Port Orleans or Caribbean Beach

[jessiangel]

Hi. I'm new here and was hoping someone could help me. We are booked at Port Orleans Riverside for December, but are thinking of switching to Caribbean Beach. The pool and beach look really nice. We have stayed at the French Quarter before and so we know what Riverside looks like because we would venture over there to Boatrights, but that is about all we know about it. Can anyone give me opinions on either resort?

 

[mikei22a]

the only place i've ever stayed on property is the caribbean beach (3 times) and my family and i love it. it is very centrally located, just 20 mins. from all of the parks with the exception of the studios and typhoon lagoon, which are 10 mins. away. there are 7 villages, each with it's own bus stop and pool plus the main pool which is right outside of the food court and is greatlly themed as an old spanish fort. it also has a great outside bar and a marina to rent boats. the only down side of this resortis that is very spread out. being so huge, it has it's own dedicated resort bus. also due to it's size, the resort buses seem to fill up pretty quickly going to the parks, but never seemed to be a huge problem.

we've always wanted to try another resort but always seem to go back to the CBR.
if you do decide to stay there, i would suggest requesting the village of martinique (preferablly building #25). it is one of the closest villages to the food court, and seems to be the first or second bus stop on property.

whatever your decision, i hope you have a great time!
all this talk about it and i want to start planning another trip!

 

[KKnopf]

We have stayed at CBR twice (October 1990 & May 2005) It was nice, Our only complaint was the housekeeping didn’t make towel animals or do any little “extras” for our kids like when we stayed at the All Stars Music (Dec. 2002). They were giving out the towel animals at the food court, but it was not the same as returning from the parks and seeing the kids teddy bears “looking” out the windows waiting for them, or the towel animals in the room.

 

[pinkrose]

I've stayed at CBR twice and don't really care for it. POFQ is my fav. with POR right behind it.

 

[wjaye918]

I just book Caribbean Beach for Thanksgiving. I am so excited! I have only stayed at Pop, ASSports, ASMovies, and Contemporary. I had no idea there were multiple bus stops within the resort. Good info!!

 

[Dossie]

We have done both and preffered the CB resort (we stayed in Jamaica - a bit of a walk over the bridge to the food court and main pool, but a lovely quiet spot with its own lovely quiet pool and beach). The buses were really good (despite some bad reports) and the overall atmosphere was superior to POFQ where we stayed be3fore. (In my opinion!)

:sohappy:

 

[RogueHabit]

I'm going to go against the flow a little here; We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and thejn at CBR two years later, we found POR to be much nicer in our eyes.

The food hall was much better in layout and semed to have better choices.

 

[campdisney]

Stayed at both CB and POFQ.

CB felt spread out to me. I can't remember what building we were in, but we had a hike to get to our bus stop. Also we needed to take the bus to get to the food court/main building -- it would have been quite a far walk otherwise. The main pool was a lot of fun for the kids but they were a bit disappointed that the water cannons didn't work. (They'd been looking forward to that from pictures on the WDW website.) If we went there again, I would definitely pay extra to get a room in the Martinique Building. That would be the perfect locale, close to the pool/food court and close to the main bus stop as well.

POFQ was fantastic all around. The rooms were a bit bigger than at CB and the free fridge in the room was a nice perk. The sea serpent pool was great, although the slide isn't as steep and fast as some others around WDW. The pool seemed larger than the one at CB, but that could just be because it was less crowded at the time we went. The only downside to POFQ is that the buses have to make multiple stops at POR before finally making their way to the parks. Not a big deal really, just something to be aware of. (CB bus also makes multiple stops around the hotel to get to the different buldings. Again, not a big deal.)

 

[brich]

Simple.... Caribbean Beach

 

[bhg469]

I satayed at both once, i would take POR in a heartbeat over caribbean bach again. We usually stay at coronado springs but when we want a change we will for POR again. Caribbean beach was just too loud and packed.

 

[ilovejr71292]

the only down side to CB is it is so spread out we stayed in Jamaica and we loved the athmosphere but it was a ways from the food court so in the mornin we would drive over to the food court and take averything we needed after we ate we would leave our refillable mugs in the car so when we returned from the parks we could fill up our mugs and head back to the room since we were normally exausted so that was nice but the food was very good in the food court we never got to eat at the sit down resturaunt my personal favorites were the mickey waffles and the rotissire chicker however ya spell it we loved the themed pool behind the food court though it was awesome also it was nice to take a walk beside the beaches and stuff and one night we even watched illuminations from one of the bridges at CB it was awesome because we were the only ones out there and it was so quiet and you could see everything without hearing the loud booms which i am not a fan of but overall it was awesome

 

[brich]

Caribbean beach was just too loud and packed.

You stayed there once. Could be out of the ordinary as I've never, ever had a noise problem. Could also be the time you go there. As a matter of fact, I like the peacefulness I get at CB...

 

[bhg469]

You stayed there once. Could be out of the ordinary as I've never, ever had a noise problem. Could also be the time you go there. As a matter of fact, I like the peacefulness I get at CB...

stayed there once but i have veisited there with my girfriend on a few of those silly pin quests. IMO it is the worst of the moderates. CSR has the best transportation and food by far. POR and POFQ were beautiful property and well built to minimize walking.

 

[shimshim]

I only stayed at the Caribbean Beach once before, when I was much younger in 1994. We were in Jamaica and honestly I don’t remember it being that far of a walk. I mean, it wasn’t ‘right there’ but it wasn’t bad either. Comfortable, and the area was so nice I don’t think anyone really minded much.

Also I never remember it being overly noisy or crowed much, and with everyone else I know who has stayed there, everyone seems to have nothing but good things to say about it. It’s a very comfortable and nice area to be.

I’m going back there this December/January and picked the Caribbean Beach again. This time we called up and requested either the areas of Martinique or Trinidad North. And considering last two times I stayed in a hotel in Downtown Disney and almost always had to stand up on the buses (and I’m short and can’t reach the top railings well, heh) I’m not worried much about the buses here. You’ll always get busy buses and times no matter where you go.

Oh. .and touching on what someone said above, back in '94 when I was there, I totally remember coming back to the hotel and seeing all the stuffed animals AND having towel animals doing something silly each day, be it on the bed, on the chair, whatever. Maybe we got lucky and had someone really nice for our housekeeping that week. One time I remember getting a mini hat from Mexico in Epcot only to come back the next day and see it on one of my stuffed animals. It was very cute

 

[maddiesmommy]

I have stayed at both and i feel that caribbean beach was more spread out, i don't remember what building we were in all I remember was a very long walk to main pool and food court. the bus system was ok. we have stayed at POR about 9 times, i love it, beautiful and not that far of a walk even from the furtherest building to main pool and food court. we are returning to POR in november and can't wait. Although one day I would love to try a deluxe,:lol:

 

[L Fisher]

CB all the way..Very colorful, and family orienated atmosphere..If you decide CB try to get in "North Trinidad" as you won't be far from the pool, Port Royale and the main bus stop. Either way you'll still have fun!:wave:

 

[polynesiangirl]

I'm glad to see a number of people voting for CBR...I just booked our stay a day or two ago for October. We usually stay Deluxe, but we're not going to be there very long and we were looking for a less expensive option anyhow. I love the Poly (duh,) and I really liked the beachiness of CBR last time we stayed. I also like its closeness to Epcot and MGM, too.

Though really, I don't think it's possible to go wrong at WDW...the one and only time we ever had a problem was when we stayed at the Villas at the Disney Institute (blast from the past,) right before they closed...you could tell the staff was getting lax and my dad very kindly said to the guy at checkout, "Now, we've stayed at WDW many times...and this? Is not Disney quality." (We had had no hot water for like over a day, the room hadn't been cleaned, we weren't being petty here!) The guy said, "I know, you're right!" At least they were kind enough to give us some discounts (I think we got a night or two free or something.)

 

[Lucky]

I wonder if the buses are more frequent to PO (with about 3000 rooms total in Riverside and FQ) than to CB (with about 2000 rooms)? Especially when the parks close - otherwise it seems you could wait a lot longer to get back to PO in the evening than to CB. I've stayed at CB and will be at POFQ next week.

 

[Tink's Mommy]

Ohhh! Everyone definately has their favorites! We stayed at CBR in 2004 & I won't go back. My perception was: 1) the pool needed to be updated / repainted. 2) the slide was too short (Riverside is GREAT!) 3) the food court layout wasn't user friendly. I felt like the lines got in the way of general traffic patterns because it's not in it's own seperate space. I think #3 was the most frustrating thing for me.

All that said - my in laws stayed at FQ & liked it a lot. We stayed at Riverside in 2005 & are going back next month. I really like it. CBR's rooms are a bit larger in square footage, they have a nice double vanity for your toiletries, but the pool & food court were such big issues for me. Riverside is fun, the pool - even though it's older - is nice. The slide is actually long enough to enjoy it. And I like being able to ride the boat to DD. Makes for a very pleasant event in the evening.

I wish there was some central location where I could get information on all the slides at each of the pools (moderates & deluxe).

 

[Magic Memories]

I have been reading this thread and what I have gathered is it's a toss up on which resort is the best. All have very good reasons why they made there pick between the two (or 3). I have decided to go with FQ because it is a smaller resort. I think the CB is also a convention resort. Please correct me if I am wrong. Also the FQ as king size beds. I was surprise to find out that some of the larger resorts do no have them. I am going to pay for a pref room and ask for a king bed with a river view-I hope I can get it.
We are planning ahead for 11/2007 during what I think will be 'Jersy Week'.
We are trying to coordinate it with a Tampa Bay Bucc;s football game.
We are also going on a 3 day DCL cruise following our WDW trip.

Thank you all for helping me come to a decision!!!!!!!!:so happy: