Port Orleans-Riverside or Caribbean Beach?

[cux2]

My family has been to WDW many times and we have stayed at the All Stars, Pop Century, and twice at Riverside. We will returning in October - for the Not So Scary Halloween Party - and are looking for a new resort to try out. We absolutely LOVED Riverside both times that we stayed there and are looking for something comparable. We are considering the Caribbean Beach. Any comments on how this compares to Riverside??

 

[estnh]

We are also Disney regulars, and have stayed at most of the resorts at least once. However, we had never stayed at the CBR, and so when we did a quick long weekend trip in late October for the Food and Wine Festival, we thought we would give it a try.

The resort is very pleasant, beautiful, and well themed. The service was friendly and efficient, and the food court was good.

HOWEVER, the resort is incredibly spread out, and, at least in our opinion, is not laid out very well. To get a cup of coffee or fill a mug, we literally had to take our rental car! There is a bus that runs "inter-resort", but who wants to wait for a bus to get a soft drink?

Because of that, we would never stay there again. POR is also a huge resort, but it is laid out better than CBR, and the distances are more manageable.

 

[caitycaity]

The resort is very pleasant, beautiful, and well themed. The service was friendly and efficient, and the food court was good.

HOWEVER, the resort is incredibly spread out, and, at least in our opinion, is not laid out very well. To get a cup of coffee or fill a mug, we literally had to take our rental car! There is a bus that runs "inter-resort", but who wants to wait for a bus to get a soft drink?

i agree. we much prefered po-r for this very reason.

 

[toyotaae86lg]

I'm 21 and not a regular at WDW but this November me and my fiance will be spending our honeymoon at POR. All that i've researched I am so excited about Riverside and what people have said about it.

 

[chicky monkey]

Hi there...I'm a POR Regular and one year my family and I decided to try a different resort....well, I picked Caribbean Beach Resort and although I thought the room was nice, I really didn't care for the resort. It never "hooked" me and I really wished we were back at POR. I felt like CBR was so massively spread out and it was a long walk to anything, and we even had a good bldg (Martinique) which was pretty close to the food court. And the food court there just seemed cramped and I kept missing the POR Food Court.

I also did not like the seven bus stops at CBR...going anywhere took a long time because of all the internal resort bus stops to pick up more people. I told my husband that CBR should stand for Caribbean Bus Resort.

POR just feels good. I love the food court and I really love the atmosphere and the lush, landscaped grounds. The boat ride to Downtown Disney is a big plus as it always was a relaxing and fun way to see different parts of Disney World.

Also, I've always stayed in the Alligator Bayou side because I dig the rustic feel of it. The other thing...POR rooms have all been renovated and they are almost finished with the Alligator Bayou side...so that would be nice to stay in a fresh room.

I certainly understand your desire to try something new. You might like something else, but then again, you might miss what you've gotten used to. Do I think they (CBR and POR) are comparable? No not really, because there's just something about the atmosphere at POR that just can't be found in other resorts. I've even read posts from folks who were accustomed to staying at deluxe resorts, but once they tried POR, they just fell in love with the place and thus it became their new "Disney" home.

If I can answer any more questions for you, I'd be happy to help!

 

[HopperFan]

Have stayed at POR 4x (twice on each side) and will go back. Beautiful resort that is very relaxing, but I guess you know that. I would also consider CSR if you prefer trying a more tropical feel. It is a SW Tropical, but over by the cabanas it really seems very tropical. Our family calls it the "deluxe-moderate".

We did not like CBR for the same reasons as above plus some. We actually drove over to eat at the POR on our stay because we wouldn't eat at the CBR again. It is the first moderate built and I think they got it alittle bit better each time after.

Enjoy the Halloween Party - our favorite holiday

 

[MickeysMommy]

We stayed once at CBR and were hooked from then on. You will find people that love a resort and people that hate that same resort. Can't take everyones opinion - you have to find out for yourself. Good Luck with whatever one you decide on.

 

[Cookie Princess]

We have stayed at both. We would love to return to POR, but won't return to CBR. As stated already, the buses are slower and it is a long walk to get anywhere. We stayed in the mansions at POR and the walk was never far to the foodcourt or the bus stop. DS and DH also like the pool better at POR.

 

[Nolcrest]

I've stayed at both CBR and POR and I will not return to CBR. It is strictly a personal feeling I have between the resorts. I really tried to like CBR but it just didn't feel comfortable to me. I don't know - maybe I just don't really like the tropical theme. I was so sick for wanting POR that we went to POR one afternoon for lunch and to just walk around the place.

I didnt like walking thru a "souvenier shop" when going to the food court (maybe this is different now). The pool was always crowded and kinda babyish for my family.

It felt like a long walk to the food court in the am to grab a bite and we stayed in Trinidad North.

The Guest Services is not connected to the food court building and for me it was inconvenient when I wanted to check on my bill.

The room was nice - CM's were nice. Our room was never made up before 4:00 though.

For me I have discovered that I am a wood person. I love the wooden walkways at POR. I like the rich wood look inside the restaurant, lounge and food court. I love the plush meandering landscaping at POR. Most of all I LOVE the relaxing boat ride to DTD in the early evening.

If you feel the CBR might appeal to you , you may very well like it there. My heart belongs to POR.

 

[cux2]

Thanks so much to everyone for the info...many of you said just what I had been thinking from all the research that I have done. We stayed at Pop last year and while it was neat - the atmosphere was to "busy". We were exhausted at the end of the day and just wanted someplace calm to relax - that was not it!
Riverside feels so much like our home away from home that I really couldn't imagine staying anywhere else. We like to try something new each time we visit, but I think that a new resort will not be it this time. With all the new things for the 50th anniversary I think that we will find plenty of "new" thing to do!

Looking forward to our Halloween adventure!!