Caribbean Beach Resort Construction Update: September 2018
Some of the construction walls are down at Caribbean Beach Resort! With the removal of walls around Banana Cabana and Sebastian’s Bistro, the waterfront dining is almost ready to debut, and the main component of Walt Disney World’s largest hotel improvement projects is nearly finished.
Work on the new lobby and Centertown Market is not quite as close to being completed, but significant strides have been made even since our last visit about a month ago, suggesting that the pace of work has rapidly accelerated, perhaps with a desire to be ready by the busy holiday season. The Skyliner gondola stations and support poles are also inching towards completion, although those likely won’t open until Summer 2019.
In this post, we’ll share construction photos from the new waterfront walkway around Sebastian’s Bistro (among other construction at Caribbean Beach), offer thoughts on the new Centertown waterfront district that’s taking shape, and share insight as to whether it’s “safe” to book a stay at Caribbean Beach now…
Unlike our last few Caribbean Beach Resort construction updates, this one is almost exclusively good news. Progress is clear and moving at a fast rate, and Centertown is really starting to take shape.
I’ve gotta admit that when we arrived at Caribbean Beach Resort and those waterfront construction walls were down–something I was not expecting as I haven’t seen this reported elsewhere–I was a little too excited. More on that a bit later, though.
Within the next couple of months, the main Caribbean Beach projects starting to wrap up with the fruits of this highly-awaited project (at least among CBR fans!) available for Walt Disney World guest consumption. We are in the home stretch!
If you’ve missed our past progress reports, you might want to read our Summer 2018 Caribbean Beach Resort Construction Update, which was our most recent update prior to this one. It covered things like the new Spyglass Grill (which we reviewed in full here), and a look at the Skyliner pillars and their proximity to hotel rooms.
For an even more 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.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s start with a look at the latest news and concept art from Disney, which is that the new table service restaurant along the Old Port Royale waterfront will be named Sebastian’s Bistro. This restaurant will feature beautiful views and a menu blending Latin and Caribbean flavors from market-fresh ingredients.
Sebastian’s Bistro and the Banana Cabana Pool Bar will both be located in the new building adjacent to the pool. This replaces an open-air courtyard that used to provide outdoor/overflow seating for the Old Port Royale Food Court. This area was pretty brutal in the Florida heat, so I can’t say it’ll be missed too much (although I did like the fountain in the middle).
The redesigned counter service restaurant will be Centertown Market, which sounds like it’s basically an expanded version of Old Port Royale Food Court. Per Disney, guests will enter under a large palapa-like structure, accented with glowing, colored light pendants made from glass bottles.
Centertown Market will feature open shutters, wooden light posts, awnings, ornamentation, and unique seating areas. It will also have a Grab n’ Go market for specialty coffee and quick bites. This description and concept art is very reminiscent of Old Port Royale Food Court.
Although I don’t believe Walt Disney World has officially announced it, the porte-cochere and lobby are moving to Old Port Royale, which is evident from concept art on display at the resort. The remote location of Customs House was always awkward, so this consolidation makes sense.
Walt Disney World fans who have been watching this project closely will recall that the Old Port Royale “port of entry” and Centertown projects have already been delayed a couple of times, but it appears that things are finally moving at a fast pace.
Above is a current drive-by look at the porte-cochere construction, which looks worse than it actually is. A lot of progress has been made here since our last visit, too.
In our last update, we noted that there was no chance Caribbean Beach Resort would make its (revised) summer completion date, which was accurate doubt on our part. We went further and questioned whether Old Port Royale/Centertown would open in 2018, period. Based on progress from our last visit to this one, we’d say it’s all but certain that both Sebastian’s Bistro and Centertown Market will open in Fall 2018.
A couple weeks ago, Disney Parks Blog indicated that the two dining spots would open “in just a few months” and that would appear to be a conservative timeframe based upon what we could see while circling the building. It’s still too early to pinpoint a precise date, but debuting in time for the Christmas 2018 season is a sure thing.
In fact, I’d be surprised if these restaurants are not open before the end of October 2018. The construction walls are down and only planters are blocking the entrances. While it’s tough to ascertain how much work needs to be done inside Sebastian’s Bistro, we could see inside Banana Cabana and it looks close to being in finished form.
Not that we think this is going to happen, but it’s potentially in a state where it could soft open this month. Walls are still up around Centertown Market, so it’s tough to get a read on current progress on that, but light fixtures are up and painting is done, so we’d assume it’s not far behind Sebastian’s in terms of progress.
Perhaps the Florida heat was getting to me or maybe I’ve just done too many of these Caribbean Beach construction updates that have included the words “appears behind schedule” but I was downright ecstatic to walk up to the Centertown area and not be met with a construction wall past the pool. I have no clue how long these walls have been down, but I was like a kid on Christmas morning. (That might be sad, but it’s true!)
Anyway, enough of my excitement–let’s take a walk around the waterfront dining area for a closer look at some of the progress:
The other good news is that work elsewhere around the resort in erecting the Skyliner pillars appears to be pretty much complete. This means that the ground around these is no longer all torn up, which is a plus.
Moreover, the beaches have mostly reopened after being closed during our last visit. Not that you’d want to lie out and be cooked by the Florida sun in September, but it’ll be a nice option in about another month or so.
That brings us to the question of whether you should stay at Caribbean Beach Resort? Presumably, if you’re reading now, you’re planning a trip for January 2019 at the earliest. To be honest, the progress we witnessed makes me want to book a stay at Caribbean Beach in November, as it appears to be that far along.
Suffice to say, you’re safe for 2019 when it comes to the bulk of construction. The Skyliner and Disney’s Riviera Resort (DVC) work will remain ongoing at the beginning of the year, but both are getting to the point that they soon won’t intrude upon the Caribbean Beach Resort guest experience with visible exterior work, constant noise, etc.
More importantly, the Old Port Royale and Centertown projects will be wrapped up, which will significantly improve the ambiance and guest experience at Caribbean Beach Resort. Between those two restaurants and the existing Spyglass Grill, it’s possible–if not likely–that Caribbean Beach will have the best dining scene of any Moderate.
The downside is that the Skyliner won’t be running until Summer 2019 (our prediction–Walt Disney World has not made an official announcement). The upside is that you won’t be paying higher room rates that are likely to gradually roll out once the Skyliner debuts. Caribbean Beach Resort room rates for 2019 are already available and there hasn’t been much change yet–but offering decreased or no discounts is another means of increasing the effective room rate.
Personally, we are now ready to return to Caribbean Beach Resort. It’s been too long since I enjoyed a sunrise stroll around Barefoot Bay, evening swim at Fuentes del Morro Pool, or just sat in a hammock on the beach. I know some of the serene ambiance that I loved most about those early mornings and late nights is probably gone forever, but it’s not entirely gone. If we can find a good rate, we’ll aim to do a stay at Caribbean Beach in January or February.
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Your Thoughts
Are you excited to check out the new Sebastian’s Bistro or Centertown Market? Do you agree or disagree with our take on the construction impact on Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort? Have you stayed here since the work began? How did it affect your stay? Planning on staying at Caribbean Beach in late 2018 or early 2019, or will you wait until the Skyliner is operating? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I think the staff at this hotel are obviously affected by the long construction and the endless complaints. I would never book here again until construction is 100% finished. Too bad. It’s a great location and beautiful property.
Booked a room this week for a night in November to see if I want to stay there next year.
Thanks so much for this update Tom. Totally made my day! Booked the CBR for May 2019 for my kids first visit to Disney. Plus the Little Mermaid is my favorite movie so bonus on Sebastian’s opening. So excited for this trip. Now to decide on DDP.
Thanks so much! We arrive the day after Thanksgiving. Can not wait!!
AWESOME!! We arrive the Sunday after Thanksgiving. So exicited
Thanks Tom. I booked this for October 2019 and glad to hear gondolas should be up and running by then as well
Thanks for the update. It’s been a few years since we’ve stayed here, but we loved it when we did. I was a bit concerned about the construction when booking it for our upcoming trip Dec. 15-22, but now I’m feeling much better about it. We got what seemed like a pretty good rate, so I was willing to put up with the construction, but now this makes it look like I made a really good choice.
This looks great, definitely putting this on my list for next time I go visit the most magical place on earth.
Tom,
Thanks so much for the update! We have only been to DWDW a few times and have always stayed at POP. We ventured out this year and are staying at CBR, partly for the excellent rates and FD. Would you recommend a good building/area for a standard room visit? We will be in the parks a lot, but also want to enjoy the “new” resort stay. Thanks again for all your articles, they are my go to research.
Thanks, Erik
Not Tom. However, as a general rule, this is what you have: Standard Rooms: Jamaica and Aruba. Although there are some rooms with great water views, the rest of these are considered standard, as they are farthest away from the pool and Old Port Royale. However, both will be closest to the Skyliner, with it going over both areas. We stayed in a standard room in building 55 in Aruba for most of our May 29 – June 7, 2018 stay. However, buildings 55 and 56 will be the closest buildings, anywhere in any resort, to a Skyliner station (what’s called the Riviera station). Whether that’s a good thing or bad thing remains to be seen, as no one really knows the impact Skyliner will have on CBR. Jamaica, meanwhile, it’s parking lot is right across the street from the main station, with building 41 catty-corner to it. There’s been an announced walkway planned for the CBR to the station, details to be forthcoming. Until Skyliner opens, however, Jamaica and Aruba are the go to standard rooms, and they’re both pretty pleasant. Jamaica and Trinidad South are most shielded from construction noise at the Riviera, but are the most exposed to construction at the main Skyliner station. However, that’s a pretty easy choice: Riviera is much louder construction and far more extensive than the Riviera. Plus, when the lobby re-opens in Old Port Royale, the roadway between the main Skyliner station and Jamaica will lead to the new main entrance, more traffic on the way.
And here’s a run down on the rest of the rooms: Preferred rooms are Martinique and Trinidad North. They are preferred because they are closest to the pool and Old Port Royale’s food. Upon re-opening, they’ll also be closest to the Front Desk. Pirates: Trinidad South. These are the rooms revamped with the Pirates of the Caribbean theme. While the rest of the resort now has queen beds in rooms with 2 beds, these are still full-sized beds, and are definitely not standard.
Thank you so much for this update! We decided to take advantage of a great passholder rate for our trip this fall and switch from Pop to CBR. This report makes me even more excited and confirmation that we made the right choice!
CBR along with Port Orleans are my two favorite resorts. Neither one “feel” like a moderate resort and feel more high end.
Perfect example. We just returned from a visit last week (hit an early Halloween Party before school starts here in NY State) and we stayed at both the Wilderness Lodge (two nights) and Port Orleans two more nights. We booked very late and the WL only had rooms for two nights (after that the price tripled to $900/night). So I asked my wife where she wanted me to look for the other two nights. Without hesitation she said either Port Orleans or CBR. I reminded her that the CBR was still under construction so PO was a no-brainer.
We love how you can stroll around the grounds at PO and feel like you’re in a different world! Nothing about PO seems cheap. The pool has a great theme, the grounds and main building are beautiful and my kids LOVE the boat ride to Disney Springs.
Once CBR is completed we’ll be staying there next year since it was easily in our top 3 before the construction.
Thanks so much for the update on the construction and for incorporating such beautiful pictures of the resort.
Great update, as always. In the good timing category: Today, Disney Parks Blog put out a blog, with piccies, of the work on the mural that’s going to be inside the Centertown Market quick-service food area:
https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2018/09/all-in-the-details-putting-the-spirit-of-the-caribbean-into-the-new-centertown-market/
And, yes, they described Old Port Royale as reopening “this fall”
Judging from the very little that can be seen from the pictures, it looks like the interior is largely finished, at least in that part of the building. Usually (although not always) such touch up work is some of the last work done; you don’t want dust on the new artwork. Exterior work looks to be mostly touchup, the re-doing of the entrance area and the new roofs put on. All of that work can be done in less than a 2 week period. Which leaves the only question being the interior work, and how much is left there. While the new restaurant area is in a separate building, most of the rest of the complex is what was there before, though remodeling will have taken place.
Back on July 1st, I suggested that the ideal target date was October 1st, because that is both the 47th anniversary of the opening of WDW, it is also the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Caribbean Beach Resort. Whether they can make that date likely depends on the weather, and interior progress that no outsider knows. When I compared the progress made since we left on June 7th, to where it had gone from you last report, I was amazed at how far they had come. To me, it really does seem like they’re working to an internal target date, and I’m pretty confidant what that date is. Making it, that’s a different story. But I’d bet a boatload of coconut postcards that it will be open within 2 months.
Other points of interest: The beach at Aruba was never closed, and none of the other beaches were affected by the construction. An additional portion was fenced off, for matting to be put down for the transport of construction equipment to the pylon that was placed next to Aruba’s “quiet” pool. As I said, I found it actually less intrusive than the permanent posts and roping put up after the alligator tragedy. I see that they’re now in the process of remaking the original cart/walking path by the pylon (a concrete detour was put in place, going slightly onto the beach, to get around the construction site. But the beach never closed. The wife still got to lounge on the sand and swing in the hammocks.
You couldn’t remember if they’d ever made an announcement about the lobby moving? Yep, they did: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2017/12/12-days-of-disney-parks-christmas-transformation-details-revealed-for-disneys-caribbean-beach-resort/
That’s when the concept artwork first came out.
Finally, glad to here you’ll be checking it out in early winter! However, as you know, we won’t get an idea as to how the vibe there has really been impacted until the Skyliner opens and the Riviera Resort is up and running. To me, the Riviera impact is going to be minimal; the big question will be the impact of the gondola’s passing over the roofs of Jamaica and Aruba. Fingers crossed. Thanks again!
Thanks Tom. Great work again I hope you give yourself more credit I was sad to see you down on yourself yesterday. What you do matters Tom.
Thanks, but to be clear/clarify, I wasn’t down on myself at all. Doing the same type of formulaic post over and over again gets tedious, and I just need a break of a few days from those. I’ll have more of them!
I’m so excited for this update! We are staying there October 11-20. I was a bit worried about the construction at first, but it doesn’t seem to be an issue now. Maybe I’ll get lucky and at least one of the restaurants will be open when I’m there. Either way I’m excited, I have never been to CBR. Thank you!
Thanks for the updates!!!! We leave in 22 days for an 8 night stay at CBR!!! I’ve been anxious about the construction but your updates certainly help! Still wondering though ….what is the best area and building to suggest when sending in a room request? We stayed in Jamaica 4 years ago and it all seemed to work out well with the transportation/bus system. I know you mentioned Trinidad because of the restaurant close by. How is the bus transportation at Trinidad right now?
Which section of the resort would you recommend staying at for a mid-December 2018 arrival?
I’d like to hear suggestions on this too! I think my gamble of booking our December stay at CBR is going to pay off, but I’d still like to figure out a quieter part of the resort to request.
I’m interested to know this as well. We have one add on night there in early December.
Also interested in this recommendation! Tom?
Delighted to hear of the progress and feel more confident to make my usual February booking. My biggest relief is – no more tent – which I thought was pretty ghastly and no more food trucks. I was considering booking elsewhere but you have now reassured me that my favourite resort will be essentially finished by the time I arrive. Thank you for up-to-date reports
Awesome! Did they eliminate any of the buildings for rooms? We stayed once and LOVED the themed pool and overall feel of the resort, but taking a bus to a park took more than a half hour just to leave the resort. It had a crazy number of internal stops. Hoping that problem was addressed
Having stayed there before, you should remember that the rooms were divided up into 6 “islands”: Jamaica, Aruba, Barbados, Martinique, Trinidad North and Trinidad South. To put in the new Riviera Resort (DVC) they tore down all of Barbados and half of Martinique. The wooded area between Aruba and Barbados has also been sacrificed for one of the Skyliner stations.
thank you Paul. Hopefully the bus situation is better — lovely resort.
Thanks for the update! I kinda knew what I was getting into booking in the middle of October but I chose this place for the location (close to Epcot) and for the FL resident discount. I wasn’t concerned with the dining options because we will be spending time at the Food and Wine Fest. We primarily stay at the moderate resorts so I’m excited to check this one out for the first time. It may end up on my list of favorites!
Those Skyliner poles really throw me off. They look intrusive as hell when positioned next to those buildings like that.