Coronado Springs....huge disappointment.

[joats]

I'm sure I'm going to offend a lot of Coronado Springs fans out there, but we just got back and we were so disappointed in our stay.

(Sorry long post...need to vent)

I must admit I was apprehensive about staying there in the first place, because of many positive stays at the WL. However, we wanted to try some place new and financially CSR fit our budget. Never again!! I don't care how much more I'd have to spend to stay at WL...you clearly get what you pay for. Maybe it is true that once you stay at a deluxe you can't stay any place else and I'm just being a WL snob.

From the moment we arrived it just didn't feel right. The walls and floors on the way to our room in our building were all scuffed and marked. Our room was ok, but since it our door opened up to the outside instead of a lobby we heard every single noise made by others and were woken up many times. The Pepper Market in theory, is a good idea and I don't mind paying the 10% service charge. However, we often ended up having to get our own drinks and even came back to our table to find others being seated and served there. (There was one server in particular who was awesome and attentive: David!)

While very pretty, everything is a far distance from one another. You can call me lazy, but after walking all day at the parks the last thing I want to do is have to walk a 1/4 mile or more to get food, or go for a swim. Sure, they offer for you to get on a Disney bus at one of the 4 bus stops on the resort to get to the other side of the resort, but No Thanks! I'd like to just walk down a hallway and through a lobby to get some eats or go to the pool.

Needless to say, even on our very first night, we asked to speak to a manager and tried to switch hotels. The manager was wonderful and tried to switch us to another disney resort. Due to the Columbus Day holiday, all hotels were full and they could not accomodate us. So, after a good cry (on my part) we made the best of it and never spent any more time at our hotel than we had to.

For us, the CSR was lacking in Disney "magic" and I regret making the decision to give it a shot sight unseen. Sorry to all CSR fans if I have offended you - to each his/her own. CSR just was not was I was expecting or anticipating.

Disappointed,
Joats

p.s. Aside from the resort, we had an awesome time!!!

 

[n2mm]

Thanks for your honest opinion. We too have stayed there, and found it not our "cup of tea". I guess that is why Disney makes so many resorts, because everyone is bound to find one that they love. We like to bounce between delux and values. So guess we're the type who aren't spoiled by deluxs. During value season they are a treat to us. But during regular season we find the value resorts fit us better and allow us to stay anywhere between 10-14 nights each visit (we go 4 times a year--except last year when we went 6 times, depending on airfare). We look forward to staying at WL in January because hot tubs are important to us that times of year, plus it's value season. But we have no problem staying at the A/S Movies in the spring, when we find we spend less time at the resort. At least you still had a good time and that's what important.

 

[tinkerb]

I have always been a CS fan, so much that we have spent the last few trips just there, but this last time was a real disappointment. When we arrived we weren't able to check in to our room but they gave us room keys and a # to call after 3 pm to find out our room number. At 5 pm we left Epcot so we called the # and found out that they still didn't have a room ready for us. I was a little surprised and said something to the effect of "I thought room check in was 3 pm" and the CM replied "well anytime after 3 pm" so I asked what will we do, we wanted to change and freshen up for our dinner that evening, they put me on hold and came back with a room # but said we would have to stop at the front desk for new keys.... so when our bus brought us to CS we stopped at the front desk and got the new keys, waited for bell service to take us to our "water view" room, and we ended up on the 3rd floor in ranchos, facing a pool. I was disappointed in the "water view" and called the front desk to ask about it and explained that is was not our idea of water view, so they offered to change us to a water view room. The CM was really nice and gave us a first floor room facing the water, it was perfect.... until we walked in the room, the first thing we noticed was the smell of cigarette smoke and the sound of the bathroom exhaust fan running. I'm guessing it was running to get rid of the smell. By that time we were too tired of moving to even complain and we just stayed there.

 

[slimplaw]

I agree with you totally. Our first stay was at WL and our second stay was at CSR. We were at the back of the resort and it was just too far to the front building. I prefer staying at All-Stars over CSR if I'm going on trip and need to save money. I have not had a chance to stay at the other moderates, but plan to do so on a future trip.

 

[tar heel]

Wow. I'd stay in the furtherest building at CSR before I'd stay at All Stars any day.

joats -- it sounds like the big disney moderates (including cbr and po-r) just don't fit what you want since, for the most part, the things you don't like are basic elements -- outside corridors, several bus stops, spread out. Sometimes all that is really wrong with a resort is that it doesn't fit YOU. We stayed in a FW cabin this summer and loved the cabin itself but found the resort didn't fit the way we do Disney -- we didn't like the transporation set up, needed stores and restaurants to be open later, etc.

 

[seashoreCM]

>>> The Pepper Market in theory, is a good idea ...

How does the Pepper Market work? Is it a food court like those in shopping malls?

 

[halfway there]

I'm sorry to hear you didn't enjoy this resort especially if it was an anniversary trip, supposed to be so special!
I agree that location can make all the difference at some of these larger resorts (CSR, CBR, POR). May I ask what section/bldg you were in?
We stayed in Cabanas 9B and it was a great location, close to food, buses and pool! My sister had to wait until almost midnight to get into her room that trip! Not sure what is going on there with the room readiness aspect!

I think it is hard to go from a deluxe to a moderate if that's what you're used to and like best. I really don't like the deluxes because of how hard it seems to me to get to the room especially with all your luggage when you drive. We like to unload our car ourselves and not pay a bellman so the outside corridors work well for us. That said, we just returned from POR and we walked a lot, upstairs too! Our next trip is in Nov to WL so it will be an interesting change but one we're looking forward to.

Thanks for the honest appraisal!

 

[Planogirl]

We stayed at CS once and I didn't care that much for it either. It was a nice place but I didn't really like the theming or location. However, POR is a favorite of mine and I have stayed at a deluxe a few times. It really depends on what a person personally wants IMO.

 

[maggiew]

Oh no. We are going there is November! I will give my opinions then. Luckily, we have only stayed at the All Stars and POR so we haven't been "spoiled" by the deluxes yet. Although, we stayed at the Dolphin last June and had a fabulous time.

Maggie

 

[Kaycee]

Don't feel bad for posting your opinion. We stayed at CSR in June, and we were very disappointed too.

It was a just-the-two-of-us trip for DH and I, and we chose CSR because we thought it would be quieter than other moderates. It was our first stay at a moderate, but we'd heard so much about how quiet it was at CSR with all the convention-goers, so I thought it would be just what we were looking for. I planned very carefully, and requested Casitas specifically for a quiet location. Boy, was I wrong! We stayed at WL last December, and we'd always heard that WL was a "loud" resort. We found CSR to be MUCH louder. We only saw a couple of convention-goers; mostly there were families with older, very loud children. Not that I have anything against loud children, I have two of my own, it's just not what we wanted for this trip.

We didn't even get to go to Pepper Market. The first night, we went to get out refillable mugs, and the line was out the door and around the corner into the next hallway - just to get in! It was like that the next day too, and we never went back.

Our other complaint about CSR was the transportation. Another plus that I had always read about this resort was that, because of all the convention-goers, the buses usually weren't full here. We had to stand up every bus trip we took for the entire week except two!! We never had this problem at either the Dolphin or WL.

CSR may be just the thing for some folks, but don't feel bad that it wasn't for you. It wasn't for us either.

 

[Buzz2001]

No need to apologize joats. No one resort will ever please everyone. CSR is not for everyone thats why they are many resorts on property. It is difficult to compare a mod to a deluxe.

Maggie - don't get nervous. For every bad review you'll find a good one too.

 

[sue1013]

Maggie,
Just like Buzz said you will hear all different reviews don't get worried. I have stayed in deluxes but at times go back to my favorite POR. You will see a lot of negative reviews on POR but for my family we love it and I don't feel like I'm missing something not being at a deluxe. If we want to go more than once a year one of the stays has to be a moderate. Infact I would stay in a moderate before a couple deluxes I've stayed at and most other people on this board rave about. Just my personal choice. I'm sure you will have a great time!!

 

[Desnik]

Don't apologize for posting your opinion. That's what makes these boards so great. Different strokes for different folks!! I appreciate your honesty. We also had a not so great stay at CSR and will never stay there again because of a few incidents and the fact that the resort just doesn't "fit" us. We are also spoiled by the deluxe resorts and can't go back to moderate! You really do get what you pay for, most of the time!
BWV here we come!!!!

 

[figment95]

Ok, now I'm a little nervous. We usually stay at WL (as you can see) but this year I don't think it will fit into our budget. I had decided to stay at CSR but now I'm second guessing myself. We didn't really like CBR. Nothing specific, just not out cup of tea. I was hoping we would like CSR better.

 

[joats]

Thanks for your replies everyone.

My intent was to vent and not to scare anyone away from the resort. I thought that I had done enough research on the hotel and from pics it looked beautiful (and was). It just wasn't our taste or layout. I guess the only real way we could have known was to have visited it on our last trip.

Yeah it stunk as it was our 1st wedding anniversary, but we had a blast regardless. We just thought we could save a little money this year since we spent so much on our WL Honeymooon last year. We'll just do a better job saving for next year at WL.

seashoreCM: The pepper market is kind of like a food court. They seat you and bring your drinks, but you go up and order from numerous stations. You get to pick and chose what you'd like.

halfway there: We stayed in the Casitas section...it was the last building in that section...#5????

As far as WL being our favorite...I don't think it's so much that WL is a deluxe...we just like the layout and the theme. It seems like they have done so much detail where the theming at CSR appeared fake to me and was way too large. But to each his/her own. That's why the Disney system works...something for everyone!!

 

[8caliace]

Just got back from 7 nights at CSR and we loved it. Our previous stays have been at SOG and ASSp. We went under the Armed Forces Salute and got great rates and we enjoyed it. Can't comment on transportation as we had a rental car. Pepper Market was fine for the only couple times we ate there, once for dinner and once for breakfast. Loved the quiet pool in Ranchos where we stayed. Best thing about CSR were the hammocks around the lake. Any ?'s...fire away.

 

[Mich Mouse]

CSR was absolutely our least favorite Disney resort, by far. I was not disapointed though. (Time for me at Disney is never disappoininting!!!) We just made the best of it, However, I would not choose to stay at CSR again, nor would I reccomend it to anyone.

 

[P'colaFla]

Okay here is my opinion.......we stayed at CSR in September and loved it! We stayed in the Ranchos section and it was extremely quiet and close to the "main pool" (dig site) and close to our quiet pool and it was definitely quiet! We hardly ever saw another soul there. We had a bus stop right outside of our building (7a) and that was nice. I have to say if you want a quiet area do NOT request Casitas. They are beautiful but that is where the conventioners stay so you need to request Ranchos or Cabanas. Please do not be afraid of staying at CSR...it really is a lovely resort. IMO

 

[mrsltg]

Joats- please don't worry about posting your opinion! It's not like you said, "if like CSR then you are a complete idiot!". You posted the things you didn't like and hopefully helped someone who has the same taste as you - that's what these boards are supposed to be about!

Personally, I love CSR! I like the look and feel of the resort. DH and I were placed there as POFQ refugees in '01, and we ended up loving it! I took my daughter for an overnight stay in June, and it was very nice (more crowded then the last time I was there, so that colored my opinion slightly). That said, we were at the AKL last November and that is now my standard setting resort. I was at a 5* resort (on business - no way I would have been able to foot that bill!!!) in Del Mar this July and all I kep thinking was, "I don't see any giraffes!!! Would a few zebra really be too much to ask????" It's all in perception! You should go back to the WL and enjoy every minute!!!!

Thanks for your honest opinion!

Erin

 

[MOMTOMOOTOO]

Thank you for posting your opinion. I think its important to get both sides. Different strokes for different folks! That being said, we tried it in July as our first "mod" and I really enjoyed it. It suited our needs at the time. It was just me and 2 dds. Ad we really enjoyed the pool and the pepper market. However, I certainly am not in any rush to get back as there are too many resorts we haven't tried. But again, if the price were right who knows!


Laura