Port Orleans Riverside or Caribbean Beach

[mwarddisfan]

We are looking to book a trip one week in the summer and want to know which resort is more preferred? We have stay at Carribiean Beach before but it was several years ago. I know Port Orleans has water access to downtown Disney but does CBR have water access to any?

 

[mickeystoontown]

The CBR does not have water access to Downtown Disney or any of the theme parks. If you haven't stayed there in a while, then you'll find that the resort has had many changes. The rooms are all themed now. The standard and preferred rooms have a slight Nemo theme and the rooms in Trinidad South have a full blown pirate theme.

The main pool has been totally redone and is now zero entry and has two slides. There are also two hot tubs located near the main pool.

 

[Pink Mouse Ears]

We've stayed at POFQ and I researched CBR since we almost stayed there, but can't say officially POR or CBR...here's a few things I found:

POR benefits:
-Can use POR and POFQ pools
-Boat to DTD
-Smaller (might be less walking)

CB benefits:
-Renovated rooms
-Amazingly renovated pool

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

I don't think you can go wrong with either. We like both. Since you already stayed at CBR, why don't you try POR? The one con for CBR for me is checking out/checking luggage at the Custom House. A little bit of a pain.

 

[bistrogirl]

We will be staying at both resorts this time, I understand your dilemma as we had the same one.

We have stayed at POR before and loved the food court, the grounds, the music, the theme, the boat to DTD.

Although we never stayed at CBR, we visited there in the Fall. Even though that resort never inspired us prior to visiting, we instantly felt so peaceful there. The atmosphere is truly relaxing, you really feel like you are somewhere else. The colours are great, the pool area is awesome, especially for little kids (great water structure), the place was just serene and lively at the same time. Plus, they have beaches, hammocks...

Tough decision...

 

[Woosh]

Go with CBR...we just got back from our first stay at POR French Qtr and were very disappointed. The room (bldg 7) is in need of serious renovations. It just seemed old... the comforters were yucky looking and need to be thrown away and replaced. I liked the grounds but the rooms were not great. In fact on the first part of our trip we stayed at Pop and found that to be much better in cleanliness and theming. Last May we stayed at CBR (bldg 25) and everything was wondeful. Clean, reburbished and just felt like we were staying somewhere really cool on vacation. On this past trip I debated the same thing CBR or POR and decided to give POR a try....didn't work for me. in fact I booked another trip for Oct and this time we will be going back to CBR. also side note on the boat to DTD. The last nite there we opted for the bus due to the line and slowness of the boats.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I have stayed at both. I really enjoyed CBR and think its lovely, but POR gets my vote. We just stayed ten nights at POR, it was wonderful! Our room was very nice. My kids prefer the POR main pool, the CBR main pools is wonderful and just got an extensive rennovation, however when we swam there in June (we were staying on DVC points and could pool hop and wanted to check it out) we found it mobbed with young kids and my kids personally at 15 and 13, found it more geared towards younger kids. I do have to say, CBR has fantasic quiet pools.

I much prefer POR's food court over CBR's, its so much larger, has more selection and in my experience the food is much better.

They both have lovely grounds and a very peaceful feel.

Since you have tried CBR, give POR a try maybe. If your choices were POFQ or CBR, I'd pick CBR hands down. POFQ feels too small to me and it only has one pool. But between POR and CBR, I pick POR. But you can't make a bad choice.

Here is my review of our very recent stay:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2438477

 

[aubriee]

I've stayed at all four moderates and would go with PORS. I am staying at CBR in Oct, but only because I haven't stayed there in awhile and wanted to try something different. I love the PO resorts though.

Pros:
boat to DTD
smaller
Ye Haw Bob in the lounge
better food court
better bus system

Cons:
rooms could do with refurbishment

 

[anorman]

We are looking to book a trip one week in the summer and want to know which resort is more preferred? We have stay at Carribiean Beach before but it was several years ago.

I am trying to make the same decision and I keep going back and forth.....what to do?

 

[mickeystoontown]

I am trying to make the same decision and I keep going back and forth.....what to do?

I have lots of pictures of the CBR rooms, resort grounds, food court and marina in both my trip report and pre-trip report. Just click on the links below to have a look around.

 

[tzolkin]

I'm sure it's a lovely resort and have heard so many great reviews, but POR just does not really appeal to me. The theming of CBR and CSR seems much more interesting to my family.

We're a family of 5 and seem to be putting off staying at POR for as long as possible (perhaps because I think it's going to be our only option is what makes me less interested in it ). Last year we stayed at CSR just days before our youngest turned 3 so we could try it without paying for two rooms. This next trip, we're going with my parents so we can stay at CBR and still meet the occupancy limits.

 

[SGMCO]

POR is our favorite but we haven't stayed at CBR yet
(but have not desire to).
Stayed at CSR, POFQ and POR.
POR is a beautiful/charming resort and has one of the best food courts.
I love the boat ride to DTD.
There are carriage ride around the resort, fishing in the fishing hole.
The two times we've stayed at PO resorts ours rooms looked like they
had just be redune (if you ever get into a room at any resort that looks really run down
you can always which to a different room--so I would let that worry you).

 

[jettyspagetti]

We've stayed at both POFQ and CBR. We loved CBR when we stayed in 2007. The Themeing was great, service was wonderful, booked a perfered location and stayed in Martinique- nice and close to the food court with a view of the little beach area and lake. In february we were going to book CBR again for our last minute trip but they were booked, so we tried POFQ. Its now my new fave. Our family drives into Orlando but then uses the Disney transport for our stay. The bus travel time was faster for us- especially since there is only one stop at FQ, rather than all the separate stops for each "island" at CBR. We also love going to downtown disney and the boat shuttle from the port orleans resorts to DTD is wonderful, especially after dark. Its almost romantic, if you can get the kids to sit still for a few minutes and let you sit next to your spouse. We also enjoyed the food court more at POFQ and POR. There seemed to be more choices and more home cooked style food rather than regular food court staples.

We will prob stay at CBR again at somepoint but POFQ is our new home away from home!

 

[JMD]

Both are similar, but I prefer CBR.

 

[gwmom]

Port Orleans, Riverside would be our choice..

 

[McFlea]

Another vote for Riverside, for all the reasons already mentioned: beautiful grounds, excellent food court, boat to DTD, etc. We'll be heading back there in Feb 2011 - can't wait!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

We have stayed at both and love both!! I know, I'm lots of help!

You really can't go wrong with either. Definitely the best 2 moderates! Both are very quiet, lush, beautiful and family friendly. I do give a slight edge to CBR for a slightly larger room and a better pool. But we would go back to either any day!

There are links to my review of each of them in my signature if you want to take a look. Lots of detailed info in each and tons of pictures!

Good luck!

 

[Port Orleans fan]

Go with CBR...we just got back from our first stay at POR French Qtr and were very disappointed. The room (bldg 7) is in need of serious renovations. It just seemed old... the comforters were yucky looking and need to be thrown away and replaced. I liked the grounds but the rooms were not great. In fact on the first part of our trip we stayed at Pop and found that to be much better in cleanliness and theming. Last May we stayed at CBR (bldg 25) and everything was wondeful. Clean, reburbished and just felt like we were staying somewhere really cool on vacation. On this past trip I debated the same thing CBR or POR and decided to give POR a try....didn't work for me. in fact I booked another trip for Oct and this time we will be going back to CBR. also side note on the boat to DTD. The last nite there we opted for the bus due to the line and slowness of the boats.

I'm sorry you were disappointed with the rooms at POFQ. I've never stayed there myself, but I have heard the rooms are in need of a major fix up.

I just wanted to point out that you stayed at Port Orleans French Quarters (POFQ), and not Port Orleans Riverside (POR). They are 2 completely different resorts who share a lot of the same facilities. Hopefully your experience at POFQ doesn't turn you away from POR because in my opinion, POR was absolutely amazing.

While my family will be staying at CBR in September, a part of me is already missing POR. I just hope that after the CBR trip, I'll have 2 favorite resorts.


Cheers!

 

[donaldude]

For my family it's no contest. POR for us. We've stayed at both. Both are nice but we like the layout of POR better.

 

[galligan4]

I haven't stayed at POR yet, it is hopefully our next stop but we have stayed at CBR twice and loved it. Only reason we are thinking of switching is because we hope to stay at all the resorts at some point. But we loved our first stay so much that we decided to stay again at CBR. We traveled to CBR with my two small children and my folks. The resort was great. Both the kids and my folks loved it. The kids would get up early and my DD would take them to the beach/playground area and watch them from the comfort of a hammock. My folks loved the tropically feel and the new pool is wonderful. One of my Children got a terrrible bug. They arranged for transporation to urgent care and they even let us stay way past our checkout time due to her sickness. They also, called a few times over the course of two days to make sure she was okay. It was so very nice of them. We felt very well cared for.

So to sum it up CBR is a great resort!