Our CSR review!!!

[Maybelle]

Just returned from 9 wonderful nights at CSR and 10 awesome days in the world for my b-day trip! I wish we were still there! We are a family of 3 and m-i-l stayed with us our first night making us 4 for that night only.

First off...we LOVED CSR! I'm hoping to post a trip report, but until then, here are my impressions of CSR for all of you. I am basing them on a scale of 1-10 where 1 is the pits and 10 is out of this world. These are based on the experiences of my family only, so they are our opinions.

Check in: 9
CM for online check in was Dorthy (that is how it was spelled on her nametag), and she was great. Regular check in cue had a line. No line in online check in at 9:00am. We had a location request of Cabanas 8A or 8B, second floor on our ressie. Also, I sent in a fax 3 days prior stating that we were really hopeful to get a room near the main pool, as we were anticipating spending lots of time there during the trip. Well...we not only ended up in Cabanas 8A, in a second floor room but we got one of the 2 closest rooms we could possibly get...Since we were on the second floor, I guess you could say we had the second closest room to the Dig Site. We were in room 8247...corner room with great view of the lake, around the corner from the path to the Dig Site, and the path to El Centro. Here is a pic:

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You can't see our room in this pic because it is covered by the trees to the far left of the building. In back of the trees to the left of the path is the Dig site. Here are some more: The view from the balcony outside our room looking to the left:

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And looking to the right:

And back on the ground level, underneath the balcony looking at the sign for the dig site. The Dig Site is just up the little set of stairs with the railings.

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I also have some pictures of parts of the slide that were visible from our room, but I can't find them right now.
So we definitely got all of our requests granted. On top of that, my m-i-l stayed with us the first night, and Dorthy put her in as a junior so we wouldn't have to pay extra for her...saved us $20...which was nice!

Mousekeeping:6-7
Some days it was a 10, and a couple of days more like a 2. We had one day that the beds were barely even made, and another that we had to call the front desk because the company that was contracted to change out the shower curtains left both sets, still hanging in the shower...kind of weird. We did get the chance to talk to a couple of Mouskeepers, and they were all very nice. We did leave a daily tip, but forgot one day, which happended to be the day we got these:

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No animals, but these were nice.

Next post: Food and atmosphere

 

[swald91]

Glad to hear you had a good time-I, too wish we were back -we were there 8/18-24. The grounds are very pretty there-similiar to the Poly where we stayed. Happy Birthday!

 

[VegasMike21]

Awesome stuff, can't wait to hear the rest of your CSR report!

 

[PoohsFan1]

I love your post so far and can't wait to read the rest. We are staying at CSR from 12/1-12/8 and we are super excited about it. We have a waterview room booked and I had requested either Cabanas bldg #9 or Casitas bldg #1. The only question I have is how are the busses? I have heard some good things about them and I have heard some horror stories. Thanks for the info.

 

[Pixiedust34]

I enjoyed your review and photos!

 

[skater]

Your photos are very nice, especially the first one. It captures the essence of the Cabanas section.

 

[Maybelle]

Food:6-7
We only ate at Pepper Market and got food from Cafe Rix, so our rating is only based on those two places.
We felt the food, in and of itself, was fine, but nothing spectacular...although the pizzas were actually much better than I was expecting. Pepper Market, as many others have noted, was a little confusing and disorganized. In some of the lines, it was difficult to find a place to stand while waiting for your food, and everybody does get their food at different times, so it was difficult to have a nice "family" dinner there. Having said that, the Pepper Market was ok. Cafe Rix, according to dh had really good b-fast sandwiches, and the croisants were great to! BTW, we had free dining, so we were not worried about the cost or tips at the PM.

Service at food service: 6-7
Pepper Market CM's were ok. We ate there 3 times and some of the people were friendly and helpful...others not so much. The pizza guy was great. At Cafe Rix they were really great about letting us cash in our extra CS meals for snack credits to get things to take home (3 snacks per CS credit). We bought our refillable mugs at the Siesta's window service. the CM's were often talking to each other and once one was talking on a cell phone, so often there was a short wait for drink refills.

Overall atmosphere:8-9
Pros: CSR was absolutely beautiful!!! The foliage is lush, the grass green, flowers plentiful, and overall the resort felt well kept up. We also loved the "beachy," relaxed feel of the Cabanas section, and the hammoks there. The theming around the resort is great, including the dig site! At the bus stops the vending machines were Myan themed. We used the quiet pools in both the Cabanas section and the Ranchos section as both were very close to us, and we also used the laundry in the Canbanas section. The laundry was nice and clean, and everything seemed in working order. The washers and dryers each cost $2, and the dryers run for a long time. Our clothes were dry before the dryers stopped.

Cons: I rated CSR a 8-9 for atmosphere instead of a 10, as there were 2-3 occasions of litter (mostly in the water) and also there was a big pool of water that collected in the pathway leading from our section (far end of 8A closest to the Dig Site) every day. They do need to work on some drainage there. Also, the second or third day we were there, maintenance was working in the attic right above our room , and when they finished, they left the "attic pulldown" open a couple inches and the light on above it. DH was able to reach and pull it open, so, not wanting anyone to fool with it, we called the front desk to have it taken care of. It was around 10pm. Well the next morning, it was still open, and that afternoon after returning from the parks around 3pm, it was still open, so we called maintenance directly and it was taken care of right away. Also, many of the exterior lights attached to the buildings were crooked. DH straightened them every day as we walked by.

Here are a few pics:
Cabanas 8A (left section) Our room is blocked by the palm fronds on the left:

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View of Cabanas from the beginning of the bridge to El Centro:

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View down the hallway from the lobby to Cafe Rix, Pepper Market and Maya Grill:

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Cute topiary in the back of El Centro:

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Casitas fountain:

Sorry, but I didn't get any pics of the Ranchos at all.

Next post: Dig Site, bussing, other

 

[Maybelle]

Dig Site:9-10
Let's just say that the main pool is really awesome!!! All the pics that have been posted of it don't do it justice. It is huge, and the slide is really fun! We were at the pool every day (or evening) but one, I think, and we loved it! I especially enjoyed the pool at night with the lighting in the temple...very cool.
The reason for the 9-10 rating and not just a straight 10 for me....Although the spa is nice and big, it is so heavily filled with chemicals that after less than 10 minutes in it my eyes were burning terribly, and I ended up having a really bad reaction to it on my skin (which is sensitive anyway) which lasted the rest of our vacation. Needless to say, we did not use the spa after that, but we did love the pool!
The quiet pools in the Cabanas and Ranchos sections were both really nice too!

Bus Service:8
OK, this one was tough to rate, because up until our last couple of days the bus service was absolutely great!! The first 7 days of our trip we never waited more than 10 minutes at the CSR bus stop for a bus, no matter the time of day. At the parks, we only waited around 20 minutes once or twice. We only had to stand on the bus twice (actually, I think dh stood 4-5 times, because he would give up his seat when needed)...once was our first day on our way to the MK from bus stop 1 (not our usual stop). As bus stop 1 is the last stop most of the time, busses from that stop were always much more full. So for the first 7 days of our trip, I would have to give the busses a rating of 10.
Unfortunately, the last 2 days the bus service seemed to go downhill. I am thinking that the reason might be because of the change in "travel season.?" Maybe because the Florida residents were back in school and it was technically the end of the summer season the busses might have been cut back.? Not exactly sure, but on the last 2 days we had to wait more than 30 minutes for a bus in the AM. The first day this happened, we were headed to Blizzard Beach, which normally shares bussing with Animal Kingdom. Well a couple of Animal Kingdom busses came by, but they didn't say BB, so we kept waiting. Finally, after about 35 min. waiting, when the third AK bus came by we asked the driver if he was stopping at BB, and explained that we had been waiting a long time. There was also another family waiting that had been there longer than us. The driver told us that BB was not on his itinerary, but that he would bring us there anyway. Not sure how long we would have waited if he hadn't taken us.
The next day (our last am at the park before flying home later in the day) we checked our bags with bell services in plenty of time to get a bus to HS before rope drop for EMH day (so we thought). Then we waited and waited and waited some more for a bus. Finally, when we finally got a bus going to HS (around 30-35 min later), the bus was packed and we stood, packed in like sardines. This was at stop 1. I was really surprised that the bussing was so poor to the EMH park! We got there just after rope drop, and had around a 45 min wait for TSMM...we were not happy about that.
So for the last two days of the trip, I would have to give a rating of 3-4.

Overall, bus drivers were very nice and very helpful. All were pleasant...some more so than others. I would definitely recommend using a bus stop other than stop 1 if possible, as stop one is the last to be picked up and dropped off. (We were at stop 4, which was fine.)

Also, the bus pick up stops for CSR are closer at the parks than most of the other resort stops are, so a little less walking at the end of a hot day...that is always a good thing!

A bit of Disney bus trivia that we found out...Disney has a fleet of 291 busses, and run a minimum of 246 busses per day, with more busses in use during busy seasons, of course.

Other:

Panchitos (gift and sundries shop) was very nice and well stocked. CM's were helpful and pleasant. Prices were not too terrible for sundries. If you need to buy milk or juice, make sure you buy it at Panchitos and not at Cafe Rix, as the little single serving sizes at Cafe Rix are extremely overpriced. (W
e had no choice our first night, as Panchitos was closed when we made it back to the resort)

Concierge: CM's were very nice, but some were much more knowledgable than others. They seemed to have some difficulty pulling up my dining ressies, even though there was never any problems at the restaurants.

We did not see Glenn the resident alligator on our trip. However, we did see something (besides all the many gecko's, turtles, birds and fish)...There have been some reports of a bobcat or something roaming around. Well, one morning at the bus stop we looked over and there was something that crossed the road and ran into the woods. Definitely larger than a house cat, but not huge. Definitely not a muskrat (we see them all the time at home) or a gopher or an armadillo. This did look like a cat with a long fluffy tail crossing the road, but bigger.....HMMMMMMM........

We had heard that some people are put off by the "business atmosphere" of CSR, since it is a convention hotel. While we did see people in business attire, and listen to some "business chatter" in line to check out at the Pepper Market, we were not put off by this...and the resort was plenty Disney oriented.

We loved the upscale feel of the renovated rooms. Very nice. It will be interesting to see how well they hold up. And we loved having the queen sized beds, which were very comfy, although the pillows were not. We did miss the second sink.

Overall, we really enjoyed our stay at CSR, and thought it was beautiful and had a very restful/relaxed feel. We have stayed in the past at POFQ (loved it) and also OKW (not so much), and without doubt, CSR was my favorite. DH and DD both liked CSR just as much as POFQ.

My Overall rating:9
DH's overall rating:8-9:thumbsup2
DD's (age 12) averall rating:8 (she liked the pool way better at CSR though!)

We would without doubt return to CSR!!

Hope this info has been helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to post or PM them to me.

 

[rie'smom]

I love your post so far and can't wait to read the rest. We are staying at CSR from 12/1-12/8 and we are super excited about it. We have a waterview room booked and I had requested either Cabanas bldg #9 or Casitas bldg #1. The only question I have is how are the busses? I have heard some good things about them and I have heard some horror stories. Thanks for the info.

Let me put it this way: CSR is the only resort we'd consider taking a bus to get to a park. If we're staying at any other resort, we either rent a car or take a taxi. I thought that bus service at CSR was what the Poly or GF would offer. but those deluxes have terrible bus service.

My Overall rating:9
DH's overall rating:8-9:thumbsup2
DD's (age 12) averall rating:8 (she liked the pool way better at CSR though!)

We would without doubt return to CSR!!

Hope this info has been helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to post of PM them to me.

Thanks for your great review!

 

[let'sgo]

I loved your review and pictures! Thanks for posting.

 

[sherry8253]

Thanks for the great review. CSR is on our list of possible resorts, especially if we don't get a great January code.

 

[lustergirl]

Nice pics and thanks for the great review!!

 

[grumpysmrs]

Glad you had a great time. We'll be there Saturday!

 

[Micca]

Wow, some very nice pics Thanks for your report, so glad you enjoyed CSR.

 

[lvdis]

Other:

Panchitos (gift and sundries shop) was very nice and well stocked. CM's were helpful and pleasant. Prices were not too terrible for sundries. If you need to buy milk or juice, make sure you buy it at Panchitos and not at Cafe Rix, as the little single serving sizes at Cafe Rix are extremely overpriced. (We had no choice our first night, as Panchitos was closed when we made it back to the resort)

We'll be staying at CSR for our first time in November! Do you remember what time Panchitos closed (did they have regular hours)? Also, do you know if you are able to use any snack credits there?

I've also been wondering if we can pick up any breakfast pastries the night before to have in our room in the morning. Do you know if this can be done at any of the locations at CSR and can counter service or snack credits be used for them?

Thanks for your help! I enjoyed reading your post!

 

[KatMark]

Maybelle, thank you so very, very much for the very detailed and thorough and honest review of the CSR! It is much appreciated. And I am so happy that you enjoyed your stay at CSR.

 

[Maybelle]

We'll be staying at CSR for our first time in November! Do you remember what time Panchitos closed (did they have regular hours)? Also, do you know if you are able to use any snack credits there?

I've also been wondering if we can pick up any breakfast pastries the night before to have in our room in the morning. Do you know if this can be done at any of the locations at CSR and can counter service or snack credits be used for them?

Thanks for your help! I enjoyed reading your post!

Panchitos closes at 11pm. Cafe Rix closes later, not sure what time exactly. You can use snack credits at Cafe Rix for muffins and cookies, as well as single fruit, cereals and rice crispie bars and also the fruit cup (but not the cup of strawberries). The other b-fast pastries are considered an entree for CS credits.

Maybelle, thank you so very, very much for the very detailed and thorough and honest review of the CSR! It is much appreciated. And I am so happy that you enjoyed your stay at CSR.

Thanks, Kat! I wanted to report on the things that stood out to me and the things that I wondered about before doing all my research...mostly through the CSR thread. To be honest, I was really afraid we'd get there and I'd regret the decision not to go back to POFQ...but I loved CSR, and I really look forward to going back!

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

Great report, very detailed and thorough! You seem very objective too, great writing style.

We stayed at CSR for our last on site trip (wow its been 2 years!) and loved it. We will definately stay there again.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Great review, I loved your pictures! So glad you enjoyed your stay, it can be stressful trying out a new resort, glad you didn't regret the choice to give CSR a try.

 

[aubriee]

Thanks for the great review. I'll be there Sept 26th-Oct 4th and have requested Cabanas 8A or 9A. So glad to hear you liked that area!