Caribbean Beach Resort
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Reviewer's Name:
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Julie Hauer |
Reviewer's Email Address:
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julied3964@aol.com |
Rate / Night (for your stay):
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$99 night |
Date(s) of Stay:
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September 9, 2000 |
Accommodation Used:
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Standard Room / Studio |
Accommodations Review:
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Our room was okay (after we got into it - the only problem was
a slight tear in the carpet next to the door) but my brother's
had a horrible smell of mold and must. It was quite disgusting.
We didn't complain at the time since his kids were exhausted and
were sleeping. We figured we were only there for one night. We
never received an itemized bill from the front desk as we should
have upon checkout. Our room with the king sized bed was quite
spacious. There was plenty of floor space. The other furniture
included a table with chairs, and an armoire. The sink area was
not in the bathroom proper which made it easier to get ready to
go in the morning. Another problem we had was that our resort
ids were marked as "not valid for charging purposes" because my
brother decided not to be able to charge on his room. We'd have
liked to do that but were told we couldn't. Again, it was only
night but it would have been nice not to have to carry cash to
the food court. |
Why Did you Select This Resort for your Stay?
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My husband and I stayed overnight here with my brother, my sister-in-law
and their two boys) before the main chunk of our vacation at the
BoardWalk Villas. We only needed a place for one evening and we
were originally going to try the All-Star Resorts. The Cast Member
with Central Reservations told me about a good MKC discount for
Caribbean Beach which was only a few dollars more than the All-Stars
would have been. As a trade off, we'd get a much larger room and
supposedly nicer surroundings and more amenities. |
Room # and Location Description:
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Jamaica 4605 and 4606, 1st floor |
Room Location Pros & Cons:
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We were in the Jamaica section which was nice. There was some
beautiful landscaping with a tropical feel. I never felt as if
I was truly in the Caribbean but the theme was carried out well.
We had a short walk over the bridge to Parrot Cay and then to
Center Towne. If you ever do this, the bridge is wooden and gets
very slippery when wet. |
Check-In / Check-Out Comments:
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When I originally made the reservations, it was for both my
brother and his family and for the two of us. We needed two rooms,
one in each family's name. I was assured by CRO that the proper
way to do this was to put both rooms under the same reservation
number. My husband and I requested a room with a king bed and
my brother needed two doubles since he has a wife, a toddler and
an infant. My brother checked in around noon while my husband
and I went to the Kennedy Space Center. When my brother checked
in, they originally gave him our room and he had to go back and
change it. We showed up and they gave us additional keys to his
new room instead of our room. We had to call to get that fixed.
We were expecting phone calls because we were selling our house
but none came through to us because of the room snafu - my dad
did manage to reach my brother by calling and asking for me. It
was just an unpleasant experience. |
WDW Transportation Comments:
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We had a car so we never used the buses and cannot comment. |
Restaurant / Lounge Review:
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We chose the "Kingston Pasta Shop" in Old Port Royale where
I had the linguine with meatballs hold the meatballs and my husband
chose the meat lasagna. He said his lasagna was okay but nothing
great. For mine, there was a gigantic mound of sticky pasta with
perhaps three tablespoons of sauce. It just wasn't very good food.
The cast member who took our order was extremely pleasant but
the other employees we observed cleaning the food court were scowling
and obviously unhappy. Granted, the place was a mess and it must
have seemed daunting to have to clean it up. |
Pool Description / Comments:
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The theme pool was quite crowded and very loud. There was a
calypso band playing near the beach bar and there were kids running
everywhere at 9 pm. We weren't tempted to try the theme pool because
it was so crowded. We tried the quiet pool in our island village
of Jamaica that evening. There were some pool toys (noodles) in
the water for anyone to use and we enjoyed having the place to
ourselves. We were going to try the hammocks but they appeared
to be wet and full of sand so we skipped it. |
What Suggestions Would you Give Anyone that is Considering
This Resort?
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Think long and hard. I've stayed on site many times and have
never had a negative experience before with a Disney resort. There
were just too many snafus in one night to make me want to spend
an extended trip at this resort. On top of that, you work hard
and save your money for these trips. Don't compromise by spending
time in a room that is not maintained and smells like something
died in there! |
Other Comments:
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In the future, I think I would feel comfortable trying a moderate
resort (or even a value) resort at Disney, but I doubt I would
stay at this particular location again. While the themeing is
well thought out and executed, it's obvious that more attention
needs to be paid to maintenance and training of employees (particularly
in reservations and at the front desk). |
