Thoughts on Caribbean Beach????

[njmom08]

We stayed at Pop Century this past May and really enjoyed it. We are already thinking about our next trip which we think will be May 2009. My dad will be joining us this time so were thinking about upgrading to a moderate resort. I was wondering about the buses, atmosphere for kids, etc..... Pop was great and we were even able to check in to our room at 10:00 in the morning. Does anyone have any thoughts on Caribbean Beach or the other moderate resorts???? Thanks!!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

We have stayed at 3 of the 4 moderates and CBR is by far our favorite!! It has a nice laid back Caribbean feel to it. Sort of like a vacation within a vacation. We had great housekeeping, got our room request granted, had fun at the pool, and always encountered happy & friendly CM's everywhere. The food court is huge and has a lot of great choices and good service. The grounds are beautiful, especially at night! We stayed in the Jamaica section and really enjoyed the 5 minute walk across the bridge (with Caribbean music playing) to the pool/food court/gift shop. The kids say it was their favorite resort too! So I guess I would say yes, it is kid friendly! (take their sand toys!)

CBR is also in the process of getting a new pool. It looks like it is going to be really awesome! And CBR has the largest rooms of all the moderates.

As for the other moderates. . . I probably wouldn't stay at POR after what I saw on the buses at POFQ, they share (stop at POFQ first) and lots of times the bus would be full by the time we got to POR and those poor people would have to wait on another bus. POFQ was okay, very small though. And we wouldn't go back to CSR.

Good luck with your decision and happy planning!

 

[perla75]

I second the Jamaica section-really beautiful & in a great location! You are just a bridge walk away from OPR. We thought the grounds were beautiful & peaceful, loved the caribbean music playing everywhere, & the buses were great!

 

[KatMark]

We love the CSR. We've not stayed at the others, but POFQ would be our next choice if we were to stay at another. POR and Caribbean are on the bottom of the list...with Caribbean probably being a little lower than POR. We don't like the decor/colors and thought the food court was absolutely terrible. We went at 1:00 in the afternoon and only two stations were open and my burger tasted like it had been sitting there for a week, the condiment bar was mostly empty and the tables were dirty.

 

[MickeyNicki]

DH loves CBR, we stayed there 3 times and always enjoy ourselves

 

[scillacc]

I have stayed at all moderates, except for CSR and my favorite is Port Orleans, can't decide though which one i like of that the best. CBR is great, I love the theming too, but it's very spread out. If anyone has a hard time getting around CBR is not for you.

 

[kelleigh1]

... and we were even able to check in to our room at 10:00 in the morning. Does anyone have any thoughts on Caribbean Beach or the other moderate resorts???? Thanks!!!

I'm specifically replying to this section and before anyone jumps on me, I KNOW THAT CHECK-IN IS NOT UNTIL 3PM. That being said, we've stayed at POFQ and CBR. During our trip to POFQ (Jan. 2006 - value season), we arrived at 11:00 and were immediately allowed to go to our room. When we stayed at CBR last November (also value season), we were not able to get into our room until 4:00 pm although we'd arrived at Noon. This was fairly disappointing to us.

Other than that, we just didn't feel that the service was as good at CBR. At POFQ, we have friendly CM's everywhere we went - from the front desk to the guy driving the boat to DTD. Everyone was great. At CBR, they just weren't as friendly. When you'd see anyone that worked there, nobody said hello or anything.

The place wasn't terrible and I know everyone has their own experience and their own preferences, but we just didn't love it liked we'd hoped we would. It is definitely beautiful, but we were less than impressed.

Oh, and hubby, has repeatedly mentioned how much he really liked POFQ, but not CBR. And this is a guy who is usually pretty easy going and doesn't have much opinion one way or the other.

 

[daannzzz]

I have stayed at all the moderates. My least favorite is POFQ. Among the other 3 my favorite seems to be the last one I stayed at. This last May I was at CBR. I love the tropical colors and foliage. The food court was good and I am sure the new pool will be great. The rooms are a bit bigger than the other moderates and though they are decorated decently the decor seems a bit bland...but colorful. Hard to describe. That said, I love POR and CSR as well. Each one has a hugely different atmosphere but all are great.

 

[hkeller27]

We love it. I went in my childhood, and went back again with my then BF/now husband for his first Disney trip. He was absolutely impressed. We stayed at Sports last year - felt very much more like a hotel. CBR feels like the resort that it is. Peaceful, relaxing. Yes, it's big, and not for people who don't want to be traveling within the resort. But I remember how romantic that walk across the bridge over to OPR was at dusk - just lovely. If you like that easy Caribbean feel of the islands, this is the mod for you!

ps- we're headed back there in Dec, and can barely wait!

 

[nikki'smom]

I'd go with any resort over CBR. It's the oldest mod, has no elevators, if you get stuck out in Trinidad south, you might as well be in another resort because it's so far away from anything.

 

[proteus]

CBR is a fantastic value for a moderate resort. Nice pool, beautiful lake with beaches, tropical setting, great atmosphere. I stayed at Port Orleans and while it was nice I though CBR was more of a fantasy resort.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

I have stayed at each moderate more than 3 times.

Least favorite is POFQ. My favorite is CBR followed closely by CSR.

Like the feel, the music by the pool, the frozen drinks by the pool, the little island with birds, the sandy beaches.

 

[gigi1313]

we, too, loved pop... cbr not so much... we were disappointed in everything about cbr and likely would not go back (actually i said that after the first time we stayed there, and only went back because it was the only mod available for our grand gathering last year)

we found it to be much too big... internal transport stunk... cms were less than helpful... the walk from aruba was lonnnnggggg (and we had requested/paid for preferred but got bumped and did get a refund)... our connecting rooms did not connect (dh and i ended up in separate rooms for the entire trip!)... external transport was not all that great either...

again, i'd go to pop a dozen times before i'd go back to cbr! that being said, we LOVED POFQ!

 

[stemikger]

I loved CBR. However, I don't think I would stay there if they are still refurbishing the main pool.

I stayed at Pop also, I actually like Pop just a little better, but they are both Disney worthy resorts.

 

[Disney71]

I loved CBR. However, I don't think I would stay there if they are still refurbishing the main pool. .....

I believe the main pool renovations are supposed to be complete by 9/15/08 - so that's a plus.