Switching from Poly to CBR??? Please help!

[Runred1893]

First time poster....struggling with the decision as to whether we should switch from the Poly to CBR (or another moderate.) two adults and two children ages 8 and 13. This will be our 4th trip to Disney in the last four years. So far we have stayed at BWI, AKL and CR - garden wing. We are a family that typically does a pre-park opening breakfast and closes down the parks. We are currently booked for 5 nights at the Poly in May with a 5 day hopper and one day at a water park. If we switch to CBR, it will save a little over $1300. The newly renovated rooms seem nice at CBR. I understand that transportation will be not as convenient as staying at the Poly, but overall, is it "worth" another $1300 to stay there? Thank you!

 

[Mickeycrocs]

I would use that money on souvenirs! But I don't recommend cbr. We went in September, buses were horrible. The walk was also not fun just to get to the food court for breakfast. I've heard good things about POFQ, maybe look there? Also another moderate.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

If you aren't planning resort amenities and are planning rope drop to close, I don't think Poly is worth an extra $1300.

 

[mickeynut1]

First time poster....struggling with the decision as to whether we should switch from the Poly to CBR (or another moderate.) two adults and two children ages 8 and 13. This will be our 4th trip to Disney in the last four years. So far we have stayed at BWI, AKL and CR - garden wing. We are a family that typically does a pre-park opening breakfast and closes down the parks. We are currently booked for 5 nights at the Poly in May with a 5 day hopper and one day at a water park. If we switch to CBR, it will save a little over $1300. The newly renovated rooms seem nice at CBR. I understand that transportation will be not as convenient as staying at the Poly, but overall, is it "worth" another $1300 to stay there? Thank you!

Welcome to the Dis

It would be worth it to us, but the Poly is our favorite resort. With that said, we've also stayed at CBR and loved everything about it. If the extra cost is doable without sacrificing other things, I'd stick with the Poly. If saving the $1300 would allow you to do things you wouldn't otherwise be able to do, I think CBR is a great choice. CBR is a beautiful resort with a nice food court, great pirate themed pool for kids, and quick and efficient transportation. Good luck .

 

[Runred1893]

I would use that money on souvenirs! But I don't recommend cbr. We went in September, buses were horrible. The walk was also not fun just to get to the food court for breakfast. I've heard good things about POFQ, maybe look there? Also another moderate.

How were the rooms at CBR? When we stayed at BWI, buses were a pain sometimes because we often shared with BC/YC and Swan Dolphin....

 

[Runred1893]

Welcome to the Dis

It would be worth it to us, but the Poly is our favorite resort. With that said, we've also stayed at CBR and loved everything about it. If the extra cost is doable without sacrificing other things, I'd stick with the Poly. If saving the $1300 would allow you to do things you wouldn't otherwise be able to do, I think CBR is a great choice. CBR is a beautiful resort with a nice food court, great pirate themed pool for kids, and quick and efficient transportation. Good luck .

Thank you for the reply! How did you feel about the rooms as CBR? Have you stayed at other moderates?

 

[loves to dive]

That is a tough decision. I normally stay in the deluxe resorts so obviously I think the price is worth it but that is a pretty good savings. If you are rope drop to park closing, I don't think I'd pay the extra for Poly since you really aren't going to be doing anything but sleeping there. We enjoyed CBR (were there for 2 nights of a split stay) and didn't find the bus situation too bad. We also didn't think the resort was too big, we were in the Jamaica section which was just across the bridge from the pool and food court and there was a bus stop right behind the village. Ours was the last stop leaving for the parks so it could be a little crowded but bonus, it was the first stop coming back.

 

[loves to dive]

The buses are the buses are the buses. You are going to have good and bad service everywhere, including the Poly. I don't think the BWI buses share with anyone any more. I've stayed at all the moderate resorts except POFQ and all the deluxe resorts except WL and SS. The rooms at CBR have been recently renovated, they are bright and airy but there is a difference in the bathroom set ups in comparison to the deluxe resorts. I would suggest you hop on the CBR thread, there are pictures there. Of all the moderates POR is my favorite but that is just because I like the look and feel of the property, it's a beautiful resort.

 

[Hockeyfan17]

We have stayed at CBR and really enjoyed it. We liked the rooms and found them very comfortable. We have also stayed at POR, and I may be in the minority, but we liked CBR better. We are staying at the Poly this summer for the first time and are excited about that, but for a $1300 saving over 5 days, we would likely choose CBR, especially if you are not spending much time at the resort. If you are not using the resort amenities, no point in paying extra to have them, just my two cents. You will enjoy either resort.

 

[busymommy2pink]

Our family has stayed at AKL, BC, CSR and CBR. We didn't enjoy CBR at all. The bus service alone did us in. It wasn't just inconvenient, it was almost painful. We found the rooms small and ours had a damp smell the whole week (this after we were moved due to our room assignment reeking like smoke). When staying at CSR, I found the room equally as small, but the smell wasn't there, and we felt there were more true disney details, like ambiant music, better food choices, even the staff seemed friendlier. I would stay at CSR again in a heartbeat, so I'm not a deluxe snob, but we won't consider CBR again due to our experience there.

 

[Runred1893]

Our family has stayed at AKL, BC, CSR and CBR. We didn't enjoy CBR at all. The bus service alone did us in. It wasn't just inconvenient, it was almost painful. We found the rooms small and ours had a damp smell the whole week (this after we were moved due to our room assignment reeking like smoke). When staying at CSR, I found the room equally as small, but the smell wasn't there, and we felt there were more true disney details, like ambiant music, better food choices, even the staff seemed friendlier. I would stay at CSR again in a heartbeat, so I'm not a deluxe snob, but we won't consider CBR again due to our experience there.

Thank you for the reply! When you stayed at CBR, was it before or after the room renovations?

 

[Mousemommy1]

If you are not typically in your room during the trip, then you will probably be fine with CBR. I would chose Poly between the two, but we also spend a good chunk of time at our resort during our stay, so we prefer the amenities at the deluxe resorts.

 

[littledebbie335]

I really like CBR. The resort is beautiful, the main pool is awesome, and we really enjoyed dinner at Shutters. We stayed in January 2016 (so post-renovation) and thought the rooms were really nice. Since your family spends so much time at the parks, I wouldn't hesitate to switch to CBR.

 

[ericaseiler]

I normally would say Poly but we are a family that RD's and then leaves by noon, goes back to the resort to nap (young kids)/rest, etc and then heads back to the parks. The convenience of a Deluxe to get to and from the parks is really appealing to us. Given your family's touring style, I'd save the money and go for CBR!

 

[robinb]

First time poster....struggling with the decision as to whether we should switch from the Poly to CBR (or another moderate.) two adults and two children ages 8 and 13. This will be our 4th trip to Disney in the last four years. So far we have stayed at BWI, AKL and CR - garden wing. We are a family that typically does a pre-park opening breakfast and closes down the parks. We are currently booked for 5 nights at the Poly in May with a 5 day hopper and one day at a water park. If we switch to CBR, it will save a little over $1300. The newly renovated rooms seem nice at CBR. I understand that transportation will be not as convenient as staying at the Poly, but overall, is it "worth" another $1300 to stay there? Thank you!

Why in the world would you pay extra if you do not use the amenities of a deluxe resort? It is worth $260 per night to shave off maybe 15 minutes of travel time? Not for me. Go with the moderate and pocket your savings for your next trip. I've stayed at every moderate resort and my favorite is CSR. I enjoyed CBR too, but it's been a LONG time since I stayed there so I can't attest to it's current condition. I would probably go with CBR because of the bigger queen sized beds. I believe that the other moderate resorts have full sized beds in their standard rooms.

Another option would be for you to rent DVC points and stay in a studio villa at a DVC resort. Check out the DVC rent/trade board for more information: http://www.disboards.com/forums/dvc-rent-trade.29/ . Saratoga Springs is wide open for May and you could stay there for probably less than you would pay for at CBR.

 

[tgarre06]

Why in the world would you pay extra if you do not use the amenities of a deluxe resort? It is worth $260 per night to shave off maybe 15 minutes of travel time? Not for me. Go with the moderate and pocket your savings for your next trip. I've stayed at every moderate resort and my favorite is CSR. I enjoyed CBR too, but it's been a LONG time since I stayed there so I can't attest to it's current condition. I would probably go with CBR because of the bigger queen sized beds. I believe that the other moderate resorts have full sized beds in their standard rooms.

Another option would be for you to rent DVC points and stay in a studio villa at a DVC resort. Check out the DVC rent/trade board for more information: http://www.disboards.com/forums/dvc-rent-trade.29/ . Saratoga Springs is wide open for May and you could stay there for probably less than you would pay for at CBR.

I was just going to suggest renting points if there is availability still. We rent points for most stays now and pay moderate prices for deluxe stays. For example, we are staying at BLT 12/7 to 12/11 in a lakeview studio for $1150 total. I now get my preferred deluxe stays at a moderate price point. It's worth looking into.

 

[busymommy2pink]

Thank you for the reply! When you stayed at CBR, was it before or after the room renovations?

This was after the refurb in the new rooms! November of last year.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I would go with CBR and add one to two nights to the trip and probably still save money. We did CBR twice and absolutely loved it. We did Poly once and I loved it but we are midday pool people and do 1-2 days of resort time. The Poly is great but the monorail was down at times or started late and my kids weren't very impressed with the pool area. They prefer CBR pool.

 

[Dis703]

We went from 2 deluxe stays at BWI and BC (both of which we loved) to a stay at CBR because we couldn't justify spending the extra $1,000+ each trip. Not if we planned to continue returning anyways. I was completely nervous about going down to mod, but once we had to pay for tickets for all three kids, we had to do it. I read a lot of reviews and a lot of awful things about the size of the resort and the buses, but it turned out to be one of our absolute best trips to date and we very happily returned to CBR last month.

It is an absolutely beautiful resort. Very relaxed feel with the little beaches and hammocks and gorgeous sunsets and views of the Epcot fireworks. The rooms are the quietest I've experienced out of the 6 onsite resorts we've stayed at. With the way it's spread out you easily think you are the only ones staying there at times. We don't see that many people outside of the buses, pool and food court. The pool is really cool for the kids and the food court is good. The CMs are really awesome as well.

Yes, you have to take buses everywhere which is the main difference, but our bus wait and travel times at CBR have been better than expected the majority of the time. And really at the Poly you still have to take the bus to 2 parks vs. all 4 so it's not like you gain close access to everything. I wouldn't hesitate to stay at CBR again regardless but to save $1300 I'd definitely say give it a try.

 

[buzznina]

Worth is different for everyone. I can only say that our family has stayed at all 3 levels of resorts and love staying at the deluxes especially GF, but we find it VERY hard to find the worth in staying there and paying more $$$ especially over the Mods.