cbr

[d-r]

So did no one break it on here about cbr or what?

DR

 

[WDWHound]

I just called them and confirmed it. The CBR will be closed beginning September 6 for an extensive rehab. They told me they are going to completely rebuild the food court and rehab the entire resort. Seems they have been receiving a ton of complaints about it being old and run down.

I am so disappointed. My wife and I love this resort and were looking forward to returning to it on September 16th, followed by a short 2 day AKL consierge stay. Now we have to find a new resort for the first half of our trip. We just aren't all that enthused about the other moderates, so I am hoping they will offer an upgrade.

 

[MikePezz]

I haven't been to the CBR in a while. I can see how they need to update the foodcourt. What else in the resort will be redone? Complete room revamp? Lake dredging? Pay toliets? ;-)

 

[All Aboard]

Old Port Royal is in need of rehab. The guest rooms were all rehabbed over the last year or so. We stayed in one in April and it was in fantastic shape (but our room last spring was an absolute disaster.) Perhaps some exterior work on the guest buildings is in order. I'm glad to see this happening, it's a great resort. Looks like a January stay is in the cards now.

 

[WDWHound]

Someone on the resort board says that they will be adding a huge, open kitchen, sit down restaurant. This is a very good idea. the resort always needed something like this.

I agree the rehab is a good idea. My only complaint is that they were planning on giving us about 3 weeks notice before we arrived to tell us our reservations had been changed. If it hadn't been for these boards, I would have never known. Bad form Disney!

 

[WDWHound]

I know its a rather far out idea, but it is possible. Consider this:
1. Rumors were flying approx 1 year ago that Disney would close CBR.

2. Attactions are frequently permanantly closed when they were supposed to be being remodeled (20K Under the Sea for example).

3. Disney just had a horrible quarterly report and the WDW will almost certainly be under extreme preasure to cut cost even futher. Closing CBR would cut a great deal of costs.

4. Bookings are down, which means they probably cant fill all their properties.

5. CBR is the oldest moderate resort and the one that generates the most complaints (though I never understood why), making it one of the first resorts that would be considered for such a move.

6. Pop Century, right next door, is still sitting empty due to lack of bookings at the other resorts.

I don't really think they will close CBR permenantly, but I wouldn't be shocked either. My guess is that this rehab will last until the economy picks up and they feel like they can justify having those rooms available again.

 

[Dznefreek]

CBR is the oldest resort

Uh, no it is not. Contemporary and Polynesian are the oldest along with FW and Shades of Green (formerly Disney Inn).

 

[OnWithTheShow]

Here is the actual release:

Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort to be refurbished
Date: 08/05/2002

Leaders recently announced a large-scale refurbishment for Old Port Royale at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort.
The refurbishment will include a new table-service restaurant and display kitchen, and enhancements to the food court and other guest amenities.

To facilitate construction, ensure that the enhanced facility is ready for the holiday season and avoid offering guests a negative experience, Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort won't offer guest rooms during the renovation process.

Cast Members from Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort will be deployed temporarily to other areas. These Cast Members are expected to return to Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort when the renovation is complete.

 

[WDWHound]

Dznefreek: You are correct of course, I meant to say it is the oldest Moderate resort. I will correct my post.

 

[Dznefreek]

I agree witht the foodcourt rehab but the rooms are rehabbed continually (1 building in each village at a time). I still don't get why people keep saying it is old and run down. Other resorts are older and you do not hear complaints about them. (Poly, Contemp, FW)

 

[WDWHound]

Show: Thanks for posting that. It does make things sound a bit more encouraging.

 

[WDWHound]

I agree, the rooms never seemed run down to me, but lots of people thought they were.

 

[raidermatt]

One way or the other, we'll know pretty soon:

To facilitate construction, ensure that the enhanced facility is ready for the holiday season...

I assume they mean the 2002 holiday season...

Cast Members from Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort will be deployed temporarily to other areas.

If this holds, then there's probably not much else going on other than what Disney stated. If they were truly closing the resort, a major savings would be labor.


This is probably just a case of a needed rehab, coupled with low bookings. In other words, if bookings were up 10% instead of down 10%, I doubt they would be closing the whole resort.

 

[vernon]

If there is to be a major rehab for the catering offerings, and a number of other areas need work as well it seems sensible to me that the whole resort is closed while this is done. It means Disney doesn't have guests complaining about lack of facilities or the mess while they work. It also means that Disney doesn't have to keep open (employ front desk staff, gardeners, mainanance staf and cleaners) a resort working on less than 50% occupancy. spreading those guests over the other Moderate resorts allows the others ( CS and PO/DL) to work more efficiently.

 

[vernon]

Isn't Pop Century a budget resort? As I've said on the other post, closing the whole resort at a quiet time for guests, IMHO, is a sensible move. It will be quicker to rehab the resort without having to worry about upsetting guests. With the other mods not full, it is by far the most cost effective way to rehab resorts.

 

[WDWHound]

Quoting the sentinal:

"All 700 employees will have a chance to apply for other jobs, temporary or permanent, at Disney World's theme parks and other resorts while the Caribbean Beach is dark, spokeswoman Rena Callahan said."

"There's no guarantee that all employees will be able to find jobs comparable with the ones they have at Caribbean Beach, she said."

"They will be expected to come back to the Caribbean Beach in December," she said."

Yikes! Sounds like a 3 month lay off to me. I would think there would be something Disney could do for these forks during that the time the resort was closed.

"Disney World has a total of about 22,000 hotel rooms, and Callahan said that closing Caribbean Beach may make things cramped before it reopens. "We know there will be times when demand will exceed capacity," she said."

This comment also concerns me (since I have reservations for the closed CBR). I would hate to think that they would run out of rooms before everyone is relocated.

 

[isnkr]

What a better way to save some money. Shut down a moderate and hold the opening of an economy resort. This forces people, who want to stay on property to pick a higher priced resort - especially if bookings are up at the other lower priced resorts.

The other thing to think about is WDW is heading into a lower census time of year. Kids are going back to school and times are slow until Thanksgiving and then again until Christmas. Save some money and cut some salaries all in one shot.

 

[d-r]

Yeah, just like Port Orleans closed permenantly last year -

DR

 

[barreloflaughs]

The power of the Landbaron is revealed. Witness:

8/3/02: Landbaron breaks bad on the Caribbean Beach Resort (see the Disney For Dummies thread)

8/6/02: Disney announces that the entire Caribbean Beach Resort will be closed for a major overhaul.

Mr. Landbaron, I am impressed....

carl
barrel of laughs

p.s. But seriously, the closure of an entire WDW resort at this particular moment makes me feel very uneasy...can't quite put my finger on it but something just doesn't feel right.

 

[Sandy Fisher]

The very idea that someone would choose to book at Pop Century because CBR is temporarily down for rehab gives me shivers!! If I were planning on being at CBR and had to change my reservations, I'd definitely NOT choose PC.
The possibility of an improved sitdown facility at CBR is intriguing. We never have eaten at Captain's Table in all our trips there. The food court can definitely use a better layout - the eating area - and I think even the layout of the shopping end of OPR could be improved.
After spending all the money on rehab of the rooms, I can't imagine just locking it up. Yes, occupancy is down. But when it's been down before they just stopped booking the villages that are the longest distance from the main buildings and pool, such as Trinidad South.
Here's hoping for a quick re-opening in time for the holiday season.....even tho' we don't have a trip booked.