Should we upgrade to CBR?

[hmmemom]

We are booked into an ASMu Family Suite in February. And we are thinking about upgrading to CBR. We stayed in the family suite before and it was great, but we are thinking that we'll be spending more time at the resort since the park hours are a bit shorter in February. We have 2 adults and 4 kids (10, 10, 8, and 7). So we would need adjoining rooms, but since that is not guaranteed, we are worried about that. The cost difference is significant, so we really want to consider everything.

I should also mention that my son will be celebrating his 7th birthday while we are there. And the cheerleaders will be there for the first few days of our trip.

Thoughts? Experiences?

 

[NedFlanders]

I would suggest you might look at the Cabins at Fort Wilderness... they can comfortably handle all six of you in one cabin, which would be much cheaper than having to book to rooms at CBR. The general layout of them is a living room with a murphy bed on the wall... a back bedroom that has a bed and also has bunk bed beside it. The down side of the cabins is that you are not close to the pool at any of the cabins, they are further from the pool than most all the campsites... but in Feb I'm not sure how much time you wanted to spend in the pool.

Also you would be secluded which would be much quieter than any resort with cheerleaders.

We've stayed at the Cabins and also at CBR... if it were down to those two choices I would go with the cabins again in a heartbeat. Also if you want to save on expenses they have a full kitchen in each cabin which allows you to cook your own meals if you so desire, the even do the dishes while you are at the parks.

 

[hmmemom]

We considered the cabins, but decided that 2 bathrooms is a must for our family. We also won't be cooking anything, so the kitchen isn't necessary. We already have the family suite booked. We were considering the upgrade just to try the moderate resort. We aren't worried about the cost exactly. I just wondered if the cost difference would be worth it at CBR.

 

[Nemo14]

We just came back from CBR and frankly, I would rather stay in a Value resort than there. The food court was a zoo, the food choices limited, and the bus service was the worst we've ever had. We normally stay at Pop Century for our weekend getaways, but this time we took advantage of the discounts. Never again!

 

[mickey2008.1]

We just went through the same scenario, and after seeing how small the family suites are and how you have to pull out couches and chairs for the kids to sleep, we decided on 2 rooms at cbr. Way better amenities, more, and more for the kids to do. It all comes down to being comfortable, and cbr does this. I suggest checking out allears.net and looking at the latest update of cbr, it even includes a video or two of the area.

 

[slappy magoo]

CBR would not be my first choice for a moderate - it would in fact be my last choice but I'm not that much a fan of the island theme - bu I'd choose 2 rooms in any mod over a value suite any day.

Your request for adjoining rooms is not 100% guaranteed, but the odds are much higher in your favor than not of having your request met.

 

[b94ronman]

I am Currently staying at Caribbean beach and have been since 12/2....I have not found one problem that everyone keeps complaining about....foodcourt is no better or worse than all-stars/pop, I have yet to wait more than 10 minutes for a bus, it's more like 5 minutes most days, either in the resort or at a park. The food court is about a 5 minute walk each day.....and I know when I've stayed at pop....it's been at least that from the seventies buildings. I'm currently staying in barbados....I did not pay for a preferred room, this I just the room I was assigned, I could see if you are in north trinadad or a few other part where your walk could be long.....but I have no complaints. The pool is awesome....now if it could just go above 60 degrees I might be able to enjoy it. I have yet to need to use the 'inside resort' transportation. I would stay here again without a doubt. I read all the complaints about the place before coming here and havnt found one valid yet....maybe they had other factors that made things go wrong.....the only thing I could see someone complaining about is that the park buses circle the resort to stop at each location for people....so you could be first to be picked-up or last to be dropped off depending on which area you are staying in...it has yet to be a problem for me.

 

[mickeystoontown]

While we have never stayed in the family suites, we have stayed at the CBR five years in a row (with a 6th stay booked for May,2011). The resort grounds are absolutely beautiful and peaceful. There are quiet pools and laundry facilities in each resort village which means you are never far from either one. You'll also find a bus stop at each village meaning you won't have to walk a lot to get to the bus stop.

We really enjoy sitting around one of the beach chairs or lying in the hammocks on the white sandy beaches. It's so relaxing.

If you want to do "something", you could always rent one of the many watercrafts or a surrey bike from the resort marina. The marina also has a pool table. Usually there is at least one volleyball net set up on one of the beaches.

Of course, there's the fantastic new pool. It is zero entry and has two slides. For the little kids, there's a separate play area with a dump bucket. You'll also find two hot tubs in the main pool area.

We have eaten in the food court several times each trip and have always found the food to be tasty and there's a nice variety to chose from. If you want something to eat on the go, you can use the grab n go section in the food court.

As far as transportation goes, we have never waited more than 25 minutes for a bus and that was during a non-peak time of the day and we, literally, saw the Epcot bus pulling off as we were walking across the parking lot. I've heard others complain about the multiple stops within the resort but it's not been a problem to us. I actually timed our ride from the time we sat down on the bus in Jamaica, made our way around the resort and pulled into Hollywood Studios and it took us just 11 minutes. Epcot took either one minute more or one minute less, I can't remember. The rides to Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom were fairly short as well.

 

[Disney_Belle]

I love CBR. We stayed twice last year and both stays were wonderful. We spent much of our vacations wandering the resort. Caribbean Cay is a wonderful little area that really makes you feel you are somewhere tropical. I love being in the parks from open to close, but we found ourselves not rushing to the parks all of the time because we felt the resort had a lot to offer us. And at night if you sit behind Old Port Royale on the deck or by the Marina, you can get a pretty decent view of Illuminations.

The rooms are a great size. The transportation was never an issue. The busses were always there within 10 - 15 minutes. Whether we were leaving the resort or a park, on either stay did we have to wait very long. Often times at park closing one bus would pull up and 2 minutes later so would another. It is a very large resort, and there are several internal stops before you leave the CBR property and head to the park depending on what stop you get on. Normally we would head to Old Port Royale for breakfast and leave from that bus stop. Just allow yourself extra time for internal stops depending on where you choose to be picked up.

I actually prefer the food court at CBR. Yes, it gets hectic at the prime meal times, but I find it to be a better layout than that of some of the other resorts. Rather than being in a semi circle layout where everyone gathers in the middle, it is spread out (and the detail is great too!). There did seem to be a bit less choices than at the Value resorts, but I found that to be with POR as well. My husband and I both find the layout of the food court to be good.

The staff has always been very good to us as well. Rooms are always clean. We opted not to have our room cleaned for 2 days, but needed toilet paper. We were heading out to a park so we told them to just leave it on the door in a bag, but as we opened the door to leave, Mousekeeping was standing there with a bag of tp and towels for us

I love CBR. We're going back to WDW next month and I really wanted to stay at CBR but decided to try POFQ as I haven't stayed there yet. I'm hoping I don't miss CBR too much lol!

 

[PeterPanFan5]

Our family loves CBR and we have stayed there every time except once -- when we were at Riverside and didn't think much of it. We love the theming at CBR, the beautiful setting, the rooms are nice, the food court and pool are great. Sure, if you're assigned a room far from the food court and pool, it's a hike, but the same is true of Riverside. And do you know you can request a closer island group, even a building number? (Our choice is Building 45 in Jamaica -- a short walk across the bridge to the pool and food court)
We love the entire resort: Until we win the lottery and can stay at a monorail resort, CBR will be our choice.

 

[devoy1701]

its about time there is a thread on here that is full of CBR lovers! Where have you guys been!? Usually this resort gets bashed to death!

 

[Bocko57]

CBR Vs Family Suites

I have stayed at both the Value Family Suite and CBR and both are very nice. If I had my choice of 1 room family suite and 2 room CBR, I would pick the 2 room CBR. But the questions is how good are the odds of getting ajoining rooms. If that looks promising then I would for sure take the 2 rooms over 1. And out of the moderate resorts CBR is my favorite and already have reservations for Sept 2011. My only complaint about CBR is the buses but since we no longer use the buses it is no longer a problem.

Take the 2 rooms at CBR.

 

[epcotfan]

I wouldn't upgrade from ASmu suites to CBR. The suites are much more convenient to the Food Court, Store and Guest Services. At CBR you could be stuck anywhere with a looooong walk to get food. I don't hate CBR. I stayed there 5 times when it was the first and only moderate. But now, I'd take an All Star any day since the property is much smaller.

 

[devoy1701]

I wouldn't upgrade from ASmu suites to CBR. The suites are much more convenient to the Food Court, Store and Guest Services. At CBR you could be stuck anywhere with a looooong walk to get food. I don't hate CBR. I stayed there 5 times when it was the first and only moderate. But now, I'd take an All Star any day since the property is much smaller.

all you have to do is request a village like Trinidad North or Aruba and your problem is taken care of. They've always honored our room requests. Aruba is right across Barefoot Bay from Old Port Royale. It's only about a 3-4 minute walk to cross the island in the center.

 

[PeterPanFan5]

Yes, Aruba and Jamaica are both about the same distance from the Food Court/Pirate pool, and almost as close as the rooms in Martinique, where you pay extra to stay in a 'preferred' room supposedly closer to the center of things. It's a beautiful walk across the bridge in the morning for breakfast, and lovely at night with all the lights around the lake.
Another plus for Jamaica/Aruba: Sometimes the resort buses begin their trip through the resort at Jamaica, or drop off there first at night. In the morning, you may visit all the islands before leaving, but it's only 5-10 minutes at the most. And at night you are first off and headed to your room.