First Moderate Stay

[LoveDisneyinToronto]

Here is an answer to your questions:

Rooms - Why? Privacy doors for the vanity area, QUEEN SIZE BEDS (not double) and a CEILING FAN - plus all rooms have been refurbished in the last 2 years.

Food Court - Why? Pepper Market is awesome if you are on the dining plan. And they make food to order. Much better than a cafeteria-style.

CMs - Why? I had just awesome encounters. On my last trip, I had the person handing me my kit who was very helpful and upgraded the room... Just because I was a huge Mickey fan like him! It was just a great magical touch. and the cast at Pepper Market were awesome; they remembered me each time I went after the first time for breakfast. And at Panchito's (the gift shop) they were out of the resort pin. The cast member went the extra work to check in the computer, told me that a shipment had arrived at Downtown Disney World of Disney. I went the day after and the Coronado pin was there, as said. I thought that was really nice!

Bus routine (lay out and how many stops) There are 5 stops throughout the resort, all shaded with a canopy. Because Coronado is actually also a convention center, the buses are usually EMPTY. I stayed just near by stop #4 and I had to wait MAX 10 minutes ONCE in 10 days (most time within 5 minutes there was a bus going to my destination)

Resort Grounds/Theme - Why? The main pool is beautiful, also just walking through the resort around the lake is an experience by itself, beautifully kept grounds. A picture cannot even give justice to this peaceful resort. The color palette is splendid. The hammocks throughout the property are just awesome. It is really nice after a big day at the parks to come in a relax atmosphere.

 

[BebopBaloo]

Thanks for all the continued responses. I think my main concerns at this point are:

1. We are used to food courts at the values, which have a great selection and are super easy to get to. None of the buildings are very far from the main building.

I've read that CSR adds a 10% on top of CS at Pepper Market and that the POR food court is the best. What about CBR's food court? POFQ seems only famous for beignets, but I'm lactose intolerant..so I'd have to avoid them anyhow...

2. We are used to just one bus stop...maybe two if the bus stops at another Value. (At the PO resorts..what's the total time spent from POFQ to the last stop at POR? Estimate..)

3. My daughter will be turning four when we go, so I'd like a kid friendly theme. They all seem to have their perks.

::sigh:: I'm glad I have a little while to make a decision. I really do appreciate your feedback!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Thanks for all the continued responses. I think my main concerns at this point are:

1. We are used to food courts at the values, which have a great selection and are super easy to get to. None of the buildings are very far from the main building.

I've read that CSR adds a 10% on top of CS at Pepper Market and that the POR food court is the best. What about CBR's food court? POFQ seems only famous for beignets, but I'm lactose intolerant..so I'd have to avoid them anyhow...

2. We are used to just one bus stop...maybe two if the bus stops at another Value. (At the PO resorts..what's the total time spent from POFQ to the last stop at POR? Estimate..)

3. My daughter will be turning four when we go, so I'd like a kid friendly theme. They all seem to have their perks.

::sigh:: I'm glad I have a little while to make a decision. I really do appreciate your feedback!

CBR, POR and CSR are all very large and very spread out. But with that being said, we have never had more than a 5 minute walk to the food court or pool at any of them. CBR is the only one that allows you to book a "preferred location" and be right on either side of the food court/pool. We have never booked a preferred room at CBR, and still have always been within 5 minutes of everything.

We enjoy CBR's food court as much as POR's. Both very large and easy to use with kids. And lots of choices! POFQ's food court is good too, but much smaller and with less choices. We don't care for the set up of the CSR food court and it is very hard with kids. Plus it is much more expensive and the 10% charge like you mentioned.

CBR is the only moderate to offer zero entry in the pool. Also a huge pirate ship playground pool for the kids!

As far as kid friendly, again I would have to go with CBR and POR. My kids favorites! DS8 turned 4 on our first trip to CBR!

 

[KatMark]

Thanks for all the continued responses. I think my main concerns at this point are:

1. We are used to food courts at the values, which have a great selection and are super easy to get to. None of the buildings are very far from the main building. From the one time we stayed at a value, we found their food court had a little more to offer.

I've read that CSR adds a 10% on top of CS at Pepper Market and that the POR food court is the best. What about CBR's food court? POFQ seems only famous for beignets, but I'm lactose intolerant..so I'd have to avoid them anyhow...
The 10% is charged at the Pepper Market if you stay inside to eat; you can ask for a "to go" ticket and eat at one of the numerous tables surrounding the lake and then you won't get charged for it. Although we stay at the CSR (we don't choose our resort based on a food court), of the four moderates, we'd rank the food courts in this order: POR, CSR, POFQ and CBR.
2. We are used to just one bus stop...maybe two if the bus stops at another Value. (At the PO resorts..what's the total time spent from POFQ to the last stop at POR? Estimate..)
The CSR has four bus stops and the CBR has seven I believe; I'm not sure about POR or POFQ.
3. My daughter will be turning four when we go, so I'd like a kid friendly theme. They all seem to have their perks. I think they are all kid friendly; the CBR has more of a Disney theme as far as "characters" are concerned with the Nemo and pirate rooms; our kids loved CSR and many families have stayed there with young kids and loved it.

::sigh:: I'm glad I have a little while to make a decision. I really do appreciate your feedback!

My comments in red. I really don't think you can go wrong with any of the choices.

 

[jeanylaser]

Cbr!

 

[nicki.momof3]

Interesting. Maybe the holiday rush? More buses, more people so they combine resources? I've never shared a bus to MK with POR -- even last Christmas when we stayed there.

Both times we stayed at POR (Easter week both times) we never shared a bus with POFQ. The only time the bus went to POFQ was when magical express stopped there on the way home.

Love POR

 

[RustManFan]

I selected POR. We have always felt that the rooms were plenty roomy whether I was alone (side trip from business) or if there were 4 of us. Love the landscaping particularly in AB section!

My sister and I were just there in mid-November. It was my 7th stay at this resort. The cast members were delightful! Rooms were very clean and even 2 adults got towel animals.

They have changed the food selections since my last trip and we were very pleased. The build your own pasta and build your own salad stations were highlights!!

There is lots of seating in the food court area and even when it appears to be very crowded, a table always seems to become available in a short period of time.

Buses come frequently and in a week's time we never had to stand on the bus because of when we got on I guess. Others were standing...

My sister always says that her favorite ride at WDW is the boat from POR to DTD! We rode it a few times this trip and it was great as usual.

I have stayed at CBR twice and had great times there too. We somehow felt that we fit in with the guests better there when my DD and DS were young. POR is our adult home now!!

 

[tbee407]

We have stayed at all four and here is how I rank them:

1: POR
2. CBR
3. CSR
4. POFQ

1. POR is my favorite for the theming and the great food court.
2. I bumped up CBR because of the new Pirate theming and the pool.
3. I really liked this resort but the two drawbacks were the distance to the pool (long walk) and Pepper Market (not our favorite).
4. The theming was not my favorite. Food court small. The buses stopped at POFQ and POR.

 

[BebopBaloo]

I am very intrigued by the poll results so far. Seems the PO resorts have quite a strong lead.

Merry Christmas everyone and thank you for your responses thus far!

 

[AlternateEgo]

We LOVED CSR!

You want to know:

Rooms - Why? Because of the newly remodeled rooms. There is a beautiful wood door in place of the curtains at other resorts. Everything was fresh and clean.

Food Court - Why? There were a lot of choices.

CMs - Why? Everyone was very helpful. I had an issue with one of my charges at Narcoossee's. We paid cash for our alcoholic drinks and they charged them to our room also, they took off the charge and smiled all along.

Bus routine (lay out and how many stops) There are 4 stops. We were at the second to last stop. There was NEVER a full bus. We always had seats and maybe twice were there a couple of folks standing.

Resort Grounds/Theme - Why? In pictures I often find that the resort looks... bare. In real life it was very plush and so much greenery. I loved the look of the lake and the sandy beach.

 

[Shleedogg]

I voted for POFQ. I've only stayed at POFQ and POR, so I can't speak about specifics at the other resorts, but POFQ is the smallest by far. Walking for 10 min in the sweltering heat to fill up your mug is not a fun way to vacation, imho. We were in the mansions at POR, but the furthest away mansions. It was a trek to get to the food court. The buses weren't a big deal as we had a stop close to our room, but there were a lot of stops to and from the parks. BTW, both are BEAUTIFUL resorts, the grounds and architecture are amazing!

 

[rkrushing4]

Our favorite Moderate is POFQ. We just stayed in Sept/Oct at the CSR and were not very happy at all. Check if there are any large conventions. When we stayed there was a convention there that held a dinner buffet at the entrance to our building. We could not get to our building since they had blocked the sidewalks with food tables and then the beach had tables and chairs. We were at the quite pool and the conventioneer decided to smoke on the paths to our pool. We were quite uncomfortable swimming with them watching us. After they were done late that night the beach and sidewalk was covered in food and trash. I also believe that the CM's are not as helpful or disney like here. I prefer food courts at the other resorts than the pepper market. It always took forever to get our drinks and any kind of service. Also the counters can be confusing for the first time . POFQ food court was okay but we really liked Riversides compared to all. So we like to stay at POFQ and walk over to Riverside for something different. CBR is very spread out and we didn't enjoy this as much as POFQ which is a very small resort. We will return to POFQ when done trying out a few others.