CBR Transportation Difficulties

[kshavu]

We're going to CBR in a few weeks and I've been reading of bussing difficulties - ie long waits, no room on busses when they do finally arrive. These posts were a few months old. Has anyone been recently and do you know if Disney has improved on this service that we're paying for?

Thanks!

Karen

 

[NjRon]

I had a 9 day stay at the CBR in late May. From what I could see, it all depends on your room location. We were in S. Trinadad
which just so happen to be the last stop on our bus route. consequently we were picked up/dropped of last. S. Trinadad is
so far from the food court/theme pool that we drove up for
meals and only visited the pool twice in 9 days. I would strongly
recomend trying to get a room as close to Old Port Royal
(food court) as possible. This MIGHT help, but with some where
around 5,000 rooms not everyone can be that close.

Good lick.

 

[NjRon]

Sorry, I meant Good Luck !!

I should preview my posts

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

I haven't heard of any service issues at the Caribbean Beach as of lately. One thing to remember, during peak times, things WILL get busy. Buses will fill up.

Our dynamic dispatching system is designed to work with the crowds. Buses can take a multitude of different routes. When one bus fills up, another will continue on.

Contrary to popular belief, Trinidad South is NOT always the last stop, in fact, many times it can be the first. Jamaica and Martinique are the two other common start points.

 

[NjRon]

Service was great don't get me wrong, we even had one driver
doing Disney trivia all the way back.

Don't believe everything they tell you Chip. It was the last stop
every time I rode a bus from May 10 - May 18, 2003. Try standing
from Trinidad South to MK with a 3 year old. Now, I will be the
first to admit that my luck isn't the best when it comes to things
like this.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by NjRon
Don't believe everything they tell you Chip. It was the last stop every time I rode a bus from May 10 - May 18, 2003.

It's certainly very well possible that the buses you rode happened to be "B-Side" buses. That doesn't mean that EVERY bus is a B-Side. Considering that over 400 buses will drive through Caribbean Beach on any given day, there's bound to be a bunch that go to Trinidad South as the first stop.

As for what "they" tell me... well... as a Disney Bus Driver, I can assure you that Trinidad South is the first stop on many of my runs, and many of my co-workers.

 

[NjRon]

Good to hear it was just my usual bad luck.

 

[kshavu]

Thanks Chip 'n Dale - good to hear things run smoothly most of the time. If we did decide to rent a car and drive to the parks, which would be the best, iyho, to drive to. If I understand correctly to get to MK we'd have to park and take a tram. Is it possible to park at the Contemporary and take the monorail? I'm assuming not likely, just hoping. I just want to try to avoid the long waits as much as possible with 3 little kids, they'll drive us nuts wanting to get to where they're going NOW! If it were just me, believe me, I'd sit back and enjoy the wait and the bus rides. From what i read it's probably best to drive to other resorts for dinners, etc, and dtd?

Thanks for your input! I was hoping to hear from you as I understand you are the supreme authority when it comes to transportation on these boards.

Njron - don't worry, I didn't even notice the 'good lick' on your response. If we do end up not renting a car, i'm going to ask to be put in Jamaica so hopefully we'll be first on/off most of the time.

Thanks again!

Karen

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by kshavu
Thanks Chip 'n Dale - good to hear things run smoothly most of the time. If we did decide to rent a car and drive to the parks, which would be the best, iyho, to drive to. If I understand correctly to get to MK we'd have to park and take a tram. Is it possible to park at the Contemporary and take the monorail? I'm assuming not likely, just hoping.

When you park at the Contemporary, they give you a parking pass that is good for 3 hours... parking there to go to the MK isn't allowed.

If you did decide to rent a car, DTD and AK might be the places you drive to. I only suggest these two areas not because of service, but because they make additional stops.

MK, I'd definetly take the bus. The bus bypasses the TTC, and goes directly to the MK.

Epcot and Studios are only about 5 mins away... it's really a tossup for what you want to do. I personally would take the bus.

 

[NjRon]

Kshvu - I parked at the Comtemp on 2 separate occasions
with no hassels. Once for Chef Mickey's, then MK and once to ride
the monorail to MK. Many cars go in there for Chef Mickey's,
I can't see how they can keep track.

If I recall, the monorail picks up at the Contemp, then continues
on to the Poly & GF, then to MK. Not a bad ride, my 3 year
old couldn't get enough of it.

I've also parked at the GF for 1900 Park Fare character bkfst,
then took the monorail to Epcot leaving the car there for the day. Again, no hassels, but I did park out in the boonies.

You can also view the fireworks from the Contemp and get
out of there a head of the crowd.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Parking at the Contemporary for the reason of going to the MK is frowned up big time by Disney, and those staying at the Contemporary. They only have a small parking lot, and it's hard enough for those staying at the resort to find a parking space without people abusing the lot.

 

[NjRon]

Chip is right. You should take the bus, I'll drive to the Contemp
and we can race back to CBR after the fireworks. I'll bet you
a set of Mickey ears my kids are in bed before yours !!

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by NjRon
Chip is right. You should take the bus, I'll drive to the Contemp
and we can race back to CBR after the fireworks. I'll bet you a set of Mickey ears my kids are in bed before yours !!

The bus might get there a few minutes later, but it still doesn't make abusing the Contemporary parking lot right.

 

[NjRon]

Karen - OK, you've got both the corporate response and the
insider response. Bottom line - enjoy your vacation.

It looks like I've ruffled some feathers, if you want more tips on
navigating the parks PM me. If Chip doesn't like my way of
getting around the MK fireworks, he REALLY won't like my
tip on Illuminations. You learn a lot with six trips in 8 years.

Enjoy your stay.

Ron

 

[honeymo78]

I have heard that recently cars have been towed or ticketed for being over the 3 hour pass limit - if it's a rental I wouldn't risk having this happen.

 

[NjRon]

Karen - I think we have drifted from your question.

In MY experiance at the CBR:

Service issues (ie, breakdowns) none

Long Lines - yes, during peak times and after night time
events. Sometimes the park queue lines were filled and we had
to wait for 2 to 3 buses. MK + Epcot

Long waits - yes during peak times. 4 of my party of 8 waited
45 mins for a bus from Trinadad S to AK on a Saturday morn.

Co-workers were there mid June and and had similar
experiances.

CBR is a very large resort attracting a large number of guests.

 

[Sam0794]

Got back from CBR yesterday. Only had 1 problem with the busses - other than that they were fine. We were in Aruba (so we were usually the 2nd stop) - but not always - sometimes they did start elsewhere.........

The only problem we had was when we went to Epcot. We just missed one bus, waited approx 20 min and the next bus went by us because it was full - ended up seeing 3 busses for each park (except Epcot). I got on one of the busses and asked where ours was - he said he would call. Within a few minutes there were 2 Epcot busses.

Other than that we had absolutely no problems with the busses. We never really waited more than a few minutes. Yes, some at the end of the night were very crowded, but they are transporting a lot of people back at once. I thought overall it was very organized.

 

[Tnkrbl2199]

During our stay at CBR the buses were always very crowded. It was never a prob going b/c we requested Jamaica and we got picked up and dropped off first. But almost every morning, the bus was at max capacity before we got to Trinidad N much less south. I felt so bad for those people. The other problem was that CBR's bus stop at parks like MK never had enough buses (during our trip) to get CBR guests. We waited while all other resort bus stops emptied and we stood there...it took another 2 buses to get us all back. This was every evening at MK or Epcot. This happened to a friend of mine who stayed there a few months ago.
We stayed at CSR last year during the same time of year and did not have a single problem with the buses. I think CBR is just so big with not enough buses to accomodate.
Good luck...I'd request Jamaica or Martinique...better chances there.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by Tnkrbl2199
But almost every morning, the bus was at max capacity before we got to Trinidad N much less south. I felt so bad for those people.

Perhaps... but what you don't see is the second bus that started at Martinique and DID get those people.