Caribbean Beach Resort FAQ's Part II

[Wishes2you]

We had bunnies outside our room all the time! The kids even went on a "bunny hunt" with their flashlights in the evenings. Too much fun! I saw some odd birds on the beach near OPR and the pool, not much on the island, though.

Sorry it has taken me so long on this. Were these the birds that you saw
in the photos below. If so, we thought they were cranes. They were over near the bridge near Barbados area when we saw them in Nov. when we were there.

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[Wishes2you]

Sorry the pics didn't come out. you may have to wait alittle longer
so I can figure this out. When I do I will post the pics.

 

[pperfectmom]

Sorry it has taken me so long on this. Were these the birds that you saw
in the photos below. If so, we thought they were cranes. They were over near the bridge near Barbados area when we saw them in Nov. when we were there.

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Your pictures showed up fine when I opened them from my email address. i don't know why they arn't working here . As for the birds, they are Blue Herons. They are beautiful, aren't they? We have one that flies over our house once in a while.

 

[Wishes2you]

Where we live we have both Blue Herons and Cranes. We only saw them at
a distance so we guessed cranes forgetting it could be a blue heron also. One of the ones we saw was all white so that was why we guessed cranes also. They are absolutely beautiful with those long necks. I had my zoom lense with me that's the only way I was able to get the pictures that close. I'm glad you could see them. I have to figure out what is with my picture posting so everyone can see.

 

[dlpx2]

isn't there an option that we can purchase when we check in that would give us full access to the bike and boat rentals, etc? Does anyone know about this? How much, how it works, etc? Thanks!

I am trying to budget for our trip in June. Does anyone have this answer? Thanks for your help in advance!

 

[timandlesley]

So we are thinking we have to change our dates to June due to my husbands job and that means it is peak season for our beloved WL so we are thinking of CBR now. I 've been reading the thread, it is great, thanks! Questions: we will be paying for preferred. I have stayed at POP before in the 50's section and felt the walk to everything POP and the buses weren't too terribly bad, is that about the same distance of a walk staying in the preferred section at CBR? How is the distance? How far is the main pool from each of these, bus stops??
Is the food court outdoors, that is how it looks in the pictures so I was wondering. THANKS!
Lesley

 

[CleveRocks]

we will be paying for preferred. I have stayed at POP before in the 50's section and felt the walk to everything POP and the buses weren't too terribly bad, is that about the same distance of a walk staying in the preferred section at CBR? How is the distance? How far is the main pool from each of these, bus stops??
Is the food court outdoors, that is how it looks in the pictures so I was wondering. THANKS!
Lesley

I stayed in a preferred location room, about as far as you can be from Old Port Royale and still be preferred, and it was a little less than a 5-minute walk. Preferred location means a room in one of the six buildings closest to Old Port Royale -- these are Martinique buildings 24, 25 and 26, and Trinidad North buildings 31, 32 and 33.

Each village has its own bus stop, so no room is too far from a bus stop.

The main pool is in Old Port Royale. OPR is the central complex that has the main pool, food court, table-service restaurant, gift shops, outdoor bar, water sports rentals, etc. -- basically everything EXCEPT the front desk. The front desk, Bell Services, Guest Services, etc. is in a separate building called the Custom House, at another side of the property.

The food court is certainly indoors! There are some tables and chairs outside for anyone's use, and you are welcome to take the food court food outside to one of those tables, but the food court and 98% of its seating is inside.

If the pics make it look like the food court is outside, then that's just one more example of how great Disney is at making themes work!

 

[deejohn]

We have stayed at CBR twice and never found the walk too difficult. Both times we were in Barbados, which is a little further out. It took me 20 minutes round trip each morning for coffee from Barbados Bldg 14.

If you do not get the perferred (Marinique & Trinidad North), then ask for Jamica or Aruba. They are across the lake and are a bit closer.

The food court has two areas. One inside and one outside. There is also a section in the back with coloring books and an activity table that was a big help to Mom while Dad got in line for the food.

CBR is in the process of upgrading the main pool, so you might want to see when that will be completed. There are 8 other pools to go to, but the main pool is very nice.

Each section has there own bus stop, so you won't have to walk too far no matter where you stay. The nice thing is that Barbados is the last stop before you leave the resort, so your next stop is one of the parks. It is your third stop when you return.

CBR is across the street from Epcot, so every night we would really hear the fireworks. It was kinda tough getting the 3 yr old asleep, only to have her wake up from the "boom-booms".

Overall, CBR is an excellent choice, if you can't get book your favorite. Good luck and enjoy your trip.

 

[lrauers]

We stayed at CBR last summer. We opted not to pay extra for preferred location. Look at the resort map, you can request a certain building. We were a few buildings away from the food court, a pleasant walk. Some of the building across the lagoon seemed a bit far. The food Court is not outdoors bit there is plenty of outdoor seating just outside. I thought the main pool was horrible, VERY crowded, VERY noisy. The pools that are located among the other buildings are much nicer, much quieter and much easier to get to.
We have stayed at all of the most expensive deluxe resorts and I think the CBR is a great value. The bus stops are convenient, transportation works well.
My only complaint is that check-in at CBR can take a long time and, although we arrived at 3:00PM, we had to wait over an hour to get into our room. Otherwise , the roms were clean, comfortable and quiet.

 

[CarolinaBlue]

CBR is in the process of upgrading the main pool, so you might want to see when that will be completed.

I thought the rehab was next year?

We are staying there on our arrival day before checking into Fort Wilderness the next day. I just reserved a standard room because I thought it would be okay since it's only for one night. I did request Jamaica, however. Is it true that there are no elevators? Do the buildings have 2 or 3 floors?

Edited to say that I found this on page one of this thread: Caribbean Beach Resort FAQ's Part II

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DISNEY'S CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT

The main pool will be closed Jan- June 2008.

 

[planning06]

Is that a typo? It takes a year and a half to upgrade a pool?

 

[CleveRocks]

No elevators at CBR. ALL guest room buildings have 2 floors.

 

[safetymom]

The refurbishment of the pool is in 2008. It is a 6 month refurb.

 

[mollyseven]

Well...We just returned the end of January from CBR for a week and it was Wonderful. Last year we stayed at POP and really liked it but this was fabulous.
We were in building 31 Trinidad North...which is preferred but they put us there at no charge. I had actually requested Jamaica building 45 I believe as it was right across the bridge from the main building/pool. That would be great also I have to say cause the bridge is very small....it's more like a river than lake truly. But anyhow we were in 3142 which was fabulous and we were closest to the pool (main) and that was a great pool my kids swam every day. The bus stop was also just across the parking lot like 2min. tops from our room or we could just go another minute over to the Port Royale and catch it there also. The great thing is it is the first/second stop usually on the bus route so always a seat...in fact it was january and sometimes we were the only ones on the bus!!! Can you believe that??? Last year we went in May and most of the times the buses from POP were overfull.....hardly ever had a seat.
The main check in building isn't anywhere near the Port Royale and when ME drops you off at check-in they then have a bell hop take you and your luggage to your rooms from there. Way to far to walk.
I just remembered today though that next January the pool will be closed until June and my husband and I had already decided we would go back to CBR next January again......now I will have to re-think that or hope they put off the pool constructin until later as we really have our heart set on CBR next year also and wanted to take my parents. Darn.
Anyhow.....building 31 is PERFECT.
Also...towel animals all week.
Great.

 

[mollyseven]

Bike and Boat rentals really vary alot.
They have lots of different types of both and they rent for anywhere from 30 minutes to all day.
I don't think they could come up with some sort of plan whereas rentals were included. They wouldn't have enough I don't think then.
Plus we were just there for a week and never found time for even a bike rental. Definitely next time but can't see how the boat rentals are worth it really. It seems much more like a wide river than lake and can't see the boat rentals being much fun really...but that may be me...we live on a lake and have a cottage on a river so are used to alot of lake and more space for boating.
Make sure your kids do the treasure hunt at the boat/bike shop. They have a treasure hunt map and clue list and once the kids do all the steps and return with the correct answers they get prizes. Really fun and cool prizes plus we just happened upon this one no one actually told us about this cool thing for the kids.

 

[SkcMom]

Thanks for the reviews! It sounds fabulous. We'll be there this December. Can't wait!!

 

[jdd]

We're booked for April 25 - May 1st. I'm so excited We're in Pittsburgh and over the last week have had 8 inches of snow, an incredible ice storm and it's now 9 degrees (wind chill of -20)!! I'm really dreaming of Florida....

Anyway, we have little ones, so have always stayed on the ground floor at the resorts, but the pictures of the views from 2nd floor rooms look so pretty. Does anyone have a floor preference? Is this something you can request?

 

[safetymom]

Sure you can request a certain floor. I think there are great views no matter what floor you are on at CBR.

 

[jdd]

Safetymom,

I think it was your picture I saw from the second floor. The trees just looked so great - tropical! We still have one in a stroller, so maybe we're better off on the first floor - but I loved that view!

 

[ktink]

We have finally settled on a resort, CBR We booked our package and paid in full about a month ago, we were originally booked at AKL. DH just didn't want to fork out the extra $, so he suggested ASMu. DDs have always wanted to stay at Music they love the huge icons. Anyway we had a family mtg and decided that we loved CSR in the past, we loved the busses and large pool w/ slide. DH said that he wanted something bright and perhaps tropical... TADA ... CBR! I'm so very excited. And we're getting a little refund from Disney to boot.


We requested Jamaica 45, nonsmoking. I really don't have any questions right now I just wanted to share my joy.