Disney's CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT Information & Questions

[dansdad]

I tried to request Martinique as that's where they put us last year and they told us that it was preferred. That's for our trip in August this year. SO it looks like it wasn't preferred last August, but is back to preferred by August this year.

I would call back. Sounds like you got a misinformed phone CM. The plan is to change the Standard rooms in Martinique back to Preferred when the construction is done which won't be until Spring 2019.

 

[macadoo]

We stayed at CBR from March 10 to March 17.

This is our 6th year in a row staying on property. In the past we have stayed at Pop Century (twice), and at all 3 of the All-Star Resorts. We gave the CBR a try this year as our first time at a moderate resort. In our opinion, there is no way that the CBR should even be considered a moderate resort - in fact, we found it to be less than a Value resort. The food tent is not adequately ventilated, and smells like seafood. As someone with a seafood allergy, I could not sit in the tent with a constant smell of something that will kill me in the air. Our son is also is quite to smells, and could not take the aroma of seafood.

We did a comparison of our 5 prior visits to Value resorts and compared them to our stay at the "Moderate" CBR

Hot Chocolate: (Big thing for our kids)
Value Resort : Hot Chocolate dispenser in the food court. The kids will often go from our room to the food court for hot chocolate.
CBR: No dispenser. There were packets of hot chocolate that had to be mixed with hot water. The kids weren't comfortable with handling the hot water on their own.

Movies under the Stars:
Value Resort : We've attended Movies Under The Stars at the value resorts at the pools and were seated on the pool chairs/lounge chairs
CBR: Sit on the ground on astro-turf.

Bus System:
Value Resort : Each park has it's own specific pick-up point. It is easy for guests and staff to know how many are waiting for a bus to a specific resort.
CBR: No designated park-specific pickup point. Each bus would roll up and there would be times when nobody got on, or everybody got on. Some pickup points are better than others. We were staying in Aruba, and the bus would roll up filled - always standing room only. We have a wheelchair with us, which makes it difficult to get on to a loaded bus. We ended up driving each day over to the Martinique bus stop and got on there, because it is the first stop and were able to quickly load our wheelchair on the bus.

Coffee Cream:
Value Resorts: All have a coffee cream dispenser to add to coffee. Nice and easy.
CBR: No coffee cream dispenser. Liquid Coffee-mate in individual single serving cups - generating trash with each coffee. The CBR did have a milk dispenser for anybody who wanted a glass of milk though.

Room Size:
We found no difference in the size of the Value resorts in comparison to the CBR. The CBR did have 2 sinks so that 2 people could be brushing their teeth at the same time.

1/2 Gallon Milk Availability: (We bring our own cereal and eat breakfast in our room so that we can get to the buses and parks as early as possible)
Value Resorts: Both Pop and Art of Animation sold 1/2 gallon milk jugs
CBR: Not available in 1/2 gallon jugs - had to get it at Pop Century.

Caricature Artists:
Value Resorts: All of the value resorts we've stayed at have Caricature artists. (A cool thing during the Disney Experience)
CBR: None to be found. (Our niece who was attending Disney for the first time wanted a caricature drawing, so we had to go over to Pop Century to get it done..)

Room Service:
Value Resort : Never had an issue
CBR: We specifically requested room service for our stay because we had a busy week of park visits. We arrived back one night to find that our room hadn't been cleaned or made up. We found one of the "Room Occupied" signs on our door that we hadn't put there.. After reading a lot of comments about the "security checks" and how that "room occupied" sign didn't stop the security checks, well it most certainly stops room service. We called room service and they made comments that sometimes kids will "play" with the signs and put them on doors.. They offered to come to our room to do service, but it was 9:30PM and we were getting ready for bed. They did come by with fresh towels and took away the garbage for us though. We saw a few of those "room occupied" signs blowing around in the wind while we were there, so we do understand that some kids may have put it on our door. We had specifically requested room service each day and figured that they should have at least knocked on the door... At minimum, they should put the room numbers on each of those tags if there is an issue with the kids playing around or the wind blowing them off of the doors.

We spent more time at Pop Century and Art Of Animation using the facilities there than we did at CBR. It was a good thing that we had our vehicle with us. When we stay at the value resorts, we normally park our vehicle in the parking area and don't see it again for 4 or 5 days. When we stayed at the CBR, we were in our vehicle at least 3 times a day, driving to/from bus stops and over to the Value Resorts for food and other stuff. When we would go over to Pop or Art, we would drive up to security. They'd ask where we were going, and we said that we were going to the food court, because the tent at CBR wasn't working for us. We often heard comments from the security guards saying "Ya.. That's what we keep hearing". Sometimes they'd shrug their shoulders and try to make humorous comments to try make light of it. I told the food people at Pop Century about how disappointed I was with CBR as I was ordering food "To Go" one night. I said that we were for the first time in years saying that we weren't going back to Disney the following year because of the bad experience that we were having with CBR. The person at Pop comp'd our meal. (Nice move on the cast member to do that..)

We found the "markets" in each area of the CBR difficult to find - the signage is almost non-existent.

We listened to others talking while on the bus going back to the CBR. There were comments that we heard from other guests who were talking to each other about their disappointment with the resort as well. I heard one guy say one night to his buddy - "Is there somewhere we can go for good food?"

You will note that I didn't even mention the construction. The place was pretty torn up, but the construction noise was minimal while we were there.

Our stay was such a disappointment that we absolutely had to say something as we were checking out. We spent a good 15 minutes talking with a manager at the CBR. We ended up having 2 of our 7 nights refunded, and they also gave us some quick-service meal vouchers that we could use at Pop Century as we were leaving.

I can guarantee that we will NEVER EVER stay at CBR again after this experience. There is no way that CBR in it's current state should even be considered a moderate resort... Everywhere we turned, we found that the experience was less than the value resorts. We are so very disappointed in Disney for marketing the CBR as a moderate resort when it does not deserve that designation.

As of right now, we are not planning on going to Disney next year. There's still a bit of a bitter taste in our mouth due to our poor experience at CBR this year.

Did you receive a comp gift card for your stay or did you book after that offer?

 

[marcais]

For the first stay we got a gift card for $75 each night we were there as we'd booked before the refurb was announced, so $450 in total.

My wife was disappointed to find out there was no such generosity this time, even though I pointed out that we booked knowing that the work was going on.

 

[marcais]

I would call back. Sounds like you got a misinformed phone CM. The plan is to change the Standard rooms in Martinique back to Preferred when the construction is done which won't be until Spring 2019.

I'll give it another go, so. Cheers for the info.

 

[macadoo]

For the first stay we got a gift card for $75 each night we were there as we'd booked before the refurb was announced, so $450 in total.

My wife was disappointed to find out there was no such generosity this time, even though I pointed out that we booked knowing that the work was going on.

I think its unbelievable that Disney don’t think they need to comp guests staying there now. We booked at full rate for this August (after it was announced the food court would be re open end of August....3 days before our stay). The resort isn’t in any better state now than it was last summer when we were offered the gift card (we didn’t stay there, we moved).

 

[oj01]

I think its unbelievable that Disney don’t think they need to comp guests staying there now. We booked at full rate for this August (after it was announced the food court would be re open end of August....3 days before our stay). The resort isn’t in any better state now than it was last summer when we were offered the gift card (we didn’t stay there, we moved).

I don't disagree, but no re-opening don't has ever been announced by Disney, other than the 'Coming Summer 2018' banner in the food tent, which has since been removed.

 

[marcais]

I think its unbelievable that Disney don’t think they need to comp guests staying there now. We booked at full rate for this August (after it was announced the food court would be re open end of August....3 days before our stay). The resort isn’t in any better state now than it was last summer when we were offered the gift card (we didn’t stay there, we moved).

The building work really doesn't bother me.

The only meal we ate there was breakfast and even then we cottoned on after the first day that we could save dining plan credits if I went round and used one credit to get a takeaway breakfast, but then took away enough food food the 4 of us, so we only ate at the food court once.

We were in Martinique so I had to take the long way round each morning, but we certainly weren't inconvenienced enough to warrant a $450 refund on a 6-night stay.

 

[DavidL]

Did you receive a comp gift card for your stay or did you book after that offer?

We did not get a comp gift card. The only gift card we were offered was if we were to decline housekeeping. We wanted housekeeping.

 

[Barnabas T Bullion]

1/2 Gallon Milk Availability: (We bring our own cereal and eat breakfast in our room so that we can get to the buses and parks as early as possible)
Value Resorts: Both Pop and Art of Animation sold 1/2 gallon milk jugs
CBR: Not available in 1/2 gallon jugs - had to get it at Pop Century.

What a greek tragedy!!! No half gallon milk jugs. How dare Disney call this a Moderate property!

 

[GoofyGraham]

What a greek tragedy!!! No half gallon milk jugs. How dare Disney call this a Moderate property!

It would be a Greek tragedy if it was yogurt. This is more of a geological issue as half a gallon is 2 quartz

 

[macadoo]

I don't disagree, but no re-opening don't has ever been announced by Disney, other than the 'Coming Summer 2018' banner in the food tent, which has since been removed.

And on the Disney parks blog, which when highlighted to Disney they then changed it to say fall 2018.

 

[macadoo]

The building work really doesn't bother me.

The only meal we ate there was breakfast and even then we cottoned on after the first day that we could save dining plan credits if I went round and used one credit to get a takeaway breakfast, but then took away enough food food the 4 of us, so we only ate at the food court once.

We were in Martinique so I had to take the long way round each morning, but we certainly weren't inconvenienced enough to warrant a $450 refund on a 6-night stay.

The building work isn’t so much of an issue it’s the lack of facilities...proper food court, shop etc that I have an issue with. I suppose I didn’t expect them to push back the completion of opr yet again (from June to August and August to December).

 

[pearljamin03]

believing Disney's posted construction timeline is like believing a weather man in central pa .They're never right and always behind schedule. Does anyone remember the 7DMT fiasco or how about years and years ago when TT opened two years late? Basing a stay off of a known construction time just seems a little goofy to me (no pun intended). CBR is a great resort. Sorry about your timing. I stay at cbr just about every year but went to por because of the situation and knew the risk was greater than the reward

 

[GoofyGraham]

YouTube video with the first Spy Glass Grille review includes brief update on construction of DVC, Port Royale and Gondola pylons and station.

 

[WEDWDW]

We did not get a comp gift card. The only gift card we were offered was if we were to decline housekeeping. We wanted housekeeping.

But you were given TWO free nights and several FREE meals.

And yet you continue to trash Disney and CBR.

Don't you bear some responsibility for not doing any "research" as to the state of CBR BEFORE deciding to stay there?

 

[kmc8826]

For all the negative recent talk about CBR, I have to just reiterate that we LOVE CBR. Background is that we have been AP holders off and on (mostly on) since 2013. Family of 5 meant as girls got older stayed off site. In a trip May 2016 (before construction) D9 I stayed at CBR for the first time there in May 2016. Years before had stayed at Pop, at other moderates, but I loved CBR. I was then fortunate enough to book with the gift card deal a trip with my parents in May 2017. They loved it too. Peril of doing trips with one child I then did a trip with my next daughter. Still loved CBR. Our family of 5 went again in November 2017 and stayed off site at WH as we had many times in the past. It was a good trip but not great. I was able to use credit card points and stayed at CBR again end of January in 2 rooms. It was an awesome trip where DH and I came back more relaxed than in the past and the girls (11,9,7 had a room of their own) came back closer and more loving than they had in a long time.

I booked a bounceback and we stay there again in May. When this whole pay for parking nonsense opened up I had a brief thought of running the numbers again of staying at 2 rooms on the bounceback versus staying off site in a WH townhome. Despite the financial difference we decided that all the intangible reasons of staying in the bubble at CBR meant it was worth it to pay more. My family of 5 all wanted to stay there. I don’t like value resorts and others are too expensive. For us right now CBR is the perfect fit. For me the construction means free coffee in the island markets and an overall more relaxed vibe by everyone. I don’t know if we will make it down again before the AP’s expire, but as a possibility (and me also being cheap and not wanting to pay for parking) I just booked a room there again in September.

 

[Mollymovacca]

I love CBR so much im thinking of switching our bb from beach club to CBR! Construction, food tent ect didn’t bother us in the least bit.... and not gonna lie not having a full gift shop was quite nice as we didn’t buy a bunch of stuff to bring home!! Lol

 

[CplUseless]

Checked in 3/11/18 and Checked out 3/14/18 with 2 adults and 1 12y.o.

We were in Trinidad South in a pirate room, building 34 in a second floor and corner room (both requested by phone about 45 days out).

We had everything about our stay go great! I do realize that we might be rare in our expectations and details of how we stayed at CBR.

My experience is really limited to Trinidad South and 2 quick trips at night to the Customs House using our rental car. I drove right past all the rest of the resort in the car, or on the bus for 3/12 and 3/13 mid day breaks. Trinidad South was very quiet in both construction sound and other people, we hardly knew there was work being done or really if anybody else was staying there. That was a huge positive over staying at the crowded and bustling value resorts! Another big positive was the cast members at CBR being eager to help and interact beyond expectations. The Trinidad South property and buildings were mostly beautiful (Spyglass Grill at the pool was still being finished up) and you basically don't notice any of the other construction even at the "beach" area.

The actual pirate room was themed perfectly. Not having a queen size bed didn't matter for us, and the bed itself was very comfortable. The fridge is definitely a negative, it's very small in it's depth and doesn't get very cold when full. Also it's very unclear which way is even how to make it coldest. Layout, size, and cleanliness of the room was good. The heavy curtain separating the bedroom from the "sink and closet" room, and then a door from the "shower and toilet" from that was great for having an assembly line for the getting ready in the morning process. Huge HDTV for the limited time to even watch TV. Overall we loved the room for our situation and reduced cost, and once the resort is finished I would consider booking it under normal planning for specials and deals. Full booking rate would have me looking at other options.

Below is probably an unnecessary detailed breakdown, but maybe it will help someone in their planning.

I was fully aware of the condition of the resort after a year of research lurking these boards and all the other sources of info out there. Normally the pirate rooms are overpriced and far away from everything else, but for our stay it was fine for a few reasons. First were normal discounts we found and also pairing up with gift card promo deals and unused gift cards, so when all combined it made it about the same price as staying at a value resort. Second was the fact that Trinidad South is pretty well separated from the heavy construction in both sight and sound (except for driving past it to get in and out of the resort) even though we were basically not going to be at the resort while the parks were open. Third we had no plans to use any of the pools or temporary food and shopping areas. Fourth is a minor consideration and bonus in the actual theme of the pirate room, in that all 3 of us love everything Pirates of the Caribbean and the ride was still closed during our stay.

The first thing was 60 days before our arrival I did the online check-in and paid the full balance for our stay. About 45 days out I called up to make sure I had requests in for second floor priority and corner if possible. Before our plane even took off for MCO I already had an email and text that my room was ready with the room number so I could bypass the front desk. We rented a car from the airport so no Disney Magical Express to the front desk and then getting to the room by cart, bus, foot.

We landed and got our rental car at the airport, on the road to WDW by 7pm on Sunday 3/11. Made a quick stop at Winn Dixie near property to get some snacks for bags, easy breakfast stuff, bottled water, and beer (Sweetwater 420, yum). Since we weren't going to be using the food tent for breakfast our plan was quick bites in the room/car before doing rope drop, then a treat in the parks between lunch. Worked great for us all 3 mornings. We then drove over to the Poly beach to watch 8:55pm HEA and have dole whips. Finally got to our room around 11pm.

Rope drop Animal Kingdom for resort guest extra hours Monday 3/12, so out of the resort well before construction hours. We took the rental car and had resort guest free parking, which at that hour is way up front. Left the car in our spot and took the bus back to the room for a break for a couple hours mid day. Easy to find where to catch the CBR bus and waited 5 minutes for the on-time bus. A few stops at other buildings before ours wasn't an issue. No construction noise inside the room, or even outside, and we were on the north side of Trinidad South. Waited 5 minutes for the on-time bus back to Animal Kingdom. Dusk at Animal Kingdom, then a few hours at Hollywood Studios and Boardwalk before back to CBR for a stroll around quiet and peaceful Trinidad South.

Rope drop Epcot Tuesday 3/13 with regular morning hours but resort guest extra hours at night. Again up front for parking and using the bus for break mid day. The wait for the bus was 15 minutes and the 2 groups before us said they had been waiting about 10 after a couple minutes after walking up and chatting with them. Again quiet and barely notice other guests or construction outside around Trinidad South. Less than 5 minute wait for bus back to Epcot. After late hours at Epcot, then a payment of Magicband charges to the room at the Customs House, we did another stroll around Trinidad South and didn't see a guest or cast member.

Wednesday 3/14 we slept in a bit and didn't make the 8am regular rope drop. Automatic check-out with no balance after a visit the night before made it easy to park at the TTC and catch a Monorail or Ferry. Still ended up in and looking at floral Mickey and the beautiful Main Street Station before 9:30. No breaks until 1am and then said "see ya later" to WDW after a magical trip.

The crowds were extreme at the parks with prime Spring Break numbers while we had our stay at CBR, despite that it ended up being a nice reprieve with proper planning and expectations.

 

[GoofyGraham]

The building work really doesn't bother me.

The only meal we ate there was breakfast and even then we cottoned on after the first day that we could save dining plan credits if I went round and used one credit to get a takeaway breakfast, but then took away enough food food the 4 of us, so we only ate at the food court once.

We were in Martinique so I had to take the long way round each morning, but we certainly weren't inconvenienced enough to warrant a $450 refund on a 6-night stay.

It hadn’t actually occurred to me that food from the tent could be ‘take out’. That might be something I’d try to speed things up before getting to the parks.
How is that achieved? Plates with covers or something else?

 

[GoofyGraham]

Checked in 3/11/18 and Checked out 3/14/18 with 2 adults and 1 12y.o.

We were in Trinidad South in a pirate room, building 34 in a second floor and corner room (both requested by phone about 45 days out).

We had everything about our stay go great! I do realize that we might be rare in our expectations and details of how we stayed at CBR.

My experience is really limited to Trinidad South and 2 quick trips at night to the Customs House using our rental car. I drove right past all the rest of the resort in the car, or on the bus for 3/12 and 3/13 mid day breaks. Trinidad South was very quiet in both construction sound and other people, we hardly knew there was work being done or really if anybody else was staying there. That was a huge positive over staying at the crowded and bustling value resorts! Another big positive was the cast members at CBR being eager to help and interact beyond expectations. The Trinidad South property and buildings were mostly beautiful (Spyglass Grill at the pool was still being finished up) and you basically don't notice any of the other construction even at the "beach" area.

The actual pirate room was themed perfectly. Not having a queen size bed didn't matter for us, and the bed itself was very comfortable. The fridge is definitely a negative, it's very small in it's depth and doesn't get very cold when full. Also it's very unclear which way is even how to make it coldest. Layout, size, and cleanliness of the room was good. The heavy curtain separating the bedroom from the "sink and closet" room, and then a door from the "shower and toilet" from that was great for having an assembly line for the getting ready in the morning process. Huge HDTV for the limited time to even watch TV. Overall we loved the room for our situation and reduced cost, and once the resort is finished I would consider booking it under normal planning for specials and deals. Full booking rate would have me looking at other options.

Below is probably an unnecessary detailed breakdown, but maybe it will help someone in their planning.

I was fully aware of the condition of the resort after a year of research lurking these boards and all the other sources of info out there. Normally the pirate rooms are overpriced and far away from everything else, but for our stay it was fine for a few reasons. First were normal discounts we found and also pairing up with gift card promo deals and unused gift cards, so when all combined it made it about the same price as staying at a value resort. Second was the fact that Trinidad South is pretty well separated from the heavy construction in both sight and sound (except for driving past it to get in and out of the resort) even though we were basically not going to be at the resort while the parks were open. Third we had no plans to use any of the pools or temporary food and shopping areas. Fourth is a minor consideration and bonus in the actual theme of the pirate room, in that all 3 of us love everything Pirates of the Caribbean and the ride was still closed during our stay.

The first thing was 60 days before our arrival I did the online check-in and paid the full balance for our stay. About 45 days out I called up to make sure I had requests in for second floor priority and corner if possible. Before our plane even took off for MCO I already had an email and text that my room was ready with the room number so I could bypass the front desk. We rented a car from the airport so no Disney Magical Express to the front desk and then getting to the room by cart, bus, foot.

We landed and got our rental car at the airport, on the road to WDW by 7pm on Sunday 3/11. Made a quick stop at Winn Dixie near property to get some snacks for bags, easy breakfast stuff, bottled water, and beer (Sweetwater 420, yum). Since we weren't going to be using the food tent for breakfast our plan was quick bites in the room/car before doing rope drop, then a treat in the parks between lunch. Worked great for us all 3 mornings. We then drove over to the Poly beach to watch 8:55pm HEA and have dole whips. Finally got to our room around 11pm.

Rope drop Animal Kingdom for resort guest extra hours Monday 3/12, so out of the resort well before construction hours. We took the rental car and had resort guest free parking, which at that hour is way up front. Left the car in our spot and took the bus back to the room for a break for a couple hours mid day. Easy to find where to catch the CBR bus and waited 5 minutes for the on-time bus. A few stops at other buildings before ours wasn't an issue. No construction noise inside the room, or even outside, and we were on the north side of Trinidad South. Waited 5 minutes for the on-time bus back to Animal Kingdom. Dusk at Animal Kingdom, then a few hours at Hollywood Studios and Boardwalk before back to CBR for a stroll around quiet and peaceful Trinidad South.

Rope drop Epcot Tuesday 3/13 with regular morning hours but resort guest extra hours at night. Again up front for parking and using the bus for break mid day. The wait for the bus was 15 minutes and the 2 groups before us said they had been waiting about 10 after a couple minutes after walking up and chatting with them. Again quiet and barely notice other guests or construction outside around Trinidad South. Less than 5 minute wait for bus back to Epcot. After late hours at Epcot, then a payment of Magicband charges to the room at the Customs House, we did another stroll around Trinidad South and didn't see a guest or cast member.

Wednesday 3/14 we slept in a bit and didn't make the 8am regular rope drop. Automatic check-out with no balance after a visit the night before made it easy to park at the TTC and catch a Monorail or Ferry. Still ended up in and looking at floral Mickey and the beautiful Main Street Station before 9:30. No breaks until 1am and then said "see ya later" to WDW after a magical trip.

The crowds were extreme at the parks with prime Spring Break numbers while we had our stay at CBR, despite that it ended up being a nice reprieve with proper planning and expectations.

Awesome first post. Thanks.
Can’t wait for my first CBR visit next month.