It's check-out morning at CR, so I figured I'd write my thoughts over my bagel and coffee.
We have an almost-3-year-old, so convenience was paramount. For us, getting the Atrium Club level room was a wonderful convenience. My son is early to bed, early to rise, so having the club lounge available really was worth it for us. In the evenings, we could put him to bed and take our baby monitor down to the lounge and relax.
Considering the prices you'll pay for a beer or even a bottle of water at WDW, we saved quite a bit on beverages, because we could get those in the lounge any time of day, in addition to soft drinks, juice, etc.
In the mornings, it was handy to be able to get my son out of the room and let him watch classic Disney cartoons in the lounge while my wife got herself ready.
After seeing complaints about the food at Chef Mickey's, I was pleasantly surprised when we dined there. Sure, it wasn't the most fantastic food, but it was fine, and there were a few more sophisticated options here and there.
Being close to the MK was ideal for us. My son isn't quite old enough to appreciate the other parks, and we had a short trip. Being able to walk back and forth saved us. Yesterday, when my son had a meltdown from overstimulation at Buzz Lightyear's SRS, we just walked back. He had time to cool down as we walked back to the hotel for a break and a swim. No waiting for transportation or trying to contain a crying toddler in a confined space.
Being able to watch Wishes and Hallowishes while sitting on our bed was awesome. Sure, it doesn't give you the right perspective for experiencing the show, but when you have a sleeping toddler, beggars can't be choosers.
I do have a few nitpicks.
The wifi SUCKS. It's 2014, and these rooms are expensive. There's no excuse for such poor wifi speeds and flaky connectivity. Disney should be ashamed of such crappy service.
No HD in the guest rooms. Again, it's 2014, almost 2015. If the club lounge is showing HD channels, the guest rooms should be too. This is an inexcusable cheapskate thing to skimp on, especially at a Deluxe resort.
The beds are hard and bouncy. Like sleeping on a trampoline. My wife and I had to sleep in separate beds because we were both so uncomfortable the first night we were keeping each other awake tossing and turning. Maybe I'm just being a special snowflake here. I have a pretty nice Simmons Beautyrest mattress at home, so these felt like cheap hotel beds. Again, Deluxe hotel, how about some deluxe beds?
And yeah, the sinks. They look cool and modern, but they don't drain well and there's no countertop space for my wife to spread out all of her makeup and hair supplies. She's not even someone who wears a lot of makeup or uses a ton of hair supplies. There's one small shoebox-sized area between the sinks for your toiletries. That's it.
Overall, we were pleased with our stay here. The staff were helpful and friendly, and paid special attention to my son, which was nice. Aside from my few nitpicks, we enjoyed our stay here and would stay again.
Although, my wife being the aficionado of Victoriana, would love to stay at GF if we could.