Should I try and switch resorts?

[mom0299]

Some background: This trip is for me, DH, DS(13) and DD(11). It will be the kids' 5th WDW trip, but we haven't been for 3 years. We are staying offsite the first two nights and going to Universal one day to see WWoHP. Then we will go to our disney resort for 5 nights. We are going the week before Christmas (12/20-12/25) at Disney.

When the Free dining extension came out I quickly made a reservation at CBR. DS helped me pick it out. We liked the look of the resort and the pool looks like fun. We don't usually spend a great deal of time at our resort. We eat breakfast in our room so we won't need to go to the food court very often, if at all. After reading reviews I am getting nervous about the bus situation. It is such a large resort and we will be there during a busy time. I don't want to spend all our time waiting for buses whether it is at the resort or at the parks trying to get back to the resort. We are driving so we will have our car. That could be a simple solution if we find the buses to be slow.

I'm starting to wonder if I should try and switch our reservation to PO (either one). DH and I stayed at Riverside (then it was Dixie Landings) for our Honeymoon and we liked it. But I have also read that sometimes the two PO resorts share buses and the wait can be long there too. I also read some reviews where people have not had any issues with buses at CBR.

Can anyone shed some more light on this issue and help me decide?
Thanks!

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

We have not stayed at CBR, but most reports on the DIS are that CBR has good bus service. There are several stops within the resort, but the posts I have read suggest that people are pretty happy with the bus service overall.

Bus service is one of those things that can vary depending on the day. We had terrible bus service at AKL in January (every day, every park), but several people have posted that they had great bus service at AKL. You just never know.

If you want to switch, POFQ will be the first picked up and dropped off if it is sharing buses with POR. But I have heard that the POFQ pool is geared to younger kids. You can use the POR pool if you are staying at POFQ.

My kids (11 and 7) love the CSR pool and slide, and we have always had great bus service there. But you can find some people who didn't.

I'd just pick a theme and/or amenities that appeal to you and be prepared to drive if you have any troubles with the buses.

One caution - if you are planning to go to MK on Christmas Day, plan to take the bus. MK frequently closes for capacity on Christmas, and the parking lot will close before they stop letting people in using Disney transportation.

 

[maxiesmom]

Don't pick a resort just for its busses. Because they can all have horrible bus service. All it takes is one accident on the road, or a stuck lift, and then your 10 minute wait becomes a 30 minute wait.

Pick the resort that you like best over-all. You can be sure the resort will look pretty much like it does in the pictures. You cannot guarantee getting good bus service ahead of time.

 

[KatMark]

Although we have not stayed at the CBR (we choose another moderate to stay at), bus service can be hit or miss at ANY resort, from value to deluxe. I would not base my decision on transportation issues (even the monorail can be slow). Our oldest son was at the CBR last July for the week of 4th of July and they never waited more than five to ten minutes max for a bus. The one and only exception to this was a 25 minute wait coming back to the resort after the fireworks for the 4th of July (and that is to be expected with the amount of people).

 

[sndral]

I've stayed @ CBR (a long time ago) and @ POFQ (more recently.) I like CBR's theming better and it has the largest of all the moderate rooms. I think CBR's multiple stops are more convenient than POR/POFQ. When I was @ POFQ 9/08we ALWAYS shared a bus w/ POR. The only benefit to POR/POFQ IMO is the boat to DTD. If my son had helped me pick CBR out, I'd probably stay w/ that choice for that reason. You'll have a wonderful time whichever you stay @.

 

[mom0299]

Thanks everyone! You've all made me feel better about my decision and I'm going to stick with it. It is true that there is no guarantee when it comes to Disney transportation. When we stayed at CR we had breakfast ressies for Akershus and the monorail was down. We had to take a bus and waited a very long time for it. Thankfully we started out early or would have missed our ressies for sure.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Thanks everyone! You've all made me feel better about my decision and I'm going to stick with it. It is true that there is no guarantee when it comes to Disney transportation. When we stayed at CR we had breakfast ressies for Akershus and the monorail was down. We had to take a bus and waited a very long time for it. Thankfully we started out early or would have missed our ressies for sure.

You will be fine! Like others have said buses can be hit or miss at any resort. During both of our CBR stays the buses have been excellent.

Here is my review of our most recent stay at CBR (2009) with lots of info and pics and a detailed report of our bus experience. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2074555

Have a great trip!

 

[momofrrr]

We stayed at CBR between Christmas and New Years and we never had any trouble with the buses. It did seem that some park buses came a little more frequently than others but I don't have any statistic to back that up. The longest we waited was about 20 minutes which I don't think is really out of bounds, it could be that we had just missed one. We enjoyed our stay there and would stay there again.