Just back from first visit to CSR

[rlrx]

We were at CSR from 6/20 to 6/27. What a beautiful resort!

We stayed in Ranchos 6B and were quite a ways from El Centro and the restaurants but we don't mind walking-especially with the scenery.

We spent a lot of time at the Dig Site with DS4 and DS8-great pool and slide!

We had trouble with the buses but it was our fault-it seemed our timing was off and we would always just miss the bus for the park we wanted. Tip: Sometimes the quickest way to the closest bus stop is through another building-find your quickest route (we found ours the last day we were there-dumb!).

No problems with conventioners but I did notice that our check in day last Wednesday was very busy and the Pepper Market was packed. Yesterday there were no lines for check in and hardly anyone but families at the PM so it all depends on the day and what convention may be there. We did more take out at the PM than eating there due to the 10% gratuity added on. They give you bags to bring the food back to the room (or pool!).

Had one delicious dinner at Maya Grill and got 5pm reservations the same day when we checked at 3:30pm. We didn't use the DDP this trip and were trying to eat when we felt like it besides a few reservations-it worked well for us.

It is a quick trip from CSR to all of the parks with the longest ride being Animal Kingdom due to stopping at one of the water parks first.

Thank you to Buzz who helped us decide on this resort after our DS8 had already chosen it from your pictures.

I'd be happy to answer any questions. We were at POFQ last year so I'm able to do a good comparison of the two.

 

[Buzz2001]

We were at CSR from 6/20 to 6/27. What a beautiful resort!

We stayed in Ranchos 6B and were quite a ways from El Centro and the restaurants but we don't mind walking-especially with the scenery.

We spent a lot of time at the Dig Site with DS4 and DS8-great pool and slide!

We had trouble with the buses but it was our fault-it seemed our timing was off and we would always just miss the bus for the park we wanted. Tip: Sometimes the quickest way to the closest bus stop is through another building-find your quickest route (we found ours the last day we were there-dumb!).

No problems with conventioners but I did notice that our check in day last Wednesday was very busy and the Pepper Market was packed. Yesterday there were no lines for check in and hardly anyone but families at the PM so it all depends on the day and what convention may be there. We did more take out at the PM than eating there due to the 10% gratuity added on. They give you bags to bring the food back to the room (or pool!).

Had one delicious dinner at Maya Grill and got 5pm reservations the same day when we checked at 3:30pm. We didn't use the DDP this trip and were trying to eat when we felt like it besides a few reservations-it worked well for us.

It is a quick trip from CSR to all of the parks with the longest ride being Animal Kingdom due to stopping at one of the water parks first.

Thank you to Buzz who helped us decide on this resort after our DS8 had already chosen it from your pictures.

I'd be happy to answer any questions. We were at POFQ last year so I'm able to do a good comparison of the two.

Welcome back! Glad you enjoyed your stay!!

 

[Carol D]

Thanks for sharing! We just returned too (a month ago) and it was our first visit. It was great! We are CSR converts now thanks to Buzz!

 

[7nqb00]

Thanks for posting! It's our favorite resort too!

 

[msn4693]

I love reading these reviews! We're headed to CSR for our first trip to WDW next month. We're so excited from reading all the great reviews on CSR!

 

[Lilolvr]

Great review, thanks for posting!

 

[Tinkerbell_Girl]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[PinballTrojan]

We were at CSR from 6/20 to 6/27. What a beautiful resort!

We stayed in Ranchos 6B and were quite a ways from El Centro and the restaurants but we don't mind walking-especially with the scenery.

We spent a lot of time at the Dig Site with DS4 and DS8-great pool and slide!

We had trouble with the buses but it was our fault-it seemed our timing was off and we would always just miss the bus for the park we wanted. Tip: Sometimes the quickest way to the closest bus stop is through another building-find your quickest route (we found ours the last day we were there-dumb!).

No problems with conventioners but I did notice that our check in day last Wednesday was very busy and the Pepper Market was packed. Yesterday there were no lines for check in and hardly anyone but families at the PM so it all depends on the day and what convention may be there. We did more take out at the PM than eating there due to the 10% gratuity added on. They give you bags to bring the food back to the room (or pool!).

Had one delicious dinner at Maya Grill and got 5pm reservations the same day when we checked at 3:30pm. We didn't use the DDP this trip and were trying to eat when we felt like it besides a few reservations-it worked well for us.

It is a quick trip from CSR to all of the parks with the longest ride being Animal Kingdom due to stopping at one of the water parks first.

Thank you to Buzz who helped us decide on this resort after our DS8 had already chosen it from your pictures.

I'd be happy to answer any questions. We were at POFQ last year so I'm able to do a good comparison of the two.

Which resort did you prefer- I have CSR reservations in October for me, DW, DS 4, DD 8. I chose CSR for pool/ slide mainly and having their own buses.

We have friends who are actually staying at POFQ, we want to see them some, but not that much.... :- )

 

[alldiz]

Sounds like you had a great trip

I want to try CSR next time...

Can you compare the pros and cons....In your opinion....
between pofq....and csr...

did you feel csr was too big to navigate.
Kerri

 

[clemsondisneyfan]

We leave for our first stay at CSR in late September. We have only stayed at the value resorts before. Thanks for the great review!

 

[momimouse27]

I am so excited about staying at CSR for the first time in September! I was iffy at first but after reading all the great posts about it I am excited. The only other Moderate we have stayed at was also POFQ. We like it alot there so it will be interesting to compare the two. My first instinct was to stay at PO but my goal is to stay at every resort at least once, so I had to try CSR!

 

[ToyStory]

We were at CSR from 6/20 to 6/27.
Had one delicious dinner at Maya Grill and got 5pm reservations the same day when we checked at 3:30pm. We didn't use the DDP this trip and were trying to eat when we felt like it besides a few reservations-it worked well for us.

Thanks for the report. I am looking forward to our first stay here in August. We have stayed at POR a couple of time, but we wanted to try something new.

We have the same plans as you did eating at the Maya Grill at 5:00. We are also planning on checking it at 3:30 too. Do you recall the time you were done with dinner that night? I heard the food is good, but service can be slow.

Thanks.

 

[Mickey23]

Thanks for sharing!!

 

[Schucraig]

Glad to hear you had a good time!

 

[Buzz2001]

I love reading these reviews! We're headed to CSR for our first trip to WDW next month. We're so excited from reading all the great reviews on CSR!

Have a great trip!

 

[JackSparrow21]

Thanks for the post!

 

[kate&sarahsdad]

Awesome report, thanks for sharing.

 

[rlrx]

Sorry it took me so long to get back to your questions.

I can say we loved both the POFQ and CSR for different reasons.

Both are beautiful resorts with the rooms being very similar. We did feel that the rooms at POFQ were quieter as both times we were in 3rd floor rooms but we could hear our neighbors (quite loudly sometimes) at CSR. Maybe the walls are thinner at CSR or we just had loud neighbors this time (and screaming babies!).

POFQ was much smaller and easier to walk to everything quickly and we actually had better bus service at POFQ but, as I said in my first post, I think our problems were our fault at CSR. POFQ pool has cute theming and a nice slide. Got breakfast every morning at POFQ and brought it back to the room in no time.

CSR has a more relaxing feel to it and the proximity to things is determined on which part of the resort you're staying in (although the walks are terrific with the scenery). My kids loved trying to sit in the hammocks on the beach and falling out into the sand. They loved the pool and the slide was great! PM has any choice you could want for lunch or dinner. Maya Grill had good food and wasn't slow for us-took us probably an hour to eat but our kids eat slow. Only ate breakfast from PM once and brought it back to the room-took quite a while in Ranchos. The other days we ate breakfast bars we brought from home.

I didn't see any difference with the buses between POFQ/POR and CSR. By the time the buses got around to all the bus stops at CSR, it took almost the same time as stopping at the POR bus stops from POFQ. If you compare the sizes, POFQ+POR may be equal to the size of CSR. The boat to DTD from POFQ was nice.

CSR was definitely not too big to navigate. When you first get there, it's a little overwhelming, but once you start walking around, everything is really easy to find and there are signs everywhere. You usually just have to walk around the lake.

Hope I answered all of the questions.

I would recommend either resort to anyone.