That Gratuity Charge

[KingKobra]

DO any of you think that it would be better to stay at CBR instead of CSR because of the gratuity charge? WE will be staying for 13 nights and are worried that the gratuity will add up over this period since we will be eating at the food court at least once or twice a day. What would you do?

[Jinnyboom]

I have never eaten here..so may not be the best to advise.
I believe it would depend on what kind of personal assistance you receive. I checked the menu board at www.wdwig.com. It reads that you are escorted to your table and you receive a card. You then select your food and pay your bill with a 10% gratuity automatically added.

Now...this is a food court and in my opinion you shouldn't be charged a gratuity for being escorted to a table. If you have a person coming by to refill your drinks, etc...it may be okay.
If it is strictly self serve...I could not justify the gratuity.

Just my opinion...I'm sure someone will be able to address this question better than I. I would prefer the CBR over the CSR due to the fact that the CSR is more of a "convention resort"

Best wishes in your planning!!!!!!!

[JC Butterfly]

KingKobra-

This is my two cents. I have never stayed at Coronado Springs. I did stay for a week at Carribbean Beach.

What was your original motive for choosing the CS? Thematically the two are very different and if you were looking forward to the decor/atmosphere I wouldn't let the 10% distract me.

Is location an issue? If you are going to spend larger amounts of time in the Animal Kingdom area, then CS is perfect. If you would like a resort a bit away from the "hustle" again CS is better.

You have a long stay in mind! There are some that feel resort hopping is a nice alternative. Perhaps consider splitting your stay between the two?

Both resorts have great recreational opportunities on site: boat & bike rentals, playful water areas.

You might try posting your question on the "restaurants" board to get more feedback on if guests felt the 10% was "worth it"

Good luck!
Brenda

[cigar95]

I know this doesn't directly answer your question, but my first reaction on reading the post was that there are so many wonderful and fun places to eat at WDW, I'd just encourage you to eat other places in addition to the Pepper Market (right name?) during your stay. This may not be entirely possible if you're on a tight budget, but going to WDW and eating at the same place over and over again would just seem terribly frustrating.

Having said that, I've stayed both places, and I love CSR - it's just beautiful at sunrise and sunset, as well as after dark. I recommend the Cabanas, because they're only two story buildings, where the other sections are three and four stories.

Also, despite what you sometimes read, it's not farther from the theme parks than the other moderates, and it's closer to AK than any others. (Even though CBR is right behind Epcot, travel time to the front gate is about the same.) CSR *is* farther from Downtown Disney, if that's an issue.

I'm sure the CBR fans will have their input on this one as well.

[SeaSpray]

I'm a big fan of CBR. However, if the southwestern theme really appealed to me much more than a tropical theme, I wouldn't let the 10% deter me from staying there.

Will you really be eating all of your meals at the food court at CSR so that it would add up? I guess for a stay as long as yours, even just eating there once or twice a day it could really add up.

I have heard of people asking to have the 10% removed from their bill, but I personally would not like to have to go through that every time I ate at the food court.

I honestly don't know what JC butterfly meant when he/she inferred that CBR wasn't away from the "hustle".... When you are at CBR, you wouldn't even know you were in WDW. (Except at night, if you look towards a certain direction you can see some of the fireworks, which a lot of people actually see as a plus!) :)

CBR is a beautiful resort, but CSR is also. Just weigh the different issues and decide what is best for you. :)

[reBLUE]

If you are trying to save money, I wouldn't eat at the CS food court at all. It is very expensive for what you get. The gratuity is justified, as people picked up our dishes, and occasionally refilled our drinks. But, I spent $30 for 2 of us and the meal wasn't that great. So, what I'm saying is: stay at the resort that best suits your needs - and disregard the food court situation.

-Chris

[Liz]

KK, you may want to check out the budget board. There are a ton of posts about Connections vouchers. The Pepper Market at CS is one of the places where the vouchers work great! I believe they are $11 per person for a complete meal including tip (appetizer, main dish, side dish, & dessert).

[dunningdisney]

we have never stayed at CBR

we have stayed at CSR--we liked the everything about the resort except the 10% gratuity charge

we stayed there when it first opened--we thought maybe if enough people complained, they would get rid of the 10%
but it doesn't look like it's going away

it was frusterating to me because sometimes we would run down to get ice cream or something to bring back to the room--i did everything myself--and 10% was added to my bill

they do seat you and will bring you drinks, but we used the refillable mugs (recommend that you do too for 13 nts) and we refilled them ourselves

hope this helps a little
have fun!!!

[KingKobra]

Thanks to everyone that replied. The great CBR Vs. CSR debate has been solved. We decided that if we stay at a moderate it will be CBR...Now to decide CBR or S/D..........