Staying at the Caribbean Beach - help!

[Snow White 17]

My boyfriend and I are going for our yearly Disney trip in July for 8 days. We usually stay at the Pop Century but this year we decided to upgrade a little bit and are staying at the Caribbean Beach. We've never stayed there and have read hot and cold reviews. Just looking for more info, opinions and/or tips. Thanks!

[MW1218]

The rooms and pools are very nice, and the food court area in the center is one of the most expansive ones among the moderates. What some people consider the major drawback to Caribbean Beach to be is the bus system.

The bus will stop at every "island" on the way out of, and into the resort. Sometimes you will be the first stop on the loop, sometimes the last, and there doesn't appear to be a lot of rhyme or reason, as they use both entrances to the resort.

If you have your own transportation, then I'd say go for it, with full gusto. If you will be relying on the bus system, it may be a deal breaker, it may not for you.

[Strmchsr]

to Intercot!!

I agree with the last post about the bus system. the only other issue is generally how spread out it is. It's a huge resort and it can be quite a walk to the food court, but it's also very quiet, beautiful, and a great resort. My family loved laying out on the beach and getting a boat rental for the lake. There are also pools in most of the "islands" which are generally preferable to the main pool if you don't have kids.

[Snow White 17]

When I called to make the reservation, I requested to be close to transportation. I called back again to make my final payment and the representative on the phone was extremely helpful and put in a more specific request for the Trinidad North building #31. He said to make the request again when we get to the front desk to check in. He said that building is closest to the pool/food court area. Is that correct?

[Snow White 17]

OH! And thanks for your helpful comments!

[MW1218]

At CB, 'close to transportation' translates to 'close to a bus stop.' If you're used to staying at Pop Century, or anywhere else with just one central bus stop, you're in for kind of a surprise at Caribbean Beach. There are a number of differently named "Islands" that form a circle of buildings around the center of the resort, and every bus to every park hits every one of those bus stops on the way to and from the parks.

Feel free to PM me, or google "Caribbean Beach Resort Map" and look in Google Images to see what I'm talking about.

[Fastpasssteve]

Building #46 in Jamaica would be a great location. It is close to:

a bus stop

one of the smaller, quiet pools

and the bridge that leads to the main building where the food court is located.

[Dsnygirl]

Our preferred resort is CBR - we've stayed there three times & are staying there again this August. I think you'll love it!

Like other posters have mentioned, transportation can take a bit longer than when you stay at a resort that only has one pick-up spot... but CBR is SO centrally located to all the resorts, esp. DHS and Epcot, that it makes up for that pretty easily.

We have stayed in three of the "islands" - Aruba, Barbados and Jamaica - and by far enjoyed Jamaica the best. I agree w/ the above poster re: building #46 in Jamaica, as well as building #45. 46 is closer to the bus stop, 45 is closer to the walkway across Caribbean Cay to Old Port Royale (the main bldg/pool area). We prefer 45 because it is not as close to the parking area and thus quieter and more picturesque... it's on the side of the water. (and Jamaica is not a preferred island, like Trinidad North is, so you won't have to pay extra. ) Plus, it's prettier, we think... all yellows, whites and blues, unlike any of the other island buildings, which are more pinks, blues and greens.

Be sure to take time to walk the walking trails around the water and explore the marina, maybe take out a Sea Raycer or paddle boat... it's a very peaceful place to stay, and you can't beat the beauty of the resort. Have fun!!

[RAIDER]

The CBR is a great place to relax ,very colourful ,large private pools and the dinning area has loads of variety. Its also situated near DTD which is helpful for the nightlife.
We loved it as well as the atmosphere . You have made a great choice ,so no need to worry

[CanadaLovesDisney]

We love this resort (I'm in my twenties) and find the scenery so relaxing and enjoyable! We are walking people so the walk to the food court is not so bad. People often complain about the resort size and walking distance but would they rather it was a smaller cramped resort? Think of it as burning calories from from all that ice-cream you will eat. And don't say you won't eat any ice-cream because it's just not possible

Have a great time!

[buzznwoodysmom]

We first stayed at CBR as a way to "try" all the resorts. We loved it and have stayed there twice now. Since we have boys that love pirates there is no "close to anything" for us, as they adore those pirate rooms. The walk is far, but definitely not as far as many make it sound. We never thought the walk was awful, and we spent some time each and every day at the main pool, so we walked it many, many times over the week. As far as the bus situation goes, its definitely not the best, but also not any worse than some other resorts we've stayed at. We stayed at the BC once and by those buses shared with YC, BW, Swan and Dolphin. Many other buses share as well. I think you will enjoy it!

[minnie-mouse]

CBR is great! The grounds are really nice and peaceful. The food court has a good variety and the pool and bar are nice too. The resort is large but we stayed in Jamaica building and found it to be a short walk over the bridge to OPR, even our DD who was 3 at the time could do it fine. You will like CBR, definitely nicer resort than POP in my opinion.

[IloveDisney71]

I've stayed at CBR twice and loved it both times. I've stayed at the building closest to the food court once and then across the lake another time and both times it was enjoyable. I didn't mind the walk across the bridge to get to the food court. It's a beautiful resort and I found the walk to be nice and peaceful. I will stay there on future visits.

[Jodi]

We stayed at CBR last August, prior to that stayed at Pop for several years in a row. Absolutely love the nicer rooms and scenic view of CBR. The only thing I / we did not care for were the very numerous spiders. Yes, I do have kind of a phobia, but, did not see near as many at Pop that we did at CBR. As for buses, have to agree, not the greatest. We had a rental car though and used that more than the buses to avoid the walk and waits. Preferred the food court at Pop over CBR too, just not as easy to move about with a tray in your hands. We are going back to CBR this year,...so, guess that means we did like it there.

[CleveRocks]

the representative on the phone was extremely helpful and put in a more specific request for the Trinidad North building #31. He said to make the request again when we get to the front desk to check in. He said that building is closest to the pool/food court area. Is that correct?

He gave you bad advice. You're very unlikely to get a room in Trinidad North 31 unless you pay extra for it.

At CBR, the six guest buildings closest to Old Port Royale (main pool, restaurants, shops) are called "preferred location." Preferred location rooms are a separate booking category from standard rooms, and they cost about $25 more per night than standard rooms.

In other words, if you merely REQUEST a preferred location room as opposed to RESERVING a preferred location room, you have two strikes against you ... number one, you have everyone who reserved and paid for it in line ahead of you to snag one of those rooms, and number two, you are, in effect, requesting a free upgrade.

I'm not saying it's impossible you'll get your request met, it's just pretty unlikely. Therefore, I recommend you make a request that has a better chance of getting met. Here are the three STANDARD (that is, no extra charge) buildings that are the shortest walking distance to Old Port Royale. They're exactly the same distance (I mapped it with a website down to the exact same one-hundredth of a mile!), so in alphabetical order: Aruba 51, Jamaica 45, and Martinique 22.

[CleveRocks]

The bus will stop at every "island" on the way out of, and into the resort. Sometimes you will be the first stop on the loop, sometimes the last, and there doesn't appear to be a lot of rhyme or reason, as they use both entrances to the resort.

There actually is a pattern to the bus system at CBR, it's not totally random. Of course, at any given time, things may work differenty, but here is how it's supposed to go ...

Buses to Magic Kingdom and buses to Downtown Disney start at Martinique, then go clockwise and make stops at Old Port Royale, Trinidad North, Trinidad South, Jamaica, Aruba and finally Barbados before going to the destination.

Buses to Epcot, buses to Disney's Hollywood Studios and buses to Animal Kingdom start at Jamaica, then go clockwise to Aruba, Barbados, Martinique, OPR, Trinidad North and finally Trinidad South before going to the destination.

[CleveRocks]

There is a bus stop at each of the six villages, meaning that there is no such thing as a village that is closer to transportation than another village. Of course, within each village there are buildings that are closer to or farther from that village's bus stop, but within a village, the difference between the closest building to a bus stop and the farthest building from a bus stop are pretty small differences ... like literally walking one minute farther or one minute less.

There's also a bus stop at Old Port Royale, which is convenient if you want to get a meal or snack before or after the parks.

[Snow White 17]

He gave you bad advice. You're very unlikely to get a room in Trinidad North 31 unless you pay extra for it.

At CBR, the six guest buildings closest to Old Port Royale (main pool, restaurants, shops) are called "preferred location." Preferred location rooms are a separate booking category from standard rooms, and they cost about $25 more per night than standard rooms.

In other words, if you merely REQUEST a preferred location room as opposed to RESERVING a preferred location room, you have two strikes against you ... number one, you have everyone who reserved and paid for it in line ahead of you to snag one of those rooms, and number two, you are, in effect, requesting a free upgrade.

I'm not saying it's impossible you'll get your request met, it's just pretty unlikely. Therefore, I recommend you make a request that has a better chance of getting met. Here are the three STANDARD (that is, no extra charge) buildings that are the shortest walking distance to Old Port Royale. They're exactly the same distance (I mapped it with a website down to the exact same one-hundredth of a mile!), so in alphabetical order: Aruba 51, Jamaica 45, and Martinique 22.

We have booked and paid for a king-bed room. Does that make a difference as to if its a preferred room or is that still considered standard?

[CleveRocks]

We have booked and paid for a king-bed room. Does that make a difference as to if its a preferred room or is that still considered standard?

King-bed rooms are randomly sprinkled throughout the resort, they are not all located in one certain area.

One of Disney's weird quirks at CBR is that you can't reserve/book/pay for a double upgrade (except in the Pirate rooms, which doesn't apply to you). In other words, you can't pay two upgrade fees for a king-bed room in a preferred location building, or a king-bed room in a water view building, or a preferred location room with a water view, and so on. The best you can do is reserve the one thast's the most important to you, and then request the others.

So you're actually at a tiny advantage over someone who booked a plain old vanilla standard room. The reason you're a tiny bit luckier is that there are SOME king-bed rooms in the preferred location buildings. And since no one can book and lock down one of those "hybrid" rooms (since it covers two different upgrade categories), you stand as good a chance as anyone else. In other words, it wouldn't be a free upgrade for you.

The same would apply if you booked and paid for preferred location and requested a king-bed room ... SOMEONE is gonna get lucky and snag those few rooms that fit both categories.

So, in your particular case, requesting Trinidad 31 is NOT a wasted request.

I can refine it a little more for you, perhaps. Trinidad 31 is the closest building to the main pool. But Martinique 26 is the closest to the food court. I'm really splitting hairs here, but I figured it might make a difference to you one way or another.

GOOD LUCK!

[Snow White 17]

I can refine it a little more for you, perhaps. Trinidad 31 is the closest building to the main pool. But Martinique 26 is the closest to the food court. I'm really splitting hairs here, but I figured it might make a difference to you one way or another.

GOOD LUCK!

Maybe I'll go back and switch my request to Martinique 26; food is the most important part of any vacation for my boyfriend! ha! jk Thanks for your help though!