Our thoughts on CBR from last week.....

[bigbabyblues]

We stayed at CBR from 8/28 to 9/3. We arrived around 9:45 or 10 on Sunday morning, and as I was getting out of the car to check in, a Magical Express bus pulls up. DH told me to go get in line and he'd get the kids and bring them in. I literally ran to the building, hoping to be ahead of the crowd, because I'd heard it takes awhile to check in at CBR something anyway. I got through the queue, and there was no one in front of me, but there was someone at each window checking in as far as I could see. I did see a hand waving and a head peeking out all the way down at the end, it was a CM waving me down so I could check in. Somehow I missed him! I didn't write his name down, but I think it was Chuck. He was very friendly, and it took all of about 3 minutes to get us checked in. We had requested a Jamaica room, but we got 2326 in Martinique, and that was fine with me; it was closer to OPR than some of the Jamaica rooms (from what I could tell), and it was ready for us! At 10 am! He said someone would be to the room soon with the portable crib, and asked if I had any questions, gave me all my information, etc.

We got back in the car and found our building very easily, and the room just a minute later. DH opened the door, and I heard him say, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't think anyone would be in here"....WHAT? Please tell me they didn't give us a room that still had people in it........Oh, ok. It's the CM putting the crib together. That's fast service! He was almost done before we made it to the room!

DH started unloading the car and I was unpacking. I looked all around the room, and it was very clean. I didn't find anything that didn't belong, not that I was expecting to, but I always look. We had plenty of room to unpack our things for our 7 day trip, and it was really nice to have the fridge. It kept our bottled water almost frozen the entire time, and there was plenty of room for what we had (probably 15 bottles of water, some cheese and packages of lunchmeat leftover from our drive down, and the occasional small take-out container of leftovers from meals, and a small jug of milk). The beds are fairly high, and they were very comfortable.

We walked down to OPR for some lunch. The food court was always clean when we were there, CM's quickly cleaning tables after people left, etc. The food was fine in the food court, but there wasn't alot of selection. That is one area where we preferred ASMo. We bought refillable mugs, but we didn't use them nearly as much as we did at ASMo, because the room was further away, and we didn't have to pass by or through OPR to get anywhere. It was only about a 5 minute walk from our room, and it was a beautiful walk. We saw a lot of little lizard-type creatures, and the boys were fascinated by them. I did not see ONE single bug the entire week at CBR, no roaches that I'd heard about, not in the room, not outside, not anywhere. That was fine with me, BTW! We used the quiet pool at Martinique once, the Barbados beach area once, and the main pool once. The main pool had towels to use, and that was nice. The pool areas were all clean, and the groundskeepers were out every day, on the beaches, cleaning the sidewalks, etc.

We didn't have any problems with noise at all. One morning I heard someone's shower running, but never any toilets or anything like that. We did have neighbors on each side, but we didn't hear a peep from them, not even the ones on the other side of our connecting door (which was closed, of course). I heard a door slamming one evening, it was the last night we were there, and the people were just arriving.

We had a problem with the lock on the outside of our door, it wouldn't read our room keys the first morning. DH called the front desk, they brought new keys within 10 minutes. The CM tried the new keys, they didn't work, so he called engineering. We were on our way out for the day, but he told us to contact the front desk if we had trouble getting in when we returned. We passed the engineer about 2 minutes later with the new lock, and didn't have a problem when we returned to the room.

That's about it, any questions, just ask!

 

[ADisneygirl]

First off, glad you had a great vacation! Now on to the questions:

Have you stayed at any other mods? If yes, how did CBR measure up? Did you eat at Shutters? Is Shutters located within the food court or a seperate building? How far is it from the parking lot to your room? Was the main pool crowded? Did you like the main pool -- how about your kids? Did you rent any of the water equipment like the mice?

Thanks!

 

[MEK]

I did not request a specific room and decided to take what I was given so I could formulate an honest opinion of the place. I was assigned 1109 in Barbados which was probably one of the least desirable locations. At first I wanted to go back and ask for a different room, but I had been up since 3am and the room was literally steps from the car. I elected to stay there and I was very satisfied with my overall stay. So here is my take on the place....

1. General - an ambitious design for Disney's 1st moderate resort. In creating a place of leisure, the designers forgot that most people don't want to walk anywhere when they get back to the resort. Barbados was truely 1/4 mile plus from OPR. The furthest point of Trinidad South was 1/2 mile. This is not an exaggeration. The setting was very tranquil and there was actually a breeze that blew across the lake. Each village was slightly different. At first the place seemed like a maze, but it was less confusing in 24 hours. I expect that anyone's stay there is influenced by the exact building and location were they reside.

2. Room - Plenty of space for 4 people (2 adults, 10yo, 12yo). I tend to over pack and I had no difficulty finding a space for everything. I used the drawer under the bench for dirty clothes. There was plenty of sink space, plenty of hanging space, and the little clothes line in the tub was great. The frig worked fine. The room was clean. No bugs, no stains, no smells, no issues. The cover over on of the outlets was missing. I don't have small kids so it wasn't a problem.

3. OPR/Pool - These areas were probably designed at a time when people didn't think they needed so much space. In general OPR could stand to be a little bigger and the main pool seemed far too small for a resort this size. However, once I was in the pool it seemed large enough. The bar area was nicely laid out. I am not complaining about this, it is just my observation.

4. The center island - for the first part of the week everything on the island was closed off except for the main path. When all the little side areas where opened up it was quite scenic and peaceful.

5. Small pools - pretty clean; had a tendency to get sand in them by the end of the day from the nearby beaches

6. Landscaping - the landscapers were up every morning by 6 am. They never stopped working on mulching and planting. I would have liked to see a few more plants with flowers in Barbados, but what I really didn't like about Brabados was that the developers left patches of the original wet land right outside the resort. While every other village faced the lake, buildings 11 & 12 were shrouded by dense shrubs. I called it "bull frog alley" since the critters were having a field day when I passed by. Again, more an observation than a complaint.

7. Food court - I ate breakfast there on 2 occasions. The lines moved fast and the food was decent. I enjoyed it, especially the french toast.

8. CM - I did not encounter one rude CM. They were all friendly and efficient.

9. Mousekeeping - I will admit they did knock on my door several mornings by 9am to clean. I didn't care. I'm sure they just wanted to get started. I only got one towel animal that we named the "rhinosauras". I think it was an elephant.

10. Parking - plenty of up close spaces.

11. Transportation - only used it to go the MK. Had to wait for a second bus leaving after the fireworks. Didn't care. Only got on the second bus because some women told her group, "there is no way I am standing". When the driver asked for "standers" I did not hesitate to volunteer. I looked at the line trying to get on the ferry back to the parking lot. It was FAR, FAR worse than the CBR line. I'm glad I didn't drive and I stood all day - what's 10 more minutes? So don't complain!!!!! The internal resort shuttle did run frequently, so if you don't want to walk - that is the way to go.

12. Overall village ambience - I actually thought Trinidad South was the prettiest in terms of layout and landscaping. If you want to feel away from everyone, THIS IS THE PLACE! If I ever return to CBR I will ask to stay there. The best part - from the farthest point of Trinidad South you can see the globe at EPCOT. Trinidad South also had very pretty, well positioned court yards. My second favorite village was Jamaica. The yellow color was soothing. The landscaping was great and it was close to OPR. A WORD OF CAUTION - Don't stay in Trinidad South if you don't want to walk. I felt sorry for parents pushing a stoller and for one old "mom, mom" I saw in a wheelchair. I hope her son wasn't going to push her all the way to POR. CM's shouldn't put old people and small kids down there unless that area is specifically requested. That is just common sense. It contributes to customer satisfaction to size up the group and place them appropriately.

13. Jogging - superb place to run every morning. Much more space than POR. Added bonus - I ran over to POP on several occasions by using short stretches of the service access road.

14. Proximity to parks - literally 4 minutes from CBR Custom House to MGM. Slighty further to Epcot. Furthest to AK and MK.

OK - I said enough. Bottom line - great resort. Research it well before you stay there because it does have some limitations for certain people.

Have fun!
____________________________________________
Max is my favorite cat!

 

[safetymom]

Thank you bigbabyblues and Mek for your trip reports. Could you do me a favor and post your reports in the CBR FAQ II thread below? That will help others when they are planning a trip to CBR.

 

[mom2rb]

I stayed at CBR on my honeymoon and it was wonderful. I'm glad others enjoyed it as much as I did.

 

[bigbabyblues]

First off, glad you had a great vacation! Now on to the questions:

Have you stayed at any other mods? If yes, how did CBR measure up? Did you eat at Shutters? Is Shutters located within the food court or a seperate building? How far is it from the parking lot to your room? Was the main pool crowded? Did you like the main pool -- how about your kids? Did you rent any of the water equipment like the mice?

Thanks!

We haven't stayed at any other mods, the only other resort we've stayed at was ASMo, and we like them about the same. Shutters is in the same building as the food court, it is separated from it though. We were able to park at the end of the sidewalk leading from our room; not far at all. We didn't use our car the entire week, but we passed by it every trip to and from the bus stop. My kids liked the main pool, and they liked the quiet pool. They are 4 and 2, and they do use the slide, so it's all the same to them. We didn't feel crowded in either pool, although the main pool was more crowded than the quiet pool. We didn't get a chance to rent any of the equipment, but I would like to rent a Surrey Bike sometime. Hope this helps!

 

[mercydisney]

Bigbabyblues, thank you so much for your post. The last time we stayed at CBR was in 1994( I'm getting old). My DH and I did not care for it because it was far from everything. This time since I'm addicted to the boards and no alot more about the resorts and what location to request, I'm a little more excited but still hesitant "Until I read uour report!" Now I am actually elated!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR POST!!

Did you ask for a room in Martanique when you went to check in?

Thanks again.

 

[bigbabyblues]

Did you ask for a room in Martanique when you went to check in?

Thanks again.

I'm glad it helped you! We didn't ask for that room, I had requested a room in Jamaica, but he said "Room 2326 in Martinique" and that was ok with me!