Disney Caribbean Beach Resort Review (2022 UK GUESTS)

 

In this post we will go over all the things that might be important to you, the reader. Such as room rates, amenities, location, theme, dining, and more. We hope our efforts of putting this Disney Caribbean Beach Resort review together will make it easier for you when choosing a place to stay when visiting Disney World.

As a leading UK travel agent that books customers to every single on-site Disney hotel we have first-hand knowledge on every resort and what it can offer every family we send there. Hopefully this article will give you a better understanding on whether booking the Disney Caribbean Beach Resort for your Disney World holiday would be a good choice.

 

 

Brief History

 

The Disney Caribbean Beach Resort was opened in October of 1988, making it the oldest resorts in their “moderate” category. The dream for this resort was to transport guests to an island getaway. Anyone who has stayed there in the past would say they accomplished that dream.

 

 

 

Category & Star Rating

 

When it comes to the resort category, the Disney Caribbean Beach Resort is considered to be a “moderate” resort, which means it cost far less than a “deluxe” resort, but is more than a “value” resort. It also means that there are more amenities than what you would find at a value resort. On average, the Disney Caribbean Beach Resort receives a 4.2 star rating out of 5.

 

 

 

Theme Of Resort

 

The Disney Caribbean Beach Resort is a unique resort with a tropical flair that will please both families and even honeymooners. This is a charming resort that is comprised of six different “villages” as they call them. Each village is named after real islands:

 

• Jamaica

• Aruba

• Barbados

• Martinique

• North Trinidad

• South Trinidad

 

The tropical themes are done so well that guests truly feel as if they’ve been transported to some faraway tropical island.

 

Every individual village is dotted with bright, pastel colored buildings surrounded by white sandy beaches that all overlook the resorts centerpiece called “Barefoot Bay”, that has an island in the middle which is a little getaway of it’s own and even includes a great playground for the kids. Guests can relax on the beach in hammocks found all along the shoreline.

 

 

 

Last Major Refurbishment

 

The Disney Caribbean Beach Resort has just finished their latest refurbishment. Quite a few of the buildings and rooms were completely refurbished. They also updated their lobby, which sports a newer island inspired and colorful look.

 

Location, Accessibility To Parks & Transportation

 

You will find that the Disney Caribbean Resort is located within the Epcot area of Disney World. But don’t confuse this with having easy access to Epcot itself like other resorts found in the Epcot area, such as the Boardwalk and Beach Club Resorts, because these two are right next door to Epcot within walking distance and the Caribbean isn’t.

 

However, even though it’s further away from both Epcot and Hollywood Studios, you can hop on their Skyliner that takes about ten minutes from the “Riviera Station” and the Caribbean is next door to the Riviera Resort.

 

There are two main Skyline stations at the Disney Caribbean Beach Resort to transport guests to the following:

 

• Hollywood Studios

• Epcot

• Pop Century Resort

• Art of Animation Resort

 

They also have a “bus system” but it can be frustrating because there are so many bus stops within the resort, depending on where you are, the bus might already be full.

 

 

 

Rooms At Resort

 

The Disney Caribbean Beach Resort doesn’t offer any club level rooms, but, they do have a good variety of rooms to choose from. They’re mainly broken down by view and location.

 

 

Standard View Rooms

These are the cheapest rooms and they are found in the villages of Aruba and Jamaica and they sleep 2 to 4 people. They can sleep up to five if you pick a Standard View 5^th Sleeper. Views will be of the resort, woodlands, or courtyard.

 

Standard View Cost

£203.27 per night and up.

 

Standard View 5^th Sleeper

£218.05 per night and up.

 

 

 

Water View Rooms

These of course have views of either a swimming pool or the Barefoot Bay and they also sleep 2 to 4 people. They too have 5^th Sleeper Rooms that sleep 2 to 5 people.

 

Water View Cost

£232.83 per night and up.

 

Water View 5^th Sleeper Cost

£246.69 per night and up.

 

 

 

King Bed Rooms

There aren’t a lot of these rooms since they are not very popular with families since these rooms only sleep up to two people. They can be found in Martinique, Barbados, Jamaica, and Aruba.

 

King Bed Room Cost

£238.38 per night and up.

 

 

Pirate Rooms 

These are rooms with special pirate themes for those who love pirates, especially kids. View options are the same as both standard rooms. Great features are the beds shaped like boats with mast headboards. All these rooms can be found in the Trinidad island area.

 

Pirate Room With Standard View Cost

£258.70 per night and up.

 

Pirate Room With Water View Cost

£266.47 per night and up.

 

Preferred Rooms

These rooms are the same as the Standard rooms with the exception of location and they’re located in the best buildings: Barbados and Martinique, which are located right next to the Old Port Royale, Centertown and the Fuentes del Morro Pool.

 

Preferred Room Cost

£279.03 per night and up.

 

All of the rooms have hair dryers, irons, ironing boards, large flat screen TVs, free WiFi, phones with voicemail, safes, tables and chairs, and mini-fridges. The bathrooms have two sinks, a vanity area, and are separated from the sleeping areas by barn style sliding doors.

 

 

 

Dining Options

 

Disney Caribbean Beach Resort has several different dining options for their guests to choose from.

 

Unlike the “value” resorts, guests have more than just a food court to choose from that include:

 

 

• Sebastian’s Bistro 

This is a table service restaurant that has a wonderful tropical vibe to it and was named after the Little Mermaid character Sebastian but they don’t make the restaurant themed after the movie itself. You’ll find that the menu revolves around Caribbean foods like pulled pork, shell fish, chicken, rice and beans, fried coconut shrimp, and more.

 

• Banana Cabana Pool Bar

The pool side bar doesn’t offer food but it does offer a wide variety of great beverages.

 

• Centertown Market

This is a counter service food court and little market offered to their guests. Here they offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Here you can find waffles, scrambled eggs, sausage, bagels, omelets, and more. For lunch and dinner you’ll find items such as: mixed grilled platters, roasted chicken, burgers, sandwiches, tacos, pizza, pasta and more. You can also purchase grocery and non-grocery items.

 

• Spyglass Grill

This is a walk up counter pool bar that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

 

 

Resort Amenities

 

This resort has some nice amenities that include:

 

• Old Port Royale which is the lobby where you’ll find check in, bell services and a concierge.

• Calypso Trading Post which is the resorts pretty nice gift shop.

• Free buses and the Skyliner to take guests to the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Disney Springs.

• They offer guests six different pools with the main pool being the Fuentes del Morro Pool that has a zero entry and is done in a pirate’s theme where you can enjoy swashbuckling adventures including enjoying two great water slides and enjoy the spray of man of war cannons, and much more. There are also 5 other pools they call “leisure” pools.

• Marina fishing

• Movies Under the Stars

• Caribbean Cay playground

• Campfire activities

• Running trail

• Bike rentals

• Volleyball

• Family arcade

 

 

 

Pros & Cons Of Staying At The Resort

 

As always, all resorts are going to have their pros and cons and here we’ll give you a few of those here:

 

Pros Of Staying Here

• Access to Disney Skyliner
• Easy access to Hollywood Studios & Epcot
• Tropical theme totally matches the Florida vibe
• A man-made island, Caribbean Cay, that’s home to lots of recreation
• Pirate themed feature pool
• Kids water playground
• Three food and beverage locations
• Quiet pools near each cluster of buildings
• Well appointed rooms with relaxing décor
• Pirate themed rooms available
• Easy access to parking lots if you have a car
• Near Disney’s Riviera Resort giving you more variety in dining

 

 

 

Cons For Staying Here

• Spread out resort with some room locations having a very far walk to amenities
• There is a bridge across the lagoon to the amenities, but Caribbean Cay island is in the way
• Bus stops can be a far walk depending on room location
• Bus only access to Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Disney Springs
• Buildings near each Skyliner station can experience lines and crowding near them during the morning rush
• Only Centertown Market offers takeout dining
• Food at Banana Cabana Pool Bar is currently dine-in only, drinks can be to-go
• Small bathroom, though closing the sliding doors to the vanity area helps
• Shower curtain easily comes off the rod

 

 

 

What Families This Resort Best For

 

To be totally honest, the Disney Caribbean Beach Resort is great for all families because it simply has something for everyone.

 

 

TripAdvisor Reviews Of Resort

 

Here are a few reviews from TripAdvisor from those who have actually stayed at the Disney Caribbean Beach Resort.

 

“If I could give it a 0 I would. I am actually still there. I have complained about our room. We have a pirate room. Asked to be moved and told I couldn’t. The room smells like mold it feels like a cheap motel. I’ve stayed in better for less money. Corando is definitely a better place to stay. It’s put me off Disney resorts all together. It’s disgusting how Disney can charge more money now for a hotel which is more like a motel at a lot of money. Won’t be coming here again. I wouldn’t recommend staying. If I could change resorts I would but not for the resort they suggested. Staff obviously couldn’t be bothered.”

 

 

“We booked to stay here because of its location to getting to and from parks. First off i want to say what a great location we had block 33 close to skyliner, bus stop right outside, close to centre to get food and a small pool too, that’s where is stops…. on arrival in the room the air con sound like a jet engine taking off, maintenance came and agreed so cleaned it out which helped but had to returned again after 3rd visit we think they changed the unit and it was a bit quieter, this will not be resolved until the rooms are updated. They need a total overhaul looks like the bathroom may have been given a quick lick and a promise. The food in the quick service was poor and only warm at best most times typical fast food no change in selection . The buses are great to get to the parks except Animal kingdom we waited over a hour for one to come along after plenty of magic kingdom ones. Also if there’s lightening in the are they shut the sky liner, which happened to us coming back from the parks which was a total nightmare as it takes so long for them to reinstate the buses so be aware of this.”

 

 

“We are almost coming to the end of a two week stay at this resort. We frequently visit Florida and the parks but have never stayed at a Disney resort and thought we’d opt to this time to see if we were missing out.

The resort has a lovely laid back Caribbean feel but you wouldn’t know this was a Disney resort otherwise.

Rooms are okay. We stayed in Aruba which is near to the Riviera Skyliner which is a big plus if visiting Epcot or Hollywood Studios. Housekeeping is minimal and definitely lacking. I am not sure if Covid is still being used as the reason but service isn’t every day. In two weeks we’ve had our sheets changed twice and the room vacuumed twice. It’s not a proper clean by any means.

The pool area is okay but nothing to do for toddlers. There is a children’s area for those that are under the minimum height restriction but this mostly consists of water slides. Our youngest is a little unsure of new slides and particularly water ones. She loved going down the slide on our lap until an overzealous lifeguard said this wasn’t permitted. The resort has very little to do for toddlers. We haven’t seen a character visit once while we are here.

The main plus for us is the Skyliner and the Disney transport to and from the parks.”

 

 

 

“We stayed here for a week in a preferred room , the rooms definitely are ready for a refurbish and the air con is noisy but we loved the resort and the laid back vibe . Having the sky liner is a huge bonus too but we found the buses to be very reliable. Centre town market was good and we enjoyed Banana Cabana in the evening for drinks . Yes it is a huge resort but it is really easy to find a quite relaxing spot to enjoy in the evening. Would definitely book again  “

 

 

 

Other Moderate Disney Resorts Similar You Might Enjoy

 

There are a variety of other moderate resorts offered by Disney that you also might want to consider checking out and they include:

 

• Port Orleans – French Quarter

The theme here is 19^th Century New Orleans

 

• Port Orleans – Riverside Resort

The theme is that of the 19^th Century colonial south and plantations

 

• Coronado Springs Resort

Has a blend of different Southwest landscapes with Native American influence

 

 

Our Thoughts & Verdict

 

After taking a close look at Disney Caribbean Beach Resort, we truly believe there really isn’t much about it not to like. Especially if you are looking for a place that makes you feel like you have just entered a far away tropical island. If you don’t mind that it doesn’t have much of the typical Disney feel, then you’ll really love it. Our verdict is that it’s a pretty nice place to stay and recommend it highly for families to those on their honeymoon.

 

To help take the stress out of organising your break, The House of Travel offers some excellent Disney package holidays to Walt Disney World. This ensures that you can enjoy your time here, with all of the planning in hand. After all, there’s no better way to explore Disney than by letting the experts take charge! Either give us a quick call on 0203 950 7371 or simply fill this quick form here for a call back request today.