Caribbean Beach or AKL Standard?

[StuckinPA]

I can't make a decision! Last summer my son and I stayed at Coronado and while we like the resort, I hated all the construction and my personal thought was it ruined the atmosphere. I'm at an age where I really like a good break in the middle of the day and a relaxing hour or so before bed at the resort. My favorite is AKL for the balcony. I especially love the score of a savanna or partial savanna view for the standard rate, but know it's not a guarantee.

This will likely be our last Disney trip for some time and we are also considering, for cost, and because my son is intrigued by the pool, CB. We've never stayed there. I am concerned about recent reviews I've read that rooms are outdated and musty and about possible construction and noise. I love the idea of getting the relaxed feel and experiencing something new at a reduced cost, but don't want to regret the decision. Any input?

 

[3princes+1princess]

There is no way I would go near CB again. It was a horrible experience, smelly bathroom, dirty blanket on bed. Food stain, asked for them to change the bedding, and a few days later noticed the stain still there. They just flipped the bedding over and stain was now near our feet. Management didn't care one bit. Accidentally left some things (souvenirs) in the room, and we noticed about 15 minutes later as we were waiting for ME. Let the front desk know...and they never turned up (read stolen). This was just the start. The resort is horribly huge, too many bus stops, the busses were packed so full that I was standing and couldn't move and inch (and started having a panic attack). The main building is so far that you have to catch a bus to get there. The resort is very hard to navigate and poorly lit at night. It was a nightmare to find our room the first night, and only slightly easier the next nights. I didn't feel safe there alone with my kids (especially the night we saw the disney police when we came back and they were looking like they were searching for something). This was hands down the worst stay at Disney....I would not stay at CB again if they paid me to. We knew what we were getting into with the construction...and that was not bad at all.

The bad reviews are all true.

 

[Micharlotte]

I actually liked CBR and with all the new stuff they’ve opened I wouldn’t hesitate to stay there again. However, I liked CSR better sonif you didn’t love it there then I don’t think CBR will be a great fit. The pool is noce, but not any better than the Coronado pool. I would definitely book AKL if you can. I’m staying there this year for the first time and can’t wait. If you’re looking for downtime this seems like the perfect resort!

 

[starry_solo]

AKL!

 

[Lisa Fagone]

Caribbean Beach!

 

[FindingTheMouse]

We have stayed at Coronado, Caribbean BBeach and Animal Kingdom Lodge. Coronado was our absolute worst stay at Disney. It's a convention center and feels like one. We have done Caribbean beach twice. Loved both stays and want to stay there again. Yes it's large, but Coronado and Animal Kingdom are quite large depending on where your room is.
You may want to look into renting DVC points to stay at Animal Kingdom. When we rented points the different between the DVC rental cost and cash cost for Caribbean Beach was only $100 or so.

 

[rdaky]

Our two most recent stays were AKL Standard and CBR standard. We ended up with a partial savannah view at AKL and loved everything about AKL. Nicer resort, nicer rooms, beds more comfortable at AKL, room felt cleaner at AKL, loved having a balcony, inside hallways, inside walk to the lobby, laundry, or to grab a bite to eat. Elevators! Walking up even one flight of stairs with a stroller and a tired toddler was a pain at CBR. If money were no object, I'd stay AKL every time.

Now that being said, my kids actually said that they like the pool at Caribbean Beach better than AKL. But would we stay at CBR just for the pool? No. However we are staying there most likely on our next visit, simply because we want to spend less. And we are going back 2 months later. But if you won't be there for a while, and you can afford it, spend the extra money and stay at AKL!

 

[Shellyb84]

AKL gets my vote. A standard room at AKL is such a great value for a deluxe. We've stayed there twice in a standard and got a partial savannah view. Both trips were amazing. We're returning for our 3rd stay in June. The Uzima Springs pool is one of my favorites on property, there's a lot of good food options, and it's just so lovely and relaxing.

We've also stayed once at CBR and weren't big fans. While I wouldn't go so far as to say I would never stay there again, it's at the bottom of my list.

 

[twinprincesses09]

We stayed at CBR on our last visit in 2017. We loved the resort! Yes, it is large, but we were just across the bridge in Jamaica (standard room), so it was a short walk to the main pool and food court. My kids (7 at the time) loved the pool, but I will say it made me a little nervous as there were times I couldn't see them unless I was in the water myself, or walked around to the other side, due to the design of the pool. We never had any trouble with buses, never a long wait and was always able to get on the next one. We thought the rooms were fine, although it has been 2 years. However, we never felt unsafe walking around the resort after dark. I would not hesitate to stay there again. We are currently booked at AKL this summer because the only rooms at CBR that are available are the pirate rooms and we really don't want the double beds. We were able to get a deal at AKL that was only a few $100 more than the other moderates (CSR also wasnt available for our dates, so POR and POFQ). So we thought we would try it for the first time. But if a standard/preferred room becomes available at CBR I would be tempted to switch to save money and because we know we like the resort. We have also stayed at CSR in the past and wouldn't hesitate to stay there again as well!

 

[StuckinPA]

Our two most recent stays were AKL Standard and CBR standard. We ended up with a partial savannah view at AKL and loved everything about AKL. Nicer resort, nicer rooms, beds more comfortable at AKL, room felt cleaner at AKL, loved having a balcony, inside hallways, inside walk to the lobby, laundry, or to grab a bite to eat. Elevators! Walking up even one flight of stairs with a stroller and a tired toddler was a pain at CBR. If money were no object, I'd stay AKL every time.

Now that being said, my kids actually said that they like the pool at Caribbean Beach better than AKL. But would we stay at CBR just for the pool? No. However we are staying there most likely on our next visit, simply because we want to spend less. And we are going back 2 months later. But if you won't be there for a while, and you can afford it, spend the extra money and stay at AKL!

THIS! We have decided to do AKL because of all these reasons and we don't know when we'll be back again. Thanks for the input everyone!