Last week we broke the exciting news about new dining updates coming to Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort and Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. Now we’re learning that the upcoming construction projects mean the temporary closure of the restaurants at Caribbean Beach Resort.
Old Port Royale at Caribbean Beach Resort
Guests with reservations at Caribbean Beach Resort this spring – with arrival dates beginning around May 1 – have been receiving emails from Disney notifying them that a resort refurbishment is taking place during their stay and that Old Port Royale Food Court, Shutters, Banana Cabana Pool Bar, and the Calypso Trading Post will be closed.
The email also states that during the closure breakfast and dinner will be served at Centertown, and grab-and-go options will be available at three “island markets” located in Aruba, Jamaica, and Martinique.
Banana Cabana is closing during refurbishment this spring
The construction project at Caribbean Beach will bring waterfront dining and more retail outlets to the resort.
Updated February 25: According to the an email guests are receiving, during the closure a Caribbean-style breakfast buffet will be served in Centertown, with a la carte options available for dinner. As mentioned above, grab-and-go meals will be available in three “island markets” in Aruba, Jamaica, and Martinique (however, Martinique and Barbados villages will be unavailable for rooms beginning in May). In-room pizza delivery will also be available. Freestyle Coke machines will be available at the resort for refillable mugs. And, a new quick service walk-up window is slated to open in Trinidad this summer. Additionally, Disney is reportedly providing guests with a $25 Disney Gift Card (per room) for each night of their stay.
Updated February 28: Disney has posted additional information regarding the restaurant closures at Caribbean Beach Resort. The closures begin in May and during the closures Centertown will serve a Caribbean-style buffet at breakfast and a la carte options at dinner. Grab-and-go meals will be available in the island markets located in Aruba, Jamaica, and Martinique. In-room resort dining will also be available, and the Disney Dining Plan will be accepted for all of these options. Guests staying at Caribbean Beach during this refurbishment will receive a $75 Disney Gift Card per room for each night of their stay at check in (this is more than the amount stated above). The gift cards can be used at participating food and merchandise locations at Walt Disney World.
Pin it for later!
Do you have an upcoming reservation at Caribbean Beach Resort that will be impacted by these closures? Let us know in the comments.
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
We’re heading to CBR for 3 weeks on October 29th 2017, and would be very interested to know if this work is likely to be complete by the time we arrive. Would really appreciate any updates regarding this.
Many thanks,
Tom
United Kingdom
We are staying here for 2 weeks from July 25th and have heard nothing from Disney-yet. We are very upset at the thought of our holiday of a lifetime being spoilt before we even go. We presume , even though we have not heard anything, that the building work will take a long time so these will still be shut in the summer months. There was no mention of this when Disney happily took our money.
Yes, we are arriving on May 7th, and got an email regarding the closures. We are bummed as well, since this is only our second trip to Disney and only the first at a WDW resort. This resort is one of only a few in our budget that fit 5 people to a room. I loved the feel of the food court area, as it fit with the Caribbean theme.
I know many people are upset about this but it does appear that food will be available at four locations around the resort. We were at Music while the food court was closed there and made use of the other two food courts at Movies and Sports. In addition, Disney brought in one of the food trucks and we were able to have a hot breakfast (big croissants stuffed with eggs, cheese and bacon), plus the arcade area was converted into a grab and go and beverage station, serving baked goods, salads, fruit, sandwiches, etc. We regarded it as a minor inconvenience and took advantage of the closing to explore dining at other resorts.
We are at CBR in November and have paid for a preferred room. I wonder what this will mean for us.
Any word on whether things will be completed by winter? We are booked for December.
We are heading off October 9th for 2 weeks. Really hope this doesn’t spoil our trip. Coming from the uk it’s a very expensive holiday and would be very disappointed if these works impacted on our stay. Would Disney let us change hotels if we were unhappy?
Sarah, Diane, Peter, Kimberly, Emma, and Tom — Disney hasn’t shared reopening dates yet, but we’ll be sure to let all of you know as soon as they do.
There’s been a few sites reporting that this is a major Demolition and construction project that will go all the way into 2019. Disney is generally very good about letting people switch Resorts in this situation if they’re available.
Current news is that Disney is not letting people switch out at no additional cost, they are charging if the rooms are more expensive elsewhere. They are also not offering any compensation at the moment if this affects your holiday. We are going at the start of October and are trying not to let this worry us too much at the moment, although I am fairly sure it will have an impact on our holiday. We haven’t received notification from Disney yet, but am expecting them to contact us probably in July or August to tell us what is happening there. By which time it’s probably too late to change resorts!
Yep, they happily took my money off me when I booked, but never said a word about any potential disruption or building works.
We were booked to stay at CBR for a couple of nights in May. We got the email telling us that there would be construction walls and the closure of the restaurants etc and we decided to switch resorts. To be honest we were more bothered about the bar closing than the food court, since there will still be food options available on site. Disney let me modify my reservation (I’m from the UK, so I had to call the UK WDTC number) with no penalty fee for the change, but I did have to agree to pay the price difference of booking a more expensive resort (Port Orleans FQ). I guess it’s just all part of Disney improving their resorts, which is good in the long run. And if they bring the amazing blackened grouper dish from the Epcot festivals Caribbean stall into a resort, it will be worth the construction pain!
We have booked up for 17th Oct- 31st Oct can you let us know if this will affect us?
I really think some here are getting a little out of hand how this will effect their stay.
This is Disney people…..They replace trees overnight, one day its flat land next there is Everest.
You are not going to be trying to sleep and hear loud noises.
I stayed at Poly on 2 separate vacations during their renovations with girls ages 4 and 6, NEVER were we woken by any construction.
With all the walking you do all day your body shuts down at night….enjoy your room with your eyes closed.
GEESH
I’ve two rooms booked at CBR and only started hearing rumors yesterday (22/2/17) and finally got an email from Disney today (23/2/17). Very, Very, Very disappointed and spent over an hour on hold today to try and get a change in resort. Guess what nothing doing as seems everything has been snapped up. After years of going to Disney this has left a bitter taste. If they had said at time of booking Id have looked at alternatives. I don’t buy the excuse they didn’t know this will have bene planned for ages!!!
Lauren — Disney hasn’t share a timeframe for completion of these updates, but we’ll share dates as soon as we have them.
In the long run, both these projects will be fantastic for each respective Resort. But I don’t think people are overreacting at all. Especially concerning the Caribbean Beach refurb.
This will be a major project going on in the dead center of the resort, with a closure of the food court, restaurant, & bar.
Sure, park commandos won’t care, they just use the hotel to crash after exhausting themselves in the Parks.
But those of us who love spending time around the immersive Disney resorts are definitely justified in being bummed out if you’re scheduled to stay there.
The overall aesthetics will be undeniably diminished.
I am a U.K. Guest and was booked into CBR in November for 14 nights. We had 14 day ultimate tickets and quick service dine. I waited a while to speak to Fisher the CM. He was very helpful. We were offered the choice of a straight £50 per night discount to stay put or the ability to change resort. (There were some no cost options.) We bagged AKL standard view with standard dining for an extra £280. Works for us as we had some table service meals planned. Disney customer service works again 🙂
We have CBR booked for August 2017. Having stayed at the CBR and other WDWR I am not too worried about the food service in Old Port Royale, If like us you have a dining plan included in the package, you are allowed to eat at lots of different venues, even other premium hotels. If you haven’t been before, transport to other resort hotels or parks is quick and easy.
In all honesty CBR wasn’t high up on the food list and if you didn’t have a dining plan, you wouldn’t probably have paid to eat there.
What has us miffed is the wording ‘recreational facilities closed’ what does this mean? Swimming pool… I hope not…. nothing like a quick dip after the park. There are other smaller rectangular pools around the CBR but are nowhere near as nice as the main pool, especially if you have little ones with you.
We just had a lovely stay at CBR last month and used the amenities extensively. I can understand people’s frustration. It really irks me when other people tell other people how they should feel or their level of reaction. Just because that is how you do your stay and is your perspective, does not mean that is everyone else’s experience. We stayed at VWL in January 2016 and, although we never heard construction, we definitely would have picked somewhere else had we known in time to switch resorts. It really took away from the experience/ambiance sitting out on the balcony looking at tons of construction equipment and piles of dirt.
Hi Peter, can I just asked if you booked directly through Disney or did you book through a U.K travel agent?
Thanks
Kimberly H, didn’t you just do the same thing?
Hi Charlotte. We booked directly with Disney.
This is good news, because the food court & it’s food needs a big upgrade. We were highly disappointed when we visited for my daughters bday trip. Food was lacking of choices, and overall it was an unpleasant food court, compared to other WDW resorts.
Mike V, how did I just do the same thing? I could care less if someone states their opinion or feels differently about something. It’s telling people they are overreacting or how they should feel that irritates me. You can be happy as a clam that they are doing renovations or you can state that it’s going to ruin your whole trip, but don’t tell me which way *I* should feel about it.
We’re going for 2 wks in May and only know about this from a friend who read it on Facebook. We’ve had no emails from Disney or Thomson regarding this. Very disappointed and going in to Thomson this morning to enquire. This holiday cost a lot of money and for a lot of us it’s a holiday of a lifetime.
I am curious if the Breakfast Buffet will be considered Quick Service or Table Service.
If you have booked within the UK you will be fully covered under this legislation:-
You can terminate your holiday contract and ask for compensation or cancel the whole holiday it worked for me.
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/package-travel-regulations
My family and I are booked at CBR for May from England for 2 weeks, we are waiting for our options from our travel agents who are speaking with WDW, and whatever the options are you can guarantee that had we been informed of the refurb and closures WE WOULD NOT HAVE BOOKED THIS RESORT. It’s a special holiday for us as we are celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary, also family birthdays so this is very unwelcome news. We all love Disney but on this occasion we feel let down, they haven’t got all our money yet we are due to pay balance early March and will decide what option to take if any, cancellation maybe a reluctant one. A little advice on another suitable moderate resort would be welcome. ☹️
We spent 3 hours on hold yesterday getting passed from one person to another yesterday trying to switch resorts being that we will be staying for 10 days in December and are vegetarians so ready made food options tend not to work for us. I am a former CP and have taken my family to Disney 5 times…. I’ve never been so disgusted by how we were treated. Once we did get someone that could help us we were told we would have to forfeit our bounceback dinning to change resorts. We are a family of four…. that’s a huge loss. I’m definitely concerned but Disney has us stuck between a rock and a hard place being that changing resorts would be a huge added expense for us.
We booked the CBR directly with Disney UK for Sept 2017, after we received the email on the refurb we felt we did not want to stay at the resort. After waiting several hours hanging on the phone we finally decided to transfer to Port Orleans with a small room upgrade at no extra cost. They did offer $25 per night on a gift card which all customers will receive check-in if they decide to stay at CBR. We wouldn’t have chosen CBR if we’d known the refurb was happening and I’m disgusted that Disney were prepared to take reservations knowing full well this work would be going ahead. I did read the whole refurb is going to take 2 years
We are booked in at the CBR for October this year, but only found out about the refurbishment on Friday 24th February. These things do happen but what I’m most disappointed with is that the compensation being offered has changed from $75 per night onto a gift card- reducing to £50 per night refund / or a change in resort with little or no charge – to now being a $25 per night gift card with no option for a change in resort. We rang our TA on Saturday and was told that they have not heard anything from Disney! Everyone impacted should have the same option and value offered to them- and not higher if you were able to speak to someone about this at the beginning. It will be a first visit to a WDW resort and we will still enjoy ourselves but the way this has been handled has left a bitter taste in our mouths .
We are slated to arrive on may 7th and part of the reason we booked this resort was because of the theming of the Caribbean and Center Town. Very disappointed and will be reaching out to my travel agent tomorrow about resort switching.
Does anybody have a WDR email address I can use to start dialogue with them? I don’t fancy spending 3 hours on the phone.
Greg: Unsure where you are based but be were given this email: [email protected]
We were warned of severe delays on phone/emails as they are inundated with questions to do with CBR
There seems to be a real mix of experiences here with people attempting to move resort or receive discount for the loss of facilities. Raymond asks about another moderate resort. There are only 4 on Disney property. Coronado Springs we personally don’t like the look of, although the food court is awesome. Then there is Port Orleans French Quarter or Port Orleans Riverside. We have stayed at Riverside. The mansions rooms are excellent, as is the food court and transport options. We were going to try French Quarter as an alternative to Animal Kingdom lodge but we got our first choice. Raymond, YouTube is an excellent way of getting a good look at a resort to see what you like. In terms of moderates I would say Port Orleans would be your best bet, but that’s just me. Personally we are very happy with the way Disney have handled things. Hope everybody else has a good experience in the end.
We have booked to stay here on 22nd April for two weeks. So far we have heard nothing from Disney or our tour operator, Thomson. When we rang Thomson we were told that it is considered minor work and will not impact on our holiday. How can this be true if the food court is closed. We have had no options given to us at this time. We are currently waiting to hear back from Thomson (after a week) to see if they will move us to another hotel.
We are booked through Thomson for our once in a life time experience at CBR. Like so many people I have been obsessing over getting everything as perfect as possible (within a budget) for a family of 4. I am devastated with the closures as this holiday has taken over five years to pay for. My daughter is vegetarian and choose this resort ensure plenty of options were available to her in the food court together with a bar for the adults. The hotel scene is very important to us and we did not look at this resort as a place to rest our heads but an enhancing experience to our holiday. We also cannot drive and will rely on Disney transport….no shop now open to buy refreshments etc. We cannot pop to a local supermarket like others who have access to a car. Totally deflated and angered. I called Thomson on 26/2/17 when learning through another media that my holiday had major issues. The first person I spoke to “Violet” said that Thomson had not heard of such issues so there would not be a problem!!!! She then proceeded to put my on hold for 7 minutes whilst checking out my concerns to cut me off.!!!! I called back to speak to another advisor who gave me the direct line to the holiday change department that only opened in the week. I called this morning 27/02/2017 to speak to a very scripted Thomson advisor. She said that Thomson were currently in discussions with Disney to reach a solution. Until all the facts were established then nothing could be done??? I voiced my concerns about alternative accommodation not being available due to first comes first served being an issue when Thomson are not responding quickly enough. In fact I am rather miffed that Thomson did not contact their customers immediately with the unwelcome news before finding out on social media. The Thomson advisor “assured”me that alternatives will definitely be available. On looking into the previous posters link to the consumer rights in this situation I really hope all will be fine. A contract has been broken as goods advertised and paid for will not be supplied as described. Good luck every one and thank you to everyone posting helpful and useful information.
Raymond / Grumpy…
Of the moderate resorts I would recommend Port Orleans French Quarter.
I dont know if food court closure would be considered as a breach of contract as disney are still providing food services. In my experience the food courts have never been outstanding anyway.
Thanks for the email address Lynne
Check out the link below to see what refurbs are going on when you are at WDWR during your stay.
As we are stopping in Aug 17, I assume Trinidad will have been refurbished, so I will be trying to get booked into this area, which is some distance from the centre. As a family of 4 with teenagers, I will be seeking compensation for the disruption in the form of Disney Credit for more snacks in the parks. 🙂
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/rehab.htm
Trinindad South Village Pool closed 1/6/2017- 3/16/2017. Several refurbishment projects in Trinidad South through 3/16/17 Work will not begin until 9AM. The resort will be undergoing many refurbishment projects starting mid May 2017 for 2 years. Several villages within the resort will not be available. Old Port Royale Food Court, Shutters at Old Port Royale, Cabana Pool Bar and Calypso Trading Post will be closed starting 5/2017- through 2018.
There are a couple of notes at the bottom here that I cut n pasted from http://www.disneyholidays.co.uk/walt-disney-world which I hope will help people decide whether to stay at CBR or not. We’ve stayed at SS & OKW previously and hope Port Orleans Riverside is ok :/ now we’ve switched. We did upgrade to the Regular Dining Plan when we initially booked CBR but tbh we never really eat in the resorts as there are so many nicer places to eat in the Parks or Disney Springs.
Pardon Our Beachside Pixie Dust
In an effort to make future visits more magical, Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort is currently undergoing refurbishments. At this time, you may see and hear construction work during your stay, particularly Guests in the Trinidad South region of the Resort hotel.
Throughout the refurbishment, the Trinidad South Village Pool will be unavailable for your enjoyment. However, you can still make a splash at our feature pool—Fuentes del Morro Pool—or any of our 5 other leisure pools.
To minimize disruptions, we will attempt to limit work until after 9:00 AM. We apologize for any inconvenience this refurbishment may cause. Be sure to check back here in the near future for further updates!
We need to tell you something! Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort will be undergoing a refurbishment from May 1st 2017. Old Port Royale Food Court, Shutters restaurant, Banana Cabana Pool Bar and Calypso Trading post will be closed during this time. While we work our magic, there will be a variety of dining options available to you for breakfast, lunch and dinner, including island market locations in Aruba, Jamaica and Martinique regions of the Resort.
We are booked to stay at CBR in Sept for 2 weeks. Booked directly with Disney and after reading comments on here gave them a call today. No hesitation in offering £50 per night credit or an upgrade to a river view at POFQ at no extra cost, dining plan carried no problem. CM Eugene couldn’t have been more helpful in explaining everything and we decided to go with the £700 credit as we’ve stayed here before and rarely used the dining options here. Definitely give the a ring if you’re worried
It says on Disney go.com on the Caribbean Beach website that they’re giving us $75 per night per room
The Disney website is still showing the $75 per room, per night of your stay. Are the emails showing something different?
People need to calm down. One thing that needs understood is that Disney needs to be able to revamp their properties to keep them fresh which means construction. The permits were not even applied for until JANUARY 2017 so all of those throwing a fit about not knowing when you booked, neither did Disney! If there is one thing I have learned, Disney will go above and beyond to keep guests happy and I don’t see this being any different considering I received an email not once, not twice, but at least three times in the last week with updates. I think $75 a night is more than fair in this situation because most places would shrug their shoulders and say well we need to update. I am looking forward to the stay even with the construction because we can easily go to another resort if we wish to eat. While I know for some this is a once in a lifetime trip, one also needs to remember that it is a vacation and not worth getting all up in arms. I mean I was concerned because we are taking another family for their first Disney experience but I knew Disney would make it right for us and I feel they have by ensuring we have food options as well as gift cards to use at other food facilities or stores. Take a deep breath.
Aimie- I agree 100% with your comments. I’m going for two weeks in September at CBR and for the two rooms an extra $2100 is more than worth it in my opinion. Will hardly need any spending money now. People are really outraged but they’re not going to be in the room with you doing building work . The resort is massive and have already said they are offering alternative food and drink options. So I don’t see the issue. And if your really unhappy they will help you change resort. But the extra money can be used in the parks for anything you like, which is where we’ll be when there working anyway. I think it’s a really generous off for somthing that isn’t going to ‘ruin’ your holiday as some people have bring saying on social media. I imagine the same people who are ‘furious’ would always write reviews saying how outdated they place is if they didn’t update it. But as I said earlier Disney are very accommodating and will try change your resort if you think it will greatly affect you. But do keep in mind these resorts then will be a lot busier than normal due to the extra demand.
Well said Aimie!!!! I share your thoughts completely.
However, there are some that think you should not tell them how to feel…
Not me!!!!
I love Caribbean Beach, but to be honest when we have stayed here we have not used the restaurants much. I think I might take the gift card rebate and still go with it.
Stopping at CBR from 27 May for 14 nights. Have accepted 75 dollars per room per night (we have 3 rooms). We were also offered a free move to Port Orleans French Quarter. We’ve been assured, by Disney, that the disruption will be minimal i.e. no pools are closing and there will be alternative dining facilities. This is Disney and I’m sure they’ll want everyone to be happy and, after all, we spend most of our days in the parks. Can’t wait x
Well my initial response was to be annoyed as no info was forthcoming from Disney but of late getting updates regularly. Both the provision of alternative food outlets and compensation has been confirmed at $75 per room per night so as I have two rooms for 14 nights its a nice little return which has been confirmed can be spent anywhere on Disney property so I’m more than happy