Pop or Caribbean ?

happymom2one

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jul 14, 2010
Help!! I need advice! We are going the week before Thanksgiving. Currently we are booked at Pop. I have been seeing a lot of reviews saying that Pop is busy specially (rightfully so since it is the only value open currently) at the dining hall and pool. I have read that the pool as closed because of capacity. I called my travel agent and she said we could upgrade for $400 more. I really want to save where we can save but I don't know if it is wise to save on this. We have never used the pools but I think we will since the parks close so early these days.

My husband would like the lesser of the crowds, if that is even accurate. I think the pools looks a little more appealing at Caribbean for the kids. we would be doing a standard room (if that matters) and Caribbean resort is so much bigger.

This will only be our third time as we only go every 4 or 5 years. The first stay was at Pop and second time was Caribbean.

I like the thought of a little bit bigger room since we are a family of 4 but I think Pop was just updated?

Please help me and load me down with all the pros and cons! Thanks in advance!
 
It won’t matter which resort you are at for Thanksgiving it is going to be busy. There is an additional pool at cbr but you are still going to run into a crowded food court. The room buildings do not have elevators and you will have to drag your luggage up them to your room. If you have to go for the holiday I would just keep the pop room.
 
It won’t matter which resort you are at for Thanksgiving it is going to be busy. There is an additional pool at cbr but you are still going to run into a crowded food court. The room buildings do not have elevators and you will have to drag your luggage up them to your room. If you have to go for the holiday I would just keep the pop room.

We are going actually the week before. Hopefully it wont be as bad as thanksgiving week!!
 


How old are your kids? Pop was unavailable our last trip so we switched to POR. It was such a let down for my girls (they were 10 at the time). Like, huge let down. My one was crying on the bed saying it just didn't feel like Disney!

You've been to both correct? I wouldn't let crowds be a factor, as they will probably both be busy right before Thanksgiving. I'd stick with Pop and save the $400.
 
DH and I just moved from Pop to CBR for our October trip. With the shortened park hours, we knew we'd be spending more time at the resort and we prefer the pools and atmosphere at CBR, and thought it would be nice to walk over to Riviera for a change of scenery or a meal. Its also easy to hop on the Skyliner to the Epcot area resorts, being at the hub at CBR. We thought it would be advantageous to be at the Skyliner hub in order to make rope drop at Epcot and DHS. CBR is a larger resort which I find helps disperse the crowds a little better making it feel less busy. I was also freaked out by the reports of long bus lines at Pop for MK and AK, and hadn't heard the same about CBR which was the deciding factor for me.
 
I just stayed CBR Aug 11-21, and it was lovely. I switched from Pop as well, and didn't regret it for one second. Pool only hit capacity one night of 10 (Saturday), and the smaller pools were pretty much always empty. Never ran in to any trouble at food cup and never waited to refill our cups. We loved being able to walk over to Riviera as well and eat at their QS too. Yes, their rooms are bigger and for us the hot tub was a huge bonus. The pool is definitely cooler than Pop's pool by a big margin, great slides. Busses were good and successfully got boarding groups twice by lining up for skyliner 10 minutes prior to opening unlike the hour you have to wait pre opening at Pop. I'd switch!
 


Are the preferred rooms at Caribbean Beach near the skyliner?
Preferred rooms are closest to Old Port Royale. Low number Jamaica buildings get you to the Skyliner quickest, high number Aruba rooms have you very close to the Riviera station (must transfer for HS). I wouldn't spring for a preferred if you want skyliner proximity. We have stayed in Jamaica 42, 43, 44, and the main area is a 5-7 minute walk and the skyliner is about 3.
 
Preferred rooms are closest to Old Port Royale. Low number Jamaica buildings get you to the Skyliner quickest, high number Aruba rooms have you very close to the Riviera station (must transfer for HS). I wouldn't spring for a preferred if you want skyliner proximity. We have stayed in Jamaica 42, 43, 44, and the main area is a 5-7 minute walk and the skyliner is about 3.

Thanks!!
 
well bad news... we decided to switch and by the time we did. My travel agent could not find any rooms with the discount besides the ones with the Murphy beds and it was adding another $100, so a total of $500 to switch. My husband doesn't feel we should do it for an extra $500. I am totally bummed now that I had my mind set up and was looking forward to it. I guess it wasn't meant to be. Thanks for all your help and comments.
 
I've stayed at both resorts, and if I had a choice, CB would win out over POP. I love the feel and the pool is much nicer. Also the layout will make it feel less busy than POP I'm sure.
 
we plan to look every week or so. Please keep your fingers crossed. We need two rooms!!

Have you ever considered renting DVC points? I had always just booked straight through Disney for my past three trips, but ended up renting for next summer. I'm staying Wilderness Lodge for about $800 less than the rack rate CBR king room I had booked for August 2021. I was able to upgrade my sister from Pop to Boardwalk in May for a total of 100 more. With your trip so soon people are selling their points for 10-12 each. The whole process totally freaked me out since it seemed so complicated but it was actually not that bad.
 
We always rent DVC points. I highly recommend it. Feel free to PM me if you want the name of the person we go through.
 
Have you ever considered renting DVC points? I had always just booked straight through Disney for my past three trips, but ended up renting for next summer. I'm staying Wilderness Lodge for about $800 less than the rack rate CBR king room I had booked for August 2021. I was able to upgrade my sister from Pop to Boardwalk in May for a total of 100 more. With your trip so soon people are selling their points for 10-12 each. The whole process totally freaked me out since it seemed so complicated but it was actually not that bad.
Where do you rent DVC points??? Thank you.
 
Where do you rent DVC points??? Thank you.
It looks like @wendy3 has some leads if you're interested from her reply above. There is a renting points board on here, and personally I just went on FB and found the two most populated groups after searching "Rent DVC points" and had myself and my sister upgraded within 48 hours. There are also larger companies you can rent from if you google rent dvc points, but the deals will be much better if you find a person to rent from privately.
 

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