On a recent weekend trip to Disney World we lucked into one of the new Under the Sea rooms at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. In this post we discuss these rooms, including what sets them apart, how to book them, whether the location is that bad, and how we think these compare to the resort as a whole. Read on to learn all about the Under the Sea rooms at Caribbean Beach!
About this Post and Related Posts
This post reviews the Under the Sea rooms at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. It does not cover the bulk of the resort or all the amenities at the resort. For that, see our Review of Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. Here are the basics, though.
Caribbean Beach is one of four moderate Disney resorts. If you’re considering Caribbean Beach, you may want to read some of our other posts. We have a ranking of the best Disney World moderate resorts (where you’ll also find links to reviews of all the moderate hotels). We also have a guide to all the hotels of Walt Disney World.
The short of the “moderate” designation is that it is supposed to be somewhere between the values and deluxe resorts in quality and price. Rack rates for standard rooms at Caribbean Beach Resort in 2024 range from $268 to $505 per night.
What are the Caribbean Beach Under the Sea Rooms?
The Under the Sea rooms at Caribbean Beach are a select group of rooms at the resort that have different theming than the rest of the rooms. In particular, these have a brighter aesthetic and Little Mermaid theming. We have to clarify that these are not the same as the Little Mermaid rooms at Art of Animation. That’s a different hotel, and those are different rooms.
Booking Under the Sea Rooms
Note: The details in this section are particularly subject to change. If you are set on these rooms, I recommend consulting with a travel advisor, who can tell you the latest on how to maximize your chances of getting one of these rooms.
As of this update, the Under the Sea rooms are not bookable as their own room category at Caribbean Beach. Here’s a look at some of the room options when you book on the Disney Website, you can see none of them looks like the rooms in the post or advertises anything like “Under the Sea”:
This means it requires some luck to get them. But there are some necessary and optional steps you can take along the way.
For starters, you must book a “5th Sleeper” room. All the Under the Sea rooms are 5th sleeper rooms.
Then, at check-in, you can make a room request for “Near Skyliner.” This was what we did, and we wound up in an Under the Sea room.
Furthermore, I believe that at any time after booking, you can contact Disney via phone or chat to request one of these rooms. They’ll make the note in your reservation.
Where are the Under the Sea Rooms Located?
The Under the Sea rooms are located in the Trinidad section of Caribbean Beach resort. Caribbean Beach is huge, and Trinidad is the most remote section of the resort (red box, below; the green circle is the main building / amenities / restaurants):
That said, we didn’t find the location to be much of a problem. The downside is that you’re far from the feature pool, the lobby, and the bars/restaurants over there (Sebastian’s Bistro, Banana Cabanas, Centertown Market). You’re also far from Riviera, in case you were thinking about hopping over there for a drink or dinner.
But you’re not all on your own in Trinidad. Like all the Caribbean Beach sections, there’s a nearby bus stop. There is a small pool. There’s also Spyglass Grill, a small quick service restaurant that we appreciated having a few steps away for breakfast every morning. Finally, you’re pretty close to the Skyliner.
The only time the location really bothered us was checking in and checking out because we had to lug all our stuff to/from the room. Besides that minor inconvenience, we really didn’t at all mind the location.
As noted above, I actually really liked having Spyglass Grill so close. I’d wake up every day, buy Genie+, mobile order a small breakfast at Spyglass Grill for 7AM, make my Genie+ picks at 7AM, tap “I’m Here” on my mobile order, and then go grab the breakfast (about 3 minutes roundtrip).
A Look at the Under the Sea Rooms
Video, followed by pics and discussion…
These are nice, colorful rooms.
As always, I’m a fan of hardwood—not carpet—at Disney World. While other hotels may be able to maintain carpet, the combination of Disney’s target demographic (families with younger kids) and their obsession with “efficiency” makes the company ill-suited for maintaining hotel room carpet.
Almost all—perhaps all—the rooms at Disney World have finally been updated, so this is also my last chance to really praise the improvements in functionality of the rooms.
There’s great space under the bed and plenty of surface storage space. There are ample outlets, some of which even had USB-C ports (unfortunately we found the USB port functionality to be spotty).
Here’s a look at the room with the other two beds down. These were very easy to get down. Zoe slept on the single bed with an inflatable bed rail we travel with. We were a bit worried about the height, but it worked out.
The old Pirate Rooms had a big problem with wear and tear. By design, the rooms had a lot of dark, textured wood, but that gets visibly damaged real quick. In these new rooms, the coffee table is the only thing that seemed at serious risk for quick degradation:
But it’s also incredibly functional:
Everything else looks a little more built-to-last. There was some discoloration on the couch and a puddle under the AC unit (I don’t really know how much to say about that in Florida, honestly), but otherwise the room was in good shape.
There’s a “mini-fridge” (I recently saw this called a ‘beverage cooler’, which I do feel is more accurate), and, unfortunately, a simple Cuisinart machine. If I’m being generous, we avoided using the machine even once because Spyglass Grill was right there, so NBD.
Housekeeping left this nice card. I really appreciate the gesture, but I do think it speaks to the fact that Cast Members who are at points of contact with guests need more resources.
As for theming, the above photos give a pretty good sense of what you get. These aren’t rooms that scream “Little Mermaid” like the Little Mermaid rooms at Art of Animation. I sort of get that, but I also feel like it’s a weirdly missed opportunity to do something different.
The bathrooms have a vanity area that’s separated from the rest of the room by a sliding door, and a separately-doored toilet and shower (with sliding door, no curtain).
Overall I still prefer a room just for the toilet. In some situations it might not be a big deal, but remember—this room is meant to sleep five people. That’s potentially five showers / visits to the toilet in the morning.
The showers have super-secure H2O+ dispensers. My understanding is Disney has taken over production of these and is slapping their own branded stickers on the bottles, but ours must not have been done yet.
I’ve never been impressed by the standard showers at the value and moderate hotels, but they do the job.
Closing Thoughts
Now, as of this update, I haven’t yet had a chance to stay in the newly refurbished rooms at the rest of Caribbean Beach. That said, based on what I’ve seen and what I know about those rooms, I’d definitely prefer the Under the Sea rooms for a stay here.
The location is not ideal, but I honestly consider it a wash. You’re farther from the center of the resort, but relatively close to the Skyliner and with a close quick service restaurant. (I should say, we were in building 35. I went for a run and was pretty shocked about how far building 39 was.)
Location aside, these are clearly better rooms than the rest of Caribbean Beach. While those rooms now have the latest round of functionality updates, they still retained a less appealing aesthetic and worse bathrooms (shower curtain instead of door, old sinks).
It’s a little baffling right now that the Under the Sea rooms aren’t their own category at the moment. I’m guessing this has to do with the fact that the refurbishments in these and the rest of the rooms were ongoing when the categories were last set. I imagine many people (myself included) would pay a premium for these rooms, so hopefully Disney resolves this.
All that positivity relative to the rest of Caribbean Beach aside, I’m not particularly high on these rooms in the overall Disney World portfolio. If you have five people or want the space 5th sleeper rooms afford, then you might give these a bit of a boost.
But if you’re comparing these downward to Pop Century or Art of Animation (both Skyliner resorts), or laterally to Coronado Springs (specifically Gran Destino Tower), or upward to any of the deluxe resorts, I’m just not sure these rooms really offer anything special.
My position on Caribbean Beach has long been that it basically boils down to the Skyliner and just how close you need to be to it (i.e. are Pop and Art of Animation an option). Having rooms at roughly the same quality (not notably better, sometimes worse) as the rest of the resort doesn’t change that calculus.
Generally, if I want the Skyliner, I’m saving a bit and picking Pop Century or Art of Animation (or paying more for a family suite at Art of Animation). If I’m locked into the moderate bracket, then it’s Gran Destino all the way, because even these brand new Under the Sea rooms don’t touch the tower.
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