Caribbean Beach Resort

[khunter]

We reserved our rooms for our trip in May at the Caribbean Beach Resort. I am so excited, we will be bringing our boys for the first time, they are 6 & 3 1/2. Is there anything about the resort that you wished you had known beforehand the first time you went?

[bjlaac]

Been there many times. CB is a group of buildings making up an Island that disney names Aruba, Barbadous, Trinidad South, etc. I believe there are six or seven Islands.

Each Island is located around a large lake with its own pool, but no food. The Main Food court has a pool but depending on which Island you stay at, could be a long walk, especially at night when you are tired. Check the layout and see which Island you prefer.

The other issue is bus pick up and drop off. Disney will tell you it doesn't matter but a lot of times its great to be first off the bus. I think Trinidad North seemed to have the most trips, when we stayed there, as the first stop comming back from the parks. Its been a while since we were there so hopefully someone else can confirm this or not. Either way, look into it and have fun

[vicster]

We stayed at CBR a couple of years ago and it's definitely a very large resort. Like a previous poster said you could be quite a distance from the food court. Last September we tried POFQ and really liked that the resort was a lot smaller.

[wdwdreamer]

We have stayed in CBR twice and both times stayed in Aruba. Aruba is a short walk across an island in the middle of the resort to the food court and main pool. We actually enjoy it because it is away from the main area but not as far as Trinadad which is the furthest away and quite a walk.

We also picked up the bus in the Jamaica stop since it seemed to be first a good portion of the time.

We are going again in June and requested Aruba again, we love this resort.

[MNNHFLTX]

The one thing drawback at the Caribbean Beach Resort (IMO) is that the Custom House (where you check-in and also where the Magical Express buses pick-up and drop-off) is quite a ways away from Old Port Royale (the complex that houses the restaurants and gift shop). This was inconvenient at times. In our case, upon check-out we wanted to drop off our suitcases with bell services and then get some lunch before catching our ride on Magical Express. So we had to take the bell services van to the Custom House to check our luggage, then pick up the resort shuttle back to Old Port Royale to eat. Then we had to take the shuttle back to the Custom House to reclaim our luggage and get on our Magical Express bus.

[grumpydude]

Trinidad South IS too far from Ole Port Royale

[kemps@wdw]

Walking distance from our "village" to Old Port Royal.

[Tink#64]

I always think that when we decide to try a mod that it will be CBR, but I get very nervous about it because it sounds like you do alot of walking in the resort itself! Who wants that with all the walking you do in the parks!? But it looks like such a cool resort, I know that we'd just love the atmosphere there!

[WedWay Peoplemover]

The atmosphere IS awesome! They also now have the coolest main pool at any Moderate resort!

[GoofyforFun]

We stayed there with a group of 12' 3 families. We were just on the other side of the Bridge in Aruba. The food court was excellent for quick breakfast with a counter service (DDP). We had dinner usually in the parks with DDP. And the bus pickup was just close by thru the parking lot. . so no complaints here, And I believe they redone the pool to make it better ( kids had no complaints there either) and some rooms now have a Nemo or Pirate theme?? ENJOY we all did !!

[pixiesmimi]

We were kind of warned about the other things at CBR, walking, pools, best villages, etc. but when we got there and parked our car, we had a hard time finding which building was ours and then where the room was located on the second floor. Signs on the corners pointing to room numbers weren't exactly right and not logical. We walked around and around carrying suitcases until we finally found our room and then discovered that there was a staircase very close to our room overlooking the quiet pool. Very nice room and not hard to find once we figured it all out but it would have been nice if they had give us a map to show us where the room was located. Ask for one before leaving the check-in desk because, as said above, it is a long way from the villages to the Main Check-In Building. Of course, you can always take the in-resort bus from one area to another but usually you can walk there faster. Watch out for the CMs in the golf carts on the walking paths though. They will run you down. We loved our stay there and know what to expect now. The large pool was too noisy and busy for us but if we had children with us, would probably have gone there. It is nice having a quieter, private pool at your village. The laundry is right by the quiet pool.