Opinions on Caribbean Beach

[Yankees#1]

Our family is taking a second trip to WDW in September. We were thinking about staying at CBR. I was wondering what everyone's opinions are, such as: best building, food courts, restaurants.
Another concern I have is driving to the parks. We always stay at the Poly and have been spoiled by the location, do you think staying at the CBR is going to be an inconvenience even though we will have our car?

 

[diathoney]

I don't think you'll be disappointed in the theming. The buildings are very tropical, the landscaping is great. The rooms are large for a moderate (but they do have full-size beds, not queens). There's enough room for an air bed or crib, with room to walk around it. There are two sinks and plenty of storage.

The food court is good. There's a nice selection. The pool bar if very good. The service and drinks are good (but Disney-priced).

Everything is very spread out. OPR (the food court, main pool and shopping) are a walk from any building - some more than others. The main pool is small. It's hard to find seating. It's also surrounded by buildings (OPR & restrooms) on two sides and vegitation on another, so it gets Hot! If your kids are older than 7, they probably won't enjoy the pool.

I'd stay there again during the winter because my kids didn't like the pool area, but I liked the rooms and the food court.

 

[MadamG2U]

We stayed there in July 2002 for 7 nights. It is a beautiful resport. We were lucky enough to stay in the area right near the bridge. So it was a 5 minute walk to the food court.

The bus ran a pretty good schedule. We never had to wait more than 10 minutes for any particular bus. We never went to the main pool just to crowded. But did enjoy the pools for each village.

I think you will like it.

 

[safetymom]

You will have a great time at CBR. I think the main pool is very nice. It isn't the largest pool on property but my kids always enjoyed it.

One of the advantages for the pool location is that it is next to the food court. We never had a problem finding a chair.

The rooms are refurbished, the food court is new. They have double sinks and a curtain that separates the room.

I suggest you look at the CBR FAQ thread listed below. You will find many people that have stayed at CBR and offered their opinions.

If you place a post in that thread you will likely get more responses.

We love CBR and have stayed there many, many times.

 

[JACKNAG]

Just got back from an 8 day stay, You will love it ,

Jack

 

[DrKnow77]

I would try to get a room in Martinique... this is the closest island to Old Port Royale (food court, fountain drink station, gift shop). If you think you'll use the refillable mugs, its kind of a hassle to walk from Trinidad South to Old Port Royale just to fill up your mug. When you walk all day long at the parks, the last think you want to do is walk 10 minutes to OPR and 10 minutes back to your room. Martinique and Trinidad North are closest to OPR.

All in all.... this is an excellent moderate resort and I highly recommend staying there!

 

[safetymom]

FYI- Martinique and Trinidad North are the closest to the food court but in 2004 they will be preferred buildings. In 2004 they will cost an additional $15 a night.

 

[stacy2197]

We stayed at CB June 28 through July 5th. It was wonderful. We stayed at Jamaca. We were picked up and dropped off first almost every time. This was nice with two kids because we always got a seat. We never waited for a bus more than 5 minutes exept 4th of July night to come back. than it was only 10-15 minutes. We only went to the main pool once but be enjoyed the quit pool every day. We fed the fish and turtles, played in the sand, and sat in the hammocks. It was a blast.

 

[cdrn1]

I have always stayed off-site and could never figure out why anyone would want to spend so much extra to stay at WDW when you are in the parks most of the day anyway. I stayed one night at the Poly about 5 years ago and that just reinforced my belief. Well...the last time we went we stayed at CBR and the whole stay we just kept saying, "Now I get it!!" I will never stay offsite again. We were in Martinique Bldg 25 (thanks to Seaspray's advice) and it was perfect. It's a beautiful resort and peaceful and wonderful in every way. I am scheduled again to stay there in Sept.
The pool area was beautiful. We never swam in the main pool area but visited it several times. We took a pontoon out on the lake. We rode bikes. We watched Illuminations from the Island. The food court was great. The rooms were very nice. The food court had really good food, at good prices, and we were always able to find a seat. The store had good prices on food items (compared to the food court) such as milk and juice.
I can't WAIT to go again.
We had a car (but this time will rely on the bus service as everyone says how good it is). Everything was easy to get to by car and the parking was a very short distance to our room.

 

[Msslaydbug]

We stayed here last August after lots of research on which Disney resort to stay in. We stayed in Jamaica nd LOVED every minute. We enjoyed our strolls to the food court in the mornings, afternoon , and evenings. My son loved the birds, duck s, and of course he loved the turtles. We hope one day to move up to a "deluxe" resort but I think even then I will miss the CBR !!

 

[movingtoorlando]

what is the quietest building at cbr, do mind a walk just don't want the noise.

 

[safetymom]

I don't think any of the buildings are noisy. Trinidad South would be the furthest away and probably the quietest.

I have stayed at many locations at CBR and they all were quiet.

 

[Tnkrbl2199]

We really enjoyed CBR-thr grounds and theming is beautiful. We stayed in Jamaica-just across the bride. We liked this b/c it was not on top of the food court and busyness of the resort, but close enough that we did not have a long walk. We also happened to be the first bus stop to be picked up and the first to be dropped off at the end of the day which was a treat!

 

[Iansmom]

We spent July 12 - 19 at the CBR. When we arrived we had a wonderful room in Trinidad South that overlooked a small courtyard garden. We quickly found out that they had also booked a large Christian Youth group in Trinidad South for the same week. The little ones were not so much a problem; however, the teens were loud and rambunctious and were thouroughly enjoying their trip to Disney. We came back early the first day to take a dip in the local pool, only to find it overrun with the youth group running, yelling and splashing a little too much for our comfort. At night, they'd be running around, yelling - their chaperones were yelling out the doors to get them to quiet down. The next day we called the Custom House to have our room changed. We were then placed in Aruba with a view of a recently cut back natural area. Very Quiet!! We enjoyed the bunnies and lizards. The bus stop at Aruba was often the second stop. However, on EMH park openings, it was sometimes difficult to get a bus. Depending on which entrance to the resort the bus arrived, it would fill up at the second or third stop and then head on to the park. A couple of mornings, we were at the stop around 7:10 - 7:25 and had to wait over 35 minutes for a bus to arrive.
All in all, we really enjoyed our trip. I'd stay at CBR again. I really didn't mind the walk to the Food Court from either Trinidad South or Aruba. You can always catch an Internal Resort Bus to take you from island to Town Center and back. My DS12 especially loved renting a watermouse with his father and being just old enough to drive it around the lake!

 

[PamNC]

We stayed at CBR twice, several years ago. Probably 1996 and 1997. We liked it. Our room was in Trinidad South which some feel is too far away but we liked the location as it was somewhat private. We enjoyed the "longer" walk to the main area. It's a very magical resort.

PamNC

 

[diskids2]

We have stayed at CBR three times and loved it each and everytime.

The busses were good. I have never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus to any location. I also have not noticed that the CBR depots are any more or less full than the other moderates when waiting to return from the parks.

We choose to stay in Martinique (any building is ok for us) each time. We are definite users of the Food court, early in the morning and late at night. So a shorter walk was important. We had thought about staying at the village across from the bridge, but did not think it was lit up enough at night and had a stroller at the time for one of our kids.

The food court provided a good selection of fast food type meals. As well as some really quick snacks. Fresh fruit is sold.

Although there is a sit down restaurant we never tried it as we chose to go to sit downs in other places.

The main pool is ok, but as has been very well described by other posts, is not as great as some of the other Disney pools. My kids actually preferred to swim at the Martinique village pool which was less crowded. (I did the laundry while they swam, lol)

You can see some of the fireworks from Epcot. That is always fun.

 

[monica1579]

I am going to Disney in 10 days and staying at CBR. After reading through this forum it looks like I want to stay in Trinadad North or Martinique. Is this something I can call the resorts and request before I get there?

 

[safetymom]

You can call CRO and have them add that to your reservation. But remember it is only a request. There are many nice areas to stay besides those two area. Sometimes letting the CM's make a choice brings a little Disney magic.

I have a map on my website that shows the different villages at CBR.

You will have a great time no matter where you stay at CBR.

 

[MKFan-PR]

We've stayed twice at CBR and loved it. I've stayed at Trinidad South and Martinique. Trinidad South is the farthest from OPR (Old Port Royale-the Food Court area), but is the quietest area. Martinique is closest, but some areas could be quite busy. Trinidad North is the other building close to OPR; the smoking rooms closest to OPR are there.

A good compromise between quiet and location is Jamaica. It is a footbridge away from OPR, so you're away, but not too much. And it's also the first stop on the bus route most of the time.

Have fun!!

 

[hulabird]

We have stayed at CBR lots of times and we really love it. Jamaica is our favorite, because we love walking the bridge to OPR.

If you like a tropical resort feeling you will love CBR.

We always pay for a King bed and love it because with only 1 bed it makes it feel even more spacious. The bed is huge and very comfortable.

Next year, because my husband wanted to try somewhere else, we are splitting a stay between BWI and BC, but my heart will be at CBR. It is my favorite of all the resorts.


My CBR Photos 2002