Moderate - DISNEY’S CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT

Address: 900 Cayman Way
Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; 32830-1000
Phone: (407) 934-3400
Fax: (407) 934-3288

The Caribbean Beach Resort is a tropical paradise on the grounds of Walt Disney World; located between Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios, and Downtown Disney. ; The great architecture, colors, lively markets and exotic birds will give you the feel of the tropical getaway.

Resort Layout:
Caribbean Beach is situated on the shores of Barefoot Bay and has 2,112 guest rooms in 33 colorful 2-storey buildings. The buildings are divided into six villages: Barbados, Martinique, Aruba, Jamaica, Trinidad North, and Trinidad South. Each village has six buildings, except for Trinidad North, which has three buildings. Each of the villages has a pool, white sand beach with hammocks and playground, laundry facilities, bus stop, and parking area. There are no elevators. All common facilities are wheelchair accessible. ; Guests unable to use stairs should request rooms on the first floor.
Barefoot Bay is the centerpiece of the resort. ; It’s a 45-acre lake surrounded by a 1.4-mile promenade which connects to meandering paths leading to all guest rooms and common areas. The promenade is outstanding for strolling, jogging, and bicycling. Parrot Cay island is located in the center of the bay with a picnic area and beautiful foliage. Parrot Cay is connected to the promenade on each side by a footbridge. The lake, island, flourishing vegetation, colorful buildings, and attractive landscaping combine to create a wonderful atmosphere.
Old Port Royale, also known as Center Towne, is the main activities area with a food court, sit-down restaurant, shops, game arcade, large pool (Spanish fort-themed), water slide, wading pool, whirlpool, bicycle and boat rentals, bus stop, and parking area. The walk between Old Port Royale and your room is pleasant, but can be long. The furthest guest rooms are up to 0.8km (10-15 minute walk) away. If distance is a concern, you may want to refer to the resort map when making room selections. The closest buildings to are in Martinique (Buildings 24, 25, and 26) followed by Trinidad North (Buildings 31, 32, and 33). The farthest buildings are in parts of Trinidad South (Buildings 37 to 39) and Barbados (Buildings 11 and 16). The villages of Aruba and Jamaica are across the lake from Old Port Royale; some buildings (44 to 46 and 51 to 53) in those villages are reasonably close. ; You can drive from your room or use the internal bus.

Services & Amenities:
 Limited room service
 Concierge desk
 Babysitting and child services
 Pak-n-play crib available
 Room and facilities for guest with disabilities
 Laundry facilities and service
 Self Parking

Guest Rooms:
Each room has two double-size beds, except for a few rooms which have king-size beds. Up to four guests, and one child under three in a crib, are allowed per room. Cots are available for $15 per night; call in advance to reserve one. There is space for a sleeping bag on the floor. Rooms include two sinks outside the bathroom, cable TV/radio, armoire, table and chairs, phone with data port for laptop computer, key-operated wall safe (large enough for a very small laptop computer or PDA), hair dryer, iron and ironing board, and coffee maker. Complimentary coffee packs are supplied. There should also be a refrigerator in the room, if it's not there, request it! Bed boards, bed rails, extra blankets and pillows, and baby cribs, are available through housekeeping.

All rooms open onto an exterior corridor, and are roughly the same layout and size (340 sq. ft., slightly larger than rooms at the other moderate resorts). ; Connecting rooms are available. ; A small number of rooms are designed for wheelchair guests. ; Noise is not a problem in any room.

Non-smoking rooms are available. ; There are no non-smoking pool areas. ; Smoking is prohibited inside the public buildings.

Check-In & Check-Out:
Check-in is at 3pm, at the Custom House. ; Your room may be available prior to that time, but it is not guaranteed. ; If your room is not available, you can leave your luggage with the Bell Services where it will be delivered to your room with it is ready. ; If you are waiting for your room you can use the main pool (lockers, changing areas, and public restrooms at poolside), or head out to a theme park.

Check-out is at 11am. ; If you pay by credit card, you do not have to go to the Custom House to check out. ; An itemized bill will be hung on your door by 8:30am on the day of your departure. ; The electronic room key which was given, will be automatically deactivated at 11am. ; You can use Bell services to take luggage to your car. ; If you are taking a bus or taxi to the airport, Bell services will keep your luggage at the Custom House until your transportation arrives.

Dining:
Old Port Royale features a food court, open from 6am to midnight, with limited hours for some of the counters. Breakfast selections include bagels, fresh fruit, Mickey waffles, eggs, and breakfast meats. Lunch and dinner selections include burgers, pizza, pasta, deli sandwiches, salads, and desserts. Full dinners are available at the food court and at Shutters at Old Port Royale, a table service restaurant, next to the food court from 5 to 10pm.

Limited room service, from Blue Runner Pizza and Meal Delivery, offers pizza, sandwiches and salads. Delivery hours are from 4pm to 11:30pm. Rooms have coffee makers and complimentary coffee packets.

Alcoholic beverages including tropical specialties are available at Shutters at Old Port Royale and at the poolside bar, Banana Cabana.

Soda vending machines are in every village. ; Ice machines are in every guest room.

Tip:
The best beverage deal is the refillable mugs, available for approximate $12 at any of the food court vendors and through pizza delivery. ; The mugs are 16-oz, sturdy, dishwashable safe containers with lids. ; Mugs are refillable for the length of your stay at a self-service beverage island in the center of the food court. ;

Beverages include soft drinks, coffee, tea, iced coffee and tea, and hot chocolate (but not milk or fruit juice).

Recreation:
Pools
Caribbean Beach Royale has nine pools, including the Spanish fort-themed main pool at Old Port Royale (with water slide, water cannons, and waterfalls), the adjacent wading pool and whirlpool, and six village pools (one in each village). All pools are heated to 29 degrees celsius, which is comfortable for year-round swimming. The whirlpool is kept at a very toasty 41 degrees celsius. Bring towels from your room; they are not available at poolside except at the Old Port Royale pool. Housekeeping will replace towels taken from the room.
Pool hours are seasonal, only the main pool has lifeguards on duty during official operating hours.

The main pool can get crowded on hot afternoons, and chair space is at a premium. ; However, village pools are rarely crowded so you can check out one of those if the main pool is full.

Beaches
Each village has a beautiful, white sandy beach on Barefoot Bay. Beaches have lounge chairs, very comfortable hammocks, and the beaches in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad South have playgrounds. Swimming is not allowed in the lake; however, you are invited to get wet at any of the village pools.

Playgrounds
Small playgrounds are located on the village beaches of Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad South.

Bikes & Boats
A variety of watercrafts are available for rent at Orleans Port Royale. These include: watermice, sailboats, paddle boats, canoes and pontoon boats. The watermice can accommodate a maximum load of 300 lb. and typically hold one adult or an adult with a child. Pontoon boats can accommodate up to eight adults. The lake doesn't extend beyond the grounds of the resort so you won’t be able to sail off to MGM or the Magic Kingdom.

A family plan allows up to five members of your party, four hours of boat use and unlimited use of bicycles (but not surrey bicycles) for a fixed price for your entire stay. Daily plans are also available. Note that with these plans, there may be a time limit for each individual use (usually 30 minutes depending on availability), but there is no limit to the number of times you can use the equipment. Since policies and prices change often, visit the Barefoot Bay Boat Yard for more information.

Motorboat captains must be at least 12 years old and 5 feet tall (for watermice) or 18 years old for canopy and pontoon boats.

Marian hours vary by season, but generally open between 8am and 10am to 5pm.

Bicycles are also available for rent, beside the boat dock. ; The 2.25km promenade around the lake is great for bicycling. ; Surrey bicycle drivers must be 18 years old.

Shopping
The Calypso Trading Post and Calypso Straw Market at OPR sell sundries, souvenirs, Disney and Caribbean-themed sportswear, and a limited variety of groceries and snacks.

Other Amenities:
A game arcade room, Goombay Games Arcade, is located at Old Port Royal, adjacent to the shops.

Hair wrapping is available by the main pool.

ATM, phone card vending machine, and a ‘penny-press’ are located in Old Port Royale.

The front desk is open 24 hours.

Telephone, voice mail & fax
Each guest room has full-featured voice mail. ; Messages from inside or outside Walt Disney World can be left on voicemail, and individual message can be saved or deleted by the guest.

You are notified by voice mail when faxes are received; they can be delivered to your room, or you can pick them up at the Custom House. ; Service charges for incoming and outgoing faxes will be applied - check with the front desk for current rates. ; Photocopy services are also available for a fee.

Transportation:

The Caribbean Beach Resort is a very large resort complex and some rooms are quite far from Old Port Royale. If you don't relish the thought of taking a bus to grab your morning coffee, or if mobility is an issue, your own car may be an option to consider.

Free bus service is provided from the resort to all theme parks, the Water parks, and to Downtown Disney. Bus stops are located at each village and at Old Port Royale. buses run approximately every 20 minutes - usually more frequently - from 1 hour before park opening to 1 hour after park closing. You can budget about 45 minutes total for bus travel from your room to a theme park. This includes walking from your room to a bus stop, waiting for a bus, travel time on the bus, and walking from the theme park bus stop to the entrance gate.

There is no direct service from the Caribbean Beach Resort to other resorts. You take a bus to a Theme park or to Downtown Disney, and then change to monorail, boat, or another bus, depending on where you are going. Resort-to-resort travel can take well over an hour.

Buses to and from the theme parks and Downtown Disney make stops at Old Port Royale and at all the Caribbean Beach Resort villages. There are no strong reasons to prefer one village over another based on transportation availability. Obviously, some buildings are closer to bus stops than others; if closeness to bus stop is an issue, ask when room selection is made. ; It may be helpful to refer to a map.

An internal bus stops at each village and at Old Port Royale and circles the resort twice before leaving.

Buses to Universal Studios Florida and Sea World are provided by Mears.

If you bring or rent a car, you will find parking at the resort to be ample and free. ; Depending on your room location, you may or may not be able to park close to your room. ; Ask when room selection is made.

Airport Transportation will stop at the Custom House.

Rates:
Rates are based on view and time of year. ‘Water view’ rooms face the lake or pool; ‘standard view’ rooms do not.

Just like the other Disney World hotels, there are rates for the Value Season, Regular Season, Peak Season and Holiday Season. Rates begin at $133 US a night. These are regular rate prices and do not include the 6.5% Florida Sales Tax or the 11.5% county resort tax. Rates are based on double occupancy. No charge for children under 17 years old when sharing the same room as adults. ; For each number of adults over two, there is a $15 per nice charge per person.

For reservations, call (407) WDISNEY or contact a travel agent.

‘Ultimate Park Hopper’ passes, which include admission to all Disney theme parks, Water parks, Pleasure Island, Disney Quest and Wide World of Sports can be purchased at check-in.