Coronado Springs Resort - New Unofficial FAQ Thread - November 2011

[heidia]

Does anyone know offhand what they offer at the refillable mug stations at CSR? Does this vary from resort to resort? I know we had Powerade at POFQ, but my friend is at Pop right now and says they don't have it there...

[Pixiedust34]

Originally Posted by gobraves39560

This will be our first time at Coronado. We love POR b/c of the boat ride to Downtown Disney, but I need free wifi b/c I am taking some online classes. We can't wait.

I think all moderate resorts have wi-fi now, but it is nice to give CSR a try. We like POR, but we like CSR just a much.

[HiHoOffWeGo]

What are the prefered buildings? Thanks!

[CarolinaMomOf3boys]

Was so disappointed that we had to cancel our free dining stay at CSR during spring break, but was able to rebook it for free dining in august and at about $700 cheaper!! The boys will miss a week of school, again, but Disney is always worth it!
We have never stayed at this resort, and the boys are so excited about it...and returning to Disney!! Looking forward to learning the ins and outs of this resort while getting dining ressies ready.....

[sunsetbeachgal]

yes, there is free wi-fi and it worked great when we were there last week.

I think, correct me if I am wrong, that the preferred buildings are Casitas 1,2 and 3. We paid for standard room/view and were assigned a water view room in casitas 3, which was VERY convenient to run over to fill up our mugs with coffee every morning! I only remember seeing soda and coffee for the mugs...there was powerade for sale in bottles at Cafe Rics, but I dont remember seeing it at the mug refill area.

[Ktharee]

Originally Posted by Pixiedust34

I think taking the evening to rest is good so you'll be able to hit the ground running the next day.

We did some pool games at Pepper Market a couple of years ago and enjoyed it.

Last year, we spent a few evenings at POFQ just relaxing at the resort and watching the outdoor movie. Fun! It's a nice way to spend the evening. Roasting marshmallows was fun, too.

Where do they show the movie at CSR?

According to another website it's all down by the pool. The screen is placed so that you can be in the water and watch the movie if you would like to. Looking forward to it!

[avw1295]

We just got back form CSR on Saturday. We had a very nice trip. This was our second stay at CSR. I checked in on-line prior to arrival. Everything was ready for us when we got there. I DID receive my room request! I was very excited because I did not get it last year. I requested the Cabanas. We were in 8A, corner room with a water view. Excellent location!! We really enjoyed the Pepper Market's breakfast buffet. I did not care for lunch. I think lunch was better before the buffet. One of the reasons that we decided to stay at CSR again this year was because of the outstanding bus service that we had last year. NOT the case this time. The bus service was awful. There was a huge mess on Monday (3/5). We waited for almost an hour for a bus to Epcot. I thought there was going to be a riot at bus stop 1 that morning. People were furious. Everyone was complaining. Five Downtown Disney buses came through right in a row. This was followed by 4 DHS buses and 1 Animal Kingdom bus. There were no buses to MK or Epcot. They finally sent a floater bus and the driver surveyed the angry crowd to see how many people were going where. There were more people going to MK, so she went to MK. We waited about 15 more minutes and then an Epcot bus came. We used bus stop 1 again on Thursday to DHS. There was someone from transportation there monitoring the buses. He told us it would be 10 minutes before the DHS bus arrived and he was 100% correct. We waited exactly 10 minutes and the bus showed up. I'm glad that they finally did something about it, but the majority of the week was very bad for buses. I also had some confusion surrounding our departing magical express and check out arrangements. On Thursday, I received a ME notice with a pick time for Friday. We weren't checking out until Saturday. I went to the front desk. The CM told me not to worry about it. They had me in the system as checking out on Saturday. On Friday, I didn't get anything about my ME pick up for Saturday, but I did receive someone else's boarding pass. Again, I went to the front desk. This time I was told that they did not have me booked for ME on Saturday. They had to call and get it fixed. On Saturday (check out day) I never received my boarding passes or my invoice and I had to go back to the front desk. Overall, we still had a great time. We still really like CSR, but I think we are going to try the Poly next year. If it's not in the budget, we might try French Quarter or Riverside.

[Alsobrook]

Was in Cabanas last week. Wifi was not sufficient. I called about it several times. It never improved. Wasn't impressed.

[Pixiedust34]

Originally Posted by Ktharee

According to another website it's all down by the pool. The screen is placed so that you can be in the water and watch the movie if you would like to. Looking forward to it!

That is good to know! Thanks!

Originally Posted by avw1295

We just got back form CSR on Saturday. We had a very nice trip. This was our second stay at CSR. I checked in on-line prior to arrival. Everything was ready for us when we got there. I DID receive my room request! I was very excited because I did not get it last year. I requested the Cabanas. We were in 8A, corner room with a water view. Excellent location!! We really enjoyed the Pepper Market's breakfast buffet. I did not care for lunch. I think lunch was better before the buffet. One of the reasons that we decided to stay at CSR again this year was because of the outstanding bus service that we had last year. NOT the case this time. The bus service was awful. There was a huge mess on Monday (3/5). We waited for almost an hour for a bus to Epcot. I thought there was going to be a riot at bus stop 1 that morning. People were furious. Everyone was complaining. Five Downtown Disney buses came through right in a row. This was followed by 4 DHS buses and 1 Animal Kingdom bus. There were no buses to MK or Epcot. They finally sent a floater bus and the driver surveyed the angry crowd to see how many people were going where. There were more people going to MK, so she went to MK. We waited about 15 more minutes and then an Epcot bus came. We used bus stop 1 again on Thursday to DHS. There was someone from transportation there monitoring the buses. He told us it would be 10 minutes before the DHS bus arrived and he was 100% correct. We waited exactly 10 minutes and the bus showed up. I'm glad that they finally did something about it, but the majority of the week was very bad for buses. I also had some confusion surrounding our departing magical express and check out arrangements. On Thursday, I received a ME notice with a pick time for Friday. We weren't checking out until Saturday. I went to the front desk. The CM told me not to worry about it. They had me in the system as checking out on Saturday. On Friday, I didn't get anything about my ME pick up for Saturday, but I did receive someone else's boarding pass. Again, I went to the front desk. This time I was told that they did not have me booked for ME on Saturday. They had to call and get it fixed. On Saturday (check out day) I never received my boarding passes or my invoice and I had to go back to the front desk. Overall, we still had a great time. We still really like CSR, but I think we are going to try the Poly next year. If it's not in the budget, we might try French Quarter or Riverside.

I'm sorry to hear about the bus and ME glitches. I think bus problems are hit and miss at every resort. I am glad you had your room request met.

Originally Posted by Alsobrook

Was in Cabanas last week. Wifi was not sufficient. I called about it several times. It never improved. Wasn't impressed.

That's not good. I requested Cabanas or Ranchos and I'm hoping to be able to use the wi-fi. Have you tried the wi-fi in El Centro or at the Dig Site? If so, sis that work OK?

[sunsetbeachgal]

I was in Casitas 3 last week and wifi worked great...no problems at all...

[creativeamanda]

So, I finally made my reservation request yesterday. We have a standard view room booked, and although I know this may put us in the farthest point in the back of the resort, I requested "top floor near transportation". I will have a vehicle, but looking at the order for the bus stops, I'm thinking being in Ranchos may not be so bad. We are on the DxDP, so although we have the refillable mugs, I only see myself using them at the end of my morning run for coffee. Otherwise, we have plenty of ADRs to keep us away from El Centro.

[TheMorgans]

CSR here we come.... I decided to book with free dining today instead of doing the YES tix. The price difference wasn't enough to pay for the food, so I took the leap today. I also wasn't patient enough to wait and see if a room only discount were to come out for our dates. I am soooo excited. I have already picked out my ADR locations. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

[LoriNKY]

We're back from our trip! In general we really enjoyed CS. Here are a few observations/experiences:

We were booked in the Ranchos section (7A). At first, no biggie, since we got the adjoining rooms we asked for and we were really close to bus stop #3. But, after a day or two of walking WDW we were beat down and that walk to El Centro was a MONSTER! We've been far out at Caribbean and Riverside, but this walk puts those to shame. You can take a bus to El Centro, as it's always the last stop out if the resort, but during certain times we waited 15-20 minutes for ANY bus (especially a night), so that was pointless. Also, you can take a bus TO El Centro, but you can't take one back to your stop. - We did see a specific resort-only bus... Once. Only once. Busses to the parks were typical of what you'd expect at a moderate resort. Sometimes you wait, sometimes you don't.

WiFi was available, but it didn't work so great on my iPhone. It was good on my iPad though, but on my phone, it was unreliable. Also, none of us could get a cell signal in the rooms to save our lives. We had to step outside. I had that same problem at Caribbean Beach too.

Our rooms were nice and clean, and the shower is awesome. The only bad thing was that the ice machine on our floor was broken all week. No sign or anything. It just didn't work. Then the candy machine on the 2nd floor ate my MIL's money and they told her she'd have to go to the front desk to take care of it. She decided it wasn't worth the walk! LOL!

As for the Pepper Market, we all really liked it. The food was good for breakfast (though we never had lunch there). We had dinner there a few times, and it was tasty. The fajitas were delicious! I will note that it's an awesome deal with the dining plan, because it's always just a counter service credit. If we didn't have the dining plan, it would've been terrible because it's otherwise costly, and Cafe Rix has a very limited selection. I wouldn't recommend staying at CS without the dining plan because you'll either go broke or go hungry. Semi-major complaint here: They have no problem adding the 18% gratuity to the breakfast buffet (via room charge), but apparently absolutely cannot add a tip via your room charge during dinner. So, if you don't have CASH on hand, your poor server is getting stiffed. (We had to trek to our room and back to tip the poor guy! It was awkward!) That's all kinds of messed up.
Cafe Rix is good for a snack (mostly pastries and cold items) or a very limited hot meal (breakfast sandwiches, basic burger, etc). You can refill your mug there, but that's limited too. No juice or iced tea. Just fountain drinks, coffee and hot chocolate.

The Aztec pool is nice. So is the hot tub! We also spent some time at the nearby quiet pool. We didn't make it to the dig site though.

So, in general: CS is great if you have a dining plan and aren't in Ranchos. It's still great in Ranchos, just more exhausting! LOL! But really, the entire food experience has everything to do with your dining plans. Consider that closely!

[LoriNKY]

I'm sort of reading backward here on the posts tonight.
FYI about "water view." Your water view can also end up being the pool. - That was our "water view" at Riverside a few years ago. Yes, we PAID for that! That kind of water view isn't so serene. It's actually usually kind of loud. I felt sorry for the poor people with the "water view" of the "quiet " pool in Ranchos last week, because kids were screaming and generally insane... And that was darn near 11 pm.

[aubriee]

Originally Posted by LoriNKY

We're back from our trip! In general we really enjoyed CS. Here are a few observations/experiences:

We were booked in the Ranchos section (7A). At first, no biggie, since we got the adjoining rooms we asked for and we were really close to bus stop #3. But, after a day or two of walking WDW we were beat down and that walk to El Centro was a MONSTER! We've been far out at Caribbean and Riverside, but this walk puts those to shame. You can take a bus to El Centro, as it's always the last stop out if the resort, but during certain times we waited 15-20 minutes for ANY bus (especially a night), so that was pointless. Also, you can take a bus TO El Centro, but you can't take one back to your stop.

To get back to your room, take a DTD bus. The park buses order is bus stop 2 (Casitas), bus stop 3 (Ranchos), bus stop 4 (Cabanas), then bus stop 1 (Main building), but for the DTD buses the stops are bus stop 1, then bus stop 2, then bus stop 3, then finally bus stop 4.