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

[Toole Time in Disney]

5 days and we will be checking into CSR!!! I can NOT wait!!! I thin I'm going to do on-line check in and fax a room request in. Seems on-line check in is a little faster according to these boards. I have so much to do and not enough time!!!! Still have stuff I need to buy and of course I havn't even started packing. This weekend is operation get organized for the trip! Monday I'm going to Target and get the rest of the stuff I need. Monday I'm hoping to get a good deal of packing done...I work Tues and Wed morning and we are hoping to leave about 5 p. We were supposed to be checking in Sep 2nd but I just changed it to the 1st so whatever time we roll in from our 12 drive from Indiana we will have a room ready. Hoping we can rest and enjoy Thursday without being overly tired!!! YIPPPPPPE CAN"T WAIT!!!!!!

 

[snykymom]

Would you mind taking a picture or two of the bus stops? Also, a picture or two of the resort from where you wait for your bus? Thank you and have fun! I get to go in 54 days!

Check the first few pages of this thread for pictures - that's where KatMark puts them!

 

[blsdmamaof3]

Check the first few pages of this thread for pictures - that's where KatMark puts them!

I have looked through the pictures and just re-looked through them for a 3rd time. There aren't any pictures like what I requested. If you find some, please let me know what post # it is.

 

[witchesbrew]

I am seriously considering switching from the Poly to CSR! It would be a good savings for us too Do the buildings have elevators? I know that CBR buildings do not, so I wanted to ask.

 

[kath2me]

hi all,

love reading everyone info here, everything so helpful, however, have a couple of questions, # 1, I use a electric scooter, that i rented thru Apple ( beacuse I have used them in the past ), however this is 1st time to CSR, the scooter can be broke down so I can put in my car and use in Parks, my problem is mostly walking far ( have MS)and what to request as best location, I have booked a water view room, I would like to be close to the main lobby for breakfast and shopping store purpose, but not 100% necessary, I want a nice quiet area ( it will be dec. ) would like to be by Pool, although just will have time for a nite dip, wanted to be close enough to where I would park my car, as I just didn't want to be having to put the scooter together just to get from car to room. # 2 I know I read somewhere where can can write them and fax them a reminder to request a special location, can u ? # I also read you can pre check in, how many days before can you do that ?

 

[andychris14]

Hello All!!
We are back from CSR. We stayed there 11 nights and were in casitas 5. We loved everything about the resort. We got in very late last night and wish we still were there.
We wanted to thank you all for all of your tips/comments about the resort. We were very informed when we got there and felt like we were there already when we never were.
We ordered a lot of water,cereal bars, and fruit from garden grocer and were not charge any fee.
We did eat at the pepper market a couple of times and to answer the questions about the 10% gratuity on the free dining plan here it is. You bring your paper that gets stamped to the register and they do not charge you the 10%. We left a tip at the table in cash for our server.
Any questions???
Thanks again

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Hello All!!
We are back from CSR. We stayed there 11 nights and were in casitas 5. We loved everything about the resort. We got in very late last night and wish we still were there.
We wanted to thank you all for all of your tips/comments about the resort. We were very informed when we got there and felt like we were there already when we never were.
We ordered a lot of water,cereal bars, and fruit from garden grocer and were not charge any fee.
We did eat at the pepper market a couple of times and to answer the questions about the 10% gratuity on the free dining plan here it is. You bring your paper that gets stamped to the register and they do not charge you the 10%. We left a tip at the table in cash for our server.
Any questions???
Thanks again

Thank you for posting and I'm so happy to read you had a great time and loved the resort. We are staying for our first CSR stay in Dec.

How was the buses to the park?

 

[andychris14]

Thank you for posting and I'm so happy to read you had a great time and loved the resort. We are staying for our first CSR stay in Dec.

How was the buses to the park?

Buses were fantastic!! We never waited more than 10 minutes. They seemed to know our schedule and always be there,lol.
Enjoy your trip in December. One suggestion and its not a biggie. Bring your own shampoo and conditioner. They do supply it and it is wonderful but a pain in the neck to get it out of the bottle.

 

[Monorail Bob's dd]

Just got back from a 6 day/5 night stay at CSR. I will give quick review:

Check-in - we got our request for connecting rooms (my mom and 2 brothers were with us) but not our location request - they initially stuck us in Ranchos 7A, which looked like the furthest building out on the map. I asked if we could be moved to Cabanas which was what I had requested and they did find us rooms in Cabanas 8A but on different floors. We took it since we decided that location was more important than connecting rooms were. I was in room 8256 - far side of the building on the second floor near the back entrance to the Dig Site pool.

Room - room was pretty, liked the decor, did not care for housekeeping. When I looked in the shower, there was a large piece of tissue stuck to the wall and hair in the corner of the bathroom. The desk looked like someone had spilled their coffee on it and no one had bothered to wipe it. When we pulled down the sheets to go to bed that night, there was a spider crawling in the bed. I called housekeeping first thing the next morning to complain about the bathroom and requested they change the sheets since I was skeeved out by the spider. They did change out the linens and got the hair out of the corner of the bathroom but the tissue was still on the shower wall and the desk remained dirty the whole time we were there. I really did not feel good about leaving a $5 housekeeping tip everyday since I thought housekeeping kind of sucked. I don't care about towel animals (we did not get any, though) but the room was just not very clean. My mother confirmed that she was in her room when housekeeping came one day and they were in and out in less than 5 minutes - why do so many people tip so much for so little work?

Pepper Market - this was a mixed experience for us. We ate there the first night and it was packed and very slow. My brother ordered a pizza and waited over an hour for it - yes, an hour for a counter service meal. The system with getting your card stamped was easy enough to figure out but we hated that they did not give you a number to come up and claim your food - they would just tell you it would be done in x-number of minutes and come back then. People were totally claiming other people's food and there was no way to prove who was actually next. I had the chicken quesadillas and they were great, best thing I had there. I had pizza on another night and it was pretty good. My third meal there was a hamburger and I thought it was lousy- no taste at all. The strawberry cheesecake was delicious but they only had it the first time we went. We were never charged the gratuity at check-out (we had the free dining plan) but we always left a cash tip at the table since we were waited on for drinks and clearing plates.

Busses - busses were okay. Waits were not terrible but they were pretty crowded and we had to stand a lot. We had to wait quite a while for the Magic Kingdom busses but the rest were not too bad. I do not think there were any conventions going on while we were there.

Pool - pool was awesome, my girls loved it! Huge and fun with a great slide, my girls were in it everyday. I even tried the slide.

Overall impression - the resort itself is beautiful to look at and walk around. Staff, for the most part, were friendly and helpful. Housekeeping sucked. Busses were okay and pool was fabulous. Pepper Market was a mixed bag. Would we stay there again? Maybe. I think it is decent for the price but I can't say I will be calling it my home resort. I think I really want to stay at the Poly next time if we can swing it. HTH!

 

[Lou-Ann]

I sincerely hope you are writing to tell them about the poor housekeeping noting the dates and rooms you were using so they can try to make changes. What no one reports cannot be fixed.

 

[KatMark]

This time next week I'll be in my Mini-van somewhere in SC on my way to Daytona...week plus 1 day @ the CSR.

We LOVE Daytona. We were there in 2008 for our 25th anniversary after our week at Disney. The last two years we've been to (are going) to Marco Island; but we will be back to Daytona.

I'm another in the camp that can't wait to get here even if there have been a couple bad reviews. You have to take the good with the bad and just being on vacation, at Disney, makes everything better! 2 weeks from now we will be getting ready to get on the road for a 15 hour overnight drive! I hope everyone heading there soon has a safe and magical trip!

That's the way I look at it. And if something is wrong people have to remember they HAVE TO GO TO THE FRONT DESK and ask for a manager--this is the only way we have found that things get taken care of.

I'm not going to let someone else's bad review ruin my vacation. A vacation is what you make of it. If you go down there with all these thoughts in your head, you're LOOKING to find things. People need to relax and enjoy themselves.

Not everyone gets to go on a wonderful vacation to Disney in their lifetime.

Absolutely! Things are not perfect. But if you are unhappy with something, you need to go to the front desk.

5 days and we will be checking into CSR!!! I can NOT wait!!! I thin I'm going to do on-line check in and fax a room request in. Seems on-line check in is a little faster according to these boards. I have so much to do and not enough time!!!! Still have stuff I need to buy and of course I havn't even started packing. This weekend is operation get organized for the trip! Monday I'm going to Target and get the rest of the stuff I need. Monday I'm hoping to get a good deal of packing done...I work Tues and Wed morning and we are hoping to leave about 5 p. We were supposed to be checking in Sep 2nd but I just changed it to the 1st so whatever time we roll in from our 12 drive from Indiana we will have a room ready. Hoping we can rest and enjoy Thursday without being overly tired!!! YIPPPPPPE CAN"T WAIT!!!!!!

In case you don't have time to get back here on the DIS, have a WONDERFUL and MAGICAL trip. Be safe in your drive.

I am seriously considering switching from the Poly to CSR! It would be a good savings for us too Do the buildings have elevators? I know that CBR buildings do not, so I wanted to ask.

Yes, the CSR has elevators in all buildings except for Casitas 2 (although you can reach the upper floors by using the elevator in Casitas 3. I do know that they are working on some of the elevators and also painting the outside of the buildings right now.

hi all,

love reading everyone info here, everything so helpful, however, have a couple of questions, # 1, I use a electric scooter, that i rented thru Apple ( beacuse I have used them in the past ), however this is 1st time to CSR, the scooter can be broke down so I can put in my car and use in Parks, my problem is mostly walking far ( have MS)and what to request as best location, I have booked a water view room, I would like to be close to the main lobby for breakfast and shopping store purpose, but not 100% necessary, I want a nice quiet area ( it will be dec. ) would like to be by Pool, although just will have time for a nite dip, wanted to be close enough to where I would park my car, as I just didn't want to be having to put the scooter together just to get from car to room. # 2 I know I read somewhere where can can write them and fax them a reminder to request a special location, can u ? # I also read you can pre check in, how many days before can you do that ?

Well, you can't really be close to the main building and the main pool. Send a private message to Minnie&Nana and ask her for the "special" phone number they have for medically requested rooms and they should be able to guarantee you a closer spot. All sections have parking; if you don't mind be nearing the main pool, then I would ask for Casitas 3 -- close to the main building and not too far from Bus Stop 2.

 

[KatMark]

Hello All!!
We are back from CSR. We stayed there 11 nights and were in casitas 5. We loved everything about the resort. We got in very late last night and wish we still were there.
We wanted to thank you all for all of your tips/comments about the resort. We were very informed when we got there and felt like we were there already when we never were.
We ordered a lot of water,cereal bars, and fruit from garden grocer and were not charge any fee.
We did eat at the pepper market a couple of times and to answer the questions about the 10% gratuity on the free dining plan here it is. You bring your paper that gets stamped to the register and they do not charge you the 10%. We left a tip at the table in cash for our server.
Any questions???
Thanks again

Thanks, andychris for letting us know about your trip. I am so glad that you loved CSR and had a great time. Thanks for the "tip" on the 10% gratuity.

Just got back from a 6 day/5 night stay at CSR. I will give quick review:

Check-in - we got our request for connecting rooms (my mom and 2 brothers were with us) but not our location request - they initially stuck us in Ranchos 7A, which looked like the furthest building out on the map. I asked if we could be moved to Cabanas which was what I had requested and they did find us rooms in Cabanas 8A but on different floors. We took it since we decided that location was more important than connecting rooms were. I was in room 8256 - far side of the building on the second floor near the back entrance to the Dig Site pool.

Room - room was pretty, liked the decor, did not care for housekeeping. When I looked in the shower, there was a large piece of tissue stuck to the wall and hair in the corner of the bathroom. The desk looked like someone had spilled their coffee on it and no one had bothered to wipe it. When we pulled down the sheets to go to bed that night, there was a spider crawling in the bed. I called housekeeping first thing the next morning to complain about the bathroom and requested they change the sheets since I was skeeved out by the spider. They did change out the linens and got the hair out of the corner of the bathroom but the tissue was still on the shower wall and the desk remained dirty the whole time we were there. I really did not feel good about leaving a $5 housekeeping tip everyday since I thought housekeeping kind of sucked. I don't care about towel animals (we did not get any, though) but the room was just not very clean. My mother confirmed that she was in her room when housekeeping came one day and they were in and out in less than 5 minutes - why do so many people tip so much for so little work?

Pepper Market - this was a mixed experience for us. We ate there the first night and it was packed and very slow. My brother ordered a pizza and waited over an hour for it - yes, an hour for a counter service meal. The system with getting your card stamped was easy enough to figure out but we hated that they did not give you a number to come up and claim your food - they would just tell you it would be done in x-number of minutes and come back then. People were totally claiming other people's food and there was no way to prove who was actually next. I had the chicken quesadillas and they were great, best thing I had there. I had pizza on another night and it was pretty good. My third meal there was a hamburger and I thought it was lousy- no taste at all. The strawberry cheesecake was delicious but they only had it the first time we went. We were never charged the gratuity at check-out (we had the free dining plan) but we always left a cash tip at the table since we were waited on for drinks and clearing plates.

Busses - busses were okay. Waits were not terrible but they were pretty crowded and we had to stand a lot. We had to wait quite a while for the Magic Kingdom busses but the rest were not too bad. I do not think there were any conventions going on while we were there.

Pool - pool was awesome, my girls loved it! Huge and fun with a great slide, my girls were in it everyday. I even tried the slide.

Overall impression - the resort itself is beautiful to look at and walk around. Staff, for the most part, were friendly and helpful. Housekeeping sucked. Busses were okay and pool was fabulous. Pepper Market was a mixed bag. Would we stay there again? Maybe. I think it is decent for the price but I can't say I will be calling it my home resort. I think I really want to stay at the Poly next time if we can swing it. HTH!

Lauren, thanks so much for coming back and letting us know about your trip. I am so sorry that the CSR didn't quite "make it" for you. I hate when I read about poor mousekeeping...it is just NOT acceptable at ANY level of resort. I've read bad reviews about mousekeeping at every resort lately (I think the only one I haven't is The Beach Club); even the Poly has gotten some horrible mousekeeping reviews. I do truly believe that this is an issue that needs to be taken to the front desk and if it is not handled, one must ask for a manager.

I'm so glad you guys enjoyed the pool.

I hope you can stay at the Poly next time. We've stayed there four times and love everything about it--except the price. With two boys in college, it just isn't feasible anymore (plus the CSR has a fitness center/spa and hot tub...two very important things to me and the Poly does not).

I've enjoyed getting to know you and hope you'll pop in once in awhile and say hello.l

I sincerely hope you are writing to tell them about the poor housekeeping noting the dates and rooms you were using so they can try to make changes. What no one reports cannot be fixed.

Lou-Ann, you are so right. It has to be reported either while there or in a letter when you return. There is no excuse for poor housekeeping.

 

[Monorail Bob's dd]

Thanks, Kathy, I have really enjoyed reading this thread and getting to "know" you here. All of the info you provided was very helpful and I managed to impress my mother with my resort knowledge, thanks to you. The resort is very pretty, I just wish Disney would improve their housekeeping across the board. My standards are pretty low so I did not expect to be skeeved out like I was. My mother said she did not have any housekeeping problems in her room and she is pretty picky so perhaps I just got a dud for a housekeeper - it happens.

 

[Lou-Ann]

Doesn't matter. You did not get what you saved for, anticipated, and paid for. Thousands of people are unemployed and would love to work for Disney. I keep hearing that the quality of cleanliness all over at Disney is going down and if we want our beloved place to remain like we want it to be, we need to report it as we see it and nip it in the bud. They can't fix the offenders unless they have dates and names to get to the bottom of it and discipline or retrain these folks. I do not want to see Disney become Motel 6 and I am sure you do not either. No offense to the hard working folks at Motel 6. I am just using it as an example of a lower end place to stay on the food chain. Many of us save for months to have a dream vacation and do not need the aggravation of a dirty room to deal with nor should we have to. If I am wrong, feel free to tell me.

 

[witchesbrew]

I made the switch to CSR! I can't wait. The main pool looks amazing, and I like that there are queen beds
How easy/difficult is it to take a cab from CSR to another resort? Should I go to the main building and ask the bell services staff to call one for me, or are there cabs that wait at the entrance of the resort?
We are doing the Pirates and Pals Fireworks voyage and I'd rather take a cab to the CR since I'd like to have a few cocktails there before the fireworks voyage starts

TIA

 

[Pixiedust34]

I made the switch to CSR! I can't wait. The main pool looks amazing, and I like that there are queen beds
How easy/difficult is it to take a cab from CSR to another resort? Should I go to the main building and ask the bell services staff to call one for me, or are there cabs that wait at the entrance of the resort?
We are doing the Pirates and Pals Fireworks voyage and I'd rather take a cab to the CR since I'd like to have a few cocktails there before the fireworks voyage starts

TIA

I haven't used a cab yet, but will be using one on our upcoming trip. I already put the Mears Taxi Co. phone # in my phone. If there isn't a cab sitting at the front of the resort when I need one, I will call Mears myself.

17 days to go!!!!

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Buses were fantastic!! We never waited more than 10 minutes. They seemed to know our schedule and always be there,lol.
Enjoy your trip in December. One suggestion and its not a biggie. Bring your own shampoo and conditioner. They do supply it and it is wonderful but a pain in the neck to get it out of the bottle.

thank you for the information on the buses.
Thanks for the suggestion also but no need to worry about the shampoo b/c I bring our own.
Thanks again

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

Lou-Ann, you are so right. It has to be reported either while there or in a letter when you return. There is no excuse for poor housekeeping.

I hate to contradict but when I did a triple split stay & stayed at Pop Century/Coronado Springs/Beach Club, the ONLY room that I had that there was a housekeeping issue with was BEACH CLUB! There was hair on the duvet (ew) & some disgusting things in the fridge. They rectified it immediately with 2 CM's & the Housekeeping Manager.

So sorry that you had a dirty room Lauren! I've always found the management at CSR to be helpful, & if they didn't rectify maybe it didn't go high enough up the chain?

Next week my split stay is POR & CSR so I'll be curious to see differences - although the same split stay in the spring was great.

 

[kath2me]

katmark,

thanks PM minnie and nana already

 

[Charlefours]

I am getting so excited for our trip--2 weeks today I will be at CSR!!!!