Coronado Springs - The Good, The Bad.........

[G&J's Mom]

And there is no ugly. It is beautiful resort. I just got back from my first stay there, and I know there has been alot of chatter about this resort lately.

The good:

We were in Ranchos 7B close to the Dig Site. I thought it was a great area. It was a bit of a walk to the main lobby and the Pepper Market, but we didn't mind. It was a nice walk. It was little cool to take advantage of the pool but the kids (2 and 4) loved the play area. They would have stayed there and skipped the parks if I had let them.

Mousekeeping was excellent. We had everything we needed, an extra clean room each daym plus extra towels, extra coffee packets, and towel bows.

There was a convention, but we did not have any interaction with the people attending other than at check in. It was not a problem at all.

The bad:

It was not so bad as it was annoying. We got in around 12 am to find 2 CM's behind the desk and several people in front of us. Again, there was clearly a convention in the resort as they were milling about. It took forever to check in. A couple of people came out of the back and I hoped upon hope they would help us out, but they ignored us and went back to wherever it was they came from. We finally got to our room about 1:30 AM. There was clearly no Disney Magic in that registration area, as people were clearly ticked off.

After a long day in the park, we thought we could just grab a quick bite in the Pepper Market. We saw a huge line when we arrived and were told that we had to wait to be seated. HUH? I thought it was a food court! After about 15 minutes, my kids were bouncing off the walls not wanting to wait in another line. So, I asked to get it to go, and they let us through. The food was good, but it would have been nice to actually be able to have access to the food court without the wait.

Getting out of the way of the CM's and the Transportation carts was a nightmare. I have little kids and they just fly though there. So many times I grabbed my DD jumping into the grass. They didn't appear to even make an attempt to slow down. It really put a damper on the nice walk around the property.

Would I stay there again? I did not dislike it, but it would not be my first choice. This is JMO of course.

Denise

 

[KevinFSU]

I still love the resort. Absolutely my favorite.

 

[ncbyrne]

I've stayed at CBR, POR and next October we're staying at Coronado Springs. I think I'll head over to the golf course and practice jumping out of the way of the carts.

 

[Leota]

The cart thing is getting a little out of control everywhere, it seems....

I loved CSR, I was so pleasantly suprised with how much I liked it. Glad you enjoyed your stay for the most part.

 

[Deborah_Mary]

Dh, dd's 6 and will-be 16 months at the time and I are highly thinking about staying here... our 2 main concerns are: location (where we will be within the resort) and transportation (as we have 2 little ones as well).

Did either of these things seem "bad" to you? You mentioned that you were in the Ranchos section and when I look at a CSR map, looks like Cabanas would be the most centrally located place (between el centro and the dig site) thus, how was the walk to and from the rancho section to the main building to eat with 2 little ones in tow? How long did it take you to get there?

And for the transportation, we're not crazy bus people - BUT heard great things about CSR busses. Did it seem like you had to wait awhile for a bus to come? Did you usually get a seat going to and from the parks?

Thanks for any advice you can give! It does look like a BEAUTIFUL resort. We are currently torn between CSR and WL at the moment.

Thanks again,

Deb*

 

[Buzz2001]

Glad to see you love the resort minus the 2 negatives. You should have talk to the manager about the CM's flying around with the carts though. I've never had to wait that long at check-in but then again I never checked in at midnight.

 

[G&J's Mom]

ncbyrne - Too funny!

Dh, dd's 6 and will-be 16 months at the time and I are highly thinking about staying here... our 2 main concerns are: location (where we will be within the resort) and transportation (as we have 2 little ones as well).

Did either of these things seem "bad" to you? You mentioned that you were in the Ranchos section and when I look at a CSR map, looks like Cabanas would be the most centrally located place (between el centro and the dig site) thus, how was the walk to and from the rancho section to the main building to eat with 2 little ones in tow? How long did it take you to get there?

And for the transportation, we're not crazy bus people - BUT heard great things about CSR busses. Did it seem like you had to wait awhile for a bus to come? Did you usually get a seat going to and from the parks?

We did not take the busses because we had our own car, so I can not comment on the service. But where we were located, the bus stop was very close by.

I didn't really time our walk because we had to stop at the playground on the way there and on the way back We just leisurely strolled, the kids loved stopping and looking at the ducks, messing with the hammocks, playing in the sand. Ya could always get one of those carts if ya can get them to stop. Kidding. It was a very enjoyable walk.

 

[Buzz2001]

cabana 9b is close to bus stop 1 and the main building with a short walk to the Dig Site over the wooden bridge

cabana 8a is close to the Dig Site and bus stop 4 with a short walk to the main building.

cabana 8b and 9a are inbetween the 2 above.

Cabana rooms are mostly waterview rooms or non parking lot views.

ranchos 7b has a quiet pool, is close to the Dig Site and bus stop 4 with a bit longer walk to the main building. 7b is behind cabana 8a.

 

[Buzz2001]

Walking Distances
From El Centro moving clockwise around the lake path to:
Casitas 3 = .16 miles
Casitas 4 = .24 miles
Casitas 5 = .27 miles
Ranchos = .46 miles

From El Centro to the Dig Site, via the bridge near the Cabanas
= .35 miles

From El Centro moving counterclockwise around the lake to:
Cabanas 9B = .16 miles
Cabanas 9A/8B = .22 miles
Cabanas 8A = .31 miles

OR

Take the bus instead of walking
Theme park buses go:
2 - Casitas
3 - Ranchos
4 - Cabanas
1 - El Centro

Downtown Disney buses, as well as Park Exit buses go:
1 - El Centro
2 - Casitas
3 - Ranchos
4 - Cabanas

CSR buses go in this order so that guests can hop on board a theme park bus and take it to the main building. They can then hop on a DTD bus to get back to their rooms.

 

[LibertyLover]

Thanks for the warning about CBR. I'll be staying there in August, 2006 for a convention that I'll attend while my DH and DD, who will be 4 at that point will go off and play. I'll have to warn them about the golf carts.

 

[Micca]

We really enjoy CSR too

 

[funshipm174]

Buzz,

You need to add photos of speeding golf carts to your website!

 

[Buzz2001]

next trip. I think there is a picture of a stationary one.

 

[Exp.626Stitch]

We just got back from our first stay at CSR. The resort is absolutely beautiful. We stayed in Cabanas 8A. We requested Cabanas 9B but were not disapoointed with 8A. We were really close to the Dig Site and the bus stop and the walk to El Centro was very nice at night. Walking doesn't bother us at all. The buses were never full and yuo always had a seat, however I found that I had to wait a lot longer than I did for POP. The buses seemed to not be as frequent. That was the only downside to CSR. I'm debating to stay there in September or try something different like POFQ.

 

[mrtommorrow]

I've stayed there a few times and am a big fan. The biggest negative was detailed above with the fact that it is really first and foremost a convention hotel. But once you get passed that, it's a great place.

 

[CarolA]

Maybe it is just me.... but I spend all my time lost at this resort. LOL!

 

[G&J's Mom]

next trip. I think there is a picture of a stationary one.

Just blurr up the photo so it looks like it is going fast!