Coronado Springs - Tell me EVERYTHING!

[lovenmickey]

Ok I am relying on you all to tell me the good, the bad and the ugly about Coronado Springs - Thanks to Terriesue at MJ she got us a great deal there so now are staying there and to be honest I know NOTHING about this resort...I need your help!!

Thanks! :mickey:

[LauraF]

Well, I've seen about a half-dozen posts about CSR in the last week. Your questions may be covered elsewhere.

I'm staying there in a few weeks and I've been doing a lot of research, both reading and talking to previous people who stayed about the resort. (Info Central here on Intercot is a great place to start!)

Most people like: the giant pool, the theming, the health club, the spa, the food
Most people dislike: the conventions (crowded if you eat meals at the hotel), the size of the resort, rooms have one sink instead of two.

Now keep in mind everybody is different. A lot of the things other people dislike are things other people like or are willing to put up with. It all depends on your attitude - you dictate the experience.

The layout of the grounds does make for a good deal of walking, but let's be honest - if you go to Disney, you probably plan to do a lot of walking anyway. It's about 3-5 minutes to a bus stop from any room.

[Dedivah]

Just got back from CSR yesterday.

It is a beautiful, very large place.

We did see some conventioners but they didn't bother me any.

We ate at Pepper Market 2 times our first morning and our last. The charge a 10% gratuity on to you bill but if you are on the DDP it won't hurt you. Our first morning they wanted to charge us 2 QS credits for a breakfast of an omelet and a side of bacon. :mad: So we just ate in the park where we felt it was a bit more reasonably priced.

There are 4 bus stops around the property so you don't have to go back to El Centro to get the bus in the front. Usually bus stop 1 is the last pick up/drop off.

The property is clean and room service was great.

[tink'72]

July 2006 My family and I had reservations at AKL, when I called to verify the reservations (don't know why I did, I just had a bad feeling) they had the incorrect check out date. Not Disney's fault...my own! I thought no big deal I'll just extend, however being in July AKL had NOTHING...the only place that did was CS...I was NOT happy. :mad: I had no desire to stay there and on top of that I was thinking if that is the only hotel with availability it has to be awful!

Anyways, not wanting to cut our trip short I booked it for 2 nights. When we pulled up it was nothing special. The parking wasn't great, they were doing construction the sidewalks were closed. I was NOT impressed. When I parked and walked inside I was pleasantly suprised I really liked the lobby and the CM's were great. While checking in they noticed I had 2 older children so the CM gave them each a complimentary issue of Disney Adventures. We've never received those before so the kids were thrilled! We then walked over the gift shop which was huge. I loved it. They had the most mix of items I had seen.

After checking in they told us we were in Casitas 8 I believe. So back in the car we went and drove until we found our location, agian not overly thrlled. It looked like any motel. We walked to our room and right then and there I was sold. I LOVED it!!!:thumbsup: Our room was overlooking the lake and right by the big pool , which was great for the kids. The room as very nice. We loved it!
The grounds at CS are beautiful. I have read in other posts about the amount of walking. I did not mind. It was beautiful. If you don't want to walk they have these trams (golf carts that take you around the property) which you can take. The kids got a kick out of riding those. All in all we loved it and ended extending our stay to 4 nights. I would absolutely recommend it and we are planning to go back again soon!

I did see some people for conventions and things but that didn't bother me. I felt bad for them that they couldn't enjoy everything we were enjoying.

[anewvision]

I like the 1.65 mile resort bus loop. On a busy day thats 10 min. or maybe the .5 mile walk to the food court. yes its big....

[c&d]

We stayed 12 days last August and loved it. The resort was beautiful and wonderful to walk around at night. We were in Casitas section Building 3 and we could see the fireworks at MK and Epcot at night.

The main pool was never really crowded and DS loved it. I loved the real lap pool, I could go for a swim in the morning before heading out to the parks.

We really liked the Pepper Market. It was probably one of the few times that DS had enough choices. He's not a big chicken finger, mac & cheese kid, so all the options were great.

The buses were never crowded and at the time CSR had the first parking spot in the MK bus lot.

We will definitely stay there again.

[darthmacho]

The Good:
* Eating a sunset dinner at Maya Grill while sitting by the window with a view of the lake!
* The theming, including the background (area) music, decor, and layout of the buildings.
* The restaurants have great food.
* The rooms with water views, especially Casitas!
* The store is one of the best in which to shop.

The Bad:
* Pepper Market has an odd system which confused me at first, but I got used to. You order at stations, find a seat, and pay later, on the way out.
* Conventioners could potentially swarm any given place. Not a problem during my 8 night stay.

The Ugly:
* Leaving. Who knows if we'll ever get to stay there again? :confused:

[ilvdisney]

We stayed at the Coronado and absolutely hated it!! The room was dirty and we were miles away from the pool and the main buildings. They had no elevators and we had to drag our luggage up three flights of stairs in 100 degree weather. We almost got run over by the baggage guys driving their golf carts on the sidewalks. We hated the food. And lastly the bus left us off 10 minutes away from our room - one late night I was all alone and had to walk through the dimly lit parking lots to get to my room! This was the only hotel in Disney where I did not feel safe.

Their pool area was nice however.:mickey:

[FantasmicJ]

Coronado Springs is the favorite moderate resort for my wife and I. I can't say that there is one thing we dislike about it. Compared to other moderates we have stayed at, the distance to your room, the pool, etc. is very comparable. To us, the conventioneers being there is actually a positive. Since those people are at conventions all day, that means the buses aren't nearly as packed, the pool can be wide open, etc. We have seen Pepper Market pretty busy at lunch time, but generally we eat lunch at the parks so that isn't an issue for us. Overall, we would stay at Coronado any time.

[sleepingbooty]

We just got back from our first stay at Coronado Springs last night. While we thought the resort was lovely, I doubt we'd stay there again.

We didn't care for the system at Pepper market, or having to pay a 10% gratuity for a counter service meal. There was not near enough seating for such a large hotel. There was actually a wait for a table there at 2pm on Monday.

The biggest downside (and I'd heard other people mention this and thought it wouldn't bother me), was the convention going on. There were literally hundreds of people there for a music convention. I'm sure there are times when there isn't much booked at all, but this wasn't one of them. For some reason it just detracted from the Disney spirit, to have hundreds of people all dressed up for their workshops, totally uninterested in Disney.

The other thing, the resort is very pretty and well themed, but it just isn't very 'Disney' in the theming.

On the upside, the bus transportation was generally very good. Never had to wait to get a bus back to the resort at night, never had to stand. One thing I thought was odd, it seemed that every bus we caught, no matter where it was supposed to be heading, also stopped at one of the water parks. Maybe because we usually go in September, a slower time for the water parks, we've never experienced this before. Anyway, it usually added another 10 to 15 minutes to the travel time. I'd say plan on leaving 45 minutes to an hour before you plan to be somewhere.