Caribbean Beach Resort FAQ Part 3

[Amy&Dan]

loving the info so far...trying to decide between CBR and POR for anniversary trip in May. Heard that the busses are a prob at CBR. Any truth to that? I'm used to value resorts so I am used to waiting for buses.

I have stayed at both POR and CBR and based on my stay, the buses at CBR were much better! Yes, its a spread out resort. However, it doesn't share, is centrally located and we had nothing but great bus service.

At POR however, our room was near the last stop. Several times by the time a bus got to us, it was too full. It goes to POFQ first, then the four stops at POR. I am betting there are more rooms at POFQ and POR combined than CBR by itself. In my opinion, POR is too big to share buses with another resort, even one as small (by Disney standards, its still a large resort) as POFQ.

And I love POR, but to me CBR had better bus service, the rooms were larger and in better shape and I loved being able to see Illuminations from around the resort at CBR. They are both great resorts, but bus wise POR isn't all that hot.

 

[snomofinn]

Could someone please tell me about the beds? My husband won a contest that includes a 3 night stay at Walt Disney World and they are planning to put us at the CBR. We stayed at the POR a few years ago and the beds there about killed us! I mean so bad that we barely could get dressed in the morning.

Yes, the beds are great...we stay there every year, and last year we had the new mattresses, and we loved them. They were on the hard side, but thats how we like them. I hate to jump into bed and sink to the bottom. You'll be happy with them.

 

[snomofinn]

loving the info so far...trying to decide between CBR and POR for anniversary trip in May. Heard that the busses are a prob at CBR. Any truth to that? I'm used to value resorts so I am used to waiting for buses.

Never in all the years we stayed there have we had a problem with the bus. They come pretty frequent. I think the most we waited was 15 minutes, and to us that was 15 minutes of relaxing on a bench!

 

[Mermaid_Ariel]

Could someone please tell me about the beds? My husband won a contest that includes a 3 night stay at Walt Disney World and they are planning to put us at the CBR. We stayed at the POR a few years ago and the beds there about killed us! I mean so bad that we barely could get dressed in the morning.

Beds are nice and firm when we stayed in December 2007. I didn't have any backpain whatsoever.

 

[SeaSpray]

Wow! Once that new pool is completed CBR is going to be the best moderate!!!

I always loved the "Spanish pirate fort" look of the old pool and I'm so glad that they're sticking with that theme but only expanding on it!!!

 

[amaycatbaker]

Hi,
My son and I are going with my two baby girls from sept 8-12. This has been a difficult decision and I resort hopped. I started my plan at ASM , then decided CBR , then changed because of reviews to POFQ , then changed to FT. wilderness , then changed to ASM , But that had bad reviews too. Then I changed to WL but looked at my budget and decided the parks are more important.

My son sat me down and had a heart to heart. He researched and really wanted CBR. I gave in to his request and found this board. It got rid of my transportation fears. My girls are both under two and I was afraid I would not get back to my room at night with them.

Thank you for writing this board.

 

[ahecht]

Quick question, which buildings/beaches have a view of Illuminations? I've heard that you can see the fireworks from certain villages at CBR.

Anyone have an answer to this?

 

[MariaEllerºoº]

We could see the higher up fireworks of Illuminations from Aruba...by the hammocks on the beach. One night last summer they did a test on the fireworks around midnight and we got several fireworks shows in just one night!

 

[safetymom]

If you can see Spaceship Earth from your room during the day you will be able to see the high parts of Illuminations. You can see it from Martinique also.

 

[CleveRocks]

One of the most memorable experiences of my life was watching the higher IllumiNations fireworks while sitting with my 2 kids on the steps at the shallow end of the Trinidad North quiet pool (meaning that we were in the water).

 

[Devil_Dog99]

IMHO, the best place to view the fireworks is from the bridge from OPR to Castaway Cay. But with the new boardwalk that runs behind Banana Cabana (for the new pool), that would provide the clearest views.

 

[Blueberry]

We normally stay in values but decided to upgrade to CBR this coming trip in April.

I have one question I cannot seem to find answered anywhere else and it is about the Resort Charge privileges amount if you leave a credit card or debit card on file. At the Value resorts you can only charge up to $500 on your resort ID card, is it higher at CBR and the moderates?? Somewhere I thought i heard it was up to $1000 at the mods but I have no clue if it is true or not.....

Thanks for your help..love this board by the way...

 

[Lovin' Lorne]

I'm trying to remember what they told us in February... I think it was $1000. It was way more than we'd ever spend though, I do know that.

 

[safetymom]

Yes it is $1000.

 

[CleveRocks]

... but kep in mind that once you reach your limit you can just authorize another room charge. At the Values, for example, you are not limited to room-charging $500 for your entire stay, just limited to $500 at a time. When you reach your limit, they will charge your credit/debit card, and then you can verbally authorize (like by phone) another $500 room charge, and so on.

And yes, at the Mods the upper limit is $1,000 and at the Deluxes it's $1,500. It's also possible to request a LOWER amount, if you desire.

 

[Blueberry]

Yes it is $1000.

Thank you Safety Mom..it is appreciated...

 

[Blueberry]

... but kep in mind that once you reach your limit you can just authorize another room charge. At the Values, for example, you are not limited to room-charging $500 for your entire stay, just limited to $500 at a time. When you reach your limit, they will charge your credit/debit card, and then you can verbally authorize (like by phone) another $500 room charge, and so on.

And yes, at the Mods the upper limit is $1,000 and at the Deluxes it's $1,500. It's also possible to request a LOWER amount, if you desire.

Thank you good advice, I did not know they could be reloaded like that at any resort...

 

[Mamalisa58]

I love all the pictures I have seen of the resort. I have always wanted a hammock and think it would be great to relax in one after a day at the parks . My question is, would my kids DD 18, DS 16 & DD's boyfriend still enjoy the resort with the main pool being closed? We have stayed @ the values and they enjoy the pools there.
Also compared to Pop, how large is CBR?

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

my family and I are staying at CBR in April. We have stayed at both PO's on the mod level and mostly at WL and once at Poly on the deluxe level. I am a CM on the college program so we had our family vacation a few wks ago and my parents are looking for a nice quiet weekend get-away so we booked CBR. I must say I loved the looks of the main pool and was quite upset when I read it was closed!!! I guess the only savior is that there are the smaller pools. We don't plan on going to the parks, maybe just 1 day if that and plan on going to Cocoa Beach for a day. I have a car which almost looks like a must if you don't want to wait for the internal bus. I loved POfq when I was a kid so I'm curious to see how CBR is after having stayed at WL the past 6 trips to WDW. I think for a quiet wkd that will be the perfect place to stay I hope!! We looked into staying at OKW in a studio but after the trip to WL a few wks ago we're looking to save some money but still staying at a nice resort!!!!!!

Any tips or suggestions??

Are you able to request more towels since you have to bring your own to the pool? How quick is mousekeeping to the requests of new towels??

 

[DznyDreams]

What are the odds of the pool construction finishing ahead of schedule? It's scheduled through mid-Sept, but is there even a slight chance that it might actually be completed earlier than this?

Also, where is the DME bus stop at CBR?