Caribbean Beach resort

Staying At Caribbean Beach Resort

When we visited Disney World last time, in May 2018, we stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter. We had actually booked to stay at the Caribbean Beach Resort as this was our first choice, but there was a lot of construction going on there at the time so we decided to switch resorts. We’re glad we did because we all loved French Quarter, but then we were keen to get back to trying the Caribbean Beach Resort this time around, so here are our thoughts on staying at  Caribbean Beach Resort.

Caribbean Beach Resort beach

I have to say that for the first couple of days of our stay it just didn’t grab me, I much preferred French Quarter, but then I got a drink one morning a few days in to our stay and went and sat on the beach to drink it and the resort clicked with me. I did love having that sandy stretch of beach outside our room and then more and more things appealed to me, so let me share more about the Caribbean Beach Resort with you.

Caribbean Beach Resort: The Resort

As I mentioned, there has been a lot of construction taking place here recently, so there are lots of brand new lovely things to enjoy. There is a new centre, Old Port Royale and the lobby is beautiful and smells gorgeous!

The resort is laid out all around the centre, where the reception, food court, shop and pool are. There are several different village areas that you can stay in, we stayed in Aruba which is about a five minute walk to the centre.

The pool is amazing with slides for the kids and a pirates and cannons theme, however we didn’t actually go there! Each of the village areas also has its own small pool, and the kids chose to go to the Aruba pool every time. They liked it as it was really quiet and they often had the whole pool to themselves. It was also near to our room and there were loads of loungers available no matter what time we turned up there. For me, this was a highlight of this resort as the kids had so much fun playing and swimming there.

The sandy beaches run all around the resort and are so beautiful. There are hammocks and loungers dotted all over them so you can always take a moment to sit and rest there. Relaxing there after the hectic parks was just perfect.

Caribbean Beach Resort Skyliner

Caribbean Beach Resort: The Rooms

Having stayed at French Quarter last time, the rooms were decidedly average in comparison. The French Quarter rooms were refurbished shortly before our stay and I think the rooms at the Caribbean could do with improvement, particularly the flooring. That said, our room was clean, comfortable and all that we needed it to be for our stay as we only really slept in there anyway.

It was big enough for the four of us, with room to store our cases and put our clothes and belongings away. I liked the double sinks in the bathrooms and the kids liked watching Disney Junior on the big TV every morning!

Caribbean Beach Resort room

Caribbean Beach Resort: The Food

The food didn’t blow us away, however there are lots of options with this one and we tended to want to be be eating in the parks anyway.

There is Centertown, with a grab and go and a food court. We used the grab and go a couple of times for cakes and they were good, the service was friendly and speedy. We ate at the food court once and the menu didn’t really appeal to us. However, there is also the Spyglass Grill as a Quick Service option that we didn’t try and then there is Sebastian’s Bistro for table service.

As the Caribbean Beach resort is directly opposite the Riviera resort, and handily right by the Aruba area, we also ate at their Quick Service restaurant, Primo Piatto. We tried there for both breakfast and dinner and would definitely recommend both.

We could have also easily popped to Pop or Art of Animation for food as they are on the Skyliner, so I do think that you have quite a few options of dining quite close to home at this resort.

Caribbean Beach Resort: Getting Around

Now this is where this resort really comes into its own and that’s all down to the Skyliner. We LOVED the Skyliner!

The Skyliner opened up last year and connects the Caribbean Beach resort with Epcot and Hollywood Studios, along with Pop Century, Art of Animation and Riviera. It is so fast and easy to use, even at peak times the line constantly moves so your wait time is minimal. We left Hollywood Studios along with most of the park after Fanstasmic one night (it ended at 8.30) and we were back in our room by 9pm, which is some going. There is no way we’d have done that with the buses. I believe it’s a 4 minute journey from Hollywood Studios to the Caribbean, and it was also handy for getting to the park in time for the Rise of the Resistance boarding pass scramble. With all of the current construction at Epcot, I also liked that we entered that park through International Gateway rather than the front, as it is much more appealing at the moment. Popping to both parks felt so fast and simple.

The buses, as with most resorts I think, can be quite hit and miss. Sometimes we waited for some time, and at others we jumped straight on. Again, it’s proximity to the Riviera is handy, particularly with Aruba being close to the Riviera, as we jumped on Riviera buses a few times coming back if they turned up before Caribbean Beach buses.

Caribbean Beach Resort view

All in all, we enjoyed our stay at the Caribbean Beach resort and would be happy to stay there again. I suspect that this will become the most expensive moderate resort to book now that is has the Skyliner, which really does give it a significant advantage over the other moderates. On top of that, it is also beautiful making it a tough one to beat!

What do you think? Have you stayed here or are you tempted?

If you are considering booking your first Disney World holiday then you might find Walt Disney World for the Uninitiated helpful.

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