Coronado Springs Resort -- New Unofficial FAQ Thread -- October 2010

[KatMark]

Yay for the new thread! Great job as always, Kathy! It's been very busy here, so I didn't even know you had started it. Thanks for a great job!

Thank you for all your help while I was gone.

I have finally made the decision to stay at CSR next year when we go in August. We cannot wait

Hope you love it half as much as we do.

Joining in. Looking forward to our second stay at CSR in April! We are headed down the week before Easter. I swore I would never go during Easter week due to crowds, but here we go! We have always traveled during April, which is busy, but not "Easter busy". Any tips for managing the crowds are welcome!

Welcome to the new thread. Never been at Easter, but I'm sure you'll have a blast.

I have read most of the old CSR thread, and very happy to see the new one!

A little background:
I'm Amber. I have 3 children, Our oldest are boy/girl twins age 3 (they turn 4 just after our trip. Our youngest is currently 7 months old. We originally planned on staying at All-star movies, but decided we would upgrade to CSR thanks to everyone on this forum! Our trip will be Dec. 14-22, 2010. We have had this trip planned for about 6 months now.
We have the DDP added to our trip, as well as tickets to Mickey's Christmas Party.
Anyway, I look forward to all of the trip reviews! If anyone has any tips on staying at CSR with little ones, I welcome the input!
Thanks!

Welcome! And what a fun trip going during Christmas (I plan on doing that one of these years!). Please feel free to join my Trip Report which is linked in my signature as there are pictures and info on CSR).

Does the resort sell infant formula, more specifically do they sell Similac Advance? I really don't want to bring a bunch with us. If they have it, I would rather spend a little bit more buying it there, than having to pack it in a suit case and risk luggage handlers busting it open at the airport.

I don't know about the baby formula. Have you thought of ordering from Garden Grocer?

I am so excited because my husband and I are checking in in only 9 days! Anything I shouldn't miss at the resort? Yes I have read, but what popped into your mind? Thanks.

I hope I haven't missed you. I hope you have a most magical time.

DH wants to stay at Boardwalk or Beach Club because we can walk to Epcot & DHS. We stayed there in September on DVC points. I can book Free Dining for $600 less at CSR and we can pay monthly rather than a chunk now for lodging. He is really fine with me just deciding, but he is concerned about the buses. How many of you just rent a car because it is easier? How are the buses? The buses at Boardwalk were fine in the a.m., but not so hot at any other time and the bus service was shared with 5, yes you read that right 5 resorts.

I'm pretty confident from what I've read that the CSR buses are really good, but I'd like to hear from some of you CSR lovers!

TIA!

We rent a car and drive everywhere but in passing the bus stop on the way out of the resort, we have never seen a full bus (at any time of the day).

Great job on the new thread!! I can't wait to learn all about CSR!

We finally decided on CSR last week and I am beyond thrilled. I hope it becomes our new home resort.

DH is just hoping it is warm enough to swim in December.

Welcome. I hope you love it enough that it becomes your new home resort too.

Nice new thread!

DH and I will be checking in to CSR on 23rd October. Will take pictures and if they are any good, you're more than welcomed to swipe.

DH is on a conference; so I'll be playing solo (and catching up with other Dis-ers).

Just a question regarding Pepper's Market. As we're on the conference rate, we cannot purchase the DDP with our room only rate. DH will have some food included whilst on conference and I'll be paying OOP.

I think I read somewhere that if we're paying for food OOP, tipping is required in Pepper's Market. Can you confirm if this is true? I just want to make sure I do the right thing.

Thanks in advance.

Yes, there is a 10% tip added to your bill. HOWEVER, if you want to avoid this, just ask for a "to go" ticket and sit at one of the lovely tables by the lake--this is what we do.

Just a real quick report on our fantastic magical time in Disney! My husband, son (2 1/2) my parents, and my sister went on our magical trip. I picked CSR sense my parents were going with us, I thought it wouldn't be to 'kid crazy' and that my parents would enjoy the fact that because of its size there would not be kids running around everywhere. My parents don't mind children (my father is actualy like one big kid) but whenyou are in your mid 60s I figured they would like a 'kid' break from being at parks all day. CSR did not disapoint! Its a beautiful resort very big but for me it was no big deal. Only the first night was it a problem sense we had all our luggage. My husband son and I arrived before my family a day early we got there about 11p I had sent in my room request with three request. 1)Cabanas 8 or 9 2)second floor or above (I was scared of snakes and figured they wouldn't come in my room as likly in a higher floor HAHA) 3) a connecting room. We got two of the three requests the one we didn't get was the location. We were in ranchos which is the farthest section. It was a beautiful section and I dind't mind the walk but my husband didn't like and neither did my mom. Two out of three requests were good for me so I didn't say anything. I know they are REQUESTS! Well that first night they said we could have a bellhop help but we would have to wait 15 min for him to come or we could walk 10 min we decided to take the walk but with our luggage and pushing a sleeping baby it was a loooooong walk! But other then that the distense didn't bother me. We ate at the Pepper Markert a couple times and enjoyed it. We swam in both the quiet pool and the main pool both were great! There are life jackets that even fit my 2 1/2 year old...even thou he wouldn't wear one and just wanted to be held the entire time! The slide at the pool is fun! For being a resort slide it really was fun! I would stay at CSR again of course when we go again I do want to try another resort but that is only because I like to try different places not because CSR didn't live up to my expectations.
We unfortunaly have no plans to go back to Disney soon. We take several vacations a year and my husband likes to do something different every time. We are trying for a second child and when our second is 2 1/2 we will go back again. I had planned even before my son was born to go when he was this age so I have to do the same when we have another! However, I do wish we were going again! There was so much I want to see again and so much I didn't even get to do....which is typical!

Thank you for your review. I'm so glad that you and your family enjoyed your stay at the CSR and that it lived up to your expectations. Hopefully you will get back there in a few years.

Found it!

Great job Kathy in getting this one going. Who knows how long the old one will be left open, but it is nice of them to let it be for now so that this one can get started. I wondering if they take that into consideration.

In any case recap for this thread: My trip - 11/21 - 11/24 DDP, requested Casitas 4 or 5 (fingers crossed).

First trip to CSR but looking forward to being there, especially after following the other CSR thread for the past couple of months.

Learning lots, and like a lot of y'all out there I am an excessive planner, well at least I like to know all, and I mean ALL of my options before I get on site at the world.

Cheers for now.

Thanks for coming over to the new thread. Your trip is getting closer and closer.

Thank you for this. We are scheduled to be there in March and I cannot wait. This will be my son's first time and my daughter's real first (second) time. The first was a two and a half day trip that only whet her appetite. We are staying for 10 days and I was so hoping for CSR. When we first made our reservations, they were for CBR, because CSR didn't have any openings. But my fairy godmother aka Teresa at Fairy Godmother Travel found us a room. We are counting down the days. We are celebrating the kids birthday's there. DD will be turning 13 on January 27 and DS will be turning 16 on February 23. So this is part of their Christmas and birthday present. We are also celebrating our engagement. He wanted to go to Pop Century. I finally convinced him to give this a try. It would be worth it. DD and I stayed at All Star Sports in April and we loved it. For three days it was fine, but not for ten. I would end up tripping over someone's shoes that they left in the middle of what little floor space we had and throwing said shoes in the pool.

I think with your kids ages that the CSR will be a perfect fit. Be sure they use the sand volleyball court and the Jaguar Slide.

New thread! Yay!!! We will be at CSR celebrating my MILs 70th birthday! Our dates are Dec 15-18... such a short trip, I don't know what to do! My MIL has never been to WDW before and this could be a once in a lifetime event for her!

I hope you have a great trip and that this is a very magical time for your MIL.

We just returned from a Trip to CSR yesterday and I have a couple things that bothered me about the resort. The rooms were nice sized and were awesome! We didnt have any trouble with the cleanleness of the rooms or housekeeping when we needed them. The things I didnt like was that it really didnt seem like a resort. Obviously I know its a convention hotel, but we were really given bad looks when us as a family (8 people) went to the pepper market to get something to eat after a day at the water park. Now keep in mind we were all dressed but had wet hair. I didnt feel welcome at all while staying there from other guest's and the Cast. It seemed like as a famly we were outcast. Even swimming in the pool at night we it was hard to feel comfortable. That was my two cents! Hope everyone enjoys their trip!

I'm sorry to hear that. The people employed by the PM are employed by the restaurant itself which is NOT owned by Disney. However, that is no excuse for that type of behavior. I'm sorry you didn't feel welcome by other guests or CM's. I was amazed when I was there a few weeks ago that every single guest we passed walking around the resort said hello.

I'm glad you tried it and hopefully your next trip you'll find a resort that is a better fit for you and your family.

We are staying at CSR for our first ever trip to WDW coming up soon. I'm trying to figure out what room to request, if any. After reading thru the posts and looking at the maps, I think I would be happy in Casita 5 or any of the Cabanas and find good things about the Ranchos too. All I want is a quiet room (no air compressor, stairwell noise etc.)

When you make a request, what do you request and why?
Do you ask for a specific building?
Specific room?
Or not to be in a specific building or not to be by a certain thing (i.e., stairwell?
Do you like ground floor or upper floor? Why?

I'm very excited for our trip but there is so much to figure out.

Please check back by the end of the weekend (or check the link in my signature for the old thread) when I will have this finished with "suggested room locations" based ojn what you are looking for. I can tell you we've stayed in Casitas 2, 3, 4 and 5 and Cabanas 9A and 8A and NEVER had a noise issue in any of them.

I normally only request a section and not a specific building or room or floor.


Okay, everyone, almost ALL of the pictures are downloaded and I will be working on updating this all weekend. Thank you for your patience.

 

[mitsybella]

We will be going on our 3rd trip this December and this will be our first time staying here, traveling with a 4 and 6 yr old so I am interested in which places to put a request in for, which bus stop is 1st to pick up (or can you give the bus schedule/route) and what is near the dig site? thanks

 

[daraddg]

We are booked at CSR for 8/25/2011 to 9/2/2011 this will be the first time we have ever stayed on property and we are so excited.It will be me and my daughters (7&10) So excited can't stand the wait , Any tips for making the year go faster?

 

[Sherrkel]

We just returned from a Trip to CSR yesterday and I have a couple things that bothered me about the resort. The rooms were nice sized and were awesome! We didnt have any trouble with the cleanleness of the rooms or housekeeping when we needed them. The things I didnt like was that it really didnt seem like a resort. Obviously I know its a convention hotel, but we were really given bad looks when us as a family (8 people) went to the pepper market to get something to eat after a day at the water park. Now keep in mind we were all dressed but had wet hair. I didnt feel welcome at all while staying there from other guest's and the Cast. It seemed like as a famly we were outcast. Even swimming in the pool at night we it was hard to feel comfortable. That was my two cents! Hope everyone enjoys their trip!

I'm sorry you and your family felt like outcasts. We've been to PM several times with anywhere from 8 to 28 (yes!) family and friends and I've never experienced this (we did have dry hair however ). Seriously though, I hope you do give CSR another try in the future, it's great for large families, they have always been so accomodating with our room locations, and when we had a birthday party for my DD at PM.

 

[snykymom]

We will be going on our 3rd trip this December and this will be our first time staying here, traveling with a 4 and 6 yr old so I am interested in which places to put a request in for, which bus stop is 1st to pick up (or can you give the bus schedule/route) and what is near the dig site? thanks

As KatMark said, she'll be updating this thread with what buildings are where, but I can tell you about the buses.

To and from the parks, the buses pick up and drop off in this order:
#2 (Casitas)
#3 (Ranchos)
#4 (Cabanas)
#1 (El Centro)

To and from Downtown Disney, the buses pick up and drop off in this order:
#1 (El Centro)
#2 (Casitas)
#3 (Ranchos)
#4 (Cabanas)

If you are at El Centro and want a bus back to your room, take a DTD one.

 

[roxiehartseeyore]

We just booked 29 Oct-1 Nov and I'm so excited!

What other resorts do they share buses with if any? Just curious for mapping out our non park ADRs, I really hate driving around Disney property (laziness is also a factor!)

Thanks!

 

[KatMark]

We just booked 29 Oct-1 Nov and I'm so excited!

What other resorts do they share buses with if any? Just curious for mapping out our non park ADRs, I really hate driving around Disney property (laziness is also a factor!)

Thanks!

The Coronado does NOT share with any resort for buses. There are four stops within the resort and then it is off to the parks directly. Have a great time.

 

[roxiehartseeyore]

Oooh! That's even better! Not sharing buses was one of the things we liked best about pop century, I'm thinking we're gonna be really happy with this resort. I'm even more excited now!

 

[princess o's mom]

We are hoping to get a microwave in our room when we are down there next week and I was wondering if there is anything in the room that is microwave safe to heat things up in (like a coffee mug) or if we should bring something. Thanks!

 

[tinacaplan]

A new CSR thread! Great job so far, Kathy, as always.

Just a few thoughts, based on what PPs have already said... IMO, the bus transportation at CSR was excellent. We never waited very long, the trip to every park but MK was under ten minutes! I was quite worried before we went that the busses would be inconvient, but we found that to absolutely not be the case. Personally, I loved being driven up to the front door of each park! We also never stood on a bus and often had busses nearly to ourselves, and this was during President's Week!

As for locations, for our anniversary, adults-only trip last year, my husband and I stayed in Casitas 4, which was really nice. Not too far from El Centro, a bit further from the Dig Site, but next to the Casitas quiet pool and a super short walk to the bus stop.

For our upcoming trip with our three year old son, we've requesed Cabanas 8A, as we'd really like to be close to the Dig Site. Even if its too cold to swim (praying it won't be.......we are from New England, all we ask for is low 70's), I know Max is going to love the playground.

We LOVE CSR!

 

[KatMark]

We are hoping to get a microwave in our room when we are down there next week and I was wondering if there is anything in the room that is microwave safe to heat things up in (like a coffee mug) or if we should bring something. Thanks!

There is coffee mugs might the coffee pot (I just posted the pics in the second post) and I think they would be safe in the microwave.

A new CSR thread! Great job so far, Kathy, as always.

Thank you, Tina.

 

[FozzieFan]

Sitting in the airport waiting to fly down to CSR.... Longest wait ever

 

[marivaid]

We have stayed at CSR several times and yet I have a question : can you open the window in the rooms ? We may have someone coming with us who has issues with air conditioning.

 

[KatMark]

Sitting in the airport waiting to fly down to CSR.... Longest wait ever

Have a MAGICAL trip.

We have stayed at CSR several times and yet I have a question : can you open the window in the rooms ? We may have someone coming with us who has issues with air conditioning.

No, the windows do not open as far as I know.

 

[princess o's mom]

Any food advice for Pepper Market? What's good, what's bad, any hints or tips would be great. We leave Sunday morning and the way my plans are shaping up we will probably eat there several times for dinner (maybe lunch) during our trip. We are on the dining plan so what is the best for our buck? Thanks!

 

[KatMark]

Any food advice for Pepper Market? What's good, what's bad, any hints or tips would be great. We leave Sunday morning and the way my plans are shaping up we will probably eat there several times for dinner (maybe lunch) during our trip. We are on the dining plan so what is the best for our buck? Thanks!

There is a steak at dinner; friends of ours just got back and had the ribs and the fettucine (here's a link to her report: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2565061&page=12
that they said was very good). My DH and I had the rotissere chicken last month and it was quite tasty.

 

[nickyb720]

Stayed at Coronado back in August! Very impressed with the renovations to the rooms! We may stay somewhere else next time just for a change of pace! But no complaints about CSR! Easy to get around!

 

[momcloud]

I'm doing the 60 day dance!!!!!cool1:

 

[danielsmommy04]

Hi! We are thinking about staying at CSR next October... We have only stayed at POP, we want something different. Anyway, we have 3 kids who will be 7,3,15 months. I really love the feel of the resort, but will the kids? Just trying too figure out which moderate to stay at with the kids! Thanks!

 

[KatMark]

Hi! We are thinking about staying at CSR next October... We have only stayed at POP, we want something different. Anyway, we have 3 kids who will be 7,3,15 months. I really love the feel of the resort, but will the kids? Just trying too figure out which moderate to stay at with the kids! Thanks!

My kids always loved the CSR (although they were older than yours when we stayed there).

Here is a review from earlier this year that may help you decide: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2490217