Coronado Springs!!! - a few questions :)

[BebopBaloo]

OP- that's great that you were able to upgrade for about the same price! Did you already have the dining plan before free dining and so the cost was the same because of that? I'm not trying to be nosy. CSR is one of the places we would love try sometime.

Have a great trip!!

 

[sterre]

Hi all!

Just changed to the Free Dining promo from Kids Stay Free and was able to upgrade to CSR from POP for very little price difference.

We have never stayed at a moderate and my husband seemed most interested in this one since I nixed the cabins at FW until next time (maybe).
We are a family of 4 - DH, DS (will be 4), DS2 (will be 19 months), and me (will be 29 weeks prego during our trip in August). We are driving so CSR seemed really centrally located to all of the theme parks too, another bonus if we drive vs. bus to the theme parks (the idea of taking a double stroller on the busses doesn't excite me, so we're wavering here).

Questions!

1 - What section do you prefer? (we aren't paying more for "preferred). I'm thinking Cabanas, but does it really matter? Also, the res agent said they don't have elevators so I'm thinking 1st floor is highly suggested.

2 - Reviews on Pepper Market and Cafe Rix (for quick breakfast) are mixed to "eh". Any recent visitors??

3 - Recreation for little ones - tell me about "The Dig"! Also, I've read they have life jackets available at the pool. Is this true and are they free to use?

4 - Also heard the busses there are not the greatest, so another thought for driving... but would love to hear your experience.

Any other opinions would be great, including on mousekeeping, check in (we are probably not doing "online" check in), etc...

Thanks!!

Just got back from a one night stay, so I can answer some of these. I was in Cabana 8A, second floor. There is an elevator at one end, but the building is looooong with winding hallways, so if you need the elevator, be sure to ask to be near it. our building was perfect. Right next to the dig site pool, and a bus stop too! It was far from the food court, but since we did not plan to eat there, it was not an issue for us. I'd rather have a five minute walk to dinner, and be close to the pool and busses. The busses ran quickly, we never had to wait long for any of them. No more than five or ten minutes. The pool has life jackets for kids, and a splash pool with fountains for toddlers. my DD is four and enjoyed both, but was too small to do the slide. The main pool has a ton of steps, so she had plenty of space to play with us.

 

[staceylynnga]

BeBopBaloo,

No worries - we all have access to the same prices, so I don't mind sharing.

We initially reserved at the Pop Century for 7 nights, 6 day MYW tix (not hoppers), and the regular DDP. We are 4, but my youngest Brendan is under 2 so he technically is free. We had the "Kids Stay and Play Free" deal which basically saves us Nathan's MYW ticket (maybe $200??). For a standard room, the total was about $2070. We paid for insurance, which we never take, but b/c I'll be 29 weeks at the time of the trip, figured it was the smart thing to do.

***If we had done a moderate on Kids Stay/Play package, it would have been around $2600.

Now, we have the Vacation Memories Pkg (you pay $95 for a Disney photo book - I thought it would include onsite pix by Disney cast members, but no, it's empty). This package includes the basic DDP included (which is roughly $40/adult/day and $12/kid/day). Because the deal starts on 8/28, we had to do 6 nights from 8/28 to 9/3 (we initially booked from 8/27). My husband doesn't want to do Sunday to Sunday b/c he'd have no day off before heading back to work on Monday. So we did 6 nights at Coronado and the cost is approx $2090). We are driving on the 27th so rather than booking another res at CSR and paying $169 a night, we got the Holiday Inn LBV on Route 535 (1 mile from Disney) for $40 plus taxes/fees. And we'll check into the Coronado on Sunday a.m.

Still not sure which section to stay in.... would love to hear from pros/cons (or likes/dislikes) about certain sections. I already know the distances from El Centro, the Dig/Pool, etc... looking for any other thoughts especially those w/ small kids. Thanks!

 

[tinka-belle]

We are staying here for a week in June I'm glad we picked this resort because even though there are some negative reviews about the prices at the restaraunts and the buses it still looks like a lovely resort. We've never stayed at a moderate before and its our honeymoon so hopefully it will be worth it! Can anyone else confirm that if you take your food outside they dont charge the 10% gratuity?

When you check in at the Pepper Market podium, ask for a "TO GO" slip. It's the same card for food stamps that other diners get, but says "to go" at the top. This not only alerts the food preparer to put your food in a container instead of on a plate (some counters get very busy at mealtime!) but will alert the cashier not to charge the 10%. Without the "to go" stamp on your card the cashier might think your container is just leftovers.

 

[BebopBaloo]

BeBopBaloo,

No worries - we all have access to the same prices, so I don't mind sharing.

We initially reserved at the Pop Century for 7 nights, 6 day MYW tix (not hoppers), and the regular DDP. We are 4, but my youngest Brendan is under 2 so he technically is free. We had the "Kids Stay and Play Free" deal which basically saves us Nathan's MYW ticket (maybe $200??). For a standard room, the total was about $2070. We paid for insurance, which we never take, but b/c I'll be 29 weeks at the time of the trip, figured it was the smart thing to do.

***If we had done a moderate on Kids Stay/Play package, it would have been around $2600.

Now, we have the Vacation Memories Pkg (you pay $95 for a Disney photo book - I thought it would include onsite pix by Disney cast members, but no, it's empty). This package includes the basic DDP included (which is roughly $40/adult/day and $12/kid/day). Because the deal starts on 8/28, we had to do 6 nights from 8/28 to 9/3 (we initially booked from 8/27). My husband doesn't want to do Sunday to Sunday b/c he'd have no day off before heading back to work on Monday. So we did 6 nights at Coronado and the cost is approx $2090). We are driving on the 27th so rather than booking another res at CSR and paying $169 a night, we got the Holiday Inn LBV on Route 535 (1 mile from Disney) for $40 plus taxes/fees. And we'll check into the Coronado on Sunday a.m.

Still not sure which section to stay in.... would love to hear from pros/cons (or likes/dislikes) about certain sections. I already know the distances from El Centro, the Dig/Pool, etc... looking for any other thoughts especially those w/ small kids. Thanks!

Thank you for your response! Sounds like a good deal to me. Congratulations on your third little one!

 

[JerseyGuy]

First visit was April 2010, loved it. We ate at the Pepper Market several times and have no complaints.
We stayed in the Cabana's 2nd floor and they do have an elevator. Made it easy with a stroller. The only time we had a problem with the bus and stroller was one night leaving MK after the fireworks. I had to stand with the stroller but my wife and child had a seat. Never waited long for a bus, leaving the resort and returning. They do not share bus service with any other resort.
Another thing that we liked was the queen size beds. I do not believe the other moderate offer queen, just full or double.



Returning to CSR in 9 days

 

[staceylynnga]

I just checked Allears.net and apparently the regular DDP is $45.99 per adult pet day, not $40.00, so I suppose its even better with the free ddp than I thought.

In addition, I called Disney res today to remove the ground floor request from our res. Once I learned that all but 1 building have elevators, no need to be on ground floor unless that's the way we get assigned. I also did something it appears most who go to CSR don't do. I requested the Ranchos!! Looking at photos and based on where I grew up (central NJ) and where I've traveled, I'm looking forward to the style of the desert southwest. Plus I'm asking for 7g or one adjacent so we are near the Dig and not too far from El Centro.

Our 100 day countdown starts soon!!!

 

[MSLRAC]

1 - What section do you prefer? (we aren't paying more for "preferred). I'm thinking Cabanas, but does it really matter? Also, the res agent said they don't have elevators so I'm thinking 1st floor is highly suggested.

Our last trip was our first staying on site and I didn't care one bit about room requests because I was just ecstatic to be on property. We ended up in Ranchos 7590 and we loved it!! It was a first floor room which was nice for luggage and stroller purposes. We had a very short walk to one of the quite pools and Dig Site but it was a bit of a walk to main building. We didn't mind it all because it was a beautiful walk.

2 - Reviews on Pepper Market and Cafe Rix (for quick breakfast) are mixed to "eh". Any recent visitors??

We had dinner at Peppers one night and we all loved it. We didn't have any problems with any of the stations, the food was great and our server was so attentive. We were NOT charged the 10% gratuity but we did tip our server. We would definitely go back if it fit into our schedule.

We only got snacks once at Cafe Rix but they were great!! I loved their cookies!!

3 - Recreation for little ones - tell me about "The Dig"! Also, I've read they have life jackets available at the pool. Is this true and are they free to use?

My kids had a blast at the Dig Site. They really loved the slide and it kept them occupied for a good hour. They do have life vests and they are free. There is also a nice bar right by the pool in case you don't want to swim with the rest of the family.

They has have a nice little playground area but my kids were always too tired in the evenings to even think about going to play.

4 - Also heard the busses there are not the greatest, so another thought for driving... but would love to hear your experience.

We drove so we didn't ride the buses. CSR appears to be "out there" when you look at the maps but it was a very short drive to all the parks and other resorts.

We absolutely loved CSR!! We have been looking at rooms at AKL and CR for our next trip but we keep coming back to CSR because the price is so much cheaper and we loved it so much. So I think it is a great choice!!

 

[musicluvr40]

We stayed at CSR in October of 2009. We would have stayed there this past October as well, but they were booked, so we stayed at CBR. We loved CSR! One of the best things is the beds! Queen size beds with the most comfortable mattresses and linens! So nice! We also found the Dig Site to be near empty. There were two conventions going on, and those poor people had to be in meetings, so there were not a lot of people at the pools. The same for the busses. We never had to stand on a CSR bus, and we never waited more than 20 minutes for one. We found the bus service exceptional!

My daughters loved the slide. Lifejackets are free - my little one used one a lot. The pool was immaculate! We ate at the Pepper Market a few times and found it to be good. We also had the free DDP, so we felt like what we got was a good value. The CM's everywhere were very nice!

We stayed in the Cabanas section. We had about a one minute walk to the Dig Site, one minute walk to the bus stop, and maybe a 5 minute walk to El Centro. It is a beautiful resort - makes you never want to leave!