CSR Review - 10/3 - 10/11 with Pics!

[SaskDisNut]

I finally got my CSR review done. Time sure flies by when you get back from a vacation. This was our second stay at this resort and we thoroughly enjoyed it once again.

Many months ago, we booked a standard room with free dining for 10/3 – 10/11. I didn’t have a room request on our reservation as it really didn’t matter where we stayed. But 5 days before I decided to fax a room request in and see what happened. I requested a 2nd floor room in Cabanas 8B or 8A. We have 12 year twins so being close to the Dig Site was important as well as being fairly close to El Centro.

We arrived at MCO around 11:15 AM on 10/3. We always take DME so we made our way to the DME area and got checked-in to the short line for the AKL/CSR bus. We didn’t have to wait too long before we were taken to our bus and on our way to CSR.





We arrived at CSR shortly before 12:30 and went to the online check-in line since I had done this 3 days before. We were met by a very friendly gentleman, who I’m guessing, was a manager of some sort. Our papers weren’t where they should have been so he took us over to the concierge desk, where a very helpful CM found our information package in the back. DW & I were celebrating our 16th anniversary during this trip so she gave us our anniversary celebration buttons and a card inviting us to the Laguna bar for a toast.

We got our keys to our room, room 8650 in Cabanas 8B, and off we go. I was happy that we got the building we requested. As we approach Cabanas 8B we realized that our standard room had become a lake view, corner room! We were very appreciative of getting an upgrade to a water view room. Our refurbished room was wonderful. The beds were so comfortable and sleep came easy every night. The addition of the sliding doors between the beds and sink area is nice for those early risers to get ready when everyone else is sleeping. The view from the room was amazing.













We hadn’t eaten lunch yet so we quickly changed and headed to the Pepper Market. The line to get in was pretty long but it moved quickly. It was busy but we got our food to go and went outside to eat. We ordered a pizza and a quesadilla to share. We ate at the Pepper Market a few times during our stay. We were happy with the quality of the food but in general the selections weren’t as good as our last stay. We got breakfast items from Café Rix several times. The muffins were good and fresh. The breakfast sandwich was real good too. We also had the refillable mugs so we made many trips here and to Siestas.





After lunch, it was back to our room to grab some things and off to bus stop #4 to wait for a Magic Kingdom bus. It didn’t take too long before our bus arrived. Over all we were quite pleased with the buses. We never waited more than 10-15 minutes for a bus at either the resort or the parks. Most times it was less. And with the exception of park closings we didn’t have to stand at all.





We went to the Dig Site a few times. It was crowded on a couple of the days but not too bad. Our room was also close to the quiet pool at Cabanas 9A so we frequented it lots too. With the heat and humidity that we had during our stay, hitting the pool in the afternoon was a big highlight.











One morning, while the rest of the family was still sleeping, I got up and took a walk around the lake. The resort is truly beautiful. It was the first time I walked all away around it and it really didn’t feel like a huge resort. I love the architecture and all the lush greenery. With the lake in the middle, it makes for a very enjoyable walk. Here are a few pics I took along the way.











And Glen (or his relative) wanted his picture taken too!



The CMs at CSR were friendly and helpful. One day we noticed that our counter service credits were wrong. So I went to the concierge desk where Willie was able to help me out. Somehow when we were at Typhoon Lagoon the credits we used for lunch got posted twice. He was able to fix this quickly and I was on my way again. We never saw our mousekeeper but our room was always clean and well stocked with extra towels.

The sad day arrived when we had to pack our bags and head home. Our flight was at 1:20 PM so our DME pickup time was 10:15AM. We picked up a few snacks at Panchitos to use up the rest of our snack credits and then headed to the DME bus stop. Our bus arrived and on we went leaving behind this wonderful resort.





I’ll post these and more pictures on the CSR picture thread. I’ve got some from last December too with the beautiful Christmas decorations that adorn the hotel.

[DisneyBride'03]

Thanks for posting this wonderful report with such great photos!!!

Cant wait to stay here next month...congrats on that great room and Happy Anniversary!

[Bluenoser]

Thanks for the pics and review. We go in 44 days, can't wait.

[fayt19]

We're staying here next May. I was not excited at all about the resort, but I am now after seeing your pictures! Thanks for sharing!

[aubriee]

Great trip report!! Thanks!

I was there Sept 26th-Oct 4th, so was there during part of your stay. I was in building 8A, bottom floor in a corner room. It didn't overlook the lake, but was still very nice and in a wonderful location just a few minutes from bus stop 4, a couple of minutes to the main pool, and less than five minutes from the main building. I loved the location and the resort and hope to get the same location for my upcoming Dec trip.

[Pixiedust34]

Great photos!

[kaffinito]

Great trip report and nice pics - glad you enjoyed your trip!

[weswife]

THANKS!!!!! for sharing your pics.!!! They are great!

This will be our first stay there!!! We are going the last week of April. We requested a wheelchair acc. rm. close to the food area, for our DD. I hope its a good choice! We are also celebrating! My DS will be 11 and I will be 40! Oh how time flies! It will also be my DD cousin's 1 st visit! Our family total will be 6 so we need 2 rms.! I will check for your other pics.!

[lvdis]

Originally Posted by SaskDisNut

We got breakfast items from Café Rix several times. The muffins were good and fresh. The breakfast sandwich was real good too.

Thanks for the great write-up! We'll be there for our first time at CSR in 2 weeks! I'm wondering, were you able to use your CS credits at Cafe Rix for breakfast? If so, what could you get with them.

Thanks! I'm so glad you had a great trip and I can't wait for ours!

[lustergirl]

Awesome pictures!! I hope you don't mind that I am using one now for my computer background.

[SSR]

I loved this post. Thanks very much! My wife and I stated at CSR for our honeymoon in October, 2001 and this brought back great memories (including being asked if we wanted to move to a different section of CSR since we were literally the *only* people in our building (3 weeks after 9/11)). Given that we were on our honeymoon, we politely declined and enjoyed the pool to ourselves most days. Great trip report...

[knieriem]

Thanks for sharing the pics! I'll be checking in there this afternoon!

[vettegirl]

Great review and pics. I stayed there last week for a couple of nights and was very impressed. I found the CM's to be very friendly and the resort to be perfect.

[WDWisOurHappyPlace]

Loved your report and pictures. Thanks!

[gogo]

Thanks for the great trip report. That is so nice you received an upgrade. We stayed twice at CSR and both times were standard view rooms. The last stay was in the back of Casitas 2 and the view was not very good (parking lot with a few inches of grass plus it felt isolated back there. I always request water view but both times none were available. I think there are a lot of good standard view locations but it is just a gamble if you will get one.

I agree with you about walking around the lake. I did this also one morning and it was a lovely walk and didn't seem too long. I think it seems long when returning from the parks when you're tired but as far as leisurely walks it is quite enjoyable.

Again, fantastic pictures...thanks for sharing.