CBR Pirate Rooms vs POR Royal Guest Rooms vs AoA Little Mermaid Rooms

[Kevin1281]

We are a group of 7 - 4 adults, 3 children. My cousin's husband was nice enough to offer us his Cast Member Family & Friends Resort Discount. Our plan was to book (2) standard view rooms at Caribbean Beach Resort. However, the standard view rooms with queen beds are unfortunately not an option with his discount at this time. The only options at CBR are standard view king beds (which will not work for our party size), or pirate rooms (which I have read many negative things about due to location and having double beds, as opposed to queens). The other two resorts which he can apply his discount to, and which fit our budget, happen to be the only two resorts we have stayed at before - POR (2013) and AoA (2016), which would also be double beds. We absolutely loved both resorts, but were really hoping to stay somewhere that we have never been. Both POFQ and Coronado Springs aren't showing any availability for our dates with his discount.

So, are CBR Pirate Rooms that bad?

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Of the three, POR would be my choice, hands-down. You will have queen beds. As you mention, CBR Pirate rooms and AoA LM rooms both have doubles and are quite a walk from the main areas of their respective resorts.

 

[Kevin1281]

Of the three, POR would be my choice, hands-down. You will have queen beds. As you mention, CBR Pirate rooms and AoA LM rooms both have doubles and are quite a walk from the main areas of their respective resorts.

I have a feeling a lot of people are going to say the same thing as you.

 

[Capitalangel]

I have two little boys are we enjoyed the pirate rooms. A lot would depend on length of stay and touring type. I am not a fan of the multiple bus stops at CBR but would stay again if I wasn’t going to be there a full week or if I wasn’t going to be doing a rope drop ( when busses are full) heavy trip. We didn’t find the walk to the main area awful, but again we didn’t have to do it multiple times a day for a full trip. There is also a quick service in the area of the pirate rooms that helps.

 

[Kevin1281]

I have two little boys are we enjoyed the pirate rooms. A lot would depend on length of stay and touring type. I am not a fan of the multiple bus stops at CBR but would stay again if I wasn’t going to be there a full week or if I wasn’t going to be doing a rope drop ( when busses are full) heavy trip. We didn’t find the walk to the main area awful, but again we didn’t have to do it multiple times a day for a full trip. There is also a quick service in the area of the pirate rooms that helps.

We will be going for a full week, and we will be rope drop heavy. The buses are that bad early in the morning, huh?

 

[ninafeliz]

We did a split stay over New Years b/w CBR preferred room and POR Royal Room. While there was nothing wrong with CBR, and it had some beautiful areas to walk around, we all agreed we just really preferred POR. We strolled around the resort and walked down to the Pirate room area - we always walk places instead of a bus/boat if it is possible, for reference, like from Epcot to DHS - and boy, those furthest pirate rooms are a hoof from the food court! Not unwalkable, but you aren't going to run up and fill your mug 10 times a day with kids, thats for sure! My DH jogged every AM, and I think he said it was something like 0.9 miles from the food court to where he turned around past all of the pirate rooms. You could get a closer pirate room, that's just worst case scenario. I also noticed it felt like it took FOREVER to just leave the resort on the busses sue to all of the stops, but POR has multiple stops also so I'm not sure why I was just left with that feeling from the CBR.

However, setting the distance aside, we just preferred POR, and the Royal Rooms were cute. We have all boys, so they weren't as thrilled, but that was all they had available when we booked over NYE.

Personally I would't worry about the double beds, I would choose the resort I wanted to be at. If you really want to try a new resort, and don't mind knowing you'll be a fair distance from the main building, try the CBR. I do know from reading the boards, though, that to some people sleeping in a double bed is akin to sleeping on a tiny cot , so that would be dependent on your feelings about it.

I would pretty much always choose a moderate over a value, even AOA (which we have not stayed at, so no personal comparison).

 

[Capitalangel]

We will be going for a full week, and we will be rope drop heavy. The buses are that bad early in the morning, huh?

The CMs were trying hard when we were there but we saw many buses pass us by because they were already full from the previous stops. I have never stayed at Riverside so I do not know if it has the same issue. We enjoyed our stay, I just think the longer walks to the pool/ main area and the long time to get out of the resort even after getting a bus would get old after a few days.

 

[Micharlotte]

I love riverside! I think it’s my favourite moderate. The Royal rooms are so pretty and the resort overall is so beautiful! We stayed at POR in a Royal room in 2016, then CBR preferred in 2017. We usually book a LM room for one night as a treat for my daughter at the beginning of our trip, but I would not like to stay there for a week. I do not find the value resorts relaxing and I definitely need a hot tub for a week long trip. Last year the bumped us to POR from AofA and I was able to re-experience POR again and it just blows me away every time. I love the look and the feel and the horse drawn carriages walking around. So that’s my vote!

 

[Disneylvr1971]

Also my understanding at the CBR pirate rooms is that the pirate beds are shorter due to the way they had to make up the frames. So it is uncomfortable for taller adults.

 

[Kevin1281]

Discussed with my wife last night. She said that if we are going to stay at one of the resorts that we have already stayed at before (POR or AoA) she would choose AoA, due to the ages of our children - 7, 5, & 2. We only make it to Disney every 3 years or so. She makes a valid point saying that this will probably be our last trip that the kids will go crazy over the decor or AoA. Our 2-year-old will lose his mind over the Cars section.

That said, POR is out and it is down to CBR Pirate Rooms or AoA Little Mermaid Rooms. I understand neither are ideal choices, compared to everything else Disney has to offer, but we are not hard to please. So, of these two, which would you choose?

 

[Amanda Hall]

I was just about to reiterate POR as the best choice. Its not as far from the main areas as the other 2 resorts , especially if you request being close to the bride. I know you are looking for more magic for the little ones but the Royal Rooms really are fun. Between the 2 you mentioned in your last post though I would pick CBR. It will be a walk to anywhere and you are still dealing with small beds but mod is better and they have a great new food court. BTW, my 9 year old son still adores all of the fun stuff but also loves Riverside. It's also nice to have the boat ride the Disney Springs for dinner.

 

[Kevin1281]

I was just about to reiterate POR as the best choice. Its not as far from the main areas as the other 2 resorts , especially if you request being close to the bride. I know you are looking for more magic for the little ones but the Royal Rooms really are fun. Between the 2 you mentioned in your last post though I would pick CBR. It will be a walk to anywhere and you are still dealing with small beds but mod is better and they have a great new food court. BTW, my 9 year old son still adores all of the fun stuff but also loves Riverside. It's also nice to have the boat ride the Disney Springs for dinner.

Thanks for your input. To be honest, I too would go with POR out of the three. POR, then CBR, then AoA. My wife, however, is AoA, then CBR, then POR.

Ahhhh! First World problems!