CBR vs POR vs Cabins

[ID_Dismom]

Hi all!

We are currently booked at CBR for a 10 day trip in June. We booked the free dining BB offer on our last trip in Oct. We have been to WDW twice before, both times staying in a cabin at FW, and have absolutely loved staying there. That said, it was significantly cheaper to book CBR.

After showing pictures and videos to DH and the kiddos, they're not sold on CBR. Neither am I, tbh. I called WDW today to price out some other options. Most of the ones I wanted to price aren't available for our dates with the BB offer, but POR was, as were the cabins. POR would add about $500 total, the cabins would be an additional $1800. Ouch.

We know we love the cabins, but it's an awful lot more money. We love that the kids have separate beds with the bunks (we have DD8 and DS10). We love that we kind of have our own space, no connecting walls to anyone, and it's pretty quiet. DH likes being able to hang out on the deck and relax while the kids are playing. We stay pretty busy going to the parks, but we are not RD people at all, and usually hang around the resort in the morning, and head to the parks late morning/early afternoon.

I've heard great things about POR, and mixed reviews of CBR. We do like the idea of more onsite dining options and being able to actually use our refillable mugs. I'm worried about noise (can we hear our neighbors?) and whether there's going to be a quiet spot for DH to hang out outside and feel like he got away from the craziness that is WDW.

We're very torn on whether to stick with our (economical) original choice, switch to POR, or stick with what we know and love and just shell out the $$$. If you managed to make it this far through my rambling post, any advice?

Thanks so much!!

 

[VAfamily1998]

If you stayed in a cabin, would you eat all your breakfasts there? Over 10 days, that can be a substantial cost savings-and for me, it's an even bigger time/sanity savings! I find the food courts of resorts to be too chaotic and stressful, so even without the cost savings, being able to eat breakfast in my room is worth a lot. Maybe not 1800 (yeah--ouch!)...but it also sounds like your Dh just really enjoys that peaceful time on the deck

 

[disneyguy07]

I think a lot of the backlash about CBR over the last few years stemmed from the massive construction effort that was being done at the resort while Disney kept the resort open. To top that off, I don't think it was ever a favorite moderate resort of most Disney fans. Those two things combined into a lot of folks steering clear of CBR. Now, a fair amount of the construction has been completed, including an overhauled Old Port Royale and the refurbishment of all the rooms. That being said, they are still working on the construction of the new Riviera Resort (adjacent to CBR) as well as construction of the Skyliner. I think Disney has done a pretty good job of addressing the biggest complaints about the resort. For example, check-in now occurs at Old Port Royale instead of the distant Customs House building. Additionally, they added a QS dining location (Spyglass) for some of the buildings in the Trinidad section that are further from Old Port Royale. All that being said, I don't think CBR does a great job with the theming compared to the other moderates.

It sounds to me like you plan to spend a fair amount of time at the resort and that you really like the tranquility of Fort Wilderness. Given that, it sounds like it might be worth the upgrade to POR. At POR, you will not have the construction noise issues that you would have at CBR and the entire vibe of POR is very laid back. The fact that the resort is so spread out really helps keep things pretty tranquil. You can also request a room in one of the more remote areas of the Alligator Bayou to further help with that. POR also offers boat access to Disney Springs, which is something that would probably be nice on a longer trip. The one place that can be loud and hectic during busy times is the food court area and the areas near the main pool.

Ultimately, I don't think you would have a bad time at CBR but based on what you're looking for I think you're more likely to enjoy POR more.

 

[maxiesmom]

From how you describe your family likes to vacation, I would upgrade to a cabin. For a 10 day long trip you want to be sure you will all be happy.

 

[Monykalyn]

Our family would definitely prefer the space if the cabin. Even with the free dining it’s nice to have options to eat at cabin and then splurge on a 2 credit meal-especially for that length of trip.But we are also used to 2 bedroom accommodations at the very nice timeshares around Disney. Even this trip- to Universal- we are ina 1 bedroom at Hyatt House for 4 of us. We just prefer the space

 

[Buckeye Jones]

We haven’t stayed at CBR, but we just got back from our third FW trip, and we did POR last year. My kids were BORED at POR. It was beautiful, but I felt it was more of an adult resort. We love the cabins,and for a 10 day trip I would definitely want the kitchen and room.

 

[Hopefully]

Cabins definitely, if you can afford it.
There is no really private, quiet spot for DH to escape at CBR or POR.
You will be sharing walls and likely Hear neighbors.
As stated the food courts are chaotic at busy meal times. Cooking some in will save money

 

[ID_Dismom]

Thanks everyone! I'm going to try and steer DH towards the cabins again, I really think he'll be much happier there.