There are SO. MANY. HOTELS. in Disney World! Well over 20 that are owned and operated by Disney themselves, and several that are run by third parties; and there are even some swanky ones like the Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, and the Waldorf Astoria!
Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
And while some of these resorts are selling out on the regular, there’s been one that’s been a little neglected — at least anecdotally — by guests for the past few years. But guess what! This “forgotten resort” just became one of the hottest places to stay on Disney property…and we’re going to tell you why!
Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort was looking a little rough around the edges a couple of years ago. The rooms badly needed a refurbishment, and the food options were meh at best. And while they had a great main pool and some fun themed pirate rooms, it never seemed to be on most folks’ “favorite resort hotels” list for Disney World.
Caribbean Beach Resort’s Centertown Market
Then…Disney made it worse, in order to make it better. CBR entered into a multi-year refurbishment, which meant all of the dining options in the resort were shut down in order to create brand new spaces and places to eat. So guests were actually eating buffet food in a giant tent…and if they were in a hurry, they had to go to a rando hotel room to get grab-and-go items from a misplaced fridge. Not appealing at all.
Seating in Temporary Food Area during the refurbishment…in a tent
But when the resort emerged, it was truly lovely — shiny new lobby, brand new table-service dining, a plussed up pool bar, and a fancier (if not all that much better in the actual food department) food court.
Banana Cabana Pool Bar
And then it finally all made sense when THIS was announced… .
Skyliner Gondola System
Of course! Disney had to make Caribbean Beach Resort more appealing, because it was just about to become a super popular resort hotel… at least in theory! Disney’s newest mode of transportation — the Skyliner Gondola System — has just opened to the public…and Caribbean Beach Resort is its main HUB!
Skyliner Gondolas
The Skyliner gondola system connects Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot to several Disney World resorts, including Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort.
Learn all about the Disney Skyliner System here!
Why Is This Such A Big Deal for Guests?
Before this, bus travel was the only option available to get to theme parks for those staying at Caribbean Beach, and that meant waiting up to 20 minutes for a bus, and ten undertaking the potentially 20 minute drive to a theme park…on a crowded bus. But the skyliner means guests can get to and from Hollywood Studios and Epcot from Caribbean Beach Resort in mere minutes — much more quickly than they likely can on a bus.
Caribbean Beach Resort Skyliner System
And while several of the buses have been getting a bit of an upgrade, the addition of the Skyliner allowing much faster access to two of Disney’s theme parks will likely make Caribbean Beach a more appealing place to stay for many Disney World guests.
Check out our Skyliner pro tips here!
Also, previously the only way to quickly get to a Disney World theme park without riding a bus was to stay at a much more expensive Deluxe Resort — they were the only resorts that had direct access to a theme park via boat, monorail, or walking, which are usually much faster ways to get to a park because they cover less ground than buses. Now guests staying at Caribbean Beach Resort can pay LESS for their hotel, but still get direct and fast access to two Disney World theme parks.
The Skyliner sails over Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
New Joffrey’s Coffee Location
The Skyliner Gondola System will bring more than just a new transportation option to Caribbean Beach Resort. There’s also a NEW Joffrey’s Coffee and Tea location at the resort’s Skyliner station!
Joffrey’s Coffee and Tea at Caribbean Beach
This new location servers coffees, pastries, and specialty items, including the Toffee Flight Latte, which blends sea salt, caramel, toffee, and dark chocolate.
Toffee Flight Latte
Read our Full Review of the Toffee Flight Latte HERE!
So you can (hopefully) see why Caribbean Beach Resort is going to be much higher on the lists of best Disney Resorts now that the skyliner is here! But let’s not forget how much that original refurbishment upgraded the resort overall!
Banana Cabana
The Caribbean Beach renovation introduced us to brand new versions of Centertown Market, Sebastian’s Bistro (formerly Shutters), and the updated Banana Cabana. The Banana Cabana may just be a pool bar, but it’s honestly so much greater than typical Disney World pool bars.
Banana Cabana
We love the colorful and relaxed vibe of this hangout spot, and we enjoy the food and beverage offerings here as well.
Jerk Chicken Sandwich
The menu features Caribbean influences throughout, and during our visits, we’ve enjoyed Banana Cabana’s Jerk Chicken Sandwich and Loaded Sweet Potato Fries. The drinks are enjoyable as well, including the Kraken Punch, Pink Guava Colada, and Banana Cabana.
Kraken Punch
Read our full review of Banana Cabana here!
Sebastian’s Bistro
After Caribbean Beach Resort’s massive refurbishment, Sebastian’s Bistro opened and replaced Shutters. So far, we’ve enjoyed our experiences at Sebastian’s!
Sebastian’s Bistro
We love the Disney-fied Caribbean look of this restaurant, and it’s certainly a stark improvement from what was there before. And we love the fact that this gives Sebastian a little much-needed spotlight!
Sebastian’s Bistro
During our most recent visit, we were pretty impressed with the food. We’ve enjoyed menu items like the Taste of the Caribbean and the Grilled Rib-Eye.
Taste of the Caribbean
Read our full review of Sebastian’s Bistro here!
Yep, Caribbean Beach Resort is really coming into its own! And we really do think that with the addition of the skyliner, better food options, and an overall refurb, this resort will become a hot spot in 2020! Stay tuned… .
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I had been thinking the exact same! We are booked at Pop Century for a few nights in December, but shifted our dates up one night… Pop is booked for the new night so I booked us in at Carribean Beach for the first night instead! It’s about $100 more per night for a preferred room but I think worth a try given the recent updates and convenient Skyliner access.
We stayed at Caribbean Beach in July 2018 and despite all the building work, loved it. So much so that we are booked in there again in August 2020 and we are excited to see all the changes and ride that gondola to Epcot & HS.
Might even try a Joffreys for the journey
A, P & D
Wales UK
I’m looking forward to seeing all the updates at the Caribbean Beach. This is one of my family’s favorite resorts. Back in June, I booked us a preferred room for a week in August. We are so looking forward to it and to try out the new Skyliner access.
I enjoyed staying at CBR even during the construction. The BEST bar staff of any of the resorts, and I visited or stayed at all of them. In 2018, they got to know me really well on my half-dozen visits to WDW. lol.
The breakfast buffet was great too, but I’ve got a secret to share. We found a spot near the pool where you can see all of the fireworks at the same time!
The evening entertainment is fun too.
Tell Joanne, Stacie, Mike, and the gang at Banana Cabana that Keith from Chicago says hello!
I absolutely hate Caribbean Beach and will never stay there again! It’s very spread apart, so you might have a LONG walk to the sky liner… not much of a pert in my opinion. I routinely waited over an hour for a bus to show up, because I was at a later stop and the bus filled up before it came to my stop. Stay at All Stars or Pop… much shorter walks to get to the bus to the park. Nicer staff. Better resort layout.
Kind of from the opposite perspective. We always preferred the Caribbean Beach. The grounds are beautiful and the kids always enjoyed the pool.
Now, the buildings we preferred have been demolished, the Caribbean vibe is disrupted by the intrusion of the massive Riviera Resort and continuous gondolas are sailing overhead. The poles for the gondola system are ugly, and skyline riders will be viewing those on the ground as scenery. Takes away the relaxing atmosphere.
Sebastian’s Bistro is the third iteration of a table service restaurant at Caribbean Beach Resort. The previous two were Captain’s Tavern and Shutters. Captain’s Tavern was simply awful! Shutters was I thought pretty good in the beginning. Hopefully Sebastian’s Bistro will provide consistently good food and service.
We have stayed at Caribbean the 4 times. One before the refurbishment, two during, and this last time was in Sept 2019 after the refurbishment. I can say that I wasn’t impressed. Didn’t notice much difference with the rooms and my family and I preferred the old food court. The new one is bland and small. The old food court had atmosphere and character.
Have to agree, they have terribly downgraded the place. The new food court is bland and ugly, the previous one was so well themed and had so much more to offer, there is nothing in this new one at all!! We were very disappointed. The rooms and buildings are still on the shabby side also. Its about a two mile walk from the lobby to the gondolas and poor directional signage. I can not figure out the glowing review of this article whatsoever. We have no desire to go back to this resort. Disney is becoming generic in so many ways its not worth it anymore.
CB is one of my favorite resorts, even before the changes they’ve recently made.we stayed there in January and loved eating lunch at the Banana Cabana. Sadly I see they’ve already changed the menu and our 2 favorite menu options have been removed. It looks like they’ve moved those 2 items to Sebastian’s Menu?
we stayed here on our honeymoon in October 1991. it was fairly brand new and the first non deluxe hotel. but it was my first trip to WDW so I thought it amazing. I cannot imagine what it is like now. One of the things I remember most, and I thought so amazing, was that we were in Jamaica, and crossed the bridges and the little island in the middle of the lake and it had the most amazing birds (in cages, but not like a parakeet) that were there. and the 3 mile jogging path that went around the lake. I can’t imagine what it is like with the things in the air and the big Riviera hotel instead of the low similar buildings around the lake. We went back to Shutters once for an anniversary, but now we are DVC and stay elsewhere. for many reasons, mostly we are not 2 25 year olds.I’m sure we will likely stay at Riviera someday to be able to recall our honeymoon memories, but, I have no illusions that it will hold the same ambiance.
The buses there are a nightmare. The are about 6 stops. Buses fill on the Centertown side of the island so if you are on the far side you are waitinf multiple times for buses and standing room only.
We just completed a stay here. The Skyliner was a great addition, and lucky for us we were in the Jamaica building which was right across the street from the hub. Also loved grabbing a coffee from Joffrey’s in the morning.
It’s always interesting to me how no two people see things the exact same way. I’ve stayed at CBR 5 times since 1994. I remember the original sit-down restaurant Captain’s Tavern. It was truly terrible! It’s replacement Shutters at Old Port Royale I thought was pretty good. I am booked for 7 nights at CBR in May of 2020. Looking forward to all of the changes and eating dinner at Sebastian’s Bistro.
Just spent a few days at CBR and I won’t be coming back. I should have read your previous post about lack of elevators. Despite the “upgrades”, which basically amounts to some new paint and carpet, it’s still an exterior entrance 80s motel. If you stay in the wrong building the food court (blah) is a mile walk. Essentially I would stay in a value hotel before I’d step up to this “moderate” class motel anyway.
PS: I still have an issue with Disney charging for parking even for annual pass holders especially at these motel type accommodations where it’s such a long walk to score lunch. 🤷🏻♂️