Coronado Springs Resort - New Unofficial FAQ Thread - November 2011

[saskdw]

None of the preferred rooms are close to the dig site, so sounds like you paid for something that was never going to be what you wanted. If you read what I wrote I was refering to inexperienced readers that might read the thread, you would qualify as experienced since you have actually been there. I'm trying to help people who haven't been there make an educated decision. Someone here could have let you know before hand that Cabanas or Ranchos is where you wanted to be.

 

[tjmw2727]

None of the preferred rooms are close to the dig site, so sounds like you paid for something that was never going to be what you wanted. If you read what I wrote I was refering to inexperienced readers that might read the thread, you would qualify as experienced since you have actually been there. I'm trying to help people who haven't been there make an educated decision. Someone here could have let you know before hand that Cabanas or Ranchos is where you wanted to be.

Where did I say that I thought the preferred rooms were near the dig site?

I said I didn't like the location - you said it was great and why - I said (again) that we didn't like the location and why.

Bottom line is that I paid for a preferred location and yes I got one - but it was as far away as it could possibly be and still be preferred. It was steps away from non preferred that is a fact.

 

[madcat]

Hi tjmw2727 did you tell the people at the check-in after you saw the location that you didn't care for it? The only reason why I ask is because we were put in an area that we did not like as well and after we saw the location in person (because the check-in cast member) asked us to go look at it, we went back to check-in told them we still didn't care for it and actually thought about changing resorts but they asked us if we would be willing to stay if they found us another location. It seems that a lot of people are getting put in the ranchos section. Maybe they are trying to get people to warm up to it. I can see being upset if you paid more for a room and it was not close to the things that you wanted.

Does anyone know if there are certain sections that the convention attendees stay in, or are they spread out?

 

[aubriee]

Casitas 3 wouldn't be bad. It's a short enough walk to El Centro for me and my crew. But, getting a room on the 4th floor of Casitas 2? That is something I try to avoid.

Yeah, that wouldn't be the best. I would like to think they only use those rooms when the resort is completely full. Don't hear of too many people on DIS being put there anyway.

I have posted that I was stuck up there once. One trip, before Casitas 2 became a preferred location, I had to book a king room, because no standards were available for my first night under the AP discount. I couldn't believe they would put a King room way up there (parking lot view and very difficult to get to). I politely asked to be moved even into a standard room and was told nothing would be available until the next morning. The next morning they moved me into a wonderful first floor, corner room in Cabanas 8A. This was during the first week of Dec, so not a busy time. The resort did not seem anywhere near full--buses not busy and pool not busy.

Since Castitas 2 is now a preferred building, if I had paid extra for a preferred king room and got stuck up in that 'No Man's Land' on the fourth floor, I'd be pissed. I know of at least one other poster that posts alot here on the CSR Thread that said she was stuck up there too.

 

[aubriee]

Wow - really?

What I was expecting out of a preferred room was what was advertised per the WDW website. I do realize I got a preferred room and I said that in the first post. I didn't think I was "complaining" btw but I was definately "dissapointed" that my preferred room was as far away fom ElCentro as a preferred room could be. There are hundreds of rooms that were closer to the ElCentral than mine and I am sure they didn't pay "aot" more than the $20 a night than I did!!

It is very nice that you love that location - we did not. My kids wanted the dig site pool (thanks in part to the CM's talking it up) not the quiet pool and the Dig Site was about as far from that location as it could possibly be. We didn't use the health club or spa as it was just me and my dd's. If I wanted a room close to those amenities I would have requested that instead of paying for a preferred location.

Most of the time we needed/wanted something at ElCentro so we used bus stop #1, I knew this would be the case so that's one of the reasons I reserved a "preferred" room.

So - we got a preferred room that was just steps away from non preferred rooms and we didn't get the "waterview" that you got for your $20.00.

Thanks again for the warm welcome to this resort thread, glad to know that my "unexperienced" viewpoint is so valued.

I understand your disappointment that your room was so far away from the main building. I once booked a preferred room at CBR (with a request for first floor Martinique 26 or first floor North Trinidad 31). I got stuck in a top floor room on the back side of Martinque 24, in what was obviously the furtherest room I could have gotten and still been considered preferred. In fact, the standard rooms in Martinique 22 were only steps away from my room, on the other side of the quiet pool. Was I disappointed in the room location? Sure, especially since I had gotten one of the preferred rooms that was the furtherest out it could be, when I had specifically put a request in for the two buildings closest to the food court. However, I knew when I booked the preferred category that there was a chance I could get one of the preferred rooms that is further out. Someone has to get those rooms. Heck, in my previous post, I mentioned having to book a King room (which I didn't even want anyway, but had to book in order to use the AP discount). Not only did I have to pay more for a King room I didn't even want, but that King room was stuck way up on the top floor of Casitas 2, facing the parking lot. Casitas 2 is the only building at CSR that does not have an elevator. The only way to get up into what the CMs call "No Man's Land" is to either walk around the building and use the stairs across from the Casitas quiet pool and then walk up four flights of stairs, and then walk around to the opposite side of the building. The only other option is to walk all the way around the building and around to the elevators in Casitas 3, take the elevator up to the top floor, then walk across the walkway over to Casistas 2, then turn and walk all the way around that building to the far side, then walk down to the end. Under the new system that room is now considered a Preferred King room. As I said previously, it was bad enough having to pay extra for that room as a King Standard room. Anyone who pays for a King Preferred room and gets stuck up there is going to be mad. I know I would be. It's got to be the most difficult and tiring area to get to.

As a previous poster said, if your kids were interested in the Dig Site, none of the preferred rooms would really fit what you wanted. At CSR I want to be close to the Dig site and also close to the main building, so I always book a standard room and make a request for 'first floor Cabanas, with a preference for Cabanas 8A'. I've been in Casitas 1, Casistas 2, Cabanas 9B three times, Cabanas 9A twice, Cabanas 8B once, and Cabanas 8A twice, and also spent one night in Ranchos 6A. My favorite building by far is Cabanas 8a, followed closely by Cabanas 9B. The only locations I've had that I really hated were Casita 2 and Ranchos 6A. The Casitas may be considered a preferred location by Disney, but no way would I pay more to stay in one of those buildings (although Castias 1 was also nice--still further from the main pool though than any of the Cabanas). I really wished they'd made the Cabanas preferred. I would definitely pay more if I could guarantee that location. All the Cabanas are close to the main pool and fairly close to the main building and either bus stop 4 or bus stop 1.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

Preferred rooms at CSR are casitas 1, 2 and 3 - some of those rooms have a better location than others. All guarantee that you will be reasonably close to El Centro and the convention center. That might not meet the needs of some families, like ours, so we do not pay for preferred rooms. We prefer the cabanas to be close to the Dig Site, and like aubriee, we would pay a preferred room charge to guarantee cabanas.

Many people like casita 3 - it is lovely, and it is closer to the casitas bus stop (which is the first stop picked up and dropped off on the way to the parks). It is also closer to the Dig Site than the other preferred rooms, but farther from El Centro. If you are interested in the fitness center and/or the quiet pool (which is a lap pool), casita 3 is a great location.

If someone wants to be very close to El Centro, a request should be made for casita 1. If someone wants to be closer to the Dig Site, they probably shouldn't book preferred at all at CSR. Almost all of the standard rooms are closer to the Dig Site than the preferred rooms.

Popular standard buildings are casitas 4 and 5, cabanas 8A, 8B, 9A and 9B, and maybe ranchos 7B. Ranchos 6A, 6B and 7A don't seem to appear on many people's lists of favorites. My personal favorite is cabana 8A.

If I were to book preferred (which I don't since I like cabanas better), I would request casita 3. I think it is the best of the preferred buildings. Just personal opinion.

 

[Butterflygirl35]

I agree.. Cabanas would definitely be worth paying extra for a guarantee....

They are close to everything and love the hammocks as well.. A very nice touch after a long day in the park.

I hope we get Cabanas again in October - I did request when booking... so hopefully....

 

[tjmw2727]

Thanks for the understanding Aubriee!

When I booked I had no interest in the dig site - my main priority was the ElCentro area. Yes I know someone will end up in those rooms and as per my original post "its alwyas me!" - LOL

No matter how wonderful some think that location is, I was dissapionted. It didn't ruin our vacation but it definately complicated things for us.

I did try and get my room moved but was told there was nothing closer.

Already moved my August reservation elsewhere.

I understand your disappointment that your room was so far away from the main building. I once booked a preferred room at CBR (with a request for first floor Martinique 26 or first floor North Trinidad 31). I got stuck in a top floor room on the back side of Martinque 24, in what was obviously the furtherest room I could have gotten and still been considered preferred. In fact, the standard rooms in Martinique 22 were only steps away from my room, on the other side of the quiet pool. Was I disappointed in the room location? Sure, especially since I had gotten one of the preferred rooms that was the furtherest out it could be, when I had specifically put a request in for the two buildings closest to the food court. However, I knew when I booked the preferred category that there was a chance I could get one of the preferred rooms that is further out. Someone has to get those rooms. Heck, in my previous post, I mentioned having to book a King room (which I didn't even want anyway, but had to book in order to use the AP discount). Not only did I have to pay more for a King room I didn't even want, but that King room was stuck way up on the top floor of Casitas 2, facing the parking lot. Casitas 2 is the only building at CSR that does not have an elevator. The only way to get up into what the CMs call "No Man's Land" is to either walk around the building and use the stairs across from the Casitas quiet pool and then walk up four flights of stairs, and then walk around to the opposite side of the building. The only other option is to walk all the way around the building and around to the elevators in Casitas 3, take the elevator up to the top floor, then walk across the walkway over to Casistas 2, then turn and walk all the way around that building to the far side, then walk down to the end. Under the new system that room is now considered a Preferred King room. As I said previously, it was bad enough having to pay extra for that room as a King Standard room. Anyone who pays for a King Preferred room and gets stuck up there is going to be mad. I know I would be. It's got to be the most difficult and tiring area to get to.

As a previous poster said, if your kids were interested in the Dig Site, none of the preferred rooms would really fit what you wanted. At CSR I want to be close to the Dig site and also close to the main building, so I always book a standard room and make a request for 'first floor Cabanas, with a preference for Cabanas 8A'. I've been in Casitas 1, Casistas 2, Cabanas 9B three times, Cabanas 9A twice, Cabanas 8B once, and Cabanas 8A twice, and also spent one night in Ranchos 6A. My favorite building by far is Cabanas 8a, followed closely by Cabanas 9B. The only locations I've had that I really hated were Casita 2 and Ranchos 6A. The Casitas may be considered a preferred location by Disney, but no way would I pay more to stay in one of those buildings (although Castias 1 was also nice--still further from the main pool though than any of the Cabanas). I really wished they'd made the Cabanas preferred. I would definitely pay more if I could guarantee that location. All the Cabanas are close to the main pool and fairly close to the main building and either bus stop 4 or bus stop 1.

 

[niknakk]

A cast member let me know that for Dec 5-8th there is a convention going on so they are holding the standard rooms until we get closer to the date. Is any one else having this problem?

My family is booked there for Nov 29-dec5 and they had no problem booking a standard room, but when I try to get a room nov 29-dec 8th the only room that's available is a preferred king bed and that is so much more expensive for no reason. It's our first trip so we all want to be together but my parents want to be close to some of their friends who are going at the same time and they want to use CSR pool. Mom is not a Disney person at all so she doesn't care if it doesn't feel Disney.

Does anyone know how I can get around this? Im feeling so stressed checking their site everyday!

 

[owynn]

Just got back the other night from 3 nights at the CSR. I went down for work meetings Monday - Wednesday. I arrived very late in the evening and had to wait a good 45 minutes for the Magical Express bus to leave the airport. So I would up getting to the resort at about 1:35 AM on Monday morning. The very nice CM working at the front desk was not able to find my reservation for a few minutes, so check in took a bit longer. Something weird happened with my reservation, and I'm not sure who screwed it up, but with these meetings, I was confirmed to room with one person, but when I arrived, I was rooming with someone else. I am glad I asked about this when they finally found my reservation, as otherwise, it would have been a shock when I got to the room.

So they had me in Cabanas 9A, room 9128. The room was nice enough with a view of the parking lot, but very close to the quiet pool. The bed was either very comfortable or I was just that tired.

Woke up the next morning for meetings in the convention center. Long day of meetings. After the meetings, I met my team for dinner. We had reservations for 14 at the Kona Cafe and the Poly. Since two of our team are local, they had their vehicles with them, so we piled in and drove the the Poly. Dinner was fantastic, and I would highly recommend the Kona Cafe. After dinner, it was back to the hotel when a teammate and I relaxed in the hot tub at the dig site. The hot tub was nice, not too hot, but relaxing. We were ready for bed after that. We met up with some more teammates at the quiet pool on the way back to our rooms and hung out for a bit. Back to the room to sleep.

Tuesday, more meetings, then dinner in Epcot, in front of the Italy pavilion. Dinner was good, but there was one CM who stood out, since she was the nastiest person I ever met. After dinner, a few teammates and I wandered the park for a bit. We sat down in front of the English pub and chatted away. Got hungry at one point and grabbed a thing of fish and chips. They were delicious. Back to the CSR, and more hanging out by the quiet pool before bed.

Wednesday was a shot day of meetings, but my flight was not until late. So after the meetings, I headed off for Animal Kingdom. Short stay there as the skies were about to open up, but I did make it on Expedition Everest. Back at the CSR, I grabbed lunch at the Pepper Mill Market during the lunch buffet. I found the food to be quite good, service was good, my drink never was empty. Then it was look for a quiet place to read. As it was raining out, there really was very little seating inside of El Centro available. I did some browsing at the gift shop to stretch my legs. Got my boarding pass reprinted by the concierge, Michael, who tried not to accept my tip.

Overall, I liked the resort. The resort is HUGE, gi-nor-mous in fact. But even with how big it was, it didn't feel that big. The staff I encountered at the resort were all VERY nice.

On the downside, we did not get fresh soap or shampoo and had to call housekeeping to deliver more. I had co-workers who ate at the Maya Grill who said the food and service were horrible. Very glad I made reservations for my team elsewhere. I almost got run over by a golf cart at least once a day. Oh, and the toilet paper they used was stuff I would think would qualify as cruel and unusual punishment. I think they use softer paper in a Bolivian prison.

So overall, I would stay at the resort again in the future, but I am really looking forward to staying at the POFQ in October.

 

[JESSketeer]

Preferred rooms at CSR are casitas 1, 2 and 3 - some of those rooms have a better location than others. All guarantee that you will be reasonably close to El Centro and the convention center. That might not meet the needs of some families, like ours, so we do not pay for preferred rooms. We prefer the cabanas to be close to the Dig Site, and like aubriee, we would pay a preferred room charge to guarantee cabanas.

Many people like casita 3 - it is lovely, and it is closer to the casitas bus stop (which is the first stop picked up and dropped off on the way to the parks). It is also closer to the Dig Site than the other preferred rooms, but farther from El Centro. If you are interested in the fitness center and/or the quiet pool (which is a lap pool), casita 3 is a great location.

If someone wants to be very close to El Centro, a request should be made for casita 1. If someone wants to be closer to the Dig Site, they probably shouldn't book preferred at all at CSR. Almost all of the standard rooms are closer to the Dig Site than the preferred rooms.

Popular standard buildings are casitas 4 and 5, cabanas 8A, 8B, 9A and 9B, and maybe ranchos 7B. Ranchos 6A, 6B and 7A don't seem to appear on many people's lists of favorites. My personal favorite is cabana 8A.

If I were to book preferred (which I don't since I like cabanas better), I would request casita 3. I think it is the best of the preferred buildings. Just personal opinion.

Do all the preferred Casitas have king size beds available? DBF and I booked a preferred king room for our September trip and after reading about 'No Man's Land' on the fourth floor of Casitas 2, I would be very disappointed to have a room there.

I agree after looking at the resort map that Casitas 3 would be the building I'd like to hopefully be placed in!

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

Do all the preferred Casitas have king size beds available? DBF and I booked a preferred king room for our September trip and after reading about 'No Man's Land' on the fourth floor of Casitas 2, I would be very disappointed to have a room there.

I agree after looking at the resort map that Casitas 3 would be the building I'd like to hopefully be placed in!

Yes, as far as I know, all buildings have some king rooms. If you are assigned a room that has a room number 24xx, ask to be moved if you don't like the location. Sometimes you might have to wait until the next day to be moved, but the cast members are very accommodating.

 

[JESSketeer]

Yes, as far as I know, all buildings have some king rooms. If you are assigned a room that has a room number 24xx, ask to be moved if you don't like the location. Sometimes you might have to wait until the next day to be moved, but the cast members are very accommodating.

Great, thank you! I'll be sure to look out for 24xx

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

Hmm, so I'm not sure what happened but it certainly seems like a mis-communication on this thread. I got so confused logging on today and reading the latest. It's really hard to communicate your intent on these boards and words can be misconstrued. And through it all, I have no clue what the heck was getting said. So I'm all confused now but please don't rehash.

I did get a preferred room because I am staying with 14 other people and we all wanted to be generally near each other and near the food. From the looks of the map, I am not sure why Casitas 1, 2, and 3 are preferred and not Casitas 1 and 2 along with Cabanas 9B. (Although I suspect the whole 'convention' hotel thing comes into play). I would prefer we stayed in 9A or 9B due to the location between El Centro and the Dig Site but you can not guarantee that - you can only request...and run the risk of being the Ranchos section. But I know this going into it so I'm going to just deal. And it was my brother that chose the resort (but I'm happy to try a 'new' resort out).

So what I could pick out of the last couple pages is that I should request Casitas 1 or 3 - we don't want 2 because of the youngest and the eldest in our party and the lack of an elevator - or the excessive walking you need to do to accomodate using an elevator...I think

The Dig Site was awesome. It never felt really crowded like some other mods we stayed at, specifically POR. Also, I thought the theming of the pool and the slide was way better than others we have stayed at (POR, Boardwalk Villas). Also, the walk from Casitas was about 7 - 8 minutes which we were okay with. We had a great CM, Brett, who took care of us at the pool. He is there for 2 months working over the summer, so if you see him, defintiely use him. He can't order your food for you at Siesta's if you are on DDP, but he can pick it up for you when it is ready and bring it to your table so you can sit back and relax. We had both the lime and mango margaritas which were fantastic. Also, fish tacos, nachos and caesar salad were very good.

Wow, so I am doing a split stay between CSR and BWV next month and while the CSR slide looks great, I would have thought BWV would have the edge. I get to try it out personally though

Are you saying they have waitstaff at the pool that you can order drinks and food from??? I've only experienced this once at a Disney resort and that was at the Poly years ago. They don't have it anymore. But we did have this at the Universal resort and we just loved it. I would be really surprised if CSR had it but a Deluxe resort doesn't. But then again, I'm more than happy if they have it while I'm there next month!

 

[Butterflygirl35]

They were taking orders in the jacuzzi when I was there! Excellent service when they are open

 

[saskdw]

Hmm, so I'm not sure what happened but it certainly seems like a mis-communication on this thread. I got so confused logging on today and reading the latest. It's really hard to communicate your intent on these boards and words can be misconstrued. And through it all, I have no clue what the heck was getting said. So I'm all confused now but please don't rehash.

I did get a preferred room because I am staying with 14 other people and we all wanted to be generally near each other and near the food. From the looks of the map, I am not sure why Casitas 1, 2, and 3 are preferred and not Casitas 1 and 2 along with Cabanas 9B. (Although I suspect the whole 'convention' hotel thing comes into play). I would prefer we stayed in 9A or 9B due to the location between El Centro and the Dig Site but you can not guarantee that - you can only request...and run the risk of being the Ranchos section. But I know this going into it so I'm going to just deal. And it was my brother that chose the resort (but I'm happy to try a 'new' resort out).

So what I could pick out of the last couple pages is that I should request Casitas 1 or 3 - we don't want 2 because of the youngest and the eldest in our party and the lack of an elevator - or the excessive walking you need to do to accomodate using an elevator...I think



Wow, so I am doing a split stay between CSR and BWV next month and while the CSR slide looks great, I would have thought BWV would have the edge. I get to try it out personally though

Are you saying they have waitstaff at the pool that you can order drinks and food from??? I've only experienced this once at a Disney resort and that was at the Poly years ago. They don't have it anymore. But we did have this at the Universal resort and we just loved it. I would be really surprised if CSR had it but a Deluxe resort doesn't. But then again, I'm more than happy if they have it while I'm there next month!

Yes, you probably want Casitas 1 or 3. Casitas 2 would be ok if its on the ground floor. As far as I know you have to go up to the bar to get a drink at the pool. The slide at CSR I believe is the the 2nd highest rated at the WDW resorts next to the Beach Club. The stuff that was confusing you in thread isn't worth figuring out.

The reason we pay for a waterview is that it greatly increases our chances of getting the location we want at CSR. Ideally we like Castitas 4 or any of the Cabanas. We also don't mind Ranchos 7B by the quiet pool. There really isn't any waterviews in Ranchos 6A, 6B, or 7A. So it all but guarantees we get a room that we can live with.

 

[saskdw]

They were taking orders in the jacuzzi when I was there! Excellent service when they are open

That is very cool! Never seen that before.

 

[toymom10]

Does anyone have any advice on check in time and ability to get requested room? ie do we have a better shot of getting a room we want if we check in early in the am? Or is it always the luck of the draw? We are staying one night at the Dolphin prior to checking in at CSR for 7 nights so we have some flexibility as to when we check in. (it will be a Saturday if that matters) Thanks!

 

[dtstampz]

I seem to have better luck in getting the Cabanas when I check in earlier, like 11am.
The last 3 trips I had stayed elsewhere on property the night before, and moved over
to CSR late morning. In May, our room wasn't ready right away, but I was happy to wait for it so we could be in the Cabanas. I also agree that booking a waterview gives
you more options for locations, and keeps you from being assigned a room out in the Ranchos.

 

[undertheseas]

We got back last week. Here's our take on things:

The pros: It's a beautiful resort and the kids loved the Dig Site. We only had good interactions with the cast members, especially the day my youngest got very sick and threw up in the lobby. They were very nice, told us we didn't have to apologize, they would get someone right out to clean it so I didn't have to and they just wanted her to feel better, could they call someone for us, etc.

The cons: We were in 9A, room 9108 which is right next to the "quiet" pool which we discovered was anything but quiet. Most of the time there were people in the pool, some of them were quite loud even as late as 11:00 PM. I really tried to be objective but I will say I am POFQ's biggest fan and was heartbroken to hear it was booked solid as was POR. I found CSR to be too big for us. The walk to the bus stop was a lot further than anything we've had at POFQ, the Dig Site and El Centro was definitely a longer walk. It may seem crazy to complain about but none of the places to refill mugs had tea! What about people who don't drink soda? I missed having a table and two chairs, the desk and ottomans were harder for the kids to eat at. Housekeeping was good except that DH only drinks decaff coffee so even after leaving multiple notes, we kept getting regular coffee. Because the walk to El Centro was so far, Disney missed some easy money because we never walked by the shop HA! Buses ranged from typical to very bad. Some days we had very little wait times, there were several 30 minutes wait. Once we waited 40 minutes for an MK bus about 90 minutes before it opened only to see a full bus pass our stop

Would we stay here again? Only if POR was booked (now that DD2 has turned 3 we've outgrown POFQ ) and we couldn't change our dates. It wasn't Disney-ish enough for us, it was too big and didn't seem to fit our vacation style.