Switching from Poly to CBR??? Please help!

[mickeynut1]

Thank you for the reply! How did you feel about the rooms as CBR? Have you stayed at other moderates?

You're welcome! CBR is the only mod we've stayed at and we loved the rooms. With that said, I have only seen pics of the new rooms, but they look very nice .

 

[Dug720]

I adore CBR. In fact, I changed from Poly to CBR for my upcoming solo trip!

 

[Runred1893]

I adore CBR. In fact, I changed from Poly to CBR for my upcoming solo trip!

Wow! Good to hear!

 

[Dug720]

Wow! Good to hear!

To me, CBR is Disney home. I kept gravitating back to it, so... I switched. (Will save a ton of money too.)

 

[Kevin355]

Have stayed at CBR over 10 times. Never had an issue with buses, except Christmas Day about 12 year ago. Love the resort, love the quiet pools, and cannot justify spending more to stay at a deluxe.

 

[maxiesmom]

It is a lot of money--but I am not at all a fan of CBR. And the convenience factor is so different at the Poly, it is almost impossible to compare the two. One you have the monorail right there, the other you have a bus that typically goes thru 7 stops before heading to the parks. I would probably have a bit of a melt down if I thought I was staying at the Poly and ended up at CBR.

They will be vastly different experiences, don't kid yourself. Will you save the money and be happy, or will you be comparing a moderate stay to a deluxe stay the whole time?

Btw, I have stayed at and loved POR, POFQ, and CSR. I'm not a resort snob by any means. But I didn't like CBR much at all.

 

[MeganS721]

We just had this same situation with the Poly. We switched today to WL and saved almost $700. We are also planning to be at the parks all day and decided it wasn't worth the extra money just to sleep there. We will come back to the Poly when we have a longer time and can actually enjoy the resort.

 

[Runred1893]

We went from 2 deluxe stays at BWI and BC (both of which we loved) to a stay at CBR because we couldn't justify spending the extra $1,000+ each trip. Not if we planned to continue returning anyways. I was completely nervous about going down to mod, but once we had to pay for tickets for all three kids, we had to do it. I read a lot of reviews and a lot of awful things about the size of the resort and the buses, but it turned out to be one of our absolute best trips to date and we very happily returned to CBR last month.

It is an absolutely beautiful resort. Very relaxed feel with the little beaches and hammocks and gorgeous sunsets and views of the Epcot fireworks. The rooms are the quietest I've experienced out of the 6 onsite resorts we've stayed at. With the way it's spread out you easily think you are the only ones staying there at times. We don't see that many people outside of the buses, pool and food court. The pool is really cool for the kids and the food court is good. The CMs are really awesome as well.

Yes, you have to take buses everywhere which is the main difference, but our bus wait and travel times at CBR have been better than expected the majority of the time. And really at the Poly you still have to take the bus to 2 parks vs. all 4 so it's not like you gain close access to everything. I wouldn't hesitate to stay at CBR again regardless but to save $1300 I'd definitely say give it a try.

Thank you!

It is a lot of money--but I am not at all a fan of CBR. And the convenience factor is so different at the Poly, it is almost impossible to compare the two. One you have the monorail right there, the other you have a bus that typically goes thru 7 stops before heading to the parks. I would probably have a bit of a melt down if I thought I was staying at the Poly and ended up at CBR.

They will be vastly different experiences, don't kid yourself. Will you save the money and be happy, or will you be comparing a moderate stay to a deluxe stay the whole time?

Btw, I have stayed at and loved POR, POFQ, and CSR. I'm not a resort snob by any means. But I didn't like CBR much at all.

I'll probably be comparing the entire stay to a deluxe stay

 

[Dis703]

FWIW after 2 CBR stays we never once went through all 7 bus stops and the majority of the time when heading to the parks we only had 1 to 2 more stops. It partially depends on which stop you are at.

 

[maxiesmom]

I want to add too I'm the crazy lady that switched one trip from the Beach Club to the All Star Music to save money. I get it. But it was a very different trip. And you have to know you will be good with it.

 

[maxiesmom]

FWIW after 2 CBR stays we never once went through all 7 bus stops and the majority of the time when heading to the parks we only had 1 to 2 more stops. It partially depends on which stop you are at.

Not my experience. We got on at Jamaica and went all the way around. Even so you are still comparing all bus service to half bus half monorail service.

 

[buzzrelly]

I would NEVER switch from Poly to CBR. We stayed at CBR once and hated it.

 

[dansdad]

We would switch in a heartbeat. We love everything about CBR. It is our favorite Moderate and our 2nd favorite resort in all of WDW. Even if the difference was $300 we'd switch and not think twice about it.

 

[mickeygirl78]

I would switch for $1300 savings. I love CBR. I'm not sure why it gets a bad rap but it's a fabulous resort. I love the beachy theme. We always request Jamaica (we book a standard room), it's a nice short walk to the food court and main pool. I don't have a problem w/ the busses. If you go early in the morning they typically run busses on each side of the resort so you only have 3-4 stops. Mid morning til later in the day they do all 7. We were there for 15 nights this past September and had no issues. It's also very centrally located. It is so fast to get to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. If you are going to be in the parks most of the day, I would recommend you try it.

 

[Dis703]

Not my experience. We got on at Jamaica and went all the way around. Even so you are still comparing all bus service to half bus half monorail service.

Was this some time ago? I know they changed the way they handled the stops at one point but in 2015 and again a few weeks ago we got on at Jamaica and left to the parks after Barbados (2 stops later) unless it was full sooner. Coming back we were usually the first drop off, but if they came in at Martinique (the other starting point) we were the 5th stop.

Admittedly, I've never stayed on the monorail line so it might be a wonderful perk. But I have dined at resorts on the monorail line when they monorail has gone down and found that a pretty huge pain as well. $1300 for 1/2 monorail service I still just can't see as worth it, but everyone decides what they find to be worth it or not.

 

[nemorocks]

We have stayed at CBR twice and had wonderful trips! The new rooms are nice and the beds are comfy. We have stayed in the preferred section and also in Jamaica so our walk to the food court was not bad at all. It is a pretty resort with a tropical beach feel, and it is so pretty at night! Our bus experience was fine and we will stay there again I'm sure. The only down side to CBR that I don't like is the check in process. You check in at a totally separate house and then have to take another bus over to the main house or to your room. At other resorts, you just get off at the main house and then walk straight to your room. So anyway...that part is annoying, but it by far won't ruin your trip If I were you...since you are pretty much just sleeping at your resort of choice, I would save the 1300.00 and stay at CBR. You will most likely be just as comfy there as you would at Poly for the night. Have a great trip!

 

[Jtollison]

One of our BEST trips to WDW was at CBR. The rooms are beautiful and the resort grounds have a wonderful tropical feel. Also, the pool is great for families with children. My DD wanted to skip the park some days to stay at the pool.

 

[brockash]

First time poster....struggling with the decision as to whether we should switch from the Poly to CBR (or another moderate.) two adults and two children ages 8 and 13. This will be our 4th trip to Disney in the last four years. So far we have stayed at BWI, AKL and CR - garden wing. We are a family that typically does a pre-park opening breakfast and closes down the parks. We are currently booked for 5 nights at the Poly in May with a 5 day hopper and one day at a water park. If we switch to CBR, it will save a little over $1300. The newly renovated rooms seem nice at CBR. I understand that transportation will be not as convenient as staying at the Poly, but overall, is it "worth" another $1300 to stay there? Thank you!

If you're generally not in your room, then I'd probably say save the money, however I wouldn't stay at CBR. I've stayed at POR and CBR this past August and if given the choice, I'd choose POFQ, followed by POR...CBR was too big and just didn't flow well for us, and we stayed at a relatively close room.

 

[Dug720]

We have stayed at CBR twice and had wonderful trips! The new rooms are nice and the beds are comfy. We have stayed in the preferred section and also in Jamaica so our walk to the food court was not bad at all. It is a pretty resort with a tropical beach feel, and it is so pretty at night! Our bus experience was fine and we will stay there again I'm sure. The only down side to CBR that I don't like is the check in process. You check in at a totally separate house and then have to take another bus over to the main house or to your room. At other resorts, you just get off at the main house and then walk straight to your room. So anyway...that part is annoying, but it by far won't ruin your trip If I were you...since you are pretty much just sleeping at your resort of choice, I would save the 1300.00 and stay at CBR. You will most likely be just as comfy there as you would at Poly for the night. Have a great trip!

Just as a note, you don't HAVE to take the internal shuttle. It's very walkable to pretty much all the villages from the Customs House. The desk CMs make it sound like you have to take the shuttle, but you don't.

 

[lisaviolet]

Just wanted to add that staying at the Polynesian is just not monorail service.

You literally have three options to the MK and back. Monorail, small boat to Polynesian and ferry to the TTC - which is an easy walk to the Polynesian. Also, having the Epcot monorail right there, at the nearby TTC, is a great option.

I have only stayed at the Polynesian twice and I can tell you that having a multitude of easy and relaxing transportation options made both vacations better.

Good luck with your decision.