Is CBR worth a try???

[disneyseniors]

Gee Whiz, OP, I guess you've been told how to spend your money and what to tell you kids! So, there you go!
Honestly, it's YOUR money and YOUR kids, so do what you feel us right for you.
We have not been to CBR, but it looks great! We go to POR and our 4th trip is coming up this November. We heard all the stories about how big it is, slow the buses are, how crowded the food court is. And guess what? None of that happened for us. We love the resort and are happy we went even with the negative reports.
So, whether you stay at CR or go to CBR, it's your choice on how to spend your money!
Have a great vacation either way

 

[ChasingLeslie]

Personally, saving the money would be a no-brainer in this case. I could not be in debt over a vacation, no matter how excited my children are to stay at a certain place.

I would suggest showing them a YouTube walk through of CBR (and Boardwalk if that's a second option) to get them excited about the switch.

As others have said, CBR is a great mod with refurbed rooms, fun theme, a yummy food court, and wonderful pools!

 

[maryj11]

LOL...I am looking at pics and the refurb rooms and pool do look great. I am strongly leaning towards going for it. I just feel like we are never in the room anyway. My only problem will be that the kids are super excited about the Contemporary.

We have been thinking about staying at CBR for the past 2 trips but never did. I would go for it ! If it will take 2 years to pay off I would definitely switch to CBR. I think the kids will love the pool at CBR. We are never in the room either but do take one day to swim at the resort. I don't know if that is worth paying for a deluxe though. I do like the transportation options at some of the deluxes. I have a friend who has stayed at CBR over 20 times and she loves that resort.

 

[Kevin355]

I wasn't trying to sound rude...I changed the title. I am mostly concerned about the transportation. We love pop because it has one bus stop. Boardwalk is also available and would save us some (not as much as CBR) but at least we could walk to Epcot. I think the busses would drive us crazy, but still is worth looking at because of the savings.

Just spent 7 days at CBR. Have never had a bad stay there, the longest wait for a bus that we had this past week was maybe 7-10 minutes, and only because the MK bus had to load to people in scooters (we were waiting for DtD). Have stayed at CBR many times and am scheduling again for next year. Great resort.

 

[kandb]

why not try animal kingdom lodge....it will be a lot cheaper than contemp..and still a deluxe.....cbr is a great place too but it is spaced out so there is walking involved to get anything cbr is always my 2nd choice animal kingdom my 1st.....

Can't sleep 5 at AKL without getting a super expensive room.

 

[kandb]

We stayed at CBR this past Aug/Sept for the first time and Loved it.

 

[Jhondy210]

Honestly, I love CR. I love having the monorail and being able to walk from Magic Kingdom to CR. My parents took on the trip when we stayed in CR and it was so awesome. This last trip my husband and I stayed in GF…I missed CR but my husband really wanted to stay at GF and I knew that trip would be the last time we would stay deluxe (we were using my parents DVC points and they have since sold their DVC). I'm now pricing out a trip for my husband and I in January. I would love to stay CR but I can't justify the price (nor the debt) of CR when Moderates and Values are both good hotels at Disney and we are almost never in the room. So, really all that to say that I personally wouldn't stay at CR if it meant I was in debt for the next two years.

As for your kids, obviously staying at a monorail hotel sounds exciting but I think if you showed them the pool at CR vs the pool at CBR they would love the pool at CBR better than CR and you could get them excited about that. Or you can all look at the different color buildings and try to guess what color building you all will have. Or maybe with some of the money you save, you could treat the kids to something else special that would cost way less than what you are saving…like maybe going to DQ or bowling or some other special treat.

 

[DLM1980]

LOL...I am looking at pics and the refurb rooms and pool do look great. I am strongly leaning towards going for it. I just feel like we are never in the room anyway. My only problem will be that the kids are super excited about the Contemporary.

You answered your own question in this post, you feel you are never in the room anyways....why are you spending 3K to rent a room you are not in. Downgrade that and the kids will get over it. Stay within your means too, no need to go into debt to vacation, otherwise you'll never go to Disney with happy thoughts in the future.

 

[ExExPirateShopGirl]

LOVE CBR. Just book it.

 

[Babsy]

Have you considered a split stay? Maybe start at CBR, then move to CR for the last night. Booking CR with A room only discount and eating QS might save almost as much as FD. You would still get to try CR BUT WOULD SAVE MOST OF THE MONEY. Just a thought. This is how we stayed deluxe for many years. We spent most of the trip in a value, mod or off site, then we moved for a couple of nights at the deluxe. This way we tried all the WDW resorts over the years. They are all a lot f fun to experience!

Having debt is difficult. I would have a hard time enjoying the CR knowing how much it was costing.

Good luck, whichever way you choose.

 

[goofyintoronto]

But I know that I would do whatever I could to avoid being in debt for 2 years just for a vacation. Shaving 30% off that bill by staying at a very nice mod resort would be a no brainer for me.

Bingo! Very well said. 2 years? there's just no way. and 10k? Wow!

The title of this thread is really annoying.... CBR is a great place to stay but if you feel you would be slumming it in a non-deluxe.... I cannot assist you.

I agree with the earlier poster. I would never stay somewhere that was going to end up taking me 2 years to pay off.

The Moderates fit my style for that very reason and that my fellow guests seem to love them as much as I do.

The kids should be excited about the opportunity to go to WDW regardless of resort!!

Agree with the bolded 100%. You said your torn because your kids are looking forward to the contemporary.... I've been in a situation a while back where i had to tell my son we're staying in a value, not a moderate, because mommy dearest cant afford a moderate resort (im a single mom). Guess what? He handled the news very well. No tantrum, no sulking, he survived. Im pretty sure your kids will too. They just might end up liking CBR, the pool & splash area for kids is really cool.

But the buses are part of the WDW experience!

call me crazy, but I totally agree with this!

 

[Nancyg56]

Wow, CBR and CR are two different animals in my opinion. Both have different sets of challenges and different sets of positives. I liked CBR a lot when we stayed there, and that was before the refurbished rooms. We did pay for a preferred room. This is a beautiful tranquil resort with plush tropical landscaping, hammocks inviting you to lounge on the beach, an onsite TS restaurant that I found to be very good, and a huge food court and market place. Honestly, the food court was not quiet, but that was deliberate I think. This is a huge resort and I was the only one who was okay with that. I do nto mind the bus stops, but out last stay had been the Poly, and if I heard one more time that "we could be on the monorail now" I would have choked my DD and DSIL. If you stay at CBR, you must be prepared for the buses.

CR. Oh yes, that is one pretty resort if you like staying in a toaster. LOL! Just kidding, but it really seems so sterile when compared to any other WDW resort. This is my DH favorite resort, but we still do not stay there. Back "in the day" we did, but no more. I think it is a lot of money for astetics that do not appeal to us.

The BC is a lovely resort and you can fit 5, people in it as well, but it also is pretty darn expensive. If you are soending this amount of moany I woudl expect that you would want to enjoy all the amenities. I will add that I was more annoyed with the bus service here than I was at CBR. It was excruciating.

Honestly, it you can secire a discount for you dates, and I am not sure that you can, and you use the resort room to sleep only, I would never spend the money a deluxe room costs. WE choose deluxe or moderate, depending on how we plan our stay, but before we even start planning, we determine our budget. The past two trips my DH had us plan and then tell him the cost, and I found that it wa a bit backwards. DH likes to know the upper most figure that includes all we want before we begin. I like to know the amount I can work with and then move forward. WE still always remain withing a predetermined amount. I just added a quick trip for my DDIl and I and this time we knew the cost going in before we even made a decision, and kept the cost as low as possible. WE still will have a nice vacation, eat well, see what we want, but we will not do it while strolling through the Grand Floridian. It will be paid in full though, and no debt left behind after we return.

 

[JayRee]

This might sound a bit crazy, but you can ride just ride the monorail as part of your trip plans. Last year my DH and I had ADRs at Epcot's Coral Reef Restaurant. We were staying at POFQ. We waited 40 mins for a bus to Epcot. We finally took the bus to MK and hopped the monorail to Epcot. Yeah, it took a bit of time because we had to change at TTC, but it was fun. Also, the monorail going to Epcot encircles the park, which I always find beautiful. It wasn't crowded on the Monorail at that time (about 5:00ish), so we really enjoyed it. As I said, sounds crazy, but it was fun and relaxing. Just a thought.

 

[JayRee]

Oops, forgot to mention, I have ressies at CBR for Oct 2016. Can't wait!! I loved POFQ and that was the only time be had a bus problem. Never been to CBR and looking forward to trying another resort.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

I personally would save the money and switch. What's worse, bigger resort with some walking or worrying about money for the 2+ years?

 

[aleh021]

LOL...I am looking at pics and the refurb rooms and pool do look great. I am strongly leaning towards going for it. I just feel like we are never in the room anyway. My only problem will be that the kids are super excited about the Contemporary.

To be honest, the new room refurbishments make it sort of feel like a deluxe room in a way! & it is a great resort! the resort itself might be a bit larger then others but you're in Disney World, you'll be walking like crazy anyway already!

If financially it makes more sense for you, then definitely take it into consideration. And maybe try to do a pros & cons list?

 

[maxiesmom]

LOL...I am looking at pics and the refurb rooms and pool do look great. I am strongly leaning towards going for it. I just feel like we are never in the room anyway. My only problem will be that the kids are super excited about the Contemporary.

Could you do a day or two at the Contemporary and the bulk of your stay at CBR?

 

[LvsTnk]

I would def switch to CBR just for the fact that I would not be going into debt for 2 yrs, but at least switch to BWI for some savings there is the BW entertainment and the bus boat. You can even walk to 2 parks.

Have you checked on the monorail refurbishment during your time frame or will that be done by then.

With the refurbished rooms I don't think you can go wrong with CBR

 

[mickeynut1]

LOL...I am looking at pics and the refurb rooms and pool do look great. I am strongly leaning towards going for it. I just feel like we are never in the room anyway. My only problem will be that the kids are super excited about the Contemporary.

As others have said, CBR is a great resort! The pool is awesome with a fun pirate theme that kids love, the food court has a lot of variety, and the grounds are beautiful. We've never stayed at the CR but have stayed at several other deluxes, but for a mod, CBR is first on our list and we wouldn't hesitate to return. Not only is the main pool awesome, each "village" has its own quiet pool, which is great if you wanted some pool time without the hustle and bustle of the feature pool.

I am mostly concerned about the transportation. We love pop because it has one bus stop. Boardwalk is also available and would save us some (not as much as CBR) but at least we could walk to Epcot. I think the busses would drive us crazy, but still is worth looking at because of the savings.

We always use Disney transportation and while it's not the best every time at every resort, our experience at CBR was great! CBR is large and spread out and does have several internal stops, but we didn't find that to be a problem. Since CBR is centrally located, it doesn't take more than maybe 10-15 minutes to get to any theme park, water park, or DTD.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

We use to love CBR but not anymore. The busses are so crowded and there were way too many smokers not smoking in the DSAs. The upside with the Contemporary is you can easily walk to MK.