Just Back From CSR (long)

[tennismom]

This is my first post. I've been lurking and learning so much from everyone here for a while. Thanks for all the great info! Anyway, we just got back from 7 nights at the CSR--Casitas 3, two connecting rooms with a water view (upgraded). This was a great location for us. Yes, it was quite a hike to the Dig Site, but we were just around the corner from the elevator, close to the bus stop, and well within comfortable range of the Pepper Market, with three kids in tow.

I know everyone has read quite a bit about CSR so I won't get into that, but I wanted to tell everyone what a great experience we had. Our first night there, we checked in around 7 pm. The kids were starving so we went to the Pepper Market for dinner. Well, with getting acclimated, rounding up all the meal "tickets" (did we really need one for each person in the party?), refilling the mugs, tieing my son's shoes, etc... I LEFT MY PURSE (had half our vacation cash, 7dplus tickets, credit cards) . Well, as we were walking into the room, the front desk was ringing to tell me that they had my purse. I ran to the front and everything was there, intact! I wanted to thank the honest employee that had turned in my purse so quickly, but they had no record of who it was. Too bad, I really wanted to give them some token of appreciation for their honesty. I was just so impressed that the staff took care of things so quickly!

The next morning we returned to the Peppermarket for breakfast. I purchased three children's meals and just refilled coffee for myself. My son did not like his eggs (a bit runny) so I just bought another child's waffle meal for him. It was crowded and the kids really wanted to get to the parks so I just ate half the muffin from the plate he had rejected and went to pay for the whole thing. Well, the cashier interrogated me demanding to know why I had purchased 4 children's meals when I only had three children. And furthermore, instructed me in no uncertain terms that I had the children's meals stamped on the wrong ticket. They were evidently stamped on the adult ticket? I apologized and said I was not aware of an adult ticket versus a child's ticket. She then continued the interrogation and wanted to charge me adult portion prices for the children's meals (I admitted that I did eat half of the muffin from the rejected child's meal). I of course would not agree to this and did not allow it. She finally relented. I was appalled to say the least! That evening I called the general manager for the Peppermarket and relayed what had happened. She was really wonderful! She apologized and asked if I would sign a report, for retraining purposes. I stopped in the next morning and she insisted on making up for the experience and inconvenience. It was really not necessary. I just thought that I would want to know if one of my employees were talking to customers in the way she had "talked" to me.

I did also relay my very positive experience with my purse and she said she would try to find out which employee turned it in. All in all, our stay was wonderful. Cindy, the peppermarket GM, made sure our stay did not start off badly. The resort was beautiful, very relaxing, and we would definitely stay again. I'll be happy to answer any questions.

 

[gumdrop]

tennismom: Hello and welcom to the DIS boards! Glad you decided to join!! Thanks so much for your CSR report. I love reading all about the resort because I will be going in August. Sorry to hear about your inconvienient experience at the Pepper Market. Do you think I will have a problem ordering kids meals there for myself--I'm 21! I know it sounds like a silly question but I do not have a good appetite and I drink very little--the portions sizes are just right for me. I've never had a problem in the Parks or at other Disney resorts I have stayed in, but the set up seems different in the Pepper Market. No problem though if I can't get away with it. Also, how was the bus service at CSR? I haven't heard too much about it. Glad you had a nice time and that you got your purse back!!

--Maren

 

[tennismom]

Wow! My first reply so quickly! I guess they must care about child versus adult meals. They have child tickets and adult tickets. I tried to just get one ticket as this is less for me to keep track of (They state that there is some sort of surcharge for lost tickets), but I had to get at least two (1 child and 1 adult). I'm still not sure which ticket is which but there was never an issue after that first breakfast and we ate there almost every morning. You can get an "adult portion" of the child's meal. This costs a couple of dollars more and you do get a slightly larger portion (we only tried the mickey waffles-you get 3 small ones instead of 2). Not really worth it IMO. My children all seemed to get larger appetites as the week wore on. By the last day, they were all ordering adult meals. All that exercise I guess.

The bus service was great! We only had to wait longer than 15-20 minutes on a couple occasions. Once in the evening going back to EPCOT for the fireworks and once coming back from EPCOT--buses for all the other resorts were coming and going but not for CSR?. The buses were always empty. We were at the first pickup/dropoff (bus stop 2), but they never filled up.

 

[gumdrop]

Thanks for the reply! The Pepper Market seems a bit confusing to me. I am used to just walking in and right out of the food court. Did you find that the Pepper Market was inconvienient in that sense? To me, it seems like I may have to spend more time in there then I would like to with the tickets, the servers, etc. This is only a real concern to me in the morning when I'm rushing off to the parks! Could you just give me an overview of the process there? What did you think of the Cabanas section of the resort? I am debating between requesting the Casitas or Cabanas sections...Thanks so much for all of your help!!

--Maren

 

[AF Brenda]

I'm sorry that you had so much trouble with the adult/child ticket. We were there in March, and I didn't even realize the tickets were different! In fact, I was juggling my meal, along with my son's and trying to hand the counter person two tickets, and she said "Don't worry, as long as both meals are stamped on a card, it doesn't matter".

As for the gumdrop, it really isn't too bad at all. In fact, I think it saves time, because you only pay once, regardless of where the food comes from.

When you first enter, you will be issued a ticket for each member of your party, and seated. Drink orders are taken, and then you go to the different stations to select your food. When you get your food, your ticket is stamped with what you bought. You go eat, then hand in the tickets and pay as you leave.

 

[Buzz2001]

The tickets are not different for child and adult. They do write the number of the party on one of the tickets in the corner. The only difference in tickets is there is a "TO GO" ticket so you do not get charged the 10%.

My wife ate the kids chicken finger meal all the time and my daughter would eat an adult salad. My nephew ate both the kids and adults portion of the pasta. No one questioned us. I just think she got a person that was new because like I said earlier, there were many new CM's during my stay. I never use all 3 tickets dugin our stay. Sometimes I would just use one ticket for me and my DD.

 

[tennismom]

I felt the peppermarket setup did take just a little longer than the traditional foodcourt. I think it is because many of the foods are cooked to order--omelets, waffles, dinner stir fry, steak, etc. So you order and wait or go on to another station for something else and return for the first order. But the food was definitely fresher and there was certainly more variety than the traditional foodcourt.

For breakfast, the stations as far as I can remember are:

Kids Station-small mickey waffles w/juice or scrambled eggs w/muffin, orange slice and juice.

Omelet Station-omelets cooked to order w/hash browns, muffin or biscuit.

Waffle Station-large belgian waffle w/banana topping.

Fruit-pineapple(yummy), fruit salad, watermelon, strawberries.

Grill-scrambled eggs w/potatoes, bacon or sausage.

Pastry-bagels, assorted breakfast breads and pastries.

Drinks-fountain, smoothies, milk.

We never went for lunch, and for dinner we only went once. I think there was an enchilada station, stir fry station, grill station for steak, salmon and maybe prime rib. There was also a pasta station, salad station, dessert pastries, ice cream and shakes and the kids station.

You are handed tickets for each member of your party and they note the total number of tickets you are issued. Then you are seated by the hostess and given a menu. A wait person takes your drink order or will refill your mugs. My children insisted on refilling their own--they did not want to drink from the "wrong" mug. Once you decide what you would like, you just visit the station and order. When your food is ready, you hand them your ticket and they stamp it with your purchase. Then you pay for everything on your way out. The setup is fairly simple. Just make sure the children know that it is NOT an all you can eat buffet. We had no problems.

You could also just get takeout. There is just one ticket that is marked takeout so you are not charged the 10% gratuity. No distinction between adult or child. If you know exactly what you want you could "target" that station and be out fairly quickly.

As for the tickets, the cashier pointed out the tickets--one had a red jalepeno pepper stamped on it and the other one did not. I wasn't clear on which was the child's or adult's ticket but there is some sort of distinction. Like I said, after that first encounter with the cashier in need of "retraining", there was never another question or problem.

 

[tennismom]

Gumdrop--as far as the cabanas vs. casitas. I just preferred the "look" of the casitas over the cabanas. I did not like the color scheme of the cabanas, but just my personal preference. I also really liked the courtyards and fountains at the Casitas.

The cabanas buildings that are situated between the Dig Site and El Centro provide convenient access to both those areas. But it seems like it is still a hike over the bridge to El Centro. Is there a laundry facility over there? We used the one in the same building as the health club. This was very convenient to Casitas 3.

We did not mind the long walk to the Dig Site. It is really beautiful at night. We really only went twice and once we were offered a ride by a passing "stretch golfcart".

We did see people attending the conventions, but they were dressed in casual work attire rather than suits and they seemed to be enjoying themselves in a relaxing atmosphere. I have to say that I found the CSR very relaxing. Some of the other resorts have a "hustle bustle" kind of feeling. I suppose it is because everything is centrally located, food, buses, etc. Where at CSR you can go to El Centro for food, but the buses, quiet pools, are spread out so it just seems more relaxed. You pass just a few people strolling along the paths but you don't find the "throngs" of people. After a day at the parks it is refreshing to have a little space.

 

[AF Brenda]

We stayed in Casitas 2, and I would stay there again in a minute! The walk to El Centro was so nice, and we really enjoyed the theming of the Casitas section. I too found CSR to be more laid back and relaxing than other resorts we've stayed at in WDW.