Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, Lake Buena Vista

We are Disney fanatics. This year besides staying at WDW, we spent 5 glorious nights on the beautiful Disney Dream. Once our voyage was over we were so excited to continue our vacation at the most magical place in the world, WDW. This year we decided to stay at the Caribbean Beach Resort. To our disbelief, we should have just left after the cruise and never vacationed on land. The Caribbean Beach Resort is the most dirtiest place that we stayed at. The issue that we had in building 52 in the Aruba section were: stains on comforter, mildew in bathtub, pubic hair all over bathroom, stains on curtains dividing beds from vanity area, caked on ice cream in freezer, bug spray smelling odor in room 5124, pubic hair in bed linens and crumbs all over the floor. After complaining to 7 different managers in 2 days, all of 16 of use were transfered to another resort. This was the first time that we have ever, ever had a complaint regarding Disney and I hope this will be the last time. I will never ever recommend this resort to anyone. This was to be a week of celebrating 3 wedding anniversaries; instead, we were stressed, disgusted and arguing with our spouses

We have been looking forward to going to Disney and the Caribbean Beach Resort for over a year and we were NOT disappointed!! I did the online check in a few days prior so when we got to the resort everything was ready for us. It made check in a breeze! Our 3 1/2 yrs old son has been into pirate for quite a while so we decided on this resort for the pirate room. We were at the very end of the resort which I didn't mind at all since there was no traffic and being shoulder season we had peace and quiet. My son adored sleeping in his pirate ship bed and they were very comfortable beds too. Being at the back of the resort we were far from the main pool but being a runner and a mom who wanted to make sure her son would sleep at night :) it was perfect distance. The walk is simply beautiful, the flowers in bloom, the ground well kept and the walking/running paths are awesome. My son loved the echo from under the bridge/overpass when we walked to the pool and it made us enjoy the resort even more. For the runners out there, you will not be disappointed with the running paths, it's pretty much flat so don't expect in doing hill training but it's perfect for speed work or a nice easy run. The main pool, what can I say? it's perfect. There is plenty to do for everyone. We pretty much lived at the pirate ship with the slides and the dumping barrel, beware those that do not pay attention to that barrel, when you hear the bell I would suggest that you don't stay close to the boat/slides as you will get drenched and, as I have witnessed a couple of times, people will not tell you about this and will laugh at you :) The shuttles for the different parks are every 15-20 mins and brings you at the front gate of the parks. The resort room card also acts as your park tickets (and fastpass ticket) you can also use it to charge purchases and food to your credit card. It made not bringing money and credit/debit card alot easier if you are afraid to loose them, great idea! I was and still impressed with this resort and we are definitely going back next year. Thanks Caribbean Beach Resort for a magical time! See you next year!

This was a great hotel, we had a room right across the lake from the main pool and could easlit walk over the bridge and island to get food or head to the pool in 4 mintes. the main restaurant shutters, had carribean themed food (disgusting) but the food court had normal american food, pizza (not ny style) french fries, pudding. and the bus service to the parks left every 15 minutes from each of the 6 or 7 stops

Until this visit I had been a diehard Disney Resort advocate. In the past, I've stayed at the Contemporary Resort, Polynesian Village, Port Orleans (several times). All were amazing. When we arrived in our room at the Caribbean Beach Resort there was something brown smeared on the tub surround. I called housekeeping to ask them to clean it the next time they were in. Something toxic was sprayed, but the brown stuff was still there - my husband later cleaned it with a wash cloth and water. There was an inch of dust on each of the headboards and the fan - which didn't work. The bright yellow curtain separating the bedroom from the bathroom area had several large brown stains. To top it all off, there were several dead bugs smeared on the walls. I called to complain and was given a price adjustment and promised that housekeeping would "deep clean" the room while we were out. When we returned that night, the room was EXACTLY the same; however the room smelled like a supply closet - totally toxic. The following morning, we came back from breakfast and the smell was still crazy strong. It was a totally disappointing experience. When we checked out, I asked to speak with a manager regarding our stay. A woman came out from the back and we explained why we were unhappy. She said that she would "tell the manager" (I thought she WAS the manager.)

Checked in, got to our rooms rather quickly, and it was very clean and inviting. Had family memebers with us, so we ended up with joining rooms. Our room was somewhat close to the Pools, Stores, and Restaraunts. We had the dinning plan, and I was amazed at the amount of items that we could purchase from the restaunts. Very good value with the plan. The kids had fun in the pools, which were staffed with enough lifegaurds. Having lifegaurds meant that parents could utilize the poolside bar for a drink or two while the kids were swimming. The resort had an outdoor pool as well, which we didn't visit. The kids wanted the water slide. Our room ended up very close to one of the many bus stops around the resort. The making travel to all the parks very easy, convenient, and generally fast. I was surprised to find that they even had a bus that just cruised around the resort offering in resort transportation. Amazed at the number of Disney buses I saw, I asked one driver how many buses Disney had, 277 buses. Almost every bus runs, every day. The value of our stay combined with the package we had, was definatly worth the value of our money. We will be back soon.. I would recommend this to anyone that wants to have an awesome vacation package.

We had Pirate rooms in Trinidad South. These were great rooms for kids, they were clean and the hotel staff gave us plenty of towels and towel animals and arranged our children's stuffed animals on the bed each day. It was a good hike to the main pool (kids pool) and to the food court. I enjoyed the walk, but the children got a little tired of the long walk each time were wanted to eat something. Each building complex had it's own pool, ours was always peaceful and uncrowded. The buses ran consistantly (approx. every 15-20 min), at times they were over crowded and some of our family had to stand, especially when leaving a park after 8 p.m. (the grand exodus begins). The grounds at CBR were beautiful and clean. We encountered "be in the lake/bay at your own risk" (you aren't allowed to swim anyway), but we would have liked to rented a canoe or sailboat, but there were 2, good sized alligators that sneaked into the lake (at least 4 feet each). Also while visiting, the hotel mentioned a bear was seen on the property. We never saw the bear, but we did see the alligators. Something to keep in mind if you are taking young children to this resort.

Nice selection of food, good selection of Disey products and a nice walkway around the lake (good for jogging). Room was quiet and roomy. Disney bus service was great - never waited more than 15 minutes during 5 days. Looking forward to returning in late February 2010. Price was reasonable for a Disney property

Towels were shredded and paper thin. No garbage can in room, requested one that never arrived, maid service arrived at 8am with pounding on door. Requested a King and received double beds - tiny rooms. Not worth it - definitely the worst disney property

This was our first Disney vacation, and from our first moment we believe we were in for a magical trip. Caribbean Beach staff traveled to Wal Mart for us the first night to buy lactose free milk for my 4 year old - at 11:30 pm, they knocked on our door with several half-gallons of it. They only charged us the exact amount of the milk itself - I was amazed, and this act of kindness began a week of magical experiences that will not be forgotten. We loved the access to buses to all of the Disney parks and Downtown Disney. We hope to stay longer next time just to be able to see more. The only thing that could improve Caribbean Beach, in our opinion, is to make the lake ok for swimming. It is such a beautiful showpiece of the resort. We liked that there was easy access to laundry and each section had its own pool, in addition to the large, central pool area. Lots of lifeguards (and they were very watchful with so many children in the area.) This resort and our entire experience at Disney (especially Magic Kingdom) made us want to come back again. That's exactly what we will plan to do....

I was very apprehensive about staying here after I read some of the reviews, and we booked this trip over a year in advance, and read my share of mixed reviews. If you keep in mind that this is Disney's first resort destination, I think you will be pleasantly suprised. The grounds are impecable. Our room was very clean (and I work at a doctors office and am a total germiphobe). The furniture was a little dated and as was the carpet, but it was a very calming atmosphere. We did not use the shuttle, and the fact that internet usage is $10.00 a day iritated my husband (and many others as I gathered). We bought snacks and pop off site and made use of the refrigerater, and the in room safe is small. But when it came time to pack up and leave, I felt silly about how worried I was, because I did not want to leave. I will say I read a couple of reviews that stated the souvenier mugs were found in the room to use-our experience was that they were sold in the Trading Post/Old Port Royale, so if they are found in your room, I wouldn't use it. The food court serves food similar to that at the parks in both style and price, and you can have pizza delivered to your room.-so go with an open mind-I think you will be pleasantly suprised-this place has to have some history given it's age and importance in the Disney resort history