Best Rooms & Locations at Caribbean Beach Resort
Choosing the best room location and building at Caribbean Beach Resort is tricky, as it’s the only Walt Disney World hotel with two Skyliner gondola stations and non-stop access to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. This post covers room recommendations based upon various priorities. (Updated June 8, 2023.)
First, I’d be remiss if I didn’t start by mentioning that we love Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. When it comes to Moderate Resorts, it’s right up there with Port Orleans for us, albeit for very different reasons. For a basic primer on Caribbean Beach, including a look inside the guest rooms (all of which were refurbished only a few years ago), read our comprehensive Caribbean Beach Resort Review.
In the last several years, we’ve seen a massive transformation of Caribbean Beach Resort. This included the construction of Disney’s Riviera Resort, reimagining of Old Port Royale, and addition of the Skyliner. Most recently, the Pirate Rooms were reimagined into The Little Mermaid rooms with a style that borrows from higher-end Disney Vacation Club rooms. With that, the once-weakest rooms at CBR became the best!
Suffice to say, there have been a lot of growing pains at Caribbean Beach, and the lushness and laid back tropical vibe we loved about the resort has to a degree been traded for nicer amenities and significantly better transportation. We’ve been meticulously documenting the evolution of Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort over the last several years, and regular readers of the blog have no doubt seen at least some of our monthly construction updates from the hotel. We’ll spare you a rehash of that.
The fruits of all this work have been a lot of new and unique features for the Caribbean Beach Resort. Which of these matter most to you will play a large role in determining the building and room type you should book and request. Let’s dig into the best & worst options…
If you are thinking you might want to stay at Caribbean Beach, or have already booked a stay, the question becomes which building(s) we recommend this resort now that the Disney Skyliner gondola has debuted and Disney’s Riviera Resort has opened.
Let’s start with our “best of all worlds” recommendation, which assumes you want balance…
In this scenario, the location you want to request at Caribbean Beach Resort is buildings 51 or 45 (the yellow/blue and green/pink buildings pictured above). Personally, this is my favorite location in all of the resort. You’re removed from the heart of all the “action,” but you still have a centralized location that’s convenient to literally everything at the resort.
You have a leisurely walk across the bridge through Caribbean Cay to get to the Fuentes del Morro Pool, Centertown dining options, Banana Cabana bar, and everything else in the Old Port Royale lobby. From most rooms in these two buildings, you’re roughly 5 minutes to everything in this area, which is great considering the sprawling size of Caribbean Beach Resort.
For us, the more significant upside of this location is that you’re almost dead-center between the two Skyliner gondola stations. Each will be around a 7-10 minute walk from here, which again, isn’t bad given the layout of Caribbean Beach.
The upside to being centered between the two stations rather than really close to one or the other is that this means you have direct, non-stop access to everywhere you want to go. While we love the Skyliner, not having to hassle with potentially waiting in a second line is nice. This location guarantees you the shortest transit times and only having to bother with buses for 2 parks.
If you want a more specific recommendation, we’d recommend requesting rooms 4501-4504 or 4529-4532. These are going to be a mix of your shortest walk to the Skyliner, bus stop, lobby, and even the Coke Freestyle machine over in building 46.
Really, though, such a specific request is unnecessary–just go for a standard view room in buildings 45 or 51. You can’t go wrong with any of the rooms in this location. All of the buildings adjacent to these are also good options, too. If you’re less picky, we’d expand our recommendations to anything in the range of buildings 43-53.
You might notice that we stopped short of recommending buildings 41-42 and 53-56. The former two buildings are actually closest (albeit across Sea Breeze Drive) to the Caribbean Beach Skyliner hub station, while the latter three buildings are closest to the Riviera Resort Skyliner station.
If you know you’d prefer to be closer to one Skyliner station, you should definitely go for one of these sets of buildings. In terms of Skyliner convenience and breadth of options, the lower number buildings near the hub station are the significantly better choice.
There’s additional upside of being in buildings 53-56, which is proximity to Disney’s Riviera Resort. This recently-added DVC/Deluxe Villa Resort is easily accessible via the walkway that circles Barefoot Bay and connects the two sister hotels.
The dining options at Disney’s Riviera Resort are fantastic, with Topolino’s Terrace – Flavors of the Riviera. This is a Signature Restaurant at dinner and character breakfast–we love and highly recommend both meals.
Likewise, we are big fans of Primo Piatto, the counter service restaurant at Riviera Resort, and also recommend checking out Le Petit Café for dessert and Bar Riva for drinks. If you think you’ll eat a lot at Disney’s Riviera Resort, the buildings closer to it are recommended.
In general, we like the dining options at Caribbean Beach (Sebastian’s Bistro is one of our favorite dinners in all of Walt Disney World), but the overall lineup is better at Disney’s Riviera Resort. That should be unsurprising given that it’s a higher caliber hotel.
Next, what we probably wouldn’t recommend. That would be any of the Preferred Rooms, which are in Barbados and Martinique. Not because there’s anything wrong with these rooms–to the contrary, they’re super convenient for Fuentes del Morro Pool and Centertown.
However, the “Preferred” classification for Caribbean Beach was created pre-Skyliner, meaning you’re paying a premium for buildings that are some of the farthest from both stations. Unless you are gondola-averse, we see little reason to pay more for this location.
We also don’t really see the point in paying extra for a water or pool view room at a hotel with exterior hallways, but perhaps that’s just us. During hours when guests foot traffic outside our room is heaviest, we seldom open our blinds, but again, maybe you’d prefer a view.
One specific room request we would make is for a corner room, which has the advantage of two windows as opposed to one. This isn’t a huge thing, but we find it makes what can otherwise be a dark room a tad more light and airy.
If you are Skyliner averse and do intend upon spending a lot of time at the pool or in the lobby, what to request really depends upon when you’ll be visiting and what you want to utilize.
If you might want to explore Disney Riviera Resort’s dining scene, go for something in Martinique. If you want to dine at the hidden gem that is Spyglass Grill, opt for Barbados.
The new-for-2023 Under the Sea rooms inspired by The Little Mermaid in Trinidad are another option. We just did a stay at these in June 2023 (room review and photo/video tour coming soon!) and found them to be a tremendous improvement over the infamous Pirate Rooms that they replaced.
Our opinion of these rooms is much more positive now, to the point that we now highly recommend Trinidad. These Under the Sea rooms are great for families who want more space while they’re not sleeping, as the pull-down beds make the main living area far less cramped during the day. In addition to the quality of the Under the Sea rooms themselves, having Spyglass Grill right there plus a nice view of the gondolas gliding overhead across the water is pleasant and relaxing.
Oddly enough, the Under the Sea rooms are not a distinct booking category despite being dramatically different from the regular rooms at Caribbean Beach Resort. In order to obtain these Little Mermaid inspired rooms, you need to start by booking the 5th sleeper category.
That’s not all, though, as there are a number of 5th sleeper rooms all around Caribbean Beach Resort. During the online check-in process, you’ll need to make a room request, and will have the option to choose between Old Port Royale or near the Skyliner–pick the Skyliner. To really cover your bases, follow that up with the in-app chat feature and request a room in building 34 or 35.
Those are going to be the shortest walk to the Skyliner station and Old Port Royale, whereas buildings 36-39 are much more of a hike. (Building 39 is literally across from the Little Mermaid rooms at Art of Animation–a totally different resort!)
Ultimately, we know this presents several options and a lot to contemplate. Normally, we aren’t overly-keen on room requests, and think Walt Disney World planners put too much emphasis on them. However, one thing we’ve learned with Caribbean Beach Resort is that location is often make or break in terms of guest perception of the resort.
We love CBR and want others to share that same appreciation, hence this long analysis of the best and worst locations at Caribbean Beach Resort. If you’re still torn or are now more conflicted than before and want us to make your decision for you, go for building 45 if you’re a solo traveler or couple. If you’re a family with kids, opt for the Under the Sea rooms in Trinidad, requesting buildings 34 or 35.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you stayed at Caribbean Beach Resort since the resort’s reimagining finished? What about since the Skyliner gondolas debuted? Which building were you in? How did you like the location? Would you agree or disagree with our Caribbean Beach Resort building and room recommendations? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Hi there!
Based on all this info, would it be worth it to spend an extra $84 total (for the whole week) to move from a Pirate Room to a Standard Room?
This would involve abandoning the “Sun & Fun Room Offer” in favor of standard rates. We don’t care about pirates; it was just the cheapest option when we booked.
Thanks!
We haven’t stayed at CBR since 2007! Really looking forward to returning in August. Have standard room requested Jamaica 45 or Aruba 51.
What park does the Riviera Skyliner station service?
Epcot
Hello, the only rooms available during our stay are the preferred location rooms or pirate rooms which we aren’t interested in. If we want to use the Skyliner, it looks like the Barbados location is closest? I heard they were making a walk way from Martinique over to Riviera but that looks like a long walk also. Do you know how long the walk would be from Barbados to the Skyliner hub? Also, Skyglass grill is where we would want to eat breakfast as the options look better for us. Where is that located at the resort? Thanks so much for your help.
Tom said in his post that the Pirate rooms are closest to Skyglass.
What is your favorite corner room in building 45? I’ve been lucky enough to get exact rooms I’ve requested- hoping to get lucky again.
Hello there! Great post. We’ve found it after booking. We have a Pirate room. However, our trip is at the end of September 2020. We’re planning 2 days on each park, a resort/disney springs day and a day in only one of the two water parks.
That been said, what building makes more sense in terms of transport? 35? 34? We are not paying for preferred view, just standard pirate room.
Are their any “tricks” or tips for the buses from CBR? Just trying to come up with some good game plans for taking the buses to MK or AK. If there are any.
I am going to wdw in May 2020. Now that the Skyliner is down, what would be the best buildings for taking the bus? I dont want to have long walks either to or from the bus stop. Would a preferred room be best? Also are there elevators in the buildings? Maybe the Skyliner will be fixed by then but I want to be prepared if it isnt. Thanks.
There aren’t any elevators. My next trip is in June 2020. I fully expect the skyliner to be operational.
We stayed at Martinique in March and are staying there again in March 2020. We liked Martinique becuase it was a 1m walk to OPR and the pool AND we were the first bus stop for pick-up. How do you factor in the benefit of a first pick-up, especially during a very busy week? Would hopping on the bus and riding around to the skyliner stop be easier than walking over from Martinique?
Thanks for the post-Skyliner update! We are staying at CBR for our upcoming December trip and we’re only able to get Waterview Pirate. I’m wondering how far the walk to the Skyliner would be from that section? I’ve never been to this resort, so I’m having trouble picturing! One of the people in my party has a knee injury and we’re a bit worried about the distance. We were also curious…is it plausible to use an air mattress in the pirate room? Thanks for your time and for being so helpful!
Pirate rooms did not thrill me any. Bed squeaked, small, just not our style. Also have to say with all the walking Caribbean is not our style either.
We just stayed in building 51 and you are exactly right. Easy walk to the pool and Centertown Market, and we used both Skyliner stations based on our destination. It took a little while to load at the Riviera station, because the cars were already occupied with people from the hub station, but there was never a line so I think it still ended up being faster. We were able to hear some of the Skyliner noises from our room but nothing a white-noise machine couldn’t cover. As a bonus, we could see the Epcot fireworks from the exterior walkway right outside our room! Returning on the bus from MK or AK was a hassle of course, but easily averaged out in our favor when considering the Skyliner convenience.
We are in building 43 Jamaica. Great quick walk to Skyliner however a couple of drawbacks. Due to early morning hours, the bing bong from the Skyliner starts at 5:45 and yes you can hear it in the room . The quiet pool is drained so you have to go to another pool too. Love the Skyliner otherwise.
Will you be updating your Pop Century review with room recommendations for the gondola too?
I kind of wish that I were able to pick a ‘regular’ room instead of the preferred we currently have booked for our November trip. Since we went with the free dining promotion, we really only had the option for pirate rooms, but I kept checking twice a day until something else popped up, and was able to get preferred. Didn’t want pirate rooms, since I know I want to use the main pool often, and saw so many people say it’s like a 20 minute walk? Seems kind of crazy, but I stopped looking after I booked the preferred room.
I really want to use the Skyliners for our Epcot and Hollywood Studio days, and we are having dinner at Cape May for our no theme park day. Hopefully the walks aren’t terrible, but the Skyliner hub seems so far away from building 26, which is where I’d like to be able to stay. Is there really an internal shuttle that will take you to different parts of the resort? Is it a bus or like a golf cart? And is it reliable?
Is there 24h access to the freestyle machines? I assume you have to have a resort cup to use them, right? We never buy them, but we might if one will be close to our room (and cokes are $5 a pop).
Thanks for the article, you’ve given me some things to think about. Some of those rooms are pretty far from the bus stop (and everything else). Unfortunately we never leave time for the pools in our plans, but I’m regretting it b/c this one looks amazing.
Hi. We stayed in building 55, Aruba, in May/June 2018. There is 24 hour access to the Freestyle machines. You need a resort mug to access the drinks. The Freestyle machines take the place of the ice makers. You do NOT need a resort mug to access the ice.
Thanks so much for this Tom, booked here for March and was looking for some updated info on room locations now that the skyliner is open. Perfect!
Does it make sense to Skyliner to Epcot them monorail to Magic Kingdom vs buses?
Not really, unless you want to go to Epcot first–in which case that’s not a bad approach.
Bit confused by your comments about changing gondolas with the Skyliner.
Thought if you board at the CBR hub, you can get to any destination without changing again? Doesn’t it just pass through the Riviera without the need to change?
We actually have CBR preferred room booked… we were thinking building 32 or 33 would still put us a pretty short walk from the Skyliner hub. Anything wrong with my thinking?
“Bit confused by your comments about changing gondolas with the Skyliner.
Thought if you board at the CBR hub, you can get to any destination without changing again? Doesn’t it just pass through the Riviera without the need to change?”
This is correct. The hub station is by far the best. It’s direct access to everywhere, just not technically “non-stop” access, since the line is via the Riviera Resort. (It’s still not really stopping, but I’m not sure how else to differentiate.)
As for your second question, nothing really wrong with your thinking. I believe the standard rooms in Jamaica are a shorter walk, but I haven’t timed it.
Hello there! We’re in building 43- 4365 it’s a great spot 5 minute walk to the Skyliner ( which is silent!) and close to the bus stop too!!! We’ve stayed here in the past and LOVE it now that’s it complete!!
Is this a first floor or second floor? We are going next month.
Thanks for this! We staying at CBR in February. I’ve never requested a certain building or room before. Should we make the request at check-in or before that?
Before arrival is always the better course of action, but flexible requests are often accommodated upon arrival at the front desk if you forget.
Perfect, thank you!
Any room requests need to be made prior to arrival. Your room is blocked a week in advance based on the type of room you have booked. Resorts at Disney run at full occupancy, so there isn’t always an available room to move you to once you arrive. All requests should be added to your reservation prior to arrival. This is especially important if you need a first floor room, if you are traveling with another family and want to be close together or you are looking to be in a specific island. Remember, requests are just that and are not guaranteed.
Thank you!