Caribbean Beach Update: Staying Here in 2019?
We (sort of) continue our January 2019 Walt Disney World construction updates at Caribbean Beach Resort. As you’ve probably heard by now, Caribbean Beach’s re-imagining is finished. There isn’t any ongoing construction at Caribbean Beach Resort right now, hence this being a “sort of” progress report.
This means the Old Port Royale lobby area and check-in is open, as are Centertown Market, Banana Cabana, and Sebastian’s Bistro. If you’re unfamiliar with the changes, we covered the good and bad of the changes in our Photos & Thoughts: Re-Imagined Caribbean Beach Resort post. Suffice to say, it’s mostly good.
With that said, construction isn’t totally done around Caribbean Beach Resort. Due to the ongoing work on other projects near the hotel, we’ve still been visiting on a fairly regular basis. Between convenience and questions we’re still receiving about construction impact, it makes sense to do a photo update and some recommendations on staying at Caribbean Beach Resort in 2019…
Along the northern perimeter of Caribbean Beach Resort, construction continues for Disney’s Riviera Resort, the newest Disney Vacation Club property, plus a shared Skyliner gondola station for the two resorts.
Riviera is a stand-alone hotel, but it’s being developed entirely on what used to be the grounds of Caribbean Beach Resort, so it’s not like it’s totally disconnected from CBR.
The construction impact of Disney’s Riviera Resort is relatively minimal. Scaffolding remains up on the exterior, but the cranes and other heavy machinery are largely gone.
Work has progressed to the interior of the resort, and that will mostly be the case between now and Summer 2019, when we’d expect work to substantially finish. (Officially, Disney’s Riviera Resort opens in Fall 2019, but we’d expect it to be done well before then based on current progress.)
On the southern boundary of Caribbean Beach Resort, work continues on the largest of the Disney Skyliner gondola stations. This is located by the new entrance to the resort, and directly across the water from the Pirate Rooms in Trinidad (we recommend avoiding these rooms for a few reasons, all of which are covered in our review of them), and the new-ish Spyglass Grill counter service restaurant.
With all of this in mind, one common question we’re still receiving is which building(s) we recommend at Caribbean Beach Resort right now. Let’s start with ones that are easily to eliminate right off the bat: all of Trinidad (34-39), 55 & 56, and 24 & 25. All of these either abut construction or are Pirate Rooms.
There are a few other buildings you might want to avoid. For example, 54 and 26 are nearish to construction and certain rooms might be a problem. On the other hand, I stayed in a corner room in building 26 facing towards Old Port Royale recently, and never once heard construction. To the contrary, it was a great location.
Personally, I’ve always been partial to the buildings directly across from Centertown. Buildings 51 and 45 are great, with a leisurely walk across the bride through Caribbean Cay. They’re removed from the heart of the action and have great across-the-water views, but aren’t a prohibitive walk over to the dining, pool, and lobby.
All of the buildings adjacent to these are also good options, and you’re unlikely to see or hear any construction from buildings 42-53. All of Barbados is also good, and the upside to this location is that it’s roughly equidistance from the Fuentes del Morro Pool, Centertown, and Spyglass Grill–which is far better of a dining option than it has any business being.
We haven’t stayed in Barbados recently, but that honestly might be the best option in terms of well-roundedness right now. You’re near the pool, main lobby, and every single dining option at Caribbean Beach Resort. Building 31 is also probably as removed as possible from both construction areas, too.
While that particular building is going to be the most isolated from construction blight and noise, we should reiterate that construction really isn’t a problem from the vast majority of rooms at Caribbean Beach. Only the far north part of Martinique and Aruba are going to see or hear work on the Riviera, and only the water-facing Pirate Rooms in Trinidad will see/hear the Skyliner. (And all of the Pirate Rooms should be avoided, anyway.)
Note that these building recommendations are for between now and Summer 2019. Officially, the Disney Skyliner gondola debuts in Fall 2019. (Unofficially, we’d expect it to be done by late summer–whether it starts ‘soft’ operating then is another story.)
At that time, we think it’ll make the most sense to be within walking distance of one of the two Skyliner stations–even if that means being a bit farther from the dining and feature pool. At that point, we’d probably opt for buildings 54-56, 41-43, or 31-33 (as before, Barbados will remain the ‘best of both worlds’).
In the meatime, if you want zero ‘construction blight’ during your Walt Disney World vacation, you might want to look elsewhere. While we, personally, would now stay at Caribbean Beach Resort, everyone’s construction tolerance is different. Our top alternative recommendation between now and around July 2019 would be Port Orleans Riverside.
With all of that said, a few more random things from our stroll around Caribbean Beach Resort:
Totally random, but it makes me really happy that the pineapple fountain wasn’t lost during the re-imagining.
Moving it to the backside of Sebastian’s was a nice touch, and also gives thematic depth to this little promenade.
As is the case at many Walt Disney World resorts, it’s still Christmas at Caribbean Beach.
The resort doesn’t get a ton of Christmas decor in the first place, and it’s kind of odd to hear tropical Christmas jams during the second week of January.
It’s hardly STOP THE PRESSES news, but the lettering here is a relatively recent addition. People were probably walking right past the building since it’s relatively nondescript.
Below are some merchandise photos from Calypso Trading Post:
Some of these items definitely are not new (I bought the blue hat ~4 years ago), but some of them are.
For instance, I had never seen the Banana Cabana Pool & Bar shirt before this month, and I know a couple other items weren’t here when Calypso Trading Post. However, I’m not entirely sure what else is new. (The left shot glass design is also on a coffee mug and some other stuff.)
That wraps up our January 2019 Caribbean Beach Resort Update. In short, we wouldn’t hesitate to stay here at any point now, but you might want to make a strategic room request for one of the buildings mentioned above. If you’re a frequent Walt Disney World guest, you might consider waiting until the Skyliner debuts (as that’ll be fun to use), but the downside of that is it’s also likely to increase room rates at Caribbean Beach Resort once it does open. I guess we shall see!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
Do you agree or disagree with our Caribbean Beach Resort building recommendations? Have a favorite area of CBR? Least favorite room location at the resort? 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!
Is CBR pretty open to requests of where you would like your room? I’ve never thought to ask. The first time we stayed there we were so far from the pool/amenities but didn’t really care because it was just us. Now we are travelling with my in-laws and our two young kids (2 and 4) and would love to be closer to the food court or pool so I can deal with hangry-tantrums ASAP in the morning!
This is a question, how do you get DIsney to get you into a particular building at Caribbean Beach?
You can try to fax or call in a request a week or two before your check-in date. If you have a Touring Plans account, you can send a request through them also. You can also look at the different rooms and see pictures of the view. It doesn’t always mean you’ll get what you request, but it doesn’t hurt to try.
We are planning to stay at CBR at the end of May. Someone recommended that we stay at POR-FQ instead due to construction and it was more compact and has 1 bus stop. We have never been so we have no idea what to do. We have a 5 yr old. Any thoughts?
We were at CBR the first week of October and again Dec 8th through the 12th. Noise is not an issue. The re-imagination “took” away the laid back feeling of the Banana Cabana. Really no place to sit and enjoy. Really cramped space near the bar and not the open under the stars feel. Disney needs more spots for smokers! In the parks there are maybe 3 to 4 areas where now there seems to be booze available every 50 feet. Try Epcot and have a “drunk” tripping over you in your wheelchair. Not a great atmosphere for kids. As for CBR it is now a just o.k. resort and not the welcome home feeling of before. Been going to CBR since the early 80’s. Keep up the blog..great info for newbies.
Tom, thank you for the in-sight. After the announcement of the free dining plans recently, we decided to book at the Caribbean. In order to get the free quick service you must book a pirate room or a preferred room. This is not mentioned anywhere in regard to this restriction. We were told no other rooms were available and it’s now obvious we failed to ask the right question. We chose a Pirate room because we have little ones going, but we are tring to see if we can better our situation.
I noticed you dont mention staying in the Pirate Rooms AFTER fall. We are booked in them the second week of December. We plan to utilize Spyglass Grill for a few lunches when we head back to the room for afternoon naps (we’ll have a 15 mo old with us). The main pool isnt a priority as a quiet pool is fine for the adults and the baby wont know any better. I expect the construction for the Skyliner to be complete and be operational.
We don’t recommend the Pirate Rooms, period.
If you’ve stayed in them before and do enjoy them, there’s no reason not to do so again after this fall.
Is there an up to date map of what the resort looks like now? It is hard to decipher what is an up to date map when searching for pictures online. I am hoping to see where these buildings are located in relation to the resort as a whole.
thanks!
I’ll try to scan the map we have and upload it later.
We stayed in 54 last week. No construction issues, very convenient to bus (last pickup and drop off) which I like because I’m usually in more of a hurry going TO a park or meal location. We were without hot water one night, but it was fixed right away. All the new updates are awesome! The bathrooms are still small and old, which is disappointing, but everything is really clean. This is a great resort in terms of “customer service.” Wait staff and bartenders are THE BEST!
I stayed in Jamaica building 43 in October, the same week that Old Port Royale and Sebastian’s opened. I really liked this location, especially our particular room. I don’t remember the exact room number but it was a corner room on the first floor. The courtyard was right in front, freestyle machine and island markets right around the corner. The bus stops and parking lot were also very close. This would also be a very close location to the skyliner when it opens (depending of course on where they put the walkway to it). There was also a pool right there. It was equal distance to the main pool, Old Port Royale/ Sebastians and Spy Glass Grille. A little walk, but nothing crazy. With Centertown not having lunch (which is nuts!) it was good to be able to walk to Spyglass. Especially with the mobile ordering! Food was ready right when we got there. Aruba and Martinique would be quite a walk to Spyglass. If you know you stay at the resort for lunch you may want to take that into consideration (unless they serve lunch at Centetown now). We actually never ate at Centertown because it was either closed or entirely too busy for breakfast. Ate at Sebastian’s twice and thought the food was yummy. My votes would definitely be for Jamaica and Barbados buildings. We really enjoyed staying there and would definitely do so again. Hopefully the prices don’t go crazy when the skyliners open. Looking forward to seeing the final Riveria! Hopefully they let us non-DVCers take a peek 😉
Centertown does have lunch now, and the Island Markets closed.
Glad they have lunch now! Sad to hear about the Island Markets though. They were great for a quick snack or coffee in the morning on the way to our car or bus stop.
We have reservations for CBR for November. On previous stays at CBR we were in Jamaica and enjoyed being there. I don’t see any reference to Jamaica in your review this time. Any thought’s pro or con for November 2019?
I definitely feel like the new rooms are a vast improvement over the old. Well done! Already planning ahead to our split stay in 2020… 2 nites at the StarWars resort and 3 over here. Like we’d be able to even get in the SW resort, lol. That’s probably only for ppl who are buying new and specific DVC’s 😛
Just an observation from these pics and other pics I’ve seen from hotels connected to gondola…the gondola towers are a major eye sore. Are they planning on painting them or adding some kind of covering round the base to help blend in with themes or make them more attractive?
I stayed at CBR In November. Yes, I noticed the towers, but only cause I really wanted to see them. The are spaced far enough apart and a lot of times tucked away from most things you’d want to look at that you barely notice the towers. That may change when the gondola are actually running, but then again, you’ll probably look at the gondola itself to see the different characters.
I agree that the gondola towers are huge but they are no less ugly that the monorail tracks and we’re all used to them after 48 years. I think at night seeing a string of gondolas lit up stretching into the distance will be beautiful. Everything at Disney is prettier at night. Thoughts??
We stayed here Dec. 15-22 and really enjoyed our time. It was our 2nd time staying at CBR and after our experience with transportation last time, I said I would never stay here without a car again. So, we rented a car this time and it was so much better. I didn’t have to pay parking because I had booked before they implemented that. I am also very glad we had a car because we were in Aruba 55 which was about as far as you can get from amenities as possible. We did hear beeping construction sounds starting at around 7 each morning, but it didn’t really bother us as we were generally up and getting ready to go to the parks by that time anyway. My daughter only got to use the pool once because the weather was quite cold during the time we were there. Overall, we really did enjoy staying here though. The room was very nice and my daughter loved the pull down bed. We actually had a housekeeper that created some fun little things with our towels and stuffed animals. We haven’t had that in at least the last 4-5 years of trips. It just seems to add a little extra magic that makes us enjoy our stay there more.
Hi Tom, love the blog and have recommended it to anyone planning a Disney vacation! I booked the free dining pkg at OKW for the end of September, but after comparing room discount pkgs, I’m now torn between keeping our current reservation or switching to Caribbean Beach or Coronado Springs. The difference if I switch to a room-only discount is $1700 (CBR) or $1400 (CSR). Our kids will be 12, 10, and 2 and since they are very picky eaters, I just don’t think we’d eat that much in food, even with table service at TRex & Tusker House. We plan on enjoying some time at our resort, so any thoughts/suggestions on the best place to stay in terms of value and fun? I can’t make up my mind!
My unsolicited opinion… CBR 😀
This resort looks great! Bonus if the Skyliner is ready for your trip.
Thanks Heather! I actually just made the switch to CBR today. I think the pool area will be so much better for my 2 year old. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! 🙂
The steel drums Christmas music ended around 9:30 this morning right in the middle of that December Twenty Five/Mambo No. 5 song. Just like that. Done. Christmas is over.
That song drove me crazy over our stay the past 9 nights!
We stayed here Dec 28th-jan8th. We stayed twice during the construction previously, and it was nice to see, the more or less, end result. We stayed in preferred rooms in Martinique (room 24), and found it to be a good distance to centretown and the bus stop. We never heard any noise from the construction, even when we were locked in our room for 3 days, when I had a sprained ankle and my husband had the flu! We enjoyed the new food court menu and Sebastian’s bistro- everything we had was fresh and flavourful.
Tom- I have been reading your blog non stop for about 2 weeks straight! Thank you! I had this hotel reserved and then decided to switch to Animal Kingdom Lodge (unfortunately standard view). You made a point that it may be a good book to upgrade given you have to upgrade the moderate dining plans so may be worth looking at the deluxe hotels. I did find the price to be close to the same so booked AKL as a new resort to try! Now, I am considering switching back (although nothing has been available except Pirate rooms so I am avoiding for now). But considering both hotels, which do you prefer? Pools between the two? Which would be more fun for small kids? Aaaah, I can’t decide!
Stick with Animal Kingdom Lodge. In your case, that’s the better move–at least that’s what I’d do.
Kids might prefer the pool at Caribbean Beach, but that’s no guarantee; AKL is one of the very best resorts at Walt Disney World.
Thanks so much for the update! We are returning to Disney for the kids third trip in mid-November of 2019.
I’ve used your recommendations every time we’ve gone, to include our decisions to give Carribean Beach and mid-November a try later this year. Everything has been a hit, and our kids have made some amazing memories.
We are going to make some of the parks half-day events for the next trip now that the kids have their own opinions of the place and really looking forward to staying here and taking advantage of the amenities and (by Disney standards) reasonable price point offered at CBR.
Truly, thank you!!!
Thanks for the update! We went on our first WDW trip in Dec and stayed at Pop and have booked the free dining offer for CBR for the last few days in Sept and first week of Oct. We will have an 8 month old, 8 year old and 5 year old and with the baby were thinking we won’t be able to do as many (or long) park days this time so we wanted a better pool/hotel than the value. I would have loved to stay at the Epcot hotels and be walking distance but the price was just not justifiable to us. My only concern now is the bus system at CBR – any recommendations on that? We bused from Pop the first half of the trip and ended up ubering mostly the second half due to early or late resort dining reservations and much preferred ubering, but with the baby that makes things much more difficult and we’re skipping table service so bus will be our main transport. We could possibly rent a car, but honestly we like the whole not driving aspect but are open to other’s opinions! Are buses there as bad as I’ve read? Has anything improved with that or is there a specific stop that is better than the others? Thanks and always enjoy your articles!
There’s a very strong chance the Skyliner will be open by then, so that covers your transportation to DHS and Epcot.
As for MK and DAK, have you considered the Uber with car seat option? I can’t speak to this personally, but I know it’s popular.
As for the buses, they have gotten better since the resort has been consolidated, but there’s still the internal loop. I don’t think they’re necessarily bad, so I’d give them a try before opting for Uber.
I am hopeful that the gondolas will be open, but I’ll have to see some data before taking 🙂 I’m wondering with increased demand for them if they will have long waits as well and maybe alleviate some bus traffic? We got stuck on the monorail several times the last trip and I’d freak a bit being stuck up there especially with baby. That said we also got stuck on the bus for over an hour too. We haven’t ruled out Uber, but we’d have to upgrade to XL since we’ll have 5 passengers … I’d also do Minnie Vans but have read they are difficult to come by. We checked several times on our trip and the estimated time was not any quicker than the bus.
Jessica, if it wasn’t for having to pay to park, I would always recommend renting a car (typically cheaper than Uber, of course depending on the number of trips you take) especially with your family situation. We always rent, even though we occasionally take the bus on short hops. But that said, we are DVC members so parking is not an extra charge.
I stayed in mid December, the hoyel itself was nice and great, however I was not a fan of the food at Centertown. Small selection and the quality was not good. Everything seemed either re-heated or sitting under the heat lamp.
The new menu at Centertown Market is definitely divisive. We’ve dined there a few times, and have generally had good experiences–plus a couple of duds. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that menu changed up a bit soon, as there are several items with limited appeal, which creates the impression of limited variety.
The pizza was the biggest disappointment to me. It appeared to be sauce on top of cheese slices instead of the other way around. Definitely not like the delicious flatbread pizzas at Port Orleans RS or Pinocchio’s. I think the food has potential but just needs to be refined. That said, the selection at both Port Orleans resorts seemed much better (the only other place ive stayed so far), but as you said that could be because of limited appeal.