[Madchen]

More little questions that have been swimming in my head...

1. What are the scheduled kids' activities, exactly? I want to tell my DD to get her a little more excited about our trip. She's pretty nervous.

2. Ok, every picture I've seen online of the CBR rooms the TV is tiny. I know this seems silly, but most of the nights we'll be there everything closes at 6pm (3pm our time!) and I think we'll wind up watching lots of TV. I noticed in the PopC's pics theirs were way bigger! I'm just curious about that. It looked like a 13" or something.

3. How does the internal shuttle work? Is it a golf cart or a bus?? Is it hard to catch one?

4. Is there a gift shop with sundries? How about magazines, newspapers?

5. The rooms seem sort of dark and I think I read that comment way back when I started planning, not sure. I love a sunny room.

Hee hee, I feel so neurotic right now asking this stuff. You guys are always such a big help!! Thanks in advance!

[Dana]

I can answer a few and have never stayed there. Every WDW resort has a gift shop with basic essential and sundries, so no worry there. The TV's are 27inch ones at all the resorts. The picture you viewed may have made it look smaller for whatever reason. As for kid's activities at the CBR, I am not certain or do I remember reading anyting about them, but I am certain that someone who has stayed there will be along to help you with that and your other questions. You are not being neurotic. You are just being a smart traveler and getting the low down on everything. Why have an unexpected surprise when all you have to do is ask on here and have any question answered.

[Cincy]

We stayed their last March. The TVs are about 27 in. The transportation around the resort is ok. We always walked, you seem to get where you are going faster that way. As for the rooms, we thought they were very bright and festive. Don't know about the kids activities. We were always at the parks duriing the day. Hope this helps.

Also, the grounds of the hotel we awesome.

[CathysCAT]

Madchen- can't wait to hear about your stay at CBR. We're going in April. From the itinerary I've put together, we will hardly be spending any time in the room- only to sleep and shower. I may even tell the boys that the TV doesn't work- they definitely watch too much while at home. (lol) If your DD has long enough hair, I think I read somewhere they have a hair beading stand. I joke with my older DS- he's letting his hair grow a little longer than he's ever had it (always had buzz cuts, but that's not "in" right now). I told him I'm going to take him for hair beads! He said a friend of his in school who went to Mexico over Christmas came back with the braiding and beads in his hair! Looking forward to your experience at CBR! Have fun!

[CathysCAT]

Oh, look...I'm nearing 100 posts- 19 more to go. Soon I'll be able to see Chit Chat again- right? Signing off temporarily now, though. Final episode of the Bachelorette coming on in 5 minutes!

[LAURENGOLD]

Machden-

I see from your countdown your going next week? Is this true? I just checked the Disney site, and it looks like MK is open until 8, Epcot until 9, and MGM until 7. Don't forget, each of these parks have a show right at closing time, which will probabally add another 1-1 1/2 to your day.

As far as CBR, I'm sure your daughter will also enjoy the pool. It has a great theme, and very fun for kids.

Don't forget you can always check out the other resorts too, if your bored and looking for something else to do.

The rooms are not dark at all. They are very cheery and bright. Ask for a corner room, and you'll have 2 windows!!!

Enjoy your trip!!!

[Cincy]

Laurengold has a good point about the corner room. We had this and not only does it allow a lot of light in the room, but also you will only have one person next to you.

We stayed at the resort very little. We usualy leave first thing in the morning and return late at night, crash for a few hours and start all over.

[llama]

I think you will find that there is so much to do, that your daughter won't be looking for activities. As was mentioned, by the time you've watched Illuminations at Epcot, or Wishes at MK, or taken in Fantasmic, you probably won't get back to your room until 9 p.m. at the earliest. (I know - that's early for you Las Vegans, lol) You're not neurotic. You're just excited and want everything to be wonderful. Try to relax. As for shopping, not only will you have a shop at CBR, you'll be tripping over stores no matter where you go.

[Val32]

Originally Posted by Madchen

More little questions that have been swimming in my head...

1. What are the scheduled kids' activities, exactly? I want to tell my DD to get her a little more excited about our trip. She's pretty nervous.

2. Ok, every picture I've seen online of the CBR rooms the TV is tiny. I know this seems silly, but most of the nights we'll be there everything closes at 6pm (3pm our time!) and I think we'll wind up watching lots of TV. I noticed in the PopC's pics theirs were way bigger! I'm just curious about that. It looked like a 13" or something.

3. How does the internal shuttle work? Is it a golf cart or a bus?? Is it hard to catch one?

4. Is there a gift shop with sundries? How about magazines, newspapers?

5. The rooms seem sort of dark and I think I read that comment way back when I started planning, not sure. I love a sunny room.

Hee hee, I feel so neurotic right now asking this stuff. You guys are always such a big help!! Thanks in advance!

I stayed there on my last trip, I'll do my best with your Q's:

1. Do you mean a kids club? Because CBR don't have any, only deluxes would have organized activities for the kids. But the resort has many playgrounds, and a cool pool area. There is that island you can go to (we didnt have the chance to go). If there are any scheduled activities for the kids, I didn't know about them.

2. I dont think it was a 13" and we had the tv on every morning and nite and it was just the right size of your normal tv.

3. I didnt take any WDW transp. but it was all buses w/ a few bus stops within the resort.

4. At Old Port Royale they have a food court with a restaurant and a gift shop that sold anything from Beer to souvenirs. It was called the Calypso trading post. They also sell those famous Coconut postcards!! They sell anything you may need and there is a little grocery story in the food court area where you can pick up a juice, milk, salad, sandwich, cereal, ice cream bar, etc.....

5. The room did not appear "dark" to me. But if you leave the curtains closed and the lights off then yeah it's dark! LOL Seriously, the room has plenty of lights and a window that looks out onto the walkway around the rooms which is "open air" to the outside.

Hope I helped!!

[Val32]

Originally Posted by Cincy

We stayed at the resort very little. We usualy leave first thing in the morning and return late at night, crash for a few hours and start all over.

Hey, that sounds like my trip!! LOL
except we are should I say, the rest of my party weren't early risers! LOL

[Val32]

Originally Posted by CathysCAT

Madchen- can't wait to hear about your stay at CBR. We're going in April. From the itinerary I've put together, we will hardly be spending any time in the room- only to sleep and shower. I may even tell the boys that the TV doesn't work- they definitely watch too much while at home. (lol) If your DD has long enough hair, I think I read somewhere they have a hair beading stand. I joke with my older DS- he's letting his hair grow a little longer than he's ever had it (always had buzz cuts, but that's not "in" right now). I told him I'm going to take him for hair beads! He said a friend of his in school who went to Mexico over Christmas came back with the braiding and beads in his hair! Looking forward to your experience at CBR! Have fun!

I had my daughters hair wrapped out by the pool. They also do the temp. tat's for the kids.
Anyways, I will never have her hair wrapped again! Little did I know how damaging to the hair it is. I got these tips from my daughters hair dresser, lol.
Anyways, try and skip the hair wrapping and get her hair braided, much better for the hair.
BUT if she must have her hair wrapped, don't the person start at the top of her head by her part line, cuz when you "try" and take out the wrap, she WILL lose some hair and you dont want a bald spot on top of her head! Tell the person to start on a piece lower on her head, down by her ear, if she loses any hair, you won't notice that much and it won't be that bad. Also if will save you some $$ as they charge by the inch, and boy does it add up!!! And that's not even including the beads on the end!

Let me tell you I spent over an hour taking out that wrap!!! I even followed the guy's instructions and snipped the thread's as I went along. But in the end, there was 1 big knot that wouldn't come out and she lost most of that strand of hair that was wrapped! How aggervated I was!! I might as well snipped that whole thing off, It woulda saved me over an hour of backache!
I will try and post a pic of the event.

[OffKilterFan]

Thanks for the hints! We will be staying at CBR also, so all the tips available are nice :D

OffKilterFan

[Madchen]

Let me tell you that I am so grateful for these answers! I can't thank you all enough. :D

I think I read somewhere they have a hair beading stand.

As soon as DD saw a pic of that online, CBR was where she wanted to stay. Hee hee. I was trying to talk her into POFQ at first, but she really wants her hair wrapped. Also, thanks for telling me about the tangles! She has long(ish) hair and having them start down a ways is a great idea. I don't even know how good it will look on her because she has natural ringlettes in her hair... I don't think it's meant to be wrapped. But she has her heart set on it! It's tangled enough all the time as it is! Hee hee, whatever makes the kids happy, right? But... yikes!

Did you notice if the Calypso Market sold magazines or newspapers? I'm such a news junkie, I have to keep tuned in, heh. I knew I should have bought a laptop instead of a desktop pc!

About the scheduled activities, I don't see anything on any Disney information sites, but when I read resort reviews of CBR, I've seen them mentioned several times. I thought maybe they had a sandcastle contest or something, I have no idea!

I'm glad to hear that we'll probably be in the parks later than I thought!! Yep, Lauren, in about a week. I can hardly believe it!

[llama]

[quote=Madchen]

Did you notice if the Calypso Market sold magazines or newspapers? I'm such a news junkie, I have to keep tuned in, heh. I knew I should have bought a laptop instead of a desktop pc!


I'm like you - I need my daily news. Yes. Newspapers and magazines are both sold. There are newspaper vending machines at each bus stop, too. USA Today and the Orlando Sentinal (I think it's the Sentinal - my apologies to Orlandoans if that isn't the right name).

[hiner]

Madchen, CBR is an awesome resort. Our DS was 8yo when we took him for his first WDW trip. We stayed in Jamaica which was the perfect island. We were only a 5 minute walk to OPR, the bus stop was right across the parking lot and the quiet pool was right around the corner.

We too had a corner room and the room was bright warm with color. I would suggest to request a ground floor room because there aren't many stairways leading to the 2nd floors. Some rooms can be a walk to the stairs, but once you get a system down it is easy. The TV was not that small. We only had it on in the am while getting ready and sometimes at night to see the weather the next day. All the rooms should have refrigerators now at no extra charge. We usually stock up on water, breakfast items and snacks.

The internal bus runs throughout the resort. As someone had already mentioned, depending on what island you are staying in, walking can be quicker.

OPR is the central gathering place for this resort. The main pool, food court, Shutters restaurant and the gift shop is all located here. They have just about everything in the store, including magazines, souvenirs, snacks, bathing suits, towels etc. The food court has a pretty good number of selections. I would suggest purchasing a refillable mug if you guys like to drink soda or coffee. We sometimes will get one and share. You can refill anytime of the day, as long as they are open, for as often as you like.

There are several playgrounds and beaches around the resort, along with an island to explore.

CBR is close to EPCOT, MGM, DTD and TL. The bus rides should not take that long to those parks.

You will love this resort, beautiful, clean and loads to do.