Guest rooms at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort have been receiving what we’d consider largely a soft goods update, and we had the chance to stay in and tour one of the remodeled fifth sleeper rooms to check out all of the changes.
Room Tour Video
You can watch our room tour below, or keep scrolling to see photos and read our thoughts.
Fifth Sleeper Room at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
Walt Disney World has been updating guest rooms resort-wide. Earlier this summer, we toured one of the new Little Mermaid rooms at the resort, which are located in the Trinidad section that used to be occupied by the former pirate-themed rooms. Once that was completed, Disney quietly moved to the other buildings around the resort for updates.
Disney has yet to announce this update to the guest rooms at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, and the photos on the Walt Disney World official website are not updated to this style of room yet. We were told that guests are only being put in these new rooms, so you won’t be getting one of the rooms featured in photos on the website. You’ll get one of these remodeled rooms, or one of the Little Mermaid-themed rooms instead.
This is a fifth sleeper room, meaning that up to five guests can sleep comfortably here. While much of this room looks the same, there are many smaller changes throughout that make an updated tour necessary.
To explain some of the changes, it’s worth knowing that this is the first resort to open outside of the Magic Kingdom area. When Michael Eisner became CEO, it was decided that Walt Disney World needed more hotels on Disney property, so they started building Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, the latter of which opened in 1988. The resort is currently celebrating its 35th anniversary.
These rooms are a little motel-like in style, which makes sense as Disney had never done a moderate resort when Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort was built. Back when it opened, this was actually categorized as a value resort.
Some of the amenities in the room are present in motel rooms, like the metal frame by the door, and the window with the old-style air conditioning unit underneath. There is also a shelf by the door with three coat prongs to hang your things.
Disney has kept all of these older touches in the room, though they are painted over or covered. The room is mostly blue in color now, replacing the previous brown and orange accents.
Among the things that have changed are the room’s curtains, which are now white with tropical floral accents and hidden Mickey bubbles.
These are the same curtains that are present in the Little Mermaid rooms. The old A/C units are still here, but this one is covered with wooden accents to keep it in theme with the rest of the room.
The pineapple table is also still present in the room. The chairs here are the same, and have been reupholstered with a sea foam green-colored fabric.
A large mirror is positioned behind the table, and an overhead light hangs from the ceiling above. The switch to the overhead light above the accent table is directly next to the door to enter the room.
The biggest change is the floor. The carpet has been completely removed and replaced with faux wood paneling.
The bed frames are also new, so you can finally store your luggage underneath the bed comfortably.
Because of the new bedframe, the mattresses have also gotten an update.
The headboards, however, were present before the refresh. They don’t match the new bed frames as they’re two different colors of wood. The light fixtures above the beds are the same, as well.
A small change can be found between the beds on the bedside table.
The top panel of the table has been changed so that now instead of two USB ports and two standard outlets, there are two standard outlets, a USB port, and a USB-C port. This is the only USB-C port in the room, though.
A modern climate control panel is on the far side of the room, which we believe is also new for this refresh. There is also a ceiling fan in the room.
This room is a fifth sleeper, so there is a bed hidden in the large unit in front of the two main beds. The art above them is not new and has previously existed at the resort. There are also three usable drawers underneath the bed.
The only change that we could spot here is that the bench that helps to distribute the weight of the fold-out bed has been reupholstered. The color doesn’t match anything in the room currently, and we think it sticks out.
Opening the cabinet (which we thought was heavy), you’ll find the fifth sleeper bed. If you have a kid or someone small staying with you, this is great. If you’re a 6-foot-tall adult, however, it probably won’t offer the best night’s sleep you’ve ever had.
Inside is art of Mickey lounging on a hammock in flip flops and a straw hat as the sun sets behind him. Pluto is curled up and sleeping beneath the hammock.
Another major change in the room is the television. The room now includes the new TVs that you can cast to, so you can stream your favorite shows in the room.
It appears that Disney has not installed the new system with Disney offerings on demand. We think this will eventually be added, and the screen will have the animated “Welcome” graphic that several resorts have gotten thus far — including Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, Disney’s Riviera Resort, and the Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge.
The left of the fifth sleeper unit holds the Cuisinart coffee maker, a caddy of Resort Blend coffee, tea, sugar, creamer, disposable cups, and an ice bucket. There are usable drawers under this tabletop, and you’ll need the storage space if five people are staying in the room.
The right of the fifth sleeper includes two standard outlets and two USB ports. The “fridge” below this tabletop — we consider it more of a beverage chiller — is not new.
The dual sliding doors at the far end of the room lead to the vanity and bathroom. They do not lock, so keep that in mind if you are sharing this room with four other people.
The vanity is the same, but we like that it’s a double vanity with two sinks.
The vanity may not be new, but the faucets on the sinks have been updated.
A small towel rack and extendable mirror are attached to the wall on the left of the vanity.
The countertop also includes a few toiletries and tissues.
We also found a new hairdryer under the sink. It’s nothing fancy, but still new.
Another nice offering as far as storage space goes is the closet-type setup in the bathroom. The wall here holds a shelf and clothing rack with included hangers, an ironing board, a luggage rack, an extra pillow and blanket, and a safe.
The iron, which is also new, is kept in a bag under the sink. We’re glad irons are staying in Disney’s hotel rooms versus garment steamers.
A full-length mirror hangs on the door to the shower and toilet.
The bathroom has been painted white in the area where the toilet is, but the tile in the shower remains the same.
We like that the shower isn’t plain and white, and that there is a pattern to the tile.
The mounted shampoo, conditioner, and body wash are positioned at the back of the shower.
An extendable clothesline is attached to the tile for you to use to dry out swimsuits or other wet clothing.
Otherwise, the shower appears to be the same. The fixtures remain unchanged.
The one change we were disappointed in was the shower curtain. Previously, the shower curtain had art of large tropical flowers, and now it’s been replaced with a very generic white curtain.
This change is weird to us, as it does appear to match the white half of the bathroom, but doesn’t match the yellow shower area.
The room isn’t wildly different, but the little changes throughout work for the most part. There are different room layouts without the fifth sleeper, but this is largely what these new rooms in 2023 and beyond look like at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort.
This is one of our favorite resorts, and we think Disney did a good enough job with this room update, though some of the changes are a bit nonsensical to us. The rooms are still very nice and enjoyable for the price you pay.
Let us know what you think of this remodeled room at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort in the comments below!
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