CBR Bus transportation ... how bad is it really??

[WeLuvDisney]

So I have been seeing a bunch of posts on my FB group saying how awful the buses are at CBR and I haven't heard anything about them until now. How bad are they really? Which building do they stop at first? Any suggestions for us when we arrive this weekend?

 

[surfsupdon]

They are not bad. Sure there are multiple stops, but they come often and take you to your spot. At least the stops are all on an easy to access circular loop. The Deluxe Resorts have multiple stops between several Resorts, with lots of stop signs and sharp turns.

If you hear horror stories about bussing at CBR, it's probably true. But know that every single Resort has bus horror stories, from Sports up to Yacht Club and Grand Flo.

 

[Ben_since_1971]

For starters, it all depends on what your definition of 'bad' is. But they truly are not as horrible as some people say they are. About the only 'negative' I can see is that you do have to wait several stops before leaving the resort or getting back. But again - it all depends on where you are. For example, if I am in Jamaica, and I am going to Epcot, yay - I am first on the bus. But I have to wait for it to stop at every other stop before we leave. But I am first off when we return.

But that is the only negative I can think of. As surfs said - every resort has it's own bus issues. You will see crowds at the resort at park open, and crowds at the parks at park closing. In between, it's no issue. My wife and I have stayed there every year since 2004 and I can't recall one truly bad bus experience.

Relax and enjoy your trip. The buses should be a non-issue.

 

[DisneyDelirious]

We have stayed at CBR many times. I will preface this by saying we always get a preferred room in Martinique, are a pleasant walk from Old Port Royale, and the bus stop is a short trip for us. We have never had any issues with timely bus transportation to the other parks, Disney Springs, etc.. There are stops at other villages in CBR and you may have to swing by Blizzard Beach en route to your destination, but it all goes quickly and smoothly. We have traveled during peak times of the year, as well as for MVMCP, MNSSHP, etc.. and have never waited more than 10 minutes. We have stayed at Pop Century and the line was long enough before opening that we had to wait to get on the third bus that came. We have not had a negative experience.

 

[Disneydreamer23]

I stay there and never had an issue ever!

 

[Andrew C]

If you stay in the Jamaica building, I believe this is the first stop on their particular bus route (from what I remember), which helped out a lot.

 

[thumper]

So I have been seeing a bunch of posts on my FB group saying how awful the buses are at CBR and I haven't heard anything about them until now. How bad are they really? Which building do they stop at first? Any suggestions for us when we arrive this weekend?

I was just at CBR last weekend for the Wine & Dine half marathon (turned out to be the Whine & Dine Quarter marathon, but another story! ), and the buses were not bad at all, even with the amount of crowds staying at that resort. We never waited more than 10 minutes for either a park bus or the internal one that circles the property.

 

[musketeer]

We've stayed there 3 years in a row. First week of January, mid-janurary, and then presidents week (crazy busy at parks). We never had anything negative. I've stayed at pop century before and had to wait for multiple busses at the end of the night and a scooter each and every time, but for the caribbean beach resort, the buses were rarely even full.

 

[Chernabog75]

Just stayed there 10/29 - 11/02 for first time (usually stay at POR). I think the longest i waited was 10 minutes once. The biggest problem I had (albeit a good one) was having to run to the bus stop because the bus was usually pulling up as we were walking down the path.

 

[DisneyXmas]

Had a friend stay there last week. She posted on Facebook that they waited almost two hours to get on a bus back to CBR at closing on day last week.

 

[daisyduckie]

Had a friend stay there last week. She posted on Facebook that they waited almost two hours to get on a bus back to CBR at closing on day last week.

Good grief, just no. I'd last maybe 45 minutes and would be getting a taxi.

 

[DisneyJunkie]

Yes, the bus system at CBR is pretty bad. It's probably one of the main reasons why I won't stay there or at any other resort that also has an internal bus system again. It can be absolutely horrible whether leaving or returning to your resort after a busy day. Having an internal bus system, depending on where you're located, it can take a very long time to go through the various stops before actually leaving the resort for your destination........and the same is true in reverse when coming back. And the aggravation grows depending on how packed it is on that bus. In our one and only stay at CBR, we stayed in the Aruba buildings, and bus travel was really bad for that week.

I will take a resort with ONE bus stop any day over a resort with an internal system.

 

[planters49]

Its awful. We just got back from staying here last week. This is the 4th time we have stayed here. We stayed at Port Orleans the last 3 years. Wanted to try the pirate rooms and free dining helped. We normally drive our car to all parks except MK because its quicker than waiting on the bus to drive around the entire property. Its normally quicker to take the bus to MK since the bus drops you at the door. It took 2 hours to get back last Monday from the MK on the bus. If you have a car, drive instead of taking the buses.

 

[musketeer]

As I said earlier in this thread, I've stayed there 3 years in a row. Never had any issues. We usually leave the resort an hour before the park opens, and usually leave the magic kingdom after the fireworks (the early show). I've seen seas of people waiting for the value resorts, of which I was in when we stayed at pop century, but I can't even remember a time that we had to stand on a bus returning to caribbean beach resort. I'm not saying that the negative experiences aren't true, but it's completely opposite of what we've seen.

 

[StephK]

I really don't like saying anything negative about Disney but if given the chance to return we would not choose CBR again. We stayed in Jamacia which is usually the first stop for the buses & meant that we had to stop at every single stop each time. It would add sometimes up to 30minutes on the trip depending on the amount of people on scooters. Buses were slow in October too, If we had a dining reservation it could get quite frustrating. One night we had a 9.20 ADR at O'hana we left our room at 8.10 and didn't get to Ohana until 9.45. For the rest of the trip we ended up leaving 2 hours early just to be sure.

 

[daisyduckie]

I really don't like saying anything negative about Disney but if given the chance to return we would not choose CBR again. We stayed in Jamacia which is usually the first stop for the buses & meant that we had to stop at every single stop each time. It would add sometimes up to 30minutes on the trip depending on the amount of people on scooters. Buses were slow in October too, If we had a dining reservation it could get quite frustrating. One night we had a 9.20 ADR at O'hana we left our room at 8.10 and didn't get to Ohana until 9.45. For the rest of the trip we ended up leaving 2 hours early just to be sure.

That is a good idea. Disney does say that allowing 90 minutes to make ADRs is a wise move.

 

[MickeyMomV]

We have stayed at CBR 3 times and CSR 2 times and although I agree that all of the bus stops can be a bit time consuming they are still better that getting dropped off at the front of a value resort and having to walk to the very back building.

In the 10 or 11 trips that we have been to the World I don't ever recall waiting for more than an hour at peak time for a bus. Sometimes it seems a LOT longer after you have been in the park all day and just want to get back to your room.

 

[midnightsun]

It looks like a lot of people are saying they haven't had bad experiences with the CBR buses. But what is the opinion of renting a car when staying at CBR? We've never rented a car, have only taken WDW Transportation, so I have no context for how long driving would take or whether it would be faster in this case.

Thoughts?

 

[musketeer]

It looks like a lot of people are saying they haven't had bad experiences with the CBR buses. But what is the opinion of renting a car when staying at CBR? We've never rented a car, have only taken WDW Transportation, so I have no context for how long driving would take or whether it would be faster in this case.

Thoughts?

Have done both at the Caribbean beach resort. Much much much prefer using the buses. I should say that we usually pay a little more to have a preferred room which is closest to the old port royal, so we didn't have to drive there in the morning for breakfast. I'm not saying that there is anything bad about renting a car, it's nice that your parking at the parks is included, but dealing with the magic kingdom nonsense of the transportation and ticket center was rather annoying.

Our main reason for renting was because our kids were 3, and we didn't want to have the problem of waiting a long time for a bus, or making them stand at the end of the night on a crowded bus. Turns out, the two other times that we haven't rented a car, neither of those have ever been a problem.

Also, at 3, we needed to be a bit more mobile in case we needed something from a store off property. But after a few days, we ended up just using the bus system and the car sat unused.

 

[LAKid53]

I was just at CBR last weekend for the Wine & Dine half marathon (turned out to be the Whine & Dine Quarter marathon, but another story! ), and the buses were not bad at all, even with the amount of crowds staying at that resort. We never waited more than 10 minutes for either a park bus or the internal one that circles the property.

So I heard the half marathon became the quarter due to the bad weather. Too bad they don't consider the temperature because I froze my *** off during the Princess 5k in February. Thank goodness I brought my running tights and a long sleeve running shirt because it was brrrr cold running in the dark.