Disney's CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT Information & Questions

[DisneyDude71]

Now I see that the All STar Music suites has a bedroom that would be perfect for napping babies! I'm torn I dont know what to do now.

 

[Nsmith022]

Today is the last day of our stay at Caribbean Beach.

I had no luck with getting the gift card due to the construction. I booked in May.

This was my first and probably last stay at this resort. Understood the construction and that didn't really bother me.

What bothered me was that I paid a premium for a pirate room and was not told when I booked my reservation that IF I was placed on the 2nd floor there would be NO elevators.

After a long day at the park we arrive at the resort and quickly realize that our building has no elevators. I quickly called the front desk and let them know my frustrations and that I didn't come on vacation to take a double stroller, 3 small children, bags, etc. each day up 2 flights of stairs to our room.

Luckily I was able to get them to move us to a room on the 1st floor. My son loved the pirate beds but for me my money is WAY better spent at Coronado Springs.

Hope this helps anyone in the future.

 

[kastoney]

Good Morning!

We got back from an 8 night stay at CBR last week and I wanted to share our experiences. This was our first stay at CBR and even with the construction, our discounted rate plus the gift card, made it too good to pass up. We got the gift card without asking at check-in and the cast member asked if we wanted to apply it to the balance - which I hadn't even considered - but we ended up doing. After the gift card we paid around $800 for 8 nights which was fabulous.

As far as the construction as others have said, it was evident, but didn't impact us at all. When you enter the resort there is no way of avoiding it - and we may have likened it to a war zone - but once we got to our "island," Trinidad South, it wasn't apparent at all.

Speaking of Trinidad South, we stayed in a pirate room, which I never would have picked but it was the only option with our discount. My daughter (age 6) loved the beds and thought it was amazing. While I wasn't thrilled, it was not as garish as I would have expected and was as tasteful as a pirate room could be. The full beds weren't an issue and were surprisingly comfortable. There was a ton of storage, much more than we've ever had at other resorts. We usually struggle with where to put everything for our family of 3 and had no issues this time.

Overall I really liked the theming of the resort and while I'm not generally a fan of the motel style rooms, the beauty of the landscaping and the trees hardly made it noticeable. We were in building 34 which was close to everything, yet felt very secluded and quiet. We didn't do any of the food options at the resort, for obvious reasons, but did enjoy both the main and quiet pools a few times. My daughter had fun making a tye died Mickey pillowcase for $10 poolside, which made a great (and cheap) keepsake for the trip.

Our only issue with the resort were the busses, which were the worst we've ever experienced. As I said before we were at Trinidad South, which in the morning meant we were the last pick-up spot given how they split the routes. On two separate occasions for MK and once for Epcot, a bus was 2-3 minutes from arriving according to the board and then would suddenly jump another 20 minutes. Turns out the busses got full at Trinidad North and we'd have to wait for the next one to come. After this we ended up walking to Trinidad North in the mornings to avoid other issues. Wait times always seemed to be in the 15-20 minute range, though we did have a few that came in lower than that. Even at Trinidad North we ended up waiting over 30 minutes for an AK bus one day and when the driver came she proclaimed herself the emergency driver and how she was one of the best on property. She then proceeded to talk about the Hurricane the entire ride and was apparently so engrossed in her story she started taking us to MK instead of AK. We ended up turning around at Epcot so the 15 minute ride took more like 30. Our worst wait was coming back from AK one night where we had a 45 minute wait. I got into it a bit with the bus driver who insisted he'd just left 25 minutes ago for CBR. I challenged how he could get to CBR, loop the entire resort, and come back to AK in 25 minutes but apparently my math skills were too much for him to handle. I know I'm droning on and on about the busses, but we've never experienced anything so bad in all of our past trips. For those staying it was also exceptionally crowded (Half Marathon, Jersey Week, Veterans Day) so hopefully this was an exception. We ended up ubering to other resorts for most of our dinner plans rather than dealing with the buses.

Sans the bus situation, I'd definitely stay at CBR again. Unfortunately the buses turned my hubby off so much I don't think that will be anytime soon.

Thanks to everyone for their help in answering questions along the way. The boards and advice were infinitely helpful.

 

[dis_guy]

I was just reading the thread about the new 4 hr pick-up time for DME on the Resorts board. I have a quick question for anyone who has used DME from CBR recently. In the past our bus usually filled up at CBR and went straight to the airport. Now that the construction has effectively reduced the number of rooms at CBR, does the bus still fill up at CBR or does it stop at other resorts as well?

 

[focusondisney]

Good Morning!

We got back from an 8 night stay at CBR last week and I wanted to share our experiences. This was our first stay at CBR and even with the construction, our discounted rate plus the gift card, made it too good to pass up. We got the gift card without asking at check-in and the cast member asked if we wanted to apply it to the balance - which I hadn't even considered - but we ended up doing. After the gift card we paid around $800 for 8 nights which was fabulous.

Can I ask what your discount rate was? Did you get a new promotion applied after you booked & had the gift card email? We booked last year & got the $75 room discount that was given for a few days before they decided to offer the gift card. I also got the email about the gift card. Trying to see if I should expect it when we check in next month. Thanks!

 

[KimBean]

Has anyone checked in with the double dip of free dining and gift card yet? A friend of a friend did today and was told she needed to choose even though she booked with the promise of both.

 

[kastoney]

Can I ask what your discount rate was? Did you get a new promotion applied after you booked & had the gift card email? We booked last year & got the $75 room discount that was given for a few days before they decided to offer the gift card. I also got the email about the gift card. Trying to see if I should expect it when we check in next month. Thanks!

We had booked originally with a military discount (they are usually in the neighborhood of 30-40% off). We booked a few days before the gift card promotion stopped and had no problem getting both the discount and the gift card. But I can't speak for those that got the room discount. Though in the early days there were definite reportings here of people that got both.

 

[dansdad]

Has anyone checked in with the double dip of free dining and gift card yet? A friend of a friend did today and was told she needed to choose even though she booked with the promise of both.

Not personally, but 3 different parties we know were successful. Two got it no questions asked. The third needed to get Guest Services involved. But once they did, smooth sailing.

 

[brewhome]

I was just reading the thread about the new 4 hr pick-up time for DME on the Resorts board. I have a quick question for anyone who has used DME from CBR recently. In the past our bus usually filled up at CBR and went straight to the airport. Now that the construction has effectively reduced the number of rooms at CBR, does the bus still fill up at CBR or does it stop at other resorts as well?

Our bus was already 1/2 full when it picked us up and we filled it up. We went straight to the airport from CBR. This was on 11/13.

 

[focusondisney]

We had booked originally with a military discount (they are usually in the neighborhood of 30-40% off). We booked a few days before the gift card promotion stopped and had no problem getting both the discount and the gift card. But I can't speak for those that got the room discount. Though in the early days there were definite reportings here of people that got both.

Thank you!

 

[LindsayK]

Has anyone checked in with the double dip of free dining and gift card yet? A friend of a friend did today and was told she needed to choose even though she booked with the promise of both.

I hope this isn’t true. I was guaranteed free Dining with the gift card by several cast members while booking everything. I will be very upset if this happens.

 

[DisneyDelio]

We have just booked our 5th Disney World trip as a family (My wife and my 7th) and are staying at this resort. We are going in July with hopes that Disney is able to open some of the refurbishments early. I greatly appreciate all the reviews and have been keeping a close eye on YouTube videos for construction updates. I do have a YouTube channel with only 2 videos on it but plan on making a resort update video when we go down in July.

My wife and I are planning on surprising the kids this time with the trip. We have not be able to do that on past trips as I can't keep my excitement to myself. Lol. Thanks again to everyone who keeps things updated and look forward to hearing from others experience.

- The Delio Family

 

[KimBean]

I hope this isn’t true. I was guaranteed free Dining with the gift card by several cast members while booking everything. I will be very upset if this happens.

I got confirmation that other people have been successful. I wouldn't worry. Someone said they didn't even have to bring it up had their FD and were M given the gc at check in. Sorry to cause any worry. Just heard it hadn't worked and was trying to make sure someone didn't just give in but demanded a manager and got it worked out.

 

[Mollymovacca]

Has anyone checked in with the double dip of free dining and gift card yet? A friend of a friend did today and was told she needed to choose even though she booked with the promise of both.

We were there the last week in September and booked with the free dining promo. I also booked before the March 20th gift card ended and received it upon checkin with no problem!

 

[Ejw5]

Hi, everyone! We are coming up on 60 days out for our trip in February and I have a question about room requests. We have always stayed in Jamaica and have loved it, but I have seen the negative bus route comments and was wondering if it would be worth it to request Martinique? We are rope drop people and have three young kids (8,6,&5). Im open to all suggestions and opinions! Thanks!

 

[Ejw5]

Also, do the “Minnie vans” pick up at Caribbean Beach Resort?

 

[tinderbox]

Hi, everyone! We are coming up on 60 days out for our trip in February and I have a question about room requests. We have always stayed in Jamaica and have loved it, but I have seen the negative bus route comments and was wondering if it would be worth it to request Martinique? We are rope drop people and have three young kids (8,6,&5). Im open to all suggestions and opinions! Thanks!

We stayed in Martinique in mid to late September and had no negative experiences at all. Our first floor room was great and located extremely close to OPR so we used that bus stop. Never had bus issues. In fact, we never waited longer than 10 minutes for a ride. Always had a seat on the way to parks. (So did people who used the Martinique bus stop.) That said, we were there two months ago so I have no idea what's currently happening with construction so I can't address noise issues etc.

Did we miss the "old" CBR and all it offered? YES we did. (We've stayed there 5 times over the years.) However, we will probably go back again in a couple of years and we will request Martinique.

 

[Jntt301]

I have family there now staying in Jamaica 45. They have been loving the location. All week for rope drop Jamaica and Aruba have had their own bus. My Cousin spoke to the CM at the Jamaica stop this morning who said their plan is to keep it like this at least through the Holidays.

What if we aren't rope drop people? I was going to change my request to Martinique hoping for best bus situation since I read that's the first stop. Should I stick with Jamaica?

 

[dansdad]

What if we aren't rope drop people? I was going to change my request to Martinique hoping for best bus situation since I read that's the first stop. Should I stick with Jamaica?

In our experience the big rush is for rope drop and an hour after park opening. Jamaica should be fine. Did you book preferred, King or Water View? Those are the room categories in Martinique and Trinidad North.

 

[Ejw5]

In our experience the big rush is for rope drop and an hour after park opening. Jamaica should be fine. Did you book preferred, King or Water View? Those are the room categories in Martinique and Trinidad North.

Ok, so if we booked standard, then there is no point in selecting Martinique as a request?