Linda Mac's Orlando Adventures

The Orlando weather was so picture perfect last weekend that I decided to visit the Caribbean Beach Resort to look for new updates (and get some exercise too). It is one of the prettiest resorts at Walt Disney World. But, as anyone who has stayed there will tell you, it is a large and spread out property.

So, with camera in hand, I set out to walk the entire property beginning at Old Port Royale. Unlike other Disney resorts where the check-in and luggage services are housed in the same building as the shops and restaurants, Caribbean Beach has them in two separate locations. Old Port Royale houses the gift shop, lobby concierge, counter service and full service dining. The Customs House is where you check-in, have lobby concierge, and luggage service.

My December blog has some photos of the renovations.

The last time I visited the resort in mid January, a new boardwalk had been completed and the rehab of the Old Port Royale feature pool had just started.

The new boardwalk begins near the Banana Cabana pool bar and winds around the pool area toward Trinidad North. Caribbean Beach is made up of several "villages", each named for a place in the Caribbean.

You can also access the bridge to Caribbean Cay (originally called Parrot Cay), a lush, tropical island which leads you to the Villages of Jamaica and Aruba as well as the promenade around the Barefoot Bay.

When the resort first opened, Caribbean Cay was bird sanctuary. Now, besides being the most direct route from Jamaica and Aruba to Old Port Royale, it's mainly used for recreational events like outdoor movie nights. It is also a great place to have an afternoon picnic or just relax in a hammock. I figured this was a good spot to start my resort trek.

Here are a few photos of Caribbean Cay.

It's time to leave Caribbean Cay and start my walk around the Barefoot Bay Promenade.

I headed into Jamaica to check on the temporary slide that was suppose to be at the village's leisure pool. Some folks still refer to these pools as quiet pools but they actually now called "leisure pools" by Disney.

Jamaica's slide still has not been installed. Currently, the only village pool that has a slide is Barbados. The first photo shows Building 45 in Jamaica and then a shot of Caribbean Cay from Jamaica's beach.

Next up, I'l make a brief stop for photos at Barbados and then on to the Old Port Royale Pool construction and the new boardwalk.