Disney's CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT Information & Questions

[gibsontrio]

We booked a standard room for the end of June ( 22nd) I was going to request Jamaica 45 or Aruba 51 , but I read on disboards on FB that thats the last stop for the bus and its usually full by the time it gets there. The location seems perfect , but I don't want to have to wait 2 hrs just to get out of the resort ( rental is not an option) Should I be requesting another location , or will we be ok with those requests?
Also , trying to ignore the bad press CBR gets, but its starting to eat at me. This is our first Disney resort as we usually stay at shades of green, so we don't have any other resorts to compare it too. The construction will not bother us, but are the busses horrible ?

 

[dansdad]

We booked a standard room for the end of June ( 22nd) I was going to request Jamaica 45 or Aruba 51 , but I read on disboards on FB that thats the last stop for the bus and its usually full by the time it gets there.

Most of the day, and especially during the morning rush, Jamaica and Aruba have their own bus.

The location seems perfect , but I don't want to have to wait 2 hrs just to get out of the resort ( rental is not an option)

It IS perfect! 2 hours? That has not nor would ever happen.

Should I be requesting another location , or will we be ok with those requests?

You'll be more than ok.

Also, trying to ignore the bad press CBR gets, but its starting to eat at me. This is our first Disney resort as we usually stay at shades of green, so we don't have any other resorts to compare it too. The construction will not bother us, but are the busses horrible ?

We have over 70 nights total at CBR and the buses are fine. No better or worse than anywhere else on site. And we normally stay when there were 600 more rooms worth of guests.

As you're finding out there's a lot of CBR hate out there. We were so concerned before our 1st CBR stay that we almost cancelled. Some very awesome DIS members calmed my nerves enough to give it a try. We are so glad we did as we love it.

 

[gibsontrio]

Thank you I'm back to being excited now !

 

[Moramoon]

We fly out a week from today! I'm wondering if anyone there now could tell me how the tower is going that they're putting between Aruba and Jamaica. Out room request is getting faxed Saturday and I initially requested 5122 (we're booked for a water view). I love the view, but I know we'll have to bring DD back for a nap about midday. I'm thinking about changing it to building 52 to be a little further away from that construction.

 

[dansdad]

We fly out a week from today! I'm wondering if anyone there now could tell me how the tower is going that they're putting between Aruba and Jamaica. Out room request is getting faxed Saturday and I initially requested 5122 (we're booked for a water view). I love the view, but I know we'll have to bring DD back for a nap about midday. I'm thinking about changing it to building 52 to be a little further away from that construction.

A coworker got back yesterday and said they are still working on it but there was zero noise. They just had workers doing stuff at the top of it.

 

[Moramoon]

A coworker got back yesterday and said they are still working on it but there was zero noise. They just had workers doing stuff at the top of it.

Awesome! Thank you so much!

 

[Rivergirl2005]

Most of the day, and especially during the morning rush, Jamaica and Aruba have their own bus.



It IS perfect! 2 hours? That has not nor would ever happen.



You'll be more than ok.



We have over 70 nights total at CBR and the buses are fine. No better or worse than anywhere else on site. And we normally stay when there were 600 more rooms worth of guests.

As you're finding out there's a lot of CBR hate out there. We were so concerned before our 1st CBR stay that we almost cancelled. Some very awesome DIS members calmed my nerves enough to give it a try. We are so glad we did as we love it.

This makes me feel better as well! We always stay at Jamacia but with the route being changed I was really worried we would also not get on the buses...did they really just have designated buses for Jamacia and Aruba in the busy mornings? That's awesome if so

 

[dansdad]

This makes me feel better as well! We always stay at Jamacia but with the route being changed I was really worried we would also not get on the buses...did they really just have designated buses for Jamacia and Aruba in the busy mornings? That's awesome if so

Yes. Preconstruction, they were sending 2 buses for every park. One would pick up Jamaica, Aruba, and Barbados. With the removal of Barbados m, it's Jamaica and Aruba only.

 

[Rivergirl2005]

Yes. Preconstruction, they were sending 2 buses for every park. One would pick up Jamaica, Aruba, and Barbados. With the removal of Barbados m, it's Jamaica and Aruba only.

This makes me feel a whole lot better Thank you!!

 

[Duck In Blue]

Hey @GoofyGraham or anyone else at CBR right now. I saw on another thread someone mentioned having the large dispensers for shampoo, body wash, etc mounted in the shower at CBR. Can anyone confirm or deny this was in your room?

We were there from 15th to 23rd April staying in Martinique and they appeared in our room on the second day! When we checked in we just had the regular shampoo etc, but when we returned to the room on the second day the three bottles were sitting by the sink as opposed to being in the bathroom. At first I didn't realise what they were (I just thought we had a generous mousekeeper!), but to be honest I was quite pleased as I prefer the shower gel to bars of soap. I think it was the day after I noticed the metal rack in on the wall in the bathroom at the opposite end to the taps (it may have been there all the time) and then I realised what it was for. It took another few days before they actually locked the products in the metal rack and they never replenished the individual products since we checked in.

In regard to the bus service, we only used it to Disney Springs and Magic Kingdom but didn't have any issues or long waits and despite being initially disappointed we didn't get our request of Jamaica or Aruba, we were really pleased to be first drop off on return to the park.

We had breakfast in the tent once and it was good value, the Island Markets and the Freestyle machines in the villages though are really convenient and made the resort mug really good for us.

This was our first stay at Caribbean Beach and we went in with eyes wide open about the construction, the 2 free nights made it worth the chance for us. Other than an issue with housekeeping on our last day, we enjoyed our stay and don't regret choosing it this trip.

 

[KarenP64]

We are huge CBR fans - 15+ stays over the years and no matter which resort we try we keep coming back. This year we stayed at Beach Club and AKL due to the construction at CBR. We really loved BC but found AKL just OK (it was nice and everything but we really prefer the theming of CBR).

Anyway - looking ahead to March 2019. We have a request in with Davids for BC, but I want a back up if it doesn’t come through. What are the chances OPR will be up and running by March 2019? I’m trying to get excited about POR or CSR and I just can’t. I don’t mind the gondola or Riviera construction but have no desire to eat in a tent.

We've been debating keeping our Free Dining plan at CBR vs. using a PIN code for 30% off AKL. We've stayed at CBR & love it, but I would also love to see the animals at AKL. We'd have to cut off 2 days if we stay at AKL. I was wondering what the reasons are that you prefer CBR over AKL. TIA!!

 

[mcurran]

We've been debating keeping our Free Dining plan at CBR vs. using a PIN code for 30% off AKL. We've stayed at CBR & love it, but I would also love to see the animals at AKL. We'd have to cut off 2 days if we stay at AKL. I was wondering what the reasons are that you prefer CBR over AKL. TIA!!

We have been to both. I also prefer CBR to AKL but really glad we stayed at AKL once. Probably best if you start a new thread in resort forum to get a more balanced response. Also keeps this thread tidy.

 

[WEDWDW]

What size milk do they carry in the island markets? Is it just the individual size milk's or can you get quarts or half gallons like we used to be able to get in the gift shop?

Unfortunately,the IMs still only carry 1% and whole milk in the "one serving" size.

I've always espoused that they should have used connecting rooms for the IMs with a greatly expanded inventory considering the length of the refurb.

 

[WEDWDW]

A few CBR "tidbits".

Spyglass recently installed a nice TV for Guests-we watched The NFL Draft there last night,really cool atmosphere.

Also Spyglass DOES sell Mugs and IS a Mug Refill location.

They were putting the finishing touches on the 3 new OPR Bus Depots last night in preparation for this morning's open-they are a pastel blue color-very pretty.

CBR is offering a Painting Class on Fridays from 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM at OPR Beach.

Paint "your own custom canvas" for $25(21 and over) and $18(under 21).

"21 and over" comes with one glass of Wine.

 

[kc2wdw]

Super excited to be heading back to CBR the first week of June! Probably been asked before but: how exactly do you put in a room request? I didn't do it last time. I have a king room and want to request Jamaica 45 or Aruba 51.

As to the bus situation: In my experience (one trip lol) everyone at every resort thinks their bus service is terrible. We heard complaints at bus stops from All Star Music people and GF people. I am convince it has to do with some people not using public transport on a regular basis. I'm from the midwest and never use public transport, so I was nervous the first time too. Everything went great! Never waited more than 10-15 minutes and was only crowded after fireworks

 

[dansdad]

Super excited to be heading back to CBR the first week of June! Probably been asked before but: how exactly do you put in a room request?

Call the Main Reservations line and add any room requests to your reservation. This can be done anytime from the day you book up until 4-5 days out. When within that time frame makes no difference.

 

[cajunbaby1]

Originally going last part of October; but was able to move to 9/17-9/25 and save almost $450 from when I booked it last year!! No free dining avail for anytime in sept, but scored a better deal on the room. You really have to pay attention to what they try to sell you. I had extra days on my ticket & one cm told me I was stuck with that, which is BS. And after I got off the ph having changed my dates, later on something told me to call back & check to see if I truly got a good offer. That 2nd cm I talked to said hold on, something looked off, and sure enough the 1st cm did not correctly apply the Enchanted Escape room offer!! New cm was able to rebook it and that saved me over $300 from the 1st offer. I love saving money when I go to Disney.

 

[AnakinsDad]

We had breakfast in the tent once and it was good value, the Island Markets and the Freestyle machines in the villages though are really convenient and made the resort mug really good for us.

Was it still a QS credit?

 

[dansdad]

Was it still a QS credit?

Yes.

 

[Rivergirl2005]

Did they start using the new bus stops today??