My family got back from WDW, and our first CSR stay, yesterday. We were there for 9 nights. I thought I would post some of my thoughts about our experience.
First, this was my families 10th trip to WDW. My DH and I stayed at CBR in the early 1990's, but all of our other stays have been at WDW deluxe of DVC properties. I was a bit nervous about staying at CSR, but have to say that we had a very good experience!
For those keeping track of the renovations, Cabanas 9B, 9A and 8B are totally renovated. We stayed in 8B, in room 8640. We were upgraded to a waterview room absent our request. We LOVED our location...more about that later. The week of 1/26, the construction was in full swing on 8A. We saw all of the furnishing being removed, which took a couple of days. We saw the carpet layers there one day, the doors to the rooms being sandblasted before repainting, and one day all of the new mattresses were stored in the covered walkways near each room. I would imagine that 8A will be completed soon.
We found the CM's to be wonderful at CSR! Everyone we encountered, from the check-in staff, to the bellmen and the Pepper Market staff, were great and accomodating. Let me give you an example of their great service: My DS inadvertantly left his backpack on the entrance bench when our town car came to drive us to the airport yesterday. We realized it once we are at the airport. My DH called CSR from the airport, and someome immediately secured the backpack. He asked if they would ship it to us and charge it to the credit card they had on file for us, and the CSR staff handling the matter said they would be happy to send it, priority shipping, at no cost to us! I could not believe it!!! Talk about pixie dust!
The renovated rooms are beautiful! The dark wood, and combination of muted, soothing colors make the rooms seem more upscale than I would have expected at a moderate resort. They made good use of space during the renovations. There was plenty of room for the three of us, and the queen beds (and bedding) are quite sumptuous and comfortable. There was a flyer in our room about the bedding packages. I loved the ceiling fans! We all sleep with fans at home, so the ceiling fan provided the perfect amount of white noise for us. My only complaint is how tiny those bathrooms are. Close the door before you go in to take a seat, or your knees will hit the door if you try and close it after! I did love the shower though...great shower head, and the tiled ledge gives you super storage to keep all your toiletries.
We had good housekeeping service. Our rooms were always done up by the time we came back from the parks in the early afternoon. I will say that the new, dark furniture means that housekeeping needs to do more dusting because the wood shows everything. I noticed that on our 7th day our nightstand was quite dusty, but the following morning it was dusted well by our mousekeeper. We had no towel animals, but then again we have no small children, and we weren't expecting them. We saw some very cute towel animals perched on other people's window ledges and we had fun looking at them as we walked past.
I loved the location of Cabanas 8B. We were right next to the quiet pool and the laundry, both which we used on several occasions. Also, bus stop 4 was just a hop, skip and a jump from our building. I think this was the perfect location!
I think the bus service from/to CSR is great! Since we were in 8B, bus stop 4 was so close. I know that many here have reported that the busses stop in the following order: 2, 3, 4 and 1. But, I wanted to tell you that that was not consistently the order. I would say that 3/4 of the time that was our experience, but the other 1/4 of the time it was 1, 2, 3 and then 4. There was no rhyme or reason to it. The resort was very quiet, and I think we had a full bus just a couple of times during our stay. There were several times when the three of us were the only people on the bus to or from a park. Twice (once on our way to DTD, and the other on our return to CSR), we had drivers who did not make full stops or turn on the interior lights. We were standing to get off, and they pulled away from the stop. We yelled to the driver both times and they stopped, but it was a bit annoying. I think this could happen at any resort, and I do not consider it a CSR problem.
The grounds of CSR are absolutely beautiful! They are well maintained, and the setting, around such a beautiful lake, makes for a very peaceful experience. The main pool area is stunning, and there were always plenty of lounge chairs available when we were there.
We ate at the Pepper Market once, for dinner. We found the staff, the wait staff and those handling food preparation, to be very nice and helpful. The food? Honestly, it was one of the worst dining experiences we have ever had at WDW. I had a cheese pizza, DH had a curry stir fry with egg rolls and DS had beef fajitas. We had no beverages, and our bill was $53.00. Considering they make most everything to order, we were surprised at how tasteless our meals were. I am NOT finicky about my pizza and will pretty much eat anything that anyone calls pizza, but that pizza had no taste whatsoever. My DS stated that the food was worse than his school cafeteria food, and he HATES the school cafeteria food, so that is saying something. To contrast, the following evening, we ate at WGP express in DTD, and for the same money (including beverages and tip) we had a wonderfully tasty meal, with more food (Chicken Caeser salad, butternut squash soup, roasted vegetable melt served with a side salad, fresh fruit, a pepperoni and mushroom pizza, a Sprite and a bottled water) for almost the exact price as our Pepper Market meal.
We did not find the walking distances at CSR to be a problem. I will say that filling up our refillable mugs was kind of a pain because you have to schlep a ways to get a refill. This was definately a difference when comparing CSR to the delixe resorts we have stayed at.
Okay, so I have lots of positive things to say about CSR. The question is would we stay there again? The family consensus is "no". I would, but DH and DS did not like CSR as much as the deluxe/DVC properties. I think we all felt that we were not a part of the resort like we do feel at the deluxes. With those resorts, the beautiful and bustling lobbies serves as a gateway in/out of your room. Consequently, we did not feel our resort played as big of a part of our usual WDW experience. It was a place to hang our hat, and get a bit of rest mid-day and in the evening. We also did not like the outside entrance to our rooms. The walkways to the rooms did sort of feel and look like a Motel 6, and when kids ran up and down those walkways, screaming like kids with energy will do, it was loud and annoying. I will state that parents were great about not allowing that kind of behavior late at night; we found the resort to be quiet and great for sleeping at night.
So, that sums up our CSR experience. If anyone has any questions, ask away!!
. I know it is a little thing but I just got back from California for a week for work and have 9 days to get this family of 4 together!!!!!! At least I rememberd to tell them my daughter's bday is at the end of the trip!
