Disney's CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT Information & Questions-Old Thread-New Thread Link in Post 1

[dis_guy]

I agree...it must be hard to be a CM with a full resort and potentially LOTS of unhappy guests. I think for the most part, they try as much as they can to stay cheery. But they are only human.

I was wondering, as I'm new to this board (but a longtime "resident" of CBR):

1: how often do people actually not get a room at CBR when that is where they booked, and
2: how often are people moved to the Pirate Rooms being told it's an upgrade?

I was wondering about this too. In our experience of seven stays now, we've never had any difficulties. On our first trip during a March break we were very late arriving (delayed flight) and still got our requested connecting rooms. We've been back a couple more times for busy spring break trips and always got the room we paid for as well as connecting rooms as requested. For two Christmas week trips (it doesn't get busier than that) we also got our rooms and requests, no problem. Our last few trips have just been DW and me, staying in king bed rooms, and again we got just what we paid for and in Jamaica as requested. Our last trip was March 2014 so I'm hoping this may just be a "thing" associated with the renos taking some rooms out of the inventory for an extended time.

 

[ToTLaugher]

Can anyone share their opinion of Shutters? I'm debating how to handle our arrival day. We land at 2pm and as of now have an ADR for dinner at Raglan Road and planned on just spending the evening at DTD. But I'd like to have a relatively easy day and I'm starting to wonder if we should just hang at the resort and call it an early night so we can rest up and hit the parks first thing the next day. Is the TS restaurant good here? Anyone dined here with food allergies?

We were at CBR last week and ended up eating at Shutters twice. All of us loved our meals and the service we received. I would highly recommend a dinner there. By the way, our second meal was a walk up and they had no problem seating us, even with several large parties there.

 

[Artax]

Hi everyone, new to the thread. Currently booked at Pop for our May star wars weekend trip with my wife, kids, mother and step father. Today my mother springs on me she would like to switch to Caribbean Beach. Wife and I stayed here in 2007 for our honeymoon but now with more people and everything has been refurbed I am now scrambling to figure out room requests.

Our current building preference seems to be Jamaica Bldg 45 Standard room. for proximity to transportation and OPR. So here is my question

Are there connecting rooms in this building for standard rooms? I have touringplans room finder and they show every room in bldg 45 and 46 as not connecting. I havent looked at every room at CBR on that site, but seems strange they are showing no connecting rooms at all. Anyone know?

 

[dansdad]

Hi everyone, new to the thread. Currently booked at Pop for our May star wars weekend trip with my wife, kids, mother and step father. Today my mother springs on me she would like to switch to Caribbean Beach. Wife and I stayed here in 2007 for our honeymoon but now with more people and everything has been refurbed I am now scrambling to figure out room requests.

Our current building preference seems to be Jamaica Bldg 45 Standard room. for proximity to transportation and OPR. So here is my question

Are there connecting rooms in this building for standard rooms? I have touringplans room finder and they show every room in bldg 45 and 46 as not connecting. I havent looked at every room at CBR on that site, but seems strange they are showing no connecting rooms at all. Anyone know?

The room finder is not accurate when it comes to room types. Every building has connecting rooms in each category. We love Jamaica by the way.

 

[Metz172]

Buses start rolling at 6:30AM, so you could take a bus. But they also don't run as frequently that early so I would take a taxi. Taxis will pick you up in the circular drive of you building. My suggestion would be to call Bell Services the night before or by 6:00AM that morning and order a cab.

Thank you so much

 

[Artax]

The room finder is not accurate when it comes to room types. Every building has connecting rooms in each category. We love Jamaica by the way.

Thank you. I had thought that may be the case but figured someone here would know for sure.

 

[Lacoccinelle]

How old are your girls? We brought our stroller with us last trip (2013) just for DD as DS was almost 7. He got so tired that we ended up renting a stroller one day for him (and honestly, should have done it much sooner). I don't think I'd take a chance of renting at the parks (they are expensive IMO if you need them often) and as PP mentioned, there's no guarantee that they'll have one when you need it. You could rent a smaller double from one of the stroller rental companies that might be less cumbersome. We rent a car when we go so the stroller and buses aren't an issue but I would hope in WDW of all places that the bus drivers would be patient with you while loading your stroller.

They will still need it! 5 and 4. We talked it over and really just want to take our own. It is nice at the airport too. It is not the bus drivers, it is room on the buses and people on the buses letting you on. We rarely had this problem at WL the last few times, but there were a few times that were frustrating and we even got kicked off once for a scooter at the stop that was not ours at GF.

 

[OZMom]

Hi everyone!
This has to be one of the most thorough resort threads I have seen. The pictures are fantastic!! Thanks for all your hard work!
We had booked POP for a grown ups only trip during SWW. We called to add a night at POP and it wasn't available, so we are switching to CBR. Our last trip we stayed at POR, and LOVED it. I was just wondering if you can put in room requests at CBR similar to how we did at POR, i.e. certain buildings, ground floor, etc? Also, this will be our first time in this hotel as well as our first time on Disney transportation so any advice is welcome.

 

[sbarisch]

Hi everyone!
This has to be one of the most thorough resort threads I have seen. The pictures are fantastic!! Thanks for all your hard work!
We had booked POP for a grown ups only trip during SWW. We called to add a night at POP and it wasn't available, so we are switching to CBR. Our last trip we stayed at POR, and LOVED it. I was just wondering if you can put in room requests at CBR similar to how we did at POR, i.e. certain buildings, ground floor, etc? Also, this will be our first time in this hotel as well as our first time on Disney transportation so any advice is welcome.

You can definitely put in room requests for which area, buildings, floors, etc. I make all requests by calling Disney and having them entered on my ressie. Some individuals have reported success in faxing requests, as well.

 

[hcox31]

If they treat requests as just unguaranteed preferences, what can they really do if at the time of check-in, those requests can't be met? If the resort is full, there is not much they can do. I would hate to be a CM trying to maintain a cheery disposition with a full resort and guests refusing to be put in certain rooms. Unless you can start paying extra to guarantee your preferences, you are plugged into an algorithm and rooms assigned accordingly. You always read on this thread, "request Jamaica 45", or whatever, well obviously not everyone is going to get Jamaica 45. I hope we get our requests, but in the end, I'll be happy to just be there and away from 3 feet of snow.

I would have been fine with being In Any other village EXCEPT the pirate rooms. They are NOT an upgrade as we were being told.

I totally get that requests are just that and can not be guaranteed. But don't sell me on something that isn't true just because it's more expensive.

 

[ccminnich]

So booked to stay in the pirate room 3/28-4/4 not much on here about them other then it's not an upgrade I'm getting worried... Should we switch to a regular room?? First time staying for the whole week worried about our choice now.

 

[ccminnich]

Please add us for February 24-27

This will be our first visit to CBR...well our first stay on Disney property period.
We are thrilled! Not much could bother me at this point...although the construction talk has a me a bit worried.

We are staying in a pirate room with water view. From everything I've read (the good and the bad) I think we will be pleased. We are a small family: me, DH and DD who is 4 and loves all things Disney. What 4yr old doesn't?!? I want to capitalize on the pirate theme and have Tinkerbell deliver a Zarina doll and book while we stay. That should give a little girly spin on the masculine pirate room. ARghh!

Thanks so much for a beautiful opening to the thread. The pictures and info are awesome!! WE can't wait!!

Our first visit to CBR will be at end of March in a pirate room as well. Would live to hear how your trip goes (bad reviews have me a tad nervous). I love the Tinker Bell Zarina doll idea - totally going to borrow - thanks

 

[Airship Ariadne]

So booked to stay in the pirate room 3/28-4/4 not much on here about them other then it's not an upgrade I'm getting worried... Should we switch to a regular room?? First time staying for the whole week worried about our choice now.

It depends on what you want...to many families, the Pirate theme and decor make them special and worth the upgrade (like the Royal rooms at POR) but to guests that are mainly looking for a bed at night and don't care about the theme, they are not special. They are farther away from the food court and pool than any other section so not an "upgrade" for those people. For those that bring their own vehicle, it is fine, because you can drive to the pool and food court, if not, you are in for a 10 minute walk or a wait for the internal bus.

So why did YOU book there? If you are giving your kids a special room treat, then it IS an upgrade. Did you just want a comfortable room, then you might want to save the money and switch to a standard room.

 

[lovingeire]

So booked to stay in the pirate room 3/28-4/4 not much on here about them other then it's not an upgrade I'm getting worried... Should we switch to a regular room?? First time staying for the whole week worried about our choice now.

Our first visit to CBR will be at end of March in a pirate room as well. Would live to hear how your trip goes (bad reviews have me a tad nervous). I love the Tinker Bell Zarina doll idea - totally going to borrow - thanks

My family stayed in a pirate room in December '09. It was me, DH and our oldest who was 9 at the time. We loved it honestly. My biggest beef was the double beds, and I swore I wouldn't do them again, but my son ate up the decor. He loved it. We had a water view that was beautiful with a pool practically right outside our door. Besides the double beds the other complaint is distance to the main pool/food court/etc and we didn't find it bad at all. We ate breakfast at the food court any morning we didn't have a breakfast ressie and found the walk enjoyable. We just took our time. It was longer than say Little Mermaid or Cars to the AoA food court, but we're also not people who complain about walking. With younger kids I can see how that could be more frustrating. We stayed at AoA in a family suite and Wilderness Lodge on our last two family trips and are trying to decide if we splurge for WL again or scale back to a Preferred room at CBR this trip. I had my mind made up, but I can't seem to pull the trigger and give up the Lodge. (Mostly because we really enjoy the boat to MK and not having to collapse the stroller.) But honestly if you want the pirate experience, your kids will love it and you can handle double beds I say go for it. We really enjoyed it!

 

[pinkle]

Ok, so I haven't read all of this thread Our family of 5 usually stays at POR and we love it but we would really like to try something new. I am just a little concerned about the amount of bus stops and walking. Can anyone fill me in?? Thanks

 

[pinkle]

....also the does anyone know the location of the rooms for 5..water front and standard.......so many questions Thanks again

 

[dansdad]

Ok, so I haven't read all of this thread Our family of 5 usually stays at POR and we love it but we would really like to try something new. I am just a little concerned about the amount of bus stops and walking. Can anyone fill me in?? Thanks

We were big fans of POR until our first stay at CBR and now we can't seem to go back. One of the things we really like about CBR is the fact that every village has their own bus stop. This ensures we are never far from one. We have had some rooms at POR that made for a bit of a walk to the bus stop. Even if you get on at the first stop you are pulling out of the CBR proper in about 8 minutes. I would gladly spend a couple minutes sitting on an air conditioned bus than walking further to a bus stop.

Also, the way CBR is laid out, 75% of the non-preferred rooms are less than a 7 minute stroll to OPR and the main pool. And most of those are around 4-5 minutes. I have never once wanted/needed to go to OPR and thought "oh man I don't want to walk that far for a drink/snack/etc.". We also really like that the check-in/check-out is not in the same area as the food court, arcade, shop, pool etc. When all those things are close together it feels like chaos. Most people don't realize there is a concierge desk at OPR that can handle anything the front desk can except checking in and out. And we have Bell Services pick us and our luggage up when it's time to check out and catch ME.

Another thing we like about CBR is that it is a larger resort. Even when the resort is at capacity, it never feels like it. It is such a nice break from the craziness of the parks. There is an internal bus that runs but after multiple stays at CBR it's never crossed our mind to use it. We usually go during Free Dining and it's at capacity and we always feel like we're the only people in our building. We have yet to figure out exactly why, but we all feel that way.

Don't get me wrong, POR is a great resort. But for the above reasons, we prefer CBR.

 

[dansdad]

....also the does anyone know the location of the rooms for 5..water front and standard.......so many questions Thanks again

There are rooms for 5 in every building except for the Pirate rooms. They are sprinkled throughout the resort.

Also, you mentioned you haven't been able to read the entire thread. But make sure you read the first 2 pages. Most of your questions will be answered there.

 

[pinkle]

We were big fans of POR until our first stay at CBR and now we can't seem to go back. One of the things we really like about CBR is the fact that every village has their own bus stop. This ensures we are never far from one. We have had some rooms at POR that made for a bit of a walk to the bus stop. Even if you get on at the first stop you are pulling out of the CBR proper in about 8 minutes. I would gladly spend a couple minutes sitting on an air conditioned bus than walking further to a bus stop.

Also, the way CBR is laid out, 75% of the non-preferred rooms are less than a 7 minute stroll to OPR and the main pool. And most of those are around 4-5 minutes. I have never once wanted/needed to go to OPR and thought "oh man I don't want to walk that far for a drink/snack/etc.". We also really like that the check-in/check-out is not in the same area as the food court, arcade, shop, pool etc. When all those things are close together it feels like chaos. Most people don't realize there is a concierge desk at OPR that can handle anything the front desk can except checking in and out. And we have Bell Services pick us and our luggage up when it's time to check out and catch ME.

Another thing we like about CBR is that it is a larger resort. Even when the resort is at capacity, it never feels like it. It is such a nice break from the craziness of the parks. There is an internal bus that runs but after multiple stays at CBR it's never crossed our mind to use it. We usually go during Free Dining and it's at capacity and we always feel like we're the only people in our building. We have yet to figure out exactly why, but we all feel that way.

Don't get me wrong, POR is a great resort. But for the above reasons, we prefer CBR.

Thats good news. We hope to get free dining and I was told POR was excluded last year. Its so unpredictable anyway. I think we may chance it and try CB It sounds like you don't miss POR

 

[dansdad]

Thats good news. We hope to get free dining and I was told POR was excluded last year. Its so unpredictable anyway. I think we may chance it and try CB It sounds like you don't miss POR

If we couldn't get CBR for some reason and POR was available, we would have no problem going back. But with the option, we will always choose CBR.