CSR Trip Report 9/23-29: I wanna go back!

[Ktharee]

Just back from a great week long stay at the Coronado Springs resort. After much anticipation I can say the resort did not disappoint! Traveling with my husband, daughter and I were my parents and we met my sister and her fiancé down there. I had made all the reservations and linked our rooms together. On our reservations I asked them to please note my daughter was celebrating her 6th birthday, my parents were celebrating 45 years of marriage and my sister and my future BIL just got engaged. I also requested two rooms connect and that we be placed in Cabanas 8A or Ranchos 7B.

My sister was the first to arrive and while they did have Just Engaged buttons for them, our rooms were all over the place. She pulled out the instructions I provided her with (in case just such an incident occurred lol) and kindly asked if they could accommodate our requests. No problem, it was done! Unfortunately because of our requests, their room would not be available for 3 hours. They sat at Siesta’s and became very friendly with Sandy the bartender. The only glitch was their luggage from Magical Express was delivered to the wrong room. It went to the room they were originally assigned to prior to discussing our request for Cabanas 8A. Once they called the front desk, the luggage was promptly delivered.

When the rest of us arrived at 6:45, I high tailed it to the business center to pick up a package I had sent via Fed Ex. This was a package for my daughter “from Mickey and Friends” filled with stuff she “just might need” during her stay with them. We made it, paid the $3 charge and proceeded to check in. The young man at check in was lovely. He was new and a little nervous. He had buttons for the birthday girl and the 45 year marriage vets. He gave my daughter a ton of stickers and was very helpful with any questions we had.

Our location could not have been better for us. We were on the second floor, which we prefer. Down the stairs to the left was the pool and down the stairs to the right was the bus stop. A two minute walk to both! We have a 6 year old, so we spent a lot of time in the pool. The walk to El Centro was about 8 minutes, and if it wasn’t so darn hot, it would not have been a bother at all. I think the resort is a bit large for my parents, but my husband and I enjoyed it very much.

The marina was closed the entire time we were there. While we intended to rent a sea raycer on this trip, per KatMark’s suggestion, we planned on renting at the Contemporary anyway so it had no impact on us.

Our first night we ate dinner at the Pepper Market. It may have been confusing if I did not already know what to do from all the info I got on the Dis, but it went very smoothly! My husband had the grilled chicken sandwhich, my Mom and I both had the rotisserie chicken with vegetables, my daughter had the hot dog and my Dad got a burger. Tons of food and it was really good. We brought our desserts back to our room. Everyone was pleasant except for the dessert lady. I thought she just might be having a bad day, but she was like that all three times we visited Pepper Market. Oh well. Analia, our server made up for her attitude ten fold. She was the most lovely person and my daughter was so taken with her. They have similar names-Hannah Leigh and Analia-both thought that was the coolest thing.

The Rooms: Very spacious, loved the privacy doors and the beds were very comfortable.

Mousekeeping: Tipped every day, rooms were cleaned, daughters dolls placed neatly on the bed, but no towel animals.

Buses: We had absolutely no complaints until Monday night and Tuesday morning (our last two days) on any of the transportation options. Those two days we waited ½ hour or more for buses. Even the monorails were few and far between. For some reason two bad days for transportation. Other than that, all other days were 5 minute waits or less and we always got a seat going to the park. Coming home we would have to stand about ½ the time.

The Pool: Amazing! So big that even when it was crowded it didn’t feel crowded. The slide was so much fun, we all did it! Well except for Grandma. We are lucky she was in the water at all. My daughter loved the pool so much, she often asked to go back to the resort while we were in the parks! Drove me a little nuts, but I am glad she enjoyed it so much. ☺ One day we no sooner got down the slide into the pool that they closed it because of a threat of thunder storms. We hung out in the Arcade and it reopened about ½ hour later.

Wake Up Calls: We got Stitch everyday but once. When we met Stitch in AK, my daughter thanked him for waking us up.

We also ate at Pepper Market for breakfast and lunch and both meals were very good. Boy can Terry make a HUGE salad! LOL she was great!

One day my DH and I split the Chicken Caesar wrap at Siestas and it was really very good. Enough food for us both for sure!

We had rented a stroller from Orlando Stroller rentals and it was waiting for us at check in and all we had to do was return it to the front desk when we checked out.

We were able to get our boarding passes printed at the front desk the morning of our departure, they were happy to do it for us.

Since our Magical Express pick up was not until 4:15, we were able to store all our bags with Bell Services and enjoy our last day in the Magic Kingdom.

There was a convention of some sort going on, but I only saw the conventioneers early in the mornings. They were no bother at all, save for the fact that 90% were smokers. Maybe it was a Phillip Morris convention? Lol

We did not see any alligators but other resort guests said they had. One thing that irritated us was the speed at which they drive the carts around. Holy cow! One guy took a corner so fast, if there had been a child running out it would have been a disaster. And believe me, I am no Sunday driver, they were driving too fast around the paths.



Believe it or not I did NOT get to lay in a hammock! We were always on the go. Maybe next time. I did however enjoy a frozen Rum Runner… or two.

Overall we were VERY pleased with the Coronado Springs. It’s beautiful and even though we stayed for 6 nights, still did not have a chance to visit the entire resort or utilize all the amenities. The grounds are gorgeous! I would definitely stay here again, however, we usually travel with my parents who are nearing 70, and feel it’s too large for them. If you are fit and/or enjoy a nice walk, this place is a winner!

I hope I covered it all, if not ask away! Thanks for reading and have a magical day! (boy do I miss hearing that)

I have CSR pictures to post, but I will have to do that later. You can check out my ongoing Trip Report by clicking the link below. I'm only up to our second day, it really is like a part time job, but there are some pics! You can see the whole cast of characters.

[Princess Disney Mom]

Sounds great.

[KatMark]

Originally Posted by Ktharee

Just back from a great week long stay at the Coronado Springs resort. After much anticipation I can say the resort did not disappoint! Traveling with my husband, daughter and I were my parents and we met my sister and her fiancé down there. I had made all the reservations and linked our rooms together. On our reservations I asked them to please note my daughter was celebrating her 6th birthday, my parents were celebrating 45 years of marriage and my sister and my future BIL just got engaged. I also requested two rooms connect and that we be placed in Cabanas 8A or Ranchos 7B.

My sister was the first to arrive and while they did have Just Engaged buttons for them, our rooms were all over the place. She pulled out the instructions I provided her with (in case just such an incident occurred lol) and kindly asked if they could accommodate our requests. No problem, it was done! Unfortunately because of our requests, their room would not be available for 3 hours. They sat at Siesta’s and became very friendly with Sandy the bartender. The only glitch was their luggage from Magical Express was delivered to the wrong room. It went to the room they were originally assigned to prior to discussing our request for Cabanas 8A. Once they called the front desk, the luggage was promptly delivered.

When the rest of us arrived at 6:45, I high tailed it to the business center to pick up a package I had sent via Fed Ex. This was a package for my daughter “from Mickey and Friends” filled with stuff she “just might need” during her stay with them. We made it, paid the $3 charge and proceeded to check in. The young man at check in was lovely. He was new and a little nervous. He had buttons for the birthday girl and the 45 year marriage vets. He gave my daughter a ton of stickers and was very helpful with any questions we had.

Our location could not have been better for us. We were on the second floor, which we prefer. Down the stairs to the left was the pool and down the stairs to the right was the bus stop. A two minute walk to both! We have a 6 year old, so we spent a lot of time in the pool. The walk to El Centro was about 8 minutes, and if it wasn’t so darn hot, it would not have been a bother at all. I think the resort is a bit large for my parents, but my husband and I enjoyed it very much.

The marina was closed the entire time we were there. While we intended to rent a sea raycer on this trip, per KatMark’s suggestion, we planned on renting at the Contemporary anyway so it had no impact on us.

Our first night we ate dinner at the Pepper Market. It may have been confusing if I did not already know what to do from all the info I got on the Dis, but it went very smoothly! My husband had the grilled chicken sandwhich, my Mom and I both had the rotisserie chicken with vegetables, my daughter had the hot dog and my Dad got a burger. Tons of food and it was really good. We brought our desserts back to our room. Everyone was pleasant except for the dessert lady. I thought she just might be having a bad day, but she was like that all three times we visited Pepper Market. Oh well. Analia, our server made up for her attitude ten fold. She was the most lovely person and my daughter was so taken with her. They have similar names-Hannah Leigh and Analia-both thought that was the coolest thing.

The Rooms: Very spacious, loved the privacy doors and the beds were very comfortable.

Mousekeeping: Tipped every day, rooms were cleaned, daughters dolls placed neatly on the bed, but no towel animals.

Buses: We had absolutely no complaints until Monday night and Tuesday morning (our last two days) on any of the transportation options. Those two days we waited ½ hour or more for buses. Even the monorails were few and far between. For some reason two bad days for transportation. Other than that, all other days were 5 minute waits or less and we always got a seat going to the park. Coming home we would have to stand about ½ the time.

The Pool: Amazing! So big that even when it was crowded it didn’t feel crowded. The slide was so much fun, we all did it! Well except for Grandma. We are lucky she was in the water at all. My daughter loved the pool so much, she often asked to go back to the resort while we were in the parks! Drove me a little nuts, but I am glad she enjoyed it so much. ☺ One day we no sooner got down the slide into the pool that they closed it because of a threat of thunder storms. We hung out in the Arcade and it reopened about ½ hour later.

Wake Up Calls: We got Stitch everyday but once. When we met Stitch in AK, my daughter thanked him for waking us up.

We also ate at Pepper Market for breakfast and lunch and both meals were very good. Boy can Terry make a HUGE salad! LOL she was great!

One day my DH and I split the Chicken Caesar wrap at Siestas and it was really very good. Enough food for us both for sure!

We had rented a stroller from Orlando Stroller rentals and it was waiting for us at check in and all we had to do was return it to the front desk when we checked out.

We were able to get our boarding passes printed at the front desk the morning of our departure, they were happy to do it for us.

Since our Magical Express pick up was not until 4:15, we were able to store all our bags with Bell Services and enjoy our last day in the Magic Kingdom.

There was a convention of some sort going on, but I only saw the conventioneers early in the mornings. They were no bother at all, save for the fact that 90% were smokers. Maybe it was a Phillip Morris convention? Lol

We did not see any alligators but other resort guests said they had. One thing that irritated us was the speed at which they drive the carts around. Holy cow! One guy took a corner so fast, if there had been a child running out it would have been a disaster. And believe me, I am no Sunday driver, they were driving too fast around the paths.



Believe it or not I did NOT get to lay in a hammock! We were always on the go. Maybe next time. I did however enjoy a frozen Rum Runner… or two.

Overall we were VERY pleased with the Coronado Springs. It’s beautiful and even though we stayed for 6 nights, still did not have a chance to visit the entire resort or utilize all the amenities. The grounds are gorgeous! I would definitely stay here again, however, we usually travel with my parents who are nearing 70, and feel it’s too large for them. If you are fit and/or enjoy a nice walk, this place is a winner!

I hope I covered it all, if not ask away! Thanks for reading and have a magical day! (boy do I miss hearing that)

I have CSR pictures to post, but I will have to do that later. You can check out my ongoing Trip Report by clicking the link below. I'm only up to our second day, it really is like a part time job, but there are some pics! You can see the whole cast of characters.

Welcome back. I am so glad you enjoyed your stay at CSR. I'm sorry you didn't see Glen...I was told when we were there that he had been moved. I didn't realize how much work trip reports were...I'm on day four of ours and we've been back a week. I'm off to read yours now. Thanks again for the review.

[Sorcerer Fan]

Thanks for the great report. Glad you enjoyed CSR.
We were there the same time, didn't see Glen either, but also had a Magical stay
Headed over to your TR I'll get our TR posted eventually

[dgaston]

Thanks for writing. You've whetted my appetitie for our F & W weekend in 2 weeks.

[Pixiedust34]

Thanks for your resort review! I'm getting so excited about our 1st stay at CSR next year!

[Ktharee]

Originally Posted by dgaston

Thanks for writing. You've whetted my appetitie for our F & W weekend in 2 weeks.

F & W was fantastic! We were on the dining plan and saved all our snack credits to "eat around the world" one day. It was great!!! Enjoy! I am totally jealous of your trip right now. As I stated...I WANNA GO BACK!

[engagedatWDW]

Glad to hear you had a great stay at CSR. My husband and I just booked our first trip there for January and it's gets me excited to read good reviews - as if I need help in the excitement department! Just started reading your TR - I'm sure your daughter was surprised!! WDW is soooo much better than the dentist!

[Ktharee]

Originally Posted by engagedatWDW

Glad to hear you had a great stay at CSR. My husband and I just booked our first trip there for January and it's gets me excited to read good reviews - as if I need help in the excitement department! Just started reading your TR - I'm sure your daughter was surprised!! WDW is soooo much better than the dentist!

Enjoy your stay! Yes, I have been to both WDW and the dentist, and I would choose Disney every time.

[KatMark]

Originally Posted by Ktharee

Enjoy your stay! Yes, I have been to both WDW and the dentist, and I would choose Disney every time.