Wavering? Pop and CBR?

[Barbie & the 3 girls]

We have confirmed reservations at Pop Century. We stayed at POR and my goodness, I HATED all the walking. We were at the furthest building away from the main "lodge" area. Bus stop was handy, but everything else was so far away. The good pool was so far away, and the girls (5, 8, 10) were so exhausted from the park, they didn't want to keep walking all that way, yk?

At Pop, it seems a bit smaller? But I realized with the gift card, we could upgrade to the moderate for a final cost of $200 with the increased gift card value.

But I am worried about the amount of walking at CBR. Is it as spread out as POR? Is it worth the $200 extra to move to CBR? We have never stayed at a value resort, either.

Any help is greatly appreciated

Thanks!!

 

[Nadjalu]

I haven't stayed at POR or CBR but we have stayed at POP twice and loved it.
POP is a wonderful resort, there isn't the amount of walking there is with the other resorts unless you are in the 90's or 80's buildings. And depending where at in the 80's you can be close to the buses.
It is also a fun resort for kids (even though it was just DH and I). It is colorful with 3 pools and a great food court.

Only you can decide if the extra money is worth the switch or not.

 

[KatMark]

Personally, we are not fans of the values--we find them overcrowded and too noisy. We prefer the more spread out moderate resorts--much more peaceful and you don't feel as if you have people on top of you all the time.

The CBR is the largest of the moderates (followed by the CSR and then the POR; the POFQ is the smallest of them all). Truthfully, I find the "long walks" to be overexaggerated at the moderates (we've had a longer walk at the Contemporary to get to or from our room). But that is us personally. If you did not like the walk at POR, you probably won't like the walk at the CBR. You could, however, book a "preferred room" at the CBR--the only moderate that offers a "preferred room."

 

[luvpalmtrees]

We've never stayed at POR but have stayed at POP and CBR and love both. CBR is our favorite! If you stay at CBR in the Jamaica or Aruba islands, for no extra $ it's probably a 5 min. walk across bridge to the food court (OPR) and main pool. There is a bus stop on each island. Some islands that are closer to the pool/food court are preferred area and extra $ per night. When we stayed at POP we stayed in the 70's bldg. It probably was a 5 min. or less walk to main pool and food court. POP for sure has less walking. We just like the theme of CBR better. In my opinion you can't go wrong with either place. Good luck! We will be at CBR in July!

 

[lovesdumbo]

I feel the same way about POR. I really like the value resorts. I think the food courts are a better fit for my picky eater. I like that the bus stops to the parks have queues. I like that there is just one bus stop so once on the bus you are right on your way to the park (at Pop anyways). I have always had great bus service from Pop. I find the atmosphere fun.

I've never been to CBR but they do have an option of a preferred location but that is $25 more per night.

Have you considered POFQ? It is nice and small and compact.

 

[Barbie & the 3 girls]

You all are amazing!!! There aren't many places you can go and get people's opinions this quickly! Maybe we will stay with Pop. I have heard that about the bus service from my TA, that is was very good from there. And I didn't mean to sound lazy, it is usually just me and my 3 girls, so if one of us wanted to get a drink, WE ALL had to go get a drink from the food court, lol. Hard for little legs after a long day!

 

[tr-ray]

We have stayed at both CBR & Pop, and felt like the walk from Jamaica (a 'preferred' location) to Old Port Royale was just too far. Some people might not think so, but I didn't like the walk. In my opinion, it was just too much to go there and get breakfast or other meals on the way to the parks, etc.

We stayed at Pop most recently, and felt that the walk was MUCH shorter from the buildings at Pop to Classic Hall/Everything Pop.

I won't stay at CBR again because of the distance from OPR.

 

[Barbie & the 3 girls]

We ADORED Pop! The food court needed a bit more room, but other than that, it was WONDERFUL. It was quiet, we were in 50s building 1 room 1408 and it was perfect. We loved seeing our bowling pin as we pulled in to the resort. The pools were fine even without slides (although it would have been nice). I felt safe enough there to let my older daughters go to the food court by themselves for snacks since they couldn't get LOST on the way back-unless they really tried!

If/when we go back, to Pop it will be. I really could not tell where the room was smaller than POR at all.

 

[goofy4prez]

Personally for me I would rather walk a mile up hill in both directions than stay at an overcrowded, noisy, brightly colored value resort with giant music notes, bigwheels, yo yo's, rubic cubes, and bowling pins. I'll take a moderate or deluxe resort every time.

(For those who enjoy the values please don't take this as an attack on your preference, to each their own, they just don't work for me.

 

[Nadjalu]

You are going to do a lot of walking if you stay at CBR.

 

[disneyderns]

You are all helping me make my decision about where my family will stay in Oct. I was leaning towards a moderate, and we may yet do that, but I've been gradually leaning towards POP - we are only in our room to sleep (we only stay for 5 nights), my kids are young (9 and 3), and the shorter walks and one bus stop seems like a good thing for us

THANKS U all ROCK

 

[humboldthny]

I'm one who thinks the "walk" at CBR is exaggerated...we stayed in one of the Jamaica buildings last visit and found the walk to OPR to be pleasant and really not more than 3 minutes from the building we were in...considering how much walking we did during the day in the parks that was nothing! Now maybe if we had stayed in Barbados or Trinidad South I would have felt differently...when we made our reservations we simply requested that our room be in buildings 45, 46 or 51.

We've also stayed at POFQ...no long walks there at all...we found that resort to be pleasant, small and quiet....

We've never stayed at a Value resort, so no opinion on that one way or the other...

 

[CanadianGuy]

I'm one who thinks the "walk" at CBR is exaggerated...we stayed in one of the Jamaica buildings last visit and found the walk to OPR to be pleasant and really not more than 3 minutes from the building we were in...considering how much walking we did during the day in the parks that was nothing! Now maybe if we had stayed in Barbados or Trinidad South I would have felt differently...when we made our reservations we simply requested that our room be in buildings 45, 46 or 51.

We've also stayed at POFQ...no long walks there at all...we found that resort to be pleasant, small and quiet....

We've never stayed at a Value resort, so no opinion on that one way or the other...

It's all a matter of opinion eh? Some people feel after ALL that walking in the parks.. and extra 100 feet is more than they can bear.. (and I can surely appreciate that!)

Others figure -- I'm walking miles all day long.. what's another 100 feet...?

Personally.. I haven't stayed at CBR but it would definitely be more walking than Pop no matter how you look at it.. the extra distance wouldn't be huge.. but it would be extra in most room locations.

To each, his or her own.

 

[mom2rose&john]

Hi, I was in the same dilemma as you. Our family of four stayed at the POP two years ago and we liked it a lot. We were in a one of the farthest buildings from the buses and food court and didn’t mind the walk (even with a four and three year old). So I was going to make reservations there with the $300 dollar gift card offer. After further analysis (my nature is over analyzing everything), I realized going moderate was essentially a better deal. Having two sinks, more spacious room, not having to rent a fridge and a $500 gift card the difference turned out to be under $100 going mod. We (actually I because my husband has no preference) chose CBR because of the kiddies pool that my kids will love and the theme seems awesome. For you, POFQ might be a better fit because it is smaller and less of a haul when you and your girls have to go to the food court. And remember, whatever you decide have fun and don’t sweat the small stuff. Have a great vacation.

Ann Marie

 

[MYD714]

If you hate having to walk around a big resort, then you should stick with Pop.

I would ordinarily tell you to make the switch because we love CBR more than Pop. However, depending on where you get a room in CBR, you may have a long hike to the food court/gift shop/main pool. There is a resort bus that just loops the resort bus stops to avoid the walk, but I found actually walking to be more convenient. There are many quiet pools around CBR that are short distances from the room, but the main pool is much better and I'm sure your kids would like it more.

Pop seems smaller to me. We've stayed in different sections and always have a quick walk to the food court/buses/etc. The three pools are equally nice and are within decent walking distance from all areas.

 

[MMrules]

I have stayed at CBR 4 times (twice with kids and twice without). I think people overexaggerate about the walks too. Yes, you do have to walk to get to the food court and main pool, but I have stayed at AKL and BC which I had to walk a lot too....just inside a hotel building vs. outside. CBR has a lot of great things for kids such as beaches to play in, play areas, great pools, Parrot Cay which is a walkway to Jamaica, but my kids loved it pretending to look for pirate treasure and a decent sized food court.

If you do want to be closer to the food area I would request Trinidad North, Jamaica, or Martinique.

I haven't stayed at a value so I can't comment on POP.

 

[robinb]

We ADORED Pop! The food court needed a bit more room, but other than that, it was WONDERFUL. It was quiet, we were in 50s building 1 room 1408 and it was perfect. We loved seeing our bowling pin as we pulled in to the resort. The pools were fine even without slides (although it would have been nice). I felt safe enough there to let my older daughters go to the food court by themselves for snacks since they couldn't get LOST on the way back-unless they really tried!

If/when we go back, to Pop it will be. I really could not tell where the room was smaller than POR at all.

I'm glad you had a good time! If you are thinking of upgrading to a Moderate resort next time, Port Orleans French Quarter is very compact .

 

[Disneylvr]

I am one of those that doesn't mind the walking so much at CBR, but we also have a car with us and if we are far away from OPR and don't feel like walking on a particular day, we will just drive. But like other posters have said, you can walk just as much at other resorts. I remember at the AKL we were one of the farthest rooms away from the food court/pool/bus stop and I was pregnant at the time. I remember walking by room after room....it seemed endless. At least at CBR, POR and CSR the scenery is beautiful as you walk.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

We've been to POP twice and just had a Christmas trip to CBR. Don't count on getting a room close to the food court at CBR, I requested one and ended up pretty far away even after asking for a room change. We walked to OPR food court once, then after that took our car. It was just too time counsuming to walk in the morning when we needed to get to the parks. I'm not sure I'd stay there again, however their water area with the pirate ship and slides for kids was neat. It was too cold for us to swim in December, but it would be fun in warmer weather. I wish we had gotten a preferred room, I think it would have been so much better.
I still like POP, and it is easy to get a lake view room there. I like that the resort is not spread out. At CBR, I almost felt like we were staying at an offsite hotel and driving to breakfast at a restaurant each day. At POP, I felt like we were really at a Disney resort. We weren't close to a parking lot and a busy road like at CBR. MAybe it was just room location, but POP felt more isolated to me.