Coronado Springs - talk details with me

[amscherm]

So we are staying at the Coronado Springs for the first time in December... We have always stayed at Wildnerness Lodge - but are looking forward to trying something new.

Can you all give me some details... Best location... best view... should I request a specific building... How do I go about doing that... bus details/tricks.. .is there any other transportation available to the parks... anything else I am missing?

Thanks everyone!!!

 

[saskdw]

http://www.disboards.com/threads/disneys-coronado-springs-resort-information-questions.3270962/

 

[Nancyg56]

I stayed at CSR last December. First Disclaimer: I did not like it. 2nd Disclaimer: I had no reason to dislike it, it was lovely.

Okay, now that that is out of the way, CSR is one of the prettiest resorts in terms of holiday décor that I have seen. The decorations were impeccable.

The staff was friendly, courteous, and informative. The manager seemed to be everywhere, and I mean everywhere. You are waiting for a cab? She is curbside. Hungry? She is in the food court. You need information from the concierge? she is there to lend a hand. Checking in? Why look who is there!

The grounds were gorgeous, and meticulously groomed. The groundskeepers were trimming back gone by plants while we were there, and the transition within hours was remarkable. The lake is stunning, especially at noight or early morning. If you like pictures, take plenty there.

The pool was nice, although we only had coffee there in the morning. WE did not have much extra time to swim.

The room was immaculate. There were three of us sharing the room, and the mousekeeper made sure we had plenty of linens and toiletries.

Given a choice, I would book business class. I was too cheap when I reserved the room, and within days called back to upgrade. Nothing available I tried several times and again, nothing. I tried again once we arrived, making it clear I wanted to pay for the upgrade, but when they say nothing is available.....there is nothing.


I think for me the theme was just not my taste, because I have not one good reason to avoid this resort. I will say that I send people thee without any hesitations what so ever because the issue was not that pretty resort, it was me.

 

[jaiminee krikit]

I stayed at CSR last summer with my DD13. Neither of us really liked it - I didn't like the overall theming of it, and she didn't like the room. The one thing we both liked about it, though, were the busses. They were the best we've ever had. The longest we waited was maybe 20 minutes (felt like it, but was probably much shorter) heading to the parks. Other than that, it was usually about 5 minutes, coming and going to the parks. We typically had a short walk to the bus stop at the parks, and always had the shortest line. We never had to wait for a second bus - even at closing.
The resort itself is quite beautiful, and my DD loved seeing turtles and such in the lake. The place is HUGE! We were in Ranchos section and it felt like it was miles away from the main building. We ate at the food court for breakfast one morning and dinner one evening, and neither of those impressed us.

 

[Barbara76]

We stayed there last December and loved it, it was really hard for us not to book it again for this year but we want to try all the moderates. The buses were great and we never waited too long, at the end of the night sometimes the lines were super long and we had to wait for a 2nd bus, once it took almost 20 min but that was the very longest wait by a lot.

The pool was fun, the food court was yummy except for the kids cheeseburger.

We had a preferred room, we were in Casitas 3 and it was a short walk to the main building (which was beautiful decorated for Christmas) and a little longer to the pool.

When we go back we are going to book a business class room so we are closer to the pool and still close to the main building.

 

[prprincess]

We just stayed there the last week of August (our second time), and I only have two minor complaints - I'm a light sleeper and the toilets are LOUD so I woke up a million times during the night/early morning when people flushed. I also found my room to be a bit dated. We were in Cabanas 8A.

Other than that, my family and I loved it. The walk to the Pepper Market and Dig Site were a bit of a hike when the boys were tired, but I enjoy walking and so I didn't mind it at all. Especially since the grounds of the resort are so beautiful and well-kept. I found it to be very relaxing. We loved the Pepper Market, but after a few days, you get sick of the offerings, as they are the same everyday. All of the staff that we met were great. And I didn't have a problem with the frequency of the buses, or our distance from the bus stop. You can also see the Hollywood Studios fireworks from different areas of the resort.

While I always like trying new WDW resorts, if CSR continues to be priced just right for us, it's going to be hard to try others. My 11-year old son still talks about going back everyday! Enjoy your trip!

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

We stayed there the last week of August after changing our reservation from Yacht Club because of a great deal at CSR. Blew us away, we instantly fell in love with the place. Beautiful grounds and architecture. Gorgeous views across the lake. Who doesn't love a 50 foot tall Mayan pyramid waterfall next to their swimming pool? The Pepper Market food court is really above average. You get not one but two table service restaurants as well, one of which is Signature dining and the other of which is a second option for breakfast. A trendy inside lounge. A lakeside bar. A pool bar with really long hours that also serves breakfast. (As in, three breakfast options!) And bus service with really great travel times to all the parks that doesn't get shared with any other resort.

We stayed in a preferred room in August and will stay in a preferred room again in December. Those are in the first three Casitas buildings connected to El Centro. Business class in Cabanas 9b is a great option, though, because you get a complimentary continental breakfast in the business class lounge in the morning and complimentary snacks, beer, and wine in the evening.

Some people would suggest that you don't want a room in the Ranchos section because it's the farthest section from El Centro. It's not located around the lake but kind of a little bit beyond the lake. But you can always take a theme park bus to El Centro and a Disney Springs bus back to your room.

There's a room renovation going on beginning any minute now and continuing until next December. But they'll be closing buildings individually, one at a time, so it really shouldn't impact anyone.

The thing about CSR is that, because it's one of Walt Disney World's convention resorts, although it's a Moderate resort, it has amenities similar to a Deluxe resort. At no other Moderate will you find, all together in one resort, a food court and two table service restaurants, three bars including a pool bar that serves food and maintains morning to late-evening hours, and a spa and health club. The food and bar options will completely ruin you for Port Orleans Riverside or French Quarter. The bus service will ruin you for CBR. The only thing missing is live entertainment.

My partner and I figured that after our first stay at CSR, we would want to start rotating our trips around all of the moderates. While we were there though, we decided that CSR was going to be our home resort unless we splurged for a Deluxe. Even then, it would have to be Animal Kingdom Lodge or we would just stay at CSR again.

Our not so humble opinion.

 

[hoffman1]

We have stayed at CSR 5+ times. We have stayed at all the value and all the moderate resorts (with the exception of Fort Wilderness Cabins).
CSR is our favorite resort but there are pros and cons.
We like the sliding doors that divide the bathroom/vanity area from the rest of the room.
The resort and lake is beautiful.
The gift shop is nice.
We like the Cabanas buildings with the beaches, hammocks, and quiet pool.
There is a decent view of the Star Wars fireworks (it is especially nice if you stand on the far side of the lake where you have the reflection in the water).
It doesn't seem as busy or noisy as other resorts.
The resort is huge.
We don't like staying in the buildings that are furthest out. Some people like it because they are more remote. And not everyone can be in a build next to El Centro but we were in the furthest Cabana building last week and we felt like we were on the other side of the world. It was quite a hike to the front. One member of our party is disabled so it was not easy to just hop on a bus to the front. We did not use our mugs or the Pepper Market as often as we would have liked. If this had been our first stay at CSR, we would not return.
The renovation that is coming is much needed. We had three rooms in our group last week and all three had issues where maintenance had to come for repairs.
We typically do not use the bus service very much but last week we did not have a car. There were at least 3 times we had to wait over 30 minutes for a bus.
A couple of years ago, we paid for a preferred room but we don't care for the Casitas. And the preferred room we received was a parking lot view (which was not a problem because of the view) but there was incredible amount of noise from where they were doing some kind of road construction. The walk to El Centro did not seem any shorter than most of the standard rooms we had stayed in so we asked to be moved.

I am sure we will stay here again but only if we have a car onsite. And we might pay the extra fee to stay in the Cabanas business class. We like to enjoy the amenities of the resort and in Ranchos and the other outlying buildings, it just isn't as enjoyable.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

We did not use our mugs or the Pepper Market as often as we would have liked. If this had been our first stay at CSR, we would not return.

Sounds like you were in Cabanas 8a, which is adjacent to the Dig Site. Did you refill your mugs at the Dig Site? You can refill at the pool bar until 9pm.

 

[hoffman1]

Sounds like you were in Cabanas 8a, which is adjacent to the Dig Site. Did you refill your mugs at the Dig Site? You can refill at the pool bar until 9pm.

We did a couple of times. It was probably just a timing thing but it was a nuisance dodging all the kids running around the pool. It wasn't really the best option for the member of my party who has mobility issues.
We worked around it. We used Amazon Prime Now and had some drinks delivered.

 

[badgersue]

Is CSR near the Animal Kingdom theme park? My husband and I will be at Disney for just 2 days and looking for a moderate priced resort near Animal Kingdom and/or Hollywood Studios. Prefer to do as little walking as possible around resort so where would you recommend we get a room at CSR?

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

Is CSR near the Animal Kingdom theme park? My husband and I will be at Disney for just 2 days and looking for a moderate priced resort near Animal Kingdom and/or Hollywood Studios. Prefer to do as little walking as possible around resort so where would you recommend we get a room at CSR?

CSR is the closest moderate to AK and DHS. The bus is about a 10 minute ride after it leaves the resort to AK, and about 5 minutes to DHS. (It literally sits in between the two of them.) CSR has four bus stops, one in each "village" section and one at El Centro. You can set proximity to a bus stop in your room request, but you really won't be far from any of the bus stops where ever your room is located. However, if you want as little walking as possible to El Centro, then you want to stay in Casitas preferred.

 

[Dug720]

FWIW, there is no longer "Business Class" at the resort.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

sob

 

[badgersue]

CSR is the closest moderate to AK and DHS. The bus is about a 10 minute ride after it leaves the resort to AK, and about 5 minutes to DHS. (It literally sits in between the two of them.) CSR has four bus stops, one in each "village" section and one at El Centro. You can set proximity to a bus stop in your room request, but you really won't be far from any of the bus stops where ever your room is located. However, if you want as little walking as possible to El Centro, then you want to stay in Casitas preferred.

Thanks for your reply. Is El Centro where the reception desk area is or is it something else?

 

[badgersue]

Thanks for your reply. Is El Centro where the reception desk area is or is it something else?

Do you have any tips on where to get disney world admission tickets and universal tickets at the best price? We're spending 2 days at Disney and 1 at Universal (just Harry Potter parks).

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

Thanks for your reply. Is El Centro where the reception desk area is or is it something else?

You're welcome. Yes, reception, shop, grab and go, food court, table service restaurants (2), and lounge are at El Centro. A lakeside bar is just outside as well.

For tickets, there are various discount resellers folks here use. Perhaps the two most popular are Undercover Tourist and ParkSavers. I have used the latter with no problem. Both are online, you can Google and find them pretty easily. Hope this helps.