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

[LDCruiser]

I'm right between you two. I'll be there in 19 days (Sept 10th).

22 days here! We are all going to have the most magical time. Kat, Sorry your going to miss CSR but i know your going to have a great time. WDW never displeases.

 

[Tybug]

Just back from a 4 night stay at CSR. Dates 8/17 - 8/21 Players - just me and DH. A few observations:

Check in/Room Location:

If you aren't going to be happy if they just put you 'anywhere' please do not check in online. There were 2 stations for online check in and both were being utilized by folks not accepting their assigned room. We were finally helped by a cast member in the regular line.

I had made a room request of being close to the fitness center hoping that would land us in the Casitas. We had previously stayed in the Cabanas and had zero desire to stay in the Ranchos. I had already decided that I would take whatever room they gave us and not ask to be moved so I did online checkin. Our assigned room using online checkin... Ranchos 7A. I guess the cast member saw it on my face and asked if I would like for her to attempt to move us, though it would be difficult because the resort was "full". But with such a short trip, I really just wanted to get to Epcot so we just accepted the room and moved on. By this time it was raining and bell services 'could' take us to our room but it would be a wait of at least 30 minutes. So we huffed it, with our luggage ourselves.

We were in room 7197: The good about the location; about a minutes walk to the quiet pool and about 3 minutes to the bus stop. The bad, the lovely parking lot view and of course the walk to the main building which we only performed on the day of arrival.

Pepper Market/Cafe Rix:

With our close proximity to the main building, we only utilized dining options upon check in/check out. By the time we checked in, the Pepper Market was closed (2:00 pm). So our only option was Cafe Rix. The place was a madhouse! They had zero food prepared on the hot counter and the line was out the door. I was able to grab 2 turkey sandwiches and move to the checkout. We ate at the Pepper Market yesterday morning. We were to be on the 8:15 am Magical Express so this was early, 7:30 maybe? DH had an omlet with all the fixings and said it was good. I had a biscuit with gravy, hashbrowns and sausage. The sausage was good. The rest, cold. Not even luke warm but cold.

Busses:

During our last trip, the bus service was EXCELLENT!! This trip, it was anything but!

Day 1 - 45 minute wait for a bus to Epcot from station 1 at 3:00 in the afternoon. Return to resort; wait time of about 15 minutes from Epcot.

Day 2 - 50 minute wait for a bus to Epcot from station 3 at 9:30 in the morning. We had dinner at the Beach Club so after a 20 minute wait for "any bus" we took a bus to Hollywood Studios and then waited nearly 30 minutes for the 1st bus to CSR.

Day 3 - 40 minute wait for a bus to Hollywood Studios from station 3 at 9:00 in the morning. Took a bus to SSR and had zero wait for a DTD bus from there. The return was an acceptable 15 minute wait to CSR.

Day 4 - an enjoyable 10 minute wait for a bus to the Magic Kingdom from station 3 at 7:15 in the morning. The return was an expected 20 minute wait for a bus to CSR.

A couple of notes about the bus service. From HS we asked the driver of a waiting bus (shocking!) to CSR if we should take his bus and transfer at CSR to DTD or if he knew an easier way. His response... the bus service from CSR to DTD was not good and we would be better to go to SSR. And then on the return from MK... this was at closing (10:30-ish) a bus pulls up from CSR and drops off a few people. The line starts to move towards the entrance and the driver said she was going to lunch. The bus joins another 4 busses parked in the cul-de-sac and goes to lunch. This may be normal but at park closing? When we had the long waits to go to the parks, there would be sometimes up to 3 duplicate busses to other parks we were not going to. For instance on the first day when we waited 45 minutes for a bus to Epcot. We had 3 come by for Magic Kingdom and 2 for Animal Kingdom before 1 for Epcot.

Check out:

For whatever reason, our express check out was not noted and we had to go to the front desk to check out. Not a big deal but just another item added to the not good list for CSR.

I know it must seem like I'm doing nothing but complaining about our recent stay but really it's the not so good that people remember and the 'just okay' will be hard pressed to bring me back. That said, the good that I noted:

The grounds were as beautiful as ever.
The quiet pool was clean and refreshing.
The cast members were extremely friendly.
The departing Magical Express cast members were efficient and friendly.
Mousekeeping was fine.

 

[workinmom]

Does anyone know if Cafe Rix still serves breakfast sandwiches? On the allears menu from summer 2010 it lists them, but on the updated summer 2011 menu on wdwinfo they are not listed. Has anyone been to Coronado Springs recently who could tell me? Obviously not a huge deal either way, but I think I'd prefer something quick and easy like that for breakfast, as opposed to the larger breakfast platters that the Pepper Market seems to serve.

Twelve more days till I'm there!!!

We were at CSR 8/6-8/13 & one morning I went to Cafe Rix to pick up some "snack" items for breakfast & noticed they had croissant sandwiches available. They looked really good but I didn't try them.

 

[crostorfer]

Just back from a 4 night stay at CSR. Dates 8/17 - 8/21 Players - just me and DH. A few observations:

Check in/Room Location:

If you aren't going to be happy if they just put you 'anywhere' please do not check in online. There were 2 stations for online check in and both were being utilized by folks not accepting their assigned room. We were finally helped by a cast member in the regular line.

I had made a room request of being close to the fitness center hoping that would land us in the Casitas. We had previously stayed in the Cabanas and had zero desire to stay in the Ranchos. I had already decided that I would take whatever room they gave us and not ask to be moved so I did online checkin. Our assigned room using online checkin... Ranchos 7A. I guess the cast member saw it on my face and asked if I would like for her to attempt to move us, though it would be difficult because the resort was "full". But with such a short trip, I really just wanted to get to Epcot so we just accepted the room and moved on. By this time it was raining and bell services 'could' take us to our room but it would be a wait of at least 30 minutes. So we huffed it, with our luggage ourselves.

We were in room 7197: The good about the location; about a minutes walk to the quiet pool and about 3 minutes to the bus stop. The bad, the lovely parking lot view and of course the walk to the main building which we only performed on the day of arrival.

Pepper Market/Cafe Rix:

With our close proximity to the main building, we only utilized dining options upon check in/check out. By the time we checked in, the Pepper Market was closed (2:00 pm). So our only option was Cafe Rix. The place was a madhouse! They had zero food prepared on the hot counter and the line was out the door. I was able to grab 2 turkey sandwiches and move to the checkout. We ate at the Pepper Market yesterday morning. We were to be on the 8:15 am Magical Express so this was early, 7:30 maybe? DH had an omlet with all the fixings and said it was good. I had a biscuit with gravy, hashbrowns and sausage. The sausage was good. The rest, cold. Not even luke warm but cold.

Busses:

During our last trip, the bus service was EXCELLENT!! This trip, it was anything but!

Day 1 - 45 minute wait for a bus to Epcot from station 1 at 3:00 in the afternoon. Return to resort; wait time of about 15 minutes from Epcot.

Day 2 - 50 minute wait for a bus to Epcot from station 3 at 9:30 in the morning. We had dinner at the Beach Club so after a 20 minute wait for "any bus" we took a bus to Hollywood Studios and then waited nearly 30 minutes for the 1st bus to CSR.

Day 3 - 40 minute wait for a bus to Hollywood Studios from station 3 at 9:00 in the morning. Took a bus to SSR and had zero wait for a DTD bus from there. The return was an acceptable 15 minute wait to CSR.

Day 4 - an enjoyable 10 minute wait for a bus to the Magic Kingdom from station 3 at 7:15 in the morning. The return was an expected 20 minute wait for a bus to CSR.

A couple of notes about the bus service. From HS we asked the driver of a waiting bus (shocking!) to CSR if we should take his bus and transfer at CSR to DTD or if he knew an easier way. His response... the bus service from CSR to DTD was not good and we would be better to go to SSR. And then on the return from MK... this was at closing (10:30-ish) a bus pulls up from CSR and drops off a few people. The line starts to move towards the entrance and the driver said she was going to lunch. The bus joins another 4 busses parked in the cul-de-sac and goes to lunch. This may be normal but at park closing? When we had the long waits to go to the parks, there would be sometimes up to 3 duplicate busses to other parks we were not going to. For instance on the first day when we waited 45 minutes for a bus to Epcot. We had 3 come by for Magic Kingdom and 2 for Animal Kingdom before 1 for Epcot.

Check out:

For whatever reason, our express check out was not noted and we had to go to the front desk to check out. Not a big deal but just another item added to the not good list for CSR.

I know it must seem like I'm doing nothing but complaining about our recent stay but really it's the not so good that people remember and the 'just okay' will be hard pressed to bring me back. That said, the good that I noted:

The grounds were as beautiful as ever.
The quiet pool was clean and refreshing.
The cast members were extremely friendly.
The departing Magical Express cast members were efficient and friendly.
Mousekeeping was fine.

Glad we're renting a car this trip.

 

[workinmom]

We returned from CSR on 8/14 & had a great time. We had requested Cabanas 8A or B or Casitas 4 or 5 on our original reservation. Did online check in & didn't request anything on there. We were checked in quickly & were given a room in Cabanas 8B. The CM just circled the building on the map & we were on our way. I didn't think she was very "magical". Oh well, we were still at WDW! We had driven so we drove to the parking lot & unloaded our stuff. We were given room 8505 & had a little bit of trouble finding it. I had booked a standard room so I was looking on the parking lot side of the building. Turned out it was on the water side, so I would say we were given a waterview room. We had a tree in front of the window, but it looked out at the Lake.

We loved the resort & found it really quiet. We were on the 1st floor & found it very convenient. We had a "connecting" room even though we were not "connected" We heard nothing from either neighbor, just the toilet flushing above which wasn't a problem. Mousekeeping was a little strange. We had gone to MK on Sunday & had not planned on a break, but by 1 pm, we were ready to get out of the heat so when we returned to the room, Mousekeeping had not been by. Some of us headed to the pool & some took a nap & we left again about 5 pm so the room never got cleaned that day. On Monday, we got up & went to BB. We returned about the same time for rest & were heading out to Epcot around 4-5 & I figured the room wouldn't get cleaned again. About 4:30, there was a knock on the door & it was mousekeeping. We told them we would be out in a few minutes. On Friday, we had slept in & about 9:45 am, they knocked on the door & were there to clean. The room was cleaned everyday but Sunday, it just never seemed to be at the same time.

I felt bad because I forgot to leave our tip envelopes 2 days in a row....just in a rush to get to RD. So the 3rd day, I left all 3 with the days of the week written on them. Only the current day was taken, so I think maybe different people were cleaning the rooms?

Bus service was really good from the resort. We had 5-10 minute waits almost all week. Leaving Epcot at closing we waited about 20-25 min & leaving Blizzard Beach, we waited about the same. That was about 1 pm on a Monday. Busses were always empty going to the parks & only crowded at park closing nights.

Our location was great & we didn't mind the walk to the Pepper Market although we didn't do it daily. We were close to the Dig Site Pool & used it several times. I did do laundry 1 day because we had gotten wet a couple of days from rain & we found we were showering twice a day because of the heat, so I was running out of underwear. I put the laundry in & sat at the quiet pool. There were only about 3 people at the pool with me & no one at the laundry room.

We only ate at Pepper Market twice. The 1st time was dinner at about 10 pm on Sunday night. Our plans had gotten changed & we found ourselves still needing to eat after getting drenched at MK (forgot our ponchos). Food was fine but it was probably not as fresh as if we had not eaten so late. We had breakfast there on our sleep in day & again it was good. I felt like there weren't enough workers at the food stations....seemed to take awhile to place your orders & get the food made at some of the stations. Workers didn't seem to have "any sense of urgency".

DH & DS used the fitness center twice & enjoyed themselves. Resort is really pretty & we really enjoyed our stay.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions & I hope my "ramblings" help others in their decisions to stay here.

 

[jp'smommy]

I have 26 days and feel the same way!

We might bump into you. We only have 25 days left too!!

 

[dtstampz]

Twenty five days for me, too!

 

[jp'smommy]

Twenty five days for me, too!

Yay!!
Are you requesting a particular building?

 

[Dismamx2]

Hi, is it possible to walk to Blizzard Beach from CSR? It looks quite close on the map and it seems as if there is a wait for the buses to and from CSR/BB?!
Not including the walk to the front of CSR from your room, approx how long does it take to walk to the entrance of BB?
TIA

 

[archdandy]

I was recently at CSR and it was my first time going. Everything I had read online indicated that if you ate indoors at the cafeteria that you would be automatically charged a certain percentage for tip. But when we went in June on the slips they give you for checking off what items you got it said on the bottom that they no longer do this. I assumed that we were still supposed to tip but I couldnt figure out how we were supposed to do this. There was never an option when we were checking out and I didnt want to just leave money on the table for anybody to take. Does anybody know what the new procedure for this is?

 

[dtstampz]

Yay!!
Are you requesting a particular building?

Hoping for a location near the Dig Site pool, maybe cabanas 8A or Ranchos 7B ...how 'bout you?

 

[adi1138]

I'm heading to CSR in 4 days. I'm not a breakfast eater, but I will try to get a picture of the breakfast menu, and all the menus.

That would be great! I would love to see updated menu photos. Have a wonderful, wonderful trip!! 4 days is so soon! I leave in 11 days and it seems like it's still so far away!

We were at CSR 8/6-8/13 & one morning I went to Cafe Rix to pick up some "snack" items for breakfast & noticed they had croissant sandwiches available. They looked really good but I didn't try them.

That's great, thank you so much!

 

[Tybug]

Hi, is it possible to walk to Blizzard Beach from CSR? It looks quite close on the map and it seems as if there is a wait for the buses to and from CSR/BB?!
Not including the walk to the front of CSR from your room, approx how long does it take to walk to the entrance of BB?
TIA

I don't know about walking but we saw lots of busses to BB while at CSR last week.

 

[aubriee]

I was recently at CSR and it was my first time going. Everything I had read online indicated that if you ate indoors at the cafeteria that you would be automatically charged a certain percentage for tip. But when we went in June on the slips they give you for checking off what items you got it said on the bottom that they no longer do this. I assumed that we were still supposed to tip but I couldnt figure out how we were supposed to do this. There was never an option when we were checking out and I didnt want to just leave money on the table for anybody to take. Does anybody know what the new procedure for this is?

For the last year or so, we've always just left it on the table. I ate there twice this past May, and once in Dec.

 

[jp'smommy]

Hoping for a location near the Dig Site pool, maybe cabanas 8A or Ranchos 7B ...how 'bout you?

I am hoping for Casitas 4 or 5. It should be an even walk to the main building and the Dig Site. On the 21st ds (20 months) and I are planning on spending the day at the resort while the other go to Universal. I am really wanting to spend time at the pool that day.

 

[hinodis]

I just booked my stay at CSR and I am leaving next week Staying for 4 nights. I feel so overwhelmed without any plans. It is just DH and I and I don't even know where to begin. I just did this completely spur of the moment without thinking. Now I am worried about too many things. I feel like its such a short visit for so much money. I am so worried about the weather. I don't like heat and humidity. LOL. Has anyone been to the Rix bar? I heard they have a DJ there. Is there dancing?

 

[jenny105]

I'm thinking about switching my reservation for 2010 from POR to CSR. I've already switched once (POFQ to POR) and I'm a notorious resort hopper. This resort looks beautiful and I absolutely love the room decor. It's my favorite out of the four mods. Plus this seems like it'd be the closest thing to deluxe without actually booking that category. For you CSR vets, what are the crowds like at the resort? I have a feeling this is one that flies under the radar. How big is the resort? Looking at the map is a bit overwhelming. Are the lines for buses long (I've heard horror stories about the POR buses! ) I also noticed there are three King room options. If I booked a regular old King, could I request to be in the Castitas or Cabanas buildings? What is considered a King preferred? TIA for any feedback!

 

[NC State]

We might bump into you. We only have 25 days left too!!

We're almost getting to the point where we can't sleep, it's going to be a long 24 days!

 

[dtstampz]

I am hoping for Casitas 4 or 5. It should be an even walk to the main building and the Dig Site. On the 21st ds (20 months) and I are planning on spending the day at the resort while the other go to Universal. I am really wanting to spend time at the pool that day.

Well, I guess I will have to hang a lime green Mickey tag from my pool tote bag and keep an eye out for you! I'll be around there with my dear friend and her super-cute 9 yr old granddaughter.

 

[lojikal1]

We leave tomorrow morning. Yay!!!