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

[CarKey]

We are in the early planning stages for our June 2012 trip and we are planning on a moderate this time instead of our usual value resort (POP) and thanks to this thread it's going to be CSR for sure! I think I'll leave room placement to the luck of the draw, except that I'm just not sure I want to be in the back at the Ranchos. We'll have a car, so bus stops aren't important to me, but I'd like to let my kids go fill up their mugs by themselves and not wonder where they are for 20 minutes. Are the Ranchos that far from the Pepper Market? Does anyone have pictures of the rooms in the Ranchos? Is there an upside to being out there? I'm thinking of making my only request be "not Ranchos"...but I don't want to seem like bad company, lol!

 

[Jen12573]

We are arriving tomorrow - I'm surprised that it is the Grainger convention that will be there for our stay again this year, in 2010 they were there in January. Oh boy, I guess we won't get in to Rix Lounge, or the dockside bar again (jam packed last year during their convention). It doesn't matter to us though, they were all very nice people, we enjoyed our stay even though there were so many conventioneers last year; and besides, most of the time we hardly noticed they were there!

CSR here we come!!!

 

[poohs_hunny]

Just thought someone might want to see some of the food that is available at The Pepper Market.

OMG, is that fried chicken? The mashed potatoes look amazing! I wish I was there NOW!!

 

[pigletto]

We are arriving tomorrow - I'm surprised that it is the Grainger convention that will be there for our stay again this year, in 2010 they were there in January. Oh boy, I guess we won't get in to Rix Lounge, or the dockside bar again (jam packed last year during their convention). It doesn't matter to us though, they were all very nice people, we enjoyed our stay even though there were so many conventioneers last year; and besides, most of the time we hardly noticed they were there!

CSR here we come!!!

We are here now. Every inch of public space is dedicated to this convention. The main pool is closed for it. Every single piece of lawn.. in front of every single building is covered in tables for the meal tonight. The hammocks? Surrounded by tables. The Pepper Market? Overrun with people. Quiet pool? Surrounded by tables for the meal. I don't know how anyone wouldn't find this off putting. I have been here for conventions before.. but this one is MASSIVE. I love this resort, and I will stay here again.. but never during a convention this size. This isn't one of those ones where you can say "Oh I hardly noticed them". There is no not noticing unless you go directly from your room to a park.. and even then, you couldn't avoid it.
I don't mind them, but I do feel guests should be notified when every single amenity they paid for at their resort is going to be unusable or impacted.

 

[MiraDawl]

Wait, so we won't be able to swim at the Dig Site pool when we arrive this week? We check in Wednesday, how long is this convention? =[

I agree that if we're unable to use the ammenities we paid for that I may feel the urge to complain. That seems unacceptable...

 

[MAMA GRAVE]

We are here now. Every inch of public space is dedicated to this convention. The main pool is closed for it. Every single piece of lawn.. in front of every single building is covered in tables for the meal tonight. The hammocks? Surrounded by tables. The Pepper Market? Overrun with people. Quiet pool? Surrounded by tables for the meal. I don't know how anyone wouldn't find this off putting. I have been here for conventions before.. but this one is MASSIVE. I love this resort, and I will stay here again.. but never during a convention this size. This isn't one of those ones where you can say "Oh I hardly noticed them". There is no not noticing unless you go directly from your room to a park.. and even then, you couldn't avoid it.
I don't mind them, but I do feel guests should be notified when every single amenity they paid for at their resort is going to be unusable or impacted.

Ouch!! I'm sorry to hear about your stay. I can't see how CSR can close the main pool due to the convention without providing some sort of compensation to the other guests. You are paying to use that pool and it was not on the list of things to be rehabbed.

I would be quite angry if that was the case when we get there.

I hope things get better as the week goes on.

 

[marivaid]

We are here now. Every inch of public space is dedicated to this convention. The main pool is closed for it. Every single piece of lawn.. in front of every single building is covered in tables for the meal tonight. The hammocks? Surrounded by tables. The Pepper Market? Overrun with people. Quiet pool? Surrounded by tables for the meal. I don't know how anyone wouldn't find this off putting. I have been here for conventions before.. but this one is MASSIVE. I love this resort, and I will stay here again.. but never during a convention this size. This isn't one of those ones where you can say "Oh I hardly noticed them". There is no not noticing unless you go directly from your room to a park.. and even then, you couldn't avoid it.
I don't mind them, but I do feel guests should be notified when every single amenity they paid for at their resort is going to be unusable or impacted.

That sounds awful. We love CSR and do not enjoy complaining however this is one case where I would demand at least a partial refund. Yes CSR is a convention resort however the convention is not supposed to take over the resort and all its amenities.
If all goes well, we will be there in 16 days , and I sure hope the bank convention will not be as big.

 

[DisneyMOM09]

Kat, how many days out do you suggest faxing our building request? We are part of a grand gathering and have connecting rooms noted on our reservation, but I'd love to be in Casitas 4 (if possible) like we were last year.

 

[Jen12573]

We are here now as well. Yes the convention is insane. We were here in Jan. 2010 when Grainger was here as well. They obviously moved to March. Because the pools are closed, we were offered comped water park tickets (pool was closed when we were here last year too). And we were upgraded to a suite in Casitas. We spend most of our time at the parks and we are ok with the convention. Afterall it is a convention resort. It's bound to happen occasionally. Stinks it's this week but what can we do?

 

[Bourquefam]

Hey there! I paid for a water view room for our May trip and am wondering which buildings typically get assigned with that designation? I think I read that it could be pool or lake view---and I'm sure we'll be happy no matter which building we're in, but thought I'd ask anyway.

I'm so glad we made the decision to change our ressies from BC to CSR and can't wait for May 20th to get here!!!!!

 

[KatMark]

We are here now. Every inch of public space is dedicated to this convention. The main pool is closed for it. Every single piece of lawn.. in front of every single building is covered in tables for the meal tonight. The hammocks? Surrounded by tables. The Pepper Market? Overrun with people. Quiet pool? Surrounded by tables for the meal. I don't know how anyone wouldn't find this off putting. I have been here for conventions before.. but this one is MASSIVE. I love this resort, and I will stay here again.. but never during a convention this size. This isn't one of those ones where you can say "Oh I hardly noticed them". There is no not noticing unless you go directly from your room to a park.. and even then, you couldn't avoid it.
I don't mind them, but I do feel guests should be notified when every single amenity they paid for at their resort is going to be unusable or impacted.

I am so sorry to hear this. See Jen12573's post...I'd be at the front desk asking for the same thing.

Wait, so we won't be able to swim at the Dig Site pool when we arrive this week? We check in Wednesday, how long is this convention? =[

I agree that if we're unable to use the ammenities we paid for that I may feel the urge to complain. That seems unacceptable...

This is the first time I have ever heard of the pool being closed for a convention with the exception of maybe one night for a party). I hope this ends soon for all who are going soon.

Kat, how many days out do you suggest faxing our building request? We are part of a grand gathering and have connecting rooms noted on our reservation, but I'd love to be in Casitas 4 (if possible) like we were last year.

I am told they are no longer looking at the faxes because the computer generates the rooma ssignments. If you don't have it noted on your reservation, do it now so it is on there.

We are here now as well. Yes the convention is insane. We were here in Jan. 2010 when Grainger was here as well. They obviously moved to March. Because the pools are closed, we were offered comped water park tickets (pool was closed when we were here last year too). And we were upgraded to a suite in Casitas. We spend most of our time at the parks and we are ok with the convention. Afterall it is a convention resort. It's bound to happen occasionally. Stinks it's this week but what can we do?

We had a suite in the Casitas--they are great. I'm sorry to hear about the pool though...that's just not right.

Hey there! I paid for a water view room for our May trip and am wondering which buildings typically get assigned with that designation? I think I read that it could be pool or lake view---and I'm sure we'll be happy no matter which building we're in, but thought I'd ask anyway.

I'm so glad we made the decision to change our ressies from BC to CSR and can't wait for May 20th to get here!!!!!

A water view could be any of the buildings basically. We've had great water view rooms in Cabanas 8A, 9A, Casitas 3, 4 and 5. It can be a quiet pool, the lake or even a fountain.

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

Hi all! New to this thread! We are headed to POR on May 23rd, then have a continuing reservation at CSR from the 27th to the 2nd of June. Super excited. I put in a room request for Cabana 9B as I have an injury that makes it difficult for me to walk at times. Disney exacerbates that injury for sure with all the walking! Hopefully I will get my request!!!!

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

Oops. Forgot to subscribe!

 

[tinacaplan]

My family and I returned yesterday from our 3rd stay at CSR in the last five years. We continue to enjoy staying at the resort so much: the grounds, the Dig site pool, cast member service, and just the total beauty of the whole resort appeals to all of us.
We were assigned rooms in Casitas 4 (I requested 4 or 5 due to proximity to bus stop 2); we had 8 rooms reserved from our grand gathering and were all placed in a row in the back facing the parking lot on the 3rd floor; we didn’t mind the view, there was a nice little courtyard under our balcony. Bus stop 2 was a quick trip down the stairs and across the parking lot: 2 minutes.
The weather was beautiful! We enjoyed the Dig site pool and the Casitas quiet pool during our stay. The Dig site pool was quite crowded but we were always able to find a table and lounge chairs without too much trouble. The slide was fun again for all of us; kids and adults!
Pepper Market was good as always and our servers were friendly and helpful. Café Rix is always convenient for a quick cup of coffee and snacks or to-go sandwiches. Panchitos gift shop had a lot to offer as usual; however my BIL was disappointed that they didn’t have any CSR specific merchandise (T-shirts, coffee cups, etc.).
While we were there (2/16-2/25) there was a Cochlear (hearing implant) Celebration going on for children and adults: it was cute to see the young children making friends with other hearing impaired children. Usually you see business type conventions going on (which still there were there), but seeing families there enjoying their time together and making friends was very nice.
During the week they were constructing a large white tent in the convention parking lot area: I mean LARGE – I wish I took pictures. A CM told us it was for a Grainger convention starting this week that would be bringing in 4000 people this weekend. The tent alone was one million dollars; that’s what he said! They had another tent put up just for their luggage and that took up half the front parking lot across from the magical express pick up area. On Thursday we rec’d a voice mail in our room that Casitas parking lot 4 and 5 would be closed for convention parking (and to park in Ranchos area). If I had a vehicle there that would have been quite inconvenient, IMO. The CM also told us that 200 employees would be working overtime through the weekend/week and that was very unusual.
I miss CSR and look forward to planning another trip soon!

Hi, there! We were there at the same time. It was a beautiful week. Glad we missed the convention, though.

We are here now. Every inch of public space is dedicated to this convention. The main pool is closed for it. Every single piece of lawn.. in front of every single building is covered in tables for the meal tonight. The hammocks? Surrounded by tables. The Pepper Market? Overrun with people. Quiet pool? Surrounded by tables for the meal. I don't know how anyone wouldn't find this off putting. I have been here for conventions before.. but this one is MASSIVE. I love this resort, and I will stay here again.. but never during a convention this size. This isn't one of those ones where you can say "Oh I hardly noticed them". There is no not noticing unless you go directly from your room to a park.. and even then, you couldn't avoid it.
I don't mind them, but I do feel guests should be notified when every single amenity they paid for at their resort is going to be unusable or impacted.

That's awful. This was just starting as we were leaving on Saturday. That's terrible.

Hey there! I paid for a water view room for our May trip and am wondering which buildings typically get assigned with that designation? I think I read that it could be pool or lake view---and I'm sure we'll be happy no matter which building we're in, but thought I'd ask anyway.

I'm so glad we made the decision to change our ressies from BC to CSR and can't wait for May 20th to get here!!!!!

As Kathy already said, you can get any building. We were in Cabanas 8B with a waterview of the small pond area in Cabanas.

 

[Teacher510]

I booked through AAA. Do I ask the agent to make the request for me and, if so, when? Do I make it myself, and, again, when and how (phone, fax, e-mail)? Thanks!

 

[KatMark]

I booked through AAA. Do I ask the agent to make the request for me and, if so, when? Do I make it myself, and, again, when and how (phone, fax, e-mail)? Thanks!

You will have to have AAA do it for you since they made the reservation and have them do it right away so it is on there. Since the rooms are now assigned by computer, a fax is useless.

 

[Teacher510]

You will have to have AAA do it for you since they made the reservation and have them do it right away so it is on there. Since the rooms are now assigned by computer, a fax is useless.

Thanks so much!

 

[5terre]

We were there last week and had a fabulous stay!! Until Sunday when we were leaving and the convention impacted us. WHAT A NIGHTMARE!! I was so glad we were leaving, I will never ever go there during Granger again. We left MK at noon with the plan of spending the rest of our last afternoon at the Dig Site and having a quick lunch and drinks at Siesta's. Our park bus was full of people coming to the conference, not staying at CSR. We were roomless since we were leaving. Went to get bathing suits out of our luggage at the DME luggage room, then walked over to the Dig Site only to find a sign saying closed, and watching them set up tables all over every inch of the grassy area, like the PP said. It was unbelievable. There was ZERO mention of this happening, even the morning of. CMs said even they didn't know. Then we asked about the quiet pool, Cababas was also closed! A CM directed us (and every other family there) to the Ranchos quiet pool. At least DD got to swim, but she was expecting the slide, and I was expecting a place to refill our mugs, get something to eat, and a changing room. We were totally parched and never had lunch. Basically it was a terrible ending to an otherwise perfect trip. While I was waiting in line with all the other women to change at the Ranchos bathroom, one woman told me that they complained and were comped the night back for their room (the other choice was water park tickets, which obviously didn't work for those of us leaving). So I went to the desk and they refunded our last night. That made me feel a lot better. But we really wanted the water slide, what a letdown for a 6 year old who was looking forward to using it for the last time all day. It was unbelievable, every grassy space surrounding Cabanas had tables and chairs set up, you couldn't even use the hammocks. It seemed really, really wrong to expect leisure guests to put up with that. I sure hope that is over by now.

 

[DisneyMOM09]

Thanks Kat! I'll be calling to make our final payment today, so I'll add in on there.

 

[Monkeyfish]

Quick plea for advice about requesting a room in a particular area:

We've got a "water view" reserved. We have 3 kids (10, 7 and 2) so we'll have a stroller. I'm a little anxious about having to lug the stroller up stairs if the little guy is tired and needs to be carried as well. We will have our car and so we'll be driving to the parks most days. I expect we'll have cereal in the room most mornings, for what that's worth.

If you were in my situation, where would you ask to be (and why?)

If faxing is useless, how do you make a request? Call the # on my reservation confirmation page? (I booked directly thru Disney.)

Thanks for helping a newbie!