Dibbers Caribbean Beach Experiences please

[Susethomasx]

As the title says I’m looking for fellow Dibbers’ experiences and opinions of Disney’s Caribbean Beach resort.

We’re booked to go next September and booked earlier this year when the free dining offer was first launched. At that time we wanted to book Coronado Springs and at that time we thought we had booked it. Fast forward a couple of days and VH get in touch to say that there were no free dining rooms left at Coronado but we could get booked into Caribbean Beach. Going back to Orlando was key for us so we agreed.

Anyway, I’m a habitual planner; I love planning everything and I’d done that for our last trip so have started doing it for this trip. However having read reviews of Caribbean Beach - mainly on Trip Advisor - there’s quite a few that really do not rate this hotel at all!

Firstly, I’m aware it’s spread out, that’s fine with us. I’m also aware that sometimes the busses aren’t very frequent or are full by the time they’ve finished their sweep of the grounds on their way to the parks, again, I can cope with this. But there’s reviews mentioning rude staff, damp rooms, theft and more so I’m looking to you lovely Dibbers - whose opinion I probably value more than Trip Advisor- to tell me about your experiences of the resort please?

I’m not normally wary of reviews like this but there seemed to be more negative ones than I’m comfortable with so I’m wondering wether to go back to VH and change resort?

[WDWfangirl]

We went in 2016 and were really happy. I would have happily gone back this year were it not for the building work which I thought might have changed the feel of it. Staff were all lovely, food court was fine, pools were great and it’s a beautiful resort. We stayed in building 45 and had a perfect view of the lake. It took no time at all to walk to the food court, in fact it was a really enjoyable experience. Personally I do wonder about the fitness levels of the people who complain it is too spread out.

And from what i’ve read CBR consistently gets rated above CSR so I think you’ll be fine and have a lovely time

[Squidgyness]

Originally Posted by WDWfangirl

Personally I do wonder about the fitness levels of the people who complain it is too spread out.

See more...

A lot of Orlando hotels share the same issues on tripadvisor, on-site or otherwise. At first I thought it may be the fact that Americans don't really do any walking to speak of, but some Brits post it too. I really don't understand it.

On the TA page for RPR for instance, people complained about the walking distance to citywalk, I can testify it's a few hundred yards at most. You'd do 10x that walking around the parks.

Very weird.

[Nimbus]

We stayed at CBR back in 2014 and 2016. It's a great resort and very picturesque. We did not encounter any rude staff, the rooms were good and not damp at all, nothing was stolen from us, everything was fine. They seemed to be lacking in staff at check-in so that took a little longer than it should but the CM who served us was very friendly. The rooms are clean and tidy, although the decor is nothing amazing. The buses were, for the most part, frequent and only took a couple of minutes to go round the resort picking people up (although, yes, occasionally they were busy and full).

As for the size of the resort, with the removal of a couple of "islands" to make way for the Riviera resort, it's now probably a similar size or smaller than Coronado Springs. For most rooms it's no more than a 5 minute stroll to the main building. Compared to walking round the parks, it's nothing.

Have a look at other DIBBers reviews of CBR here:

https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/hot... php?id=31#top


BTW, Disney has added the Skyliner since I last stayed. I don't know how this has affected the resort.

[Susethomasx]

Have a look at other DIBBers reviews of CBR here:

https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/hot... php?id=31#top


BTW, Disney has added the Skyliner since I last stayed. I don't know how this has affected the resort.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the link!

[vowels]

We were there for a few days in late December.

Check in staff very polite, quick queue.
Counter staff very polite, food we had was fine.
Room very clean, housekeeping did a great job.
Pool was great. The most important thing to my children and they loved it. It was quite busy but there was lots of sunbeds.
You could view fireworks from the resort, with several benches and hammocks to sit with a drink as you admire the sky alight. You can also view from the bar.
We had no issues with the buses.
The resort had a nice feel to it and the other guests were very pleasant.

Have a lovely holiday.

[Kirsty2tt]

We were last there in 2017 and are going back in 5 weeks. We loved the resort. Only had 1 issue with waiting for a bus longer than expected in our whole 12 day stay. There is now an update on the app which let's you know when the buses will be there so I can't wait to use this. The resort isn't as large as a lot make it out to be. We were in Jamaica section and it took around 5 mins to walk across to OPR. We stayed whilst the building work was going on so I'm looking forward to seeing the new opr building. Our room was lovely and clean, we never had any issues of theft or problems with staff. I think you often find people leave reviews when they've had bad experiences more than those leave reviews that have been good. The resort is lovely and I'll happily update when I return.

[Mrs Valentine]

If anyone has stayed at CBR lately, can you say what way the bus goes round and who gets on first and last etc. Just wondering as its i a kind ov 'U' shape now that the Riviera is at the other end.

[Clarey101]

We stayed at CBR last August and loved it, even though there was alot of construction going on. Everyone we came across, at check in, the breakfast buffet, market islands, consierge etc were friendly. Loved the beach areas where my boys played football in intense heat! The pools areas were quite busy but had lots of places to sit, some in much needed shade. We didn't experience any issues with the buses, when compared to other resorts we've stayed at (OKW and SSR). We're going back next August :-)

[Susethomasx]

Thanks everyone! You’ve really helped put my mind at ease!