Coronado Springs Resort - New Unofficial FAQ Thread - November 2011

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

Looking at the map of the Coronado, it seems immense!

You walk all day in the park ~ don't want to walk all that much when I get "back home." (DH and I are active seniors)

Comments?

Walking from the farthest point in ranchos to the main building is 10-15 minutes, depending how fast you walk. If you plan to go to El Centro a lot (morning coffee, eating at the resort, etc), you might want to consider the preferred rooms (casitas 1, 2 and 3). We rarely go to El Centro during our trip except to check in - we are not coffee drinkers and keep drinks and snacks in the room. We do go to the Dig Site every day, so we like the non-preferred buildings. Our favorite building is cabana 8A - a minute or two to the Dig Site and still under ten minutes to El Centro.

There is a bus stop in each section, and when going to and from the parks, they are picked up in this order: casitas, ranchos, cabanas and finally El Centro. The Downtown Disney route is El Centro, casitas, ranchos, then cabanas. You can get off near your room at the end of the day and you will have a short walk. If you are ready to eat, you can either get off at the El Centro stop on the way back from the parks, or you can get on any park bus from anywhere in the resort and ride it to El Centro. You would have to walk back to your room after dinner, though, unless you lucked out and saw a DTD bus.

 

[Hoosier Mom]

Looking at the map of the Coronado, it seems immense!

You walk all day in the park ~ don't want to walk all that much when I get "back home." (DH and I are active seniors)

Comments?

We weren't sure about it either. We usually love Wilderness Lodge which is very compact. However, we fell in love with Coronado. We lucked out and got Casitas building 5. So for our next trip we are getting a preferred room which is Casitas building 1, 2, or 3. Also I'm going to request a ground floor room to save even more steps.

We go to the Pepper Market each morning for breakfast which is very close. Then we hit the restroom just outside the Pepper Market and go straight to the bus.

Since we go to the Pepper Market every morning, I think Casitas is a great location. Also we visited the quiet pool there at Casitas. My husband and son did walk over to the Dig Site pool a couple of times during the week but I was glad our room wasn't clear over there.

 

[teacherjmc]

Checking in--we'll be at CSR from September 29th to October 6th (unless we are able to extend a couple of days ). We've never stayed there and CAN'T WAIT! I've already found the answer here to my main question about mug refill locations. I'm subscribing so I can keep up with any news that comes along before we leave. My dad and I were able to stop by when we were in Orlando in March visiting Harry Potter (don't tell Mickey) and it's so gorgeous there. Anyway, I just wanted to say count me in as part of the CSR family now!

 

[Celidh]

Checking in--we'll be at CSR from September 29th to October 6th (unless we are able to extend a couple of days ). We've never stayed there and CAN'T WAIT! I've already found the answer here to my main question about mug refill locations. I'm subscribing so I can keep up with any news that comes along before we leave. My dad and I were able to stop by when we were in Orlando in March visiting Harry Potter (don't tell Mickey) and it's so gorgeous there. Anyway, I just wanted to say count me in as part of the CSR family now!

My partner and I will be at CSR the same dates as you. It is also our first stay there. Originally that was all we were staying in WDW but managed to rent DVC points for the night of Oct. 6th at AKL/Kidani. It is a no kids trip so I am looking forward to the whole trip but especially AKL with Savannah view and no kids.

I don't feel bad about not taking the kids because we are taking them to Ontario to stay at the beach and visit my parents. We are also hoping to take them back to WDW next August. We told them that we were scouting things out for our next trip when they will go with us.

I can't wait!!

 

[Msmit002]

Mickey Mail arrived today!

In just about a month I'll be checking in at CSR! Can't wait!

 

[DsnyMama]

Mark us down for CSR! We had booked 9 nights at AoA LM room (still have it booked), but because I HIGHLY doubt there will be any LM rooms up for discount with FD once it is released, we are moving over to CSR instead! Won't make the official move until FD is released, but it's 98% certain at this point.

Staying Nov 26-28 at AKV and Nov 28-Dec5 at CSR!

This will be our second stay at CSR. Our first was March 2009 and unfortunately it wasn't a great experience... It felt so spread out - even though we were in Cabanas. We did zero research and always used the buses at El Centro and they were always packed. It was hot. I was 11 weeks PP from an emergency c-section. We were new parents with an 11 week old and I was having horrible issues with nursing... It was bad timing and I know that was 90% of the problem - not necessarily the resort. It just wasn't the best trip

Definitely looking forward to a better trip! Hubby isn't joining us due to work and the fact that he's saving for our cruise next year! It will be myself, DD 3, DS 2, and my mom who will be on her FIRST ever disney trip! I'm VERY excited!

 

[Haley/Hayden Mom]

We will be at CSR in 43 days. Can't wait!!! Do they still do the poolside movies and s'mores at certain times? My girls are most excited about the pool than anything else there! DH and I are most excited about the queen size beds! After 4 trips to Disney, it's about time we have a bigger bed.

 

[Valgoof]

Ok now I really feel like I am stalking you Amber!! This time wasnt even on purpose. Hope you have a better experience at CSR this time. I check in 10 days after you leave!

 

[Gibbygirl]

We will be at CSR in 43 days. Can't wait!!! Do they still do the poolside movies and s'mores at certain times? My girls are most excited about the pool than anything else there! DH and I are most excited about the queen size beds! After 4 trips to Disney, it's about time we have a bigger bed.

We were there three weeks ago--poolside movies were at 9 & marshmallows were at 7. Looked forward to the s'mores but it was just roasted marshmallows. They were yummy though!

 

[jenifferf00]

I'm so excited we switched from All Star Sport to CSR. The Queen beds were a big selling point for me! I've never stayed here before, or been to Disney with kids, so this is going to be a whole new kind of trip. I am so excited for it, I have to keep reminding myself to enjoy the summer because September will be here before I know it.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

Jennifer...I promise you won't be disappointed in the beds or the bedding...they are heavenly!!

 

[Butterflygirl35]

Agreed.. the beds are so comfy!

I went for a last minute trip in June and fell in love...

I was originally booked for October at AOA but switched to CSR with bounceback offer....

I just cant imagine going back to small beds - no matter how nice the theming may be.... Little feet in my face while trying to sleep is NOT a good theme..

I bought from grocery store chocolate and graham crackers and turned my roasted marshmallows to smores... You can do it but you need to bring the supplies... So yummy.....

 

[Sara1Babe]

We will be at CSR in 43 days. Can't wait!!! Do they still do the poolside movies and s'mores at certain times? My girls are most excited about the pool than anything else there! DH and I are most excited about the queen size beds! After 4 trips to Disney, it's about time we have a bigger bed.

Our trips overlap! Yay!

The beds are pretty awesome, I shudder to think of sleeping in a full sized bed on vacation.

Mickey Mail should come in next week! Here's to mail box stalking

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Checking in LIVE FROM CSR!!!!!
My friend didn't want to go to the parks today so we decided on a one night "staycation" at CSR. The pool was fabulous and not too busy but then a storm came up and we've been stuck in our room with it still raining.

Check-in was busy at 9:30am but I was pulled from the online check in line to another line and was assisted right away. We were told we were upgraded to building 3 but really wanted to be in 8a as that is the best building (IMO) as it's close to the bus, parking lot, and main pool. After a phone call, we were off to our ground floor, standard room in 8a which was ready!! The room was clean (yes we checked for bed bugs!), and I was surprised that we were given both lotion and body wash in addition to the soaps, shampoo, and conditioner. Last week when I stayed at WL we only got lotion, no body wash so that was a nice surprise!!!

There's a Dance Competition going on right now which you wouldn't notice unless you were trying to get food. We ate at Cafe Rix for breakfast and that was a crazy- hot mess, and ate lunch at Pepper Market which is a wonderful use of a QS DDP meal! They did set up additional food tables near the convention entrance which is very smart and hopefully takes away some of the crowd from Cafe Rix but yet sells similar food options.

We're heading to Poly tonight for a Kona ADR and fireworks from the beach! We hope it stops raining soon!!!

Any questions, let me know!

 

[Sara1Babe]

What color are the resort mugs this year? Last year we really wanted orange and purple mugs but settled for blue and pink. Here's hoping they are using our fave colors

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

What color are the resort mugs this year? Last year we really wanted orange and purple mugs but settled for blue and pink. Here's hoping they are using our fave colors

They are the "swim" fab 5 character ones that are pink, blue, and black. The green, orange, and purple ones were only at the All Stars I believe but as of a few months ago when I was there with a friend, they were the same colors as everyone else. It would be nice if they changed them every year!!

 

[lovethattink]

Checking in LIVE FROM CSR!!!!!
My friend didn't want to go to the parks today so we decided on a one night "staycation" at CSR. The pool was fabulous and not too busy but then a storm came up and we've been stuck in our room with it still raining.

Check-in was busy at 9:30am but I was pulled from the online check in line to another line and was assisted right away. We were told we were upgraded to building 3 but really wanted to be in 8a as that is the best building (IMO) as it's close to the bus, parking lot, and main pool. After a phone call, we were off to our ground floor, standard room in 8a which was ready!! The room was clean (yes we checked for bed bugs!), and I was surprised that we were given both lotion and body wash in addition to the soaps, shampoo, and conditioner. Last week when I stayed at WL we only got lotion, no body wash so that was a nice surprise!!!

There's a Dance Competition going on right now which you wouldn't notice unless you were trying to get food. We ate at Cafe Rix for breakfast and that was a crazy- hot mess, and ate lunch at Pepper Market which is a wonderful use of a QS DDP meal! They did set up additional food tables near the convention entrance which is very smart and hopefully takes away some of the crowd from Cafe Rix but yet sells similar food options.

We're heading to Poly tonight for a Kona ADR and fireworks from the beach! We hope it stops raining soon!!!

Any questions, let me know!

How were the fireworks? I heard the Poly Beach was pretty busy with areas restricted to Club level only at one part?

Have a great time and enjoy CSR!! Glad you were able to enjoy the resort yesterday until it rained.

 

[Sara1Babe]

Anyone know anything about FL weather in Aug? I know to expect hot. How much does it rain? How often? (weather.com says 7+ inches but what that translates to in terms of rains all day 1x a week, or rains 1 hr every day, etc is beyond me)

Should probably look up how many hurricanes/tropical storms/tropical depressions hit in Aug too. The answers will impact my shoe choices (and maybe I'll need to get an extra pair bwhahaha)

 

[lovethattink]

Anyone know anything about FL weather in Aug? I know to expect hot. How much does it rain? How often? (weather.com says 7+ inches but what that translates to in terms of rains all day 1x a week, or rains 1 hr every day, etc is beyond me)

Should probably look up how many hurricanes/tropical storms/tropical depressions hit in Aug too. The answers will impact my shoe choices (and maybe I'll need to get an extra pair bwhahaha)

You can probably count on low 90's during the day and 70's at night. Sept is peak hurricane season, so keep an eye on the gulf closer to your trip.

We had a deluge of rain with TS Debbie, but it's been pretty dry since. Our lakes and retention ponds have gone down quickly even though they were overflowing after Debbie.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

Anyone know anything about FL weather in Aug? I know to expect hot. How much does it rain? How often? (weather.com says 7+ inches but what that translates to in terms of rains all day 1x a week, or rains 1 hr every day, etc is beyond me)

Should probably look up how many hurricanes/tropical storms/tropical depressions hit in Aug too. The answers will impact my shoe choices (and maybe I'll need to get an extra pair bwhahaha)

Typical Florida summer weather has a chance of rain most every day. That doesn't mean it will be a downpour all day every day. Thunderstorms flair up in the afternoon hours and pass on through. So when you get close to your trip and you check the weather forecast, you'll probably see a 20-40% chance of rain every day. Plan on ducking into an indoor attraction sometime every afternoon to wait out a quick storm. Unless there is a tropical storm or hurricane bearing down on Florida, it will probably be short-lived. Do take a couple of pairs of shoes, at least one pair that are quick-dry!

Have a great trip!