This is the Part 2, and the conclusion, of the photo tour Brian began last Friday (link). In this section we leave the main buildings of the Caribbean Beach Resort and look around the grounds.
The Castille pool located here at Caribbean Beach Resort is the first of the awesome themed pools built on Disney property.
This simple, round kiddie pool provides a perfect place to cool off for the youngest children. Photo by Brian Bennett.
The main pool provides deeper water for the older kids and adults. Photo by Brian Bennett.
The Castille provides access up to the top of the slide. You can see the slide about to dump a young girl into the pool to the right of the Castille in this picture. Photo by Brian Bennett.
A hot tub is nestled right in front of the Castille. Because if its remote location from the pool deck, this tub sees much more kid traffic than adult. Photo by Brian Bennett.
A great view of the Castille from the Old Port Royale side. Photo by Brian Bennett.
Toward Caribbean Cay island are gorgeous white sand beaches all around Barefoot Bay. In fact, each of the Caribbean Beach Resort villages has a beach for guests to enjoy. Although swimming in the lagoon is not permitted, you can enjoy the beaches for sunbathing and just laying in the numerous hammocks that are slung between trees all over the resort grounds.
A beautiful beach lies between Old Port Royale and Trinidad. Photo by Brian Bennett.
This beach and playground are located across Barefoot Bay at Jamaica. Photo by Brian Bennett.
When the Caribbean Beach Resort first opened in 1990, Caribbean Cay was called Parrot Cay island. The island features a central walkway that goes pretty much straight across the island to connect the two bridges on either side.
The bridge from Old Port Royale to Caribbean Cay. Photo by Brian Bennett.
At that time, the meandering side paths contained small aviaries with colorful parrots. The whole island seemed to be alive with squawking birds and the parrots on display, adding significantly to the atmosphere.
Just in case you didn’t know where you were going, this sign clears everything up. Photo by Brian Bennett.
Within a few years, though, the birds were removed and the island renamed. The side paths still have gates that used to be locked at night (to allow the birds some daily downtime from young guests, I suppose), but now those gates just hang open. Many, if not all, of the aviaries are still there, too, but the birds have long flown the coop.
Picnic tables and hammocks are frequently seen on the island today. Photo by Brian Bennett.
You can enjoy this view from the Caribbean Cay/Old Port Royale bridge on the way over to the island. Photo by Brian Bennett.
Caribbean Cay makes staying in Jamaica and Aruba rooms much more convenient. When my wife, Barbara and I stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort way back in 1991, we stayed in Jamaica. it turned out to be the best of all worlds for us. Our Jamaica bus stop was located just across our building parking lot from our room. The Jamaica quiet pool was even closer to our room. But the resort’s amenities at Old Port Royale were just a short walk across the island. To this day, I still recommend Jamaica when anyone asks me about room locations at the Caribbean Beach Resort.
Jamaica’s beach, playground, and quiet pool area from the Caribbean Cay bridge. Photo by Brian Bennett.
In the previous picture, the quiet pool is located beneath the light towers in the middle of the photo. The lights allow the pool to be used in until late evening so guests returning from the parks can enjoy one last dip in the cool water before dropping off to bed.
The bright yellow and blue decor of the Jamaica village is swept skyward by the tower of building 45. Photo by Brian Bennett.
Each of the villages has its own quiet pool, which is wonderful for quick cool-down swims when you don’t want to go all the way over to Old Port Royale. A key ammenity provided at each quiet pool is the guest laundry facility, which can be wonderfully convenient for long trips. Here at the Jamaica pool, the laundry room is located in the service building at the far side of the pool.
The Jamaica quiet pool. Photo by Brian Bennett.
The mauve and gray of the Aruba village is pretty, but much more muted than Jamaica’s bright colors. Photo by Brian Bennett.
The resort marina, Barefoot Bay Boat Yard, as seen from the Caribbean Cay bridge. The bright red roofs of Martinique is visible beyond. Photo by Brian Bennett.
A closer view of Barefoot Bay Boat Yard. The mint green roofs of Barbadoes are visible from this angle. Guests can rent water mice, paddle boats, and large pontoon boats at the boat yard. You can also rent surrey bikes. Photo by Brian Bennett.
There is one last thing that to point out here at Old Port Royale before heading off on a final driving tour of the villages: The Banana Cabana Bar.
The Banana Cabana Bar offers adult beverages. Photo by Brian Bennett.
Then, it was back to the car for a drive around Cayman Way and Seabreeze Drive back to the resort exit.
Trinidad North, with a coral and red color scheme, lies along the lagoon South of Old Port Royale…
A guest building in Trinidad North. Photo by Brian Bennett.
Trinidad South, the most remote of all of the villages, lies south of Trinidad North and away from the pedestrian promenade that runs around the lagoon connecting all of the other villages.
The rusty red and coral of Trinidad is quite visible on the Trinidad South tower. Photo by Brian Bennett.
The tower shows off Barbadoes’ coral and light blue coloring. The building (with the fire extinguisher) to the left is the guest laundry building next to the quiet pool. Photo by Brian Bennett.
The Barbadoes quiet pool. Photo by Brian Bennett.
The buildings of Martinique are colored in light blue and red. Martinique stretches from Barbados to the North down to Old Port Royale. In the photograph below, you can see the beach that lies between Barbadoes and Martinique.
The photograph of this beach, located between Barbadoes and Martinique, shows the lovely light blue and red roofed buildings of the latter village. Photo by Brian Bennett.
View across Barefoot Bay to Old Port Royale. Photo by Brian Bennett.
There is exactly one bus stop for each of the resorts six villages plus one additional stop for Old Port Royale. Notice that there is no bus stop for Customs House; if you need to get there and don’t have your own vehicle, take the internal bus and get off at Barbadoes. From there, you’ll have to walk across Seabreeze Drive and over to Customs House.
Transportation to all Walt Disney World destinations from the Caribbean Beach Resort is via bus. Plan on your journey taking a good 20 to 30 minutes depending on your final destination.
The bus stop at Old Port Royale. Photo by Brian Bennett.
Caribbean Beach Resort will always have a special place in my heart, as it is the very first Disney-owned resort that I ever stayed at way back in 1991. I was blown away with the atmosphere and excellent service provided by the resort. Fifteen years later, the resort remains one of the most popular of Walt Disney World’s hotels.
I hope you enjoyed your tour. I know I did.
