CBR: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

[brewcrew26]

We just had to switch from AKL to CBR (darn economy!) for our honeymoon. I wanted to stay at one of the PO but there weren't any more openings for the time in April.

I haven't stayed at CBR before. Tell me everything. Reading some of the other threads and posts, it doesn't sound good. Should I try to switch? Is it good for a couple on a honeymoon? Where should we try to get a room, what building is best? Will the pool refurbs really be intrusive? Is the food court OK? (I've heard bad things about the sit-down restaurant and am fearful to try it).

Are the buses overcrowded? What are wait times usually like? How has check-in been?

Time to dish!

[BronxTigger]

I stayed there this past August and loved almost everything about it.

You can book a King Bed room there for only $10 or $15 more a night. You should also note on your reservation that it is your honeymoon. They may try to upgrade you to a king if you didn't pay for it and they have space. (I was there by myself and got a free upgrade to a king room.)

I stayed in Aruba section. I'd request that village again in a heartbeat. Jamaica is right next to Aruba; both are across the bridge from the food court/gift shop.

It IS a large resort, but walking around the resort was very pleasant. There are hammocks on the beach in each village and they are super relaxing. There's also some hidden away on the little island in the middle of the lake.

The only pool being refurbed is the main one at Old Port Royale. Each village has its own quiet pool. From what I have heard, it is not particularly bothersome.

The food court is okay, but I only ate their once. I tend to eat in the parks or DTD because I am there the bulk of my time. The gift shop is large and has a lot of good stuff in it. Well, at least it did in August.

The buses are probably the biggest gripe you will hear about CBR (that and the size of the place, but they are related issues). Because it is so large, the bus stops and each village and Old Port Royale. It's a bit of a nuisance, but if you allow for an extra 10 minutes it's not too bad. The buses also make a lot of stops at the other moderates and even the deluxes. I did not find the buses to be crowded except at the usual (park closing) times. Wait times were about the same as at any other resort I have stayed at or visited.

My check-in was fast with no problems. My room was not ready (I checked in at around 11am I think) but they gave me a card with a phone number to call from the parks to see when it was ready and what room it was. When I returned from the park, my room key worked in the room they had said over the phone.

I think I answered all your questions. Hope this helps!
By the way, if you click on my name to my homepage, I have a bunch of CBR photos from my stay there. It has it's own album.

[crazeedizneefinatic]

We stayed at CBR last September. I was nervous too about the comments I heard, but was optomistic. I would say we really liked it. Be prepared though when people say a big resort, they mean it! It was huge! We stayed in Jamaica and the room and surroundings were very quiet. We never had problems with noise. I would not worry too much about the pool rehab. To be honest it looked really cool on the internet but it really was not. The hot tub was extremely small and always crowded anyway. My son who was 7 preferred the quiet pools and so did we. The foodcourt I though had a nice variety of things. Nothing fancy but it was good, we really liked the cheese steak hoagies. We never tried the restaurant and too me it never seemed busy, so I don't know if that's a clue or not? We loved the surroundings and grounds. The little sandy beaches and hammocks were really nice, I can see how that would be very romantic. All in all we enjoyed ourselves and would definatly go again, we had no issues with check in. Although after you check in you do need to catch a bus to the islands where the rooms are located. We were there in September and the bus system was very very managable, we never stood. I thought it was a great resort. Anything bad can happen anywhere, even at a deluxe. Housekeeping can be bad anywhere and rude CM's can happen. Although we never encountered either on our stay. I think you made a good choice! Oh by the way, congratulations on the wedding and have a wonderful Honeymoon!

[IloveDisney71]

My DH and I stayed at the CBR in Nov. '05 and really enjoyed ourselves. We paid the extra amount to be in a preferred location because he was having some medical issues and we wanted to be a close walk to the food court. I don't remember the name of the building. It was right past the main building/food court area. We never waited very long for a bus and they were never crowded. We didn't mind the stops around the resorts to pick up other passengers. We were there the week-end before Thanksgiving and left the Tuesday right before Thanksgiving.
We enjoyed having breakfast at the food court each morning (waffles, eggs, etc.) but we never tried their restaurant. We always eat at the parks.
The resort is huge but it is beautiful. We enjoyed walking around. We thought it was romantic.
I think you'll enjoy it! Congratulations!!!

[garymacd]

The resort is beautiful. The grounds are spectacular and well-kept. The rooms are standard moderate rooms - hopefully you are getting one with a King bed. The food court, restaurant and store are very nice.

I shouldn't grouse about CBR: when we are there, we are in WDW, after all.

My only complaint was the size. We have been spoiled by French Quarter. If you get a preferred room around Port Royale the walk isn't so bad. The first time we stayed there was back with little tykes and all their stuff. We stayed in Trinidad South, Building 38, I think. THAT was a long walk everywhere! Last year, we stayed in Building 51 in Aruba. The walk to the bus stop and the food court weren't too bad at all. I did like the walk across the lake for breakfast everyday.

Even with outside halls, the ambient noise level wasn't too bad. We survived a tornadic event last September and barely heard the storm. Well, we had to watch it; just could hear it. Our room was quite close to the parking area, so lots of people walked by. There was very little sound infiltration.

I understand the main pool is undergoing refurb, but there are six other quiet pools to use. With the main pool down, these may be a bit busier. And you don't have to go quite as far to get to them. There are no pool bars at any of them, though.

Since we stayed at Aruba, we were almost always first on and first off the buses. Sometimes, from some parks, the drivers would come in a different way and mess us up, but nothing to worry about.

You will enjoy yourselves. Don't let anyone's perceptions (especially mine) taint your view or expectations. If the resort isn't to your liking (which I can't believe) remember: you will only be in your room to...
....um
.......er
.........uh............
sleep!

Yeah, that's it. Sleep.:blush:

Have a great time!:thedolls:

[PetefromRI]

We really love this resort.It is large but we don't mind that in a resort.The buses can be crowded but I don't recall ever having to share them with another resort.We also stayed in Aruba and I think I'd stay there again unless the pool was ready then I'd pay for a preferred area.We love the foodcourt and the Banana Cabana(pool bar).We didn't care for Shutters,the sit down restaurant.We even tried it again in Sept.and we officially decided to never eat there again.It just wasn't that good and it was alittle pricey for the quality of food.
I'd stay here.Like I said,it's one of our favorite resorts.

[pixiesmimi]

We stayed in CBR in August for our anniversary. We stayed in Aruba which we enjoyed. But if you want to be isolated, try to stay in Trinidad South. It is the farthest from Old Port Royal but it is also the quietest. They had us reserved to stay there although I had requested Aruba and when I told them how disappointed I was, they upgraded us to a King in Aruba. It was a wonderful room on a corner. I wouldn't worry about the main pool. The quiet pools at each village are less crowded and much quieter. especially if you don't have children with you (which I'm assuming you won't). :) I would stay there again in a heartbeat. The buses weren't bad and one stops out front of each village. We enjoyed the food court but didn't try the sit down restaurant. We don't usually eat a sit down at our resort. We always eat in a park. You can't go wrong with CBR.

[rnin02]

We've stayed there twice and loved it. Its very beautiful, very scenic. It is large, but if you get a room in either Jamaica or Aruba, you will a very nice, scenic walk across the bridge to the food court. We stayed at Trinidad South one time and that was a bad spot...you have to cross a road to walk to any other spot in the resort, it felt very isolated. And not good if you get caught in a thunderstorm on your way to dinner! But there is an internal shuttle bus, so you can easily avoid the walk as well. I think the bus system for CBR is better than AKL or POR by far. You don't have to share busses with other resorts when you are at CBR, which is really nice. When we stayed at POR, the busses were awfully, it was the worst experience we had. We ate at Shutters once and remember it as being good. Also, the food court is pretty good, and they have a nice selection of ready to carry items to just "grab and go". Much better than the other resorts we've stayed at. Oh, and what the previous posters have said about hammocks and quiet pools is so true...very relaxing! And romantic, one morning we managed to get up super early to watch the sunrise from one the hammocks. It was very peaceful and a great memory to take home.

[brewcrew26]

Can someone tell me a little more about the internal bus system at the resort? Is it like Fort Wilderness where they have the Boone and the Crockett buses to get around the resort?

Is there a specific building number that's got a better view of the lagoon or that stuck out in your mind as being great?

[BronxTigger]

Can someone tell me a little more about the internal bus system at the resort? Is it like Fort Wilderness where they have the Boone and the Crockett buses to get around the resort?

Is there a specific building number that's got a better view of the lagoon or that stuck out in your mind as being great?

I don't know about the FW bus system so I can't compare. But the internal bus at CBR just goes in a circle to 8 stops. The buses that go to the parks do not stop at the Custom House (the front desk) but the internal bus does. You cannot take luggage on the internal bus, but when you are leaving you can call bell services to pick you up in their van.

All the buses go in the same direction (clockwise), but some enter from the front of the resort and some enter from the back, near Jamaica. It depends on the park which side of the resort they enter at.

[PirateLover]

Well I feel bad to possibly bring you down with it being your honeymoon and all, but my only experience there was not a great one. We were there in Dec 05.

We too had read posts of people not liking CBR and thought they were just expecting too much and that we'd love it. The theming seemed good to us, location etc. But it just did not live up to our expectations.

The #1 problem for us was our room. We were in building 53 Aruba and our room was very very muggy. It always felt like there was a lot of humidity and we could never get a good temperature. We would come back and find that our carpet was damp. There was zero pressure in the shower. WDW isn't known for high pressure showers but this stunk. We also found the colors much more garish in person than in the photos, but that's personal preference.

We had to walk through an oversized parking lot (there were maybe 3 cars parked there) that looked like it was never cleaned up from a hurricane (tree debris everywhere) to get to the bus stop. We could've taken a scenic path but that takes you almost 3 minutes out of your way. We saw a lot of debris on the beaches as well. Housekeeping came in one day when we had left the privacy please sign on the door.

The food court was always crowded. It was harder for us to find seating here than at POP. Also the buses. They stop at each individual "island" and if you are there during a busy time you can have a long wait. The buses didn't seem to come as frequently as they do at other resorts. We stayed at POP twice and buses seemed to be coming almost every 15 minutes. One time we were waiting for a bus to MK in the morning and we were there for an hour before we saw the first bus. The first person in line actually got on a bus to Epcot just to tell the driver to call us an MK bus! Another time we were trying to go to MGM and it took us an hour and 15 mins to be able to get on a bus (2 had passed us by full, and we had to stand on the 3rd.)

Now keep in mind I have not stayed at any other moderates so I can't really compare, but I have stayed at the Polynesian and Pop Century and I would choose both over CBR. Maybe we were expecting too much, but we will not be returning anytime soon.

All of this being said we still had an AWESOME time on vacation. It was not soooo bad that we let it bother us 24/7, but it was a nagging thought in the back of our heads (because we were college kids at the time) that we payed extra money to stay here over Pop and didn't feel that the amenities were that much nicer. Keep in mind,though, that it was a freezing week and we could not make use of the pool (Even though they are heated, we went in for 2 mins and had to get out and Every time we passed the hot tub it was packed with teens) or boating/biking excursions as we had hoped.

In the end it just comes down to personal preference and what you expect from the resort. Some of the other posters have already given glowing reviews. No matter what you choose to do, I hope you have a wonderful honeymoon.

[matthew1926]

we have stayed at CBR on a number of occassions and it has always been an extremely pleasant experience. The grounds are beautiful and lush and just a pleasure to walk through. The food court is good. The only issue is the buses. This resort is huge so the buses are busy. We are going back in October and staying at the AKL and my daughter is very disappointed. CBR is her favorite resort..and we have stayed at AKL and the WL. She thinks CBR grounds are so pretty that none of the others compare. CBR is great. Relax and enjoy!

[pox24]

Sorry but I cannot recommend it. Although it is quiet nice its just too darn large. You could very easily have a 20 minute walk to eat if your not in the right building. Bus transportation, forget it. Who wants that after walking parks all day. Money is an issue and that is totally understandable. But for a honeymoon, any standard room at any deluxe is a better choice.
Sorry but I had to be honest.

[Septbride2002]

I must admitt it is my least favorite of all of the resorts I stayed in, but that is just our taste. The beauty of WDW is that there is a lot of variety to meet the needs and likes of everyone. So while I may not like it - you may love it.

Our neighbors stayed there for their honeymoon and they loved it. If it was me I would ask for a room in Jacamica or Aruba - they are across the lake and therefore a little more secluded. Plus I liked walking over the bridge on my way to Port Royale. Understand that while staying in this section of the resort you are far away from the food court, pool, and bus stop. So you will have a good walk when you get back to the resorts.

~Amanda

[rnin02]

You could very easily have a 20 minute walk to eat if your not in the right building.

I just have to disagree with this. We got "stuck" one visit in the furtherest reaches of the resort, the far side of Trinidad South, and while it is a walk, it is not anywhere close to 20 mins. More than 5 mins, less then 10, and that's dressed up somewhat for dinner. I found the walking around CBR to be extremely similar to the walking we had to do at POR, and at least at CBR if you get tired of walking, there is an internal resort shuttle making the rounds. This is an extremely beautiful resort that doesn't get the credit it deserves!

[brewcrew26]

DH doesn't mind walking. In fact, he loves it. After living in Boston, which they should just call "America's Walking City", I think we can handle it.

I've heard Aruba mentioned a couple of times -- any particular room or building numbers that anyone recommends? And are the higher floors better to add to more seclusion?

[Mackflava99]

I only stayed there once, but we had a really large part y and everyone seemed to enjoy it-

The pool was very nice-
The rooms were fine, actually we had a very quiet area which was good. I liked walking around the lagoon, its a good place-

My check in went smooth, the CMs were very good.
The food court wasn't bad at all, we only ate breakfast there as a ay to group up for the days activities.

its not the BC or WL, but its definitely nice
and worth trying out- If you get the King upgrade, i bet it will be terrific

Congrads on your impending Marriage !!

[offwego]

DH doesn't mind walking. In fact, he loves it. After living in Boston, which they should just call "America's Walking City", I think we can handle it.

I've heard Aruba mentioned a couple of times -- any particular room or building numbers that anyone recommends? And are the higher floors better to add to more seclusion?

It's very tricky to get specific room numbers your much better off saying stuff like this..

Room on upper floor (quieter yes), away from main path (again want quiet) & prefer side facing lagoon.

the reason being if you ask for building 12 room 5152 (which I just made up) they may not know why you want it.

The CBR buildings are only two floors so it's not that much of a difference in noise levels.

I've stayed there and we liked it but did feel it was too spread out. And perhaps it's perception but we found the walk to the food court longer then the ones we've had at POR. But again that could have just been perception and not reality.

the bus service was ok, but the multi stops can make wait times flucuate since full after all is full and it has an oppurtunity to get that way before it gets to your stop depending on where it entered the resort area.

[pixiesmimi]

I've heard Aruba mentioned a couple of times -- any particular room or building numbers that anyone recommends? And are the higher floors better to add to more seclusion?

I had always heard that building 51 was the best and requested this when we got to check in. She laughed and said that was sold out because everyone wanted that building. It is right by the bridge to OPR. But we got building 53 (I think) and it was good. It was the building right by the quiet pool and was nice. I think any building in Aruba is good. We were upstairs but it quiet everywhere.