CSR vs CBR-The Pros & Cons, please.

[lynninpa]

Our Disney Resort Adventure? To stay at every Disney resort! Last year we stayed at CSR and are thinking of trying CBR for our next adventure. For those who have stayed at both, please give us the "pros & cons!" Thanks!

 

[digitaldevice]

We just got back from CBR and all I can say is we won't be returning. We did not like the food court at all. The cast members we talked to were not very nice. We stay at Port Orleans Riverside most of the time and wanted to try another adventure. Not again. Were going back to POR.

 

[septbaby]

Hmm, we had just the opposite experience at CBR. Loved the food court and will miss it when we try a deluxe resort next year. Probably had our best CS meals here. There were good choices (we thought this as a vegetarian family, so imagine if your diet is broader). The CMs, especially those in the food court were very helpful. Told us what we could and could not have on the plan and we got told no at least twice. One CM let me know we could get a pizza combo meal vs just a pizza and another helped us use our final CS credits as we were leaving the resort. There were some allowable combinations I didn't know about. Also my mother slipped and fell our last night at the pool. The next day she called and they had the paramedics come and check her out before we left. Because of this we were a little behind schedule when the bellman arrived, no attitude he was very patient and friendly.

Sorry CBR did not work for you. But I would not say the CMs there are across the board rude. I found them to be pleasant, professional and knowledgable when it came to the dining plan. All of that helped us have a magical stay there.

Timing is important in 2008 as the main pool at CBR will be renovated for most of the year. I say definitely try it, but do so when you can get the full effect and I think w/o a main pool it won't be a fair comparison.

 

[verticalchaos]

I've stayed in both. It's VERY close between them, but I like CBR just a little better. It was just more relaxing to me. Granted, I don't go to WDW to hang out at the pool, so I can't comment on either of them... But I don't think you'd go wrong with either.

 

[Quinn222]

CBR pool will be closed for much of 2008. Just something to take into consideration.

 

[jdd]

We've stayed in both, and I would pick CBR over CSR. Both are great resorts, but we didn't enjoy the CSR food court (personal opinion) but loved CBR's. CBR also has the edge in beauty/theming in my opinion. Finally, the rooms are bigger at CBR (just a bit, but with 5 in the family it made a difference).

Have a great trip!

 

[Buzz2001]

CSR surrounds a 15 acre lake while CBR surrounds a 45 acre lake. CSR is the newest mod while CBR is the oldest. CSR has four bus stops while CBR has seven. Both are large resorts but CBR is larger and has more rooms. CBR pool and food court are next to each other with the main building be far away. CSR has the main building/food court in the front of the resort and the pool in the middle but the pool has a great snack bar with awesome choices.

CSR Pros
full menu room service
spa
fitness center
tanning beds
steam Room
salon
best mod pool
best mod transportation

CSR Cons
one sink
full beds

In the middle
some guests don't care for the 10% gratuity at the Pepper Market

 

[G's mommy]

My DH and DS are just back from CBR. The cons they mentioned are:

7 bus stops, takes forever to get to the parks
Custom house (Check-in, ME, luggage room) far from rest of the resort
Food court OK, but confusing set-up
Some buildings far from main pool and food court, get preferred location
Have to use internal bus system just to get around, can't take luggage with you, have to call and wait for luggage assistance

On the plus side, they did like the theming and the quietness of the resort. Room was fine, about the same as all the mods.


We prefer CSR mainly due to the top-notch transportation, only 4 stops and no sharing with other resorts.

 

[taylor1293]

We just got back from CBR. I'd pick CSR over CBR any day!

Our trip to CBR was not horrible by any means. It was a nice resort, but not "special" in any way. Some issues for us:

CBR was way to spread out. We stayed in Aruba, but it was still quite a hike.

The check-in area is detatched from the rest of the resort...strange.

No bar inside? There is the one by the pool, which closes when it rains, (it's Florida, lol).

Preferred the food options at CSR.

The beds at CBR were creekiest beds I've ever slept in!

The theming didn't "wow" me at all. Then again, I live in Florida, so the whole tropical theme doesn't appeal to me as a resort destination! The theme at CSR, on the other hand, was gorgeous!

However, let me throw in a third moderate and our favorite, POFQ! Nice theming. It's small so every room is close to the main area. Live entertainment at the indoor lounge! For us, it's the perfect moderate resort and it's the only one we'll stay at from now on. Unless it's not available, then we'll return to CSR, but we will never return to CBR, it just wasn't for us .

 

[lynninpa]

Thanks, septbaby & Quinn222 for telling us about the 2008 main pool rehab. That is a 'biggie" for us!

 

[NHTikiBeckie]

CSR Anytime! I have stayed at both, and CSR was way too large for us, too many bus stops, and the theming was just eh for me. I like Coronado's theming better, and I always stay in the cabanas, close to the bus stop.

 

[solfan68]

Stayed at CBR in 94 and 98, CSR in 07. So it may not be apples to apples. That said, we enjoyed CBR. The food court was nice and we were in one of the more centralized villages.

CSR is fresh in my mind. I liked the pool. I liked the food court(we were on DDP just to clarify). I like the fact that a percentage of the guests were there for a convention and were therefore not taxing the bus system. We were at the top end of the resort so it was a little bit of a hike to refill mugs at the end of day or to catch breakfast at the Pepper Market.

Given my choice, I think I would be more likely to return to Coronado over CBR.

 

[Praise2Him]

CBR doesn't have elevators, so if you're on the 2nd or 3rd floor you have to tote all your luggage up the stairs.

 

[Schucraig]

We have stayed at both and I would pick CSR hands down! Better food, pool and transportation. CBR is much larger and the pool is just ok. Hope that helps!

 

[Amy&Dan]

I prefer CBR. Partly, the tropical theming is more enjoyable to me than southwest theming. I also prefer the double sinks in the CBR bathrooms. CBR was wonderful, we saw the high up fireworks of Illuminations from several spots around the resort. I like the food court being next to the main pool more than CSR's set up. CSR has a better main pool (that could change) but CBR has wonderful quiet pools that I found nicer than CSR's quiet pools. CBR has the internal bus system which is better than the golf cart system at CSR.

I would not say that the main building at CBR is separate and far away. The check in/out area is separate but the food court and gift shop areas are together, near the main pool. We spent way more time at the food court and gift shops than we did checking in, so to me the main building of CBR is right where it should be and not separate. You check in once, and I (and I think many others) do express checkout. If you like to check your daily balances on your cc, make ADR's or other concierge needs, there is a concierge desk near the arcade in the food court. Only checking in and checking out need to be done at the Custom House. I can tell you from my own experience, the check in/out area being separate was far less of an issue than having to pay a gratuitiy at the food court and having the food court far away from the pool. But that is just me, since the food court is a huge reason we stay at a moderate and we love to have lunch by the main pool every day most trips. They do have a limited menu at the Siesta's pool bar at the main pool of CSR.

They are both fantastic resorts, you cannot go wrong with either. CBR will be putting slides into a couple of their quiet pools during the pool rehab. However, if swimming is the big draw, I would pick CSR if your stay is during the CBR rehab. I cannot imagine those quiet pool slides will be much in the "wow" department, but they will be better than nothing!

We had delightful cms and wonderful food at both resorts. And we ate at the main restaurants at both CSR and CBR as well as the food courts.

The buses at CSR are frequently not that croweded since many of the CSR guests are conventioners. So that is often nice. Altough the buses at CBR were great for our stay they were more crowded than the CSR ones. Again, I think you cannot make a bad choice, they are both just wonderful, a separate vacation from the parks and worth spending time enjoying!

 

[metsno1]

Just returned from 13 days at CSR, and stayed at CBR several years ago.

In our opinion, it's not even close. CSR was, for us anyway, superior in virtually every respect. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure CBR has its fans, but there isn't any real draw there for us.

Bus service at CSR was outstanding. Never had to wait long, and only had to stand twice in 13 days.

The Pepper Market is probably the best value on the property for anyone using the DDP. I almost felt guilty ordering grilled prime rib with a CS credit!

The Dig Site-the main pool-had our kids hooked from the moment we arrived. The slide was awesome, the hot tub was huge, the snack bar was great, and DW and I were pretty happy with the poolside bar. One complaint was that the bar and snack bar closed to early for us to enjoy when we returned from the parks late in the day.

If you choose CSR, we would recommend following Buzz's and other advice, and request a room in the Cabanas section. We toured the entire resort multiple times, and we were very happy with our location in Cabanas 8A-close to the Dig Site, and a 5 minute walk from the Pepper Market.

CSR was very very quiet. No bed creaking of note anyway, and we never heard our neighbors.

Internal "golf cart" system was not terribly useful for us, but it seemed helpful for those staying out in the Ranchos section. Some others have commented that they thought the drivers were too fast and difficult to flag down. We didn't find that to be true at all. They were courteous and cautious.

Called the front desk multiple times for various things, and never had to wait more than a few minutes for our requests to be honored. Very happy with the overall service.

Found virtually every CM to be pleasant and helpful.

That's the short of it. I'll be adding more in a TR later.....

Have fun deciding!!

 

[Buzz2001]

Just returned from 13 days at CSR, and stayed at CBR several years ago.

In our opinion, it's not even close. CSR was, for us anyway, superior in virtually every respect. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure CBR has its fans, but there isn't any real draw there for us.

Bus service at CSR was outstanding. Never had to wait long, and only had to stand twice in 13 days.

The Pepper Market is probably the best value on the property for anyone using the DDP. I almost felt guilty ordering grilled prime rib with a CS credit!

The Dig Site-the main pool-had our kids hooked from the moment we arrived. The slide was awesome, the hot tub was huge, the snack bar was great, and DW and I were pretty happy with the poolside bar. One complaint was that the bar and snack bar closed to early for us to enjoy when we returned from the parks late in the day.

If you choose CSR, we would recommend following Buzz's and other advice, and request a room in the Cabanas section. We toured the entire resort multiple times, and we were very happy with our location in Cabanas 8A-close to the Dig Site, and a 5 minute walk from the Pepper Market.

CSR was very very quiet. No bed creaking of note anyway, and we never heard our neighbors.

Internal "golf cart" system was not terribly useful for us, but it seemed helpful for those staying out in the Ranchos section. Some others have commented that they thought the drivers were too fast and difficult to flag down. We didn't find that to be true at all. They were courteous and cautious.

Called the front desk multiple times for various things, and never had to wait more than a few minutes for our requests to be honored. Very happy with the overall service.

Found virtually every CM to be pleasant and helpful.

That's the short of it. I'll be adding more in a TR later.....

Have fun deciding!!

Thanks for sharing!!

 

[Lilolvr]

Just returned from 13 days at CSR, and stayed at CBR several years ago.

In our opinion, it's not even close. CSR was, for us anyway, superior in virtually every respect. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure CBR has its fans, but there isn't any real draw there for us.

Bus service at CSR was outstanding. Never had to wait long, and only had to stand twice in 13 days.

The Pepper Market is probably the best value on the property for anyone using the DDP. I almost felt guilty ordering grilled prime rib with a CS credit!

The Dig Site-the main pool-had our kids hooked from the moment we arrived. The slide was awesome, the hot tub was huge, the snack bar was great, and DW and I were pretty happy with the poolside bar. One complaint was that the bar and snack bar closed to early for us to enjoy when we returned from the parks late in the day.

If you choose CSR, we would recommend following Buzz's and other advice, and request a room in the Cabanas section. We toured the entire resort multiple times, and we were very happy with our location in Cabanas 8A-close to the Dig Site, and a 5 minute walk from the Pepper Market.

CSR was very very quiet. No bed creaking of note anyway, and we never heard our neighbors.

Internal "golf cart" system was not terribly useful for us, but it seemed helpful for those staying out in the Ranchos section. Some others have commented that they thought the drivers were too fast and difficult to flag down. We didn't find that to be true at all. They were courteous and cautious.

Called the front desk multiple times for various things, and never had to wait more than a few minutes for our requests to be honored. Very happy with the overall service.

Found virtually every CM to be pleasant and helpful.

That's the short of it. I'll be adding more in a TR later.....

Have fun deciding!!

Awesome review! Thanks for posting!