Returned from our first visit to the CR yesterday. We stayed in the Garden Wing room 6128, which is first floor pretty near the beach/pool. Had a good trip, great weather. Miss it already.
Have done Poly for our past trips. There were pros and cons of the CR compared to Poly for us.
Of course the biggest pro is the monorail running through. My kids enjoyed the pool. They are 9, 6 and 4. We were able to get a life vest for the 4 yr old. He doesn't like going under so he stuck to the steps mainly but he had fun. The older 2 swam all over and really enjoyed the slide. We've only been to the Poly in January so it's hard to compare the pools since we didn't use the Poly one much. I do like how the Poly has the zero entry. My 4 yr old would have preferred that to the steps. They did have movies on the beach several nights but we only watched a bit one evening.
We ate breakfast at Chef Mickeys, ate dinner a couple times at Contempo, and one lunch at the Sand Bar. Food was good at all.
I liked being close to the pool but I do wish we were in the tower. I felt a bit detached from everything.
As for the room. I know it is said that they are bigger than Poly but it seemed smaller to me. It may just be the layout. I HATED the sinks at the CR and the lack of counter space. Didn't care for the doors on the bathrooms either, not very private. Overall the rooms at the Poly are much better IMO. I didn't care for the CR theming in the rooms compared to Poly.
Overall I prefer the Poly theming to the CR but it wasn't bad at the CR. The long walk from the room to the tower was so drab compared to the Poly but there was a huge construction fence up around the pool area so that is what we would walk by every day so not much of a view. It may be different when the fencing is not there.
We used the Magic Express and we were in our room all checked in within 90 minutes of landing in the plane. CR was the last bus stop too. We used the bus to go to HS, and Winter Summerland golf and it was quick and painless. Used the walkway to MK once, seemed a bit long. Used the monorail for everything else.
Staff was friendly. Housekeeping was very poor. Our room was a bit dirty when we arrived. The wall of the shower was literally coated with chunks of long brown hair that I had to wash down the drain before I could use it. It did blend a bit with the marble so maybe housekeeping didn't see it?
Even though we'd put the towels on the floor every night we'd never get all of them replaced. One night we were only left with 2 large towels. Several nights no hand towels and several nights no washcloths. We got by okay though. The worst thing was we found a bed bug on a pillow.
Now it was about half way through the stay and I went to get in bed and moved a pillow. There was the bug on the pillow underneath. It was brown and about the size of an apple seed. I put it in a ziploc and searched for evidence of more bugs. I didn't see anything. I've never seen a bed bug and I thought they were much smaller. This looked to me like a tick but different than the ticks in NE. Since I saw no evidence of any other bugs and none of us were itching we didn't complain. Last night I googled bed bugs and there is no question that is what it is. I still have my ziploc and it's still alive after 6 days! Wish I would have complained now. I have all my laundry and luggage in the garage so hopefully we avoided bringing anything home. I do plan to email Disney about the matter so they can at least fumigate that room. I doubt nor do I expect that they'll do anything for me.
Overall I would choose the Poly over the CR in the future but if the deal was good enough I'd return to the CR but choose a tower room.
If we wanted a room where the beds faced the castle, should we just request an odd numbered room? Do you think that would be the best way to ensure we got one? Or should we just request a room with beds facing the castle?
So I was just inquiring about the best way to request that view. Thanks though!
it kind of comes in at water level and scoots you across the water just a *little* bit -- not down into the water such that you'd think it's too shallow. no worries.
, CRRFFL
