Bluenoser said:
I've also read it is not as disney as some of the others. I remember staying at the Poly 25 years ago and it was themed for the tropics not after Mickey so I don't get the whole un-disney thing - is that referening the theme? or the staff?
I've also noticed that the transportation to and from has been rated as not good.
Any info/insight anyone can provide would be much appreciated. I'm starting to doubt our choice.
It's funny because when I look at some of the OTHER resorts, I think THEY are the ones not themed with Disney in mind! LOL I guess it's all a matter of perspective!
We absolutely LOVED our stays at the CBR!!! There are Hidden Mickeys in the bedspreads and on the shower curtains!
We've had excellent service from the CMs there during check-in, from the housekeeping staff who left some towel animals for us, as well as rearranging DSs' stuffed animals in a cute way, and even the CMs at the food court were all very pleasant.
Personally, I think that CBR is themed as a tropical CARIBBEAN resort, with a touch of "pirates" due to the water cannons at the main pool, and the "pirate
s fort" look to the archway and bridge that goes over the middle of the main pool. Take a look at some of the pictures of CBR on my site, Disney theming is alive and well as CBR!
4 years ago from right now I was planning our first big trip to Disney and you wouldn't believe all of the negative reviews that CBR was getting at that time! This was right before the big refurbishment and while many of the comments may have been valid, a lot of the reviews were by people who just didn't like the tropical theming.
When we were deciding which moderate resort to stay at, CBR was the ONLY theme that appealed to all of us. I KNEW we'd love it, and we did!! Even now, looking at the other moderates, I can see their beauty and their appeal, but they just don't appeal to ME! So if you think that the CBR theme appeals to you, then I know you'll love it, and don't worry about the negative comments.
You definitely should read EVERYTHING you can about CBR because I firmly believe that being informed of a resorts positives and negatives is the answer to finding the resort that is right for you!
For example, I knew ahead of time that the resort was fairly large and spread out. Having my younger DS just come off crutches for a hip problem, and having my DH being diagnosed with diabetes, we knew we wanted/needed to be close to the food court/pool/bus stop, etc. So, after doing some research on these boards I realized that I wanted to be in Martinique. I requested Martinique in my reservations and the day before we left for Florida I called the resort directly (never was a fan of the idea of faxing in requests; I like talking directly with someone), and politely asked them to double-check that our requests indeed had been made and I again explained the medical reasons for the requests. Both times, we were given a room in Martinique 25. (At that time, Martinique and Trinidad North were not yet "preferred" locations; the resort had no preferred locations at all at that time that you request and pay extra for.). If we ever go back to CBR, I will gladly pay extra for the location of Martinique.
Regarding transportation, both of our trips there we experienced excellent bus service. I think we had one wait of about 20 minutes one time, waiting to go to Animal Kingdom. But otherwise we had waits of 1-10 minutes, maybe 15 minutes a couple of times. We were impressed with the bus system and had no complaints at all.
If you have your heart set on CBR, be sure to be as informed as possible about the resort, then go and ENJOY it!!
We were afraid of all the coments of it's size. We will be driving does each section have thier own parking lot?
I like your take on it. 
We too were drawn to the Carribean theme. We are travelling with my brother and his family and they have never been to the Carribean nor have our kids. We lucked out a couple of years ago and my DH and I went to Cuba w/o kids. We wanted to do a two in one - the Carribean feel and Disney at the same time. Honestly, my first choice would have been the Poly only b/c we stayed there twice as kids but it was way out of our price range and I thought the CBR was the next closet. 
