Disney's CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT Information & Questions

Just back from a two week stay at CBR and wanted to post a quick review in here. This is our 4th or 5th stay at the resort in the last 10 years or so, and as always, overall, it did not disappoint.

We had a fantastic vacation and really enjoyed the time we spent at the resort. Already booked a free dining bounce back for the same time frame next year so that pretty much sums ups how happy we were overall.

I wanted to note, as we drive down, that I was SHOCKED to be "gifted" with free parking. I was expecting to pay the $19 per night of course, but went up to the front desk on our second day as I had a question on room charges. I asked the girl why the parking was broken down and included an "orange" fee? I had parked at Disney Springs, Orange Garage, the previous night, and was wondering if there was some sort of charge for that now. She explained it was the Orange County tax, and all I said was oh, now I feel stupid, lol. She then proceeded to apologize and said as this was the first year they are charging for parking as a courtesy she would be removing the parking fee for my entire stay. I thanked her tremendously and was very, very pleased with that level of concern\service. (And yes , I was very, very pleasant when inquiring about the garage\orange thing).

The good:
- Room was in Jamaica 43 - we paid for a standard room and were given a garden\courtyard view.
- Room was in great shape and close to the parking lot - we drive.
- Resort staff, life guards, everyone was quite pleasant.
- LOVING the newly redone areas.
- Construction was a total none issue - God I wish the Skyliner would have been opened though, lol. My wife and I joked we will never being able to get Jamaica 43 again as it's a quick walk to the Skyliner, lol.
- Food court - meh, we only ate there twice and it was OK. No complaints really, but then again, we aren't really food court people and prefer to eat in the parks or other restaurants.
- While we opted out of room service, we were attended too very quickly if and when we phoned for anything. About mid trip, I asked one of the maids outside if I could get something to clean the toilet with as a ring was forming in it. She wound up coming back after we were gone and cleaned the entire room. I saw her the next day and gave her a $10 tip. Very pleasant woman.

The bad:
- Bus service - absolutely horrible. This is probably my only complaint with the resort. We drive most places, but did take the bus to MK as usual and used it for some mid day trips back to the resort leaving the car at the parks. Each and every single time we waited at least 30 minutes for the bus. At times, longer. Return trips from MK were HORRIBLE to say the least. Sometimes waiting well over an hour for a bus due to the sheer number of people in the cattle stalls. I have never had this bad a service from the busses, even during previous stays, including at POP. Our last day at MK, we opted to drive there too and even with parking at TTC and taking a boat or monorail over to MK, it was 10x quick than the bus system.

Anyway, really looking forward to getting back next year, and REALLY looking forward to be able to try out the Skyliners. Definitely requesting Jamaica again due to it's proximity to those as well as the fairly nice\quick walk to the pool area.


Were the bus issues mainly midday or some other time of day? I know buses are always crazy at the end of the day.
 
Did your question specify theme park parking for someone not staying onsite (it is always free for onsite guests)?

No, question was only about the parking charges for the resort\garage. I know parking has always been free for the parks. (Well, not really anymore as the resort parking fee pretty much negates that benefit).

Were the bus issues mainly midday or some other time of day? I know buses are always crazy at the end of the day.

Bus issues were primarily morning and evening. I know those can be the busiest times but it was BAD. Trying to get to a park in the morning was a crap shoot. 3 buses for the same park back to back and long waits for one for other parks. Again, we drive everywhere except MK so only rating that.

Evenings were worse than I had ever seen. Long waits for buses overall and never enough in succession. It didn’t help that the CBR stalls were always maxed. Maxed as in people overflowing them by a few rows.
 
Staying at CBR in February primarily because of access to the Skyliner. However, I've read some not so flattering reviews 😟 . Can recent travelers give some opinion on what to like and not like about this resort......this will be our first visit. Also we have a Pirate room too :crazy:

Doug :goofy:
 
Staying at CBR in February primarily because of access to the Skyliner. However, I've read some not so flattering reviews 😟 . Can recent travelers give some opinion on what to like and not like about this resort......this will be our first visit. Also we have a Pirate room too :crazy:

Doug :goofy:
Not a recent traveler, but I'm now considering staying there for the first time ever due to the Skyliner. I think carribean beach had some bad rap in the past and most people tend to still have that idea in their head about this resort. It recently got a new lobby, outdoor pool bar, will be the prime hub for the skyliner, and will have the new riviera resort right next door. Sebastians is said to be a great table service restaurant. You can't really say any of that about any of the other moderates. I think this will soon be the new popular moderate resort in town, I wouldn't worry about your choice:).
 


Not a recent traveler, but I'm now considering staying there for the first time ever due to the Skyliner. I think carribean beach had some bad rap in the past and most people tend to still have that idea in their head about this resort. It recently got a new lobby, outdoor pool bar, will be the prime hub for the skyliner, and will have the new riviera resort right next door. Sebastians is said to be a great table service restaurant. You can't really say any of that about any of the other moderates. I think this will soon be the new popular moderate resort in town, I wouldn't worry about your choice:).
If you are going for the skyline, consider requesting Aruba 55. Its right near the Riviera station
 
Staying at CBR in February primarily because of access to the Skyliner. However, I've read some not so flattering reviews 😟 . Can recent travelers give some opinion on what to like and not like about this resort......this will be our first visit. Also we have a Pirate room too :crazy:

Doug :goofy:

As the construction wraps up many of the complaints you have probably read aren't really valid anymore. The other popular complaint is the buses. There can be some issues there with the timing for a bus to a particular park, but it's usually not as bad as people make it out to be and they just have unrealistic expectations.

As for the pirate rooms there can be some valid complaints for those as the bed size might not be for everyone. Other than the theme obviously, the rooms are comparable to the regular rooms. I love the pirate rooms and find the beds work for us. Skyliner will be great for where the pirate rooms are, and the Spyglass Grill at it's pool is great.

Have you stayed anywhere else on property? That can give us an idea of what you're used to.
 
As the construction wraps up many of the complaints you have probably read aren't really valid anymore. The other popular complaint is the buses. There can be some issues there with the timing for a bus to a particular park, but it's usually not as bad as people make it out to be and they just have unrealistic expectations.

As for the pirate rooms there can be some valid complaints for those as the bed size might not be for everyone. Other than the theme obviously, the rooms are comparable to the regular rooms. I love the pirate rooms and find the beds work for us. Skyliner will be great for where the pirate rooms are, and the Spyglass Grill at it's pool is great.

Have you stayed anywhere else on property? That can give us an idea of what you're used to.
My wife and I will usually stay at Deluxe resorts (our kids are grown ) :P . We do stay at PoP when we have a longer trip so we've done value...……. We both loved POFQ and didn't like POR mostly because of the size...…...I guess we'll see what happens. Again the Skyliner is a big player in all of this.

Doug :goofy:
 


My wife and I will usually stay at Deluxe resorts (our kids are grown ) :P . We do stay at PoP when we have a longer trip so we've done value...……. We both loved POFQ and didn't like POR mostly because of the size...…...I guess we'll see what happens. Again the Skyliner is a big player in all of this.

Doug :goofy:

With the caveat that I've never stayed at either PO resorts, I think CBR is in the middle of the spectrum of those 2 resorts. CBR is large like POR but seems better laid out building group wise. If you're trying to get from pirate rooms to Riviera or the buildings up there it will feel like POR. Going from pirate rooms to Old Port Royale or Skyliner will be like staying around the edges of POFQ probably. CBR is maybe like a Poly Lite for Epcot and Hollywood Studios when the Skyliner opens imo.
Edit: I have no clue what the bus situation is like at the PO resorts so I can't really give you anything on that.
 
Has anyone there now seen any SWGE info yet?

I am seeing reports of flyers in the rooms and sandwich boards in resort lobbies. Just checking if anyone has images of those things.
 
Staying at CBR in February primarily because of access to the Skyliner. However, I've read some not so flattering reviews 😟 . Can recent travelers give some opinion on what to like and not like about this resort......this will be our first visit. Also we have a Pirate room too :crazy:

Doug :goofy:
We are going in a couple of weeks, we check in on September 24 and have a Pirate room. I am sure there will be updates before but I will let you know what I think of the rooms. This will be our second time staying here, but first with the Pirate rooms. We ended up with this type of room because it was all I could get with the free dinning.
 
Has anyone there now seen any SWGE info yet?

I am seeing reports of flyers in the rooms and sandwich boards in resort lobbies. Just checking if anyone has images of those things.
Have there been reports of anything at CBR? All I saw was a pic from Pop so far.
 
I arrive at CBR on Sunday!

I have a standard room and requested Jamaica. In general, I planned to try and catch the bus by OPR after breakfast. However, I am hoping to make it to DHS and AK as early as possible on 2 days and am considering grabbing something the night before to eat in the room that morning or at the bus stop. How bad are the lines for those 2 parks at 6:30-7 am if I were to use the stop closest to me, hopefully Jamaica? The extra early hours are messing up my plans! I'm game for taking the Skyliner instead if it is open too.

If it matters, AK has daily EMH at 7 am, regular opening at 8 and DHS has EMH at 6, regular opening at 9.
 
I arrive at CBR on Sunday!

I have a standard room and requested Jamaica. In general, I planned to try and catch the bus by OPR after breakfast. However, I am hoping to make it to DHS and AK as early as possible on 2 days and am considering grabbing something the night before to eat in the room that morning or at the bus stop. How bad are the lines for those 2 parks at 6:30-7 am if I were to use the stop closest to me, hopefully Jamaica? The extra early hours are messing up my plans! I'm game for taking the Skyliner instead if it is open too.

If it matters, AK has daily EMH at 7 am, regular opening at 8 and DHS has EMH at 6, regular opening at 9.

Because every village has it's own bus stop, they do not get crowded. The only stop that I would say does get crowded would be the Old Port Royale stop. But even that isn't bad at all. Unless you are going to Old Port Royal in the AM already, I would definitely use the stop closest to your room.
 
We are in a Pirate Room - Water View. I am going to do online check in soon and wanted to know if there was any specific room request we should make?
 
We are in a Pirate Room - Water View. I am going to do online check in soon and wanted to know if there was any specific room request we should make?

I would request building 35. You'll be closer to Old Port Royale, the Main Feature pool, the walkway to the Skyliner and not far from Spyglass Grill. Though you would need to call that request in to the Main Reservation line and skip the room request section of Online Check In. Those options are pretty useless usually.
 
I arrive at CBR on Sunday!

I have a standard room and requested Jamaica. In general, I planned to try and catch the bus by OPR after breakfast. However, I am hoping to make it to DHS and AK as early as possible on 2 days and am considering grabbing something the night before to eat in the room that morning or at the bus stop. How bad are the lines for those 2 parks at 6:30-7 am if I were to use the stop closest to me, hopefully Jamaica? The extra early hours are messing up my plans! I'm game for taking the Skyliner instead if it is open too.

If it matters, AK has daily EMH at 7 am, regular opening at 8 and DHS has EMH at 6, regular opening at 9.
Would love to know if any testing of the Skyliner is going on. I had heard that they will be operational late September, I think the 29th.
 
I would request building 35. You'll be closer to Old Port Royale, the Main Feature pool, the walkway to the Skyliner and not far from Spyglass Grill. Though you would need to call that request in to the Main Reservation line and skip the room request section of Online Check In. Those options are pretty useless usually.

Thank you, this helps a lot!
 
I arrive at CBR on Sunday!

I have a standard room and requested Jamaica. In general, I planned to try and catch the bus by OPR after breakfast. However, I am hoping to make it to DHS and AK as early as possible on 2 days and am considering grabbing something the night before to eat in the room that morning or at the bus stop. How bad are the lines for those 2 parks at 6:30-7 am if I were to use the stop closest to me, hopefully Jamaica? The extra early hours are messing up my plans! I'm game for taking the Skyliner instead if it is open too.

If it matters, AK has daily EMH at 7 am, regular opening at 8 and DHS has EMH at 6, regular opening at 9.

Hopefully Dorian doesn't cause you too much trouble. I looked at your recent post history and see you have experience with riding out hurricanes though! Besides not being in a hurricane, WDW is the best place to be during one.
 

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