A few questions

[Trevdisneyvac]

We are planning our 2nd trip to the happiest place on earth in December.
1st question. I heard that the DD plan does not include tip anymore. Is this true?

2nd question. Is the Mickey Christmas show worth the 200 dollars for my family of 4 and wwhen do the tickets go on sale.

3rd question. We are staying at the CBR and have booked a preferred room because it is the biggest resort. Smart move or not.




Also how are the lines for rides, we will be arriving Dec 3rd cannot wait.[/FONT]

[CleveRocks]

Question 1: Yes, true. Appetizer and gratuity no longer included.

Question 3: Preferred location at CBR is worth the money if the prospect of up to a half-mile walk from your room to the food court/main pool would ruin your vacation.

[CaptainJessicaSparrow]

Well, the Happiest Place on Earth is in California, not Florida. But if you mean you're coming to WDW, then:

1 - As stated before, Appetizer and Grat is no longer included.

2 - For me, personally, no it's not worth it. I found the parade to be extremely boring and the fireworks were barely above average. Nothing all that spectacular (and trust me, I love my shows!) There are cookies and hot cocoa, rare characters and a stage show. But I found it boring. If you decide to go, use this as your MK day and arrive at 4pm with your MVMCP ticket and ride the rides before the party starts at 7. You'll probably be able to see normal Wishes as well prior to the event, so you can spend the party time focusing on characters and other things related to the event.

3 - Preferred does not mean you'll be closer to the front. It just means you'll be closer to a pool (CBR has mroe than one) and possibly a bus stop.

4 - The lines are decent, and not too bad. It's in between peak times, so it's less crowded than later December, but reasonable. I'd venture the average time to be 30-40 minutes, if you don't utilize the FP and evening EMH.

[terri110874]

I have gone the first week of Dec before,it was great not too busy. As for the party, we enjoyed it very much. I love Christmas so maybe that is why I loved it.
Did get great pics of my son with the characters in there holiday attire. The parade was good and fireworks.

As for the dining plan, tip and appetizer is not included. If you are like me and hate to figure out the tip, when they bring over the check at the end of the meal it has the tip figured out for you. It says 18% is $xx.xx and 20% is $xx.xx. Some of the TS I went to on my last trip, some of the wait staff did remind me that it was not included.

[KayDee]

Just a follow up to point #3. I believe that when you book a preferred room at CBR they are the 2 closest buildings to the lobby. You could also book water view rooms that are anywhere in the resort.

[CleveRocks]

3 - Preferred does not mean you'll be closer to the front. It just means you'll be closer to a pool (CBR has mroe than one) and possibly a bus stop.

At Caribbean Beach Resort, "preferred location" means a room in one of the six buildings closest to Old Port Royale. OPR is the central focus of the resort ... it has the main pool, food court, table-service restaurant, shops, arcade, water sports rentals, outdoor bar, and so on. In short, it has all of the public areas of the resort EXCEPT for the lobby, front desk, etc.

Anyway, at CBR, "preferred location" specifically DOES mean you will get a room close to OPR.

It specifically DOES NOT mean getting a room close to a pool or a bus stop. Each village has its own pool AND its own bus stop, so in the entirety of CBR there's no such thing as a room that is particularly inconvenient to a pool or a bus stop.

The resort is divided into 6 villages. Five of the 6 villages are comprised of 6 buildings each, and one is comprised of only three buildings. The preferred location buildings are all of the buildings in Trinidad North (31-32-33) and half of the buildings in Martinique (24-25-26).

Here is a link to a map of CBR, so you can see what I'm talking about. {external link remover per Terms of Service}

For someone who wants to try to be close to a village's pool, they should reserve a "water view" room, which carries the exact same extra cost as a preferred location room. A water view room will have a view of a village "quiet" pool (not the main pool) OR the central lake ("Barefoot Bay"); there's no way to guarantee whether the view will be of a pool or the lake.

I hope this sets the record straight about what exactly "preferred location" means at CBR.

[offwego]

2. We have really enjoyed the christmas show each time we have done it. The snow and the fireworks and the different carolers themed to each area really made it feel different then during the day.

3. CBR is large but as the prev. poster said prefered does put you near the food court, main pool etc. However one thing to consider is if you plan to use these things. If your plans don't include breakfast from the food court & your meals are all in parks etc this may not be worth the dollars. However if the main pool is one of the key reasons your going then it might. The walkways are very nice and the resort while large is not difficult to make your way around. (In other words this could be the place to make up some dollars to spend on the christmas party)

[myhappyplace]

As you have read, preferred doesn't mean close to the food court, just pools. Each section has it's own pool. :thumbsup: If memory is correct there are about 6 pools.
We stayed there before BEAUTIFUL resort, very relaxing. That walk is horrible if like us you get the house farthest away from the food court. The resort mugs are not worth the money if you get stuck in a house far from the food court.
To answer your question again, it doesn't guarantee anything except the pool. I would attempt to send a letter via fax a few days before you plan to arrive. None the less it is beautiful, so what ever may happen make the most of it and try to relax. You are at Disney World. :cloud9:

[CleveRocks]

As you have read, preferred doesn't mean close to the food court, just pools. Each section has it's own pool. :thumbsup: If memory is correct there are about 6 pools.
We stayed there before BEAUTIFUL resort, very relaxing. That walk is horrible if like us you get the house farthest away from the food court. The resort mugs are not worth the money if you get stuck in a house far from the food court.
To answer your question again, it doesn't guarantee anything except the pool. I would attempt to send a letter via fax a few days before you plan to arrive. None the less it is beautiful, so what ever may happen make the most of it and try to relax. You are at Disney World. :cloud9:

At CBR, "preferred location" DOES mean close to the food court, as well as the rest of Old Port Royale, which includes the one main pool. It does NOT mean close to just any old pool. There are 7 pools, one in each village plus one at Old Port Royale.

To say it again ... Preferred location means being close to Old Port Royale, which has THE FOOD COURT and the main pool and other good stuff, too.

[Beast_fanatic]

Just to clarify, the preferred buildings at CBR are Martinique and Trinidad North which are located next to Old Port Royale.

I think a few posts have confused preferred buildings with water view locations, so I just wanted to hopefully clear that up.

And, as far as I'm concerned, a preferred location at CBR is worth it as our one stay there, we were just about as far away from Old Port Royale as possible and it was quite a walk. I think the fact that CBR is the only resort that has its own internal bus system, pretty much shows that preferred is worth it.