Coronado Springs Resort -- New Unofficial FAQ Thread -- November 2009

[KatMark]

Are there any actives at CSR? We are considering a split stay from 11/28-124 arriving at CSR for 3 day and transferring to AKL for the last 3. I know AKL has actives but does CSR?

Our party consists of me, DH, DD17 and DS2.

It's been a long time since we had little ones. I know they have he pool opening ceremony. But other than that, I'm not aware of anything they do. Hopefully, if someone with little kids know of anything, they will post.

 

[KatMark]

The background information is that I'm heading to CSR in 10 days for a dance competition that two of my children are in and our dance studio was interested in booking a team meal.

Dh and I got married a tad too early to have our wedding at WDW. So working with special events was really like a dream come true.

That being said, it was incredibly difficult to actually get hold of the person I needed to talk with. Apparently because we were associated with the Dance Olympus Competition I could only talk with one CM. It took three days to connect. That was frustrating. However, once I got hold of the CM in question, they were so wonderful that I soon forgot about my previous frustration.

She emailed me the information on menus. I've included it for you in case you want to browse through yourself.

What it came down to is we decided not to anything.

1) we have a highly allergic dancer on our team. While I have full faith in Disney to take extra special care of her, her parents were not as trustful.

2) The only time we could get the whole team together was for about an hour for brunch on the last day of competition. While you are all familiar with how much I love brunch, apparently my love is not shared by the other parents of the team. It was dinner or nothing.

3)With the extra money charged for the dance competition and workshops plus the disney sticker shock (although we did get corporate discounts) for some newby disney travellers the parents decided they didn't want to shell out any more money.


Without a team meal there was no need to bring in a character. Which is about $900 for 30 minutes. Beside Minnie only had a cheer leading costume. Not a dancer's costume. But if you want to see some of the rarely seen outfits on characters this might be the way to do it. It was $1300 for an hour of a character. The character had to take a small break at the 30 minute mark. You could have two different characters in the hour and have someone else come out for the second 30 minutes.

Instead we are all going to meet by the main pool in our dance studio tank tops for a group photo. The parents of the highly allergic dancer is going to bring a cake (perhaps that they are making themselves?) and the dancers can all have swim together.

We still might go with the photographer that Disney gave us. It was $200 for a group photo of less than 75 people and they would put our logo around around the photo. To buy an 8x10 would then cost $15. The dance studio owner really wants a good photo for our local newspaper so I still have hope I can at least organize that.

I can't get the photography link to show. Sorry but I do have the other links.

Here is the cake information from special events at the Coronado

http://www.disneycateredmenus.com/menus/CC/Celebration_Cakes_v092209.pdf

Here is their menus. Keep in mind that the cheapest brunch is listed at $21 something. But with tax it comes out to $25 something. The pricing listed is for adults. Children ages 3-9 are half price and under 3 is free. However, if you are doing a desert menu then children are the same price as adults. I guess Disney has realized that kids eat more desert than adults.

http://www.disneycateredmenus.com/menus/CSR/C_S_All_Menus_v092209.pdf

I'm with you...I love brunch. I'm sorry your group is not cooperating. I hope you will be able to get the team picture--that would be really great.

Thank you for sharing the catered menu...very interesting.

 

[mouselovenfamily]

Last night my sister texted me and told me to be careful when I check in to CSR. Her friends just returned home from there and were given a room with out queen beds. They were told not all the resort has queen beds just yet so they gave them a slight discount on their room for the inconvenience. That doesn't seem right to me. I told her I think they are giving you false info. I thought all rooms now had queens. I'm right, aren't I??

 

[KatMark]

Last night my sister texted me and told me to be careful when I check in to CSR. Her friends just returned home from there and were given a room with out queen beds. They were told not all the resort has queen beds just yet so they gave them a slight discount on their room for the inconvenience. That doesn't seem right to me. I told her I think they are giving you false info. I thought all rooms now had queens. I'm right, aren't I??

I wonder if her friend was confused and were at CBR? ALL rooms at the CSR have either two queen beds or a king bed.

 

[mouselovenfamily]

I wonder if her friend was confused and were at CBR? ALL rooms at the CSR have either two queen beds or a king bed.

That's what I thought!! I have no idea what is up with that story! I was sure every room had queens but "her friends" know since they just got back.

Thanks for the info!!

 

[kknpj]

We finished our six night stay at CSR on Saturday, and now are relaxing at the beach. I just wanted to share my thoughts while they are still fresh.

Checking in was a breeze. We did not do online check in, and it only took about ten minutes or so.

We got our requested room area. We had three families in our group and we had paid for a water view and requested first floor cabanas 9. We got Cabanas 9A right by the quite pool on the first floor. Three rooms in a row. Loved it so much! The pool was right outside of our doors. The Dig Site pool was always extremely crowded, and we really enjoyed the peace at the quiet pool.

We ate many times at the Pepper Market. We were on the dining plan, and thought the food there was much better than most quick service places. The portions were huge and were easily shared. My daughter got a hot dog once from the Rix Cafe and it was tasty also. We mostly used the Rix for the refillable mugs. (I was surprised by how small the mugs are!) My only complaint about the Pepper Market was how long it took to get our food. I would much prefer to put in my order and then have the wait staff bring it to you when it is ready. We waited in line up to 30 minutes after our food was ordered. Since we are paying a tip already, it just seemed like it would be an easy thing to have the waiter bring it to you. Breakfast was ready much faster than lunch/dinner. But we were very happy with the quality of the food at the Pepper Market and at the Maya Grill.

The size of the resort was not a problem for us. I am a walker and love knowing that the loop was a mile long. I walked a few laps every morning before we headed out. We had to walk much longer distances to the bus stop and pool when we stayed at the Contemporary and the Poly.

We mostly drove places, but those in our party that used the buses were very happy with them. We did have one occasion where a group had to wait over an hour for a bus to bring them home from Blizzard Beach. But that was the exception, not the rule. Most buses were prompt. And driving around WDW was a breeze! I personally prefer to drive now that I have done both.

Mousekeeping did a terrific job also. We requested a roll away bed in our room and a microwave. We had the same mousekeeper all week, and she was pleasant and did a wonderful job. We did tip her every day. She even gave us a hug when we left!

There was a Pampered Chef convention while we were there. So the resort was full of Pampered Chef families. A very nice group of people. I did not notice any other "convention" or business people around the resort. It was just full of vacationing families.

Overall, our stay at CSR was wonderful. I would definitely stay there again if we were going to chose a moderate resort. I cannot imagine another moderate that would be better! And I also think it comes close to the quality of a couple of the deluxes on property!

Now it is time to start planning our next trip!

 

[DJFan88]

Awesome trip!
Your trip report just makes me even more happy that we are trying CSR for our upcoming trip! Thanks for sharing!

 

[DisneyPolve]

It's terrible I am wishing half the summer away, but I want to get back to CSR!!! All these trip reports makes me want to be back "home"!!! Glad everyone is enjoying MY hotel while I am gone

 

[KatMark]

We finished our six night stay at CSR on Saturday, and now are relaxing at the beach. I just wanted to share my thoughts while they are still fresh.

Checking in was a breeze. We did not do online check in, and it only took about ten minutes or so.

We got our requested room area. We had three families in our group and we had paid for a water view and requested first floor cabanas 9. We got Cabanas 9A right by the quite pool on the first floor. Three rooms in a row. Loved it so much! The pool was right outside of our doors. The Dig Site pool was always extremely crowded, and we really enjoyed the peace at the quiet pool.

We ate many times at the Pepper Market. We were on the dining plan, and thought the food there was much better than most quick service places. The portions were huge and were easily shared. My daughter got a hot dog once from the Rix Cafe and it was tasty also. We mostly used the Rix for the refillable mugs. (I was surprised by how small the mugs are!) My only complaint about the Pepper Market was how long it took to get our food. I would much prefer to put in my order and then have the wait staff bring it to you when it is ready. We waited in line up to 30 minutes after our food was ordered. Since we are paying a tip already, it just seemed like it would be an easy thing to have the waiter bring it to you. Breakfast was ready much faster than lunch/dinner. But we were very happy with the quality of the food at the Pepper Market and at the Maya Grill.

The size of the resort was not a problem for us. I am a walker and love knowing that the loop was a mile long. I walked a few laps every morning before we headed out. We had to walk much longer distances to the bus stop and pool when we stayed at the Contemporary and the Poly.

We mostly drove places, but those in our party that used the buses were very happy with them. We did have one occasion where a group had to wait over an hour for a bus to bring them home from Blizzard Beach. But that was the exception, not the rule. Most buses were prompt. And driving around WDW was a breeze! I personally prefer to drive now that I have done both.

Mousekeeping did a terrific job also. We requested a roll away bed in our room and a microwave. We had the same mousekeeper all week, and she was pleasant and did a wonderful job. We did tip her every day. She even gave us a hug when we left!

There was a Pampered Chef convention while we were there. So the resort was full of Pampered Chef families. A very nice group of people. I did not notice any other "convention" or business people around the resort. It was just full of vacationing families.

Overall, our stay at CSR was wonderful. I would definitely stay there again if we were going to chose a moderate resort. I cannot imagine another moderate that would be better! And I also think it comes close to the quality of a couple of the deluxes on property!

Now it is time to start planning our next trip!

Thanks for the awesome trip report. I'm so glad that you and your family enjoyed your stay at the CSR and that everything overall went well. Will you be posting any pictures?

It's terrible I am wishing half the summer away, but I want to get back to CSR!!! All these trip reports makes me want to be back "home"!!! Glad everyone is enjoying MY hotel while I am gone

We may have to arm wrestle over "whose" hotel it is.

 

[Kid_@_50]

From Post #3

Buses:

CSR has 4 conveniently located bus stops, one in each of the villages and one at the main building. None of the buildings are far from a bus stop.

The ranchos are the furthest from the main building so getting to the restaurants and lobby are far but there are 3 options. Use the Internal Shuttle System, take a bus to the main building or walk.

I have a question or comment about the "Internal Shuttle System". I apologize if it has been asked and answered in the subsequent 150 pages of posts.

Last year when we stayed at CSR, I loved what might be the "Internal Shuttle System". During the two days of our visit their were over sized golf carts darting about the resort plus smaller sized people trams. I was told this was an additional paid option for conventions. When the convention ended, so did all the "Internal Shuttle System". All guests could use this service but that it was only available during conventions when the convention was paying for the service.

What specifically is the "Internal Shuttle System"? Is it directly tied to convention periods?

 

[Cafeen]

From Post #3



I have a question or comment about the "Internal Shuttle System". I apologize if it has been asked and answered in the subsequent 150 pages of posts.

Last year when we stayed at CSR, I loved what might be the "Internal Shuttle System". During the two days of our visit their were over sized golf carts darting about the resort plus smaller sized people trams. I was told this was an additional paid option for conventions. When the convention ended, so did all the "Internal Shuttle System". All guests could use this service but that it was only available during conventions when the convention was paying for the service.

What specifically is the "Internal Shuttle System"? Is it directly tied to convention periods?

There's 2. The first one is the one you saw which is tied to conventions. The other one is more-so a use of the Disney bus system.

All park buses start at Bus Stop 2 and go clockwise: 2 - 3 - 4 - 1
DTD bus starts at 1 and goes clockwise: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4
Using this system, anyone can get on any park bus and get to El Centro by getting off when it's at Bus Stop 1. To use a bus to get back to your area, take the DTD bus from Stop 1 and get off at your stop.

Of course, in the end, if you're able to, it's probably quicker, easier, and less hassle to walk.

(As a disclaimer, they didn't put "Good" or "Sensible" Internal Shuttle Service in there )

They may also open the Golf Cart system up at different times not directly tied to a convention. That I simply don't know.

(Man, I need to learn to read the full post before responding! It mentions the system I so randomly detailed out above in the initial quoted post , well, for the real answer, skip that part and read the second sentence and last paragraph.. well, last other than this one).

 

[KatMark]

From Post #3



I have a question or comment about the "Internal Shuttle System". I apologize if it has been asked and answered in the subsequent 150 pages of posts.

Last year when we stayed at CSR, I loved what might be the "Internal Shuttle System". During the two days of our visit their were over sized golf carts darting about the resort plus smaller sized people trams. I was told this was an additional paid option for conventions. When the convention ended, so did all the "Internal Shuttle System". All guests could use this service but that it was only available during conventions when the convention was paying for the service.

What specifically is the "Internal Shuttle System"? Is it directly tied to convention periods?

Yes and no. They use those golf size carts for luggage transfer and when a convention group pays for them. They also use those carts for deliveries (when people receive flowers, etc.). They are not supposed to offer rides to regular guests; however, I think it depends on the driver of the cart because I have been offered a ride numerous times. I always thank them but decline...I enjoy the walk.

 

[kknpj]

I will definitely post some pictures in a few days or so, once I learn how! I took so many that I was driving my family crazy!

 

[KatMark]

I will definitely post some pictures in a few days or so, once I learn how! I took so many that I was driving my family crazy!

Great...can't wait to see them.

 

[Minnie&Nana]

kknpj - what a nice review! Thank you for taking the time. Can't wait to see pics!

Our December visit we'll be at the Poly, but next time we stay at a moderate I will be looking forward to CSR for sure!

 

[KatMark]

Last night my sister texted me and told me to be careful when I check in to CSR. Her friends just returned home from there and were given a room with out queen beds. They were told not all the resort has queen beds just yet so they gave them a slight discount on their room for the inconvenience. That doesn't seem right to me. I told her I think they are giving you false info. I thought all rooms now had queens. I'm right, aren't I??

For those who have read mouselovenfamily's post above, I just wanted to let everyone know that I spoke to the CSR this morning (after our numerous stays there, I know someone who works in the office there) and she confirmed to me that ALL rooms are either one king bed or two queen beds. There are NO double beds left on the CSR property.

mouselovenfamily, as you and I discussed, I think they must have meant CBR and got their initials confused.

 

[Miss Mo]

We are down to 26 days until our trip!!

My daughter's WDW ticket/s came yesterday in the mail (we got the discounted conference pricing--since we are going for a convention/conference)!! She was so excited to open the envelope.

I already have the Disney Premier pass (I upgraded my Disneyland Premium Annual Pass--to this pass for the discounts you receive at the parks. For price wise, it worked out better for us--and was actually cheaper than me just buying WDW passes/tickets).

Everything is set in place (WDW tickets, airline reservations, resort reserved, Magic Express reserved, Universal Studios tickets --so we can visit the Wizarding World!, conference paid, ADP's complete).

But, now comes the toughest part. The last month countdown. Will I even be able to sleep as the days get closer???

I just hope the weather cooperates and we won't be dying in the awful Florida humidity. We Californians are just not used to that much humidity...and I fear we will melt once we get there.
*sigh*...I guess you have to have some 'bad' with all the 'good' we will have, right?

We're going to be there at the same time as you!! Getting WAY too excited!! We're at 20 days now!! As for the humidity - we'll we're coming from Scotland so not used to the heat or the humidity - lol - but we love it anyway!!

Maybe see you there!

mo x

 

[momma2kiddos]

Ok after some debating and number crunching and debating again, going to do CSR again for May 2011! We thought about AKL but it was too expensive for my bff and 4 kids. Then we thought about POP and although it all seemed good in theory, the thought of standing on the bus with a toddler, an infant, and a double stroller was too much! Not to mention standing in a line to wait on a bus? And renting cars was out of the question! On one of our resort days we'll go and take a sneak peek over there anyway since we fully intend on staying at the Animation Suites when it opens in 2012 (car rental included!)

So CSR won out for us again! Fridge for the baby's formula, coffeemaker for coffee obsessed mom, awesome slide for DD12 who can't wait to get back on it, awesome bus servie (and half empty), and good use of our dining credits (DDP)!

So I gotta go get a new siggy and prepare for a 2011 trippie to the world and back to good ole CSR......a vacation within a vacation!

 

[KatMark]

Ok after some debating and number crunching and debating again, going to do CSR again for May 2011! We thought about AKL but it was too expensive for my bff and 4 kids. Then we thought about POP and although it all seemed good in theory, the thought of standing on the bus with a toddler, an infant, and a double stroller was too much! Not to mention standing in a line to wait on a bus? And renting cars was out of the question! On one of our resort days we'll go and take a sneak peek over there anyway since we fully intend on staying at the Animation Suites when it opens in 2012 (car rental included!)

So CSR won out for us again! Fridge for the baby's formula, coffeemaker for coffee obsessed mom, awesome slide for DD12 who can't wait to get back on it, awesome bus servie (and half empty), and good use of our dining credits (DDP)!

So I gotta go get a new siggy and prepare for a 2011 trippie to the world and back to good ole CSR......a vacation within a vacation!

All I can say is:

 

[momma2kiddos]

Thanks Kat! This year has been a whirlwind with me getting pregnant again and being more busy (and tired) than usual. It's along ways off but we are excited about going back to the House of Mouse and relaxing at one of the most serene places on property!