It’s a treat to stay at a Disney World Resort hotel, but it’s not always perfect.
There are definitely some issues with certain hotels ,and we spotted a big problem during our recent stay at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort.
Caribbean Beach might seem like it would have great transportation now that the main Skyliner hub is housed at the resort, but don’t be fooled. Transportation is actually a big issue!
Skyliner Problems
First off, let’s talk about some issues with the Skyliner. This great new mode of transportation, unfortunately, does not have a daily opening time that remains consistent.
During our visit, Disney’s Hollywood Studios was set to open at 9AM. The sign noted that the Skyliner route would open at 8AM, a Cast Member told us it would open at 8:15AM, and it actually opened at 7:30AM. That’s a lot of variance!
After it opened, the wait went up to 25 to 30 minutes VERY quickly, and Cast Members let us know that it stays very busy until about noon.
Keep in mind that folks coming from the EPCOT area Resorts have to transfer at this station to get to Hollywood Studios, and those coming from the Hollywood Studios area resorts have to transfer to get to EPCOT. The crowds can get significant.
Bus Problems
You won’t have a much easier time if you’re taking the bus to Magic Kingdom or Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Why? A MAJOR resort pitfall: the internal bus stops.
The internal bus loop at Caribbean Beach has SEVEN stops and can therefore add 20 plus minutes to your travel time to and from the resort.
Staying in Martinique Village means you might add more than 20 minutes in the morning, and staying in Aruba Village might mean you add more than 20 minutes in the evening.
Just keep in mind that however you’re traveling to or from Caribbean Beach, you’ll want to add a little more travel time into your plans. That might not be a big of a deal for some — but it’s something everyone should be aware of!
Staying at Caribbean Beach soon? Tell us in the comments!
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Stay in Aruba and walk to the rivera resort for the buses.
Wow bad wrap for the Caribbean Beach Resort and we didnt experience anything nearly as bad as this sounds. We stayed in Barbaddos the week before Christmas 2020. We used the buses and the Skyliner daily. There was a bus stop ride behind our building and we never waited more than 10 minutes. Once, we were the only people on the bus. The longest we waited for the skyliner was about 20 minutes and that morning we hit the park opening crowds, but most of the time we were on in less than 10 or so minutes. We absolutely loved our stay at this resort. I want to go back again and share this place with my adult daughter after the pandemic and more eateries are open. Right now food options are limited, but there is a Joffreys at the skyliner hub. We made frequent stops there. In all, the only thing that I didnt care for is the lack of elevators, but I called and requested a first floor room. All good.
Keep in mind that your trip was extraordinarily unusual compared to pre-pandemic average trips and trips going forward. There usually is a much higher wait because of the traffic from the parks mixing right here.
I will be staying ar Caribbean Beach Resort early July. I booked here mainly because the skyliner thinking it wouldn’t be such a long wait. Is there a way to get the Skyliner/Bus schedules?
Staying at CB in early June. Has anyone tried to bus from AK or MK to Yacht Club and then Skyliner to CB? Or would that be WAY too out of the question.
We were just there in May, and really the only issue we had (and it was a small one) was the sometimes the buses leaving MK/AK for CB had a really long line (as in there was no way we were getting on the first bus that came). A few times we hopped on a Riviera bus, and did take a Beach/Yacht Club bus to the Epcot skyliner hub. Was it any faster than waiting in line at AK? Probably not, but for a tired family it beat waiting in line for the CB bus in the heat.
We’re staying at Caribbean Beach in November. I’m kind of dreading how long the waits are going to be with the crowds for the 50th anniversary in full swing.
I loved the Caribbean Beach video from yesterday!!!! Quincy should make more resort videos!!!!