Coronado Springs Resort -- New Unofficial FAQ Thread -- November 2009

[soontobewed07]

Hi

I have a son who has medication that has to be refrigerated. I read at the beginning of this thread that the rooms have refrigerators, but I just want to be absolutely certain: Do ALL rooms have refrigerators, or only certain buildings?

I'm sorry if this seems redundant. I just want to be sure so that if it is only certain rooms, I ask for a fridge.

Thanks.

In ALL of the rooms. Our DS needed medication while we were in Disney the staff said no matter what they would find a way to keep it refrigerated. So you will be ok no matter what!

 

[Disney Bunny]

So I was looking over our CSR reservation this evening and had a couple of questions about some items that show up on it. Can anyone tell me what the Sammy Duvall offer voucher, Niki Bryan spa offer voucher, marina offer voucher, and bass fishing offer are all about?


Thanks.

 

[KatMark]

Hi

I have a son who has medication that has to be refrigerated. I read at the beginning of this thread that the rooms have refrigerators, but I just want to be absolutely certain: Do ALL rooms have refrigerators, or only certain buildings?

I'm sorry if this seems redundant. I just want to be sure so that if it is only certain rooms, I ask for a fridge.

Thanks.

So I was looking over our CSR reservation this evening and had a couple of questions about some items that show up on it. Can anyone tell me what the Sammy Duvall offer voucher, Niki Bryan spa offer voucher, marina offer voucher, and bass fishing offer are all about?


Thanks.

Sammy Duvall is water sports offered at the Contemporary (parasailing, etc.); marina offer is for boat rental at the lake; however, if you decide to use this, I would strongly suggest you use it at one of the monorail resorts as their is more room to roam with the boats (the lake at the CSR is not that large and the marina is only open seasonally; I know they offer bass fishing, but I'm not familiar with that one. And there is a salon/spa/fitness center at the CSR. I've never known the Nicky Bryan to be accepted at CSR (but it was at the GF, etc.). You might want to check with the resort and see if it is good at the CSR. I've had a massage every year at the CSR and they are great.

 

[Sarah_Rose]

I just wanted to thank everyone for all the great information about CSR on this thread! I really enjoyed reading everyone's updates; it helped me get really excited for our trip!

We stayed at CSR January 6-13, over marathon weekend. I reserved a king bed room, and requested Casitas 4 or 5. We ended up being in Casitas 4, in room 4321 (I love the number! So easy to remember!) that over looked the quiet pool in the courtyard. Such a beautiful room location! We were also less than 1 minute from bus stop #2. I couldn't have chosen a better room location if I tried!

The resort was very beautiful, even though it was really too cold to enjoy the outdoor areas. I walked around the lake a few times, and really enjoyed the walk. The pool closure did not affect our trip at all, because of the frigid weather! It did hurt me walking past the quiet pool several times a day, and never venturing in, though! I used Cafe Rix several times for snacks and to fill my refillable mug. We never used Pepper Market. We did order room service on our second last day - I came down with the dreaded Mickey Pox norovirus and spent the entire day sick in the room. I ordered beef and barley soup and my DH ordered a pizza. They were both very good and the soup, though $7 (plus tax and gratuities and delivery charges), was a very large portion with lots of crackers.

The bus service was excellent, or else we just had really great luck. Even after the half marathon, when there were hundreds of people waiting for buses to the All Stars, I just hopped on to a CSR bus and we were off in minutes.

My one really big complaint with CSR was that the service was the worst that I've encountered at WDW ever. Several times, at both the gift shop and at Cafe Rix, I was completely ignored for 5-10 minutes by CM's who were "busy with other tasks" but who were the only ones on duty to serve guests. It would have been alright if they had said something to the effect of, "i'm busy with this right now, but someone will help you in a minute" but instead I was just left to stand there while they ignored me. Multiple times. At multiple locations. I never managed to order hot food at Cafe Rix, because I was ignored by the CM preparing food and taking orders while the restaurant was otherwise empty. All week, the CM's just seemed overworked and unhappy. We heard many resort CM's complaining when it was busy, with guests standing right there. I understand that we all have bad days, but I worked at McDonalds for 7 years during high school and college, and if I had behaved that way in front of customers, I would have been fired. And McDonalds is not really known for its high standards.

The housekeeping was also particularly bad during the week that we were there. We stayed for 7 nights and our room was only cleaned twice. And one of those times, we had to specifically ask the housekeeper to clean the room and she gave DH attitude. The housekeeping also seemed very busy and overworked. I'm not talking about towel animals or anything special like that, but just emptying the trash and bringing us toilet paper would have been appreciated.

I know the resorts are filled during marathon weekend, so I don't know if this was the case all over WDW. However, I visited WL during the same week last year and experienced nothing but excellent service.

And my last complaint on an otherwise fantastic trip: the dreaded conventioneers. I have worked in a convention center and so thought I would be immune, and that was mostly the case, but there was one group of conventioneers that completely ruined the resort for us during the days they were there. They were an auto parts convention, and mostly young and male, and to describe their behavior honestly.... I did not feel comfortable walking from El Centro to my room without DH at night, when they were around. I was on a bus from Epcot by myself on the night that the group went to Epcot as their activity, and one of the men had obviously had too much to drink and was getting way too friendly with me. I know that this is not CSR's fault, but this convention did not make the resort a comfortable place to be. For this reason and this reason alone, I will not stay at CSR again. I know big group events like this happen at all the resorts, but it just left a bad taste in my mouth.

Anyway, minor complaints on an otherwise fantastic trip. I will not stay at CSR again in the future, but then again, I haven't yet stayed at the same resort twice. The resort is beautiful and we loved the renovated rooms, but a lot of minor annoyances just added up to no desire to go back again. We're going to try SSR (sharing a 2-bedroom villa with my parents for my baby's first trip!) next year for marathon weekend, and are looking forward to another great trip!

 

[KatMark]

I just wanted to thank everyone for all the great information about CSR on this thread! I really enjoyed reading everyone's updates; it helped me get really excited for our trip!

We stayed at CSR January 6-13, over marathon weekend. I reserved a king bed room, and requested Casitas 4 or 5. We ended up being in Casitas 4, in room 4321 (I love the number! So easy to remember!) that over looked the quiet pool in the courtyard. Such a beautiful room location! We were also less than 1 minute from bus stop #2. I couldn't have chosen a better room location if I tried!

The resort was very beautiful, even though it was really too cold to enjoy the outdoor areas. I walked around the lake a few times, and really enjoyed the walk. The pool closure did not affect our trip at all, because of the frigid weather! It did hurt me walking past the quiet pool several times a day, and never venturing in, though! I used Cafe Rix several times for snacks and to fill my refillable mug. We never used Pepper Market. We did order room service on our second last day - I came down with the dreaded Mickey Pox norovirus and spent the entire day sick in the room. I ordered beef and barley soup and my DH ordered a pizza. They were both very good and the soup, though $7 (plus tax and gratuities and delivery charges), was a very large portion with lots of crackers.

The bus service was excellent, or else we just had really great luck. Even after the half marathon, when there were hundreds of people waiting for buses to the All Stars, I just hopped on to a CSR bus and we were off in minutes.

My one really big complaint with CSR was that the service was the worst that I've encountered at WDW ever. Several times, at both the gift shop and at Cafe Rix, I was completely ignored for 5-10 minutes by CM's who were "busy with other tasks" but who were the only ones on duty to serve guests. It would have been alright if they had said something to the effect of, "i'm busy with this right now, but someone will help you in a minute" but instead I was just left to stand there while they ignored me. Multiple times. At multiple locations. I never managed to order hot food at Cafe Rix, because I was ignored by the CM preparing food and taking orders while the restaurant was otherwise empty. All week, the CM's just seemed overworked and unhappy. We heard many resort CM's complaining when it was busy, with guests standing right there. I understand that we all have bad days, but I worked at McDonalds for 7 years during high school and college, and if I had behaved that way in front of customers, I would have been fired. And McDonalds is not really known for its high standards.

The housekeeping was also particularly bad during the week that we were there. We stayed for 7 nights and our room was only cleaned twice. And one of those times, we had to specifically ask the housekeeper to clean the room and she gave DH attitude. The housekeeping also seemed very busy and overworked. I'm not talking about towel animals or anything special like that, but just emptying the trash and bringing us toilet paper would have been appreciated.

I know the resorts are filled during marathon weekend, so I don't know if this was the case all over WDW. However, I visited WL during the same week last year and experienced nothing but excellent service.

And my last complaint on an otherwise fantastic trip: the dreaded conventioneers. I have worked in a convention center and so thought I would be immune, and that was mostly the case, but there was one group of conventioneers that completely ruined the resort for us during the days they were there. They were an auto parts convention, and mostly young and male, and to describe their behavior honestly.... I did not feel comfortable walking from El Centro to my room without DH at night, when they were around. I was on a bus from Epcot by myself on the night that the group went to Epcot as their activity, and one of the men had obviously had too much to drink and was getting way too friendly with me. I know that this is not CSR's fault, but this convention did not make the resort a comfortable place to be. For this reason and this reason alone, I will not stay at CSR again. I know big group events like this happen at all the resorts, but it just left a bad taste in my mouth.

Anyway, minor complaints on an otherwise fantastic trip. I will not stay at CSR again in the future, but then again, I haven't yet stayed at the same resort twice. The resort is beautiful and we loved the renovated rooms, but a lot of minor annoyances just added up to no desire to go back again. We're going to try SSR (sharing a 2-bedroom villa with my parents for my baby's first trip!) next year for marathon weekend, and are looking forward to another great trip!

Thank you for your honest review. I am sorry you had issues with the convention crowd (I must say we've been blessed in our eight stays at the CSR that none of the convention people have ever bothered us by being drunk or loud). As you said, this is not the CSR's fault.

I'm really surprised by the experience you had at the Gift Shop. Normally, this is one of the places where people say that they had the friendliest and most helpful CM's at all of the CSR (I can't comment much on Cafe Rix as we've only gone a couple of times and picked up cold items or coffee to go).

I'm glad you gave it a try and hope you enjoy the SSR (I have a friend who used to own DVC there and absolutely loved it).

 

[Disney Bunny]

Okay, I am sure the answer to this question is probably contained somewhere within the pages of this thread, but I am not finding it so here goes.

Does Cafe Rix have any pastry items that snack allotments from the DDP can be used for? Due to the fact that several of our meals are going to require 2 of our meal allotments, we are going to need to use some of our snack allotments for breakfast.

Thanks.

Judy

 

[trennr]

Okay, I am sure the answer to this question is probably contained somewhere within the pages of this thread, but I am not finding it so here goes.

Does Cafe Rix have any pastry items that snack allotments from the DDP can be used for? Due to the fact that several of our meals are going to require 2 of our meal allotments, we are going to need to use some of our snack allotments for breakfast.

Thanks.

Judy

Though I didn't do this...I believe that the pastries were considered "snacks" as far as the DDP was concerned.

 

[pixleyyy]

Though I didn't do this...I believe that the pastries were considered "snacks" as far as the DDP was concerned.

Yep, we got cinnamon rolls and croissants and such as snack items on the DDP.

 

[aubriee]

Yep, we got cinnamon rolls and croissants and such as snack items on the DDP.

What!! They wouldn't let us in Dec. They said the cinammon rolls were over $4.00, so we had to pay OOP for them. Maybe we just had a CM that was misinformed though. I'll be back at CSR in May, so may try again. I know one year I went into Pinnochio's Village Haus and used a snack credit for an order of Figaro fries. I went back on my last day, ordered them again, and wasn't able to use a snack credit. It may just depend on who is working that day.

 

[trennr]

What!! They wouldn't let us in Dec. They said the cinammon rolls were over $4.00, so we had to pay OOP for them.

Disney is forever modifing the DDP.

We were there 10 days last July...on Day 1 DS9 got a bag of Goofy Gummies as a snack.

By Day 5 we were told that it could not be a snack because the serving size was greater than 1.



I think the rules as best as I could remember was.
<$4 and single serving.

 

[zulaya]

Thanks for a great thread. I'm a long time Disney vacationer, but my first visit to CSR will be this June so I've been checking this thread out to see if there's anything I've missed in my reading elsewhere.

Just an FYI...If I posted this already, sorry for the duplicate...

I'm coming in with The Pampered Chef and their group of incentive trip achievers and their families. CSR is one of the resorts. The dates are June 13-16, but people have the option to extend before or after the official dates.

So if you are seeing less availability over that timeframe, it may be because TPC is there.

Thanks again for all the info.

 

[KatMark]

Thanks for a great thread. I'm a long time Disney vacationer, but my first visit to CSR will be this June so I've been checking this thread out to see if there's anything I've missed in my reading elsewhere.

Just an FYI...If I posted this already, sorry for the duplicate...

I'm coming in with The Pampered Chef and their group of incentive trip achievers and their families. CSR is one of the resorts. The dates are June 13-16, but people have the option to extend before or after the official dates.

So if you are seeing less availability over that timeframe, it may be because TPC is there.

Thanks again for all the info.

Is this a "convention?" Should I add to our convention list?

 

[kkfinley]

We are thinking about changing our December reservation from CBR to CSR. The party will be me, DH, DD 8, and DD 4 in a standard room and my parents who want a king bed. Will we be able to get a connecting room or are connecting rooms only 2 queens?

After reading all of pages, I am thinking of requesting Casitas building 3, 4, or 5. We will probably not be swimming much in December, but if we do I don't think DDs will care if we go to the quiet pool since they do not like pool slides. I also like the idea of being the first bus stop for pick up and delivery.

Thanks,
Krista

 

[KatMark]

We are thinking about changing our December reservation from CBR to CSR. The party will be me, DH, DD 8, and DD 4 in a standard room and my parents who want a king bed. Will we be able to get a connecting room or are connecting rooms only 2 queens?

After reading all of pages, I am thinking of requesting Casitas building 3, 4, or 5. We will probably not be swimming much in December, but if we do I don't think DDs will care if we go to the quiet pool since they do not like pool slides. I also like the idea of being the first bus stop for pick up and delivery.

Thanks,
Krista

As with any resort, connecting rooms are not guaranteed. However, there are rooms with queens next to a room with a king so that request can be made.

I love Casitas 4 and 5 the best, but we enjoyed our time in Casitas 3 (it is a little farther to the main pool but you indicated that was not a concern).

 

[pixietwin]

I'm starting to freak out here! We leave in less than 2 weeks and I guess I need to start packing. The weather here in Memphis is crazy. One day near 70 another day in the 40s. I hope it's not like that now in Orlando. I printed out a page about setting the AC because I like to sleep cool, and the post was about bypassing the AC system. Is it still the same procedure? I read how the castle is under repair and won't be good for taking pictures :-( Hopefully everything at the resort will be good and running smoothly!

 

[twokids0204]

On my confirmation, where they itemize everything, they list:

NIKI BRYAN SPA OFFER

What is the offer? Anyone know..??

 

[kkfinley]

As with any resort, connecting rooms are not guaranteed. However, there are rooms with queens next to a room with a king so that request can be made.

I love Casitas 4 and 5 the best, but we enjoyed our time in Casitas 3 (it is a little farther to the main pool but you indicated that was not a concern).

Thanks for the info. As long as we can get rooms next to each other or close together, even if not connecting. The girls will want to go visit Nana and Papaw.

Krista

 

[zulaya]

Is this a "convention?" Should I add to our convention list?

It's not a convention, in that the group isn't there for a convention purpose (trade show, meetings, etc.)

But there will be a good number of people at Coronado Springs, Contemporary and Grand Floridian.

But it will be mostly families. Consultants who achieved this trip can bring up to three guests with them for free. Some may choose to bring only one or two guests. Some may opt to buy-in additional dependent children.

If your convention list is meant to let people know when a large group is coming to CSR so people know it might be busier than usual, capacity-wise, then I guess this qualifies.

Worst case...you'll see one day where a lot of us are wearing the same t-shirt. And you might see some vehicles with Pampered Chef logos on them.

Otherwise, you probably wouldn't know the family getting on the bus with you was from Pampered Chef or not.

 

[KatiJ]

Hi everyone!

We are staying at CSR in March and I am so excited! This thread is so helpful and everyone is so nice.

I have a few questions:

1) When do I request a pack-n-play for my 2 year old - did I do that during online reservations?

2) Can the pack-n-play fit in the bathroom area behind the sliding doors for a darker nap time area?

3) Are there bed rails available for my 3 year old?

4) If the kids are napping in the room, is it possible to sit right outside the door somewhere if I bring a baby monitor? We did not get a water view, so I guess I'm asking if there is a patch of lawn outside each room or enough space in the hallway where we can visit while the kids nap?

5) Can floating toys be used in the quiet pool if we bring them with us?

I think that is all for now - I'm sure there will be more questions! Thanks in advance!!!!

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

Okay, I am sure the answer to this question is probably contained somewhere within the pages of this thread, but I am not finding it so here goes.

Does Cafe Rix have any pastry items that snack allotments from the DDP can be used for? Due to the fact that several of our meals are going to require 2 of our meal allotments, we are going to need to use some of our snack allotments for breakfast.

Thanks.

Judy

Hi Judy,
We were there last month w/ free dining, we didn't use very many snack credits at CSR b/c w/ the QS meals on the dining plan you got an entree, a drink and a bakery item of your choice as dessert which ended up being a lot of food. One time we did get banana bread & it was a huge slice & really good. We liked all of the bakery items, btw, & we pretty much tried it all. HTH!