Most important stuff to know about Coronado Springs????

MAPOrocks

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jan 17, 2012
So, my family with kids 11 and 5 will be at Coronado Springs at the end of October. We had wanted to stay at Port Orleans French Quarter, but it didn't work out, so we chose Coronado Springs. What are some really important things we should know about staying there? Any tips will help, because I am nervous. I have already checked out the main thread about Coronado Springs, but wondering if anyone else with kids could help me out.

Thanks in advance!!!
 
CSR has 4 bus stops, and the order of pick up and drop off is bus stops # 2,3,4, then 1. Casitas buildings are closest to stop # 2, so if you requests those buildings you'll be guaranteed a seat on the bus. Cabanas are the most centrally located, but closest to bus stop # 4, but in October, the buses may be be crowded enough for it to matter.
CSR is the only Disney resort that has dedicated bus service - it does not share with any other resorts.
My family stayed at CSR several years ago and loved it. We did not find the size overwhelming at all. We are going to WDW next month, and had planned on staying at CSR again. However, we we able to upgrade and are trying a deluxe resort instead (Wilderness Lodge).
 
We will be there Halloween week for a short conference and the rest is vacation time:cool1: If you want to bypass the 10% service fee at the Pepper Market, get your food to go and sit at a table outside, plus that also saves tip money:) Which can really add up. We like the looks of the Casitas area with their fountains but the location of the Cabanas section. CSR is NOT the only resort to have direct bus service, but we are usually very pleased with their service. If you have any specific questions, I will do my best to answer them:) Nothing to be nervous about, it is a great resort, one of our favorites, just behind POR and POFQ.
 


CSR is the only Disney resort that has dedicated bus service - it does not share with any other resorts.

For the record, AOA, CBR and Pop Century resorts each have their own dedicated bus service, unless that has changed since March. I don't know about the others.
 
Coronado Springs has a really nice pool called the Dig Site.
 
Another piece of info I am glad I found out before we ever decided to stay there. The air conditioners have motion sensors and at night when nobody is moving around the a/c cuts off.

To bypass this you have to call maintenance to come down every 2 days and do something to the unit to get it to stay on.
 


Another piece of info I am glad I found out before we ever decided to stay there. The air conditioners have motion sensors and at night when nobody is moving around the a/c cuts off.

To bypass this you have to call maintenance to come down every 2 days and do something to the unit to get it to stay on.

All the resorts have those.
 
My hands-down favorite resort. I love the fountain area, whatever that's called... It's far from the pool but close to the main lobby area. I love the theming. It's all very relaxing, and I make a point of dragging the family along to eat at the restaurant there even when we're staying at a different hotel. The food is awesome, the servers are the best on property (or at least they were two years ago...) and the ambiance is a win for us.

Since we have kids we've never been in the bar/lounge area but it looks cool from the outside.
 
Where should we eat at Coronado, if you have to pay gratuity in Pepper market??

Don't worry about this. The Pepper Market has excellent food. We never ate inside, (well, only once and they never waited on us anyway! and I went and got my own drinks). When you don't eat inside you don't pay gratuity.
So.... instead you go to the different stations where you get what you want on your tray (and if you're on the dining plan, they stamped a ticket at each station), then you go to the check out counters and bring your food to one of the tables outside to eat.
My son loved getting the dessert the dessert lady made for him, which was huge and it involved ice cream and multiple churros.
This was 2 visits ago, so hopefully It still operates that way.

I can't backup the poster who talked about the busses enough!! If I was to go back, I too would request Casitas. We stayed at the Cabana building closest to the El Centro and catching the bus there (last stop for everything except DTD, when It is 1st) was horrible. Busses would go by full and we would have to wait, and rarely would we get a seat, just stand.
Plus, if you stay in Casitas, you can just go this way or that way depending if you want El Centro or the Dig Site (pool).

I don't hold too much weight with the dedicated bussing thing. Where Disney shares bussing it's relative to the number of rooms usually, or they have more frequent busses run through.

One final note, cause I think you mentioned kids. My DH and I loved to sit outside the arcade at one of the tables near there with a drink from the bar while the kids were inside the arcade with their card loaded up with money to play in there, they had a blast and we relaxed nicely. It appeared to be the only way in or out so easy to watch them.
 
Another piece of info I am glad I found out before we ever decided to stay there. The air conditioners have motion sensors and at night when nobody is moving around the a/c cuts off.

To bypass this you have to call maintenance to come down every 2 days and do something to the unit to get it to stay on.

On first page of resort of CSR thread is info on how to bypass the air conditioners(just after coconino cove stuff)

Did it in April and it worked great!

Love CSR! Get food to go(ask when entering pepper mkt and they stamp your sheet "To go") and take it back to room or outside by lake.(don't pay tip fee if to go order)

No table in room so use ironing board as a TV tray if needed.

Great sangria's lake side bar.

Water slide is a must do even for grown ups :cool1:

Lots of large turtles swimming in lake:goodvibes

Casitas are far from dig site. Cabanas and Ranchos better if at pool and bus stop convenience.

Get off at lobby and get stuff(food,snacks etc) and then walk to room.(often I sent kids to room and I fetched stuff so they not over tired and cranky)

Have a great trip! My fav of the mods:cool2:
 
Just a caution that Ranchos are far from El Centro, not convenient if your kids or you like going back and forth to Café Rix to refill your mugs.
 
Don't fear the ranchos. We loved this area! I had requested cabanas and was annoyed to be in ranchos, but it was great!
 
You can refill your mugs at dig site when they are open. You just have to give them your mug and they do it for you.
 
Don't fear the ranchos. We loved this area! I had requested cabanas and was annoyed to be in ranchos, but it was great!

Sorry, I didn't realize that you could refill at the bar (when open). (thanks, trishadono!)

I did like walking around the whole resort and the ranchos did look beautiful. I like walking around all over, so for me, I'm sure the walk to El Centro would be nice.

Really, you'll be fine OP whatever you do or get. It's a great resort. (but really, try to avoid bussing from El Centro).
 
Sorry, I didn't realize that you could refill at the bar (when open). (thanks, trishadono!)
I wish we'd known this when we were there in Nov. 2011!

We were back near stop #3 (which is actually the second stop). I hated how far we were from the main building and I also was disappointed in their gift shop. There wasn't a whole lot there, IMO and I didn't like Cafe Rix--they didn't have the light lemonade.
 
Sorry, I didn't realize that you could refill at the bar (when open). (thanks, trishadono!)

I did like walking around the whole resort and the ranchos did look beautiful. I like walking around all over, so for me, I'm sure the walk to El Centro would be nice.

Really, you'll be fine OP whatever you do or get. It's a great resort. (but really, try to avoid bussing from El Centro).

You are welcome and have fun on your POR/BC trip!
 
Hi
I too wanted to stay POR. I had a reservation but when i got through to Disney to get my free dining plan they were all booked. So I guess you have to rebook so we decided on CSR. One tidbit of info that was of inportance to me was that they do not offer a bus the Sisneys Boardwalk. We have a ADR at Couzzinas so we will have to find other arrangements
Probably will take a taxi.
Hope yall have as much fun as we hope to have!
 
Where should we eat at Coronado, if you have to pay gratuity in Pepper market??

Another piece of info I am glad I found out before we ever decided to stay there. The air conditioners have motion sensors and at night when nobody is moving around the a/c cuts off.

To bypass this you have to call maintenance to come down every 2 days and do something to the unit to get it to stay on.

The maya grill is awesome, and for QS still there is a QS place that you can grab food from and bring it back to your room.

I have seen a bunch of people post stuff about the A/C units with the motion sensors. In Feb 2012, this was not our experience at all. The A/C stayed on all night, even though we weren't moving. We were in Cabanas 9A.

Coronado is awesome, just beautiful, the Maya Grill is great, and the Dig Site is possibly the best pool at Disney :)
 
I think everyone has covered everything! ;) it's my favorite mod, and I'm going to miss it this year while we're at AoA!
 

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