One of the items on my Disney Bucket List is to eventually stay at every resort on Walt Disney World property. Because of this, we make every effort to try a new resort on every vacation and we sometimes even split our stay at two different hotels if there are several that we really want to try. We did just that on our latest vacation to Walt Disney World. The first 5 nights of our trip were spent at Disney’s Polynesian Resort (more about that in another post) before transferring to Caribbean Beach for our remaining two nights.
If you’ve read any of my resort reviews in the Fanzone or my personal blog before, then you know that I prefer Deluxe hotels by far, so I am 
usually apprehensive about staying at a Value or Moderate (which is incredibly silly considering Disney has NEVER disappointed me at any of its resorts!).
Caribbean Beach is set up in 6 villages all surrounding Barefoot Bay. Check in was incredibly smooth and quick. We were welcomed into the Customs House by several cast members and spent less than ten minutes checking in. Cast members had been able to accommodate all of our many requests, including a deep cleaning for allergies, an upper level room in Martinique with a view of Barefoot Bay, and as an added bonus, they put us in a corner room that had two windows instead of the standard one. If you request a water view room, be sure to specify if you want a view of Barefoot Bay, as Disney considers water view to also be a view of a pool.
The rooms are smaller than rooms at Deluxe hotels, measuring approximately 340 square feet. Most rooms have two full size beds, but a limited number of king size beds are available. Rooms include two sinks outside the bathroom, a refrigerator, cable TV/radio, armoire, a wall safe, table and chairs, phone, iron and ironing board, and coffee maker. You do have the option of choosing to stay in a pirate themed room, but we opted for a standard room since we had never stayed at Caribbean Beach before. Our room was decorated in a beachy Nemo type theme and was very cute and comfortable. Noise was not a problem for us despite the fact that we were staying in a high traffic area. 
One thing that impressed me about this resort is the many options for recreation. There is a marina where you can rent pedal boats, canoes, sailboats and even pontoons, all for an incredibly reasonable price. We option to rent a pedal boat and spent about an hour pedaling through all three of Barefoot Bays lakes. Bikes are also available for rent and there is a volleyball net as well. The pools at Caribbean Beach are also amazing. The main pool is themed like a Spanish fortress, complete with towers and a waterslide. Adjacent to the main pool is a kiddie pool that is themed like a pirate ship. So much fun! As an added bonus, each village also has its own smaller, non-themed pool for those who want a quieter and more relaxing option. There is also a playground and arcade, though we did not have time to explore these.
The gift shop and dining options are housed in Old Port Royale, where several different dining options are offered, including a table service restaurant, Shutters. The one “negative” thing I will say about this resort is that it’s HUGE and may be difficult to navigate for those without their own car or those traveling with small children; however, the resort does provide internal shuttles.
This resort easily ranks in my top three Walt Disney World resorts and even ranks much higher than several Deluxe resorts we’ve stayed at. Once we finally reach our goal of staying at every resort on property, Caribbean Beach will definitely become a regular for my Disney family.
Tiffany G. is a mom, wife and attorney. When she’s not practicing law, she can be found daydreaming with her family of vacations past or planning their next trip to see the Mouse. You can find her on Twitter @TTownTiffany and at http://ttowntiffany.blogspot.com.
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CBR was the first Disney resort our family ever stayed at! We loved it — such happy memories!