CBR/CSR indecision

[Monkeyfeet]

We have always stayed at POP and our trips have always just been for 3-4 days at a time.

In September we are bringing our 11 year old and 7 year old for a week to WDW. We looked at the mods in our price range and really liked the looks of CBR. When we went to book when the promos came out, CBR was $500 more than CSR (with dining...and I ran the numbers for our family and that promo worked the best). So we booked with CSR.

Now, CBR has opened up some standard rooms and is the same as what we are paying for CSR so I am conflicted.

The kids loved CBR's pool. I loved the grounds (but CSR's seem similar from videos) and the atmosphere of inside the main building (again from a video).

We want a resort with good bus service and both seem to be about the same.

We will be staying in a standard room and are not worried about the extra walking.

I would love thoughts from anyone that has stayed at either. And yes, I have searched through this forum and have read a ton on both.

 

[Belle83]

Sounds like you really want To try CBR so I would go with that. I've stayed at both but admittedly didn't see much of CSR except our room and the bus stop, our room was really far away from everything. CSR was nice but I like the theming of CBR more. You can't go wrong with either. I've had good and bad experiences at CBR. I think the pool is more fun looking at CBR.

 

[DJFan88]

It really is a matter of theming preference. I've stayed at both and I liked CSR better but my husband likes CBR better. I like how the pool arcade area is away from the food court area and the beauty of the resort. The food court and quick mart at CSR beats CBR, I think. However, pool wise if u like the zero entry and splash area for smaller kids, that could come into play. Maybe not the 11 yr. Old, but for the 7 yr. Old.

 

[Olaf63]

Our family picked CSR. The pool slide is much better and I also like the 4 bus stops vs 7 at CBR.

 

[maxiesmom]

I have found the bus service at CSR to be much better than that at CBR. As it is also a convention resort many of the guests at CSR do not use the park buses, making them less crowded than the buses at other resorts.

Also if you stay in a standard room at CBR you will have a bit of a walk to the featured pool. Honestly I wouldn't stay at CBR again in a standard room (one of the only times I think the Dis gave me bad advice) although many people swear by staying standard at CBR. I just don't agree with them.

 

[ChasingLeslie]

It sounds like you are leaning towards CBR.

I've stayed at both and enjoyed both, but return to CSR for a more manageable size and better bus service. That's just my two cents.

 

[Nancyg56]

I have found the bus service at CSR to be much better than that at CBR. As it is also a convention resort many of the guests at CSR do not use the park buses, making them less crowded than the buses at other resorts.

Also if you stay in a standard room at CBR you will have a bit of a walk to the featured pool. Honestly I wouldn't stay at CBR again in a standard room (one of the only times I think the Dis gave me bad advice) although many people swear by staying standard at CBR. I just don't agree with them.

MTE. CBR is wicked big, and I never regretted the additional money I paid for a preferred room.

OP- these are two very different resorts in terms of theme. I have stayed at both, and while I liked the theme at CBR a lot moe than CSR, it really is personal taste, IMO. I will say that for us, that walk to the feature pool at CBR would be a pill that I would not want to swallow on a daily basis., and that walk could be a long one if you choose standard.

I bet you could book CSR Business class and still be speeding less that at CBR standard view.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

We stayed at CBR prior to room refurbishment and we loved the theme, the pools and just overall the resort is very pretty. We stayed in a standard room in Jamaica and it was maybe a 4-5 min walk across the bridge to the main building and feature pool. If you request a room in Aruba or Jamaica it's not far at all. Bus service however wasn't the greatest at times due to CBR's 7 internal stops. Depending on where you got on, it was an additional 15 min on the bus before it even left CBR. However Jamaica was often the first stop coming back, so that was good. We usually boarded the bus on route to parks at the main building. Half the time the bus service was fast and we were on our way quickly, and half the time it took a while. It did not ruin our vacation, but we had much better bus service at POR or POFQ.
I can't comment on CSR as we haven't stayed there, but we had the same dilemma for our upcoming trip and ultimately chose CBR for the pool and atmosphere. Plus they have renovated rooms now.