Going to CSR in 1 week. Which building?

[ProvidencePete]

I looked at most of the sites. I read tons of the posts, and looked at so many pictures. But I still can't decide, and we're down to crunch time here. It started about 2 months ago, when we made the move to switch from CBR to CSR after hearing a friend tell us that they thought it was just "ok" at CBR. Nothing special, just "ok". I went into full panic mode and started searching for another moderate, hoping that I would get some sort of code to knock the price down. I looked at all of them, and they really all seemed the same, except with different themes. I really wanted a Savannah room at the AKL, but Disney has you on the ropes with some of their prices, and I wanted to keep the damages low, so I decided a moderate was the way to go. I chose CSR because of the way it looked. I loved the whole southwestern theme. I'm from the Northeast, so I think a little southwest would do me some good near the end of a freezing January. I'm past the point of kicking myself because I cheaped out and blew a chance of waking up and looking at a giraffe watching me drink coffee while we all got ready to go park hopping all day. I know we'll be ok at the Coronado. We stayed at the All-Stars before and loved them, so this place has to be as good if not better. I loved the look, and convinced my wife that we could rough it on the fullsize beds for the 4 nights that we will be there (doing Portofino for the other 3). Who needed the giraffe anyway? So the decision was final, and the CSR was our choice. Now it comes down to what building. Just looking at the rooms, I like the Ranchos. Just looking at a map, I love the Casitas. Just looking at the buildings, I like the Cabanas the least. I will admit though, that I love beach type atmospheres, but the Cabanas buildings looked a little too "motelly" for me. Am I wrong on this? Well enough of my jibber-jabber, and down to the main question. Which building, and why? Thanks

 

[kevind65]

I think it kinda depends on your family and what's important to you? do you have children with you? do you spend alot of time at the resort or are you in the parks all day? how close do you want to be to the main dig site pool area? or do you want to be closer to El Centro?
Now saying that, we stayed in Cabanas #8A and loved this location. We like to be close to the main pool and also close to a bus stop/parking lot. that's what is important to us and Cabanas #8A was perfect for this...It was the closest building to the main pool, right next to the laundry facilities and a 30 second walk to the bus stop/parking lots....it was about a 3-5 minute walk to El Centro from our room; which was acceptable to us.
Casitas will be closest to El Centro, but farthest from the main pool....ranchos is farthest from El Centro, but, closer to the main pool than Casitas......their are 4 bus stops, so each area is serviced by one....we just found for what we were looking for, Cabanas were the most centrally located to our likes.
Again, look at your group and decide what are the most important amenities to you and make your decision based on that. CSR is a great resort and you'll be happy whatever you decide im sure....

 

[ProvidencePete]

Thanks Kevin. Yeah, I forgot to mention, It is me, my wife, and two kids (almost 11 year old daughter, and 8 year old son). I am leaning heavily towards the Casitas, just because I like it actually being closer to El Centro, but I also want to be close to the pool. I know that we will be at the parks though, so food might be the better selling point. Where do the convention people hang out? Will they be there? I love the Ranchos too. I love that whole cactus thing over there. It's a tough decision. I like Cabanas too, but my wife thinks it's "motelish" looking. I'm not even about to get into that. I myself don't see "motellish", but I got out of splurging for AKL so I'm ahead at this point, and unless more Cabanas posts show up in here, I don't see it happening though. Thanks for the advice and info. I'm leting my wife know that the score is Cabanas 1, the others nothing at this point.

 

[Buzz2001]

I would suggest the cabana section starting with cabana 9b and working backwards ... 9a, 8b, and 8a. The casitas are very nice but none are as close to the pool. With children in your age group, I would bet you'd spend more time at the pool than the main building.

Either way, have a great trip!!

 

[maggiew]

Pete,
I was in the same situation as you for our November trip. I couldn't decide between the cabanas and the casitas. The only thing I didn't want to get was the Ranchos section. It didn't look good to me - kind of dry and desert like. I finally decided to request Casitas 1 to be close to el Centro (didn't figure we would be swimming much in November). Well, we arrived at midnight on our check in day. So, needless to say I didn't get my request and to top it off we were assigned to the Ranchos section. So I put on a happy face and went to the room to sleep. In the morning, we looked around and you know what, I LIKED IT IN THE RANCHOS AREA!!! It was much more beautiful than I thought. There were little water pools around and the kids (11 and 8) loved the big red rocks. They climbed all over them (don't know if this is allowed or not, but no one stopped us). We were also steps from the main pool and the quiet pool was right beside us. I thought it would be far to elCentro, but in reality it only took a few minutes. We found if you cut through the Dig Site pool area and go over the bridge, it is the fastest.

So basically, all areas are nice. If your wife doesn't like the looks of the cabanas, request Ranchos or Casitas. It seems the Casitas was where the Convention people were, but that didn't bother us. Even the Ranchos section wasn't far to el Centro.

We really enjoyed the food at the Pepper Market. It had such variety.

The resort was BEAUTIFUL at night all lit up.

Here is a link to my trip report that is in progress. It includes lots of pictures and description of Coronado.

Coronado Trip Report

Maggie

 

[kevind65]

Pete,
your kids will love the main dig site pool....the best moderate pool at disney in our opinion!! I agree with Buzz, in your situation, Cabanas 9B might just be the best fit...its the first building from El Centro on the side opposite of Casitas...right next to the main bus stop #1 and still very close to the dig site pool....now, if you can just convince the dw...LOL

 

[ProvidencePete]

Thanks for all the info. I had your website on my favorites since before Christmas Buzz. I also loved the input and the link from Maggie. Pretty interesting posts. I'm still reading them. I actually like the Rancho look the best, and knowing that I can make it to El Centro quick is great information. As far as the Cabanas 9B goes, it does look like the most centrally located, and if that weighs out over everything else, then I just may go for it there. Casitas sounds like it has the convention stuff, soo I'm ruling that one out. I looked at the map, and I know that we will be fine anywhere, but it is always nice to be close to our needs too. My wife seems to like the Ranchos look the best, but I'll let her see what has been posted and we'll take it from there. Thanks for all the help everyone. I'll let you know what I decide to do, as soon as I figure it out. The crazy part was that Cabanas was last before the original post, and now it's tied for first with Ranchos. Who would have thought? Next week at this time, I'll be in one of them, and I'm sure they are all very nice in their own way. Thanks again, and any more opinions are more than welcome.

 

[Buzz2001]

If you are okay with the ranchos, 7b is right behind cabana 8a, very close to bus stop 4, the Dig Site plus you have the quiet pool right in your courtyard.

 

[Buzz2001]

If you are okay with the ranchos, 7b is right behind cabana 8a, very close to bus stop 4, the Dig Site plus you have the quiet pool right in your courtyard.

You can hop a ride from the golf carts CM's use to bring guests to there rooms. They offer all the time or you can use the buses.

Theme park buses go:
2 - Casitas
3 - Ranchos
4 - Cabanas
1 - El Centro

Downtown Disney buses, as well as Park Exit buses go:
1 - El Centro
2 - Casitas
3 - Ranchos
4 - Cabanas

CSR buses go in this order so that guests can hop on board a theme park bus and take it to the main building. They can then hop on a DTD bus to get back to their rooms.

Walking Distances
From El Centro moving clockwise around the lake path to:
Casitas 3 = .16 miles
Casitas 4 = .24 miles
Casitas 5 = .27 miles
Ranchos = .46 miles

From El Centro to the Dig Site, via the bridge near the Cabanas
= .35 miles

From El Centro moving counterclockwise around the lake to:
Cabanas 9B = .16 miles
Cabanas 9A/8B = .22 miles
Cabanas 8A = .31 miles

 

[ProvidencePete]

Thanks Buzz. More very helpful information. I think we will shoot for Ranchos 7b and see what happens. My wife likes the room decor there the best of all 3, so that may be the place for us. I have checked out your website. It's great, and has been extremely helpful throughout our planning. I also noticed you are from ESPN land. We checked out Lake Compounce this summer. It was an excellent time. It looked like they got some of those rides from Rhode Island's old Rocky Point park. We had a great time there, and we will be returning for sure. That wooden rollercoaster on the side of the mountain ranks #1 with me as far as the best rollercoaster ride I have ever been on. I love the steel coasters because they are so high tech, but that one on the mountain at Lake Compounce (Boulderdash is the name I think) is absolutely awesome. Thanks again for all the help.