Disney's CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT Information & Questions

We are booked in a water view room August 16-23. Any suggestion which village would have the least disruption from the construction?
 
This is a peculiar update post... good stuff, bad stuff and a twist at the end.
Having checked in Monday evening, we have found the resort to retain a lot of its charm despite the construction of the new resort, gondola buildings and towers and the centretown refurb.
The food at both the Spy Glass Grille and the food tent are very good, both in taste, and value for money.
The island markets, whilst a charming idea, lack any substance and we found nothing we’d buy in there.
The buses... well that’s an oddity all of its own. They seem fine as long as you wanna go anywhere except Magic Kingdom first thing in the morning. Yesterday we had breakfast reservations for BOG at 8:30. We were at the bus stop by 7:03. The timing board said 20 minutes but just kept creeping up until it said 7:58
The cast member turned up about 7:30 and despite comments to her, she did and said nothing.
The internal bus became a floater after the driver called in the problem but was already full when she got to Jamaica. The next floater turned up about 7:50. By the time we turned at Aruba and passed Jamaica again, there were 2 empty MK buses at an empty bus stop! We just made our 8:30 reservation.
Now here comes the twist.
After the parks we decided to visit Saratoga Springs where we’ve stayed several times before (when with family not just us). We were in the shop to buy cookies and some other little sundries we couldn’t find at CBR when we were greeted by a CM who recognised GoofyGavin from our previous visits.
We explained we were passing through, where we were staying, and yes, lamenting the bus service. As soon as we finished he called over a nearby manager who took us to the management team at the desk who asked us to sit down for a moment while they disappeared. Within 5 minutes they were back with the bookings manager who offered us a 1 bedroom villa at no extra charge for the remainder of our stay.
Those that have seen my previous posts will know that having incurable cancer and the prospect of this being my last trip (which, I hasten to add, was never mentioned at Saratoga Springs) I felt it too good an offer to pass up. They initiated the whole thing, we never enquired about a move... indeed it hadn’t occurred to me they would do such a thing.
CBR has been lovely as a location but SS, to use their own tag line, felt like home.
To that end, we are now packing to check out and transfer to SS. Please don’t think badly of me. I wish you all well and hope the buses get better.
 
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This is a peculiar update post... good stuff, bad stuff and a twist at the end.
Having checked in Monday evening, we have found the resort to retain a lot of its charm despite the construction of the new resort, gondola buildings and towers and the centretown refurb.
The food at both the Spy Glass Grille and the food tent are very good, both in taste, and value for money.
The island markets, whilst a charming idea, lack any substance and we found nothing we’d buy in there.
The buses... well that’s an oddity all of its own. They seem fine as long as you don’t wanna go anywhere except Magic Kingdom first thing in the morning. Yesterday we had breakfast reservations for BOG at 8:30. We were at the bus stop by 7:03. The timing board said 20 minutes but just kept creeping up until it said 7:58
The cast member turned up about 7:30 and despite comments to her, she did and said nothing.
The internal bus became a floater after the driver called in the problem but was already full when she got to Jamaica. The next floater turned up about 7:50. By the time we turned at Aruba and passed Jamaica again, there were 2 empty MK buses at an empty bus stop! We just made our 8:30 reservation.
Now here comes the twist.
After the parks we decided to visit Saratoga Springs where we’ve stayed several times before (when with family not just us). We were in the shop to buy cookies and some other little sundries we couldn’t find at CBR when we were greeted by a CM who recognised GoofyGavin from our previous visits.
We explained we were passing through, where we were staying, and yes, lamenting the bus service. As soon as we finished he called over a nearby manager who took us to the management team at the desk who asked us to sit down for a moment while they disappeared. Within 5 minutes they were back with the bookings manager who offered us a 1 bedroom villa at no extra charge for the remainder of our stay.
Those that have seen my previous posts will know that having incurable cancer and the prospect of this being my last trip (which, I hasten to add, was never mentioned at Saratoga Springs) I felt it too good an offer to pass up. They initiated the whole thing, we never enquired about a move... indeed it hadn’t occurred to me they would do such a thing.
CBR has been lovely as a location but SS, to use their own tag line, felt like home.
To that end, we are now packing to check out and transfer to SS. Please don’t think badly of me. I wish you all well and hope the buses get better.

Thanks for the update. Enjoy SSR! We know 3 families at WDW right now that are also having AM bus issues at POR, Poly and CSR. Have been all week.
 
Anybody who can point me to a rendering, picture, or description of what we can expect in mid December??? Can't afford Deluxe, so it's here or Coronado. They both sound like they are becoming completely different.
 


Anybody who can point me to a rendering, picture, or description of what we can expect in mid December???

Old Port Royal and Centertown are supposed to be completed and open some time in December. The Gondola and Riviera Resort tower are still going to be in progress.
 
For what it’s worth, we overheard a bus driver telling a lady who complained that “he was late” according to the time screen, that the times shown don’t reflect where any bus is and that the buses are being fitted with a new tracking system which will be far more accurate when rolled out. (He didn’t mention a timescale)
I just hope that the new system may automatically redirect buses without human intervention, cos I suspect that is where it’s currently falling down, resulting in buses being sent out too late to cover those resorts not getting them which compounds the problem as those buses then have no passengers to collect.
Disney does human error quite well... but I have to concede that quite often, as in my case, human intervention also makes magic happen.
 
This is a peculiar update post... good stuff, bad stuff and a twist at the end.
Having checked in Monday evening, we have found the resort to retain a lot of its charm despite the construction of the new resort, gondola buildings and towers and the centretown refurb.
The food at both the Spy Glass Grille and the food tent are very good, both in taste, and value for money.
The island markets, whilst a charming idea, lack any substance and we found nothing we’d buy in there.
The buses... well that’s an oddity all of its own. They seem fine as long as you wanna go anywhere except Magic Kingdom first thing in the morning. Yesterday we had breakfast reservations for BOG at 8:30. We were at the bus stop by 7:03. The timing board said 20 minutes but just kept creeping up until it said 7:58
The cast member turned up about 7:30 and despite comments to her, she did and said nothing.
The internal bus became a floater after the driver called in the problem but was already full when she got to Jamaica. The next floater turned up about 7:50. By the time we turned at Aruba and passed Jamaica again, there were 2 empty MK buses at an empty bus stop! We just made our 8:30 reservation.
Now here comes the twist.
After the parks we decided to visit Saratoga Springs where we’ve stayed several times before (when with family not just us). We were in the shop to buy cookies and some other little sundries we couldn’t find at CBR when we were greeted by a CM who recognised GoofyGavin from our previous visits.
We explained we were passing through, where we were staying, and yes, lamenting the bus service. As soon as we finished he called over a nearby manager who took us to the management team at the desk who asked us to sit down for a moment while they disappeared. Within 5 minutes they were back with the bookings manager who offered us a 1 bedroom villa at no extra charge for the remainder of our stay.
Those that have seen my previous posts will know that having incurable cancer and the prospect of this being my last trip (which, I hasten to add, was never mentioned at Saratoga Springs) I felt it too good an offer to pass up. They initiated the whole thing, we never enquired about a move... indeed it hadn’t occurred to me they would do such a thing.
CBR has been lovely as a location but SS, to use their own tag line, felt like home.
To that end, we are now packing to check out and transfer to SS. Please don’t think badly of me. I wish you all well and hope the buses get better.

We've always picked Jamaica and never had a problem...this worries me though because we have a lot of ppo activities planned for this summer :(
 
We've always picked Jamaica and never had a problem...this worries me though because we have a lot of ppo activities planned for this summer :(

I wouldn't worry about it now. They have been having issues with the bus system everywhere for the past week or so. I would imagine things will be fixed/worked out by the time you go.
 
This is a peculiar update post... good stuff, bad stuff and a twist at the end.
Having checked in Monday evening, we have found the resort to retain a lot of its charm despite the construction of the new resort, gondola buildings and towers and the centretown refurb.
The food at both the Spy Glass Grille and the food tent are very good, both in taste, and value for money.
The island markets, whilst a charming idea, lack any substance and we found nothing we’d buy in there.
The buses... well that’s an oddity all of its own. They seem fine as long as you wanna go anywhere except Magic Kingdom first thing in the morning. Yesterday we had breakfast reservations for BOG at 8:30. We were at the bus stop by 7:03. The timing board said 20 minutes but just kept creeping up until it said 7:58
The cast member turned up about 7:30 and despite comments to her, she did and said nothing.
The internal bus became a floater after the driver called in the problem but was already full when she got to Jamaica. The next floater turned up about 7:50. By the time we turned at Aruba and passed Jamaica again, there were 2 empty MK buses at an empty bus stop! We just made our 8:30 reservation.
Now here comes the twist.
After the parks we decided to visit Saratoga Springs where we’ve stayed several times before (when with family not just us). We were in the shop to buy cookies and some other little sundries we couldn’t find at CBR when we were greeted by a CM who recognised GoofyGavin from our previous visits.
We explained we were passing through, where we were staying, and yes, lamenting the bus service. As soon as we finished he called over a nearby manager who took us to the management team at the desk who asked us to sit down for a moment while they disappeared. Within 5 minutes they were back with the bookings manager who offered us a 1 bedroom villa at no extra charge for the remainder of our stay.
Those that have seen my previous posts will know that having incurable cancer and the prospect of this being my last trip (which, I hasten to add, was never mentioned at Saratoga Springs) I felt it too good an offer to pass up. They initiated the whole thing, we never enquired about a move... indeed it hadn’t occurred to me they would do such a thing.
CBR has been lovely as a location but SS, to use their own tag line, felt like home.
To that end, we are now packing to check out and transfer to SS. Please don’t think badly of me. I wish you all well and hope the buses get better.
Best wishes to you! That is wonderful that they went the extra mile to make your stay a more pleasant experience. Yay for the magic of Disney!
 
Hey, does anyone know where I might find the music loops from CBR? I really enjoyed the steel drum arrangements on the buses!
 
We've always picked Jamaica and never had a problem...this worries me though because we have a lot of ppo activities planned for this summer :(
Don’t get my post wrong... if Saratoga Springs hadn’t made the offer I couldn’t refuse, I would have stayed at CBR (and moaned about the buses when deserved) there are plenty of good things about the resort.
 
Hey, does anyone know where I might find the music loops from CBR? I really enjoyed the steel drum arrangements on the buses!
the music on the CBR buses always helps us feel like the vacation has really started. We love it!
 
We're 10 days out until our arrival! I just received our email not too long ago about resort amenities. I'm still surprised to see that they have Centertown listed to grab a bite to eat. I guess at this point they're probably not going to fix that. Still a little nervous about the construction, but I decided to keep our request for Aruba 51. Now to just finish packing and wait for next Thursday!
 

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