A few dining comments - we had
free dining which DH said was too much
food, but really, can that ever be true?
We tried Pepper Market for the first time & are big fans. We returned almost every day of our one week stay. Each time we went in we requested to go tickets & then it was very easy to go choose an entree, then if there was a short wait for the entree (say, for our favorite pizza to be made
) then we'd go get our drinks (usually chose Dasani) and desserts - really tempting goodies at the bakery for dessert and by the end of the week between the two of us we had sampled almost every treat.
Pepper Market favorites for us were the pizzas (SO good), roast chicken, chicken quesadillas, salmon, and the grilled veggies.
Having your card stamped at each station (entree, bakery & drink station) was easy & check out was quick - the napkins & cutlery etc are off to the side right before the cashiers. The take out boxes are large so each time we were given a large white handled bag to make things easy.
If you take your time to look around & ask the CM's if you have questions, you'll find it fairly easy to navigate. I can't answer any tipping questions as we ate out by the lake or at the pool, etc. (not inside).
HTH - it was easier than I though it would be & we were very happy w/ the quality of the food selections.
Cafe Rix - We did use Cafe Rix early am & late pm for snacks/drink refills. Their coffee is VERY good!! Free coffee in your mugs & it's NOT the icky stuff. You can fill at the dispensers or ask for the coffee at the coffee bar - not specialty coffees but the house coffee is excellent. Cold caffiene - there was Coke, Diet Coke, Cherry Coke and I'm sorry I don't remember beyond that but maybe Orange & Sprite?
We had a couple of QS meals oustide of CSR (Japan, Earl's, Starring Rolls) but really liked Pepper Market best! That says alot as I'm a big Earls & Starring Rolls fan as well.
KatMark, if you get down to WDW at Christmastime, try the Yuletide tour!
Thanks for the nice comments on the pictures!! It is SO 
beautiful there, all the time but especially with the Christmas decorations. 
We're running the marathon on 1/10 and staying until the 15th. We were really looking forward to spending time at the pool and hot tub later that week to recover from the race. I'm not surprised though. We were there at the same time last year and the day after the marathon all the construction walls came up all over the parks. 
