Category — q. Reviews

(For the first page of this review of Copper Creek Villas, see this.)

THE VILLAS AT DISNEY’S COPPER CREEK VILLAS

This photo tour covers the baths and master bedroom spaces of a Copper Creek Villa. The living/dining/kitchen space, and the master bedroom and baths, are the same in both One and Two Bedroom Copper Creek Villas.

The floor plan shows a Two Bedroom Villa.

(The living, kitchen and dining spaces in a Copper Creek Villa are here.)

From the entry to the Villa, turn and and you’ll see this hall.

On one side is the laundry.

At the end is this open closet with coat hooks and cubbies, a couple of small drawers, and shoe storage at the bottom.

The other side has an entry from this hall to a full bath, with a sink, toilet…

…and a large shower.

The shower has both a rainfall head…

…and a mounted handheld head.

Accessible both from this space and from the master bedroom is a second bath area, with a sink and a soaking spa tub.

A closer view of the tub.  The jets are at the bottom, and after you are done and gone, and the tub has emptied (it takes a while to fill it by the way) the jets come back on with a bit of a surprising roar to clear them.

The hair dryer is in a sink drawer. There may be another one in the full bath–I forgot to check.

The makeup mirror.

The master bedroom itself has a king bed on one side.

The king from the back.

Closer.

Note the interesting headboard. Note also the power points on the bedside table.

There’s two such tables, each able to power four devices.

There’s room for typically-sized rolly bags and such under the bed.

The other side of the room has a desk, dresser, TV and wardrobe.

The inside of the wardrobe.

The dresser and TV.

Lots of drawer space.

The desk adds more power points and has a cute stool that adds some color.

Also adding color is the large art thingy between the spa tub and the master bedroom, which perhaps is meant to be petrified wood.

The art thingy is translucent, so lets light escape from the master bath area into the bedroom when the lights are on in the bath.  All told, despite the room being short on art, I would have preferred drywall.

Finally, there’s a balcony outside.  Our seventh floor room had small dormer balconies–Villas on other floors will have larger ones, most with rails instead of solid walls.

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(For the first page of this review of Copper Creek Villas, see this.)

THE VILLAS AT DISNEY’S COPPER CREEK VILLAS

Copper Creek Villas, a newer Disney Vacation Club offering that took over a wing at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, opened in 2017, and we checked into a One Bedroom Villa a couple of days after they opened. (For a similar photo tour of a Copper Creek Studio, see this.)

Our Villa was on the seventh (top) floor, and so has smaller balconies and a slightly different ceiling line near the balconies than most others, but the floor plan other than balconies is the same.

This photo tour covers the living/dining/kitchen space of a Copper Creek Villa. The living/dining/kitchen space, and the master bedroom and baths, are the same in both One and Two Bedroom Copper Creek Villas.

As you enter your villa, the kitchen, dining and living areas are dead ahead, and the baths and master bedroom are around a corner.

The side of the entry area, towards the master bath…

…has a lovely parquet floor.

Here’s you’ll find a large closet…

…with hanging storage for those sleeping in the living room–well, not for them, unless they are little bats, but for their stuff. The master bedroom has its own wardrobe–as we’ll see, there’s tons of storage in these villas.

The safe in the closet is large and deep enough for several laptops or your most valuable books.

Back in the main space you’ll first find the kitchen.  The refrigerator is alone on one side…

…but is plenty large.

The rest of the kitchen is on the other side.

From the back of the room.

Some of the stuff the kitchen comes with:

Pretty much everything you need to prepare, cook and serve meals for the eight people a Two Bedroom Villa at Copper Creek will hold is here.

You won’t find the breakfast bar that’s common in other Disney Vacation Club One and Two Bedroom Villas, but as we’ll see in a minute the dining table is larger than those in most other Villas.

Deeper in the room on the kitchen side you’ll find the dresser, TV and connecting door to a Studio or second bedroom, if present.

A closer shot of the dresser and 64-inch TV.

Six large drawers–each is 30 inches wide– provide plenty of storage for the two people this side of the Villa sleeps. Note that the top of the dresser is flanked by two power points that can each charge four devices–there’s all the power you’d want in these spaces.

The charming book on the right is for you to look at, not to take.

Beyond is the balcony.  Because we were on the seventh floor, ours were quite small. Normal rooms have a full balcony for each bay.

The other side of the room has the dining set up, couch and an easy chair.

This side from the back.

A closer view of the dining table.

I measured the wall bench as six feet long. With that long a bench seat and three chairs, this table will easily seat 6 of typical hips.  That’s not the eight people the room will hold, but is more than most DVC Two Bedroom Villas can seat or even have seats for.

Under the bench is this drawer.

Beyond is the couch and easy chair. The couch will sit three, so there’s cushioned seating only for four.  You can turn the dining table chairs around for more seats.

The coffee table opens to this bedding, and is also on wheels to make moving it out of the way (to unfold the sofa bed) easier.

The couch unfolds into this bed. I measured it to be as wide as a queen–60 inches–but at 76 inches long four inches shorter.  The cushion is four inches deep, thin for all but children and lighter adults (or bats…).

THE MASTER BEDROOM AND BATH IN ONE AND TWO BEDROOM VILLAS AT COPPER CREEK VILLAS

This photo tour of a Copper Creek Villa continues here.

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(For the first page of this review of Copper Creek Villas, see this.)

THE STUDIOS AT DISNEY’S COPPER CREEK VILLAS

Copper Creek has two basic types of studios–dedicated and lock-off–and a third much less common offering that has some more space.

Our Studio was a dedicated Studio, without a connecting door, so the TV side of the room is a little different than the connecting “lockoff” studios. Its floor plan is above.

This floor plan shows a regular lockoff Studio with a connecting door. The door connects to a One Bedroom Villa–a photo tour of that space begins here.

Here’s an overview of the space.

The entry is similar to other Studios, with the closet and kitchenette on one side, and a divided bath on the other.

The sink area of the bath can be closed off by a sliding barn door.

A more direct view of the sink area…

…with storage below.

The hair dryer is in a drawer.

Beyond the sink in their own room are the shower and toilet. The shower has sliding doors…

…a hand-held shower…

…and a rainfall shower head. The shower set up is cool, and many will welcome the sliding doors as easier to handle than a billowing curtain.  But parents of small children know it’s much easier to bathe a little one in a regular tub with a shower curtain.

Across the hall is the closet and kitchenette. One side of the closet…

…and the other.

The safe is in the closet. For sizing, see in it my book–6″  by 9″–and my laptop, which is 9.5″ by 13.25.” In between, just a bit larger than my book,  is a larger iPad.

The closet is smaller than in most Studios, and is the one compromise I see in Copper Creek Studios from the smaller size of the standard Wilderness Lodge rooms they were converted from. That said, as we’ll see, there’s plenty of storage in these rooms–especially since you don’t need to put your bags in the closet.

The kitchenette comes with a coffeepot, toaster, microwave, and some utensils and such.

Some of the supplies and storage spots–

Note above the slide-out pantry, which I’ve not seen in another DVC studio

Also here is a mini-fridge.

Further in the room, on one side is a queen bed and a couch that folds out into a second queenly bed (it’s as wide as a standard queen, but four inches shorter).

This side of the room from the back.

A closer view of the queen.

Some of the headboard detail.

The bed throw has a stylized railroad map of the west.

There is room under the bed for bags, a new feature we’ve been seeing in the more recent Disney World refurbs, which lessens demand for storage space for them in the closet or elsewhere.

This is a standard-sized rolly bag under the bed. It would have fit totally in the middle but then you couldn’t see it, could you? You could easily put six bags of this size under the bed, probably more.

On either side of the queen is one of these bedside tables.

The three drawers in each can be used for storage, and each has two standard and two USB outlets for charging.

At the far end of this side of the room is the couch and and a chest that functions as a coffee table.

In the chest you’ll find bedding for the queen-ish bed that the couch folds out into.

Note that by opening the chest you also make a handy keyboard-height table in front of the couch. I am impressed…

The couch folds out into a bed I measured as  60 inches wide by 76 inches long with a 4 inch cushion.  It is as wide as a queen but 4 inches shorter.

I’ve put this bed through my detailed testing regimen (step one shown above), and can confirm that like most Disney World sofa beds you should save it for kids or lighter adults.

At the far end of your room you’ll have either a balcony or, if you are on the first floor like we were, a patio.

The other side of my room had a bench, dresser with TV above, and table and chairs.

The TV side from the back.

Note the beam separating the living space from the entry hall.

Standard studios put their connecting door where our table was, slide the TV and dresser a little towards that door, and have their table where we have the bench.

A closer view of the table and chairs–note the fun mirror frame. The power point holds two standard plugs and two USB plugs.

The dresser and TV. Note the size of the TV, and the variety of fun handles on the dresser.  On either side is a power point, each of which can charge four devices–two via plugs, two via USB.

On the dresser you will find this book–at least until so many are stolen (there’s a note on the back that you will be charged $50 for the book if you take it) that Disney tires of replacing it.

The 6 drawers have varied shapes and can easily hold the stuff needed for the four people these room will fit–and recall there’s six more smaller drawers in the bedside tables.

Finally, my room had this bench…

…with storage inside. Studios with a connecting door do not have this bench, and put the table and chairs here instead.

There’s little Disney theming to these rooms.  Here’s closer views of the three pieces of art you’ll find:

However, there’s a number of nice small touches in the room–the carved headboard and mirror, the railroad map on the bed and book on the dresser, the fun shower heads, the slide-out pantry, the under-bed storage, the keyboard desk at the sofa, the quantity and size of drawers–that make these Copper Creek Studios really stand out.

I can’t say they are the best studios at Disney World–in different ways both those at the Polynesian and Grand Floridan are probably better overall.  But they are very, very well-done, and very impressive.

PHOTO TOUR OF THE LIVING-KITCHEN-DINING SPACE OF ONE AND TWO BEDROOM VILLAS AT COPPER CREEK

This review continues here!

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OVERVIEW: DISNEY’S CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT

Note 10/3: At least some dining will re-open on October 8, 2018!

Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort has always suffered from strong pros and almost equally strong cons. Its loveliness, playfulness, great main pool and kid appeal have been offset by its overly complex bus stop set up, the distance of some rooms–especially the Pirate rooms in Trinidad South–from central services, and average dining.

A major construction project kicked off here in May 2017.  It holds the promise of eventually fixing many of the resort’s more negative aspects, but in the meantime adds some visual blight and a weak set of temporary replacements for the now-closed permanent dining. (Spyglass Grill, a fine but small new permanent counter service venue is now open in Trinidad South.)

Even so, for those who care little about dining at the resort, and understand fully what they are getting into, Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort is the best Disney World moderate resort for first time family visitors who may never return.

You can have a wonderful visit at any Walt Disney World resort hotel.

However, this site recommends that first time visitors to Walt Disney World who can afford it should stay at Disney’s Polynesian Resort, a deluxe resort, and that those who can’t should stay at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, a value resort.

It also suggests that first time visitors should avoid the moderate resorts, while noting that these resorts are wonderful for visits after the first. See this for why.

Compared to other Walt Disney World owned and operated resorts, the moderate resorts are distinguished by having nicer settings and landscaping, nicer pools, and much bigger rooms, than the value resorts, while being less comfortable than and having not nearly as good dining as the deluxe resorts.

Among the moderate resorts, for those who don’t plan much dining at the hotel itself, Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort’s positives in kid appeal outweigh its negatives in convenience, and give it the first ranking among the moderates for first time family visitors.

(Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort is second, Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside is third, Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter is a very close fourth, and The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort are last. The rankings of the first four are very close, and sensible people can differ on them. See this for much more on resort distinctions by price class–value, moderate, deluxe, etc.)

Because of the construction, the consequent dining situation, and the three very different room types at Caribbean Beach, this review has nine pages:

• The Caribbean Beach overview page you are on now
• The current construction situation at Caribbean Beach
• Theming and villages at Caribbean Beach
• Photo tour of a four person queen bed room at Caribbean Beach
• Photo tour of a five person queen and Murphy bed room at Caribbean Beach
• Photo tour of a four person full bed Pirate room at Caribbean Beach
• Amenities at Caribbean Beach
• Dining at Caribbean Beach
• The main pool at Caribbean Beach

Note that the long-time travel agent partner of this site, Kelly B., can help you book your Disney World vacation at Caribbean Beach or anywhere else–contact her at at KellyB@DestinationsInFlorida.com or 980-429-4499.

THE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT AT DISNEY’S CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT

Note 10/3: At least some dining will re-open on October 8, 2018!

Disney’s Caribbean Beach resort is undergoing a major redo. Nine out of what were 33 accommodations buildings have closed and are surrounded by construction fences. The shops, concierge services, table service restaurant, quick service restaurant, and other amenities at Old Port Royale are closed. They will be rebuilt near the same area but along the water.

Temporary replacements for this closed dining are available, and Spyglass Grill, a small new permanent counter service venue is now open in Trinidad South. See this for much more on the dining options during the refurb at Caribbean Beach, but the summary is as follows

• Breakfast: Fine. Supplies for cold in-room dining are easily available, and the hot buffet, food truck, and Spyglass Grill offerings are entirely adequate.
• Lunch: Weak. Both hot and cold offerings are limited. The quality of the hot food is good, but options and capacity are each slim. Cold food is widely available in limited options and while the fruits and salads are OK, the cold sandwiches are weak.
• Dinner: Adequate for a meal or two.  Between the buffet, food truck, Spyglass Grill, room service, and other options, most will find something to like, but the offerings at each option are limited, and capacity is tight except at the buffet.

My advice? Well, unless you have a pin code, effective prices go down, or dining options are strengthened,

• If you have any qualms, change your resort. The potential for you to second-guess yourself is too high.
• If you never felt strongly about staying at Caribbean Beach anyway, change your resort.
• If you picked Caribbean Beach for its tranquility, consider how construction noise might affect that.
• If you plan more than one or two lunches or dinners at the resort, consider changing your resort

For more on the construction at Caribbean Beach and its implications, see this.

ACCOMMODATIONS AT DISNEY’S CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT

Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort has 24 two story (no elevators) accommodations buildings divided into five villages–Jamaica, Aruba, Martinique, Trinidad South, and Trinidad North.

While there are some variants (like a few king bed rooms), most room are one of three basic room types–four person queen bed rooms, five person queen and Murphy bed rooms, and four person full bed Pirate rooms.

While many websites and books (but not all) claim that these rooms have 340 square feet, every room I have measured at the Caribbean Beach has come out at pretty close to 314 square feet–nearly the same size as the rooms of the other moderate resorts (except the cabins.)

Even so, Caribbean Beach rooms are quite spacious.  The bedroom area is particularly ample, and is bigger than the bedroom spaces at several of the deluxe resorts. (See this.) The floor plan above is for a two queen refurbed room…

…and this is for a five person two queen and Murphy Bed room.

I measured the Murphy Bed mattress as 30″ wide by 64″ long.  The way it is positioned on top of the bed frame and related to the back framing means that, unlike many such beds, it does not sleep shorter than this. I’d put a five foot tall kid on this and expect great results. The cushion is 5 inches deep.

Pirate rooms have full beds and a cloth curtain between the bedroom and bath areas, rather than a sliding wooden door, and sleep four. The beds of a refurbed Pirate room are above.

A photo tour of a four person queen room is here; a photo tour of a five person queen and murphy bed room begins here; and a photo tour of a four person full bed Pirate room begins here.

DINING AT DISNEY’S CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT

The principal dining options at Caribbean Beach during its refurb are at Centertown.

Here you’ll find a food truck with a limited breakfast, lunch and dinner offering…

…and a buffet serving breakfast and dinner.

Additional options elsewhere are in-room dining, a second food truck that may be available in Trinidad South, and snacks and shelf stable and cold breakfast offerings and sandwiches in three “Island Markets” in Aruba, Jamaica and Martinique.

Spyglass Grill opened in Trinidad South between its pool and the water in March 2018 and offers counter-service breakfast, lunch and dinner. The menu is limited but impressive, but capacity is small and the venue is distant from Martinique, Aruba, and most of Jamaica.

The overall situation–in good weather–is fine at breakfast, weak at lunch, and barely adequate at dinner. A hard rain interferes with most of the principal options.

Guests planning just one or two lunches or dinners at the resort should find something that works, but guests expecting more out of dining should avoid Caribbean Beach until dining gets better, unless they can get a great deal.

No one really knows when the rest of the dining will come out of refurb.  The current expectation is  late 2018.

There’s much more on dining at Caribbean Beach during the construction here.

THE POOLS AT DISNEY’S CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT

Each of the villages has a small quiet pool within easy walking distance of guest rooms.

They are almost identical–above is the small pool at Martinique.

In addition in Centertown is the main pirate-themed Fuentes Del Morro pool.

The main pool at Caribbean Beach is the best at the Disney World moderates, and its adjoining kids water play area (below) is bested among the moderates only by the water play area at Port Orleans French Quarter.

For more on the Fuentes Del Morro pool at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, see this.

KID APPEAL AND CONVENIENCE AT DISNEY’S CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT

Resorts are ranked on this site for first time visitors based first on their kid appeal, and then on their convenience.

On this basis, based on my nine stays here, most recently in June 2017, Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort is the best moderate resort for first time family visitors to Walt Disney World–but only for those who don’t care much about dining at the resort during their visit.

Kid Appeal.

• Three of the deluxe resorts–the Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge, and Polynesian Resort, in that order–have spectacular kid appeal.
• None of the moderates has strong kid appeal, but Caribbean Beach has the most
• All of the value resorts–Disney’s All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, and All-Star Movies, and its Pop Century Resort and  Art of Animation–have strong kid appeal.

The kid appeal of the Caribbean Beach Resort comes from

• The vibrant and playful colors that form the basis of its Caribbean theme (the other moderates are dull to a kid’s eyes)
• The beaches that ring the lake it is built around (Coronado Springs is the only other “traditional” moderate with any beaches, and those in only one of its three sections; the Cabins at Fort Wilderness also have a beach, about a mile away)
• The kid friendly theming of many of its rooms, with Mickey and Pluto in the five person refurbed rooms, and rooms in the not-recommended (because too distant) Trinidad South section themed around pirates. No other moderate has theming designed to appeal to kids in so many of its rooms
• The quality of its main pool, the best among the moderates

Convenience.

This distinctive level of kid appeal is sufficient to make up for the resort’s inconvenience—among the moderate resorts, only the Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort are more inconvenient.

The Caribbean Beach Resort was Walt Disney World’s first moderate, and Disney made one mistake that led to this inconvenience: designing the resort with too many bus stops. While one has disappeared because of the refurb, there’s still a lot, and the number in effect doubles the amount of time it takes for buses to get around the resort compared to the other large moderates which, designed later, have 4-5 bus stops.

Moreover Trinidad South is quite a hike from the main central services, and the check-in building the Custom House isn’t really convenient to anything. (Custom House will be closed and check-in moved to the much more convenient Centertown/Old Port Royale as part of the refurb.)

As part of the refurb, a new set of bus stops has opened at Centertown/Old Port Royale. I hope this also leads to closing of the Martinique and Trinidad North stops, with the guest in the six accommodations buildings of these two areas being served by the Centertown/Old Port Royale stop.

Disney’s Skyliner Gondola system, expected to open in mid-2019, will connect Caribbean Beach to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios,  much improving the convenience of Caribbean Beach. The Caribbean Beach Skyliner station will be south of Jamaica, making Jamaica, Trinidad South, and Trinidad North nicely located for visits to these two parks.

Other distinctive features.

The Caribbean Beach Resort is the only moderate with no elevators at all, and with no indoor bar/lounge (there’s a temporary outdoor bar in Centertown).

BEST PLACES TO STAY AT DISNEY’S CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT

This site suggests that first time visitors stay in standard rooms, not preferred rooms (because they won’t be spending much time in their rooms, or going to the main resort food area often; the single exception is visitors to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, who should always pay for savanna views).

See the map (as always on this site, click it to enlarge it.)

Standard rooms on the ground floors (because no elevators) in the southern part of the Aruba section (buildings 51-53) and the northern part of the Jamaica section (buildings 44, 45 and 46) are the best balance between cost, tranquility, and closeness (via the Caribbean Cay bridge) to the main pool and food area. 

Until the Skyliner opens in mid-2019, avoid Trinidad South (too distant, although Spyglass Grill now makes up for some of this) and until the Centertown construction is complete, avoid Martinique, which until then will have construction at both ends.

Here’s the current online check in form. It’s not much help, as it offers only Martinique as a village to be selected.  You are better off calling in your requests (407-939-7675 ). And look at the map carefully before you click “Near Transportation.” At Aruba, that will put you distant from the bridge; at Martinique, it’s not necessary as there’s two nearby bus stops.

BEST FOR:

Any typical first time visitors who insist on staying, or only can stay, in a moderate, and don’t mind the issues created by construction–especially the limited dining.

WORST FOR:

Families with mobility issues (lack of elevators, spread out; multiple bus stops).

The long-time travel agent partner of this site, Kelly B., can help you book your Disney World vacation at Caribbean Beach or anywhere else–contact her at at KellyB@DestinationsInFlorida.com or 980-429-4499.

THE REFURB AT DISNEY’S CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT

This review continues here.

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(For the first page of this review of Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, see this.)

PHOTO TOUR OF A FOUR PERSON QUEEN BED ROOM AT DISNEY’S CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT

Most rooms at Caribbean Beach sleep four on two queens, five on two queens and a fold down bed, or, in the Pirate rooms in Trinidad, four on two fulls.

This photo tour is of a four person, two queen room. (For five person rooms, see this, and for Pirate rooms, see this.)

A 2014 refurb added queen beds to most Caribbean Beach rooms, replacing the full beds in all but the Pirate rooms in Trinidad.  Some rooms also had a fifth sleeping spot added.

The bed side of the four-person, two-queen room has the queens on one side and a small bedside table between them.

Here’s the bed side from the back. This side will also have the connecting door (at right) if present, and a coat rack near the door.

There’s fun light fixtures.

A closer view of a queen.

The bedside table has a storage shelf below…

…and a drawer large enough for your most valuable books.

Further back is the bath. The sink area of the bath is separated from the rest of the room by sliding solid doors–rather than the fabric curtain you will find at Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter, and in the Pirate rooms at Caribbean Beach. The sliding doors improve the trapping of both light and noise from the bathroom, plus make it feel more private. (This photo is of a different room than the rest of the images on this page; note the bed stripe, which is disappearing.)

Here’s the sinks themselves.

Note the storage underneath.

At the side is the clothes hanging area, iron, ironing board, and wall safe.

A closer view of the hair dryer.

In their own separate space you’ll find the toilet and tub/shower combo.

Back in the main space, the other side of the room has a table and chairs with mirror above, a dresser/mini-fridge combo with a TV above, and a thingy  that can be used either as a bench or for luggage.

The TV side from the back.

A closer view of the table and chairs…

…and of the lamp overhead, styled like the ones at the heads of the beds…

…and the window curtains.

The object on the table was a “welcome back gift, which Disney has recently started giving to visitors returning to a resort they’d stayed at before.  This was my ninth stay in a Caribbean Beach room, so it’s about time!

The gift itself–nice chocolate.

The dresser has three small drawers on either side, a TV above, and min-fridge in the middle.

A closer view of some drawers. To give you a sense of size, my book is 6″ by 9″.

The mini-fridge with scaling objects. Note the glass door–a new thing now common across Disney World that helps you see what’s in the fridge without opening the doors. It’s amazing how much energy a little thing like that can save when spread across 25,000 rooms…

The last item on this side of the room is this bench/luggage stand.

The art above the bench.

For families that don’t need the fifth sleeping spot, these rooms are slightly more livable than five-person rooms, as the dresser drawers are more accessible, and there’s more of an open feeling to the TV side of the room.

PHOTO TOUR OF A FIVE PERSON QUEEN AND MURPHY BED ROOM AT DISNEY’S CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT

This review continues here.

PAGES IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT

• Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort: Overview and Summary
• Theming, accommodations and villages at Caribbean Beach
• Photo tour of a four person queen bed room at Caribbean Beach
• Photo tour of a five person queen and murphy bed room at Caribbean Beach
• Photo tour of a four person full bed Pirate room at Caribbean Beach
• Amenities at Caribbean Beach
• Dining at Caribbean Beach
• The main pool at Caribbean Beach

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 160+ stays in them

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REVIEW: FLIGHT OF PASSAGE

Avatar Flight of Passage, otherwise known as Flight of Passage or “The Banshee Ride,”, is a new ride that opened in the Animal Kingdom’s new land, Pandora: World of Avatar in late May 2017.

Flight of Passage is a motion simulator set in front of a 3-D screen that imitates the experience of flying on the back of a living banshee (think Dragon) through the wildernesses of Pandora, the moon on which Avatar is set.

A technological tour-de-force, Flight of Passage is the best ride at Disney World. The sense of motion is uncanny and thrilling; the visuals are incredibly sharp from edge to edge and just as incredibly interesting (even if you don’t care about, have never seen, or don’t remember the movie); the other effects—from sea spray to the fragrance of an old-growth forest after rain—are expertly carried off.

Some have compared the ride system to a combination of Soarin’ Around the World and Star Tours. This gestures towards the neighborhood of the truth, but underestimates the power and quality of the ride—like saying that Splash Mountain is based on the ride system of it’s a small world.

Flight of Passage has instantly become the hottest ticket in Disney World, with standby waits exceeding five hours early on and still not uncommonly hitting three hours.

The best way to see it is via FastPass+, but they have been hard to find even for those who can book their FastPass+ 60 days ahead. Those eligible for morning Extra Magic Hours and trying to see it then will be competing with thousands of others aimed at the same concept, so should arrive at security well before open. Ditto for those attempting to see it first thing on a non-EMH day.

The standby queue is long, lovely, and interesting.

Some photos from it:

My co-author Josh has dozens more photos from it here.

The FastPass+ queue is brief and uninteresting. This is the point where the two lines merge.

Once you are through the queue you are sectioned off into one of several waiting areas, and then go through two pre-shows.

One pre-show introduces (or re-introduces) you to the concept of the banshee and “links” you to an Avatar (only Na’vi and Avatars can ride banshees, right?).

There actually three variants of this pre-show

• The standard one
• A longer one with variable timing that goes on if guests in another pre-show area headed to the same ride system as you are delayed, and
• A third that shows during the first ride of morning EMH, and skips major parts of the standard or alternate pre-show because the cast member at 6.30a forgot to light the can of sterno that warms up all the computers running the pre-shows.

I saw all three.

The matching to an Avatar is pretty cool. Among other things, you can see a stylized version of your party on the screen ahead of you as you are “matched.” In the shots, I’m on spots 7, then 12, then 16 (our ponchos add to the mystery of these shots).

On the other hand, frankly it gets a little old after you’ve ridden a few times. I found myself yearning for the simplicity of Space Mountain, where you go from the queue to the stars with no intervening 20 minutes of explanations…

The second pre-show introduces you to more of the ride concept and the ride system.

It ends with the request that there be no images or videos on the ride. This is partly because you kinda need both hands to hold on, and partly because the ride’s swoops and turns create a fair degree of likelihood that you’ll drop your phone or camera. In honor of that, I have no photos from the actual ride experience–and still have my camera! But trust me—don’t miss it.

Not everyone will fit the ride restraints—and those in chairs need to be able to transfer themselves. There’s a test version of the ride seat outside. If you are at all concerned, see if you’ll fit the restraints on the test version before you get into line.

Getting on the ride vehicles is like boarding a motorcycle, in rows of eight. After you are on the vehicle, restraints will capture your back and the back of your legs (leg shape seems to be the key issue when people don’t fit).

And then you are off on your banshee ride through the skies and forests of Pandora!

I have a slight degree of motion sickness, and a slight fear of heights—both of which at times can make, for example, Tower of Terror a bit of a trial. Despite the motion and drops of Flight of Passage, I found no issue with either of my troubles.

The minimum height for Flight of Passage is 44 inches. The youngest of kids who are tall enough to ride it may be frightened by the ride, and because of the distance between individual ride vehicles, it may be difficult to comfort them.

But for those tall and mature enough to enjoy it, it will be one of the best things they do at Walt Disney World.

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