Thoughts on Caribbean Beach with NO Skyliner

[jennanyg]

I wanted to get some opinions on the fact that Disney emailed me today to let me know that the Skyliner will not be in service when we are scheduled to be at Disney staying at Caribbean Beach. We stay there specifically for the Skyliner because HS is our favorite park. We park hop everyday usually ending the day in HS. All that said, should we change resorts to FQ because it is smaller and only has bus transportation? OR stick it out and hope that the buses to HS and Epcot are reliable from CB? (I don't want to upgrade the resort to Boardwalk where we could walk but pay twice the price.) Please let me know your thoughts, thank you!

 

[potterfanatic]

We had no issues with busing when we were at CBR in June. Buses came every 20 minutes or so. And when we went back from Epcot with the skyliner down for rain we caught the bus right away. But that said, personally, if the skyliner is down I would switch for the small resort, boat to DS, and beignets.

 

[Dave006]

I wanted to get some opinions on the fact that Disney emailed me today to let me know that the Skyliner will not be in service when we are scheduled to be at Disney staying at Caribbean Beach. We stay there specifically for the Skyliner because HS is our favorite park.

From January 22, 2023 through January 29, 2023, the Disney Skyliner will be closed for refurbishment. That also impacts AoA but since you mentioned POFQ that would be a good alternative due to is smaller size resort, proximity to DS, and begets.

Another alternative would be to check out the Swan and Dolphin since they are located right next to the BoardWalk area and are often 1/2 the price of the Boardwalk, YC or BC.

Dave

 

[Disneylover99]

If you’re only there because of the Skyliner, and there is no Skyliner that week, then definitely make a switch. I’d happily choose POFQ.

 

[zmdisneyworld]

Someone else asked the same question a few days ago and there is a good discussion that you may want to read through.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/should-i-change-from-caribbean-beach-without-skyliner.3893471/

 

[HopperFan]

So you would be making a lateral, almost a downgrade change. If you will save money then I suppose why not?

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

I wanted to get some opinions on the fact that Disney emailed me today to let me know that the Skyliner will not be in service when we are scheduled to be at Disney staying at Caribbean Beach. We stay there specifically for the Skyliner because HS is our favorite park. We park hop everyday usually ending the day in HS. All that said, should we change resorts to FQ because it is smaller and only has bus transportation? OR stick it out and hope that the buses to HS and Epcot are reliable from CB? (I don't want to upgrade the resort to Boardwalk where we could walk but pay twice the price.) Please let me know your thoughts, thank you!

I feel like the skyliner is a really BIG reason most guests choose it over CSR and POR/FQ and for us, was the only reason we chose to stay there previously and we've been coming to Disney for decades. The skyliner was the only draw for us. We're not fans of the size of the resort and the number of bus stops, which is the most on property. I would either look to switch to POFQ for a smaller resort or look at Swan or Dolphin. We have stayed there for the same price or less as Port Orleans and choose it for the deluxe benefits like EEH. Walking or taking the boat to DHS/Epcot is awesome and the boardwalk area is so fun. My kids prefer POFQ/Riverside theming but I prefer convenience. We've stayed at BWV before and love the convenience but 9 times out of 10, S/D are always cheaper.

Few things to consider if you do look at S/D, there is a resort fee not in the nightly fee and there is a parking fee, so make sure you have those numbers to compare other WDW resorts. And while S/D has a bus to MK, it will drop guests at the TTC and not at the bus depot near the entrance. The buses at S/D are operated by Mears and sometime shortly around Covid time, their contract expired/changed, I don't really know, but they cannot drop at the bus depot. It's not bad as we'll either just take the bus to TTC or catch a YC/BC/BW bus to/from MK.

 

[jennanyg]

Thanks everyone, I switched to POFQ but had to pay an additional $76.00 which annoyed me (and I kept the same standard view as I had before at CBR). Disney said they couldn't do anything about the price increase. I am still going to look into the Swan/Dolphin but when I looked briefly yesterday it was way more expensive.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Thanks everyone, I switched to POFQ but had to pay an additional $76.00 which annoyed me (and I kept the same standard view as I had before at CBB). Disney said they couldn't do anything about the price increase. I am still going to look into the Swan/Dolphin but when I looked briefly yesterday it was way more expensive.

I'm sorry to hear that. Keep checking and also keep in mind that they're marriott bonvoy hotels so if you have any points, that could help bring down cost.

 

[Disneylover99]

Thanks everyone, I switched to POFQ but had to pay an additional $76.00 which annoyed me (and I kept the same standard view as I had before at CBB). Disney said they couldn't do anything about the price increase. I am still going to look into the Swan/Dolphin but when I looked briefly yesterday it was way more expensive.

Even with that price adjustment, it would still be 100% worth it to me.
Enjoy!

 

[stinkpickle]

It would require a substantial savings over the other moderates for me to stay at CBR without the skyliner.

 

[snikki]

For $76 more For POFQ I would've stayed at CBR if I truly enjoy the resort. We stayed there in 2008 and 2009 and enjoyed our stays. I haven't booked it recently since we wanted to try CSR and we haven't tried the Skyliner yet so we don't know if the price increase at CBR is worth it for us. We will try the skyliner this trip and decide if CBR will be on our list for future trips.

We also enjoy FQ so I don’t think you made a bad choice!

 

[CaptainAmerica]

We had three rooms in September and all three of them were in desperate need of refurbishment. The furniture and fixtures were beat to heck. The common areas of the resort, including the lobby, the grounds, and the pool, were immaculate. So it was definitely a mixed bag for us, but I'd probably avoid the resort until the next room refurb.

 

[Duck143]

I love CBR, but if the Skyliner was going to be down, I would switch. I would choose another resort that offered an easy mode of transportation to DS or another park. Have you looked into Swan or Dolphin, because those are both walking distance to HS. I've also heard they have some of the best park views and they are also in walking distance to a ton of places to eat.

 

[jennanyg]

There were a couple of people that chimed in on the other Skyliner closure post that it opened early last year and was only down for 3 days and not a week. Now, I can't decide if we should stay at CBR and take our chances?! Thoughts?

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

There were a couple of people that chimed in on the other Skyliner closure post that it opened early last year and was only down for 3 days and not a week. Now, I can't decide if we should stay at CBR and take our chances?! Thoughts?

Even if it’s only a few days, for us that would be enough to not want to stay there especially given the large number of bus stops.