Room locations:
Cabanas 9B is now Club Service for convention guests. When there is no convention being held at the CSR or the convention does not offer Club Level rooms, the rooms in Cabanas 9B are available to regular resort guests (however, they do not receive Club Level services).
For conventioneers the Casitas 1 or 3 are good locations. However, they are a longer walk to the Dig Site Pool. Both casita 1 and casita 3 are preferred buildings
For adult couples, especially honeymooners or those celebrating anniversaries, Casitas 4 or 5 with a water view is a perfect location. Casita 4 has the quiet pool, fitness center, spa, salon, and both are near bus stop #2.
For leisure guests with children here are some great locations; Cabana 8a, Rancho 7b, Cabana 8b, 9a, Rancho 6b, and 6a...in that order. Nearness to El Centro is usually of no importance to many guests. It's much more important to be close to the park bus stops and the Dig Site. Leisure guests may come to El Centro once or twice; but they will be at the buses twice a day (at least) and the pool often when they are at the resort.
For adults or large families who wish to be close to a park bus stop and to a quieter pool but are not interested in the theme pool, building 7a is great and has close proximity to parking.
Casita 2 also is close to parking and usually one of the quietest buildings, especially from the 4th floor. The fourth floor of building actually includes part of the upper floors of building 3 and has easy access to the convention center by way of the elevator courtyard of building 1. Casita 2 is a preferred building and does not have its own elevator.
Cabana 9b is close to bus stop 1 and the main building with a short walk to the Dig Site (main pool) over the wooden bridge.
Cabana 8a is close to the Dig Site (and playground) and bus stop 4 with a short walk to the main building (closest to the pool).
Cabana 8b and 9a are in between the 2 above (9a has a quiet pool).
Ranchos 7b has a quiet pool, is close to the Dig Site and bus stop 4 with a bit longer walk to the main building. 7b is behind cabana 8a.
Casita 1 is attached to the main building and is very close to the restaurants (preferred building).
Casita 3 has great courtyard and fountain views (preferred building).
Casita 5 has some nice fountain and lake views and is close to the Dig Site but farther from the main building. Close to bus stop #2.
SHIPPING TO RESORT:
I have never shipped anything to CSR, but this is what has been reported:
If you send a package down ahead of your arrival via Fed EX or UPS, it will end up at the Business Center and will incur a charge.
If you send it via USPS, it will end up at CSR Operations behind the check in desk.
My guess is that you should check with whomever you are using (Costco, Wal-Mart, etc.) to see which shipper they use so you know if you'll have an additional charge at the CSR end.
BUSES:
CSR has 4 conveniently located bus stops, one in each of the villages and one at the main building. None of the buildings is far from a bus stop.
The ranchos are the furthest from the main building (about a 10-15 minute walk). Theme park buses stop last at the main building, so Ranchos guests can get on any theme park bus and exit at the main building. DTD buses stop at El Centro first, so this tactic does not work with DTD buses.
WALK:
The distance around the whole lake is just under a mile (.97 miles).
Walking Distances
From El Centro moving clockwise around the lake path to:
Casitas 3 = .16 miles
Casitas 4 = .24 miles
Casitas 5 = .27 miles
Ranchos = .46 miles
From El Centro to the Dig Site, via the bridge near the Cabanas
= .35 miles
From El Centro moving counterclockwise around the lake to:
Cabanas 9B = .16 miles
Cabanas 9A/8B = .22 miles
Cabanas 8A = .31 miles
Rancho 7b = .35 miles
Theme park bus stops go in this order:
The bus stops are:
Bus Stop 2: Casitas
Bus Stop 3: Ranchos
Bus Stop 4: Ranchos and Cabanas
Bus Stop 1: El Centro
DTD and Exit buses
The bus stops are:
Bus Stop 1: El Centro
Bus Stop 2: Casitas
Bus Stop 3: Ranchos
Bus Stop 4: Ranchos and Cabanas
They go in this order to assist guests in getting to the main building and back to their village.
The CSR is situated around a 15 acre lake. At night, it's a beautiful place for a romantic walk around the Lago Dorado over the lighted bridge to relax in a hammock on the white sandy beach of the Cabanas section or among the courtyards in the Casitas section of the resort.
CSR Proximity to Parks (updated by Buzz 11/9/11):
Hollywood Studios - Bus Stop 6 (1st bus stop in row at DHS) - 6 min ride once leaving resort
AK - Bus Stop 8 (middle of the row) - 6 min ride once leaving resort
MK - Bus Stop 15 (on the right, a few stops down from the beginning) - 10 min ride once leaving resort
Epcot - Bus Stop 7 (2nd bus stop in row at Epcot) - 7 min ride once leaving resort
BB - Bus Stop 6 (middle of the row) - 3 min ride once leaving resort
CSR MAP:
CONVENTION SCHEDULE (updated 10/20/12)
I have listed anything I have been able to verify online. These meetings vary in size - some are local, while others are regional or national. If a convention falls during your dates, you might want to Google the name I have listed to find out more information. In some cases, CSR is the host hotel, but activities occur elsewhere (like the soccer tournament).
2012
July 3-6 Dance America National Finals
July 13-14 - US Open Karate
July 15-21 Disney Cup International Youth Soccer Tournament
July 19-22, USA Gymnastics for All Nationals
July 21-26, Ion Mobility Spectrometry Short Course (website says it is held at the Boardwalk Hotel in Disney's Coronado Springs Resort - not sure about this one?)
July 21-25, Assembly on Education Symposium
July 26-28, AHIMA - Building Expert Trainers (affiliated with Education Symposium)
July 27-29, 2012 American Celtic Irish Dance Festival
August 6-11 - National Association of EMS Educators Symposium and Trade Show
August 25-27 Florida Police Athletic League Membership Training and Board of Directors Meeting
August 26-31, Florida Tea Party (might be canceled? Can't find link online anymore.)
August 31-September 2 - 2012 National Conservative Film Festival
September 6-9, Tony Horton Fitness Weekend (held at WWOS, CSR is host hotel)
September 19-21, Children's Miracle Network Convention
September 30 - October 3, International Conference on Image Processing 2012
October 11-13 - HENAAC 2012 Conference
October 14-18, FAA Managers Association Gathering of Eagles
November 11-14, NextGen Users Group (also at Contemporary and Yacht Club)
December 1-9, Pop Warner (CSR is one of host hotels, along with CBR and the All Stars)
December 27-30, USA Gymnastics New Year's Invitational
2013
January 6-9, Generac Dealer Conference
January 16-19, Children's Pastors Conference
February 7-9, NABE Conference
February 9-14, SPIE Medical Imaging
February 18-20, Training Magazine 2013 Conference and Expo
February 20-23, World Family Therapy Congress
February 27-28, Trinovus Compliance Knowledgeshare
March 6-9, Appliance Service Training Institute
March 9-13, International Dance championships - the Groove Experience
March 17-20, Spring World 2013 (Disaster Recovery Journal)
April 4-7, HOSA Leadership Conference
April 9-12, Ideas to Impact
April 14-17, AAPC 2013 National Conference
May 19-23, Fusion el Carnaval (Financial Ops)
June 27-29, Close To My Heart Convention
July 8-14, Children with Diabetes: Friends For Life Annual Conference
August 30-September 1, Mustang at the Mickyard (CSR is host hotel)
December 13-15, National Scholastic K-12 Chess Championship
2014
June 25-28, HOSA National Leadership Conference
September 19-22, Association of School Business Officials Annual Meeting
2015
(Proposed) September 2-6, Orlando 2015 Worldcon
This is not a "FULL" list. This list consists from research on the web and information passed on from fellow CSR lovers. Please post any conventions/meetings that you find.