I had my eye on this resort for a long time. My main draw was that it is connected to the Disney Skyliner.

If you are not familiar with this relatively new mode of transportation at Disney, the Skyliner allows you to ride Gondolas from the doorsteps of four Disney Resorts, all the way to two Disney parks.

You will have access to the Skyliner from Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. Disney’s Pop Century. Disney’s Art of Animation. And Disney’s Riviera.

Every time I enter the theming of Pirates of the Caribbean and smell that bromine, I get special butterflies in my stomach. (If only they had a second ride that was more intense)

It is because of this love of Pirates of the Caribbean that I figured the Caribbean Beach Resort would be the best fit for us. Unfortunately, they stopped having pirate themed rooms and switched solely to the Little Mermaid. It is okay. It was still cute.

If you haven’t watched the newest Little Mermaid, the live action one, you should check it out before arriving. It does a great job of placing the story in the Caribbean and I love the vibe.

So, what about the resort?

First things first, we chose a preferred room. This put our door right outside of the pool in the village we were placed. I felt that it made it all the more enjoyable. It sounds lazy, but being able to walk directly to poolside after a long day at the parks is golden.

The rooms were Little Mermaid themed and our daughter thought the sleeping fish above her bed were a great touch.

The rooms had all of the typical amenities. I think we all know we are paying for convenience and atmosphere by staying at a Disney resort vs somewhere off the property grounds. In the end, a bed and shower is a bed and shower.

The property is broken up into five “villages” so that no matter where you are staying, you have a local pool and laundry. room.

We stayed in Trinidad. The bonus for that particular village is that it is the only place, other than the main Old Port Royale to have food. The Spyglass Grill is attached to the pool area.

The “best” village to stay in probably doesn’t exist. If you are in Trinidad, you get the Spyglass Grill. If you stay in Barbados or Martinique, you are in short walking distances of Old Port Royale, which has the main pool, shops, and restaurants.

If you stay in Jamaica, you are right at the Skyliner station. Finally, if you stay in Aruba, you can just as easily catch the Skyliner from the Riviera resort or enjoy their restaurants and shops.

The food?

The best restaurant at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort is Sebastian’s Bistro. They do a family style meal in which all of the food is brought out on platters and you grab what you want.

Our daughter said she preferred this because she didn’t have to choose one specific thing to order. I also enjoyed the ease of ordering and the food was really incredible.

As a family we have traveled to the real Caribbean, so it isn’t fair to compare the two. However, despite our world travels I always love the Disney version of places. EPCOT for example: you can travel the world in a day. No long haul flights. No scammers or thieves to worry about. It is a lot of fun.

We won’t skip out on world travel just because we can go to Disney World, but it makes for a nice break sometimes. It can also be inspirational. Being in the atmosphere of the Caribbean makes you remember you should take another trip.

Overall

If you have been to Central Florida, you will know that most of the year the weather is plenty warm. I think it makes the Caribbean Beach Resort feel a little more authentic…as opposed to staying at the Wilderness lodge, for example.

If you are going to make a summer trip of it, I recommend this resort because it will feel like the real deal. Spanish fort themed swimming pool, anti-pirate cannons, delicious Caribbean food. Yes, go for it.

We made three videos about this resort. One for the rooms. One for the food. And this one, the overall full tour.