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JTsMom
08-15-2008, 12:52 PM
On the off chance someone sees this before I have to decide- we can save another $200 if we switch from CSR to POR or CBR. What do you all think?

elektra
08-15-2008, 12:59 PM
Whoa. I try to keep up on all the abbreviations (kind of a little game for me to figure out ;) ), but I have no clue what you are talking about!
Still want to help out if possible though- what are CSR POR or CBR?

Mermanaid
08-15-2008, 01:06 PM
CSR = Coronado Springs Resort
POR = Port Orleans Resort
CBR = Carribbean Beach Resort

I stayed at CSR 9 years ago (okay, I have an aged opinion!) and wouldn't do it again. Too conference focused for me. I've always heard good things about POR and I believe it has its own food court close by too. Haven't heard too much about CBR but what I have heard has been good.

JTsMom
08-15-2008, 01:15 PM
:ROTFLMAO: Sorry, too much time on disboards.com I guess.

And thanks!

elektra
08-15-2008, 01:30 PM
Thanks! I can't help out this time, but just about everyone in DH's family has worked for Disney at one point or another so sometimes I can get the inside scoop on things. Don't know much about those resorts though. :)

Momof3Labs
08-15-2008, 02:15 PM
Switch to POR!!

JTsMom
08-15-2008, 02:47 PM
Ooooh- playing around online, I'm seeing Saratoga Springs for $200 more!

Staraglimmer
08-15-2008, 03:53 PM
CSR = Coronado Springs Resort -Ive heard from friends that this resort is too spread out. They said it was too much walking...and they don't have kids.
POR = Port Orleans Resort- Don't no much about it......
CBR = Carribbean Beach Resort- Stayed here on ou Honeymoon and LOVED it. ...for the price it was awesome....and the room was very big! But no microwave.

Now we stay at saratoga springs bc we joind the vacation club...............4 the money, the vacation club is a bargin! Saratoga is new, clean, and full of extras.

Momof3Labs
08-15-2008, 04:55 PM
Ooooh- playing around online, I'm seeing Saratoga Springs for $200 more!

I'd do that!! Or try Old Key West, AKL or WL (the two cheaper deluxe resorts) - you might be surprised.

ETA: I just looked, and it sounds like they have just started renovating CBR rooms. I wouldn't stay there - if you end up with a room that hasn't been renovated, it could be pretty run down. We stayed at POR pre-renovation and the room desperately needed a tune-up. Stick with SSR or a resort that has been recently renovated.

JTsMom
08-15-2008, 09:33 PM
:crying: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah! I screwed up!!! I didn't realize when you're on Disney's site, when your first choice resort doesn't pop up, they knock out one of the adults that you had previously put in- that's why the rate was so good (tickets and dining package for one less). What a bummer- I had DH all psyched up for it too.

Back to the drawing board. Since we're booked through AAA, and they aren't there until Monday at 11, we probably won't have a choice anyway.

ETA: Lori, I did check out all of the deluxes, but nothing is available for our dates even close to our price range. That was my real plan- to upgrade once a code came out, but no luck.

Momof3Labs
08-15-2008, 10:41 PM
Lori, don't wait for your AAA agent on Monday. If you find a package that is in your price range, grab it. Book it yourself through Disney or the website. AAA won't be able to get or do anything more for you than you can do for yourself with that discount code. The only downside is that you'll have to make another deposit, and then get your deposit with AAA refunded on Monday.

If you wait for AAA, you may not be able to get anything appealling by Monday. The discounted rooms go VERY fast.

Momof3Labs
08-21-2008, 06:00 PM
Lori, what did you decide to do?

JTsMom
08-21-2008, 06:31 PM
Well, Riverfront booked up right away, so that was out. The last time I checked, Caribbean Beach was still open though, and we've kicked that one around quite a bit. It seems people either love or hate it. On one hand, it would be cool to be able to walk to Epcot, and to be able to see the fireworks from the resort, not to mention the extra $200, but there is the renovations concern.

For now, we've just stuck with CSR, but I could probably be swayed pretty easily. Either way, the resort is going to be huge, so it's just a matter of luck as far as our room assignment how happy we'll be about the size I guess.

We are the worst when it comes to this stuff. We overanalyze the heck out of everything. I asked this same question over at disboards, and it was pretty much an even split.

Momof3Labs
08-21-2008, 08:30 PM
You can't walk to Epcot from CBR, if that helps any. In fact, you can't walk to any of the parks from the moderate resorts. So, your mode of transportation will be the same whether you are at CBR or CSR!

And don't feel bad about struggling with the decision - I still have two ressies (Swan and WL) and can't decide either way. I think that we're leaning towards Swan, but not enough to cancel the WL ressie yet!

JTsMom
08-22-2008, 08:34 AM
Yes, that does make it easier! I guess I must have just assumed that you could walk sense they group it with the other "Epcot resorts".


I think I'd rather be wrestling with your two choices though! Is The Swan the hotel with the great beds, or is that The Dolphin?

Momof3Labs
08-22-2008, 08:55 AM
The Swan and Dolphin both have the great beds, and are walking distance to DHS and Epcot. WL has that great theming and is closer to MK, plus we've stayed at AKL (a similar resort) and absolutely love it. I think that we're settling on Swan but I just can't bring myself to cancel the WL ressie yet!

JTsMom
08-22-2008, 09:48 AM
That is a tough choice! How smart of you to make both reservations though- at least you can take your time deciding that way. I haven't seen a whole lot of pics of the Swan, but the WL is so pretty. I think we might try to make time to check out a couple of other resorts so that we'll be better prepared for next time.

Momof3Labs
08-22-2008, 03:04 PM
The Swan is your typical hotel. There really isn't any magic in the buildings or rooms - the magic is in the location. DH is a government employee so we got the room for 199/night but they have a resort fee and charge for parking, so the cost ends up pretty close to the deal we got on WL. If we were staying long enough, we'd do a split stay between the two, but we're spending half of our vacation at Sanibel Island and only about 5 days at WDW, which isn't long enough to change resorts with two kids in tow.

Definitely check out other resorts when you are there - we did that on our last trip and fell in love with the Poly (yet the Grand Floridian and the Contemporary did nothing for us). So I definitely recommend that you check out resorts in your budget, lol! Stopping for lunch or dinner at a resort is a great way to check things out.

kimbe
08-23-2008, 09:56 AM
Don't be too worried about the CSR. We stayed there with a toddler and we loved it. I think that you will like it too. The pool was fantastic and the playground/sand box was amazing. DD was 15 months old and loved it. They had boxes of sand toys including huge dump trucks that the kids could play with. You could easily spend the day there. I would stay there again in a heartbeat.

When we checked in, they actually asked us if we had a preference of where we wanted to be. DH had done his homework before and asked for one of the buildings closest to the bus stop. They gave it to us and even asked what floor we wanted to be on since we would be using a stroller. Very nice and very accomidating. We were a little farther away from the food but that wasn't a big deal.

If we weren't splurging our next trip, we would happily stay there again. The busses weren't crowded at all and it was a very calm Disney experience. I think that the conference atmosphere sometimes works to the advantage of park goers because there are less kids, less people on the bus --- IYKWIM.

Don't fret!

JTsMom
08-23-2008, 10:03 AM
Thanks Kim, that's really great to hear! The pool and play area look so cool in the pics I've seen.

kimbe
08-23-2008, 03:02 PM
Thanks Kim, that's really great to hear! The pool and play area look so cool in the pics I've seen.


They really ARE cool. DH and I could have totally spent some time playing there. (At the time, DD was not into sand so that was a huge bummer.) The playground was really fun. We didn't get to use the slide in the pool because they were redoing it. There are "beaches" around the lake with hammocks and stuff. I think that if we didn't know it was the conference site, we wouldn't have been able to tell.