Our family of 4 just returned from a 9 night stay at CSR. We loved this resort & so glad I choose it for our stay!
This is a tad on the long side
wry grin. Forgive me first trip report!
I found the airport confusing as it was my first flight, but we managed to find ME and had a short wait. CSR was the very first stop! We arrived just as the Donald Duck short clips started on the TV to my sons dismay.
We arrived about 12:30pm. I had done the on-line check-in and faxed in a resort request earlier. No waiting in line, and our room was ready. We received Cabanas 8A, which is what I wanted!!
We were in a corner room (#8127) and it was quiet! Never heard our neighbours. Never heard any noise outside. The bus stop was literally around the corner from us, a hamock outside our pathway, and the Dig Site an easy walk. The laundry room was only 2 or 3 pathways down from us. I would love this spot again!
Ohh, and my husband found baby turtles (about 1 in length) on one of the pathways one morning. Im sad to report I never ever saw an alligator
But Im happy to say I never saw a spider or snake!
Our room was clean, the fridge was COLD, and we had plenty of storage space. We did the whole bed bug check and turned up nothing.
My husband & I discussed it and we moved in. Unpacked our suitcases completely, used all the drawers, hangers, nighttable, counter space, etc
Queen beds were great and better than our king bed at home. My back never hurt sleeping on them! Yes, it does at home and our mattress is only 2 years old this winter.
Housekeeping was great. No animal towels but she would move the stuffies around every day. Kids liked that. Fresh dry towels every day.
And I loved that we could adjust our air conditioning! Now Im sure most people try to adjust it so their room is colder, but we actually had to warm up our room!
We are not used to the constant switch of hot air, cold air, hot air, cold air and our sinuses quickly ran into trouble!
Honestly, I dont understand the complaining I read about the walking. We walked back & forth (usually over the 2 bridges as we loved the view) to the Pepper Market, Guest Services, Café Rix, and Gift Shop several times and never found it a long walk. Heck, our first evening there I forgot the bus would continue around to bus stop #4, got off at #1 (returning from Downtown Disney) and walked back our room.
The kids especially loved the Dig Site and pool. My 6 year old son was thrilled to find a ping-pong / tennis table there. It seemed to make his stay. He woke up one morning at 5:30am and insisted daddy take him there to play
We ate at Pepper Market many times. 5 breakfasts, 2 lunches, and 2 dinners. We found the food to be plentiful and tasty. I had no complaints until our last dinner there (but not our last meal). The kids ordered burgers and my daughter had finished her burger almost completely when I discovered it was almost raw!!!
Ok, medium rare the chef/cook called it but here in Canada restaurants serve only fully cooked burgers. It never occurred to me it could be otherwise in the States
lesson learned
I was so upset I was almost in tears. Apparently the chef/cook was suppose to ask how I wanted the burgers cooked but did not. The chef/cook removed my kids meals from our meal card, and prepared a plate of nuggets for my son while I took his burger away from him. The server reported the situtation to the manager who came out to talk to me, and try to re-assure me their ground beef is high quality and not to worry about e-coli. If you order a burger in Disney and like it fully cooked make it known when you order it!
We did continue to eat at the Pepper Market after this issue, but no more burgers...
Chef Matt
Im not sure if they are called Chefs, but anyways Chef Matt was amazing! He served my kids twice while we were there and was just wonderful to them! I had hoped to see him in the last couple of days to thank him but didnt. Im going to write a thank-you to him and to Disney.
(I just found a photo of him & his co-worker my daughter must have taken. I can print this out, write on the back and send it in - perfect!)
BTW, we were on the
free dining plan and never paid a 10% service charge. I left tips on the table when we ate in, and sometimes took some meals to go and ate at the tables outside.
Buses loved the buses! We took them every day and only 3 times did we have to stand. And perhaps because my husband grew up in Toronto and I lived there for 10 years, I never found standing on the bus an issue either. The buses were quick to pick us up, and quick to the parks. I found getting from CSR to Downtown Disney a LONG bus ride however. If we go back to Disney, well take the buses again!
There was also a very very nice lady in the CSRs gift shop. I thought I would remember her name and Im sad I cannot
I know it starts with an E anyways... Our arrival day she found it was our first trip there and gave the kids a trading pin each. Then the Manager gave us all another trading pin each (we kept these). She also gave my son a bunch of MM stickers and told him to keep ½ but give away the other ½ to other kids. Before I had a chance to warn my daughter, she put her 2 pins down while looking at the build-your-own bracelet / necklaces and they were gone within a minute! She started crying because her new Jasmine pin was lost. The Manager (I did not realize he was the Manager at the time) asked me what room we were in, and I could NOT tell him!
I had forgotten to note what room we were in before leaving! He looked up our reservations and told me. Then, about 10 minutes later, just as we were about to leave the gift shop, he called out to us and had the same Jasmine pin for my daughter that was taken! Again, another thank you note I need to write once the kids are in school on Monday.
Kathy & Mark -->> it was very nice meeting you that morning! I hope you got your FPs for TSM.
Im sorry I never got to meet anyone else from DIS at CSR or at the parks. I looked, but never saw a LGMH!
My regrets --->> I regret that I never did walk completely around the lake once like I wanted
or read a book in the hamock
or used the hot tub
or swam in the pool more than once. For the last two, I had gotten sort of sick during the middle of trip and did not want to catch a chill while wet and get worse.
.
, and I was told that the preferred locations were located in the Castias section. (Not sure if I spelled that right.) We requested the Cabanas though.
