Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort

I was really apprehensive after reading reviews and seeing reels on this place. But i ended up loving the atmosphere of this resort. It is a very large resort. There is an internal shuttle bus that can take you around and to the skyliner hub, so don't let the size of the resort overwhelm you. We've been trying out various disney resorts every 2 months, and by far, their quick service has been the best! Not just the basic burger, chicken fingers and fries. They have jerk chicken which was an absolute favorite and go to. They serve several Caribbean dishes and all of them were so good.
As far as service, i loved the vibes of the CMs here, they were always so warm and welcoming, no matter what time of day.
The rooms were basic, not really big on theming. Very subtle. Pretty much the only mickey was on the fold out Murphy bed. But you can request to Trinidad if you're hoping for a themed room. They renovated to little mermaid theme.
Note that there are no elevators, since the buildings are only 2 stories. so request a 1st floor if that could be a problem.
HUGE Benefit of this resort is that the transfer station is located here, so you just jump on directly on the Hollywood studios or epcot skyliner without having to transfer. If you're building is Aruba or Barbados you can also walk onto the Riviera skyliner for easier access.

I stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort since I wanted to stay near Epcot and the Caribbean has access to the Skyliner. Clearly I did not do enough research as I am not super comfortable with hotels with outside doors (like a motel) but I felt very safe and secure here.

I was immediately greeted when I arrived and was checked in by Jess, who made me feel right at home by quickly identifying many of the things we had in common (she used to work at a venue in my hometown!) and pointed out that the cafe was still open once I was settled in. My hotel room was huge, with a king-sized bed, breakfast nook, large sink and dressing area, and small but clean bathroom.

I couldn't hear people walking outside or speaking in their rooms but I could hear toilets flushing at all hours. I wish the rooms came equipped with white noise. What happened to those annoying old-school air conditioners that wouldn't shut up? They helped to cover up the noises our neighbors made.

Anyhoo. We had a PERFECT view of the Epcot fireworks and could even hear the music! There's a path that goes about a mile around the "lake" which was a great morning walk before heading off on the Skyliner to Epcot, which only took a few minutes of sheer terror for those of us afraid of heights. I also took the bus to both Disney Springs and Animal Kingdom. It takes a minute to wait for the buses (and the AK bus drove right past our stop the first time around) but both spots are close by and the bus is free, so it worked for me.

The food on premises was decent. The cafe is open pretty much all day and is crazily overpriced but offers a good variety and the staff is friendly. I did not get into Sebastian's Bistro but did visit the Banana Cabana (thanks, Chris and Kayla!) and enjoyed myself. It's very laid back and felt like a bar back home rather than a vacation destination.

I absolutely plan on staying here again. I spoke with many guests who had been there before and said it's the only place they stay now.

My new favorite Disney resort! We had a wonderful 7 night stay here last month! When we arrived we were greeted by bell services who offered to store our luggage for us. Check in online was easy and I was able to indicate my room preferences in the app. Once our room was ready we were able to go right to the room and were easily able to unlock the door with our magic bands. We called bell services and our bags were delivered quickly to our room. We were even able to have an Amazon Fresh order dropped off with our bags.

We stayed in Jamaica building 41 which is the closest building to the skyliner. The room was clean and we received housekeeping every other day. Our room had two queen beds, and had a ceiling fan and double vanity. It was so convenient to travel to Hollywood studios and Epcot using the skyliner, and Uber could even pick us up and drop us right outside our building. The beds were comfortable, the water pressure was great in the shower, and the thermostat worked well. The mini fridge was perfect to store bottled water, and we were able to make hot tea using the coffeemaker. There was also an ice machine located conveniently down the hall. The biggest con to this resort was the size. We had to ride a bus to get to Old Port Royale where the food court and main lobby are located, and any time we took a bus there were multiple stops because of the internal bus system. We also found a few insects in the bathroom but no big deal. With the convenience and comfortable room, I would stay here again in a heartbeat! This is a great moderate Disney resort and I recommend it for those who want a step up for the value resorts and who want to use the skyliner.

This resort is good and kind of bad at the same time. The good part is that I stayed in the Jamaica area, which was very convenient to the Skyliner (for Epcot and Hollywood Studios) and also the bus station (for Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom). I also wasn't too far away from the food court (Centertown Market) and lobby area thanks to a bridge that connected the areas.

The bad part is that the walls are super thin! I know Disney can't control guest behavior, but it really isn't a great experience having a neighboring child scream every morning at 5:45 AM. I also smelled cigarette smoke in my room coming from a neighbor. (Guessing that someone was smoking in their bathroom, which then leaked into mine.) I did report the smoking incident to the front desk, which they just wrote it down on a post-it. (Not sure if they really did anything about it.) Theming wise, it doesn't "scream" Disney, but that's okay. You're really paying for the on property perks (like transportation and also early entry.)

Would I come back to Caribbean Beach? Maybe?!? I'm a big fan of the Skyliner, the rooms were just "ok" though.

We booked here, frankly, for convenience and since it was last minute, it was our only option.
I love utilizing the Skyliner, so that was the primary deciding factor for us staying here.
We had stayed here years ago and my husband was pretty resistant to returning.

Our experience was mostly negative.

This was the latest we've ever had a wdw resort room ready for us, as it was well after 4pm. At a resort this large, I fail to see how it was simply impossible to place us sooner than this.

We had requested adjoining rooms, as we were traveling with another family and this was not honored.

Then at midnight, a family came into the room next to ours with screaming children until after 1am. At one point their children were messing around with the adjoining door to our room. Not cool. Especially when you're on edge about keeping your toddler asleep in the middle of the night.
Though the gentleman at the front desk was extremely empathetic and did inform us that the timing was well within their "quiet hours" and the noisy guests could be removed from the hotel if they persisted.

The quick service food was decent,
And the room itself was fine to lay your head for the night. And the grounds themselves are quaint and appealing.

It's really nice to walk along the "beach". I actually hate calling the sandy waterfront areas at wdw beaches, since it's Florida and they're really just reptile infested lakes and I would hate for any out-of-staters to be confused. But they do have the peaceful appearance of beaches.

Wasn't my cup of tea, but doesn't mean it isn't yours.

We enjoyed a lovely stay at the Caribbean Beach Resort in November 2023. We arrived right before the Thanksgiving holiday, and the resort was beautifully decorated for Christmas. This resort is HUGE, so I recommend in the My Disney Experience App putting in what is important to you about your room location. We requested to be close to the Skyliner because we were going to both Epcot and DHS on our trip, and our request was honored. We were about a 1 minute walk from the little Joffrey's kiosk/Skyliner which was great. Our room was a 2 queen bed/fold out room- and it felt cozy for the 3 of us staying there. Really the only negative about our room is that the shower/toilet space was very tiny. We were also located right near a smaller pool which was great too.

Challenges of resort- size (could take multiple bus stops to get around), thin walls, only stair access for floor 2.

Benefits of resort- Skyliner, good restaurants, cute decor, nice vibes

I'd definitely come back here again- though I like trying out new resorts on each visit!

This review is based on a stay in January of 2023. We stayed three nights, used the pool multiple times and dined at multiple resort restaurants (which I will review separately). Overall, this "moderate" resort is just so/so, with the biggest plusses being the Skyliner, the pool, and the other common areas, and the biggest negatives being the rooms, the bus transportation, and the size of the resort. Here's some detail:

Rooms: pretty meh. I would put the rooms here on par with the "value" resorts (like the "All-Stars"). This is the first time we have stayed at a "moderate," and we were expecting something between a value and deluxe, but the rooms were no better than value rooms. Additionally, there were no elevators, and we had a second floor room, so we had to carry luggage and a stroller up and down a flight of stairs.

Common areas: the best part of this resort. The main building is super nice, with a large lobby and a huge food court (you can see the EPCOT fireworks from the outdoor seating ). The pool area is great...the main pool has a large and small slide and really cool theming, and there's also a really neat kiddie pool play area. I'll review some of the restaurants separately, but overall this resort has great food and drink options. The island playground is great, and from what we saw, the other pools are also nice. There's even a Joffrey's Coffee location!

Transportation: a mixed bag. The Skyliner is great when it's working, you can get to EPCOT AND Hollywood Studios quickly and easily on it. However, the busses were a nightmare, with many not coming when scheduled and some not coming at their posted time at all. Also, this resort is HUGE (almost 3/4 of a mile across), so getting around it may or may not require taking a bus (depending on your room location and ability to walk), which could add extra effort.

All in all, we would not stay here again, although we would consider visiting it again for some of the food options.

This review is from a late January stay. I enjoyed my stay at the Caribbean Beach Resort and would stay again.

Old Port Royale is the main hub if you need anything - I found the dining to be great. Sebastian's (I've reviewed separately) was fantastic and I was pleasantly surprised by both the menu and size/prices at Centertown Market - burgers, pizza, pulled pork, fish tacos, jerk chicken were all clearly popular. You can get a glimpse of the Epcot fireworks from the boardwalk outside, and the Caribbean Cay island has places to hang out, movies at night, and a playground. I didn't use the main pool, but it is big, with multiple slides and a overall cool look. If you have kids, you'll surely spend time there.

Layout:
The Caribbean Beach Resort is big. There's no way around that. Rather than a building or two that feels like a hotel, you have clusters of two-story buildings (each named after a Caribbean island) surrounding a lake. It was beautiful, especially at night. I really enjoyed this vibe with the building surround by trees and the right along the lake. There was a courtyard in between my cluster and each group has their own pool and sandy beach, which makes it possible to enjoy either without the busyness of the entire resort at one spot. (The main pool at Old Port Royale is pretty cool, and kids may want to be there regardless). In my experience the layout also meant less noise. It does mean more walking, however, if you want to hit up the restaurants, main pool, or store at Old Port Royale.

Rooms:
I thought the room was great for what I needed. The bed was comfortable, there was a fridge, a table and chairs, drawers. The bathroom area is divided into a room with the shower/toilet and a larger area with double sinks and clothes-hanging rack, separated by sliding barn-door style doors. If you have multiple people, this allows you to have people in each space and also separated. Some rooms in the resort had been recently renovated as well.

Location:
The Caribbean Beach Resort is next to two Skyliner stops, making getting to both Epcot and Hollywood studios a breeze when the Skyliner is in service.
Disney's bus service is good for all the places it needs to service, but it can be challenging if a bus is full or delayed. I had a couple nice and easy experiences taking the bus, and also a couple that were frustrating and wasted time. My advice is don't be afraid to get a Lyft/Uber if you're on a schedule and worried about the bus - they picked up right at the entrance to my cluster of buildings, making it a good extra option. The Riviera Resort is also at the north end of the lake, if you want to check out the dining options there (or take a bus there, if your bus isn't around).

I was skeptical to stay here because I'd heard some of the rooms were old. I guess they refurbished them because ours looked brand new and was a king size bed. It was walking distance to neighboring Riviera Resort and the Disney Skyliner. We enjoyed this resort and look forward to staying here again.

I take a "girls trip" every year and we usually stay at the Coranado or the Port Orleans. This was our only option this time and I wish I had better things to stay but I really don't.

The positive was the employees they were wonderful very helpful, the resort itself was a nightmare . The rooms were small and the bathroom was awful it was the size of a closet . The resort is just too big with the main building housing the food and gift shop. The one plus was the skyliner . The pool bar was small with no stools you just had to walk up and there were a few tables.

I would never stay here again . It's just too confusing