CBR Bad reviews

[Mrs.AMC]

BIG THANKYOU everyone for your much appreciated thoughts.
We stayed at CBR years ago and absolutely loved it !!

It looks like that Mom who wrote on Tripadvisor had to kill 30 or so vermin IN ONE DAY ... which isn't imho the occasional Florida accident
However I was seriously put down by reading that the whole CBR property is run down,tired and not well kept. Management doesn't care about complaints ? Not very Disney IMHO.
Somewhere else I saw that the Pirate rooms will be dismessed next year , while new reservations for normal rooms don't seem to be available ... mid 2023.
Could it be possible that Disney is willing to build a NEW hotel on CBR grounds ??

For us this will be our FIRST trip to WDW after the pandemic, we have been dreaming of it for sooo long !!
so we will do some "shopping" around to find another Disney resort where I will sleep "sweet & relaxed dreams"

I don't suggest reading reviews on TA on any resort. You'l find horrible reviews for every single one, from highest priced GF to the lowest priced All Star. If you read too many reviews you'll never have sweet and relaxed dreams anywhere.

They are redoing the Pirate themed rooms. The rest of the rooms were redone a couple years ago, sometime after the redid the lobby building in 2017. The Pirate rooms are the final rooms on property to have double beds, I believe. They aren't removing the entire resort. Just the Pirate rooms. Which is a very good thing. Not many people really want double beds. And those on an uncomfortable flat platform too.

Otherwise, the rooms quite nice. I love the new hard surface rooms though, and the change from the curtain to the bathroom. I was there for a girls (adult) trip last in 2020 and we loved it. I'm aware of who the GM is at CBR and know that they do indeed care. You can even find a images of Mickey's feet without shoes on there. I'm not sure I've seen that anywhere else in WDW. It's a silly thing but oh so very cute. It's on their fold down bed.

 

[sponica]

The reviews on the other hand are just comical most of the time.

My friend used to like reading the ones for a campground he stayed at. "we had a tent site near the river and there were bugs everywhere" "a bear came and took the food we left out"

That being said, I wouldn't let tripadvisor reviews tip my opinion on the place. I have yet to stay at CBR (seriously we've had 2 trips booked there but one was during the reconstruction so we moved elsewhere and the other was in 2020) and we had 2 times we almost booked there but went a different direction. I think the universe is just telling me to not stay there.

 

[megs1313]

I guess I'm in the minority as well, but the bugs in the rooms do bother me. The issue at CBR, IMO, is that the doors don't meet the floors well enough so the cracks under the door are huge and bugs just roam in. The first time we stayed at CBR, we had to change rooms 4 times for various reasons, but that was before the redo. We stayed there again recently (as a last resort option, long story) and while many things had improved, the rooms hadn't. we stuffed a towel under the door to help with the bugs and try to keep the cool air in. Our room was too humid and didn't cool down well enough, so we were never totally comfortable (it was quite hot when we were there.) Plus the carpet was just nasty.

I haven't stayed at Pop century, but if its reviews are better, I'd go ahead and switch. JMO!

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

They are redoing the Pirate themed rooms. The rest of the rooms were redone a couple years ago, sometime after the redid the lobby building in 2017. The Pirate rooms are the final rooms on property to have double beds, I believe. They aren't removing the entire resort. Just the Pirate rooms. Which is a very good thing. Not many people really want double beds. And those on an uncomfortable flat platform too.

I don't believe this is true. Not only have they pulled permits for all of Trinidad, but permits for Martinique buildings have emerged as well with later expiration dates. This could mean a full refurb for CBR starting with the pirate rooms. Given how outdated the rooms are with carpet and beds without underneath storage as well as reports of nonworking outlets, maintenance issues, etc. it makes sense that a full refurb is imminent.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

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[Mrs.AMC]

I don't believe this is true. Not only have they pulled permits for all of Trinidad, but permits for Martinique buildings have emerged as well with later expiration dates. This could mean a full refurb for CBR starting with the pirate rooms. Given how outdated the rooms are with carpet and beds without underneath storage as well as reports of nonworking outlets, maintenance issues, etc. it makes sense that a full refurb is imminent.

You can believe it's not true all you want. They are not removing the entire resort, which is what my response was directly answering

 

[JodyK]

Personally, I actually prefer Pop Century to CBR in general so I would probably switch.

 

[Denise W]

You can believe it's not true all you want. They are not removing the entire resort.

“Removing”??

 

[Mrs.AMC]

“Removing”??

Yeah, a PP asked. It's the post I quoted when I said no, they would not be doing that

BIG THANKYOU everyone for your much appreciated thoughts.
We stayed at CBR years ago and absolutely loved it !!

It looks like that Mom who wrote on Tripadvisor had to kill 30 or so vermin IN ONE DAY ... which isn't imho the occasional Florida accident
However I was seriously put down by reading that the whole CBR property is run down,tired and not well kept. Management doesn't care about complaints ? Not very Disney IMHO.
Somewhere else I saw that the Pirate rooms will be dismessed next year , while new reservations for normal rooms don't seem to be available ... mid 2023.
Could it be possible that Disney is willing to build a NEW hotel on CBR grounds ??

For us this will be our FIRST trip to WDW after the pandemic, we have been dreaming of it for sooo long !!
so we will do some "shopping" around to find another Disney resort where I will sleep "sweet & relaxed dreams"

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

You can believe it's not true all you want. They are not removing the entire resort, which is what my response was directly answering

I was referring to your suggestion that only the pirate rooms were being refurbed. WDW is not "removing" any of the CBR resort (that was only done when they built the DVC resort) but are doing a major refurbishment of the rooms starting with the pirate rooms.

Permits were filed for all buildings in Trinidad using the contractor Balfour Beatty and have an expiration date of 04/30/2023. They also already filed a permit for Martinique building 24 using the same contractor but expiring 09/01/2023 which leads me to believe Martinique will be the second village to be refurbed.

The last major refurbishment for CBR rooms started in May 2014. They did a soft goods refresh maybe 4ish?? years ago.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

My sister stayed there a few years ago for one night and said it was horrible and that the room was very musty. That was several years ago though. She is not a super particular person either and wouldn't comment if it wasn't really that bad.

 

[Gator29]

Over the past 10 years, I have stayed at over 20 Disney resorts, many multiple times. We are local and visit many times per year. I have stayed at all of the values, all of the moderates and most of the deluxe and villas. CBR is on my one and done list. I last stayed there about 7 years ago and do not recall a cleanliness issue then but my dislike for the resort was because it was just too big for my liking and the bus wait times and crowds were painful to deal with. Once the skyliner opened, I thought maybe I should give it another shot. We were staying at Beach Club at the time and visited CBR to grab some food at their quick service. After a long walk from the skyliner to get the quick service location plus close to an hour wait for my mobile order, it did not improve my impression of the resort and only confirmed it is not the right choice for me. I have probably stayed at Pop over 10 times and have mostly enjoyed my stays there but I also had one terrible experience due to a large teen group that was in our building. I vowed to never stay at Pop again but then I did and the next stay was fine. Bottom line, reviews will include both good and bad reviews and so much is subjective to a specific stay and not a global representation of the whole resort. With that being said, if you are seeing the same comments over and over again in reviews, there is most likely some level of truth to it and you do risk having a similar experience. As someone who frequents Disney a lot, I’ve learned that my satisfaction level with a resort can vary greatly based on if I put in room requests. I suggest that once you make a resort decision, you do a good amount of research to determine what room requests to make. Best of luck deciding!

 

[Beer Me]

Definitely seems like one of the most negatively reviewed Disney hotels. We were there pre-covid and pre-skyliner but I really enjoyed it. People don’t like how big and spread out it is but the positive side is that all that space makes it feel very private, quiet and peaceful (which may not be the case with the skyliner?). It was in complete contrast with the parks and any value or deluxe hotel I’ve stayed at.

Also we didn’t use the food court or main pool very much so we weren’t constantly traversing the property. The quiet pool was steps from our door and the bus stop and parking lot was way more convenient than any other Disney hotel I’ve stayed at.

The room was just ok. A bit small and dim but clean and no bugs (low bar lol but it was perfectly fine).

I may be busier and less serene now with the skyliner but I would definitely consider staying there again

 

[Mrs.AMC]

How is CBR more spread out than CSR? Or even POR? or Pop. Or AoA. I've often wondered that when I hear that as a negative comment on CBR, which I see often.
I mean, yes, it is. But aren't those resorts also quite spread out also?
PoP and AoA, are the worse with one bus stop clear at the front and I won't stay at those, for a multitude of reasons. At least CBR, CSR and POR have multiple bus stops so you aren't left to trek to one stop from the very back of the place, if your rooms happens to be there.
They can fix dingy rooms, worn and tired rooms but they can't fix bus stops being far from the room.

 

[AmyMac1109]

For what it's worth, I stayed there with my family for 6 days in April 2022. We hesitated to book there because my only prior experience at CBR was not terrible, but it wasn't great. But it was a very, very long time ago. However, my wife had stayed there more recently than I had and enjoyed it. And we had friends who stayed there in 2019 and also enjoyed it. I'm so glad we booked at CBR. We had a wonderful experience.

As a family of 5, we are limited in where we can stay (short of renting DVC points, which we're not opposed to, but couldn't for this trip). It came down to CBR or POR. We ended up choosing CBR for its proximity to the Skyliner. We ended up in a room that was basically accross the street from the Skyliner hub, but was only maybe a 5-7 minute walk to the lobby, dining, and main pool. Room was on the small side (especially for 5 people), but it was clean and well kept. We were on the bottom floor, on an outer corner. We had no issues with bugs at all. My only real "complaint" (if you can even call it that) was with housekeeping. Due to Covid precautions, rooms were only to be cleaned once while we were there, but there was supposed to be a "room check" with trash removal and clean towels (if requested) daily. Only once did I see them do a "room check" and I had to specifically ask them to remove the trash and for fresh towels. I wasn't thrilled with the cleaning our room got the one time it was cleaned. They only changed/made 2 of 3 beds (one queen and the murphy bed). Granted, my kids left their stuffed animals and a bag on the bed, and they didn't touch it. But I feel like they used to move that stuff and replace it on the cleaned bed. I could be wrong though. Really though, the cleaning was a minor complaint. The room was clean and tidy when we arrived, and the location was perfect. The furniture/decor wasn't "updated" but it wasn't in bad condition at all. And we had one of the rooms that still had carpert (not the wood tile they are starting to use now). It was a good experience and it's now our top choice resort when traveling with all 3 kids.

 

[gorkt]

CBR was fine for our trip, and we experienced no cleanliness issues, but we were on an upper floor.

Pros: Refurbished main hall and pool area, skyliner access at the main distribution hub. Very chill vibe to the resort. I particularly liked sitting on the little island in the middle of the lake and drinking my coffee in the mornings. Easy access to Riviera restaurants, which I hear are very good (wasn't open when I was there). The skyliner access alone is a huge plus if you are going to spend a lot of time at Epcot WS and HS.

Cons: Bus service was really bad, to the point that I would recommend getting an uber on your AK/MK days if you are on any sort of time table, and not at the first bus stop. We were in Jamaica which was amazing for Skyliner access, but bad for bus stops. We saw full busses go by all the time.

Is it my favorite resort on property, no. But it still is a nice place to stay overall. I never stayed at Pop, but I have stayed at AoA and generally CBR is a cut above imo, but also a decent chunk more expensive.

 

[AmyMac1109]

How is CBR more spread out than CSR? Or even POR? or Pop. Or AoA. I've often wondered that when I hear that as a negative comment on CBR, which I see often.
I mean, yes, it is. But aren't those resorts also quite spread out also?
PoP and AoA, are the worse with one bus stop clear at the front and I won't stay at those, for a multitude of reasons. At least CBR, CSR and POR have multiple bus stops so you aren't left to trek to one stop from the very back of the place, if your rooms happens to be there.
They can fix dingy rooms, worn and tired rooms but they can't fix bus stops being far from the room.

I wonder about this too. My memory of staying at CBR as a child was that it was huge and exhausting. Everything was SO FAR away. Having now stayed there again as an adult with my own children, I have no clue what I was whining about as a child. I didn't think it was bad at all. I was right near the Skyliner hub, so it took maybe 3 minutes to walk there. There was a bus stop right at the parking lot outside my room (maybe 4 minutes away) and we didn't ever have to wait long and always found a seat. And the main pool, dining, and shop were like a 5-7 minute walk. Spyglass Grill wasn't even that far from our room. It was legit perfect for us.

I've never stayed at AoA (because we'd need a family suite and I refuse to pay that much), but Pop is a hike. I pay for a preferred room to be nearer to transporation. I don't have to do that at CBR.

 

[Disneylover99]

How is CBR more spread out than CSR? Or even POR? or Pop. Or AoA. I've often wondered that when I hear that as a negative comment on CBR, which I see often.
I mean, yes, it is. But aren't those resorts also quite spread out also?

Not nearly as spread out as CBR. If they got rid of the entire Pirates section it would be more comparable to the other resorts.

PoP and AoA, are the worse with one bus stop clear at the front and I won't stay at those, for a multitude of reasons. At least CBR, CSR and POR have multiple bus stops so you aren't left to trek to one stop from the very back of the place, if your rooms happens to be there.
They can fix dingy rooms, worn and tired rooms but they can't fix bus stops being far from the room.

Many people prefer the one stop. You get to the parks quicker. No travelling around the resort doing multiple stops, hoping the bus doesn’t pass you by because it’s full. That’s the worst.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Im my opinion, CBR is the least maintained of all the moderates.

I was last there about a year ago. The common areas were absolutely immaculate. The beaches, paths, lobby, pools, landscaping, bridges, etc. were all as nice as I've ever seen any resort. The rooms themselves were rough. Everything was beaten up to the point where some of it felt like safety issues (such as a dresser/Murphy bed that was noticeably leaning forward, or towel racks that were coming off of the walls). We had three rooms, and we noticed similar issues in all three.

Though I'll add that the rooms felt clean. Our issues were with maintenance, not housekeeping. The only bugs we saw were some fruit flies that came in on bananas, but that was entirely my own fault.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Trip Advisor reviews are pointless for Disney hotels. Like completely pointless. Disregard them entirely and stay where you want.

TripAdvisor makes Aulani sound like war-torn Fallujah.