Our stay at the CSR May 25 to June 5

[Mickey76]

Hi everybody,

Well, Piglet203 and I loved the CSR. The whole resort is absolutely beautiful to look at. Pictures don't do it justice. There was so much to look at and so many things to do. One of our favorites was feeding the ducks in the morning. By the second day, they were eating right out of our hands.

Back when we were first planning our vacation, we both thought staying in the Ranchos section would be nice. Then we saw more pictures of the Cabanas section and decided that we wanted to stay in that section instead. Well, we were given a room in Ranchos 7A and we loved it!!!!! We both feel that the Ranchos section is the best section. It was so beautiful to look at, especially in the morning and at night. The other two sections were very nice, too, though. We stayed in room 7190 and had a semi-view of the parking lot and the building across form ours. Still, a pretty view, nonetheless.

We rented water mice on Lago Dorado and that was great. The Dig Site was awesome. We were there almost every afternoon. I can't tell you how many times we went down the slide.


We didn't like the Pepper Market. The service was something left to be desired and the food wasn't that good, except for the rotissiree chicken. It's also annoying to have to wait in line in the morning just to get a pass so that you can fill up your refillable mug. We didn't eat at the Maya Grill. It was too expensive for what they had.

The gift shop is great, although I'm still waiting on a package that should have been here by now.

I'm also a little upset that A gift basket that was supposed to be delivered to our room for Piglet203 was not delivered until after I had to call the gift shop and was told that they don't do deliveries. Keep in mind that I was told that they would make a special exception for the occasion(our engagement). I told them that there were rose pedals that were with the basket that needed to be spread throughout the room. Again, I was told thaty would, even though they don't normally do this. What really bothered me was that I had called while Piglet203 was showering( I didn't want to spoil the surprise) but because they couldn't find the basket and I was on hold for about 10 minutes, Piglet203 found out that a package was supposed to be delivered earlier in the day and wasn't. To make it worse, they said that they could deliver the package within 5 minutes. They didn't get it that I had wanted to have us return to the room with the basket on the bed or table and rose pedals everywhere. After a few more minutes, they said they would deliver the package after we left to go out that night and that the rose pedals would indeed be spread throughout the room.
Well, when we got back that night, the basket was on the table.... next to a bag of rose pedals I'm so glad that they listened.

There were some other little problems at the resort, none of which would keep us from staying there again. It was a great resort and we would stay there again, but after we try some other places, too.

I give the CSR a 9 out of 10. Thanks for everyone's input about it before we left, especially Buzz2001. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Mickey76

 

[Buzz2001]

Welcome back Mickey76!! First and foremost...CONGRATS on your engagement! I wish I had the opportunity to surprise my DW with our engagement at WDW. 15 years ago I wasn't a WDW fanatic. Had no idea about the place. This has to be a great memory for you guys to share forever.

I'm glad you enjoyed CSR even though it looks as if they dropped the ball on a couple ocassions. But at least, by the sounds of it, you didn't let it spoil your trip.

The PM is a love or hate thing. We haven't tried the Maya Grill yet either but many folks rave about the breakfast buffet.

Couldn't you fill your mug at the little store outside of the PM?

Welcome back!

 

[Mickey76]

We had the person at La Tiendas Fill up our mugs for us once, but every time other than that we had to do it ourselves because there was a long line there because there was an even longer line waiting to get into the Pepper Market.

We spoke to a manger at the Pepper Market about the system that is used. It makes sense, if you are in a large group. For two people, it's not worth it. We were given a hard time the first day at the CSR when we decided to eat lunch at the Pepper Market for the first time. We were seated, got our refillable mugs and waited at least 5 minutes for someone to come over, which they never did. Piglet203 and I got our own drinks, and obviously, our own food. When I asked the cashier to waive the 10% gratuity, she asked why in a confrontational voice. After I told her no one helped us, she sais we should have waited for our serever to come over. I told her we waited at least 5 minutes. She waived the 10%, but she seemed reluctant to do it. Had the service been better, we might have eaten there more, but it wasn't worth it to us. Too much money for adecent meal.

Other than that we loved the resort. We would definitely stay there again. I hope people reading this think that we hated the resort and the people who work there. On the whole, it was great, just some nuiances here and there.

Mickey76

 

[jennymouse]

Congratulations again on your engagement, Mickey. Sounds like CSR didn't honor your room request, but you ended up loving Ranchos. Seems like you handled the check out lady at PM and the gift shop fiasco far better than I would have...I'm proud of ya.

I'm still hoping for some good October codes so we can stay at AKL, if not, we'll be staying at CBR instead of CSR. It was tough decision but I think the right one for us.

Welcome Home!

 

[halfway there]

Glad to hear you enjoyed your stay at CSR, despite the few disappointments and less than stellar CM's. It's a credit to your character that you didn't let it spoil your time there or your attitute toward the resort itself. That can be pretty hard to do too!!
Every time I read a good report about CSR (and there seem to be many) I get more and more excited about going!
I'm curious about how the buses were and whether there is still no direct bus to and from the BW?
Thanks for all the info and the great report about your engagement! Congrats again!
Did you happen to eat at any great restaurants that we should read about on the restaurants board? I will be looking out for any reviews you might have.

 

[Mickey76]

Thanks for reminding me about the buses. The bus system at the CSR was excellent! Piglet203 and I never waited more than 15 minutes for a bus, and that was because we just missed it. Most of our waits were 10 minutes or less. There was a bus GOING TO the Boardwalk, after 4:00. I don't know about returning directly from the Boardwalk. It dropped guests off there first and then went to Downtown Disney. Sorry that I forgot to mention that before.

As for restaurant reviews, I'll try to post something within the next couple of days. Today has been focused on getting the Proposal story posted and answering questions about that and the CSR. We ate at a lot of places, so it'll have to wait until I have more energy .

Mickey76

 

[gumdrop]

Hi Mickey 76!!

Welcome back! I enjoyed your report on CSR--I found it very helpful. I remember that you had hoped for a room in the Cabanas, but it seems like the Ranchos were much better for you! I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed the resort (except for the stress at the Pepper Market and with the delivery basket) My question is regarding the Water Mouse boats and the lake at CSR. Last year my boyfriend and I stayed at WL and were spoiled by Bay Lake--it was fun riding around in such a huge area. I know the CSR lake is only around 15 acres or so, but I still can't comprehend how big that actually is. Did you find you had a lot of room, or could you just circle the lake for a bit? Thanks!

Congratulations on your engagement--any plans for a wedding in Disney?

--Maren

 

[mrsltg]

Congratulations, Mickey... I'm assuming she said "YES"!?!

Glad to hear that you really liked CSR. I am sorry about your experiences at the Pepper Market. The more I read of it, the more I see a pattern. It seems that during the slower times of year things are great there, when it gets busy, service goes downhill. DH and I were able to just walk up to the soda machine in December (never needed a refill ticket). I guess it's because of the amount of people. Oh well!

Congratulations again!

Erin

 

[A1A1]

Congratulations...I also loved CSR. I usually stay at only one or two resorts, and CSR was a first for me. It was beautiful. We stayed in the Casitas section, but liked the Ranchos better. We requested it at check-in, but it was full.

As for pepper Maret, we always had great service. In fact we made friends with one of the servers, and she ended up giving me her address and phone number. I never did contact her. She was a very sweet woman. I didn't mind the 10%, because our service was good.

I, too, would stay there again. This is a resort for someone who doesn't mind staying away from the parks. The resort doesn't feel as "Disney" to me as others. It felt a little more layed back. It was spread out, so I never felt like the people were on top of each other. I liked the feeling of privacy, like I was in my own little southwestern village.

 

[Piglet203]

Hey everyone, I figured I could add to our trip report too. First of all to answer the question about the lake....I would say that there really isn't a lot of room to drive around. Don't get me wrong, Mickey76 and I really enjoyed renting watermouse at CSR, but we also rented a boat from the Contemporary and there is a lot more to see...Like the Wedding Pavillion!!!!!!! By the way....Yes we are getting married there in July 2004!!!

My feelings on CSR are pretty much the same as Mickey76. I was amazed at how beautiful the resort is. Like Mickey76 said, pictures don't do it justice. We were so happy that we got Ranchos....it was so beautiful. It was a long walk to the main areas....but we don't mind it. For anyone who does......maybe it isn't such a great section. The important thing was that we were close to bus stop 3 and never waited long for a bus!

As for the Pepper Market Sorry to say I really really didn't like it. The chicken we had was great....anything else was not so great. Well, maybe it was due to my sour attitude toward the whole system. I would of preferred a regular food court.....it's a lot easier. Oh well......not a big deal at all. As for the whole gift basket ordeal......it sucked that it had to be that way, but it was still great to get yet another surprise from Mickey76! He truly is a great man
If anyone else has questions.........we'll be glad to answer.
Oh and BUzz......thanks again for everything.......I hear you were in on it too huh?

 

[jeank74]

Congratulations! Mickey76 & Piglet203

Thank you for the wonderful view on CSR. My fiance and I will stay at CSR for our honeymoon in October. I first was worried about the Rancho section because it is so far away and looks like a desert. Nevertheless, after reading your report, I feel at ease that all three sections of CSR will give us a wonderful stay. So I probably won't bother to do a room request since it will be our first time staying at the WDW resort. We will just let it be! Do you think that is a good strategy?

By the way, I am sorry for what happened at the gift shop and those unfullfilled special request. But, the bottom line is--the lady said "yes!"

Enjoy your wedding planning. Mine will be almost 4 months away...cann't wait.

 

[Mickey76]

Gumdrop - Like Piglet203 said, the lake was small, but still big enough to enjoy what we were doing. The boats didn't go as fast as I thought they would. As a matter of fact, it looked as though the water mice thta we saw being used on Bay Lake and the Seven Seas Lagoon were going faster than the ones used at the CSR.

Jeank74 - I would still make a request for the section you want, just in case it can be fulfilled. It was tough for our room request to be fulfilled because we arrived on Memorial Day Weekend and it was very busy. We actually could have had a Cabanas section room, but because we knew we'd be arriving early, we wore our bathing suits on the plane(Piglet203 had hers on underneath her clothes, just to clear that up) so that we could put our luggage in storage. We were told that we could have a room in the Cabanas section but that it would not be ready until 5, maybe 6 P.M. We were unable to do this because we had a 6:10 PS at Cinderella's Royal Table and we needed to change into some good clothes, as well as take showers before we went ot the Magic Kingdom. We lucked out and ended up getting what we thought was the best section.

Keep the questions coming if any of you are still curious.

Mickey76

 

[jeank74]

Piglet203 and Mickey76,

How far away, in walking distance, is Rancho 7A to Food court if? Could the bus take you directly take you to Rancho 7A after a long day in the park?

Which section has less screaming kids? Casita, Rancho, or Cabanas?

When I make my room request, can I just list the criteria that I need for a room instead of asking for a specific section?

Just looking for information so that I can have a romantic stay with my new hubby in October.

Thanks!!!

 

[Mickey76]

Jenak74, the walk to the food court from our room in Ranchos 7A was about a 5 minute walk. Piglet203 and i also walk a little faster than some people so it might be a 7 or 8 minute walk, but one of the most beautiful walks you might ever take, especially early in the morning or at night.

Bus Stop 3 is the bus stop that you'll want to get off at if you are staying in Ranchos 7A. The building is the closest building to that bus stop. As soon as you get off the bus, 7A is right in fron of you.

I'm not really sure what section has the most screaming kids. We didn't really encounter any screaming children. We did, however, encounter a convention for student athletes that drove us nuts on the bus a couple of times. They were loud and obnoxious, which I can be too, but not when there are little children on the bus who are sleeping after a long day at the parks. I know it's their vacation, too, and that they're excited, but have a little more respect for the others around you. Even those who did not have sleeping children found them to be annoying.

As far as just listing your criteria, I can only say that might be a good idea. Buzz2001 would probably be a better help than I could be. I don't see why listing your criteria would be a bad idea, so maybe you should try it.

Good luck and have a great time!

Mickey76

 

[jeank74]

thanks, mickey76

 

[SeaSpray]

I just want to say CONGRATULATIONS to Mickey and Piglet!!!!

What a wonderful memory, to have gotten engaged at WDW, and now planning your wedding there!