An Impromptu, I Can't Promise You Anything Report on our Two Weeks at Coronado!!

[metsno1]

I guess I just have to face the reality that I’m never going to be one of those guys who puts a ton of time and effort into a trip report! I really really want to do it. I read stuff by Kevin Stringer, and I think “hey, I can do that too,” but sadly, my reality is that we’ve been home for a week from our two week journey to The World, and I haven’t even taken five minutes out to jot down the highlights! So here’s what I’m gonna do: I’m just going to start typing this, and every once in a while, I’m just gonna hit “submit.” I can make no promises as to how often I’ll post, or how long or detailed each post will be, but it’s the best I’ve got right now!
This was our first trip back to the World in three years. We’re not “once a year” folks like many on the Dis are. It’s just a bit too much for us, and since we do only one major vacation every year, we do other things on the off years. Since our last Disney stay in 2007, we’ve managed to visit about a dozen National Parks, including the Big Three (Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Grand Canyon), and genuinely love the whole “road trip” concept. We fly and drive, and tent camp along the way. That’s our style. The kids are awesome travelers, and I guess it’s just what we do. So a Disney vacation, with free dining no less, is a bit more “luxury” than we’re accustomed to. But this is our third trip with free dining (and I’m guessing it will sadly be the last ). We have a pretty solid lay of the land, know how and when to use Disney transportation-and when to take a cab, and don’t feel the need to do things commando-style (or at least that’s the theory).
I’m Dan, 43, and I’m the planner. I truly do love Disney, and have visited the parks probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 times. Growing up, I had family in Merritt Island, and I visit them often and Disney was always on the agenda! DW, Liz, is 41 and a really good sport. I think she really likes Disney, but certainly doesn’t love it the way I do, and going in August in not exactly her idea of a great time! Syd is 12 and she loves all things Disney as much as I do. Anna’s 10, and while she too loves it there, she leans toward her Mom’s perspective.
The essentials of this trip are these: Leave Rochester, NY via AirTran at noon on August 17, arrive Orlando at about 5:30, Magical Express to Coronado Springs for 14 nights, and fly home on Tuesday, August 31. Let me tell you right now; yes, two weeks is a long trip-a very long trip (more on that later). 10 day park hopper with water parks and more. Free DDP.
No particular schedule other than to avoid all parks with EMH like the plague unless it’s in the evening after we’ve already done our main park for the day. Going into the trip, we planned to do the whole “up early for RD, head back to the hotel for an afternoon break, back to the parks in the evenings for dinner, etc.” We’ll have to see how that worked out……...
So here we go……..

 

[debf]

Can't wait to read your report. We're staying at CSR next August so I'm looking foward to hear about what you thought of the resort.

 

[metsno1]

I'll try and throw a few pics in along the way. No food porn, but I have plenty of restaurants to review! But the pics are on the other computer, so they'll be sporadic.....

Anyway, things started off on this trip about as well as they possibly could have. We arrived at the Rochester airport about two hours before our scheduled flight and upon check-in, were immediately offered and awesome "bump deal!" Instead of our one stop (Atlanta) flight that arrived at 5:30 PM, would we mind hanging around for an extra few hours, get on the plane at 5 PM, take a non-stop to Orlando, arrive at 7:30 PM, and for our troubles, accept four free round trip tickets anywhere AirTran flies that are good for one year from today's date? Um, no, we wouldn't mind a bit, thank you very much!! So with our free round trip vouchers in hand, we hit the road for a nice lunch, got back to the airport around 2 PM, hung out, read, napped for a bit, and before we knew it, we were on our way!

The whole "bump" thing was something we had really dreamed about . That's gonna get us down to the Mayan Riviera, Aruba, or someplace in the Caribbean over Winter break (That's $3000 worth of airfare for the flights we'd want, mind you!! WOW!!! )

 

[blue and green]

cant wait to hear all about your report!!

 

[metsno1]

Can't wait to read your report. We're staying at CSR next August so I'm looking foward to hear about what you thought of the resort.

Hey, it's nice to have a reader! Thanks for checking it out....

We've stayed at CSR a couple times now. Without getting into great detail, it's a wonderful resort that's not for everyone. It's pretty big by Disney standards, and you do have to walk a bit. But the bus service was superb, and we absolutely love the Pepper Market-best counter service restaurant on the entire property IMHO. The theming is beautiful, and the main pool is absolutely wonderful. Mousekeeping was OK, not superb, but OK. It's a great fit for our family, but we've already decided that next trip, it's time to spring for a Deluxe. So when we head back in a couple/three years, it'll be to the Poly or the Beach Club for about ten nights! But truthfully, you can't go wrong with CSR. I have lots of pics and maybe I can throw a few videos up as well.

 

[AimeeMichele]

NICE bump on AirTran! They actually offered me that one trip and me being too antsy and extremely impatient passed on the deal. I think about that at least once a week and want to kick myself in the behind Anyways, looking forward to hearing about your stay at CSR as that's the only moderate that appeals to me.

 

[metsno1]

So let's start with CSR. Two weeks is a long time to stay in a single hotel room with two adults and two kids, ages 12 and 10. But you know what? CSR really worked pretty well for us. The queen sized beds are really the clincher vs. the other mods as far as we're concerned. We're not "big" people by any stretch, but the thought of two weeks in double beds just isn't appealing at all!

Arrived in Orlando at about 7:45. We were at CSR by 8:30 PM! Very nice and efficient start to things! We had done the online check in, and had requested Cabanas 8A, which we've stayed in before. I knew that this, being an extended stay, would be a good location because I like to hit the pool every morning before we head to the parks, and I wanted to be close. Well, we couldn't have been closer! Got our request and were in a very nice room on the "back" side of 8A, about halfway between the Dig Site and bus stop 4. Perfect for our needs. Took about five minutes to walk to El Centro if we strolled. Took me less than one minute from our room to the hot tub each morning. We couldn't have been more pleased with the location unless it had been a "water view" on the other side of the building, but we didn't want to put up the extra cash for that!

Since our luggage hadn't arrived yet, we just changed into our swim suits and headed over to the Pepper Market for dinner. Can I just say right now that my reviews of the Pepper Market are likely very biased. Being on the DDP, the Pepper Market represents one of the very best values on all of Disney Property. Paying out of pocket might make it less of a value, although I have to say that I found most of their prices to be very reasonable, and thought that their fajitas for around ten bucks were a pretty incredible deal! Since it was our first night, and we had just been granted a whopping 56 counter service meals to use, we all ordered our own entrees, drinks, and desserts. They had a ribeye as a special, which I ordered. So so at best. A bit tough, but cooked properly. The potatoes and veggies on the side were really good. Liz had a fantastic Asian cabbage salad, which we've managed to find the recipe for btw, and loved it. Syd had her favorite alfredo, but it was too thin this time around and she never ordered it again. Anna grabbed a burger, which was "fine," nothing special, but "fine." Overall, it wasn't incredible, but it was certainly quite good. They did NOT add the 10% tip to the bill at checkout at any point during our trip, but the server on the first night did make a point of telling us that it was not included (which for whatever reason, rubbed me the wrong way!). Over the course of our two weeks, we probably at five or six times at the PM. The fajitas were absolutely wonderful-I mean really really good. I had the NY Strip a couple times, not bad, not great, a little on the thin side, but certainly an edible steak for a counter service credit. I would not pay $15 for it though. The salads were all quite good, particularly the cabbage salads and the ceasars (with shrimp!). Our very favorite menu item at the PM (and Rix for that matter) have always been and always will be the chocolate chip muffins!

Anyway, we finished up that first night at the Pepper Market, headed out to the pool, where we spent about a half hour relaxing, and then headed back to the room. We were all pretty beat after a long day of travel. I had hoped that our luggage would have arrived by 11 or so, but alas, it did not show up until about 1 AM. We were all asleep and it was a momentary interruption when it arrived, so no big deal......Next post, I'll talk about the room itself, mousekeeping, location at CSR, and the overall resort experience.

 

[metsno1]

NICE bump on AirTran! They actually offered me that one trip and me being too antsy and extremely impatient passed on the deal. I think about that at least once a week and want to kick myself in the behind Anyways, looking forward to hearing about your stay at CSR as that's the only moderate that appeals to me.

Same thing for us. Years ago, we had a chance to take a bump and because we were impatient, we didn't. Been kicking ourselves ever since !!

But this time, we pretty much jumped at it. I mean, c'mon!! A two hour delay overall plus a bump up to a non-stop flight in exchange for FOUR free round trip tickets?? We were absolutely thrilled. It's down to the Mayan Riviera, Aruba, Jamaica, or the Dominican Republic for the kids winter or spring break!!

 

[metsno1]

So the room was really quite nice overall, but not without a few minor glitches that are really related to personal preferences.

I was really excited about the two queen beds because on our last trip, we had to bring an air mattress. We all rotated so that each night, two people shared a bed, and two got their own space (including one on the air mattress). That was a pretty huge hassle, and I was glad we didn't have to do that again. Unfortunately, and I seem to be in the minority based on all of the other reviews I've read, I found the "new" beds at CSR to be hard as a rock compared to what I'm used to, and I woke with back pain nearly every day. That's tough to deal with for two full weeks!

The new decor is nice, but I don't get the fabric "thing" that they put on the center of the bed each day and the bolster pillows. I suppose they're just supposed to be decorative, and I guess they look nice, but they were sort of a pain, and just got tossed between the bed and the wall each night.

Mousekeeping was just fine.They came in every day, and replenished everything regularly. The beds were made nicely, and the room was generally very well kept. We never saw them live and in person, and so they were very unobtrusive. They left extra towels when we left a note and asked. Never did get any towel animals though . I wondered why they kept putting new bottles of shampoo and new bars of soap out each day when there was still plenty left in the day-old containers, so we asked them to stop swapping out unless we left a note requesting replenishing.

Our location was incredible for our family. We were in the "back" of building 8A, facing the Ranchos section, which we could barely make out between the lush greenery in between. It took less than 60 seconds to walk to the Dig Site, about 2 minutes to walk to bus stop #4, and about a seven minute stroll from El Centro (that's taking it slow). It was exactly where we wanted to be, although being on the "water" side of 8A would have been slightly more pleasant (not pleasant enough to pay for a "water view," though, IMO). I woke first every day, and went to the pool by myself every morning at around 9 AM and stayed until about 10:15. By that time, the rest of the crew was usually up and around and getting ready to head out for the day. It didn't take us long to realize that we were not going to be hitting any rope drops this trip, so we just decided to go with the flow, take our time getting where we wanted to go, and just relax. But I absolutely cannot dispute the fact that the earlier we arrived at the parks, the shorter the lines were! So if you're early risers, kudos to you! You'll get more "done" early in the AM than those of us who just can't drag ourselves out of bed!

Anyway, I really love the whole feel of CSR. It's laid back, very casual, and the fact that it's a convention resort (like YBC, CR, GF) doesn't detract from anything one iota. I've never understood that argument, and it still doesn't hold any water with me. Never saw groups of people in suits, and wouldn't have cared if I did. If anything, the presence of conventions usually leads to less crowded buses during the day!

The Dig Site is incredible. It's no SAB, but it's a really nice pool complex on its own. I watched the opening "ceremony" most mornings, and the kids really seemed to enjoy it. The Mayan temple is really lovely, and I could lay on the lower steps for hours! Great hot tub (not hot enough though!), nice kids area, and the bar was wonderful. I consider the Dig Site to be my home base at the resort, and perhaps that's why I love CSR so much.

The overall service at the resort was great. We had very little interaction with the front desk, but what we did have was very pleasant, very professional, extremely helpful (including when I had questions about checking my luggage at the resort on the way home), and very very fast.

One minor, sort of sour employee at the Pepper Market was all we encountered. Nothing major, just a disagreement over how counter service credits could be used during breakfast. We had asked for help from a CM at the bakery and placed our orders based on the information they gave us. When we got to the checkout, the CM there told us that we had been misinformed, and was going to charge us additional credits for what had been ordered. I wasn't willing to accept that because we had asked the appropriate questions of another CM. They may have given us erroneous information, but that info changed our ordering decisions. Not our issue. She didn't want to "give in," insisting that we should somehow have "known," which was a bit silly given that we had asked for help, and a manager had to be called to assist us. All was fine in the end, but it was one of those situations that should have been handled with a "Oh, I'm sorry that you were given incorrect information. We'll honor that information, but in the future please be aware that we won't be able to do that. Thanks and have a magical day!" Then we say "Thank you very much. We'll keep it in mind next time. You have a great day too," and then everybody leaves happy. It was literally the only time on the entire trip when we encountered anything less than an incredibly helpful CM. It's amazing how it sticks out in my memory..... I guess that just goes to show how important it is for "The Show" to be maintained at all times on the Property.

Bus service was generally excellent. Over two weeks, we only had to stand a handful of times, and the buses were usually almost empty. The longest we had to wait at park closing was one day at Epcot, and that was no more than ten minutes. A couple times at the resort, we just missed the bus we wanted, and we did have to wait up to twenty minutes. I think that's overall outstanding. Every time we went to other resorts for dinner (e.g., Poly, YBC, CR), we waited significantly longer for bus transportation.

The only bus route at CSR that I'd quibble with is the one to DD and TL. You have to go way out of your way, around OKW and SSR to get to DD Marketplace and then to the West Side before heading over to TL. That was the one trip that seemed to take forever on the bus, somewhere in the neighborhood of 30-40 minutes. All of the other routes were excellent, mostly quite direct, and virtually never took more than 15 minutes. Overall, I'd give the bus service a very solid 9 out of 10!

 

[metsno1]

So next, maybe I'll throw in some dining reviews. Here's a bunch of the places we ate:

Teppan Edo
Cape May Cafe
Ohana
Kona
Chef Mickeys
Tony's
Maya Grill
Raglan Road
Wolfgang Pucks
Coral Reef
Tusker House

Pepper Market
Sunshine Seasons
Columbia Harbor House
Morocco

Plus a few others along the way. Wolfgang Pucks, Tusker House, Raglan Road, and Kona were among our faves, but I'll save the details for the next post!!