At the heart of Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort is Old Port Royale, a destination for dining, shopping and recreation. On the stone gates at the entrance to Old Port Royale, as well as atop the fountain in the middle of Centertown, you'll find representations of pineapples. For hundreds of years, pineapples have been considered a symbol of welcome and hospitality in this part of the world.
Centertown at Old Port Royale is filled with the sort of brightly colored architecture typical of the British and Spanish colonial eras in the Caribbean. Inside the main building, you're given the impression of still being outside, wandering the streets and alleys of the town.
The Calypso Trading Post bursts forth beyond its doors, creating a vibrant marketplace feeling in the square.
Around the corner from the marketplace is a street brimming with restaurants and food stands, their smells pouring out to greet passersby. Shutters is a table service location, specializing in Caribbean cuisine with entrees like plantain-crusted red snapper and pineapple-marinated chicken. Other spots along the row offer more traditional, food court-style menus, but in a Caribbean-inspired setting. Montego's Deli takes its name from Montego Bay in Jamaica, while Bridgetown Broiler is named for the capital of Barbados, one of the oldest cities in the islands.
Throughout, details continue the story of being outdoors. There's the sky blue ceiling, with festive lanterns strung from building to building. The facades of the food court and restaurant are adorned with faux windows, shutters and doors, and balconies on the second level have been dressed with props to give the impression of people living above the storefronts.
Continuing our exploration of Old Port Royale, if you head down closer to the water, you'll find the remains of an old Spanish fortress. The fortress, modeled on the Castillo del Morro in Cuba, was added as part of a resort enhancement in 2009. It surrounds the new feature pool at Caribbean Beach and encloses the pool's two water slides.
Much like the resort's village of Trinidad South, the Castillo has been overtaken by pirates. The Jolly Roger flies over the fortress walls, and a pirate galleon is moored (more like crashed) nearby. Details like the skull and crossbones, wayward anchor and giant barrel of rum (which fills and dumps its contents every few minutes) make this water play feature a hit with younger children.
Look closely, high above the crow's nest, and you'll even spot a cartoony crow... wearing his own tri-cornered pirate hat. He's keeping watch over all the activity, pirate or otherwise, here in Old Port Royale.
