I said I wasn’t gonna do it, but we’re headed back tail-end of May/beg. of June before my daughter becomes an adult in Disney’s eyes. I currently have reservations booked at CSR in the tower (standard room) and CBR in a standard 5th sleeper, both with the Stay Longer Save More (or whatever) offer. I am super torn between the two. Aside from the things that are the same (both moderates, both have great main pools, etc.) my reasoning is below. We’ve stayed at both resorts before but never in GD Tower. Travel party is just me (F44) and my daughter (9). 7 day park-hoppers, will plan to visit MK and Epcot several times each, HS probably once or maybe twice, AK once. We like to take a break mid-day and we do like to hop. We will not have our own car. The trip is still a surprise for DD so I can’t really ask her what she would prefer except maybe in general terms like “next time we go back…”
CBR Pros: My daughter loves this resort
Skyliner obv
Proximity to Riviera - only really a big pro if we get a close-ish room
About $300 cheaper Cons: Only standard rooms left which I don’t love.
Spread out/mostly outdoors for getting anywhere
Skyliner goes down in bad weather
CSR Pros: GDT is all indoors and connected to dining, shopping, etc.
Rooms are v. nice
Would be more of a “new” experience - we’ve stayed at CSR but only in a standard room Cons: More expensive by about $300 (not a huge deal but would be nice to save a little)
Bus-only transportation
I guess my main conflicting thoughts have to do with the weather. Last time we went in the summer months we stayed at Pop and felt trapped in our room when it stormed (which it seemed to do a lot - several hours on several days). Being in the Tower would alleviate some of that - we could go get food, look in the gift shop, etc. I think there is an arcade in the main building? Both resorts have covered bus stops, but when we stayed at Pop and the Skyliner went down for bad weather it was a huge pain, especially at EPCOT. Anyway, if you couldn’t tell we are weather weenies! We have the luxury of a longer trip and I do feel more prepared this time for the summer weather - we’ll both be in waterproof shoes, won’t have a stroller so we can move more quickly, etc. My main bad experiences with buses have been at value resorts, so maybe they are a little better at CSR? The Skyliner is a HUGE pro to us, but if it’s down it becomes a huge con.
If you have stayed at GDT - what has your transportation experience been?
I was there but in April 2021 when things were far from back to normal.
But my transportation experience was great. It’s centrally located and literally minutes from HS and EP
The Tower had it’s own dedicated bus in the morning when it was busy. And I didn’t mind waiting a couple of stops on return to reach the Tower - and they drop you off right out front so there’s no trekking to your room from the bus stop
I personally feel the Tower has an elevated, plush feel that you just can’t get anywhere else but some deluxes. It does tend to be a little more expensive, but it’s worth the splurge if you can swing it.
This really doesn’t take long at all. Once you actually figure out how the internal buses work it’s not that bad. And CBR has the internal buses too so its a wash (once you take the Skyliner out of the equation).
@lxlindsay we just stayed at CSR in March. The only way DH will do it again is at the tower, lol. He didn’t like the walk to the main building for almost everything. And your CBR stay will most likely be that. For the $300 difference I would take the Tower room. We love the Skyliner but don’t mind buses. The buses to EP, HS and AK were super quick.
My DS’s favorite rooms lately have been GDT at CSR - he will choose that over most other options. I really enjoy it as well. Rooms feel deluxe, lots of great food options. We haven’t personally found the transportation to be an issue. But I will only stay at CSR if we are in GDT.
Would I kick myself if I decided on CSR because of the weather/Skyliner/outdoor walking concerns and we had perfect sunny weather the whole time? Probably not. But I would pick a standard room at CBR over a standard room at CSR, so the tower is really what’s pushing it to the top.
I don’t think my daughter gives a hoot about how nice the room is, nor do I think she really cares about the theming of any of the moderates, though she loves the theming of the values still.
What a great decision to have to make. My wife and I love both of them, but if the main factor is the weather, I would still go with CBR if you are going in May/June - most weather events only last around 20 mins tops from our experience and the cost difference would seal the deal for my pick. Either way, you will have an awesome time.
Thanks for the input everyone. I decided to stay at CBR again and added a night with the “savings!” I love the flexibility of a longer trip so that has me relaxing more about the weather (I’m still a weather weenie though). I think the “luxury” of CSR would be lost on my daughter at her age, so maybe we’ll save that for if/when we go back in a few years (if I haven’t won the lottery by then and we’re staying club level at GF).