Is CSR To Big?

[petey]

I have enjoyed staying @ AKL (Jambo House) in the past, not to spread out, one main building. For my upcoming trip to The World, I was looking to save some cash so it was between CSR and POFQ. So many people said because it was so spread out at CSR, they liked POFQ (an advantage) for that reason. By the way does anyone know how long it takes to get from POFQ over to AKL as the restaurants are awesome over there? Please let me know your thoughts, and suggestions on POFQ. ***Thanks***

 

[iluvMainStMagic]

We have never stayed at AKL though I Love to visit there! We have stayed at POFQ several times and love it. It's aprox half the # of rooms of the other three Moderate resorts, and we think it's a great size, nothing is really too far away from anything else. If you are planning to travel by Disney buses (which we love), please know that there are no resort-to-resort buses, so you would have to take a bus to a park or DTD and then to the second resort.
This is from the POR/POFQ fan website http://www.portorleans.org/buses.php
"Transferring Between Disney Resort Hotels
Unfortunately, while Disney’s bus service is generally pretty efficient at getting you to the parks, it’s not so well designed for quick transportation between the various resort hotels.
If you’ve got a meal booked at one of the other resort hotels for example, the only way to get there by Disney transportation is to first take a bus to one of the theme parks or Downtown Disney, and then change onto a second bus to get you to your required hotel. Generally, you need to allow yourself at least an hour to do this."

If you are driving, I've read that the bus travel time from POFQ to AK park is around 15 min.

But CSR is a beautiful resort too!

 

[petey]

@Master Yoda , your thoughts on the size of CSR? I know it is closer to AKL then POFQ, but I keep on hearing how alot of people think it is to spread out, and much more walking. Also people seem to think the bus service is much better at POFQ. Lastly what do you think about Via Npoli for Dinner, and Kouzzina's for Breakfast? I really appreciate your thoughts as everyone knows you are the Disney World Expert!!!!!

 

[Master Yoda]

@Master Yoda , your thoughts on the size of CSR? I know it is closer to AKL then POFQ, but I keep on hearing how alot of people think it is to spread out, and much more walking. Also people seem to think the bus service is much better at POFQ. Lastly what do you think about Via Npoli for Dinner, and Kouzzina's for Breakfast? I really appreciate your thoughts as everyone knows you are the Disney World Expert!!!!!

CSR is actually my favorite of the moderates as I like the Spanish architecture, the landscaping and the elegant, "less is more" approach to the room decor. It is however a very large resort, but this only really comes into play if you are regularly going to the food court. On one trip I deliberately stayed as far away from the front of the resort as possible. The walk to the front was about 7 minutes, so not all that bad IMHO.

The other con with CSR is the food court. It is considerably more expensive (around 20%-30%) that the other food courts on property. Their selection is a little better, but that does not really come into play until dinner. Of course if you are on the DDP that becomes a moot point.

Lastly we have transportation. POFQ does tend to run a dedicated bus route that has one and only one stop. On occasion they will combine PORS and POFQ together, but as I understand it, that chance is becoming much more rare. CSR has a single bus with I think 5 stops. The constant stopping and starting does make a trip to the parks feel like it is taking forever.

 

[LucyK]

Any resort that needs a bus just to get you from your room to the main entrance/bus station to the parks is too big in my opinion. Could you walk? Sure but we're talking about a 20 minute/half an hour walk depending on where you're staying. PORS would be a much better option, there's no internal bus and the walk to the main portion of the resort is around 15 minutes. But none is better than POFQ. The resort is very small, only 1,008 rooms and the walk from the farthest building to the bus stop or the food court is no more than 5 minutes top.

 

[luv]

The one and only thing I don't like about CSR is the food court and it's pricing. It's very pretty, has a great gift shop and is a nice place to return after a day in the parks. None of the hotel/motels at WDW seem "too big" to me. CSR is bigger than POFQ, for sure. If you're in a room furthest from the food court/gift shop and you'll be going there a lot, you might consider it too much walking. If you have a car, you could always drive it.

I wouldn't pick a hotel based on proximity to any one place. Disney is big, but if you're driving, it's always a matter of minutes. A hotel that is close to one thing will be further from others. I would pick my place based solely on whether I liked the looks of the place and the rooms.

POFQ is a distance from AKL, but if you're driving, it's a matter of a few minutes. If you are taking the bus, going from one hotel to another will take a lot of time, no matter where you are going. The busses don't travel from one to another. You must transfer, which means waiting for two busses. Disney always tells people to allow 60-90 minutes travel time. They aren't joking!

 

[lunchbox1175]

While it is a distance from AKL, I could be wrong, but I believe that CSR is actually the best situated resort for all of the parks. It seems to be the most centrally located, and isn't too far from DTD either, so as far as bus transportation goes, the majority of your trip is actually getting around the resort, and not really bad once you leave the resort.

 

[Ariel1986]

I don't understand when people say it's such a long way to walk from place to place at CSR- unless you have walking difficulties it is in no way too far a walk. I purposefully walked the whole loop at a leisurely pace when I was staying there- after having read so many reviews about it before my stay. It took me under 10 minutes! To walk to a bus stop and then wait for a bus to take you to the front would surely take you longer?

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I think that it seems more spread out than it really is. However, I stayed in the Cabanas section near the main pool and the main building so I guess I wasn't walking that much.

 

[Buzz2001]

Besides having a great main pool area, CSR also offers many deluxe amenities at a mod price. CSR also offer business club level rooms now with lounge access.

CSR has queen beds, a sliding wooden door separating the sink area from the room (can be good for little ones napping in a pack n play) but only one sink.

Amenities include a fitness center, spa, free wi-fi, tanning beds, a sauna, salon, full menu room service and a night/dance club.

The resort offers the same toiletries as the deluxes (except GF). CSR has separate shampoo and conditioner instead of the shampoo/conditioner combo at the other mods and values (a small thing, I know, but it means I don't have to pack shampoo and conditioner).

CSR has the largest hot tub of the mods and one of the longest pool slides on Disney property. The pool, slide and playground area is great and all located in one area at the main pool.

Bus service is terrific and is not shared with another resort.

Check out my CSR website below

CSR Website
http://coronado_springs.tripod.com/

CSR Forum
http://coronado.forumotion.com/

 

[copcarguyp71]

Any resort that needs a bus just to get you from your room to the main entrance/bus station to the parks is too big in my opinion. Could you walk? Sure but we're talking about a 20 minute/half an hour walk depending on where you're staying. PORS would be a much better option, there's no internal bus and the walk to the main portion of the resort is around 15 minutes. But none is better than POFQ. The resort is very small, only 1,008 rooms and the walk from the farthest building to the bus stop or the food court is no more than 5 minutes top.

Sorry but I've just gotta dispute a 20 minute walk to the main entrance....Master Yoda even said it was seven minutes to the main building from the farthest point and with four stops around the resort you are never more than 5 minutes at most from bus service to the parks.

 

[Joshua&CalebDad]

Sorry but I've just gotta dispute a 20 minute walk to the main entrance....Master Yoda even said it was seven minutes to the main building from the farthest point and with four stops around the resort you are never more than 5 minutes at most from bus service to the parks.

I agree with this post. My family and I stayed at CSR two years ago and loved it. At the time our boys were 2.5 and 4 and we were still using a stroller for our youngest. Our room was situated on the back side of the Dig Site pool area, which is on the opposite end from the food court (quite possibly the furthest walk possible). We never found this to be an issue and we had no problem walking back and forth between our room and the food court. The walk really allows you to take in the scenery and beauty of the lake.

On an added note, we always felt like it took no time at all to get to the different parks. Of course AK was the closest and took less than 5 minutes to get to, but it never felt like more than 10-15 minutes to get to any of the other parks. We would have had no problem staying at CSR on our last trip (stayed @ AoA) or on our next trip (staying at PORS) but we want to try out as many different resorts as possible.

On a different note, I would recommend trying out CSR and any other resorts when you are presented with an opportunity. There are so many different opinions on these boards, and although they may have some good tips, you will never get the true feeling of the resort until you stay there for yourself. I wish you the best with your decision. I'm sure you'll have a good time no matter what resort you stay at.

 

[copcarguyp71]

...plus no shared buses versus the last time we stayed at POFQ we shared with POR and it took forever to and from the parks especially if there was any ECV's to be loaded.

 

[tare]

We have always stayed close to the main building. Beware though the buses fill up fast.