turning40withMickey
I will never be too old for Disney!
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2007
- Messages
- 20,861
I would upgrade to the Caribbean Beach Resort. Why? Here's all the details I posted recently. Hope this helps in your decision making process:
We have stayed at the CBR two years in a row and have enjoyed both stays. The minute we drove onto the CBR grounds we fell in love. The tropical theming is carried out throughout the resort. The buildings are all painted bright colors. The grounds were well maintained with fruit trees and lush foliage everywhere.
You will need to check in at the Custom House. Unless you have major problems during your stay (which we never did during either of our 10 day stays), you will probably not go back to the Custom House until you are ready to check out. That being said, it is not necessary to request a room near the Custom House.
The Concierge Desk is where you will pick up your dinner show tickets. They can also provide you with a printout of all your ADRs.
Bell Services is located at the Custom House too. If you arrive via Magical Express, you can request that Bell Services take you to your assigned building. You can also use Bell Services at check out to help get your luggage (and yourself) to the Custom House.
The CBR is a large resort but this means that the guests are distributed evenly throughout the resort and you won't feel crowded.
During our June, 2006 stay, we were assigned to Jamaica Building 41. Our upstairs room faced a beautiful lush courtyard. The walk to any destination was not long at all. I especially liked crossing over the bridge and through the island to reach the main pool and food court. Tropical music is piped in for your enjoyment.
During our June, 2007 stay, we were upgraded to a room in Martinique. In my honest opinion, the walk from our preferred location seemed just as far as the walk from Jamaica. I really don't think I would have paid the extra money to stay in Martinique. That's not to say that we didn't like it because we certainly did. Our room faced a very pretty courtyard with bright umbrella tables.
The rooms at the CBR are 340 square feet whereas the rooms at the value resorts are much smaller. Believe me, when you start getting all your people and all their luggage into the room, you'll be glad you have the extra space. We are a family of four (ages 41,41,20 and 10) and we have plenty of room at the CBR.
The beds at the CBR are raised off the floor providing you with a great space to store your empty luggage. There is a nightstand, a table with two chairs, a large mirror, an armoire with television and lots of drawers, a refrigerator, a bench with large storage drawer and a peg type shelf in the bedroom area.
A privacy curtain can be pulled to separate the sink/closet area from the bedroom area. This comes in real handy when you've got several in your party.
There are two sinks in the sink/closet area. They are enclosed is a wooden vanity with storage area beneath. The closet has a long closet rod and our room had about a dozen wooden hangers already there. I brought along two dozen more and we still had plenty of room to hang all of our shirts.
A small safe is located in the closet wall. It's pretty slim and you can't store much more than a camera, a wallet, etc.
A hairdryer, iron, ironing board, refrigerator and coffeemaker are standard in the CBR rooms.
The bathroom was the typical hotel/motel bathroom size but our's was extremely clean. There were no loose tiles, mold or mildew. I checked!
Mousekeeping was great. During both stays, we received five towel animals. Our trash was taken out and our floor was vacuumed daily. We had four people in our party and we were given six large towels every day. They also replinished our coffee supply each morning. I tipped our mousekeeper each day.
I was really surprised at how quiet the rooms are at the CBR. We hardly ever heard our neighbors. If they were walking by, we would hear them if they were talking loudly. Most times, it was just quiet.
Each village has their own quiet pool and neither the Jamaica nor the Martinique quiet pools were busy at any time of the day. Some times, we had the pool all to ourselves. Laundries are located near each village quiet pool. You can swim and do laundry at the same time!
The white sandy beaches in each village are swept clean each night. It was so nice to just sit in a beach chair or laze around in the hammocks.
The walk around the promenade is very pretty. You can get a real feel of the resort by taking this 1.4 mile walk. At one point, you will walk on wooden walkways through a wooded area. The flowering trees and bushes are everywhere. Plenty of picture taking opportunities along the way.
The main pool was pretty crowded during both of our stays but we expected that since the temps were in the high 80's/low 90's. The hot tub and hair wrap station are near the pool. Order a tropical drink at the pool bar and sip it at any of the numerous umbrella tables.
At the marina, you can rent pontoon boats, sailboats, canoes, watermice, bicycles or surrey bikes. Fishing excursions are now at the CBR too.
Each village also has their own bus stop. The bus stops are covered (I hear they are not at the value resorts). We never waited long for a bus. As a matter of fact, at times, there were two and three buses at the bus stop at the same time. Because the CBR is so centrally located, it never took us long to get to any Disney destination.
I was pleasantly surprised by the food court/store/arcade area. The store is divided in two with one side selling Pirates of the Caribbean, Caribbean Beach Resort and tropical merchandise. They even sell coconut postcards that you can mail home to friends and family. The other side of the store sells the more traditional Disney merchandise such as snowglobes, t-shirts, purses, watches, hats, scrapbooking items, etc.
The arcade is not super large but it had plenty room to keep up with the June crowds. You purchase a refillable playing card that you just swipe at each game. No keeping up with tokens or change.
We really enjoyed the food selection that the food court had to offer. You go to each of the food stations, order and get your food and then go to a central cashier. Simple to do.
The grab-n-go section serves fresh made sandwiches, salads, yogurt, fresh fruit, pies, cakes, veggies and dip, along with lots of other fresh items. At the pizza station, you will find pizza, pastas and salads. Burgers and chicken strips are served at another station. The kids chicken strip meal is served in a plastic sand pail with shovel. Yet another station has rotissiere chicken, roasted turkey, vegetables and hot sandwiches.
At breakfast, an assortment of breakfast meats, Mickey waffles, fresh fruit, pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns and omelets are served.
Shutters is a full service restaurant and the food was good. Even our picky 10 year old son found something he liked on the menu.
The food court seating area is large and we never had a problem finding a table. The self serve drink area has several drink stations. On the condiments bar, there was hot tea bags, honey, assorted jellies, parmesean cheese, hot pepper sauce, etc. There are also a couple of microwaves and toasters.
If you want to take your items to go, just tell the CMs who are plating your meals. They will provide you with tops for the dishes. At the register, ask the CM for a bag. They give you large brown bags with handles making it easy to carry your items out.
Lisa
I wish you had stayed at the resort I am booked at, your review is fantastic! I am forwarding it to my neighbor who is booked at CB this month!
