CBR and taking the buses?

[felix367]

So this is our first trip to Disney (my wife has been, but never stayed on-site and never with our daughter, so it was some time ago) so we don't really know what to expect. We booked the Caribbean Beach Resort just based on theme and cost, without knowing anything else about the Resort or trip times. Then she buys the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World (or something like that, the one that allows you to access www.touringplans.com).

Anyway, she just read in that book that travel times to and from the parks are about 2-3 hours per TRIP from the CBR! So, according to the book, you shouldn't plan on getting back to your hotel for a mid-afternoon nap, which we wanted to do with our 5 year old. Did she read this wrong or is that about right for this resort? Can we change the travel times if we rent a car and drive ourselves?

Frankly, spending 6 HOURS per day waiting for and riding a bus doesn't sound like a very nice vacation.

Thanks for any advice on this!

Sean

 

[Nemo14]

So this is our first trip to Disney (my wife has been, but never stayed on-site and never with our daughter, so it was some time ago) so we don't really know what to expect. We booked the Caribbean Beach Resort just based on theme and cost, without knowing anything else about the Resort or trip times. Then she buys the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World (or something like that, the one that allows you to access www.touringplans.com).

Anyway, she just read in that book that travel times to and from the parks are about 2-3 hours per TRIP from the CBR! So, according to the book, you shouldn't plan on getting back to your hotel for a mid-afternoon nap, which we wanted to do with our 5 year old. Did she read this wrong or is that about right for this resort? Can we change the travel times if we rent a car and drive ourselves?

Frankly, spending 6 HOURS per day waiting for and riding a bus doesn't sound like a very nice vacation.

Thanks for any advice on this!

Sean

I can't imagine it taking 2 hours to get to anywhere on Disney property. Perhaps she read it wrong....

 

[tinkersmom96]

I hope someone responds who has been there recently, but that sounds way off base to me. It's been a few years since we stayed at CBR (we're wanting to try all the resorts to settle on a favorite), but we loved CBR. We waited no longer than 20 minutes for a bus, except one evening leaving MK after Wishes and the line was long for those waiting to return to the resort. We actually just missed loading on one bus and had to wait for another. That night we waited almost 40 minutes for our bus back to the resort, but it wasn't a common occurance.

 

[jessiepezz]

Stayed at CBR for Honeymoon in 2005

Hi there. We have stayed at CBR in May 2005 and since then spent time at POP as well. No matter where you stay at WDW it is worth the extra money to get a car. We were so disappointed with the bus system. Here is the low down. If you are going from park to park the bus system is great. If you are going from resort to park it could take you as long as 30 minutes to get on the bus. Then if you are at CBR you have to wait for the bus to pick up all the other guests at each resort bus stop before going to the park so it could take one hour when all is said and done.

What's even worse, is if you plan on doing anything at another resort (e.g. Hoop De Doo at Wilderness Campgrounds) then you have to add another travel step, resort to park or TTC, and then from there to other resort. There is no resort to resort transportation from CBW or most other resorts.

I now live in FL and love WDW go all the time. I am not a big complainer. So please trust me, get a rental car! You will thank me for this advice.

Oh and free parking at all the wdw parks with your resort room key!

 

[bradandsarabr]

Two hours!!!!!!! Are you crazy!!!!

We stayed at CBR in early February.

At the resort, the longest that we had to wait for a bus was 15 minutes. (The MK bus had just pulled off as we were running up.) As we had to wait 15 minutes, we received a Fast Pass for any attraction. From CBR, the longest ride is to MK. The ride is about 15 minutes. So including the wait, the entire trip took 30 minutes.

At the parks, we usually waited about 10-15 minutes for a bus. & had about a 15 minute ride home.

From CBR, the only park that I would drive to is AK. & only then if it is early. Everywhere else, the parking lot is going to be to far away & you will be in the same traffic as the bus.

BTW, my 5 year old still talks about the buses. It was one of his favorite rides.

 

[WishIwasThere]

Love the resort...hate the busses.
We stayed at the CBR in January (building 24, Martinique). Really close to the Old Port Royal (food), really recommend asking for a prefered location. Would walk around the lake every morning for exercise.

I was there for a conference at Rosen Shingle Creek resort about 5 miles from WDW property. We were going to attend the Princess and Pirate party on the 22nd and I had the car at the conference so the wife and kids were stuck using the bus. She took a bus to DTD to bring the kids to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique (loved that place) and it took about 1 hour each way to get there.

When I left Shingle Creek I called the wife and she was waiting at the bus stop to go to the MK. I said I would meet her inside the Magic Kingdom. I drove to WDW property, drove to MK parking lot, walked from diamond parking to TTC, hopped on a monorail, got through security and called my wife to see where she was....she was still waiting for a bus...and she was quite put out. She hates the busses.

We drove every where on Disney property after that day. CBR is real convienient for parking as well, which was really nice. I joined AAA to have them book the trip and it was about $200 less for the 9 day trip than if I booked it through the Disney website. We also got the AAA diamond parking pass which puts you real close to the entrance of the parks. I sold my pass on Ebay when I got back (got $75 for somthing that was a perk to begin with). You are staying on property so you don't have to pay the $10 a day for parking.

Just my two cents.

 

[MickeyKimmy]

I have the Unofficial Guide and have never seen anything that says it takes 2-3 hours from CBR to get to the parks. If that is actually in the book, it is completely insane. I have stayed at this resort a few times and have never waited more than 15 minutes for the bus or had a ride take longer than maybe 15-20 minutes from resort to park. I personally do not like to drive at the world so we usually use only Disney transportation. Some people really complain about the system but we have never had any problems. That said, if you are going to eat at a lot of resorts or do anything where you would have to make multiple transfers then I think renting a car would be worth it. I guess it is just a personal preference.

Have a great trip! :wave:

 

[RiversideBunny]

We never drive to the parks.
It's easier to let someone else do the driving. Driving yourself takes you 'out of the magic'. You have to get back into the real world and become a POV driver or passenger.
Also you see the 'backside' of the parks, i.e., the parking lots, and that destroys the otherwise exciting entry into the parks.

The only time you might want to use a car is when going from one Resort to another Resort, and then primarilly at night if the resort you need is not near a park that's still open.

Good luck. Have fun.

 

[celticdog]

It may be that the OP's wife confused CBR with Vero beach. Now, that would be a 2-3 hour trip.

We never had more than a 15 minute wait at the bus stop. I like riding the busses and have never had a bad experience. From any resort or park.

 

[slappy magoo]

If it's the 2007 edition, ask your wife to check out pages 358-359. There's a chart there that shows travel times to/from resorts to parks (or parks to other parks or DTD). There are 4 different times for each destination:
1: Average by car
2: Worst case scenario by car
3: Average using Disney's transporation
4: Worst case scenario using Disney's transportation

NONE of the times listed for Caribbean Beach Resort exceed 66 minutes (and THAT'S the worst scenario for getting to Blizzard Beach, using Disney transporation). Between 30-50 minutes, using Disney transporation, is more usual, and that often includes the time you spend waiting for the transporation, up to the point you walk through the gates.

Being at work, I don't have a lot of time to peruse the entire book, but honestly, I've never seen any comment like that about CBR in the Unofficial Guide

 

[TikiBeckie]

i never really understood the hate towards the busses. I have never had to wait longer than 15 minutes or so for a bus, and it has never taken longer than 10-15 minutes from any of the resorts I have stayed at to get to any of the parks. I also NEVER go during very busy times, so maybe I am missing something! To pay to get a car each day because you dont want to wait for a bus makes no sense to me...maybe I am just cheap!:shrug:

 

[celticdog]

i never really understood the hate towards the busses. I have never had to wait longer than 15 minutes or so for a bus, and it has never taken longer than 10-15 minutes from any of the resorts I have stayed at to get to any of the parks. I also NEVER go during very busy times, so maybe I am missing something! To pay to get a car each day because you dont want to wait for a bus makes no sense to me...maybe I am just cheap!:shrug:

I agree with you 110%!!!

 

[Monty]

I prefer a hybrid approach. Buses are best for direct resort-to-park transportation and a car is best if you're planning dinner at a resort or DTD in combination with going to a park. Taking any route that requires changing buses at a resort or park to get to where you're going can really add time to your travel.

The other time a car is great is to return mid-day to a resort when you've got children under three. If they're tired and getting cranky, riding a bus to the resort for a rest is just added stress for them.

 

[felix367]

Thanks for all the responses. Not having read it myself, I can't verify that the guide stated that or what the context it was said in.

It does sound like there are mixed opinions regarding the buses, but even the most negative didn't report travel times up to 3 hours to and from CBR.

It also sounds like travel times to and from CBR depend on which area of the resort you are staying in.

We were renting a car anyway, so maybe what we'll do is try out the buses and see what our experience is with them.

 

[cabihler]

where did you read that?????

we've visted WDW 95 times since 1978 and have stayed on property for more than 50 of those trips and would not ever stay off property again BTW our next trip is in june. CRB is my absolute favorite place to stay and i've been to all but 3 resorts there. have stayed at the CRB over 20 times. The buses are a very easy and generally fast way to visit everywhere especially from CRB. the biggest annoance is looking at the arriving bus to see if it is yours. it has been written and i generally agree that the times are accurate when they say the biggest wait time is 15 minutes (during the RUSH periods far less than that) to catch a bus from any of the stops to any destinations. so you can expect to spend about a 30 minute time from the time you get to the bus stop to your destination and frequently less time as well.

as far as young kids napping. when ours were young and they needed a nap, especially during the hottest days of summer, it was always an easy trip back to the CRB for them to nap.

Now the All Stars is another story and i do not like staying there because of the bus situation. TAKE NOTE::: this does not apply to the Pop Century which i found the bus situation to be quite well done. Rest comfortably that whatever you read about that crazy times for the buses was either wrong or misread.

 

[cabihler]

taking your car

i would think twice about driving from the resorts to the parks because by the time you drive there & park and then catch the tram to the gate entraces i do not see you gaining anytime.

now if you were saying to drive to downtown disney then perhaps okay especially if you were going to be purchasing a lot of stuff to take back with you since that could get to be a hassle on the bus.

look transportation on disney property is not a seriously bad situation either way unless you are doing so at the peak rush hours which generally is when the parks open and at closing then there is always a wait for the buses or lines for parking.

 

[Matpez]

i never really understood the hate towards the busses. I have never had to wait longer than 15 minutes or so for a bus, and it has never taken longer than 10-15 minutes from any of the resorts I have stayed at to get to any of the parks. I also NEVER go during very busy times, so maybe I am missing something! To pay to get a car each day because you dont want to wait for a bus makes no sense to me...maybe I am just cheap!:shrug:

The part where you mention never waiting longer than 15 minutes...
some of us have... daily...
waited 35 minutes for a bus to Epcot at CBR one time.
If you are not already ticked off at that point, when it arrives, it is already full and you have to stand.
I do not go at peak times either, but staying at CBR for 9 days and relying on the buses convinced me to always rent a car.
As far as the "hours" go.
Stay at CBR. You have a reservaton at Jiko for 7:00.
You need to be at your bus stop between 6:00 and 6:15 to get another bus anywhere... then at the next stop wait all over again for a bus to AK lodge.
Having to be ready and at the stop at 6:00 to wait and wait...
or have a car and drive over at 6:40 and have free parking at resorts and parks.
I would always recommend a car, unless you plan on doing 1 park all day each day.

 

[TTFN-Tiggger]

I always used to rent cars when I was at Disney. Guess I was afraid to try the bus service. Last year I rode the buses to the Disney parks and drove to Sea World(my neice drove from OH). Let me tell you it changed my opinion about the Disney transportation. I just had to give up the control of driving. I went at the holiday and used only Disney transportation. It was great! Now I have not used from CBR - only Pop and POFQ. The longest wait I have had was at Pop to go to DTD - about 20 minutes. Other than that (and I am not a lucky person) we waited about 10 minutes. At park closing time the line is always quite long - just keep that in mind. Enjoy your trip.

 

[Deadmanwalking]

actually a couple of hours to get from MK to your hotel by bus is quite possible. However it will only occur when you are leaving MK and would assume you left as the park was closing or after the main fireworks display was over when everyone and his dog seems to be leaving at the same time. In those cases the buses are the absolute worst option in the world. My family made the mistake of using them once and they were not a problem getting to the park, it was when we wanted to leave that we stood in line for over an hour waiting for a bus to pick us up. When we got to the bus stop at MK there were already so many people in front of us that it was at least 5 buses before one had room and then we were packed on like sadines.

So yes I could believe the hours to and from but only when you are leaving. Going it might take an hour at most.

Also the waiting for the tram statement is true, the tram time can sometime chew up 20 to 30 minutes and that is not an issue if you ride a bus.... However, I've also driven back to a park in the afternoon and been able to park so close that we didn't even need a tram. The trams are just a problem at certain times of the day, not unlike the buses.

If you really think you'll need nap time then I would really consider a monorail connected resort. I know they are pricey but if I wanted to plan one or two long days I might consider trying to book one them for those one or two days.

 

[bradandsarabr]

Staying a couple of days at a Monorail resort just to take a nap ? ? ?
That would be quite an expensive nap.