Just back from CBR 8/22 to 8/29

[flyball]

And the resort was PACKED!!!! The quiet pools were anything but quiet (at one point I counted 55 people in the Martinique pool). I have to say that it was a little disappointing to sit by the pool expecting a relaxing break only to have balls whizzing by our heads! During one night of our stay we took a walk to the food court and every table around the main pool was occupied; it was even busier than during the day, and this was at 11 pm!!

We were lucky enough to score an upgrade to Martinique at check in (didn't ask for it, but got one any way). I'm glad we did, because the resort is spread out and this location was convenient to both Port Royale and the check in building. (We had requested two connecting rooms, so maybe that's the reason for the upgrade. It may have been the only location in which there were still conncecting rooms.) They did make a mistake on our balance at check in. I politely disagreed with the balance and had to be persistent (thank God I had my email copy of our deposit information), but eventually the CM cleared it up with a manager. Make sure you know what you're balance is at check in, as they do make mistakes. It wasn't a ton of money, but it was worth a few lunches at least!

Housekeeping was not up to my standards, but it certainly didn't ruin our vacation. Countertops weren't wiped down and she left dirty sheets on the bed (my DD had a cut that stained the sheets), despite the fact that we tipped generously.

We enjoyed our stay and lucked out with great weather, but it seems that free dining and the codes bumped up the end of August crowds. We've been visiting at the end of August for several years and have never seen it this packed.

I'd be happy to answer any questions!

 

[MICKFan]

When does this free dining end?? That is probably the reason for the crowds???? I am going on Sept. 23 and staying at CBR also. I will be going solo for the first time....But I will be meeting 7 other ladies there, but they will be staying at BWV. I am so excited. I requested Aruba and Barbados....Hope I get Aruba...I was told this is better than Barbados.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Disney doesn't change the sheets daily unless you specifically ask them to. There are usually little cards you place on the bed if you want the linens changed. Otherwise, I believe it's 3 days between replacement.

I guess the free dining is packing ALL the resorts.

 

[flyball]

Disney doesn't change the sheets daily unless you specifically ask them to. There are usually little cards you place on the bed if you want the linens changed. Otherwise, I believe it's 3 days between replacement.

I guess the free dining is packing ALL the resorts.

I knew they wouldn't change the sheets daily, but I figured if they saw blood on them they might make an exception! Good to know about the little card though; is that the little card announcing who the maid is?

I definitely think the free dining is having an impact on the resorts and the parks. I've been during free dining other years, but this was definitely busier...and so late in August! It was kind of surprising.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I knew they wouldn't change the sheets daily, but I figured if they saw blood on them they might make an exception! Good to know about the little card though; is that the little card announcing who the maid is?

I definitely think the free dining is having an impact on the resorts and the parks. I've been during free dining other years, but this was definitely busier...and so late in August! It was kind of surprising.

The card looks like placecard and, when we were there, it had Jiminy Cricket on it. They also had one in the bathroom asking you to reuse your towels. Our mousekeeper left a note for us one day otherwise, we wouldn't have known her name.

I think mousekeeping doesn't even look at the sheets when the make the beds. I think it's the monotony of making bed after bed after bed.

Since the CBR is such a large resort, you usually don't feel crowded at all. I guess all that free food has really made an impact on the crowd levels. Plus, most schools start back up soon. Maybe everybody was trying to get in their trip before school begins.

 

[n2mm]

We just returned last weekend and was there Aug. 15-24, the the parks were extremely busy. I thought it might be lighter since the GP free dining didn't start until we left. Though the BBP diners and UK free diners would be there. We hardly rode anything and the evening EMH were unmanagable (for us). We go often, so no need for us to struggle with the crowds. We hung around SAB and had the bar girl bring us drinks. We saw the wait for Splash mountain always more than 1 hours and Soaring was always in triple digits. We will be heading south in 6 weeks to have a vacation to recover from our summer FAMILY vacation....food and wine, here we come.

 

[tinkerbelle_rox325]

We are actually leaving to disney tonight and staying there until tuesday of next week. Do you think it will still be crowded then? i sure hope not. We are a family who does not like crowds one bit!

 

[yrdlyprincess]

We are booked for 9/21-10/1 so we have the "end" of free dining. But I hope that they clean the room good, I paln on tipping well also, I understand that they shouldn't change the sheets everyday, but say DS has an accident-"I" will strip the bed & but the sheets on the floor-maybe they will get the HINT!! Was it fast from the bldg you stayed in to get "out" of the resort. I don't care to much about being near much but I want to be near the bus, laundry & be able to get to the parks fast.

 

[sherabby]

We left on the 20th and the crowds were not bad at all! We also stayed at the CBR. I think you are right about the free dining. It really brought a lot of people to the parks. We did do the meal plan as well and had no problems at 46 days before our trip making our dining plans. We did many character meals and nice sit down dinners. My son had a blast. The wait lines at the parks were only posted at 20 minutes and the lines moved much faster even!

 

[sherabby]

We just returned last weekend and was there Aug. 15-24, the the parks were extremely busy. I thought it might be lighter since the GP free dining didn't start until we left. Though the BBP diners and UK free diners would be there. We hardly rode anything and the evening EMH were unmanagable (for us). We go often, so no need for us to struggle with the crowds. We hung around SAB and had the bar girl bring us drinks. We saw the wait for Splash mountain always more than 1 hours and Soaring was always in triple digits. We will be heading south in 6 weeks to have a vacation to recover from our summer FAMILY vacation....food and wine, here we come.

I was there Aug 14 to Aug 20 and I didn't think it was super crowded. We did the early hours though and really did great with it. We had most of the parks done by lunch and saw most everything.

 

[denise5374]

We were at CBR 8/18-8/25 and the resort didn't seem too crowded. There were always tables available at the food court at breakfast, the only meal we ate there).

I didn't think the lines were too bad at the parks, Splash Mountain was alwyas at least 60 minutes but it was HOT so I can understand that and some of the other big attractions BTMRR, Test Track, Soarin, TOT and RnR had long waits but we were able to get fast passes for everything except Splash which I still have never ridden LOL I assumed it was because free Dining was starting the following week, I would rather pay for dinning then have to deal with insane crowds and heat and humidity. Oh and we always got to the park at opening with or without EMH

We were in Aruba and had connecting rooms.

 

[n2mm]

I was there Aug 14 to Aug 20 and I didn't think it was super crowded. We did the early hours though and really did great with it. We had most of the parks done by lunch and saw most everything.

That's funny, because crowded to some is not crowded to others. Since we go the first 2 weeks of May, the last two weeks of October, and the first week of February every year, we found this August trip to be the most crowded of all of our trips. My group wasn't moving fast enough for early entry, the downside of having a big group. We often got our evening wristbands, but usually headed out before it started. Add in the heat and traveling with 2 babies, all the makings of very little patience. I would still go again during this timeframe, but staying at the BCV and having SAB everyday was a lifesaver for us. There were so many daily activities at the BC, most of us didn't even want to go into the parks--one of the perks of everyone being an AP holder.

 

[sherabby]

That's funny, because crowded to some is not crowded to others. Since we go the first 2 weeks of May, the last two weeks of October, and the first week of February every year, we found this August trip to be the most crowded of all of our trips. My group wasn't moving fast enough for early entry, the downside of having a big group. We often got our evening wristbands, but usually headed out before it started. Add in the heat and traveling with 2 babies, all the makings of very little patience. I would still go again during this timeframe, but staying at the BCV and having SAB everyday was a lifesaver for us. There were so many daily activities at the BC, most of us didn't even want to go into the parks--one of the perks of everyone being an AP holder.

I think I felt it was not very crowded because we have gone in the past to huge long lines for everything and that was before the invention of the fast pass. I loved the fast pass and we took full advantage of it! Someone even gave us some for the Peter pan ride and we used them! They will take them anytime after your scheduled time but never before. that made it nice! We used the main pool at CBR twice and it was not very crowded. Our pool in Aruba only had two people in it evertime we walked past it. the parking lot in our area did seem a bit crowded but we never really saw many people around.