Coronado Springs Resort -- New Unofficial FAQ Thread -- October 2010

[Pooh&OurHunny]

That is awesome. If you want to type the "glowing email" and send to me, I can be sure that he gets it (PM me about it if you want).

Thanks, I'll work on the letter and email you next week.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

I forgot to write that the beds are very comfy at CSR, not like AKL (the beds are AKL was hard).

 

[bare necessities]

Just back from a 9 day stay (12-4 to 12-12). Rooms were great (Building 1- right near the main building). Resort is beautiful, ground and rooms were in great condition. Mousekeeping was great and they had fun setting up my daughters stuffed animals everyday in a new way. Pepper Market food was wonderful but tended to get crowded a lot. Did a lot of To-Go to get peace from the crowds after a day at the parks. Used to main pool a couple of time when the weather warmed. Daughter loved the slide.
The only problem we had was the bus service. It was downright terrible. Wait times in the morning were horrible (Bus Stop 1-by main building). There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to getting buses that people needed for the morning. Magic Kingdom buses seemed to be the worst. Hard to believe that on days with early EMH that buses for that park were hard to come by. After talking to some of the bus drivers they seem to agree that there is something wrong with the bus system as well. One driver said that they took something that was not broke and broke it.

 

[weber1188]

Single Digit Dance

Did online check-in yesterday, still debating whether to fax in a room request or just go with whatever we get

 

[bare necessities]

Single Digit Dance

Did online check-in yesterday, still debating whether to fax in a room request or just go with whatever we get

Faxed in request and did not get anything requested. Not sure they read faxes. Might want to call in request and hope it gets to the right person.

 

[Eeyorebabies]

The 2 older kids still have a lingering cough, but overall are much better. The 9 month old on the otherhand, not so great. She has an ear infection and a horrible cough. They put her on antibiotics. We fly to WDW tomorrow.
The weather now has 2 days of rain instead of one
I am getting worried that we are all just going to be miserable the whole time.

I do have a question, I keep reading on the Mom's panel on the DW website that CSR's food court isn't on the free dining plan. Is that the case? We were hoping to use one of our quick service credits the night we get in, then head to our rooms to rest up. So does anyone know if it is on the free dining plan?

 

[luckylady131]

The 2 older kids still have a lingering cough, but overall are much better. The 9 month old on the otherhand, not so great. She has an ear infection and a horrible cough. They put her on antibiotics. We fly to WDW tomorrow.
The weather now has 2 days of rain instead of one
I am getting worried that we are all just going to be miserable the whole time.

I do have a question, I keep reading on the Mom's panel on the DW website that CSR's food court isn't on the free dining plan. Is that the case? We were hoping to use one of our quick service credits the night we get in, then head to our rooms to rest up. So does anyone know if it is on the free dining plan?

Sure it is!! The Maya Grill is a1 TS credit, the Pepper Market is 1 CS credit, the Cafe Rix is a good place for snack credits or CS credit for sandwiches, etc. I am not sure about the Laguna Bar. We didn't try that when we were there.

 

[KatMark]

I wanted to share with others that the room service at CSR is not covered under the dinning plan. We were on DxDDP and our son got sick so we ordered room service 2x and it was not covered under the plan and you can pay cash when they delivered or charged to the room.

Yes, in-room dining has never been part of the dining plan (I should make a point of that at the beginning of this thread for those that don't check the dining plan thread).

Just booked two night at CSR for Feb 23-25! We were looking to do EPCOT so we booked the Swan (Feb 25 to Mar 2), but they were booked up (convention) for our first two nights. They said they might have opeings if we waited.

That got us (DW, DS, I) to thinking what a great time we had at CSR this past Feb! We decided not to wait for openings and booked two nights (25% discount) there to start our vaca. DS is very excited to go back to the Dig Site pool, and DW and I are anxious to have dinner at Maya again!

We even thought about doing the whole week! Unfortunately the discount is not available for the Mods after the 26th, and no rooms at all were availablable at all at CSR.

Glad you are going back; I remember that you all enjoyed your trip and glad to see you can go back again. I hope the weather is good for your DS to swim in the Dig Site.

We LOVED the lifeguard, Mike. Can I type a "glowing" email for/about him too? He went above and beyond for my 9yo and our family. I would love to give him a pat on the back.

Absolutely; just send me a PM when you are ready and I'll give you my email and I can forward it on to be sure it gets to the right person.

Can't wait. We should arrive mid morning next Sunday. Even though its our 3rd time at CSR, I need to figure out where we should try to stay. We've been only at casitas.

Btw, those there now, how is capacity? Last time we were there about this time (2008) I think cabanas was closed down at the beginning of the week - no cars at all on the parking lots. By checkout time after Xmas, it was another story.

I'd try Cabanas 8A or 8B if you can get it; we loved Cabanas 8A in September.

Thanks, I'll work on the letter and email you next week.

Sounds great!

Just back from a 9 day stay (12-4 to 12-12). Rooms were great (Building 1- right near the main building). Resort is beautiful, ground and rooms were in great condition. Mousekeeping was great and they had fun setting up my daughters stuffed animals everyday in a new way. Pepper Market food was wonderful but tended to get crowded a lot. Did a lot of To-Go to get peace from the crowds after a day at the parks. Used to main pool a couple of time when the weather warmed. Daughter loved the slide.
The only problem we had was the bus service. It was downright terrible. Wait times in the morning were horrible (Bus Stop 1-by main building). There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to getting buses that people needed for the morning. Magic Kingdom buses seemed to be the worst. Hard to believe that on days with early EMH that buses for that park were hard to come by. After talking to some of the bus drivers they seem to agree that there is something wrong with the bus system as well. One driver said that they took something that was not broke and broke it.

Thanks for reporting back. It seems people who have been at the CSR recently have had either great bus service or not so great bus service; I'm sorry you were one of those that had the "not so great". I've read this on other TR's of people having poor bus service at other resorts. Disney really needs to concentrate on fixing this (this is one of the many reasons we prefer driving to the parks).

The 2 older kids still have a lingering cough, but overall are much better. The 9 month old on the otherhand, not so great. She has an ear infection and a horrible cough. They put her on antibiotics. We fly to WDW tomorrow.
The weather now has 2 days of rain instead of one
I am getting worried that we are all just going to be miserable the whole time.

I do have a question, I keep reading on the Mom's panel on the DW website that CSR's food court isn't on the free dining plan. Is that the case? We were hoping to use one of our quick service credits the night we get in, then head to our rooms to rest up. So does anyone know if it is on the free dining plan?

Oh, I hope the antibiotics kick in quickly for the baby. In Florida it may say rain and then it never does. I will pray a lot for you that everyone is feeling better and that the baby's earache goes away and I will pray for NO rain too.

Yes, the the CSR Food Court is on the dining plan. They may be thinking that it is not on the plan for 2011. This is because the CSR restaurants are NOT owned by Disney and like other restaurants at some of the parks that are not owned by Disney, they are the last to sign up for the dining plan. But you are fine for this year...no worries there.

 

[momcloud]

We just got back (at 2AM due to driving thru snow) from CSR. We had a great time! We were in Casitas 3- somehow got a handicapped room, but we decided not to complain and go with it. Bus stop #2 was close and we never had to wait long for a bus and we were the first stop on the way back. They were painting our building, but we never heard them and seems like most of the work was during the day while we were out. The temps were cooler than I hoped, but Saturday was beautiful! Then yesterday morning the weather was awesome when we left. Oh well we had layers and we survived.
We ate at Maya Grill before we left yesterday morning and it was good. We loved the resort-although my DH says it wasn't Disney enough( here I thought he would want to get away from that since we had no kids this time!)
But he liked the location and how quiet it was. More later!

 

[KatMark]

We just got back (at 2AM due to driving thru snow) from CSR. We had a great time! We were in Casitas 3- somehow got a handicapped room, but we decided not to complain and go with it. Bus stop #2 was close and we never had to wait long for a bus and we were the first stop on the way back. They were painting our building, but we never heard them and seems like most of the work was during the day while we were out. The temps were cooler than I hoped, but Saturday was beautiful! Then yesterday morning the weather was awesome when we left. Oh well we had layers and we survived.
We ate at Maya Grill before we left yesterday morning and it was good. We loved the resort-although my DH says it wasn't Disney enough( here I thought he would want to get away from that since we had no kids this time!)
But he liked the location and how quiet it was. More later!

Welcome back! I'm sorry the weather wasn't better for you guys, but glad you enjoyed your stay at the CSR. Can't wait to hear more (and maybe see some pictures???).

 

[su_A_ve]

I'd try Cabanas 8A or 8B if you can get it; we loved Cabanas 8A in September.

What's the best way to get a request in. Call? Fax? Should I not do online check in and ask when I get there?

 

[KatMark]

What's the best way to get a request in. Call? Fax? Should I not do online check in and ask when I get there?

We always note it on our reservation so I would call and put it on there. We also fax it every year (although we didn't do it this year for some reason); I know the CSR used to read the faxes, but I wonder if they are going the same way as everyone else and not reading them anymore???

But definitely call and have it noted. When are you going and where would you like to be, if possible? The reason I ask is as of January 1 they will have preferred rooms and unless you pay for it, you won't get that area (unless you get an upgrade).

 

[Ltl Mermaid]

Hi There! Just came back from Coronado (12/3-12/11) and had a wondeful stay! The rooms were gorgeous. we originally wanted bldg 1 or 3 but they couldn't accomodate so we were given 2...which actually worked out great due to it's close proximity to bus stop 2, which is the first drop off at the end of the night! Pepper Market and Cafe Rix both had consistantly yummy food. Service was spotty but not terrible...nothing we felt affected our experience.

The upgraded rooms are seriously beautiful, almost seemed like and in between category (between moderate and deluxe)...since I normally try to stay in deluxes I was pleasantly surprised. We didn't spend too much time touring the hotel, but we did take a walk around the lake one day and enjoyed a hammock for a moment or two...but the weather was so cold we didn't stay out for long! It is such a pretty resort, very peaceful and picturesque! We had a king bed and a standard view that were adjacent but not connecting (which was fine)...the view was actually not bad, we looked directly at bldg 4 and had a pretty view of the bldg and palm trees.

There was some construction going on at our bldg adn nearby but the noise never disturbed us and seemed to start at around 830 or 9am when we were already awake. I was bummer though because the construction blocked off our fountain, which i really wanted a photo of! Oh well, there is always next time!

Bus service was iffy...most days we had good luck but a few times we waited a looooong time for buses, however, most of our transportation problems were unrelated to CSR...for instance leaving DHS, going to SSR, and trying to catch a bus to DTD. We waited over 30 mins at SSR for the DTD bus, which I was shocked about since DTD is so close to SSR! Luckily CSR seemed to have better bus service then other resorts we toured and ate at (AKL seemed to be one of the worst transporatation-wise) ..not perfect but better!

Overall a great stay though waaaay too cold for my thin blood! I highly recommend CSR to anyone who wants a bit of a deluxeish experience for a moderate price!

 

[KatMark]

Hi There! Just came back from Coronado (12/3-12/11) and had a wondeful stay! The rooms were gorgeous. we originally wanted bldg 1 or 3 but they couldn't accomodate so we were given 2...which actually worked out great due to it's close proximity to bus stop 2, which is the first drop off at the end of the night! Pepper Market and Cafe Rix both had consistantly yummy food. Service was spotty but not terrible...nothing we felt affected our experience.

The upgraded rooms are seriously beautiful, almost seemed like and in between category (between moderate and deluxe)...since I normally try to stay in deluxes I was pleasantly surprised. We didn't spend too much time touring the hotel, but we did take a walk around the lake one day and enjoyed a hammock for a moment or two...but the weather was so cold we didn't stay out for long! It is such a pretty resort, very peaceful and picturesque! We had a king bed and a standard view that were adjacent but not connecting (which was fine)...the view was actually not bad, we looked directly at bldg 4 and had a pretty view of the bldg and palm trees.

There was some construction going on at our bldg adn nearby but the noise never disturbed us and seemed to start at around 830 or 9am when we were already awake. I was bummer though because the construction blocked off our fountain, which i really wanted a photo of! Oh well, there is always next time!

Bus service was iffy...most days we had good luck but a few times we waited a looooong time for buses, however, most of our transportation problems were unrelated to CSR...for instance leaving DHS, going to SSR, and trying to catch a bus to DTD. We waited over 30 mins at SSR for the DTD bus, which I was shocked about since DTD is so close to SSR! Luckily CSR seemed to have better bus service then other resorts we toured and ate at (AKL seemed to be one of the worst transporatation-wise) ..not perfect but better!

Overall a great stay though waaaay too cold for my thin blood! I highly recommend CSR to anyone who wants a bit of a deluxeish experience for a moderate price!

Thank you so much for your review. I am so glad that you enjoyed the CSR. Your last sentence is why we have chosen it for nine of our last ten stays--a bit of a "deluxe" with a moderate price. Happy Holidays, and hope you warm up (but at least warmer in Florida than it is here...it was 0 when I woke up this morning with a -7 windchill).

 

[chellt]

We are about to book the Coronado and I am CONFUSED about the new preferred rooms. What exactly are you guaranteed with the extra $$ and is it worth it???

 

[smile4baby]

Seeing as this was our first trip to WDW, I wasn't sure where to stay. Initially I wanted to stay at CSR, but after calling WDW and being told we couldn't do quick-service dining (which we need since we have a toddler and dining out is a pain at this age) we ended up deciding on ASMu.
So...we arrived at ASMu on Saturday and were not impressed. Not to knock it, but I should have gone with my instincts and picked CSR to begin with. Dh couldn't understand the big deal about the nicer resorts, so last night we drove over to CSR and ate dinner and walked around the resort, then he asked me if we could switch resorts!
I talked to someone at the check-in desk who quoted me one price and said they had plenty of rooms available. So I went back to ASMu, packed up our stuff and hauled it over to CSR, where upon actual check-in I was told that it would actually be quite a bit cheaper than the original quote!
And props to Alisa, who was so sweet and a huge help with getting everything switched over...she put us in Casitas 4, which is a great location. She even made arrangements for us to keep our QSD, even though I think with our package we were supposed to get the regular dining plan.
We are having a great time and feel more like we're on vacation now, with a beautiful room to relax in after a long day at the parks.

 

[Villains_Rock]

I'm sure this has been asked somewhere...but just curious is all buildings have elevators. We will be carting a large stroller packed full of a toddler and lots of stuff on out next trip...I can't imagine trying to haul it up even one flight of stairs!

 

[KatMark]

We are about to book the Coronado and I am CONFUSED about the new preferred rooms. What exactly are you guaranteed with the extra $$ and is it worth it???

The Preferred rooms at the CSR will keep you closer to the main building (this is where registration, the lounge, sit down restaurant, food court, grab & go and gift shop are located). As of now, I have heard from a reliable source, that Casitas 1, 2 and 3 will be "preferred buildings." It really depends on what you want to be close to. Personally, we don't find the walks at CSR long from any one point. The furthest from the main building is the Ranchos section. My best friend stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and said he had a further walk from his room there to the pool at the AKL than he did from the convention center to the furthest room in the Ranchos (the main difference is you are outside as compared to inside).

Seeing as this was our first trip to WDW, I wasn't sure where to stay. Initially I wanted to stay at CSR, but after calling WDW and being told we couldn't do quick-service dining (which we need since we have a toddler and dining out is a pain at this age) we ended up deciding on ASMu.
So...we arrived at ASMu on Saturday and were not impressed. Not to knock it, but I should have gone with my instincts and picked CSR to begin with. Dh couldn't understand the big deal about the nicer resorts, so last night we drove over to CSR and ate dinner and walked around the resort, then he asked me if we could switch resorts!
I talked to someone at the check-in desk who quoted me one price and said they had plenty of rooms available. So I went back to ASMu, packed up our stuff and hauled it over to CSR, where upon actual check-in I was told that it would actually be quite a bit cheaper than the original quote!
And props to Alisa, who was so sweet and a huge help with getting everything switched over...she put us in Casitas 4, which is a great location. She even made arrangements for us to keep our QSD, even though I think with our package we were supposed to get the regular dining plan.
We are having a great time and feel more like we're on vacation now, with a beautiful room to relax in after a long day at the parks.

Thank you so much for letting us know that this all worked out smoothly for you and that you are happy at the CSR. This put a huge smile on my face; I love happy endings.

I'm sure this has been asked somewhere...but just curious is all buildings have elevators. We will be carting a large stroller packed full of a toddler and lots of stuff on out next trip...I can't imagine trying to haul it up even one flight of stairs!

Yes, all except Casitas 2 (although in a long and confusing way you can use the elevator in Casitas 3 to get to Casitas 2).

 

[stinkerbell2]

Hey my fellow disers!

Well, I am back at it, obsessively reading all the threads I can to prepare for our next trip!!!! This one will be a total surprise to our 2 girls
This will be our first time at CSR. The last time we stayed at a moderate, we stayed at POR and loved it! I originally booked there, but the CM's I talked to really insisted on upgrading to CSR (however, the only thing left available for when we are going would be "preferred." Honestly, we don't exactly have alot of extra cash around, we really don't know what we are missing yet, but it would be nice to go somewhere different, I just wanted to make sure that you all agree that CSR is one of the best moderates. I would probably pick POR for the fact that it's less expensive, but seeing as our kids are still needing naps, and we may be in the room a little more, I am thinking we should maybe splurge for the queen beds. Any thoughts?
Thanks!

 

[stinkerbell2]

Also, can someone please tell me how they felt Maya Grill was? What kind of food do they have?

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