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

[mimiecp]

Leave very soon Does anyone know much about the games they play at the pool? Is it more for little ones? I have a 10 year old and despite him going to the "happiest place on earth" he has seen the pictures of the pool and is most excited about spending his time there.
I cant wait to drive up to that Coronado Springs resort sign!!

We just got back last night and the games at the pool were really fun. We saw all types and kids were really enjoying the activities. My kids loved being at the pool as much as being in the parks. We swam everyday even if it was late at night. Have a great vacation!!

 

[mimiecp]

We just got back from our week at the Coronado and overall had a great time. My parents got there two days before us and were put in Ranchos 6B. They were not thrilled with the location and did not have the sliding doors between the vanity area and the bedroom. I think my parents had a less than stellar check-in experience, but the hotel was sold out and it was busy.

However, the hotel worked with us and moved my parents to Cabanas 8A on Sunday when we arrived. We had adjoining waterview rooms and were literally steps from the Dig Site. We were very appreciative that they accomodated our request and my parents didn't mind moving. The adjoining rooms were great.

Our room was clean and quiet. We had a great mousekeeper who gave us lots of extra towels and tolietries upon request. She arranged our stuffed animals several days and the room was always clean when we returned from the parks. On Friday, we hung around the hotel most of the day and she did not get to the room until after 3, but I think they had a lot of turnover that day and I'm sure they were trying to get the rooms ready for new guests.

We swam everyday at either the Dig Site or the Cabanas quiet pool. The pool games are great. I wish they would still show the movie in the pool rather than to the side, but that's just my preference.

We ate at the Pepper Market a few times and overall had a good experience. I agree with some other reviewers that the people who prepare the food at the stations are often less than friendly or helpful. But, the food quality was good and our servers were always friendly. Cafe Rix was great and convenient.

We had great experiences with the buses. The only time we really waited for a bus was coming back from Downtown Disney. The bus was packed and it seemed to take forever to get back to the hotel. Other than than, the park buses were great and we never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus and most of the time waited no more than 5 min.

I love the Coronado and would not hesitate to stay there again.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

We just got back from our week at the Coronado and overall had a great time. My parents got there two days before us and were put in Ranchos 6B. They were not thrilled with the location and did not have the sliding doors between the vanity area and the bedroom. I think my parents had a less than stellar check-in experience, but the hotel was sold out and it was busy.

However, the hotel worked with us and moved my parents to Cabanas 8A on Sunday when we arrived. We had adjoining waterview rooms and were literally steps from the Dig Site. We were very appreciative that they accomodated our request and my parents didn't mind moving. The adjoining rooms were great.

Our room was clean and quiet. We had a great mousekeeper who gave us lots of extra towels and tolietries upon request. She arranged our stuffed animals several days and the room was always clean when we returned from the parks. On Friday, we hung around the hotel most of the day and she did not get to the room until after 3, but I think they had a lot of turnover that day and I'm sure they were trying to get the rooms ready for new guests.

We swam everyday at either the Dig Site or the Cabanas quiet pool. The pool games are great. I wish they would still show the movie in the pool rather than to the side, but that's just my preference.

We ate at the Pepper Market a few times and overall had a good experience. I agree with some other reviewers that the people who prepare the food at the stations are often less than friendly or helpful. But, the food quality was good and our servers were always friendly. Cafe Rix was great and convenient.

We had great experiences with the buses. The only time we really waited for a bus was coming back from Downtown Disney. The bus was packed and it seemed to take forever to get back to the hotel. Other than than, the park buses were great and we never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus and most of the time waited no more than 5 min.

I love the Coronado and would not hesitate to stay there again.

Thanks for the review! I'm glad you had a great time and your parents were able to be moved. Was their first room an accessible room? I haven't heard of any rooms not having the sliding doors, but I wonder if the HA rooms might not have them.

 

[KEPE]

Mimiecp, great review. So glad you had a great time. I love reading the reviews, good and bad. Makes me so excited to go and come back and write my own

 

[cherylsmike]

My first stay at CSR was Jan/Feb with my DH. We booked a standard room. I requested Casitas or Ranchos (quiet sounds good to me). I got Cabanas 9B. It was great a deluxe room in a building close to El Centro and the entrance to the resort. We were at the back side of the building with a nice quiet view of a couple of ponds. It was very close to a parking lot but we couldn't see it from our room.

This trip is just me and the kids. My DD wanted POR, but that is booked. My DS just didn't want to stay at a Pop. We stayed at Pop for 9 nights in Feb. of 2008 and he thought is was too loud. He really wanted to go back to WL (August 2010) because he loved the view from the balcony, but he thinks it is a Man Castle and doesn't think we should stay there without his Dad (and it was sooooo not in the budget for this trip).

I'm sure I have said all this before, but I am really bored at work today.

Anyway, the kids looked at the map and both agreed on 9B as the building to request (small miracle that they agreed on anything). So I put in my request for 9B. But after a previous post about a room that sounds simiar to the one I had (received by somebody paying for a waterview) and looking again at the map it seems like there are no standard view rooms in 9B. I guess I could leave the request as it is since I stayed there without booking a waterview room before. I mean I ended up with 9B the first time through no request of my own. Except I did request a non-parking lot view.

My request right now are:
1. non-parking lot view
2. Cabanas 9B

I realize if a view is really important that I should pay for it. However, the description of the room view does include "view of the resort" which is all I am asking. I am not wrangling for a waterview, I would just prefer not to see the parking lot. It won't ruin my trip...I don't think. We will have a rental car, so a parking lot view would mean we are close to the car, but it takes detracts a little from the "away from it all" resort feel that I crave. Our room in 9B (can't even remember the room number 96?? maybe) was everything I dreamed of without even knowing it and now I am spoiled.

Can you tell I have a lot of time on my hands today.

The kids just want to be not far from everything. And since some of the paid preferred rooms are farther away than 9B I don't feel it important to pay for preferred. And I do realize the rooms in 9B aren't always available to non-convention guests. I am not the kind of person that expects things for free. But that is what this feels like.

Should I just leave it alone? It's not as if they look at them anymore, right. Or maybe just take off 9B and just leave non-parking lot view.
I didn't ask to fall in love with 9B. In fact I don't even really like the look of the buildings. But sometimes you find love in unexpected places.

So, if you have read through this whole post and don't feel like strangling me for wasting a good minute of your life that you will never get back and have an opinion I would love to hear it. Unless you plan on telling me I am being obsessive in which case I would like to assure you that I am already aware (I can't see the smileys at work).

 

[crostorfer]

Leave very soon Does anyone know much about the games they play at the pool? Is it more for little ones? I have a 10 year old and despite him going to the "happiest place on earth" he has seen the pictures of the pool and is most excited about spending his time there.
I cant wait to drive up to that Coronado Springs resort sign!!

The games start at 1pm, and they have a rotation. They play basicly the same games every day they just change the times. We did Disney Trivia, chalk drawing, a game where you had to guess random things around WDW and get closest to the correct number, name that tune, Bingo, we limbo'd, there was a hula hoop contest, at 3pm every day they do a "pool party" when you do the cha cha slide and the Macarena and things like that. The games go every day from 1-5. A new game starts at the top of every hour with the exception of 3-4 during the pool party when they do random stuff. It's a lot of fun. They give out prizes to the winners of each game. My daughter and I won a large stuffed snake for winning Trivia one afternoon.

For the guess the closest number game, here is a hint. There is a trick question every round. If they ask how many stones were used to build Cinderella's Castle, the answer is 0, it's made of fiberglass. And if they ask how many gallons of water the Earful Tower at DHS holds, the answer is 0, it's just for decoration!

 

[scotas]

Just got back from 8nights at Coronado. I second mimiecp's view about the buses. We only waited a few minutes all week. The only full bus was after MNSSHP, we left at 1130 ish and had just barely made it before the bus left.

We had paid for a preferred location, and ended up in 9B, with an $80 credit waiting for us because the hotel was extremely full and they couldn't fit us into the Casistas. No worries because 9B is just as close.

cherylsmike, there are no parking lot view from 9B at all. Love that location. We had room 9623 and loved it. it faced out theback of the building so you felt like you were in your own little world.

Even though there were several conventions going at once (including a firefighter one - swoon), the only time I really felt it was going for my moring coffee at Rix Cafe. LOL people were stumbling around everywhere. It was kind of funny. Even then the lines moved pretty fast. The place was full, but the feel of the resort was still so relaxed.

I'm still winding down from my flight, but will post more as it comes to mind. Our Magical Express bus left at 6 am and this is pretty much me right now

 

[denise4disney]

We also just returned from a six night stay at Coronado Springs. There were 17 in all in 5 different rooms. Three of the five families booked our trips together and very early, while the other 2 booked later.

The 3 families did pay for prefered because I wanted to be away from the dig site. The 7 kids that were with us are between the ages of 12 to 14 with the exception of a 10 month old. We all stayed in building 3 with the 3 families that booked at the same time in room right next to each other. We ended up with adjoining rooms with the grandparents, so my kids thought this was great.

While the Pepper Market was OK, we really enjoyed The Maya Grill. The food was really good and th service was awesome.

We had very good bus service. I think part of our group had problems one day getting back from a water park. And we might have waited 10 minutes or so for a bus leaving Epcot our first night but other than that it was no problem. 3 of the rooms were closer to bus stop 2 and the other rooms were closer to bus stop 1. This actually worked out great because I would text telling them we were at the bus stop and then text again once we were on the bus. They would then have time to walk with the baby to bus stop 1 and get on the same bus as us.

 

[snykymom]

My first stay at CSR was Jan/Feb with my DH. We booked a standard room. I requested Casitas or Ranchos (quiet sounds good to me). I got Cabanas 9B. It was great a deluxe room in a building close to El Centro and the entrance to the resort. We were at the back side of the building with a nice quiet view of a couple of ponds. It was very close to a parking lot but we couldn't see it from our room.

This trip is just me and the kids. My DD wanted POR, but that is booked. My DS just didn't want to stay at a Pop. We stayed at Pop for 9 nights in Feb. of 2008 and he thought is was too loud. He really wanted to go back to WL (August 2010) because he loved the view from the balcony, but he thinks it is a Man Castle and doesn't think we should stay there without his Dad (and it was sooooo not in the budget for this trip).

I'm sure I have said all this before, but I am really bored at work today.

Anyway, the kids looked at the map and both agreed on 9B as the building to request (small miracle that they agreed on anything). So I put in my request for 9B. But after a previous post about a room that sounds simiar to the one I had (received by somebody paying for a waterview) and looking again at the map it seems like there are no standard view rooms in 9B. I guess I could leave the request as it is since I stayed there without booking a waterview room before. I mean I ended up with 9B the first time through no request of my own. Except I did request a non-parking lot view.

My request right now are:
1. non-parking lot view
2. Cabanas 9B

I realize if a view is really important that I should pay for it. However, the description of the room view does include "view of the resort" which is all I am asking. I am not wrangling for a waterview, I would just prefer not to see the parking lot. It won't ruin my trip...I don't think. We will have a rental car, so a parking lot view would mean we are close to the car, but it takes detracts a little from the "away from it all" resort feel that I crave. Our room in 9B (can't even remember the room number 96?? maybe) was everything I dreamed of without even knowing it and now I am spoiled.

Can you tell I have a lot of time on my hands today.

The kids just want to be not far from everything. And since some of the paid preferred rooms are farther away than 9B I don't feel it important to pay for preferred. And I do realize the rooms in 9B aren't always available to non-convention guests. I am not the kind of person that expects things for free. But that is what this feels like.

Should I just leave it alone? It's not as if they look at them anymore, right. Or maybe just take off 9B and just leave non-parking lot view.
I didn't ask to fall in love with 9B. In fact I don't even really like the look of the buildings. But sometimes you find love in unexpected places.

So, if you have read through this whole post and don't feel like strangling me for wasting a good minute of your life that you will never get back and have an opinion I would love to hear it. Unless you plan on telling me I am being obsessive in which case I would like to assure you that I am already aware (I can't see the smileys at work).

Leave it alone. Your requests are fine. You may or may not get your requests, but it never hurts to ask!

 

[KatMark]

We just got back from our week at the Coronado and overall had a great time. My parents got there two days before us and were put in Ranchos 6B. They were not thrilled with the location and did not have the sliding doors between the vanity area and the bedroom. I think my parents had a less than stellar check-in experience, but the hotel was sold out and it was busy.

However, the hotel worked with us and moved my parents to Cabanas 8A on Sunday when we arrived. We had adjoining waterview rooms and were literally steps from the Dig Site. We were very appreciative that they accomodated our request and my parents didn't mind moving. The adjoining rooms were great.

Our room was clean and quiet. We had a great mousekeeper who gave us lots of extra towels and tolietries upon request. She arranged our stuffed animals several days and the room was always clean when we returned from the parks. On Friday, we hung around the hotel most of the day and she did not get to the room until after 3, but I think they had a lot of turnover that day and I'm sure they were trying to get the rooms ready for new guests.

We swam everyday at either the Dig Site or the Cabanas quiet pool. The pool games are great. I wish they would still show the movie in the pool rather than to the side, but that's just my preference.

We ate at the Pepper Market a few times and overall had a good experience. I agree with some other reviewers that the people who prepare the food at the stations are often less than friendly or helpful. But, the food quality was good and our servers were always friendly. Cafe Rix was great and convenient.

We had great experiences with the buses. The only time we really waited for a bus was coming back from Downtown Disney. The bus was packed and it seemed to take forever to get back to the hotel. Other than than, the park buses were great and we never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus and most of the time waited no more than 5 min.

I love the Coronado and would not hesitate to stay there again.

Just got back from 8nights at Coronado. I second mimiecp's view about the buses. We only waited a few minutes all week. The only full bus was after MNSSHP, we left at 1130 ish and had just barely made it before the bus left.

We had paid for a preferred location, and ended up in 9B, with an $80 credit waiting for us because the hotel was extremely full and they couldn't fit us into the Casistas. No worries because 9B is just as close.

cherylsmike, there are no parking lot view from 9B at all. Love that location. We had room 9623 and loved it. it faced out theback of the building so you felt like you were in your own little world.

Even though there were several conventions going at once (including a firefighter one - swoon), the only time I really felt it was going for my moring coffee at Rix Cafe. LOL people were stumbling around everywhere. It was kind of funny. Even then the lines moved pretty fast. The place was full, but the feel of the resort was still so relaxed.

I'm still winding down from my flight, but will post more as it comes to mind. Our Magical Express bus left at 6 am and this is pretty much me right now

We also just returned from a six night stay at Coronado Springs. There were 17 in all in 5 different rooms. Three of the five families booked our trips together and very early, while the other 2 booked later.

The 3 families did pay for prefered because I wanted to be away from the dig site. The 7 kids that were with us are between the ages of 12 to 14 with the exception of a 10 month old. We all stayed in building 3 with the 3 families that booked at the same time in room right next to each other. We ended up with adjoining rooms with the grandparents, so my kids thought this was great.

While the Pepper Market was OK, we really enjoyed The Maya Grill. The food was really good and th service was awesome.

We had very good bus service. I think part of our group had problems one day getting back from a water park. And we might have waited 10 minutes or so for a bus leaving Epcot our first night but other than that it was no problem. 3 of the rooms were closer to bus stop 2 and the other rooms were closer to bus stop 1. This actually worked out great because I would text telling them we were at the bus stop and then text again once we were on the bus. They would then have time to walk with the baby to bus stop 1 and get on the same bus as us.

Thank you for all the reviews. It sounds as if overall that you all had a good time at the Coronado.

 

[rscotty]

We're heading to CSR in about a month. Does anyone know which building(s) the king rooms are in? Are they considered "preferred rooms"?

 

[KatMark]

We're heading to CSR in about a month. Does anyone know which building(s) the king rooms are in? Are they considered "preferred rooms"?

King beds are located in ALL of the buildings in all sections; they are not preferred rooms, but a king room is a "booked category."

 

[Danjocass]

Hi, does anyone have any pictures of a Standard room at this resort? I looked at a couple of sites & 2 sites had what looked like an old unattractive room, the other looked beautiful. Not sure if this resort was refurbished & the pictures were old. Also wanted to know if all the room decor in each building look the same. . Thanks in advance.

 

[Disney Bunny]

It just never fails......we always seem to have an air conditioner or heat pump problem right around the time we go on vacation....usually upon arriving back home but this time it has happened before we leave. i heard a noise upstairs and just figured that my granddaughter, who was in her room, had dropped something. A little while later, she came downstairs to tell us it smelled like something was burning upstairs.

We checked everything upstairs and DH even went up in the attic but didn't find anything.

The a/c had been running when I first went upstairs, but had shut off in the meantime. DH had come back down out of the attic, but went back up there to see if he could see anything when I turned the thermostat down to get it to come back on.

Well, when I turned it back on, we heard a pop and the a/c immediately cut off. We could smell the wires. We turned off the breaker and turned off the a/c at the thermostat. Eventually the smoke smell cleared.

Going to have to call my trusty repairman tomorrow to see if he can come out on short notice as I really need to get this checked before we leave. Did some research online and it appears that it MAY be a problem with the blower motor. If so, that shouldn't be too painful. My fear is that, because this is a much older unit that it is much more serious and expensive.

 

[KatMark]

It just never fails......we always seem to have an air conditioner or heat pump problem right around the time we go on vacation....usually upon arriving back home but this time it has happened before we leave. i heard a noise upstairs and just figured that my granddaughter, who was in her room, had dropped something. A little while later, she came downstairs to tell us it smelled like something was burning upstairs.

We checked everything upstairs and DH even went up in the attic but didn't find anything.

The a/c had been running when I first went upstairs, but had shut off in the meantime. DH had come back down out of the attic, but went back up there to see if he could see anything when I turned the thermostat down to get it to come back on.

Well, when I turned it back on, we heard a pop and the a/c immediately cut off. We could smell the wires. We turned off the breaker and turned off the a/c at the thermostat. Eventually the smoke smell cleared.

Going to have to call my trusty repairman tomorrow to see if he can come out on short notice as I really need to get this checked before we leave. Did some research online and it appears that it MAY be a problem with the blower motor. If so, that shouldn't be too painful. My fear is that, because this is a much older unit that it is much more serious and expensive.

Oh, I hear you...so many things happened before our trip. Sending major pixie dust and keeping fingers crossed that it is all minor.

 

[lovethattink]

Hi, does anyone have any pictures of a Standard room at this resort? I looked at a couple of sites & 2 sites had what looked like an old unattractive room, the other looked beautiful. Not sure if this resort was refurbished & the pictures were old. Also wanted to know if all the room decor in each building look the same. . Thanks in advance.

The refurbished rooms would show dark wood, white duvet on the queen size beds, desks instead of tables, 2 ottomans instead of chairs, and a wooden door between bedroom and vanity.

It just never fails......we always seem to have an air conditioner or heat pump problem right around the time we go on vacation....usually upon arriving back home but this time it has happened before we leave. i heard a noise upstairs and just figured that my granddaughter, who was in her room, had dropped something. A little while later, she came downstairs to tell us it smelled like something was burning upstairs.

We checked everything upstairs and DH even went up in the attic but didn't find anything.

The a/c had been running when I first went upstairs, but had shut off in the meantime. DH had come back down out of the attic, but went back up there to see if he could see anything when I turned the thermostat down to get it to come back on.

Well, when I turned it back on, we heard a pop and the a/c immediately cut off. We could smell the wires. We turned off the breaker and turned off the a/c at the thermostat. Eventually the smoke smell cleared.

Going to have to call my trusty repairman tomorrow to see if he can come out on short notice as I really need to get this checked before we leave. Did some research online and it appears that it MAY be a problem with the blower motor. If so, that shouldn't be too painful. My fear is that, because this is a much older unit that it is much more serious and expensive.

So sorry to hear. Seems to be Murphy's Law. Need to do something about Mr. Murphy!! I hope it isn't too costly to fix. Thank goodness you were home to smell the wires!!

 

[dtstampz]

KatMark--are you back? Did you post a trip report? I thought of you a week or so ago at the Coronado, strolling past the hammocks on the beach!

 

[KatMark]

KatMark--are you back? Did you post a trip report? I thought of you a week or so ago at the Coronado, strolling past the hammocks on the beach!

Aren't you sweet? No, we are still on Marco Island and fly home Wednesday. I'll try to start my TR on Thursday or Friday and will post a link here if it doesn't reach 250 pages prior to. I think the title will be "Uppy, Uppy Mr. Andy".

 

[Disney Bunny]

It just never fails......we always seem to have an air conditioner or heat pump problem right around the time we go on vacation....usually upon arriving back home but this time it has happened before we leave. i heard a noise upstairs and just figured that my granddaughter, who was in her room, had dropped something. A little while later, she came downstairs to tell us it smelled like something was burning upstairs.

We checked everything upstairs and DH even went up in the attic but didn't find anything.

The a/c had been running when I first went upstairs, but had shut off in the meantime. DH had come back down out of the attic, but went back up there to see if he could see anything when I turned the thermostat down to get it to come back on.

Well, when I turned it back on, we heard a pop and the a/c immediately cut off. We could smell the wires. We turned off the breaker and turned off the a/c at the thermostat. Eventually the smoke smell cleared.

Going to have to call my trusty repairman tomorrow to see if he can come out on short notice as I really need to get this checked before we leave. Did some research online and it appears that it MAY be a problem with the blower motor. If so, that shouldn't be too painful. My fear is that, because this is a much older unit that it is much more serious and expensive.

And to add insult to injury, DH's truck wouldn't start this morning. Not sure yet what is going on with that, but pretty sure it's NOT the batteries since they were just replaced in January 2010.

 

[NLD]

Just booked!

I just booked a surprise birthday trip at CSR for my dd, for January 28-February 3.

It will be a girls' trip with me (mom), dd, and dd's grandma (my MIL).

Soooo excited! Dd turns 8 years old on January 27. My rough plan right now is to keep it a surprise all the way to her birthday, and then give her a package with a gift card for spending money and a note that says she's going to WDW tomorrow!

Has anyone been at CSR in the winter? Is it still worth staying here even if it's chilly and we can't take advantage of that lovely pool?

Thanks,
Nicole