Resort Thread Disney's CARIBBEAN BEACH Resort

[Randomsoulshine]

Are all fences along the pathways for construction still up? What are they doing exactly?

I’m wondering this as well. Trying to figure out if the fences will stay in a certain location or move around to other parts of resort.

 

[firefly_ris]

Are all fences along the pathways for construction still up? What are they doing exactly?

Yes there are. They have been moving around the Jamaica & Aruba sections in the areas around the Skyliner poles. There is some kind of ground work going on -- something to do with reinforcing ground area around the poles to be able to more properly support emergency and work vehicles. I am not totally sure but based on photos posted in the last couple of days, a lot of work around Aruba 51 as well as near the bridge. I think buildings closer to the parking lots and bus stops are not so affected. They are starting work as early as 4AM to try to get it done faster. [eta] I should note that the early 4am starts are mostly at the Skyliner station itself, so I think building Jamaica 41 might be most affected by that.

 

[Dug720]

Yes there are. They have been moving around the Jamaica & Aruba sections in the areas around the Skyliner poles. There is some kind of ground work going on -- something to do with reinforcing ground area around the poles to be able to more properly support emergency and work vehicles. I am not totally sure but based on photos posted in the last couple of days, a lot of work around Aruba 51 as well as near the bridge. I think buildings closer to the parking lots and bus stops are not so affected. They are starting work as early as 4AM to try to get it done faster. [eta] I should note that the early 4am starts are mostly at the Skyliner station itself, so I think building Jamaica 41 might be most affected by that.

Yes. Per some people in a group on a social media site, this was not planned work, but they had to do emergency work to better secure and stabilize the death bucket poles.

 

[firefly_ris]

In timely fashion posted by @rteetz, BlogMickey says:

http://blogmickey.com/2019/03/disney-skyliner-evacuation-points-at-caribbean-beach-resort/

 

[rdaky]

In timely fashion posted by @rteetz, BlogMickey says:

http://blogmickey.com/2019/03/disney-skyliner-evacuation-points-at-caribbean-beach-resort/

This is all so interesting. It looks like a big mess. I wonder if they will reach the point when they have to shut down rooms in Jamaica or Aruba? It seems like everything is so close to some of those rooms.

 

[rteetz]

This is all so interesting. It looks like a big mess. I wonder if they will reach the point when they have to shut down rooms in Jamaica or Aruba? It seems like everything is so close to some of those rooms.

I don’t think so. This is mostly landscaping work and stuff like that. No major construction happening here. They are making the lines accessible from the ground in the case of an emergency.

 

[Dug720]

I don’t think so. This is mostly landscaping work and stuff like that. No major construction happening here. They are making the lines accessible from the ground in the case of an emergency.

Call me crazy, but you'd think they would have figured that out BEFORE they were almost done with them.

Just another reason I really hope they keep the busses as an option. I REALLY do not trust these things.

 

[rteetz]

Call me crazy, but you'd think they would have figured that out BEFORE they were almost done with them.

Just another reason I really hope they keep the busses as an option. I REALLY do not trust these things.

What do you mean? They did figure that out before they are just actually putting in the accessible areas now. You don’t put in those areas before you put up the lines.

A system like this is one of the safest transportation systems in the world and an evacuation from the line would be incredibly rare. They have back up generators and the manual pull option before they would resort to doing an evacuation like that.

 

[Dug720]

What do you mean? They did figure that out before they are just actually putting in the accessible areas now. You don’t put in those areas before you put up the lines.

A system like this is one of the safest transportation systems in the world and an evacuation from the line would be incredibly rare. They have back up generators and the manual pull option before they would resort to doing an evacuation like that.

I still prefer busses.

 

[rteetz]

I still prefer busses.

And that’s fine but you may have to choose another resort for that.

 

[Dug720]

And that’s fine but you may have to choose another resort for that.

Or stick to cruises - which are not necessarily always going to be on Disney. I'd already decided not to renew my AP when it's up for renewal. Restricting people transportation options like that is a sure way to send more and more people off property or to other options.

Also, given that this latest work has been described by more than one person as "emergency, unplanned" work, that tells me that it was NOT thought out in advance but came up on safety inspections.

 

[rteetz]

Or stick to cruises - which are not necessarily always going to be on Disney. I'd already decided not to renew my AP when it's up for renewal. Restricting people transportation options like that is a sure way to send more and more people off property or to other options.

Also, given that this latest work has been described by more than one person as "emergency, unplanned" work, that tells me that it was NOT thought out in advance but came up on safety inspections.

I’ll agree to disagree then.

 

[Randomsoulshine]

I’ll agree to disagree then.

Do you think this type of construction will move to all the other “islands” or stick to Jamaica and Aruba? I’m thinking of requesting Barbados but it could have moved there by early June.

 

[firefly_ris]

Do you think this type of construction will move to all the other “islands” or stick to Jamaica and Aruba? I’m thinking of requesting Barbados but it could have moved there by early June.

The Skyliner is only in the Jamaica and Aruba sections so no, Barbados and Martinique won't be affected. We stayed in Barbados last month and everything was fine.

 

[ninafeliz]

I still prefer busses.

I think any resort with an alternative to busses will be in much more demand than those that only have busses. I know we were in Disney for last New Years Eve but couldn’t stay at a deluxe resort due to restrictions of those we travelled with, so we chose not to go to Epcot that night even for a brief time just because of the traffic nightmare that day/evening is. Had we been somewhere we could have taken a monorail or gondola (or walked obviously) we would have definitely gone over at some point, even to just say we had been at Epcot on New Years Eve! We like AKL, but the lack of alternative transportation makes us reluctant to choose it, as my DH tries to avoid busses in any way he can, at least until we no longer have young kids. It’s yet to be seen how smooth this will all end up being, and I don’t know how I feel about the sight lines changing with these towers and gondolas visible everywhere, but I think having a method of transportation that traffic or accidents can’t slow down is great.

 

[BebopBaloo]

Does the work seem to be progressing at a quick pace, or is this something that will probably be on going into the spring and summer months?

 

[rteetz]

Does the work seem to be progressing at a quick pace, or is this something that will probably be on going into the spring and summer months?

This isn't long term construction.

 

[mcurran]

I’ll agree to disagree then.

I agree safety shouldn’t be a reason to not do skyliner - but I can see many with a fear of heights or small confined spaces may be less than enthusiastic about it.

However my specific beef with skyliner at CBR is the location. It’s not by the preferred rooms or the main lobby. It’s in fact on the other end of the resort. It’s not convenient. It seems to me if Disney was going to bulldoze a whole section of a resort for a dvc tower, close the main lobby and food area for over a year, that they could have (or at least should have) also encorporated the new lobby and food court with the gondola station. It’s really quite a big oversight.

And before someone tells me that “there’s a lot of walking at the parks so what’s 5 minutes more”, you’d be missing the point. Strollers, rain storms, mobility impaired and those seeking convenience at a premium cost are all jumping to mind.

 

[rteetz]

However my specific beef with skyliner at CBR is the location. It’s not by the preferred rooms or the main lobby. It’s in fact on the other end of the resort. It’s not convenient. It seems to me if Disney was going to bulldoze a whole section of a resort for a dvc tower, close the main lobby and food area for over a year, that they could have (or at least should have) also encorporated the new lobby and food court with the gondola station. It’s really quite a big oversight.

And before someone tells me that “there’s a lot of walking at the parks so what’s 5 minutes more”, you’d be missing the point. Strollers, rain storms, mobility impaired and those seeking convenience at a premium cost are all jumping to mind.

There will be an internal bus loop that stops at the Skyliner station to help with that. They built it where they had space for a major station as well as a space that could then be connected to DHS and Epcot. While inconvenient in terms of proximity to guest rooms its quite convenient in many other ways.

 

[Randomsoulshine]

Does the work seem to be progressing at a quick pace, or is this something that will probably be on going into the spring and summer months?

I do know I received a construction email a couple of weeks ago regarding my stay which will be in June. It didn’t give any details.