Disney's CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT Information & Questions

[maryj11]

The Ticket and Transportation Center. Or you could ask them to drop you off at the Contemporary.

Which would be quickest?

 

[dansdad]

Which would be quickest?

Of those 2 choices, definitely the Contemporary. Just as an FYI, last month we stayed at CBR with my BIL's family. He had read "horror stories" about the CBR buses to MK and so took an Uber or Lyft on our MK days. We beat them every time by taking the bus. Our rooms were right next to each other and we left at the same time. We would be waiting for them inside MK for at least 10 minutes every day. Past experience is no guarantee of future results, just wanted to throw that out there.

 

[maryj11]

Of those 2 choices, definitely the Contemporary. Just as an FYI, last month we stayed at CBR with my BIL's family. He had read "horror stories" about the CBR buses to MK and so took an Uber or Lyft on our MK days. We beat them every time by taking the bus. Our rooms were right next to each other and we left at the same time. We would be waiting for them inside MK for at least 10 minutes every day. Past experience is no guarantee of future results, just wanted to throw that out there.

Ok thank you! I guess we try the buses for MK and AK.

 

[UpstateMick]

We were there for a very busy President's week, so that may have affected the busses, but the bus to MK and AK did take VERY long, and when we finally took a Lyft, we took it to the Contemporary and walked over and I guarantee that was faster than taking a bus on the day after we tried the bus. It really is hit or miss, but families with young children should just prepare themselves if they think that just hopping a bus to MK is an easy endeavor at CBR. Really of all the busses the most disappointing was the internal shuttle. I swear we must have hit every bad situation with that one because we very rarely even SAW one let alone board one.

 

[sapphirerose915]

Can you catch bus to MK from OPR? Is that easier??

 

[dansdad]

Can you catch bus to MK from OPR?

Yup.

Is that easier??

Only if you're already going to be there eating breakfast or it's the closest stop to your room.

 

[GirlfromTN]

I’m headed to CBR in March and have booked a standard room with 5th sleeper. I have two questions:
1) what building should I request for a good chance to get on a bus to HS in time to get a RotR boarding pass? Park opens at 8am. I’ve never stayed at CBR so it is sort of confusing which building to request. I’d like to be close to the skyliner too but bus location is the priority since we want to make sure to get to the park early enough for a boarding pass.
2) how do I make a specific room request? I’ve read here that fax isn’t used but not sure what the email address is.
Thanks!

 

[dansdad]

I’m headed to CBR in March and have booked a standard room with 5th sleeper. I have two questions:
1) what building should I request for a good chance to get on a bus to HS in time to get a RotR boarding pass? Park opens at 8am. I’ve never stayed at CBR so it is sort of confusing which building to request.

Your room location won't make a difference for getting to HS in time. When you get to the bus stop will. For an 8AM opening, I would be at the bus stop by 6:45-7:00AM.

I’d like to be close to the skyliner too but bus location is the priority since we want to make sure to get to the park early enough for a boarding pass.

Jamaica 45 and Aruba 51 are great locations. Both are pretty equidistant to both Skyliner Stations, Food Court and the Main Feature Pool

2) how do I make a specific room request? I’ve read here that fax isn’t used but not sure what the email address is.
Thanks!

They don't take faxes and there is no email address. Call the Main Reservations line and add any requests to your reservation. This can be done any time from the day you book up until 4-5 days out. When within that time frame makes no difference.

 

[GirlfromTN]

Your room location won't make a difference for getting to HS in time. When you get to the bus stop will. For an 8AM opening, I would be at the bus stop by 6:45-7:00AM.



Jamaica 45 and Aruba 51 are great locations. Both are pretty equidistant to both Skyliner Stations, Food Court and the Main Feature Pool



They don't take faxes and there is no email address. Call the Main Reservations line and add any requests to your reservation. This can be done any time from the day you book up until 4-5 days out. When within that time frame makes no difference.

Thanks; so it doesn’t matter which bus stop you get on? I was concerned that certain stops would fill up first and then others would have to wait for additional bus. But if I’m safe getting to the stop 645/7 that will work.

 

[dansdad]

Thanks; so it doesn’t matter which bus stop you get on? I was concerned that certain stops would fill up first and then others would have to wait for additional bus. But if I’m safe getting to the stop 645/7 that will work.

That has not been our experience. For the morning rush they send 2 buses for each park. One picks up at Jamaica and Aruba while the other picks up at Martinique, Old Port Royale, Barbados and Trinidad.

 

[hburgmom]

Looking for advice on a room request for a King room reservation at CBR. Several people have posted about buildings 45 and 51 but they seem to have few King rooms so that won't work for us. We would like to be close to the Skyliner and having a room with a view of anything but a parking lot would be desirable. I've been looking at building 42 Jamaica. I know we will need to walk a ways to the food court etc but it seems beneficial to be on this side of the bay. Would this be a good location? and Should I just do online check in and request a water view first, transportation second (could this mean a bus stop) or should I try to call or do both? Also is it ok to request a specific building? Thanks

 

[maryj11]

I was looking at online check in options. I haven’t checked in, but was curious what room requests were available. All they had listed was corner room.
Why do they have the option if that’s all they are going to add. I would think it would be a lot easier on the room assigner if they had more options they could go by.

 

[firefly_ris]

Thanks; so it doesn’t matter which bus stop you get on? I was concerned that certain stops would fill up first and then others would have to wait for additional bus. But if I’m safe getting to the stop 645/7 that will work.

That happened when we were staying in Barbados. In the mornings by the time we got to Trinidad we were full and had to skip them. It happened at least 2 times during the mornings the week we were there last February. My assumption is they dispatched another bus shortly behind but no real idea.

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

I’m not happy to hear about the buses I wonder if the buses from RR would be quicker.

We were at CBR over MLK weekend. I had read the horror stories about the buses at CBR, I really thought, it can't be that bad. It was.

Thurs: Skyliner to HS and back
Friday: Uber to HS for RotR, bus from HS to AK, bus from AK back to CBR. It dropped off Jamaica, Aruba, Martinique, OPR, Barbados (our stop), Trinidad. (this really wasn't that bad)
Sat: Skyliner to EPCOT and back. Decided to go to MK for the evening (they were open until 11). Got to the bus stop at Barbados at 7:30. Waited 10 minutes, then they loaded a motorized scooter, stopped at Trinidad, Jamaica, Aruba, then off to MK. We finally got to MK about 8:30 pm.
Sunday: Skyliner to HS to get a bus to MK. I'm not sure it was quicker, but the internal stops were driving me crazy and we had only done it the night before. We hopped from MK to AK and then back. The ride home on the bus was awful. I was actually tweeting to WDW Guest Services while it was happening.
We loaded into the bus. We sat at MK for 15 minutes until the bus looked like a can of sardines. It was before the fireworks, so there was no reason for this. While we were being packed into the bus, another CBR bus went by! Empty. We finally leave. A Minnie-Van cuts off the bus, we almost run them over. We arrive at CBR, Martinique is the first stop. There is a bus broken down at the Martinique stop. We aren't allowed to exit the bus, because we aren't right by curb. No one called our bus driver to let him know. He had to call in to get the proper procedure. Finally about 10 minutes later, he pulls up, a handful of people get off. He isn't announcing the stops, so people are trying to figure out where they are. Next stop is OPR. We get off and head to the bar. We walked to our room in Barbados.

I don't know what the solution is. But the bus situation at CBR is awful. It isn't going to get better, the resort is constantly booked (I was looking for a room). We don't rent a car, but Uber/Lyft seems like the best solution. Or take the Skyliner to HS and get a park bus from there.

 

[sapphirerose915]

Im debating adding an extra day to my trip, i would need to upgrade from standard to standard 5th sleeper. these have all the same ammenities?? are they bigger?? fridges? thanks guys!!

and shhhhhh.. dont tell DH!!

 

[dansdad]

Looking for advice on a room request for a King room reservation at CBR. Several people have posted about buildings 45 and 51 but they seem to have few King rooms so that won't work for us. We would like to be close to the Skyliner and having a room with a view of anything but a parking lot would be desirable. I've been looking at building 42 Jamaica. I know we will need to walk a ways to the food court etc but it seems beneficial to be on this side of the bay. Would this be a good location? and Should I just do online check in and request a water view first, transportation second (could this mean a bus stop) or should I try to call or do both? Also is it ok to request a specific building? Thanks

Every single building has the exact same number of King Rooms, 12. So request any building you want and you'll have the same odds.

 

[dansdad]

Im debating adding an extra day to my trip, i would need to upgrade from standard to standard 5th sleeper. these have all the same ammenities??

Yes.

Are they bigger??

No, all rooms at CBR are the same size.

Fridges?

Yes, every room at WDW has a fridge.

And shhhhhh.. dont tell DH!!

Mum's the word!

 

[dansdad]

I was looking at online check in options. I haven’t checked in, but was curious what room requests were available. All they had listed was corner room.
Why do they have the option if that’s all they are going to add.

I've been asking that question since they added the room request section to Online Checkin. It has never made sense no matter what resort you're staying at. It's either had options that don't make sense, aren't possible to fulfill, or just didn't work. It's why I've always recommended calling them in. You can request what you want and it gets put into the details the assignors see along with your dates, room type, etc.

 

[DavidHobart]

I've been asking that question since they added the room request section to Online Checkin. It has never made sense no matter what resort you're staying at. It's either had options that don't make sense, aren't possible to fulfill, or just didn't work. It's why I've always recommended calling them in. You can request what you want and it gets put into the details the assignors see along with your dates, room type, etc.

There was a brief period where it made some sense for some resorts, so I included screenshots of it on my site, but even then for a campground you could request "upper floor" or "close to elevator."

It started decaying pretty quickly, and is now largely useless. Why it still exists is unclear, and a bit disquieting, since it confuses first timers, and tells people who know the resorts "we, Disney, don't bother to maintain this, and don't care what you think about that."

 

[UpstateMick]

We were at CBR over MLK weekend. I had read the horror stories about the buses at CBR, I really thought, it can't be that bad. It was.

Thurs: Skyliner to HS and back
Friday: Uber to HS for RotR, bus from HS to AK, bus from AK back to CBR. It dropped off Jamaica, Aruba, Martinique, OPR, Barbados (our stop), Trinidad. (this really wasn't that bad)
Sat: Skyliner to EPCOT and back. Decided to go to MK for the evening (they were open until 11). Got to the bus stop at Barbados at 7:30. Waited 10 minutes, then they loaded a motorized scooter, stopped at Trinidad, Jamaica, Aruba, then off to MK. We finally got to MK about 8:30 pm.
Sunday: Skyliner to HS to get a bus to MK. I'm not sure it was quicker, but the internal stops were driving me crazy and we had only done it the night before. We hopped from MK to AK and then back. The ride home on the bus was awful. I was actually tweeting to WDW Guest Services while it was happening.
We loaded into the bus. We sat at MK for 15 minutes until the bus looked like a can of sardines. It was before the fireworks, so there was no reason for this. While we were being packed into the bus, another CBR bus went by! Empty. We finally leave. A Mini-Van cuts off the bus, we almost run them over. We arrive at CBR, Martinique is the first stop. There is a bus broken down at the Martinique stop. We aren't allowed to exit the bus, because we aren't right by curb. No one called our bus driver to let him know. He had to call in to get the proper procedure. Finally about 10 minutes later, he pulls up, a handful of people get off. He isn't announcing the stops, so people are trying to figure out where they are. Next stop is OPR. We get off and head to the bar. We walked to our room in Barbados.

I don't know what the solution is. But the bus situation at CBR is awful. It isn't going to get better, the resort is constantly booked (I was looking for a room). We don't rent a car, but Uber/Lyft seems like the best solution. Or take the Skyliner to HS and get a park bus from there.

We had VERY similar experiences last week. Busses were AWFUL to MK and AK. It took us 1:10 minutes to get to MK one afternoon...over an HOUR! And one day we waited at the Bus Stop @ MK for :50 minutes for a bus back to CBR. On top of that, two of our drivers were absolutely horrendous. One guy drove 28 in a 45 MPH zone with no traffic in front of him (my daughter measured our speed on her app) Other busses were actually passing us...another time we had a BRAKE-HAPPY driver who stopped in the middle of an intersection and literally had to back-up :O