Our family recently had our second stay at CBR (6/7-15) and we really love this resort! We first stayed in June 2018 when the skyliner and Centertown were under construction- we liked it then and it was even better this time. The skyliner is AMAZING!
The only request I put in our reservation was to select "close to the skyliner." We had a standard room with a pullout bed (5 of us) and were in Jamaica 41 which is right across the street from the CBR skyliner station and only a few minutes walk from the Jamaica bus stop. Our kids (ages 16, 12, and 9) made frequent trips to the Coke freestyle machine in Jamaica 43 and we used the close quiet pool and the main pool equally on this trip. Sometimes we could not get an umbrella at the main pool, but there was always availability at the Jamaica pool. We have no trouble walking, so the distance to Centertown market and the main pool were not an issue for our family. On our last trip we stayed in Jamaica 44 and thought that was great as well- I'm saying all this as I think people get very concerned about location at this resort, but I think we'd be happy anywhere after exploring much of the CBR.
Dining: we found the food at and near the resort to be very good. We ate lunch at Centertown market, dinner at Sebastian's (great, plentiful food for an excellent price!), snacks and coffee at Spyglass grill, and breakfast and snacks from Primo Piatto at the Riviera. All of these are terrific options. The Riviera is worth a visit to see the beautiful murals if nothing else
Transportation: Again, the skyliner was a highlight of our trip. It makes it so quick and easy to go to Epcot and HS. We never waited in a line of more than a few other parties, though we did not ever stay at Epcot until close. Since there are daily storms in Orlando in June, the skyliner did close for a bit each day, which was a bummer, but I was impressed by how quickly buses were mobilized for transport in these instances. I do have to advise people to plan for extra time to get to Epcot if going for a dinner reservation- it took a LOT longer to walk to Teppan Edo from the bus stop at the front of the park when the skyliner was down and we didn't plan enough time for that!
We never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus our entire trip-this was definitely not the case on our trip in 2018, so a vast improvement. They were running separate buses to the parks from Jamaica and Aruba and this made all the difference- on our prior trip the buses were often full before reaching the Jamaica stop. The app was helpful in noting what time the next bus was expected and the time was accurate in our experience.
Room: the room we had (4116) was fine for our family. We basically only use the room to sleep and shower, so have no need for fancy amenities. I've read from others that the rooms are dark and run down, but we didn't notice any issues...and it's nice to have a dark room for sleeping! The beds were comfortable and my DD9 loves the pullout bed with the picture of Mickey and Pluto. The shampoo and conditioner are not my favorite and seemed to leave my girls' hair dry and crusty (or maybe that was from the pool?). The trash was emptied daily, the towels were replaced every other day, and we had no trouble getting extra bedding when requested.
I've only stayed at other resorts as a kid, so I can offer no comparison, but wanted to share my thoughts for those interested in CBR. Despite the extra cost of staying on-site, it is worth it for our family as we aren't frequent Disney-goers. I think I'll be hard pressed to convince my kids to stay at any other resort- after two great stays CBR = Disney for them!!