Comparing POR to CBR

[Tarheel girl 1975]

We stayed at CBR last January and we really liked it. We thought about going back for our next trip, but really want to try staying at POR too. Tonight I changed our reservation to POR, but I would love to know more about the resort. Has anyone who has stayed at both tell me how they compare size wise? We had a decent location at CBR, but we really didn't think it was too big. Is POR a similar size? How about the buses? We had good luck most of the time at CBR. Do POR and POFQ share most of the time? How crowded are the buses? Anything else we should try to do while we're there?

 

[bellerunner]

I've stayed at both, and thought that CBR was much more spread out than POR.

The buses do share at most times. Pick-up from the parks at peak times, they tend to be separate.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

The buses do share at most times. Pick-up from the parks at peak times, they tend to be separate.

Does that make the buses really crowded? I have these visions (or nightmares) of the buses being so full from POFQ that they just skip POR (or pick up very few people.)

 

[bellerunner]

I found them no more crowded than the buses from other resorts. For reference, I've also stayed at BC, BWV, AKL, CBR, and CSR, and taken the buses from all but BWV (went to EPCOT on that trip only).

I don't recall them ever not picking up people, although the later stops tend to be standing room only during peak times.

 

[canadianmom2three]

Just got back from 10 days at POR, and had a GREAT TIME!!! Loved the resort, and experienced all kinds of busses. Some were packed so full you could hardly breathe, and there were an equal number of times where we had our pick of the seats, or were the only ones on the bus (Christmas day at noon, leaving MK?!?), with lots of in between. Very rarely we shared with FQ, most times not. No problems EVER leaving a park, we were usually in a fairly short line, or riding a mostly empty bus. I think only a very few times did busses drive by, while we were waiting at the north depot at peak times, but another was usually right behind. I think no matter where you stay you will get all kinds of bus rides, to me, the busses were better than I expected given that it was Christmas week. HAve a great time!!!!

 

[tanyaandallie]

We have stayed at both. The theme is so very different between the 2 resorts. I prefer POR. It is a big resort but didn't feel as spread out as CBR. The paths at POR are so much more shaded. We stayed at CBR this summer and I seriously almost stroked out walking from our room to the big pool. Zoiks! It was HOT and FAR.

I did not see any difference between the buses. We had good days and bad at both resorts. I would not worry about the bus situation at all.

 

[sl_underwood]

We have stayed at both and I must say my vote would be for POR. The resort was lovely, the rooms were nice, busses were great, and food court was good. Had issues with busses at CBR, loved the hammocks but the resort was way to spread out for us. room was nice, our son enjoyed the pirate theme, but the food court was awful. Of the two, would definitely choose POR.

 

[sunnysideup3]

We did POR for 8 days in the beginning of December and I loved it. We were in Oak Manor (mansion side) and it was a great location. I thought it was beautiful layed out, the buses were efficient (we rarely shared with POFQ), and the boat to DTD was a great perk...

 

[Sue M]

We stayed at both. CBR was our first on site stay. We were in Jamaica and loved it. Great location, nice beaches with hammocks beautiful landscapping, good bus service. Really nothing we didn't like about CBR.

Then we decided to try POR, and is now our fav Moderate. Both are great resorts but POR has a bit more to offer IMO. Rooms are being newly refirbished with queens.
Boat to DTD, Horse & Carriage rides, evening entertainment in the lounge. Beautiful landscaping. I love strolling around the resort.

We've never had problems with busses at POR. We stay in the mansion section, and usually use that bus stop. Most of the time it's last to be picked up, and goes straight to the parks. Never found a problem with bus being full.
I think during peak morning times both POR & FQ run their own buses. And returning from the parks at night they have their own bus too.

I think the resorts are pretty similar in size. The diff. I think is at CBR they are around a lake you have to walk around to get to the main ammenities - food etc. Except for the bridge in the middle that goes from Jamaica/Aruba area to food & pool area. Also the Main Desk/Lobby is in a different area at CBR.

At POR the Lobby, Dining, Resort shop & lounge is all in the same area. Also being along the river, there are several bridges crossing over the river to get you where you want to go, so it's easier.

 

[GoHerbie]

About a week ago we returned from our first Carribean beach trip, and we won't be returning there. On 2 prior trips we stayed at POR and liked that much better. We'll be returning to POR future trips, and it feels more like a moderate than CBR did.

- POR food court is laid out nicer, and part of the seating area has carpet which is more quiet than the one at CBR. We specifically drove to POR just to have one meal at the food court.

- The store at POR seemed larger with more selection than CBR.

- POR mansion buildings have elevators, CBR doesn't. That didn't matter on this trip where the whole family helped unloading and loading the car, but if you have lots of youngins and a lot of stuff the elevator could be helpfu.

- An advantage of CBR is that it's centerally located, if you leave out the back gate it's only one stoplight to Hollywood studios. But, if you're an early light sleeper the proximity to Epcot means you'll be hearing Illuminations fireworks every night at 9:40pm.

- The POR boats to Downtown Disney are a nice option if you don't want to brave the parking lot.

- We only took the bus to the MK on all trips, and the service was similar between POR and CBR. We drove to all other resorts.

- At the MK, the CBR bus stop is farther away than some of the values, but the POR bus stop is in the closer building. Not a big deal.

- The room at CBR smelled very musty for the first few days, and we never had that problem at POR. Maybe it was just luck of the draw if the room was unoccuiped for the days before our visit.

- Beds at CBR were much more uncomfortable than POR.

- Both resorts are spread out about the same. The walk from the southern part of Jamaica wasn't bad, but the pirate rooms in Trinidad south would be more of a hike.

- One nice thing about CBR was the nightly marshmellow roast on the beach, but POR has (or had) a similar campfire.

 

[AJA]

Buses are the same everywhere. It is LUCK and nothing more so don't base a location on that, unless of course you are on the monorail or boardwalk so you don't need a bus for every park kwim?

POR is our choice. We really did not love CBR except for the pool. CBR's pool is better but at POR you can pool hope down to the French Quarter to try something new.

 

[nkereina]

I've stayed at both, and thought that CBR was much more spread out than POR.

The buses do share at most times. Pick-up from the parks at peak times, they tend to be separate.

It could be different at different times of year, but this was not our experience with the POR buses in September - which is low crowd season. Every morning and at park closing, POR and POFQ had their own buses. Even when coming back for mid-day breaks, POR had its own bus. We only shared with POFQ twice during our week long stay and it was at an off hour, and the bus was not crowded - still room to sit.

If you didn't think CBR was too big, then the POR size won't be an issue. It's smaller and does not have the internal bus system that CBR has.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

We have stayed at both and love both! After staying at all the other moderates (and CBR 2X) we finally decided to give POR a try. It was the mod that interested us the least. But we ended up loving it! It is now our 2nd fav mod, right behind CBR. It is so close that it is almost a tie! The only thing that gives CBR the edge for us is that the main pool is better, and we happen to prefer the theme of CBR more.

So I say, definitely give POR a try! There really isn't much difference in the size. Both are very spacious and lush, which we enjoy. Both have some rooms that can be kind of far out there, but still under a 10 minute walk to everything, and even less than that to a bus stop since there are multiple stops. So no big deal! It takes about the same amount of time for the bus to make all the stops at both (about 7-10 minutes) before leaving the resort. In our experience POR & POFQ shared buses to everywhere except for the MK. The buses did seem a bit more crowded than the CBR buses, but still not terrible. I would recommend using the main depot bus stop at POR (the one outside the lobby/gift shop/food court building) though. It is the second stop, after the one at POFQ, so you have a better chance of getting a seat on the bus. And a few times I saw the buses fill up after those 2 stops and the driver had to radio in for them to send another bus for the rest of the stops.


Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Magalex]

We are staying at CBR in June 2012. We did stay at CBR in June 2007 & loved it! We were in Jamaica so had no issues with distance from food court & buses. I love the theme at CBR. I did try to make reservations at POR this time but it is not available during our week. We received a 30 % discount Pin code so I am not complaining. I picked CBR because of the pool for our 11 yr old DS. It will be different because the pool has been renovated since our trip in 2007 & he was 6 at the time. He doesn't really remember any details about CBR. So brand new resort for him. I think both resorts are lovely

 

[dansdad]

You really can't go wrong with either resort, they are both great. My family just happens to love CBR. The main pool is great with it's 2 slides and 2 jacuzzis. Plus each section has it's own quiet pool. We really enjoy the foodcourt at CBR. We happen to like the fact that the resort is spread out. Even at near full capacity, it did not feel like it. It still had a peaceful tranquil ambiance.

I know you'll enjoy no matter which one you choose!

 

[Day-Day]

We stayed at CBR for our very first visit to WDW and really liked it. We tried to book it for our 2nd visit but it was full and "Dixie Landings" (POR-Riverside) was available so we gave it a try. We like POR-Riverside better. I like the landscaping of POR and the food court better. (I think the food court has been changed at CBR since our visit though.)

I have booked CBR for our visit this March because POR wasn't available with the discount we are using. I have since found POR available but decided to stick with CBR because it has been so long since our last visit there. We have stayed at POR a number of times and prefer it over Wilderness Lodge and All-Stars (other places we have stayed). I prefer Poly but its not worth the cost difference for this trip.

We will have a car so any differences in transportation are not important to us. Since we are going in March, if we have to walk a little farther out in the open at CBR on this trip it is not a big deal. We normally have snacks and drinks in our room and if we end up a long ways from the food court it will not be a big deal. We prefer the quiet pools so we don't care to be close to the main pool. Basically, the extra size of CBR is an inconvenience but I don't think it will be too much for this visit.

The new addition of queen beds and refurbishment at POR may be enough to make me try to switch before we make our trip though.

 

[Amy&Dan]

We have stayed at both and love them both. I am a bit partial to POR, I prefer its food court and main pool (although I think CBR has an awesome pool, but for my teenagers, POR's is better).

We are so excited to have our second stay at CBR next month! POR was not available for our dates and I was disappointed briefly then remembered how much we enjoyed CBR in 2006 when we stayed there.

I think if you enjoyed CBR you will enjoy POR. POR feels a bit smaller to me but that may just be my perception. They are both spread out resorts but I find them both manageable.

If you can get into POR, I'd try something new which is always fun!