VACamm
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- Joined
- Jun 29, 2012
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"We're basically here for the food..." A September 2016 TR**Updated 4/21/17
- Thread starter VACamm
- Start date
VACamm
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2012
Awwww... I know!! It is SO beautiful and Magical isn't it?!?!
VACamm
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2012
After a brief hiatus, I'm back to finish my trip report this morning... hopefully 
We were able to sleep in on our last morning until 8:00 which was very much appreciated because we were exhausted from Rope Dropping every park for the entire week. When we got up, we showered and packed up most of our stuff because it had to be taken to the Magical Express luggage drop off location to ensure it would get to our plane
My Dad walked his suitcase all the way up to the Customs House first, because he had an earlier flight than us. While he was up there, he asked again, for the 7th day in a row, if they had located his jacket. Do y'all remember his jacket that he forgot at the food court the very first day, after we had only been at the resort for like... a minute? My father had been calling housekeeping and the front desk DAILY, as well as walking up to the Customs House every couple of days to see if they found his jacket.
It was a Caribbean MIRACLE!! The front desk staff miraculously located his jacket ... 7 days later. What in the world?? 
My poor father was so happy that they found it, but was furious that after all of the crap that they had given him about it not being found by anyone on staff in a WEEK. That put yet another bad taste in our mouths about the CBR. They might as well have simply said 'ooooops sorrrrry 'bout that'... and sent him off. 
We walked up to the Port Royal Centertown to get some breakfast on our last morning. Here are some pictures I was snapping along the loooooooooong walk from our room to the food court.
This Hammock location looks pretty relaxing.
I usually saw people in these hammocks in the afternoons, but they were empty this morning!
The beach area had the new fences up to prevent people from going in the water....
Heres a good shot of the fencing at the beaches.
This is the fountain in front of Centertown. Inside of this building is where the foodcourt, sit down restaurant, and gift shop are all located. To the right of this location is the main themed pool as well as the pool bar.
This is also part of Centertown. The outdoor tables are perfect for getting your food from the food court, and eating outdoors.
After breakfast, we went back to our room to finish packing everything up in our airplane carryons, to get everything out of our room, and then we made the long walk back to the main themed pool at Centertown. We said goodbye to my father because he had an earlier flight that we did.
Kevin, Ethan, and I spend our last 3 hours at the pool. Here in these photos you can see the terrible pool chair layout.
1st: See how cramped the chairs are together? We felt like Sardines all packed in together. Who designed this???
2nd: See how the chairs are miniature and don't have the full loungers for your legs? It looks like instead of Disney investing in a larger concrete patio area to accommodate the large number of guests, they bought tiny chairs to fit more people in the same amount of square footage. They had a few of the full loungers scattered around, but the majority of chairs were these tiny chairs. Of course all of the full loungers were taken when we got there. I will say that the quiet pools do have the full size loungers, which is where we spent the majority of our pool time each day.
The main pool is a cool concept especially for people who really like the Pirates of the Caribbean! My main complaint is the size of the pool for so many people at the resort - its too small! 
Also, the small size of the patio - they cramp everyone in like sardines! 
We found the quiet pools to be much better for us personally, but that meant long walks back and forth to the pool bar which is located at the main pool. We couldn't win! 
It was a nice calm last few hours spent at the pool, and we were already sad to be leaving Walt Disney World...
We were able to sleep in on our last morning until 8:00 which was very much appreciated because we were exhausted from Rope Dropping every park for the entire week. When we got up, we showered and packed up most of our stuff because it had to be taken to the Magical Express luggage drop off location to ensure it would get to our plane
My Dad walked his suitcase all the way up to the Customs House first, because he had an earlier flight than us. While he was up there, he asked again, for the 7th day in a row, if they had located his jacket. Do y'all remember his jacket that he forgot at the food court the very first day, after we had only been at the resort for like... a minute? My father had been calling housekeeping and the front desk DAILY, as well as walking up to the Customs House every couple of days to see if they found his jacket.
It was a Caribbean MIRACLE!! The front desk staff miraculously located his jacket ... 7 days later. What in the world?? My poor father was so happy that they found it, but was furious that after all of the crap that they had given him about it not being found by anyone on staff in a WEEK. That put yet another bad taste in our mouths about the CBR. They might as well have simply said 'ooooops sorrrrry 'bout that'... and sent him off. We walked up to the Port Royal Centertown to get some breakfast on our last morning. Here are some pictures I was snapping along the loooooooooong walk from our room to the food court.
This Hammock location looks pretty relaxing.
I usually saw people in these hammocks in the afternoons, but they were empty this morning!
The beach area had the new fences up to prevent people from going in the water....
Heres a good shot of the fencing at the beaches.
This is the fountain in front of Centertown. Inside of this building is where the foodcourt, sit down restaurant, and gift shop are all located. To the right of this location is the main themed pool as well as the pool bar.
This is also part of Centertown. The outdoor tables are perfect for getting your food from the food court, and eating outdoors.
After breakfast, we went back to our room to finish packing everything up in our airplane carryons, to get everything out of our room, and then we made the long walk back to the main themed pool at Centertown. We said goodbye to my father because he had an earlier flight that we did.
Kevin, Ethan, and I spend our last 3 hours at the pool. Here in these photos you can see the terrible pool chair layout.
1st: See how cramped the chairs are together? We felt like Sardines all packed in together. Who designed this???
2nd: See how the chairs are miniature and don't have the full loungers for your legs? It looks like instead of Disney investing in a larger concrete patio area to accommodate the large number of guests, they bought tiny chairs to fit more people in the same amount of square footage. They had a few of the full loungers scattered around, but the majority of chairs were these tiny chairs. Of course all of the full loungers were taken when we got there. I will say that the quiet pools do have the full size loungers, which is where we spent the majority of our pool time each day.
The main pool is a cool concept especially for people who really like the Pirates of the Caribbean!
My main complaint is the size of the pool for so many people at the resort - its too small! Also, the small size of the patio - they cramp everyone in like sardines! We found the quiet pools to be much better for us personally, but that meant long walks back and forth to the pool bar which is located at the main pool. We couldn't win! It was a nice calm last few hours spent at the pool, and we were already sad to be leaving Walt Disney World...
VACamm
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2012
After we spent our few last hours reading, swimming, and relaxing in the sun, we got dried off and headed up to the Customs House to begin our journey home to VA. At the Customs House were were instructed to sit on the bench and wait for The Magical Express Bus to arrive.
These are the front doors to the Custom House which is also where you check in once the Magical Express drops you off at the beginning of your vacation.
While waiting, Ethan used his time wisely by watching Youtube videos while we still had the resorts free wifi.
Before long, our bus showed up!
While sitting on the bus, I started to feel sad. REALLY sad. I felt like we needed a re-do because we really didn't like our stay at the CBR. Our room location, combined with the long walks to the bus and the food court, as well as a few other crappy issues that I didn't mention in this trip report, really caused us to all say it was our least favorite WDW resort experience that we have experienced.
In our seats, I turned to Kevin and asked him if we were coming back to WDW next year. His response was that he definitely wanted to come back because he wanted to see Pandora when it opened!
I told him that if we were going to do the Bounce Back Offer, that we needed to do it before our vacation was over! He said "BOOK IT!!"
Soooo, while sitting on the Magical Express in the driveway of the Caribbean Beach Resort, I called Disney Reservations and booked a Bounce Back with Free Disney Dining for the same week in 2017! We were booked at the Port Orleans Riverside in a Preferred Room with Free Disney Dining. My heart was full xoxo
The Magical Express plays a video on the way back to the airport that is sure to urge guests to book another vacation.
We made it to the airport, and had to wait for our carryons to be unloaded from underneath the bus.
We took our very last ride of our vacation... the Airport Monorail!
Ethan watching more Youtube
Our flight back to Virginia was uneventful with a brief layover in Charlotte, NC. We arrived home to our 2 dogs and 2 cats and immediately began planning for our next trip to WDW in 51 weeks!
Follow along on our Pre-Trip Report in my signature titled "Lets Bounceback To WDW" . http://disboards.com/threads/lets-bounceback-to-wdw-september-2017-por-pre-trip-report.3558642/ We will be at Port Orleans Riverside September 2 - 9th 2017 in a preferred room with Free Disney Dining.
Thank you for following along, and if you have any questions about CBR or anything mentioned in this trip report please don't hesitate to ask!
These are the front doors to the Custom House which is also where you check in once the Magical Express drops you off at the beginning of your vacation.
While waiting, Ethan used his time wisely by watching Youtube videos while we still had the resorts free wifi.
Before long, our bus showed up!
While sitting on the bus, I started to feel sad. REALLY sad. I felt like we needed a re-do because we really didn't like our stay at the CBR. Our room location, combined with the long walks to the bus and the food court, as well as a few other crappy issues that I didn't mention in this trip report, really caused us to all say it was our least favorite WDW resort experience that we have experienced.
In our seats, I turned to Kevin and asked him if we were coming back to WDW next year. His response was that he definitely wanted to come back because he wanted to see Pandora when it opened!
I told him that if we were going to do the Bounce Back Offer, that we needed to do it before our vacation was over! He said "BOOK IT!!"
Soooo, while sitting on the Magical Express in the driveway of the Caribbean Beach Resort, I called Disney Reservations and booked a Bounce Back with Free Disney Dining for the same week in 2017! We were booked at the Port Orleans Riverside in a Preferred Room with Free Disney Dining. My heart was full xoxo
The Magical Express plays a video on the way back to the airport that is sure to urge guests to book another vacation.
We made it to the airport, and had to wait for our carryons to be unloaded from underneath the bus.
We took our very last ride of our vacation... the Airport Monorail!
Ethan watching more Youtube
Our flight back to Virginia was uneventful with a brief layover in Charlotte, NC. We arrived home to our 2 dogs and 2 cats and immediately began planning for our next trip to WDW in 51 weeks!
Follow along on our Pre-Trip Report in my signature titled "Lets Bounceback To WDW" . http://disboards.com/threads/lets-bounceback-to-wdw-september-2017-por-pre-trip-report.3558642/ We will be at Port Orleans Riverside September 2 - 9th 2017 in a preferred room with Free Disney Dining.
Thank you for following along, and if you have any questions about CBR or anything mentioned in this trip report please don't hesitate to ask!
Attachments
How bizarre that your dad's jacket was magically located after seven days! Geez! Did he have to buy something else while there, or just not need it at all?
Seeing that fencing and knowing the reason for it is so disturbing. Beyond horrible.
I share many of your thoughts regarding CBR. POFQ is still my favorite moderate, with CS a close second. I think I'd stay in a value before I'd stay at CBR again.
During our January stay, we were on an 8:30 pm flight home. We were booked on a 6:00 Magical Express back to the airport. I planned it this way to give us as much park time as possible on the last day. My neurotic husband had us leave HS at 4:00 for fear of missing the ME. With almost two hours to kill before the ME, we almost missed it. Our ME was not the usual ME, but a bus from some other company. It's a good thing I asked if that was the ME, because I thought for sure it was headed elsewhere.
Out of curiousity, when does Ethan's school year begin? We go back in mid-August here in northwest Indiana.
I'm glad you guys have another trip in the works!
Seeing that fencing and knowing the reason for it is so disturbing. Beyond horrible.
I share many of your thoughts regarding CBR. POFQ is still my favorite moderate, with CS a close second. I think I'd stay in a value before I'd stay at CBR again.
During our January stay, we were on an 8:30 pm flight home. We were booked on a 6:00 Magical Express back to the airport. I planned it this way to give us as much park time as possible on the last day. My neurotic husband had us leave HS at 4:00 for fear of missing the ME. With almost two hours to kill before the ME, we almost missed it. Our ME was not the usual ME, but a bus from some other company. It's a good thing I asked if that was the ME, because I thought for sure it was headed elsewhere.
Out of curiousity, when does Ethan's school year begin? We go back in mid-August here in northwest Indiana.
I'm glad you guys have another trip in the works!
VACamm
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2012
I know, right? It was so frustrating to say the least. He had some hoodies that he brought with him, and luckily he only needed them a few times inside of restaurants and on the busses at night when they really crank up the AC. He was very happy that they found it.... finally!
I too love POFQ for sure... but CS has my heart! If I were ever to stay at CBR again, it would be in several years and hopefully our bad memories would have faded away by then! Also, I would get a Preferred Room to be closer to everything.
Yikes! Wow, that would have been scary to have a bus from another company come and pick you up! Glad it all worked out and got you there in time.
Ethans school also starts mid-August. We are 'those parents' that takes him out of school during a really noncrowded time in the parks. Ethans teachers have always been so good about providing us with his classwork prior to our vacation.
MeghanEmily
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2016
Loved your TR! I'm sad it's over, but the Bounceback PTR will help dull the pain.
That's SO strange and mildly frustrating about your dad's coat! At least they got it to him in the end...but man, did they ever cut it close? What do you want to bet it had been sitting under a counter somewhere the whole trip?
I love the theming of the pool, but it doesn't seem to lend itself to lounging very well! I'm sorry you had such a lousy stay at CBR compared to stays at other resorts. My mom and I stayed there once for a girls' trip and really enjoyed it, but it was too cold to spend much time by the pool, and we didn't have some of the other issues you had. Hopefully your next trip will wipe any lingering negative memories from this one away!
That's SO strange and mildly frustrating about your dad's coat! At least they got it to him in the end...but man, did they ever cut it close? What do you want to bet it had been sitting under a counter somewhere the whole trip?
I love the theming of the pool, but it doesn't seem to lend itself to lounging very well! I'm sorry you had such a lousy stay at CBR compared to stays at other resorts. My mom and I stayed there once for a girls' trip and really enjoyed it, but it was too cold to spend much time by the pool, and we didn't have some of the other issues you had. Hopefully your next trip will wipe any lingering negative memories from this one away!
VACamm
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2012
Loved your TR! I'm sad it's over, but the Bounceback PTR will help dull the pain.
Yessss girl... Its always so helpful to have another trip in the works to look forward to. I bet you are excited for YOUR trip that is coming up too!
I think that you are probably right, it was most likely under a counter somewhere. We were glad that they 'found' it thought for sure!
UKDisneyJoe
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2014
Really enjoyed your trip report and some really lovely photo's too. Looking forward to reading your pre-trip and next trip
VACamm
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2012
Thank you so much for reading along! I hope that you also enjoy my current pre-trip report.
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