Caribbean beach resort bus service, bad enough we should switch resorts?

[jldcherry]

We are heading to Disney in January and booked originally at Wilderness Lodge, but switched to Caribbean Beach resort to save some money and because our kids want to spend 2 days at HS. The skyliner was the initial draw, but now the Epcot line will be closed for our trip, the feature pool is also closed. Is it worth the price difference to switch to Boardwalk so we can walk to Epcot and Hollywood? We will not park hop or come back to the resort during the day. I was feeling enthusiastic, but after reading bad reviews of bus service I'm anxious about Caribbean beach, are the buses really that bad? Is the walk around the resort really as terrible as people online say it is?

 

[mort1331]

You never mentioned the ages of the kids. The bussing is not too bad, but it does loop around. If not coming back to resort then I see no issue. Save the money and have an extra mickey bar, or 2

 

[gottalovepluto]

It is a very big resort to have to walk.

Since you tend toward deluxes have you priced Swolphin? I’m also a fan of the tower at CSR for deluxe feeling rooms and amenities at a lower price.

Ultimately what’s your goal here? You kinda seem panicked to jump from CBR all the way up to BWI, especially in light of the fact you jumped down from WL to save money. Do you want to save money? Or do you want convenience? BWI/BC/YC are convenient- but expensive. And the BWI room refurb was meh, no rain shower, no counter or table for working, only half usable outlets- WL rooms are much nicer.

If you need to save some money this trip it’s unlikely you’ll find BWI/BC/YC worth the cost vs a mod + rideshares/Minnie Vans, at least that is how I have felt.

 

[Skippyboo]

CBR is spread out pretty far with bus stops in each of the island sections so coming back from the park the bus can make several stops before your bus stop. The main building can be a hike depending on where your room is so if you want to pop in to refill your mug or get a snack it’s not super convenient.

I would look at Swan/Dolphin or Gran Destino Tower at Coronado. It depends on what your want price wise vs hotel amenities.

 

[jldcherry]

You never mentioned the ages of the kids. The bussing is not too bad, but it does loop around. If not coming back to resort then I see no issue. Save the money and have an extra mickey bar, or 2

Our kids are older 8 and 11, no stroller.

We absolutely love Wilderness Lodge and have also stayed at Grand Floridian. Convenience to the park is important to us, which was part of the rational behind switching, more convenient to Hollywood studios and cheaper. I'm concerned by the stories of full buses passing later stops at CBR. We always rope drop, so also wondering if this is harder with the bus situation at Caribbean beach.

It's always nice to pay less, but also don't want our trip to suffer from bad buses. Our ultimate goal at Disney is for everything to be as easy as possible. Maybe I'm also just overall disappointed that we aren't going to Wilderness Lodge!

 

[DizneyFamof4]

Impossible to say if it's worth it when we do not know the cost difference. I personally would not pay more then $200 more per night, but that's me. Based on your posts and how clear it is that you are not really happy with your CBR choice, I would suggest you stay at BC. Because, I think, any type of walking or bus issue that you may have will stick with you.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

In the same situation ATM I have booked CBR however I'm second guessing myself. We stayed at the Poly previously and loved it, but it's not available on our dates. At CBR we are paying, accommodation only $4599 for 15days, whereas at the GF we would be paying $10,880, so it's a big difference. I'm currently looking at dvc renting options to see if we can save a bit.

For me the other concerning point is that the slide at CBR doesn't seem as big as at Delux resorts and my kids love big slides.

 

[jldcherry]

In the same situation ATM I have booked CBR however I'm second guessing myself. We stayed at the Poly previously and loved it, but it's not available on our dates. At CBR we are paying, accommodation only $4599 for 15days, whereas at the GF we would be paying $10,880, so it's a big difference. I'm currently looking at dvc renting options to see if we can save a bit.

For me the other concerning point is that the slide at CBR doesn't seem as big as at Delux resorts and my kids love big slides.

I will say my kids weren't super in love with the pool at Grand Floridian. We loved the location of GF, the resort studio rooms, and watching the fireworks at the resort. My children prefer the pool at Wilderness. If a big slide is what you're looking for maybe try Beach Club or Yacht club (not sure about your dates). The slide at Stormalong Bay is pretty impressive. With a 15 day trip I would also consider doing a day at Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach to satisfy their slide needs(depending on what time of year), my children have a blast at both.

We've decided to stick with Caribbean Beach Resort for our trip. The cost difference over 5 nights is substantial considering we won't spend any time at the resort this trip and we will have the skyliner to HS. Taking the suggestions here and going for Minnie vans and lyfts, and buying lightening lanes when we need to so we don't feel pressured about rope drop. We also read several blogs about room selections and made our request. In the end we'll be at Disney World, so we'll have fun!

 

[jimmymc]

You won't need to walk to the main building unless you're going to the main building for food. There are bus stops all around the resort, and your room will be close to one. The busses in the morning are split, meaning you'll only stop at half of the areas before going to the parks. This makes it pretty quick. At night, busses do end up stopping everywhere, meaning a bit of a longer drive.

Even with the Skyliner down, it is still a short bus ride over to Epcot, so I wouldn't spend hundreds more to get there. You'll probably do more total walking to get to Epcot and Studios from Boardwalk than if you took busses and the Skyliner to Studios from CB.

I would be more tempted to switch due to the feature pool being closed, but it doesn't sound like that's as big a deal to your group. There will still be plenty of places if you just want to swim.

 

[Mle8308]

I'd move to either a less expensive moderate or a value (not Pop). Why pay the extra at the CBR for the Skyliner when you can't even use it? POFQ will also have their pool closed, but you can walk to POR and use theirs, it's not far. And POFQ only has one central bus stop, it's quite compact. It's my favorite moderate.

 

[jldcherry]

I'd move to either a less expensive moderate or a value (not Pop). Why pay the extra at the CBR for the Skyliner when you can't even use it? POFQ will also have their pool closed, but you can walk to POR and use theirs, it's not far. And POFQ only has one central bus stop, it's quite compact. It's my favorite moderate.

I looked at POFQ, but we really want the 5th sleeper at CB. Kids having separate beds is extremely helpful! For our dates the price difference between CB and other moderates is very small, maybe $20 a night, and we will get skyliner for HS days, just not Epcot. I have heard so many good things about POFQ, maybe a different trip we'll try it out. We'll only be at the hotel possibly one afternoon and if it's warm a quiet pool will be fine to suit our needs.

 

[Mle8308]

I looked at POFQ, but we really want the 5th sleeper at CB. Kids having separate beds is extremely helpful! For our dates the price difference between CB and other moderates is very small, maybe $20 a night, and we will get skyliner for HS days, just not Epcot. I have heard so many good things about POFQ, maybe a different trip we'll try it out. We'll only be at the hotel possibly one afternoon and if it's warm a quiet pool will be fine to suit our needs.

POR has a 5th sleeper. There are multiple bus stops, but it's not too crazy. I forgot about the 5th sleeper that you needed. If the pool being closed isn't a big deal and you will have the Skyliner for one park, CBR will be fine. And request a refurbished 5th sleeper room, they may all be done by now or will be by the time you get there. They changed out one bed for a Murphy, it will give you more room when you are not all asleep!

 

[DizneyFamof4]

In the same situation ATM I have booked CBR however I'm second guessing myself. We stayed at the Poly previously and loved it, but it's not available on our dates. At CBR we are paying, accommodation only $4599 for 15days, whereas at the GF we would be paying $10,880, so it's a big difference. I'm currently looking at dvc renting options to see if we can save a bit.

For me the other concerning point is that the slide at CBR doesn't seem as big as at Delux resorts and my kids love big slides.

What about a split stay, especially for 15 days. I personally would not pay twice as much, but that's our family I was curious about the pool slides and found this information.
The POLY slide maybe the shortest of the Deluxe resorts at 142'
SSR - 146'
CR - 148'
GF - 181'
BW - 200'
BC/YC - 230'
MOD
CBR - 102'
CSR - 123'

 

[Dreams&wishes]

What about a split stay, especially for 15 days. I personally would not pay twice as much, but that's our family I was curious about the pool slides and found this information.
The POLY slide maybe the shortest of the Deluxe resorts at 142'
SSR - 146'
CR - 148'
GF - 181'
BW - 200'
BC/YC - 230'
MOD
CBR - 102'
CSR - 123'

Thank you this is great!
I'm a little scared of the pool at the BC/YC I have a 5 yr old and overall my kids are not great swimmers I feel it's too big and dispersive.

I think we are thinking of keeping the CBR reservation as well we will have a ticket that will let us do waterparks we are also doing a DCL afterwards so that maybe enough.

 

[stinkpickle]

If I were in your shoes, I would switch to a 5th sleeper room at POR and use the savings to Uber to Swolphin for the HS and EP rope drops. Their QS breakfast locations usually open one hour early than those at Disney resorts, so you can be fed and coffee'd up before most everybody else.

 

[jldcherry]

I thought I'd update this thread to say we went on our trip and stayed at CBR in the Jamaica building and thought the bus service was good for rope dropping. We never had the bus visit more than 1 extra stop in the morning on the way to the park. The only bus issue we had was on the way back from Epcot, but we just got a Lyft and avoided the line.

The resort was definitely too big for me to run to the main building for a quick coffee in the morning before rope drop, but we easily remedied this by grabbing from the Joffreys cart at the skyliner or getting coffee at the park. We always pack our own breakfast, if you don't you may want to stay closer to the main building.

We're glad we didn't pay for a deluxe on this trip and would stay at CBR again with a good room promotion. Our room was clean and updated, the skyliner was very convenient, the beds were comfy, and the cast members were fantastic as always.