Just got back yesterday from 8 nights at CSR!
First of all, I would like to thank Buzz for providing so much useful information on Coronado Springs with his website.
I would like to break this down into distinct pros and cons as we experienced them on our trip and then an overall recap of the resort.
Pros:
1. Location. We had originally wanted a room in either the Cabanas or the Casitas sections. Needless to say, we were disapointed when we learned we were in the Ranchos section. Once we actually got to our room though we were very impressed. We were in building 6A which was very close to Bus Stop 3 and The Dig Site ( main pool area ). It was very far away from the El Centro building with all of the resteraunts and shops but we actually used these less frequently than we thought anyway. We did see quite a few internal shuttles taking people around the resort but we were typically too inpatient to actually sit there and wait for one.
2. The Dig Site pool. Not only was it very close to our room, but at night when we were most interested in swimming, it was almost always scarce of people. Lots of chairs, tables, and room to swim. Probably the most people I saw swimming in that huge pool at one time during our vacation was maybe 10-15. It was a very nice pool. We also enjoyed the sand volleyball court. One downside here was the Mayan temple must have been going through some sort of rehab because neither the waterfall or the waterslide were operational while we were there.
3. Pepper Market. Once you figured out how the service worked ( and it is not that hard ), we thought the food was very good and plentiful for what you could get with a CS credit. No one could finish their lunches the one CS we had there.
4. The room. Maybe the highlight of our resort stay. If you have ever stayed at any moderate, the room dimensions and layouts are pretty much the same and what we expected. The only difference here was the southwest theming. However, the mousekeeping was outstanding. When we first entered the room, we had two towel animals waiting for us including a swan in window. This made my wife and daughter very happy and started our vacation on the right foot. Almost every day, our mousekeeper did something special. It mainly involved a stuffed animal that out daughter takes on every trip that we have nicknamed, "Doggy Pillow". Every night when we came back to our room, our mousekeeper had Doggy Pillow doing something. Some nights, watching TV or reading a comic. One day when we came back, Doggy Pillow was perched up in the front window with a sign that said " I am lost, can you please tell me how to get to the Magic Kingdom?". It was great and something we looked forward to every day.
5. Peacefullness. Although there was at least one convention happening at the resort, we hardly noticed. We only saw a lot of conventioners in the main areas. Hardly ever at the pool or on the buses or around our building. It was very quiet in our area.
6. The buses. Another big highlight for us. We stayed at POR last year and we were forced to stand and wait in lines for buses an extaordinary amount of time. Not here. We did not have to stand one time, either going to or coming from a park and hardly ever had to wait more that 5-10 minutes for a bus to arrive. When we could see the POR line at Epcot stacked almost back to the entrance to the park, we were thankful to be staying at CSR. Also, the resort is not too far away from any park and seemed very close to Epcot and MGM. A little further away from DTD than we would have liked but you can't have everything.
Cons:
1. Registration. Check-in took forever. Or at least it seemed to. It probably took us 45 minutes to an hour to actually get checked in. The line was huge when we got there but it could have had a lot to do with the time we arrived which was right around 3:00pm. Once we actually got up to the desk though, it seemed to move fairly quick.
2. Pepper Market staff. The Pepper Market was usually pretty busy and the staff seemed a little short with most customers including us. It seemed like if you did not already know what you wanted by the time you got into line, they were frustrated.
3. The gift shop. We had a couple of things to be delivered to our hotel room that we had purchased in the parks. When we stayed at POR, they would call us when our packages arrived. At CSR, we had to call and check to see. Not really a huge deal but a con nonetheless to us.
Overall:
A great experience and probably the best choice of all the mods. We still have not done Carribean Beach but feel like it would be hard to beat CSR with all of the little extra advantages you seem to have there...
We are all looking forward to going back someday and would highly recommend it!
First of all, I would like to thank Buzz for providing so much useful information on Coronado Springs with his website.
I would like to break this down into distinct pros and cons as we experienced them on our trip and then an overall recap of the resort.
Pros:
1. Location. We had originally wanted a room in either the Cabanas or the Casitas sections. Needless to say, we were disapointed when we learned we were in the Ranchos section. Once we actually got to our room though we were very impressed. We were in building 6A which was very close to Bus Stop 3 and The Dig Site ( main pool area ). It was very far away from the El Centro building with all of the resteraunts and shops but we actually used these less frequently than we thought anyway. We did see quite a few internal shuttles taking people around the resort but we were typically too inpatient to actually sit there and wait for one.
2. The Dig Site pool. Not only was it very close to our room, but at night when we were most interested in swimming, it was almost always scarce of people. Lots of chairs, tables, and room to swim. Probably the most people I saw swimming in that huge pool at one time during our vacation was maybe 10-15. It was a very nice pool. We also enjoyed the sand volleyball court. One downside here was the Mayan temple must have been going through some sort of rehab because neither the waterfall or the waterslide were operational while we were there.
3. Pepper Market. Once you figured out how the service worked ( and it is not that hard ), we thought the food was very good and plentiful for what you could get with a CS credit. No one could finish their lunches the one CS we had there.
4. The room. Maybe the highlight of our resort stay. If you have ever stayed at any moderate, the room dimensions and layouts are pretty much the same and what we expected. The only difference here was the southwest theming. However, the mousekeeping was outstanding. When we first entered the room, we had two towel animals waiting for us including a swan in window. This made my wife and daughter very happy and started our vacation on the right foot. Almost every day, our mousekeeper did something special. It mainly involved a stuffed animal that out daughter takes on every trip that we have nicknamed, "Doggy Pillow". Every night when we came back to our room, our mousekeeper had Doggy Pillow doing something. Some nights, watching TV or reading a comic. One day when we came back, Doggy Pillow was perched up in the front window with a sign that said " I am lost, can you please tell me how to get to the Magic Kingdom?". It was great and something we looked forward to every day.
5. Peacefullness. Although there was at least one convention happening at the resort, we hardly noticed. We only saw a lot of conventioners in the main areas. Hardly ever at the pool or on the buses or around our building. It was very quiet in our area.
6. The buses. Another big highlight for us. We stayed at POR last year and we were forced to stand and wait in lines for buses an extaordinary amount of time. Not here. We did not have to stand one time, either going to or coming from a park and hardly ever had to wait more that 5-10 minutes for a bus to arrive. When we could see the POR line at Epcot stacked almost back to the entrance to the park, we were thankful to be staying at CSR. Also, the resort is not too far away from any park and seemed very close to Epcot and MGM. A little further away from DTD than we would have liked but you can't have everything.
Cons:
1. Registration. Check-in took forever. Or at least it seemed to. It probably took us 45 minutes to an hour to actually get checked in. The line was huge when we got there but it could have had a lot to do with the time we arrived which was right around 3:00pm. Once we actually got up to the desk though, it seemed to move fairly quick.
2. Pepper Market staff. The Pepper Market was usually pretty busy and the staff seemed a little short with most customers including us. It seemed like if you did not already know what you wanted by the time you got into line, they were frustrated.
3. The gift shop. We had a couple of things to be delivered to our hotel room that we had purchased in the parks. When we stayed at POR, they would call us when our packages arrived. At CSR, we had to call and check to see. Not really a huge deal but a con nonetheless to us.
Overall:
A great experience and probably the best choice of all the mods. We still have not done Carribean Beach but feel like it would be hard to beat CSR with all of the little extra advantages you seem to have there...
We are all looking forward to going back someday and would highly recommend it!
Which with a 4 year old that just wants to get to the castle ......it is frustrating.
They where slow to refill drinks...sometimes we had to go refill our own..not a big deal but.....also we ate there several times for breakfast and lunch.....sometimes the food was not always the same even though you ordered the same thing.....the hash browns where different everyday 
