Just returned from a six-night stay at Caribbean Beach Resort. To begin, we had sent a fax 3-days before hand requesting Barbados Building 31 as we had paid for a preferred room. We wanted to be close to the Main Pool and Old Port Royale, but not on top of it. We had said any room (no corner, no first floor, none of that) and all we had hoped for was Building 31. At the airport as we were boarding our flight we got a text that our room was ready, Martinique Building 26, the closet to OPR. They had us in a courtyard room on the 1st floor and a corner, so looking on Touring Plans at the view and location, we decided that was a good fit. 20 minutes later, I get a call from the resort that the room they assigned us was having operational issues from maintenance, and that they had moved us to another room in Martinique. I asked if they had received my fax, and the assigner said they don't accept faxes anymore. I don't know if this is true, but she wasn't in a mood to talk to me...you could tell. She put us in another room, 2nd floor, and she said it was a Courtyard View. Looking on Touring Plans again after hanging up, it was a 2nd floor, parking lot view (and dumpster too!) and literally about the worst room one could be assigned for preferred in Martinique. I called back and said to her that the view wasn't a courtyard and she apologized and said that was the last room in the preferred areas and that was the only room they had and that we could switch in the AM. We arrived and the room was less than stellar, but we were in Disney and Caribbean Beach resort is beautiful! We went to check-in and they said in order to switch rooms we would have to STAY in our room until 11:00 in the AM and they we could move our stuff out and store it, go to the park (at 12:00 now) and come back at 3:00 for another room which they couldn't tell us which room it would be!? Well, instead of WASTING a day waiting for another room, we said we would stay in our room, since we are at the parks most of the day and the view was less important at that point. It was a rocky start, but the resort itself is really nice. It never felt crowded, which was nice, and the new lobby and the main pool is really, really nice. The Skyliner is amazing, but if you are not a walker (I am, so I don't mind) do NOT get a preferred room because it is a short hike to the main station. To tell you the truth, I would have rather stayed at Jamaica, because it was quiet and a short walk over the bridge to OPR and a short walk to Skyliner, so I would NOT pay for a preferred room unless you want to spend a lot of time at OPR. Now, here are TWO problems we encountered with Caribbean Beach. One, the food court change is just strange. The food is extremely limited and the service is very, very slow. The Coke Freestyle machines are great, but that is about it! Two, the BUSSES are awful. We waited for so long for so many times. If you are going to the MK, it was crazy long, and we tried the internal bus twice, and both times after waiting :30 minutes, walked instead. I heard MANY people complaining from parks about the Caribbean busses back to the resort. If you are at HS or EPCOT, the Skyliner is great, but to AK, MK, and DS, we waited ridiculous times for busses. Overall, I like the resort, but if you are a family relying on bus service especially to the MK, you may want to think twice.
