[ninamouse]

I have to echo smith02: we've never had a bad experience at CBR - never had any unexpected visitors in the form of insect, reptile or amphibian (or mammal for that matter) - never had a room that was unbearable - and we expect to walk on vacation so the size of the resort is never a problem.

DH enjoys reading "bad" reviews of various resorts because most of the "horrible" issues are things that are a) out of Disney's hands or b) subjective. We do agree that if CMs are surly, unhelpful, unconcerned or don't seem to have any kind of solution, that is worse than the problem. But we're both in customer service too.

We'll be checking in Saturday and can not wait!!!

Thanks for the positive feedback!

 

[ninamouse]

I have stayed at the seemingly least popular deluxe (Animal Kingdom Lodge) twice and the least popular moderate once. We had wonderful vacations EVERY time!

The pirate rooms were so much fun! We are short people and we like firm beds, so we had no problem. [And how many people stay in the values and then CBR gets such a bad rap for having double beds. My DH and I slept in a double bed in our tiny apartment for 3 years.] The walk was longer to OPR and the pool, but it was a very pretty walk (and we went in JULY when it was scorching hot). The buses were wonderful. DS thought it was a ride itself, and I was so glad not to park and drive in unfamilar places! We are rope drop people and we don't exit a park right after a parade/fireworks/closing, so we didn't really deal with the bus crowds.

We watched 4th of July fireworks from the beach. (I know it isn't a Poly view of Wishes, but it was fun!)

I think it is beautiful and relaxing.

The pool is cool, and if you have smaller kids the kids play area is AWESOME.

For our next trip (2015), I would love to stay Poly or AKL, but it is looking like a moderate will be more for us. We will be a family of 5 (2 adults, 9 year old, 2 year old twins)...so I keep looking at POR and cannot get excited. We live in GA, my ILs have a house in the mountains...southern plantation or woodsy bayou doesn't really appeal. I am so hoping that CBR has refurbished the rooms to include an extra murphy/pull out bed and queen beds-if CBR does upgrade to queens (which only matters b/c of the family of 5 thing), we would stay here again. (I only wouldn't do a pirate room again because I wouldn't want to scare my 2 year olds and because with 5 people, there would be a fight as to where everyone was sleeeping! But if we were a family of 4...I would do pirate rooms again too!)

Thank you

 

[PhoenixStrength]

When we were there in May, the machines still used quarters and, I believe, others who have been since have said they still used coins. Maybe PhoenixStrength peeked in during her stay. Steph?

It was still quarters when I was there last week. Didn't see any indication of them changing it, but I didn't ask either.

 

[JennyKS]

There is always something someone loves and something someone hates -- the biggest issues, and they will result in me requesting a room change, are those that relate to personal safety and health. Mold in the room, get me a new room, snake in the room, get and AED and an ambulance, bugs crawling on the floor, get me a new room.

But, not liking the layout or vastness, you get what you pay for -- last fall I stayed at the GF and it was compact and maybe a 40 second monorail ride to the MK. It also cost 300+ more per night than I am spending to stay at CBR. So, if I have to walk an extra 10 minutes to get to the food court, or if my room is smaller and at the end of a long walkway -- well, that's what I paid for.

If I was going purely for the resort/room, I'd be heading to the Westin Maui or Altantis --- I'm heading to DisneyWorld and will be sleeping in a moderate room.

My 2 cents,

Tom

I bolded because you made me laugh and thought thats exactly something that I would say.

We are staying November 11-18th here. I was so excited then read reviews and got really nervous. We are used to value resorts so I am sure we will be fine. First time with an infant but we are taking a stroller so we will just deal with the walking. In fact maybe I'll start doing some extra walking before vacation.

I love reading this thread. You guys give me hope it really won't be that bad!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I bolded because you made me laugh and thought thats exactly something that I would say.

We are staying November 11-18th here. I was so excited then read reviews and got really nervous. We are used to value resorts so I am sure we will be fine. First time with an infant but we are taking a stroller so we will just deal with the walking. In fact maybe I'll start doing some extra walking before vacation.

I love reading this thread. You guys give me hope it really won't be that bad!

Don't be afraid at all! I've stayed at POP Century 3 times before staying at CBR for the first time last week. I really enjoyed POP and it is a compact resort, so I was interested in how I would feel about how much larger CBR is. I LOVED it!!!! It is gorgeous, the layout is bigger but easy to understand and Centertown/Old Port Royale was great.

I'm sure you will love CBR!

 

[dis_guy]

Just a couple of things to say. Just my two cents worth.

The size of Caribbean Beach is what makes it seem uncrowded even when it is fully booked.

I never book preferred or any room even close to OPR because I need to walk through Caribbean Cay at least every day.

CBR is the only Disney resort we stay at now.

 

[Lsdolphin]

We will be at CBR on November 14TH. I can't wait. We have been there two other times and LOVE it. My question is regarding the laundry. Please tell me you can still use quarters to do laundry? I really do not want to use a credit card to do a load of laundry.

We will also be checking in to CBR on 11/14 can't wait! Have you been able to MBs yet or make fastpass+ times?

 

[hmillerbarilla]

We will be at CBR Columbus week. I'm so excited!

We've stayed many many times, but haven't been back since we bought DVC in 2009. But... we are doing an unexpected trip and no villas are available! So back to CBR we go!

I'm looking forward to the playgrounds for the kids--and the huge counter service (that's lacking in many deluxes) and the relaxed atmosphere.

Are there any updates on the fridges? Are they all replaced? That is my only current concern...

Thanks!!

 

[disneyfantotheend]

We will also be checking in to CBR on 11/14 can't wait! Have you been able to MBs yet or make fastpass+ times?

Not yet. I have been back and forth on whether we will do it or not. We are with a large group and coordinating Fp+ may be more trouble than it is worth. But. I still check daily to see if we are eligible.