Disney's CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT Information & Questions

[dolewhipp]

When the skyliner is up and running, it's a big benefit over buses for sure, esp if you have a stroller. It's a great perk. Where it can become troublesome is inclement weather and buses come back online to take you to Epcot/DHS. They transition from skyliner down to then wait on a bus can be lengthy. If you're going in the summer/rainy season, it's definitely a consideration. We never had any major problems during an August visit since we had no ADRs or anything to rush to the parks for, but we had some long waits for sure. We also encountered people who had ADRs at the park and were late. Sometimes it was 30-45 min and other times it wasn't near as long but as always, it's all about timing. If you come in mid storm, the buses might be rolling already but if you roll into the skyliner station and a storm rolls in, you're going to wait a little bit for a bus.

AKL is nice but it's not near any park except AK and every park is a bus ride away. I would stick with either CBR or POP if you're trying to avoid a lot of buses. If you stay at CBR, request Jamaica as it's near the skyliner and not too far from the lobby.

Thank you, helpful advice!

 

[CynBeth]

Skyliner question for recent guests --
how much of a game changer is skyliner versus bus?
Context: we are a family of 4, 2 adults w 2 & 5 year old. 1 week visit. Last trip was 2018 at POR. We thought we were most interested in Skyliner because we can keep the double stroller intact and we will likely take mid-day breaks. We will visit all 4 parks at opening.

Other options for us would be POP to save $400 or a studio DVC at AKL through points rental for about the same money. Really torn on how Skyliner will impact our time waiting for transportation!

We felt like the Skyliner was a ride in itself. We were told you can see all 4 of the parks up there so we spent our time trying to locate them in light and dark. Just to give you a heads up it moves continuously so you would I believe need to get in the special line for wheelchairs where they have a car that stops and can just roll the stroller on.

 

[sjlogghe]

Skyliner question for recent guests --
how much of a game changer is skyliner versus bus?
Context: we are a family of 4, 2 adults w 2 & 5 year old. 1 week visit. Last trip was 2018 at POR. We thought we were most interested in Skyliner because we can keep the double stroller intact and we will likely take mid-day breaks. We will visit all 4 parks at opening.

Other options for us would be POP to save $400 or a studio DVC at AKL through points rental for about the same money. Really torn on how Skyliner will impact our time waiting for transportation!

Skyliner is a big game changer for us. It is so convenient, fast, and never has too much of a line. It moves continuously, so no waiting 30 minutes for the next bus to arrive. I think the longest we've ever waited in the skyliner line was maybe 15 minutes, and that was on a busy morning right after the skyliner had started running. Not having to empty out and fold up strollers is great too! Is your double stroller a front/back double, or a side by side double? If it's a side by side double, you will still have to fold it up for the skyliner. There's only room between the seats for a regular width stroller, so if it's a front/back double you'll be fine.

We felt like the Skyliner was a ride in itself. We were told you can see all 4 of the parks up there so we spent our time trying to locate them in light and dark. Just to give you a heads up it moves continuously so you would I believe need to get in the special line for wheelchairs where they have a car that stops and can just roll the stroller on.

No need to get in the wheelchair line for strollers. It's slow enough and there's enough time to push the stroller on from the regular line!

 

[teachmedis]

Always wanted to stay here but, we're looking at dates in August for 10 days, my only concern is that this resort seems huge, is it a ton of walking? 10 days at a huge resort concerns me...well my feet really.

We have about 20 days until our third stay at Caribbean Beach. It'll be hard to get me to go somewhere else now. We stay in standard rooms with a 5th sleeper. So that means we are in either Jamaica or Aruba. I'm always kind of amazed at people's complaints about its size. You don't have to walk a loop around the whole resort. You just go between your room, transportation, and the main pool, center market, and banana cabana. We always board Jamaica buses, even if we are in Aruba because that's the first stop. My kids actually prefer the quiet pools over the main pool--we are from a rural area so I think it's over stimulating--we usually only spend one afternoon at the main pool. I like how when you're on your own "island" its very quiet and you feel like you're some of the only people at the resort. Plus, the skyliner is a game changer. The only drawback of of the large resort is the late bus ride "home" and circling through the whole resort. That's the only time I feel like whew this place is big!

 

[Kmc330]

Checked in today and got a refurbished 5th sleeper room in Trinidad. Stayed in CBR once before (June 2019) and the new rooms are NICE. Brighter. More room. (Love that the 2nd queen pulls down). Lots of useful counter space. Lots of drawers. Really like it!

 

[Lindley]

Anybody there now, is the skyliner back up today as planned? We arrive on the 1st and I’ve been trying to see if the refurbishment is finished but can’t find any updates. Thanks!

 

[jcarwash]

Anybody there now, is the skyliner back up today as planned? We arrive on the 1st and I’ve been trying to see if the refurbishment is finished but can’t find any updates. Thanks!

Seeing news that it's open today: https://www.wdwmagic.com/transporta...er-reopens-following-annual-refurbishment.htm

 

[Lindley]

Seeing news that it's open today:

Ah! Yay! Thanks!

 

[Timmerica]

Are the updated Little Mermaid rooms only in the Trinidad section? Thanks!

 

[jcarwash]

Are the updated Little Mermaid rooms only in the Trinidad section? Thanks!

At this time, yes.

 

[mrsap]

Anybody there now, is the skyliner back up today as planned? We arrive on the 1st and I’ve been trying to see if the refurbishment is finished but can’t find any updates. Thanks!

Checked in today and got a refurbished 5th sleeper room in Trinidad. Stayed in CBR once before (June 2019) and the new rooms are NICE. Brighter. More room. (Love that the 2nd queen pulls down). Lots of useful counter space. Lots of drawers. Really like it!

Hi guys! If either of you are still there, can you please take a picture of the Recreation Calendar for the monthly thread? Thanks so much!

 

[Isabelle12345]

Does anyone know how long the main pool stays open at night?
We will be there mid-April ; we will be landing in MCO around 19:30 and would love to go for a swim before we go to bed (expecting to get there around 21:00-21:30 if everything goes well; will the pool be open that late?)
Thanks

 

[wabbott]

Does anyone know how long the main pool stays open at night?
We will be there mid-April ; we will be landing in MCO around 19:30 and would love to go for a swim before we go to bed (expecting to get there around 21:00-21:30 if everything goes well; will the pool be open that late?)
Thanks

Google results show two closing time, one @ 10 PM, the other midnight. Here's the official answer.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/recreation/caribbean-beach-resort/pools-caribbean-beach-resort/
"Hours and lifeguard availability vary by pool and are subject to change."

Probably a phone call a day or two prior to arrival would be your best bet.

 

[WEDWDW]

Does anyone know how long the main pool stays open at night?
We will be there mid-April ; we will be landing in MCO around 19:30 and would love to go for a swim before we go to bed (expecting to get there around 21:00-21:30 if everything goes well; will the pool be open that late?)
Thanks

In mid-April the main,feature Pool will "most likely" have hours of 10:00 AM-11:00 PM.

The little "Quiet/Leisure" Pools in each Island normally allow 24/7 access with QUIET being the operative word in late hours.

 

[Lindley]

We’re still here. Here’s the calendar. Our youngest got a horrible stomach bug but I’m happy to say the hotel has taken great care of us. Lots of prompt linen changes, calls to check on us, and they even brought us a bottle of pedialyte within 10 minutes of us calling to ask if they sold it in the resort shop.

https://flic.kr/p/2ofgRri

 

[CuteAsMinnie]

Does anyone know if all sections of the resort are scheduled for refurb this year?

 

[Orion Nebula]

What is the general consensus on the rooms? I keep seeing a lot of negative things being scattered around the current state of CBR. My wife and I booked there, and she brought it up last night and we kind of put the idea on hold. Things aren't looking super great in the recent Trip Advisor photos.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Does anyone know if all sections of the resort are scheduled for refurb this year?

No announcements have been made about any other room category at CBR getting refurb. Only the old pirate rooms in Trinidad will/have already been remodeled to the under the sea theme. The rest of the rooms really need a major overhaul. These are now some of the oldest rooms on property outside of some dvc rooms.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

What is the general consensus on the rooms? I keep seeing a lot of negative things being scattered around the current state of CBR. My wife and I booked there, and she brought it up last night and we kind of put the idea on hold. Things aren't looking super great in the recent Trip Advisor photos.

Take the trip advisor comments with a grain of salt. ymmv but it truly depends on the room you get as some are more beat up than others, and your overall expectations. For us, our room was clean but just old and worn. We had changed rooms during the stay, and our second room was actually in worse shape than the first. Chipped wall paint, carpet really worn out, the window ac was missing the plate cover, etc. None of these are major issue and thankfully we had no cleanliness issues. Some people have really high expectations and others don't so that will also dictate your experience. I realize that Disney values/mods are overpriced motels so I have the bar set pretty low. All that to say, we like a lot of the mods and values we've stayed at but I'm holding off on going back until all the rooms have been redone at CBR.

We've stayed at other disney resorts, and when you compare rooms, it's very apparent that CBR is out of date. I also feel like the room condition doesn't command the price they charge. There's nothing inherently wrong with the rooms, there just isn't anything new, remarkable, uniquely themed or modern. The lobby areas and restaurants have been redone about 4 years back, which are great. But they don't match the feel of the rooms at all.

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

What is the general consensus on the rooms? I keep seeing a lot of negative things being scattered around the current state of CBR. My wife and I booked there, and she brought it up last night and we kind of put the idea on hold. Things aren't looking super great in the recent Trip Advisor photos.

We have stayed at CBR multiple times. The rooms are great. We were just there in January. The room was clean and stocked. The remote was in a plastic bag. The outlets are working! I will say last year (Feb 2022), the USB ports in the room didn't work, luckily we had our outlet chargers. But this year, the ports had been updated.

We didn't have housekeeping, but they did come in and empty the trash and leave clean towels.

We really aren't in the room that much, but after a long day, the beds were very comfy.