Undecided about the CBR

[Piglet203]

Hello everyone,

Ok, I have a little bit of a dilemna. I have visited WDW 9 times and am very familiar with the resorts and what they have to offer. I have stayed at CSR and PO-FQ, but have not stayed at CBR. I know that I loved the theming and overall feeling at the other moderates. I would return in the future, but would like to try different places first.
Ok, here is my problem. I booked my trip of 10 days in July for CBR, but have recently heard many negative things about the resort. Many people say that this resort cannot be compared to the other beautiful moderates. People claim that the overall "Disney resort feel" is just not there. I have seen pictures and think they are very pretty. I also like that the resort is close to MGM and EPCOT. I'm not sure if I'm right, but I think someone told me you can hear and see fireworks from the resort? Anyways, if anyone has any added information about CBR that would be great. Tell me the great things that would make me want to keep my reservation there, or maybe I will want to change my plans. Thanks in advance for your help!
Carey

 

[TLinden16]

You'll probably get 20 different opinions on this. I stayed at the CBR in December, and while it is a beautiful resort, it's not my favorite. There are two reasons why I don't care for this resort--number one, it's too big for my tastes. It can be a hike to the food court from your room, and the internal bus just didn't run enough to make it worth using. Number two, I don't like the way Guest Services is located so far from the rooms. It's just not convienient if you need to make a PS, ask a question, or buy tickets for something. Those things may not matter to some people, but they are two negatives to me.

But, the theming of the resort is great. It's very pretty, and pleasant. You can see the Illuminations fireworks from some points in the resort. We could see the top of Spaceship Earth from our room the time we stayed in Trinidad South.

If being near the food court and main pool is important to you, I would suggest booking a preferred room, otherwise you can may have a hike to use these facilities.

I enjoy trying different resorts (I have tried 10 resorts over the years, and will try two additional ones this year). Go ahead and try the CBR. If you don't like it, you have one less place to consider for your next trip.

Karen

 

[Naisy68]

Relax-
We stayed at CBR in 2002 and we felt Disney Magic all over. Mousekeeping did some really cute things with my DD's toys. The walk over to the food court was like walking on a tropicl island. I had to come home and buy a Carribean music CD so that I could listen to it. I think you'll like it a lot. I'm a little hesitant about not staying there this time but we want to check out POFQ. I've never stayed at a deluxe resort but I'm perfectly happy at the moderates. I hope that you'll try it and like it there. We stayed in one of the Martinique Buildings.

 

[mom2of2]

Don't let the "hugeness" of the resort be a factor in your decision to stay or not at CBR. We stayed in Trinidad North and I can honestly say that we saw our building, food court and pool and pretty much nothing else. We had a walk of maybe 2 minutes and the bus stop was virtually across the parking lot. It wasn't until we were on the buses did I notice how big it was and then regretted that we didn't take the time to explore the grounds. I too had to go to the Custom House and was able to hop the internal bus with no problem. When I was done at the CH a CM asked me if I wanted a ride back to my building. Trinidad North and Martinique are both now extra but Jamaica is right there too, just a short walk over the bridege. We saw the bridge but never walked over it. Give it a try, request a ground floor room by the courtyard and you will love sitting out there in the morning enjoying the views. Truly it's a beautiful resort.
I'll be honest...I thought that the hike from the rooms at AKL, Poly and ASMu were worse then what we walked

 

[JKanownik]

DH and I stayed at CBR for our honeymoon and loved it! We were in Aruba which is just a short walk across a bridge from the food court, but isolated enough for it to be quiet and romantic. The main pool area is really fun for adults and children alike. At night we always had the quiet pool to ourselves and could hang out in the hammocks watching the fireworks at Epcot. Even though it is a large resort, it never seemed crowded. We had a fabulous time! I would say that CBR is the perfect resort for anyone who is looking for a romantic place to relax or a place to have fun with your family! Below is a pic of Aruba in CBR from our honeymoon:

Another option would be to split you stay between 2 resorts if possible.

 

[SeaSpray]

CBR is a beautiful resort FULL of Disney atmosphere!!! I've stayed there twice and would not hesitate to stay there again. I have pictures and comments (including where you can see the fireworks from) from our trips there on my web site. Click the link below in my signature, then be sure to click on the pages from May 2001 AND the CBR "icon" from February 2002.

 

[DisneyBill]

Okay, one more favorable vote for CBR. We're DVC members, and have stayed at all the moderates as well. CBR is our favorite moderate (albeit splitting hairs) with great theme and a true relaxing atmosphere. Some of our best family disney memories are the walks & talks from the foodcourt to our room. My 16 yo DS still wants to stay there anytime we think there may be a need to stay elsewhere from a DVC resort. Makes me want to go just typing about it. Enjoy!

 

[safetymom]

Of all the moderates I felt that CBR had more Disney magic than the others. I truly felt like I had escaped to the islands.

It is a beautiful resort. Plenty to see and do. Watching the fireworks of Epcot from the beach is magical.

 

[susy]

Okay, I am usually one of the CBR bashers (my fav is CSR),BUT I suggest you try it. If the hugeness scares you, then pay the extra$$$ for preferred or request Jamaica (it's so pretty and a short walk over the bridge to the main area). The rooms were very large and beautifully decorated (much more so than CSR). The resort was very quiet and laid back. This was one resort where my room was almost TOO quiet. It was nice after a long day at the parks. The food court was nice, too (and that was before they refurbished).

 

[Grumpy'sMom]

I am another CBR lover - I stayed there for the 1st time 2 years ago and fell in love. I really wanted to stay there this year but only codes were for king rooms - I needed two rooms with doubles. The resort is big, but we had requested Trinidad North. This was before the preferred fee. Personally, I would pay the extra money to stay here again. Perfect building location. The customs house is far, but they have an internal bus. I did everything I needed to do there the first day and only had to go back there when I had to meet the towncar to go to Universal. (And coming home he dropped us at our building.)

When I was at CBR, I felt like I had two vacations in one - a tropical island resort and disney all at the same time.


Everyone has different tastes, my mom loves POR, which I like also, but after my last stay, I would always try for CBR first.

 

[Minnie Mare]

We stayed at CBR last summer and I didn't care for it at all. In fact we moved after one night. We found transportation to be horrendous, over an hour just to leave the resort on the buses (not including wait time). It was a long walk to the bus stop too, we needed to walk through two parking lots. We were in the Aruba building and although it was right across the bridge to the food court/pool, we didn't like walking through the island (too much bird poop). If you do try CBR, I would suggest having your own car to get around. I find that most who loved it there did have a car and I can see how that could make a huge difference. That was just my opinion, many do love it there.

 

[MickeysMommy]

CBR is the only place we stay. We love it!

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

We have stayed at all the moderates, including CBR twice. Just back this past weekend from CBR! It IS our favorite moderate. We requested and got Jamaica 45, courtyard, and it was perfect for us. Kids enjoyed the pool, DD got a hairwrap there. The foodcourt is great. I have not read the negative comments you have, so I don't know what to defend! I will say we have our own car and use that. Looks like the buses have a long way around CBR.
We like the privacy curtain in the room, and they are a bit larger than the other mods. We really enjoyed walking around and exploring the resort. We laid in hammocks on the beach and relaxed one evening.
We do like ALL the moderates, they each are similiar yet different. But CBR was perfect for springbreak. The right atmosphere.

 

[bigbabyblues]

It's been 7 years since I was at CBR, and we loved it then. I'm thinking I read somewhere that some of the rooms have been remodeled fairly recently, but I'm not sure. The resort was beautiful, and seemed really quiet. I don't remember any problems with the busses being slow, although I do remember the night we went to DTD/Marketplace and returned to the CBR about 11 pm, the bus was very crowded at that time, but that, at least in my opinion, is not a fault with the resort. There were tons of people leaving DTD at that time and all buses were full. That's the only time we had to stand on a bus. We did have our own car, but we parked it when we arrived and we did not move it again until we left. I'd say try it, you never know until you do. Everyone is different, everyone is going to like/dislike certain things.

Just my 2 cents,

~Steph

 

[Piglet203]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their advice on CBR. I actually forgot that I posted the question and went to my travel agent today to change my choice. If I would have read these posts before hand, I probably would have kept it the same. However, I'm happy that I'm staying at PO-Riverside. I stayed at FQ in 1999 and loved it. I like that it's so close to Downtown Disney. So, I guess I kinda chickened out on teh CBR, but I'll definitley give it a try in the future. I guess just not this time Thanks again for giving me your input!!!
Carey

 

[donnamerry]

We stayed at CBR first time last summer and it was beautiful! If you go request Jamaican building - I would like to try to stay here next time - it is very close to main building (pool, food court, etc.).
You will love it! oh yeah!!!!!!!