Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort Photo Walk 2015: 240 Photos in Tour of Resort

Hi everyone!

Today’s photo walk is at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. The resort sits on about 200 acres not far from Disney’s Pop Century and Disney’s Art of Animation resorts. It is nicely located, close to Downtown Disney, Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort opened on October 1st, 1988 – we have photos and video from the 25th anniversary ceremony in 2013 here.

This is our fourth moderate resort photo walk this year. There is a fifth moderate resort that we shared last year – Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground – but that resort has changed categories many times through the years. Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter Resort, Port Orleans Riverside Resort, and Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort are all up-to-date for 2015. I’ve been posting photo walks of the resorts on and off for over 8 years, but try to add a little more information now than just timing the walk around the property.

Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort was the moderate resort I received the least requests about when I was an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner for 6 years. Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter was the #1, in part because it is a very intimately sized resort. Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort is completely the opposite, with plenty of room to walk or run (my clients who loved Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort most were often runners). No elevators can be found at this resort. There are a lot of lovely, sand beach areas and themed rooms to attract guests, and the Caribbean Cay “island” is extremely relaxing. Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort also separates the check-in area from the main hub, not unlike Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground. Guests check in at the Custom House, which is located near the Barbados village.

Before reading our walk with info about the resort, here is our video tour of the resort.

The Custom House features quite a few stations for checking in or out, and a clock in the center.

While the Custom House is where guests check in, Old Port Royale is the center of activity. The Custom House and Old Port Royale are not close together.

Old Port Royale Centertown is the building that houses the shops, food court, Shutters table service restaurant location, and a game room.

We are going to visit Old Port Royale Centertown and the feature pool area before taking a timed tour around Barefoot Bay.

I haven’t dined at Shutters in 10 or so years.

There is a concierge location inside of Centertown, where guests can purchase tickets and book dining and more.

Goombay Games is nearby for guests looking for an arcade experience.

The food court area is pretty, it looks like an outdoor market with a number of different stations for food.

This is the view looking toward the Calypso Trading Post and Goombay Games.

A Grab ‘N Go market offers muffins and other quick food choices.

Guests can purchase wine and other drinks here.

There is Montego’s Deli, Bridgetown Broiler, Old Port Royale Hamburger Shop, and the Royal Pizza and Pasta Shop. This isn’t my favorite of the resort food courts, but there are quite a few options and the food is what you’d expect at most Walt Disney World counter service locations.

Bridgetown Broiler sign.

Royale Pizza and Pasta Shop.

Shutters is at the end of the hallway.

Shutters is open for dinner from 5 – 10:00 p.m.

Map of the Caribbean in the entrance to Shutters.

For a table service restaurant, Shutters would be on the more moderately priced side.

The view from Shutters of the food court.

The Calypso Trading Post can be seen through the food court.

I like the theming at the beverage fountain.

The Calypso Trading Post is brightly themed, with a lot of general Walt Disney World merchandise.

Outside the shop, in the Calypso Straw Market, guests can find more merchandise – a lot of it is currently pirate themed. And earlier this year, the moderate resorts started offering resort themed merchandise. That isn’t unusual for deluxe resorts, but the moderates hadn’t had much for years.

Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort koozie.

Duffy is dressed as Stitch for the day.

Just out back, a map shows the locations of the 6 villages. It isn’t a very detailed map, but it gives a decent overview. Trinidad South is the area that feels the most remote, which we will see in a bit. I like it for the peacefullness.

Old Port Royale Centertown.

There is a pretty fountain in this area.

The Fuentes del Morro feature pool has been here since 2008. I don’t have photos of it prior to that, although I took pictures while it was being constructed. It is very popular, and includes 2 hot tubs, 2 slides and a splash play area for kids.

Pirate flag.

The pool area is themed to a Spanish fort.

This style splash area was one of the first that I can remember at the resorts (I can’t think of any prior). Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort added one not long after, and Disney’s Grand Floridian, Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort recently added them.

Pirate logo.

The restrooms do include showers, which is nice for guests who are arriving or departing and don’t have a room available.

Sign for Good Little Critters.

Here is our video of the Fuentes del Morro feature pool!

Banana Cabana was not yet open when I took this photo, but soon was serving libations at the bar.

We are starting the timed portion of the photo walk here, with the fountain in view at 12:04 p.m. I already photographed the walk before timing it. My walking speed is about 3 mph.

We turn right and walk past where the food court and Shutters are located.

On the left side, the marina is available for bike rentals and specialty cruises. There are no marina boat rentals, those ended a year or more ago.

There was a bean bag game flanking the entrance to the marina, which meant having to dodge the bean bags when walking through.

Can you see Mickey in the sign?

I believe it was last year when the walking paths were branded to New Balance Running Trails.

Shutters.

Martinique is the first village we will pass. It is also probably the closest, though I like Jamaica for location as well.

Barefoot Bay is a large oval, not a circle. It is an easy and scenic walk if you don’t mind putting in up to 40 (or more) minutes.

The beach areas are very nice. Guests do need to use the pools for swimming.

A fire pit is located here near Martinique.

We are passing building 25 at 12:06 p.m. This is just 2 minutes after we began.

Hammocks can be found around Barefoot Bay.

We are continuing the walk past Martinique.

This is a look back, you can see that Old Port Royale isn’t far.

Our walk is taking us toward Barbados.

Martinique building 24.

We arrive at Martinique building 24 at 12:08 p.m.

Each village has its own pool, and they all look very much the same. Each pool area has a laundry room.

Barbados and Aruba are ahead.

We are still passing Martinique.

Another hammock for relaxing.

We are now coming up on Barbados, which is the closest area to the Custom House.

Barbados building 15.

The Barbados pool is to the right.

Aruba and Jamaica will be the next villages up ahead.

We are arriving to this boardwalk at 12:11 p.m., 7 minutes after we started.

The map shows where we are, still solidly in Barbados.

I really enjoy the boardwalks, they have the feel of nature walking paths.

There is another boardwalk path ahead after passing this building.

Old Port Royale is across the water.

We are about to take this boardwalk.

Guests needing to sit can even find seating on this boardwalk.

Another view of Old Port Royale, with Bonnet Creek in sight.

Aruba buildings are on the right side.

No swimming or fishing.

Chairs on the beach.

We are passing building 55.

It was a little warm out to be sitting in the sun, but the chairs and hammocks would be wonderful in the autumn.

We are passing building 52 at 12:16 p.m.

There is a bridge to the Old Port Royale area coming up. I am not sure why there wasn’t one just a little further back as well, it would help to have a walkway across the water from Barbados.

Building 51 in Aruba.

This bridge allows guests to cross toward Old Port Royale or access Caribbean Cay.

This is our last building in Aruba before heading into Jamaica.

My favorite buildings are in Jamaica due to the vibrant yellow color and the location.

This is a look toward Trinidad and Jamaica from the bridge.

Jamaica in view from the bridge (the bridge is not part of the timed walk). This building (44) is the one I’d request if staying at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. It is very convenient to anything I’d want. We arrive here at 12:19 p.m.

We are back on the main path.

Building 45.

Looking into a cluster of buildings.

The Jamaica pool is to the right.

Guest laundry.

A look through the archway.

Back on the path, we are heading toward Trinidad.

It is starting to feel more remote now.

Trinidad North is across the way.

Past the bridge is Trinidad South.

We are still passing Jamaica, but not for long.

Trinidad North is to the left, Trinidad South is to the right. We arrive here at 12:23 p.m.

This bridge has cars crossing over it, but guests can walk underneath for Trinidad South (or across).

Trinidad North can be seen on the right.

We are going to walk under the bridge.

Guests can walk across the road here, but I always feel safer heading under the bridge.

We are following the path to the left.

The bridge offers a fun bonus.

I remember finding these little guys the first time I photographed the walk, and I always enjoy seeing them!

We are now heading into Trinidad South. By far, this feels the most remote of anywhere at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. Once under the bridge, it is another world. This is also where the pirate themed rooms can be found.

The pirate ship from a kids cruise was still out.

Trees form a canopy as we head to the first buildings.

These buildings contain pirate themed rooms.

Trinidad South.

Around the corner used to be a very good view of the bowling pins of Disney’s Pop Century Resort. That view isn’t here any longer – just a litte of the bowling pin tops, though you won’t see them in the photos below. The trees have really grown in over the last number of years.

We arrive to building 35 at 12:27 p.m.

This pathway will be ending. There is no path around the lake here, only past these buildings.

Chairs sit on the beach.

We are almost at the end of the path, though we will be turning back around for Trinidad North and Caribbean Cay.

Building 39.

We arrived here at 12:30 p.m., and are turning back around. There is a pool in Trinidad South, as all the villages have. We have an 11 minute walk to Old Port Royale from this point.

We are heading back under the bridge at 12:33 p.m., and Jeff noticed the tombstone and casket from the pirate cruise.

Jeff’s hat on this little guy.

Once under the bridge, it felt like we were back at the main section of the resort. Trinidad North is on the right.

Trinidad North pool.

Hammocks overlook Jamaica.

The walk after the bridge feels fairly quick at under 10 minutes – but compared to a resort like Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter, this is an extremely spread out experience.

Jamaica across the water.

We are passing Trinidad North and you can see in the distance a little bit of the feature pool area.

We pass building 31 at 12:37 p.m.

There is a nice seating area at this building.

The feature pool is coming into view.

Turtles in the sand.

We will be taking a left here, with the pool on our right.

The Spanish fortress comes close to the fence.

Lily pads in the water.

There is a bridge to the left hand side, which takes guests to Caribbean Cay. It is an area we have never explored before, and it was empty during the time we were on it. We are taking a break from the timed portion of the walk to visit.

Bridge to Caribbean Cay.

This peaceful area is open from sunrise to sunset.

A hammock goes unused in the shade.

A playground for kids is here.

Two alligators are partly hidden.

An inviting rocking chair.

I bet a lot of guests don’t find this area, since it is off the beaten path. I don’t recall knowing about it, which suprises me.

Bananas grow here.

The walkway gives a view of Jamaica and Trinidad North.

The feature pool can be seen nearby.

I highly recommend checking this area out!

We are now back on our timed walk, heading to Old Port Royale.

Guests can take internal transportation within the resort. Buses stop at each village. A personal car is much faster, and walking might be a little faster too from many locations (depending how often the buses come around). The furthest section of Trinidad South took 11 minutes walk to get back to Old Port Royale, though we haven’t quite made it to the fountain yet.

Seating area.

Which way do you want to go?

We’ve made it back to the fountain at 12:41 p.m. The walk took 37 minutes. While I’ve read that the path is 1.4 miles, I’m not sure that includes walking back to the Old Port Royale. My walk should have been just about 2 miles, not counting Caribbean Cay or any other stops. I mentioned that my walking speed is about 3 mph.

The fountain has a plaque.

Thanks for following along! We are hoping to post our next photo walk within the next couple of weeks. Walt Disney World has so many different resorts to choose from, something for everyone!