Disney's Coronado Springs Resort (Disney Moderate Resort) Reviews and Ratings - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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We enjoyed our stay at Coronado Springs. The Pepper Market is great. My DD loved the pool and water slide. My only problem was the distance to the main building. Other then that the CM and Mousekeeping were great!
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-Amanda
Last edited by mommadjones; 09-04-2008 at 01:19 PM..
This is my second review of CSR and our seventh stay. And I have to give everything a 10 on this trip as it was spectacular. We were there celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary and we were upgraded to a suite, had flowers in our room, robes and turndown service every night. We ate twice at the Pepper Market and the food was terrific (although the portions are huge). In fact, for breakfast we wanted American Cheese omelets which they didn't have at the station, so the cook went looking for American cheese for us and found it and made our omelets. All of the CM's were terrific, mousekeeping was great and we just thoroughly enjoy walking around looking at this lovely resort. We saw ducks, rabbits, lots of lizards, frogs and the aligator in the Lake this trip. We'll be back for the bounce back free dining next year.
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Headed "Home" for a Mini Trip -- 9/18 - 9/22 at CSR
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We stayed at CSR for seven days. It was our first stay at CSR and our first moderate resort experience. The resort, itself, is very pretty. It is also very large. We walked between our room (Cabanas - 9A) and El Centro/Bus Stop 1. That was it. The carts around the resort will not pick you up if you have a stroller.
We appreciated not sharing our bus with other resorts. The four bus stops at CSR didn't bother us. We also liked that CSR is very centrally located and every park is a short ride away.
The food was average. We really did not like the service at Pepper Market. We preferred getting our food to take to our room, instead.
Our room was in a great location - two buildings from El Centro, next to a quiet pool and laundry facilities. The room itself needed some work, though. The door paint was full of chips. There was black mold growing at the top of the wallpaper all the way around the bathroom. Housekeeping didn't really clean much or give us clean towels/linens, but did make our beds every day. The overall feel of the room was "Super 8-ish".
My DH and I just spent a week at the CSR (10/28/08 - 11/4/08) and really liked the resort. We will stay there again sometime, though we will probably try other resorts just to see waht they are like before we come back to CSR. Our room was in Casitas 5 with a view across the lake toward El Centro. I had a scooter rental and my DH loves to walk so we did not mind the distance from El Centro. In fact, we liked it because it was quiet and very relaxed.
Our only disappointment was that the topiary of the three caballeros has been removed temporarily so we did not get to see it. It is being redone, as all topiaries require every so often. Of course, I didn't find this out until I had spent several days looking for it everywhere. But the hunt was fun and I found many lovely fountains scattered throughout the Casitas area.
Our room was lovely and very clean. The mousekeeper did a very good job in our room and left us clean towels when we requested. We do like the idea of using the same towels for a few days to try to be at least a little green when on vacation, so we appreciated to note about how to re-use or request new towels that was in our bathroom.
Also we had fun in the Pepper Market and had some nice conversations with some of the cast members who worked there.
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Last edited by Wintersong; 11-08-2008 at 09:35 PM..
Reason: adding more comments
Maybe it's because I'm a deluxe girl, but CSR just didn't do it for us. Our room was in one of the best buildings, I think it was Cabanas 9B, but our room smelled funny. It felt damp, and I think someone had smoked in it. Mousekeeping did a fair job, but even though we left tips, we never got towel animals. The view was OK. I've never liked outside entrences to rooms. The pool was quite nice, but everything was a bit spread out for my taste. Check in was a nightmare. Pepper Market was just OK, and we had a negative experience at the Maya Grill.
Our stay was in March of 2007, so maybe things are better now.
I think the magic in Coronado Springs is divided between the serenity of the Southwest during Colonial Mexico, and the virtual water park at the dig site. The resort isn't as well advertised as others because 3/4 of the guests are convention guests. That DOES leave a lot of the leisure facilities open to people who are visiting just for fun.
Walk through the gardens of the Casitas at night for a romantic stroll.
Rix is the only nightclub in a Disney resort!
Coronado has a 24 hour fitness center free for guests and an adjacent spa and full salon run by the same group as the GF spa at a much lower price.
And, of course, the CM's (like me) are fantastic
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stayed here in June of 2006. We loved everything about the resort. The pool, the rooms, the theme. Interactions with all CM's were positive experiences. The Pepper Market has a great selection and we ate probably 3 or 4 meals there. We ate breakfast once at the Maya Grill and were pleasantly surprised with their buffet. It wasn't Chef Mickey's or Boma's level, but it was a decent buffet. And the place was not that busy, so servers were very attentive. We stayed in casitas 3 and found it to be a perfect spot. Many people complain about how spread out the resort is. We think that is one of the great things about it. We had lots of fun walking around,looking for wildlife and different kinds of flowers that they have growing there. and the pool is great. honestly, i think we could have never left the resort and my dd would have been happy as a clam. she must have gone down the slide one hundred times! Also, bus service was fabulous. We never waited more than 10 minutes anywhere for a bus.
We booked a trip for November 2009. First we booked WL....then I changed my mind and decided to go with BC (mainly because oftheir pool)....then Ijust changed again. Guess where to (back to CSR!!) My dh says if it's not broke-don't fix it. We loved it; it's less expensive,allowing us to spend $$ in other areas that we wouldn't have been able to (like deluxe dining). And, again, we loved it!
I just returned from CSR in Feb 2009 and had another fantastic trip to CSR! We had a renovated room in Cabana 9b and it was spectacular. The views of the beach area, the location of the building, and the staff at the resort were all outstanding.
The prices at the Pepper Market were a bit high but if you are on the DDP or QSDP, you will love it. I was disappointed to learn that the wet burrito and taco salad were no longer served but overall, the food is still awesome.
The main pool was terrific but the weather was a bit on the chilly side to fully enjoy it.
The transportation is still the best! Never waited more than 10 mins for a bus and the rides to all the parks were quick. CSR has a great location and access to the main WDW roads to get around.
We only stayed at CSR for 2 nights so we didn’t get to fully enjoy the resort. It’s just too spread out to walk around after a day in the parks.
We checked in after midnight on Friday, March 13th. The CM I worked with was very nice and I think she was relieved I didn't try to get my room changed.
We loved our room in Ranchos 7B. It was the perfect size for 4 of us and we enjoyed the décor. It was fairly close to the Dig Site Pool which was what I’d requested.
It turned out to be a hike to the Pepper Market for breakfast the next morning but the walk was nice with the theming. The Pepper Market was as expensive as everyone says for those not on the DDP. Since we weren’t, I cringed at the prices. We like a big breakfast on vacation to get us going. The first morning breakfast was good, the scrambled eggs were cooked well, the bacon warm and crisp and service was fast.
The second morning was not good. Service was slow, the scrambled eggs were runny and the bacon was cold. DS13 said the cherry Danish he ate was stale (but he ate it anyway silly boy). We chose not to get the refillable mug because we were not staying for long. We didn't try the Rix Cafe.
The different bus stops throughout the resort didn’t bother us. Ours was bus stop 4 and it gave us a chance to rest our feet after the parks before walking to our room.
The Dig Site Pool was fabulous. We spent 3 hours our first afternoon there while taking a break from the parks. The kids thought it was the best pool ever with the slide and the pyramid. I enjoyed the pool bar.
The carts zipping around got kind of annoying. I had to pull DD9 out of the way of one that barely slowed down when the Driver realized she was in the way. I really didn't like those things.
Overall, we enjoyed the resort and would like to stay there again. DH really liked the theming. We would plan on having some breakfast items in the room to eat a couple of mornings instead of going to the Pepper Market every morning and plan on extra pool time to take advantage of the great pool.
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Me, DH, DS19 and DD15
Last edited by ShellingConnie; 03-22-2009 at 07:50 PM..
Affordability meets quality. The Cornado Springs Resort is the best moderate hotel because the excellent quality does not match the reasonable price. This hotel is comparable to alot of the Deluxe hotels. Infact it might as well be dubbed as a deluxe hotel in disguise. We visited their ten years ago and our memory of it has not slipped away a truly memorable experience. The pool has a beautiful theme with several amenities along with the rooms, suites and prestigous Maya Grill with some of the best quality of mexican cuisine.
The overall theme of the resort is paradise the magic is in the resort because of the detailed decor, home away from home atmosphere and the affordibility and accessability. Really its considered no better than alot of the other deluxe resorts there I would disagree, plus this is much more accesible and affordable. Best hotel on a budget.
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A famous Passporter once said "couldn't we just sleep through every day that does not include visiting Florida?"
I am considering the CS for a Sept stay. Which rooms do you recommend are the best location and best for ""Bus to Park" times. Does the "Convention" aspect of the resort get in the way of the experience for non conventioniers? Thanks- JJ
Well I only went to Coronado once in July of 1998. Though I can still answer you some questions based on that experience. I've also done much research on the resort in recent years as well. With the location closest to the busing I would suggest the Cabana's. They are right next to the lobby restaurants, and bus stop. You can even look at the map of the resort here Disney's Coronado Springs Resort Map - wdwinfo.com.
As for the business people how often and how many of them come depends on what time of the year you go, its seasonal. Even when there are a lot of business people staying at the resort its still hard to pick them out from the crowd. Fact of the matter is its just like any other Disney resort experience when it comes down to it, personally in my case better than many of the other resorts.
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A famous Passporter once said "couldn't we just sleep through every day that does not include visiting Florida?"
We loved the theming of the resort, it is beautiful. The renovated rooms feel very deluxe as do the grounds. The queen beds were so nice as were the wooden doors to the sink/baathroom area. We were in Casitas 5 so it was a long walk to el centro, but we were at the first bus stop (even though it is #2) so we were the first to be picked up and the first to be dropped off. My mom was in an ECV and the old buses had trouble with their lift at this bus stop, maybe because it isnt completely flat the lift front would not unfold. The new buses did not have any problem they have a ramp that folds out. But we really loved the fountains and foliage here, was just beautiful. I thought the quesadillas at Pepper Market were yummy as were the deserts. They did not charge us a gratuity as I had read and I believe there was a sign somewhere but it didnt show up on our receipt. I would recommend this resort, is a great value for a moderate resort.
We stayed in Feb 2009 for 7 nights, and absolutely LOVED this resort. We plan on coming back, once we've stayed at all of the resorts on our list!
It's absolutely lovely here! It's the cost of a moderate, but in a lot of ways it feels like a deluxe. The queen beds, the flat panel tv's, the expansive room service menu (compared to just pizza delivery elsewhere)...
The Service
When we checked in, we got a renovated room (at a time when only some of the rooms were renovated). We were there for two nights when the toilet got stopped up (it wasn't our fault, honest!) and they had to move us to a different room because this toilet had to be removed so they could fix it. The move could have been a real hassle, especially because there was a communication error between the night shift and the morning shift, but they were wonderful about it! Very accommodating. The maintenance lady even gave DD a set of four rubber character figurines! Mickey, Minnie, Daisy and Donald! What a special treat!
We had no other issues the rest of our trip. Every CM we encountered was lovely - and that's hard to say - even at WDW!
The Grounds
The grounds were immaculate, and just beautifully done. Every day, at every point of the day, we always saw SOMEONE out and about, tidying up a flower bed, raking, putting down mulch, planting, or just picking up trash.
A lot of people say the resort is far too large, and there's too much walking. I disagree wholeheartedly. If you're in the Ranchos it's probably about an 8 minute walk to the main building. It took us 5 from the Cabanas, with a 3 year old that had to stop and smell the roses. 3 if it was just me. And what a lovely walk it is! It took a little over 20 minutes for DD and myself to meander around the entire lake. I can't suggest enough that you take a walk around the entire lake and soak in the atmosphere and theming of each section. Talk about gorgeous!
The Rooms
Those rooms... wow. The renovated ones are beautifully styled, and we just LOVED those beds! And the tv... we scheduled time into our vacation to watch Lost (I never miss an episode, live) and watching it on that huge tv was so fun!
Our mousekeeper left us a towel critter once, but the room was always well-kept. We're neatniks anyway, so we tend to pick up after ourselves, but I never noticed any trace of debris left behind or a dirty bathroom (my pet peeve).
There were two adults and one preschooler and we never felt even remotely crowded. I was impressed by all of the storage space, too. That's hard to come by!
The Food
This is the one thing I wasn't a fan of, honestly. The food itself at the food court was fine, but I did feel it was slightly overpriced, even for the quality you get (though yes, the quality is better than the average food court). I also didn't like having to pay an automatic gratuity to someone that just got my drink once, when I could have walked over and gotten it myself.
I did like the food, but just was not excited about the format. Ah well, it wasn't that bad, we did eat there twice, lol.
We ordered room service one evening for a late dinner - got the tuna sandwiches. It was really reasonably priced (for room service, lol) and they were delicious! It was so great to be able to order FOOD instead of just being stuck with the pizza option.
The Gift Shop
Well... lol. I spent quite a bit of money in this store, soooo I guess I kinda liked it! There seemed to be a little of everything. The selection was more than fine.
Transportation
Loved those little golf carts that you could hitch a ride on (we never did). DD would wave at every one of them, and they all waved back, which made her day! I can see how they can be very convenient - and they're always running, so you shouldn't have any issues catching one.
The buses were fine. We rarely had to wait long for one. I don't LOVE the bus system anywhere at WDW because I'm an "instant gratification" kind of girl, but I really had no complaints about the buses. They were timely and it didn't take long to hit all of the bus stops at the resort.
All told, I really loved this resort. We didn't use the pool, because it was so bitter cold for most of our trip, so I can't comment much on it, but it was AWESOMELY themed!!! Totally cool looking!
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