has anyone stayed here?

[Lorix2]

Hi!

We were thinking of staying at the CBR for our very first time to Disney, which I know is located in the Epcot area, which I don't really plan to visit with my kids this time, but will if we have time, not a priority though. I hear the CBR is enormous, tons of walking everwhere on the property, I'm thinking of something smaller and less spread out....

Has anyone stayed at the Best Western Lake Buena Vista or Courtyard by Marriott in the Downtown Disney area? Is that way too far from the MK? I thought it might be a tad less expensive?? do the same shuttle buses take you there regularly (as if you stayed at the CBR), like every 1/2 hour or so or really regulary?

any input or suggestions would be most appreciated..thank you.

 

[Saffron]

Hi Lorix2

We love the CBR and I think you will too. If you are concerned about walking, ask to be located near Old Port Royale. That is the main building with the themed pool, food court, gift shops, arcade etc.

The villages are set up in a circle around a lagoon. Port Royale would be at twelve o'clock in that circle. There is an internal bus that will take you from your village to Old Port Royale. We stayed in the Aruba section which would be about 7 or 8 oclock and the internal bus got us to Port Royale in about 5 minutes. If you decide to walk and you are in one of the villages that are further out, the walk is a far one but a beutiful one.

The children will love the themed pool or the quieter pool
at your village. Laundry facilities are located at each village, pool side, so that makes doing laundry a breeze.

I have never stayed at any other resort so I can't help you there but I think you would really enjoy the CBR.

Have a great first trip - that is very exciting!!

Saffron

 

[Geubux]

Hi
We have stayed at CBR and my wife was very disappointed with the decor. My brother has stayed at Port Orleans, now Riverside, and loved it. Stay at one of the other moderate resorts and I think you will be happy. We just returned from an off site stay, and we both agree that there is just something more magical about staying on site.

 

[SandraC]

See below where we've stayed and I agree, we will never stay off site again (unless it was free and I would have to really think about it).

We stayed on site for the first time April 21-28 and it was wonderful! I did a bunch of TRIP REPORTS on the TRIP REPORT BOARDS (look for SandraC).

CBR was great BUT we didn't spend as much time there as I would have liked. We are athletic family and don't mind walking at all. I read lots of BAD reviews of CBR and I don't get it. I am PICKY PICKY PICKY and I loved it! ILLUMINATIONS everynight! We stayed at ARUBA, VERY NICE, right across the lagoon from OPR.

Because we have young kids we are staying at ALL STARS next year.

We found CBR location to be PERFECT to all the parks!

The other hotels you mentioned are abour 5 - 10 minutes drive from CBR towards Downtown Disney.

 

[Lorix2]

hi everybody, thank you for you're opinions. See, I was asking about the Best Western LBV & Courtyard because my husband has a bad knee and walking at WDW alone will be alot for him, so I was trying to stay somewhere were you the pool and so on wasn't so spread out and glad to hear of the CBR locality that was mentioned.

You mentioned 5- 10 minutes from CBR toward DD to get to the Best Western & Courtyard, but would I be ridiculously far from the magic kingdom if we chose to stay there instead, since it's DD? I don't have a map to judge the distance...is this location a hassle at all does anyone know? (as far as transportation back & forth to MK & other parks)

thank you again!

 

[Saffron]

Hi Lorix2

Again I haven't stayed at any of the Downtown Disney Resorts but I wanted to reassure you that if you stay at the CBR your husband doesn't have to do much walking. You all can take the internal bus if you get too far away from the action. In 1987 I had an automobile accident that left me handicapped. I almost lost my right leg. On the third day of our vacation I made it into the MK to a bench right outside of City Hall and that was it! I couldn't go any further! But -one day of rest and I was able to go again. The CBR was great for me. The room we had in Aruba was far enough yet close enough to the bus stop, near the pool and the beach and a brief ride to Port Royale. I loved the tropical island ambiance. I felt like I was on an island in the Caribbean. It is great. Staying on property is a vacation within a vacation.

There are fantastic deals this summer for rates. Hopefully next year there will be some more. We have stayed off property and on and we will never stay off property again (well, just a few days to go to US/IOA). The Disney Magic continues at your hotel.

From what I have read, the Downtown Disney Hotels are good choices. It won't take you any longer to get to the MK but the shuttle service of the hotels may not run as efficiently as Disney buses.

Have fun planning! You may change your mind many times before you finally set things in stone. I know I do!

 

[Disneydenise]

If you hubby has a bad Knee you may want to get a wheel chair for some of the time in the parks. I know that some people will not want to do that but I would rather be in a wheel chair for some of the time than risk ruining my joint and suffering needlessly during a very fun and expensive vacation. There is alot of walking and standing involved in this vacation. Make sure you have a brace with you it may be hot but it will probably help take some stress of the joint.

 

[Lorix2]

Hi Saffron & DisneyDenise -

again thank you for sharing and great suggestion about the wheelchair and brace (he does have one)....you're right about changing my mind....I'm leaning toward the ALL Star Movie or Pop Resort now so as to save some money on accommodations since we won't be spending much time in the room anyway....maybe for our very first trip with our kids, this is where we should start and move on up next time if we feel we should....love this board, everyone here is so helpful and pleasant...keep suggestions coming!! thank you

 

[beansmom]

and we much prefer the Courtyard in Downtown Disney. We were able to receive all of the perks of staying onsite and just were not all that impressed with CBR. DH insists our next stay will be at Courtyard (but I'm thinking about PO)!