Disney's CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT Information & Questions

[mrsap]

Hey guys! If anyone will be there this month, can you please take a picture of the resort recreation calendar for me, please, for the Monthly Resort Recreation Calendar thread. I’d appreciate it! Thank you!!!

 

[Tizwalt]

Need some advice from CBR experts. I am staying for 8 nights, the plan is to split up the day and go back to the resort for 2-3 hours in the afternoon to avoid peak sunshine and queues. Not necessarily the same park. If I want to travel to magic kingdom around 14:00 from the resort, would it be better to:
Get magic kingdom bus from resort or get sky liner to Epcot, walk through Epcot and then get monorail to magic kingdom?

 

[CarolynFH]

Need some advice from CBR experts. I am staying for 8 nights, the plan is to split up the day and go back to the resort for 2-3 hours in the afternoon to avoid peak sunshine and queues. Not necessarily the same park. If I want to travel to magic kingdom around 14:00 from the resort, would it be better to:
Get magic kingdom bus from resort or get sky liner to Epcot, walk through Epcot and then get monorail to magic kingdom?

The monorail from Epcot will drop you off at the TTC, and then you’ll have to take the ferry or monorail across the lagoon to MK, along with everyone driving or taking rideshare or an offsite shuttle to MK. The bus from CBR will drop you off at the MK itself. We like the ferry, but only use it when we’re staying offsite and driving to MK. If we’re onsite, we’re taking the bus directly there!

 

[wabbott]

Need some advice from CBR experts. I am staying for 8 nights, the plan is to split up the day and go back to the resort for 2-3 hours in the afternoon to avoid peak sunshine and queues. Not necessarily the same park. If I want to travel to magic kingdom around 14:00 from the resort, would it be better to:
Get magic kingdom bus from resort or get sky liner to Epcot, walk through Epcot and then get monorail to magic kingdom?

Bus, no question. The walk from the Epcot Skyliner station to the monorail is probably around 3/4 mile. Then you have to go to the transportation & ticket center, offload, go DOWN the ramp, back UP the ramp to the local monorail to MK. In the PM, the buses won't likely be full (unless it's raining), and there is a monitor at the bus stops that shows the bus timetable. The timetable is also on the mobile app.

 

[Tizwalt]

The monorail from Epcot will drop you off at the TTC, and then you’ll have to take the ferry or monorail across the lagoon to MK, along with everyone driving or taking rideshare or an offsite shuttle to MK. The bus from CBR will drop you off at the MK itself. We like the ferry, but only use it when we’re staying offsite and driving to MK. If we’re onsite, we’re taking the bus directly there!

Thanks for the help

 

[Melemonie]

On our upcoming trip, we're planning on an early morning arrival via Uber and then heading out to the parks. If we do online check in, can we just go straight to bell services to drop off our luggage or do we need to go to the front desk for any reason? What information will bell services need? And finally, if we decide we want to come back for a swim in the afternoon and our room isn't ready, would it be a big pain for us to to retrieve our luggage to get our swim gear and ask them to hold on to the rest? I appreciate any advice you can give!

 

[CarolynFH]

On our upcoming trip, we're planning on an early morning arrival via Uber and then heading out to the parks. If we do online check in, can we just go straight to bell services to drop off our luggage or do we need to go to the front desk for any reason? What information will bell services need? And finally, if we decide we want to come back for a swim in the afternoon and our room isn't ready, would it be a big pain for us to to retrieve our luggage to get our swim gear and ask them to hold on to the rest? I appreciate any advice you can give!

You can go straight to Bell Services, drop off luggage and head to the parks. All they’ll need is your name and the number of pieces you’re checking. Once you get your room number, you can either pick up your luggage on your way to the room or call from the room to have them bring it up. They won’t deliver it to the room unless you’re there to receive it (and tip, of course).

If you think you might want to swim, the best thing would be to pack those items in a backpack or such that you could carry around the parks or deposit into one of the lockers in the park. When you go to Bell Services, they’ll bring out ALL of your luggage - they can’t bring out just the one piece that holds the swim stuff.

 

[wabbott]

On our upcoming trip, we're planning on an early morning arrival via Uber and then heading out to the parks. If we do online check in, can we just go straight to bell services to drop off our luggage or do we need to go to the front desk for any reason? What information will bell services need? And finally, if we decide we want to come back for a swim in the afternoon and our room isn't ready, would it be a big pain for us to to retrieve our luggage to get our swim gear and ask them to hold on to the rest? I appreciate any advice you can give!

Had to go back and look at my txt string from a year ago when we did almost the same thing you did, except we drove our own car instead of uber. We initiated the process via the app first thing that morning and got a reply saying the room wasn't ready. We stopped at the front desk to make sure our magic bands and phones were all synchronized, parked our car close to where our room was going to be and went to HS via the Skyliner. We were there at rope drop.

About 11:30 AM, I received a text saying our rooms were ready, and that we should stop by the front desk. We stayed into the park until middle of the afternoon before returning to CBR.

 

[Melemonie]

When you go to Bell Services, they’ll bring out ALL of your luggage - they can’t bring out just the one piece that holds the swim stuff.

Good to know! Thank you!

 

[Melemonie]

We stopped at the front desk to make sure our magic bands and phones were all synchronized, parked our car close to where our room was going to be and went to HS via the Skyliner. We were there at rope drop.

Good idea about checking to see if everything is synchronized. Sounds like it went really smoothly. Thanks!

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

Need some advice from CBR experts. I am staying for 8 nights, the plan is to split up the day and go back to the resort for 2-3 hours in the afternoon to avoid peak sunshine and queues. Not necessarily the same park. If I want to travel to magic kingdom around 14:00 from the resort, would it be better to:
Get magic kingdom bus from resort or get sky liner to Epcot, walk through Epcot and then get monorail to magic kingdom?

That time of day, take the bus from the resort to MK. If you are later in the day and people are heading to MK for the evening and the bus stops are busy, I am a fan of taking the Skyliner to HS, then the bus from HS to MK. Is it faster? Probably not, but at least I don't have to stop at every bus stop in CBR before we finally head off to MK.

 

[atnelson]

If I select "Near the skyliner" under room requests in the app, where will they put me? Jamaica? Is there any chance they would put me across the lake in Barbados?

 

[jaysmom4285]

What is the current order of the bus stops? I haven't stayed at the Caribbean Beach since pre-COVID days. It seemed back then that most buses came in the back entrance and stopped at Jamaica first. Is this still the order of things?

 

[wabbott]

Our last two trips (Sep 2020 & April 2021) had Martinique as the first stop.

 

[potterfanatic]

If I select "Near the skyliner" under room requests in the app, where will they put me? Jamaica? Is there any chance they would put me across the lake in Barbados?

I did “near the skyliner” on my last trip and they put us in Aruba near the Riveria skyliner stop.

 

[atnelson]

I did “near the skyliner” on my last trip and they put us in Aruba near the Riveria skyliner stop.

Awesome, thanks! I wanted to make sure that my specific building requests (44, 45, 51 and 52) and the "Near the skyliner" request didn't conflict.

 

[wabbott]

If you board the Skyliner at Riviera and head for Hollywood Studios, be aware that you will have to make a transfer at the CBR hub station. If you stay in Jamaica (closest to the CBR hub station), you'll be able to board the direct car to Hollywood.

https://mittentomagic.com/disney-skyliner-guide/

 

[atnelson]

Yup, my thinking on those building requests was that we could walk to the Riviera skyliner for our Epcot day, walk to the skyliner hub for the Hollywood studios day, and be near the bridge to walk straight across to old port royale for easy access.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

What is the current order of the bus stops? I haven't stayed at the Caribbean Beach since pre-COVID days. It seemed back then that most buses came in the back entrance and stopped at Jamaica first. Is this still the order of things?

I've stayed at CBR several times but it's been over a year since our last stay but doubt it's changed much. The bus stop order was clockwise and can vary, first stop will either be Martinique or Jamaica depending on where the bus originated. We have most recently stayed in Jamaica and chose this area for the proximity to the skyliner and the bus stop but it's not ideal if you go to the lobby often.

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

What is the current order of the bus stops? I haven't stayed at the Caribbean Beach since pre-COVID days. It seemed back then that most buses came in the back entrance and stopped at Jamaica first. Is this still the order of things?

We've stayed at CBR multiple times. This is what I have found to be true, each time.
When GOING to MK - buses start at Martinique, then move through all the islands, exiting after Aruba. (There is a bus only entrance over by Rivera)
When GOING to AK - buses start at Jamaica, then move through all the islands, exiting after Trinidad.
They make an entire loop. I have never been there when they split the resort and we've been there at busy times - Feb 2022, when there weren't any park reservations, and the buses still made the loop.

We have taken the Skyliner to HS to then take a bus to MK from there if park hopping after 2:00. Is it quicker? I doubt it. But it is better than sitting on the bus through all the stops. On our way back from MK we tend to get off at Old Port Royale (main building) for a drink or snack and then walk back to our room.