CBR Question

[LeavingSoon]

We are leaving for CBR next Friday, when we check in can we request rooms? I would like to be somewhat close to Ole Port Royale, have younger kids and don't would like to avoid the longer walks if possible. What should I request?

The day we are leaving our flight is later so we'll be going to a park that day. Can we leave our luggage at the resort? We are using Magic Express, so will they just send the luggage to the airport? What about carry ons, will we need to bring them with us to the park?

 

[jaysmom4285]

Martinique and Trinidad North have "preferred" rooms that are the closest to Old Port Royale. Those rooms cost an extra $15 per night. If you don't want to pay the extra charge, Aruba and Jamaica are just a very short stroll across the footbridge that goes over the lagoon. We've stayed in Jamaica and found it a very quite and pleasant location but still close to OPR.

I believe that you have to be present at the resort to collect your baggage and get on the ME bus. You could probably leave your luggage, including carryons, at the resort, but I don't think they'll sent it to the airport without you.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

We are leaving for CBR next Friday, when we check in can we request rooms? I would like to be somewhat close to Ole Port Royale, have younger kids and don't would like to avoid the longer walks if possible. What should I request?

The day we are leaving our flight is later so we'll be going to a park that day. Can we leave our luggage at the resort? We are using Magic Express, so will they just send the luggage to the airport? What about carry ons, will we need to bring them with us to the park?

It's probably too late to request a preferred room location. Usually one does that when booking the room. Often you can add it later, but probably not this late. You can make some requests when you check in, and they might be able to offer you a different room at check in, but I wouldn't expect too many options.

One problem with CBR is that it is indeed a bit spread out. There is a resort shuttle bus youcan take if you like though. You pick it up at your bus stop, and it will take you around the resort. That might not help too much though depending on your room location. I will say, walking around the resort is pretty nice. The grounds are pretty lush. and the lake is pretty. There are duskc and other wildlife.

Conversely, if you're going to WDW - no matter where you stay - you should expect to do LOTS of walking. If you do a little more or less at your resort, over the course of the day, it's not that big of a deal as far as how much overall walking you'll do. The bigger factor is how much time it takes to get around. With little ones, I strongly suggest you bring your own stroller. Disney does rent them a thte parks, but they're ten dollars a day. In just a few days, you'll pay for the cost of having your own lightweight stroller, and youcan use it at the resort. Your kids could even take turns if they're at a borderline age for using one.

 

[safetymom]

As others have mentioned if you don't want to pay extra for a room close to the food court and main pool you should ask for Aruba or Jamaica.

 

[CleveRocks]

The day we are leaving our flight is later so we'll be going to a park that day. Can we leave our luggage at the resort? We are using Magic Express, so will they just send the luggage to the airport? What about carry ons, will we need to bring them with us to the park?

The answer to your question depends on what airline you're using. American, Continental, Delta (including Song), JetBlue, Northwest, and United (including TED) are "participating airlines" as far as DEPARTURE FROM ORLANDO is concerned. If you are flying on a participating airline, you can check in your checked luggage at your resort (at the Resort Airline Check-In desk), and you won't see it again until it's on your home airport's baggage claim carousel. The Resort Airline Check-In desk is open from 5:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. daily. You can't check in your luggage any earlier than 12 hours prior to your flight, and you can't check it in any later than 3 hours prior to your flight. As far as your carry-ons, simply ask your resort's Bell Services to store them for you before you head of to a park. Retrieve them from Bell Services AT LEAST 15-20 minutes before your scheduled DME bus pick up time.

If you are not flying on a participating airline, it's almost as simple. Just have your resort's Bell Services store ALL of your bags, checked and carry-on. Retrieve them from Bell Services AT LEAST 15-20 minutes before your scheduled DME bus pick up time. There is a gap in services where you must take responsibility for your own bags. Bell Services CMs cannot load DME luggage directly onto the DME bus; that is done by the DME drivers, who are subcontractor employees rather than Disney CMs. Bell Services will likely bring your luggage to you NEAR where the bus will pull up, if space if available, but then you need to make sure at some point that the luggage is near enough to the bus so that the driver can load it under the bus. In my case, we had 12 bags for the 6 of us (checked and carry-on), and the Bell Services CM brought it all to me on a large luggage cart and let me use the cart to wheel it about, oh, call it 15 feet to the bus when it pulled up a few minutes later.

Another word to the wise: If you plan on having Bell Services pick up your luggage from your room (you can do this in ALL instances, whether you are using any flavor of DME or not), either make an appointment or make the call plenty early. The universal WDW checkout time is 11:00 a.m. We called for our bags to be picked up at about 10:50 a.m. They said they were too busy and that if we still wanted a pick up we could just leave the bags grouped together inside the room door (and to leave a tip if we desired) and the bags would be eventually picked up and stored for us. Since our DME bus pick up time was 4:00 p.m., we didn't care if it took a few hours for the bags to be picked up, but if we had to catch the bus soon we would have been in trouble and would have been forced to carry our bags down the stairs, across the parking lot to the buss top, and then take them on the CBR internal shuttle to reach the Custom House -- not a pretty scenario, espcially with 2 pre-schoolers and 2 in-laws who often behave like pre-schoolers.

Another tip: if you are using Resort Airline Check-In, each guest/air passenger must show up in-person at the Resort Airline Check-In desk. You can get Bell Services to bring your luggage there, but you also must be there in order to check in the luggage, as well as check in for your flight.

It's all a heckuva lot easier than it may seem. I just like explaining all the little details so you won't encounter any surprises.

ENJOY YOUR TRIP!