A Vacation Turned Upside Down - Changed Resorts - Changed Dining Plan

[aml3679]

How did you book an AB room at POR? I booked POR told her an AB room because it is myself, Hubby, 12,9 and 2 year old daughters. I need the sleeping places for 5. Cm told me since my 2 year old is not being counted that I'm not really 5 and may not get an AB room. I'm not really impressed not knowing if I get it or not. She told me no one can just book an AB room.

Our travel agent booked it - Dreams Unlimited Travel - they are great! She is earning her money with our changes.

 

[mdsouth]

Alligator Bayou because the look of the room appealed to us. Thanks for everyone's time -- we are going to stick with Coronado Springs and might think about upgrading to business class.

You will love CSR !! We stayed there and it was great. We were in Cabanas and even though they are not preferred it still felt felt close to the pool and bus stop and main lobby.

The pool area is really nice it seems bigger and I think it is bigger than the other mod pools. The way it is designed leaves lots of open space for swimmers in comparison to CBR pool. It has lots of seating by the pool and the little pool bar is nice. I also like there is another outside bar near the main lobby.

The only restaurant at CSR we We ate at was Pepper Market. we really liked it over other mod food courts. We actually had three meals there one carry out. We liked the steak and baked potato dinner that counted as one counter service credit! woo hoo. The faitas (spelling?) were good too.

We liked the white beach area by the lake there are hammocks there. We loved the beautiful foliage and flowers

We also liked the decorations in the room. It was definitely an adult feel.

Remember there are quiet pools there too which are great

I know the resort must have been nearly full when we went in June.July near the 4th but it didn't seem overly crowed or overrun by Eek conventioneers! Tee here

Focus on the rest of your planning and enjoy you stay at CSR!,,

 

[bennifer]

You will love CSR! It has been my favorite resort so far. I think you'd be wise to upgrade to business class, too. I've never had a bad experience at any WDW resort, but the theming, dining options, fitness center, pool, etc make this by far the best IMO!

 

[lanejudy]

How did you book an AB room at POR? I booked POR told her an AB room because it is myself, Hubby, 12,9 and 2 year old daughters. I need the sleeping places for 5. Cm told me since my 2 year old is not being counted that I'm not really 5 and may not get an AB room. I'm not really impressed not knowing if I get it or not. She told me no one can just book an AB room.

A preferred room at POR will always be in the Bayou.

 

[aml3679]

Thanks everyone! Our travel agent confirmed our reservation for business class. When I fax my requests, they will be a king size bed, high floor and water view if possible. In that order. 204 days to go.

 

[redc]

It is unfortunate that your husband won't go with Wilderness Lodge. It is spectacular, especially in December when you'll be there. Everything is under one roof and your room does not open to the outside.

I agree with this post. CSR is widely boasted on this site. But you may not love it. I fell for the hype several years ago. My family's experience is something very different. We did a split stay in 2008, first 4 nights at WL, then 3 nights CSR. My family was ready to mutiny. They couldn't believe how I took them from a first class hotel with lots of cool things to do, great restaurants, with incredible themeing all under one roof...to a HUGE fancy motel with a very nice pool, where a lot of time is spent waiting for buses. And very few good choices to eat.
Never again!!!

Just so you hear the other side of the story.

 

[letsgoreds]

We have stayed at CSR twice, and it is the only moderate we would consider. We prefer deluxe and/or staying DVC, but would always stay at CSR. We like the cabanas, being close to the main pool. It is easy to get to parking, as we always have a car.

WL feels like home...will just toss that out there, and is awesome at Christmastime. I would drop dining plan, reduce the # of reservations and stay at WL.

Looks like you are booked business class...to make that worth it, you should eliminate all/most of your breakfast reservations, and switch them to later in the day. The main draw of BC is the contintental breakfast, and drinks in the evening. Make sure you are the kind of people who would be back in time to take advantage of this.

There is a great fan website for CSR as well, just google the resort name...it is maintained by a guy named Buzz.

Don't worry about your changes...it is so easy peasey for them.

 

[MagicalMawMaw]

We love CSR & will be staying there our 3rd time in December.

I like the Cabinas & Casitas the best. I enjoy the walk around the lake & I think the resort is beautiful. The bus system is good there & usually a bus stop is pretty close to your room. The walk to the lobby might be alittle ways...but it is a pretty walk to get there.

We have stayed at PORS also & loved it too. The mansions are so pretty.

Here's my experience with the moderates compared to the deluxes:

The deluxes are pretty & have the advantage of a monorail or boat depending on which you stay at & those are great. However, we find the deluxe bus system horrible. We eat at lots of the resorts each trip & getting a bus from there to anywhere takes forever.
The moderates have spoilt us on that as we have never waited very long for a bus there.

 

[alice99]

We stayed in CSR in 2002, we chose it because, at that time, it was the newest moderate. We figured it'd be the nicest.

We were very unhappy there, I found this Disney moderate resort to be on the same level as a Holiday Inn (and I don't mean that in a good way).
I think they are overpriced.

I believe the deluxe hotels (though priced higher) are actually a better value. You are paying more, but are getting more for your $$.

On property moderates are priced high, but are comparable to no-frills hotels you'd find off property.

 

[teentoddlermom]

I agree with this post. CSR is widely boasted on this site. But you may not love it. I fell for the hype several years ago. My family's experience is something very different. We did a split stay in 2008, first 4 nights at WL, then 3 nights CSR. My family was ready to mutiny. They couldn't believe how I took them from a first class hotel with lots of cool things to do, great restaurants, with incredible themeing all under one roof...to a HUGE fancy motel with a very nice pool, where a lot of time is spent waiting for buses. And very few good choices to eat.
Never again!!!

Just so you hear the other side of the story.

Don't want to drive OP crazy, but CSR is my least favorite resort and it is all because of the Pepper Market. More disorganized than any restaurant on property, expensive, and unfriendly. It is some kind of a leased operation. The rest of CSR is very pretty. I think it is a bit more spread out than POR. It has less shade. But if you are there in the cooler weather you'll be looking for the sun to warm you up! You can't go wrong really with any Disney resort. Have a great vacation!

 

[Heather1979]

I haven't stayed in that hotel, but if you have a target red card, you can buy $50 Disney gift cards and use your card to pay for them and get 5% off. It's not a huge discount, but any little bit can help- just charge food etc. to your room and then every so many days take your gift card bundle down to the desk to square up the bill. We did this for our trip and it worked out really well. HTH.