Looking for advice - CBR? CSR?

[mcvixen]

I know that CBR and CSR have their own devoted fans, and I would like to ask your advice.

Our family of three (DH, DD5 and myself) are returning for a short visit in Feb 2010. The plan is to stay a day onsite, two days offsite, then another two days onsite again. (We're hoping Disney will let us do two separate single-night stays, otherwise, we'll just do two nights consecutive at the end of our trip).

DH is going to take our daughter off to the parks for at least one of those days, so I can have some alone time, reading novels and eating bonbons in a loungechair or hammock.

Given our daughter's age and our preferences, would you recommend CBR as the best resort or CSR?

[qman]

We've stayed at both; however, our last trip to CBR was quite a while ago (2003). Given that kids focus on things like pools and food let me address those items:

Pools - The main pool at the CSR is beautiful and a lot of fun for the kids (including the slide). The CBR pool has been redone since we were last their and I hear (on this board) they did quite a nice job. The quiet pools at both resorts are about equal. I would rate them a tie,

Food - The Pepper Market at CSR is a little different and more geared towards adults. The CSR food court offers more typical foods. With a young child I would give the edge to CBR.

They are both wonderful resorts so what ever you decide should be fine.

[MinnieNurse]

First I will say I always think you should pick the one who's theme appeals to you more.

We stayed at CSR in 2006 and just stayed at CBR 8/2-89. Both are nice resorts, but for my family we prefer CSR. We will not stay at CBR again.

Both are beautiful resorts with nice main pools. The rooms are the same size. We like the pirate themed rooms at CBR alot and liked the food court better at CBR.

We prefer CSR because the CM's seemed more attentive. At CBR it took me 40 minutes to do check in with 1 person in front of me, and I did online check in prior to going. The day we left they only provided us with 1 boarding pass and 1 luggage ticket and were rude and not helpful when we tried to resolve it. We ended up having to lug our luggage to the airport and get boarding passes there.

Housekeeping seemed a little better at CSR. Our room had unbelievable dust, one sink would not drain, and the toilet would run forever after flushing at CBR,

[RachaelRol]

We arrived home yesterday after 7 nights in a Pirate Room at CBR and 3 nights at CSR.

Both rooms were great. used the buses very little, but were okay both times probably a little better as CBR.

Pirate theme was good, main pool fun, good food court, HORRIBLE ts in Shutters.

We had a renovated room at CSR. Fabulous room really modern and chic. Pool was really good too. Didn't love Pepper Market, didn't try Maya Grill.

The grounds at CBR were better kept than those at CSR. There was a dead giant cockaroach on the stairwell for the 3 nights and 4 days we were at CSR. I thought for sure they'd clean the exterior corridors once a day or at least once every 3 days.

CMs at both resorts were great no issues at either.

Must say though that we will likely never stay at either of these resorts again. They are just way too big, really, really big. I knew this going in, but it really felty like work getting places within the resort.

It's a 10 minute walk to get food or coffee at Old Port Royale. This was a normal paced, not theme park fast or I have pneumonia slow, just a walk. Most people who stayed in Trinidad South were unhappy with the distance to the action and drove to Old Port Royal and the main pool.

At CSR, we had a 6 minute walk to the Dig Site which was fine. We were in the Casitas building 5A or 5B. But again, had to drive to the Pepper Market. I also hated that we had to drive by the loading areas to get to our room. It didn't feel like a true resort experience doing this every night.

If you stay at either of these, a preferred location is worth the extra cost. Got to give it to Disney, they got me to pay extra to stay at practically the farthest possible buling in CBR. We were in building 38, and 39 was the farthest.

We have stayed at all the mods and honestly, we'd pick either of the Port Orleans over these too, Riverside is our hands down moderate winner now that we've stayed at all.

I hope no one thinks I'm bashing either CBR or CSR, they were just to big for our taste and felt a little like work getting around. If you get a preferred location at either it will likely be a better experience.

Sorry for the long post, but we were just there!

[Momof2Disneyboys]

We have stayed at both. Given your DD's age and your preferences I would definitely recommend CBR. The rooms are slightly larger and are Disney themed. The whole resort is very beautiful, tropical, and relaxing - yet very family friendly! We did not find CSR to have the same feel. To us it felt more geared towards adults and conventioneers. The CM's were unfriendly at best, mousekeeping was poor, and the whole Pepper Market experience was terrible. We had great bus service at both, but found CBR to be more centrally located to all the parks plus DTD. The main pools are great at both, and CBR's now offers zero entry! CBR's children's pool can't really be beat though. It is like a mini waterpark with 3 slides and a tipping bucket.

Good luck deciding, we found both resorts to be very pretty and love their spacious grounds. Never had more than a 5 minute walk to anywhere at either.

Have a magical trip!

[Stinky_Pete]

Have never stayed at CBR but looking forward to it one day. But here's what I can tell you.

• CSR has two queen beds per room. CBR has two full beds per room.
• CSR has one sink in the vanity area. CBR has two.
• CBR has the largest rooms of a moderate - 340 sq. ft. CSR rooms are only only 314 sq. ft.

Many people rave about the Pepper Market. Admittedly it's been almost ten years since I stayed there, but I went to the Pepper Market three times during that trip and vowed "never again!" It had nothing to do with the food - it was the employees I thought were rude or just stupid. BTW- I don't call them "cast members" because they are not Disney employees. The food service is outsourced to another company.

I did like Maya Grill.

If you do decide to go with CSR realize that it is really spread out around a lake. I would recommend either the Casitas or Cabanas sections. The Ranchos are on the other side of the lake and, while kind of close to the "dig site" pool are quite a walk to the main buildings.

HTH

[mcvixen]

I *think* we are leaning toward CSR. Our daughter really loves loves loves swimming pools, and while the queen sized beds would be nice, we are looking at the two days onsite as our "Disney days", so her preferences will have a slight edge.

Many thanks for your help.

[JennSaint]

I think your daughter would enjoy either one. Maybe a slight edge to CBR with their new pool area which was great for preschool/elementary aged children. However I prefer CSR for my teens.

[catbertdave99]

I haven't been to CSR, but we were just at CBR for the third time this June -- here are some pics of the new main pool area:

Kiddie pool area:



Main pool area, taken from the top of the new slide:





Lots of hammocks and beach chairs, and a beach at every village....

[princessmom29]

We did CSR with a 5 year old DD last year and she loved it. The pool is awesome, and has a great slide. We enjoyed the lack of disney theming at the resort, and i don't think she missed it at all. It was a great place t ocome back and wind down from a day at the parks, and it think the calmness of the resort helped her settle for the night as well. We were in Casitas 2 and didn't find the walk to anything overwhelming. There is no preferred location, but they try to grant requestes when at all possible. If you choose CSR I would fax a room request and if you don't get it politely ask at checkin to be moved if possible. From ancedotal evidence it seems to work most of the time.

[KatMark]

We've only stayed at the CSR because it is our favorite Disney resort. We have had wonderful CM's--who have often gone above and beyond; wonderful mousekeeping, good food (although, unfortunately, I have been reading that the PM has been going downhill lately); we love the pools, the hot tub, the fitness center/spa (where I get a massage every visit), etc.

We've not stayed at the CBR, but as two adults we just have no desire to--we don't care for the Nemo/Pirate theme for our rooms; plus we thought the food court was awful the two times we were there. Our oldest DS did just stay there last month and he said he had a very nice visit. He only had one or two minor issues--one with housekeeping and one with a very rude CM and he found the pool to be very crowded (but they just went to either the quiet pool or the water park). However, the issues wer enot big enought to prevent him from staying there again...but he did say that he would stay at the Caribbean only if the CSR was not available--he missed the CSR.

All of that being said, if your daughter likes the look of the pool at the CBR better, then I would go with that.

[Jletendre]

Last summer we stayed at CBR as DW loved the grounds and "island" feel. And yes for those reasons the resort is beautiful.

The pool was going under the rehab so we couldn't enjoy that as it looks awesome.

Things we did not like (we stayed in a preferred room Aruba)

- place is just MEGA big .. it has like 7 bus stops and depending on where you stay it's a long trip coming back or leaving. I swear it often seemed like 20 mins before we even left the resort. So plan accordingly if you are making a ADR.

- Food court is small considering the size of the resort. Also the selection didn't seem as great as other resorts. Main lounge is by the pool.

- lobby / front desk is in some seperate building that is a walk to get to. You actually have to take the buses around the property to get places (and still walk a ways) Not that we're out of shape or lazy but I don't want to hike all over a resort.

CSR is on our list for our next visit.