We recently completed an 11 day stay in Walt Disney World at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort. The question asked above, is it for you, depends on what you are looking for in a resort, how much time you will actually spend at the resort, and what types of amenities you prefer. We stay at the Deluxe and Moderate level resorts because we do spend a bit of time enjoying the facilities and in most instances the Coronado Springs Resort, even though it is a Moderate, compares favorably to the Deluxe Resorts. There are some very distinct differences though.
Let’s look at the Pros and Cons of the Coronado Springs Resort (CSR):
PROS: –
- The physical resort is absolutely beautiful and very comfortable.
- Bus Service is excellent (CSR does not share buses with other resorts).
- The rooms are in excellent condition because of a “fairly recent” remodel.
- The Staff is a joy to deal with (with a minor exception to be dealt with below).
- Contrary to some reviews we had seen, we found the food and service at the Maya Grill to be top notch.
- Rix Cafe (grab & go) had a good variety of well prepared fresh items.
- We are non drinkers but the bars appeared to be well operated.
- The pools, both “main” and “quiet”, are immaculate and quite lovely.
- Although we did not use it, the fitness center looks to be clean and quite substantial.
- Panchito‘s Gift Shop is well stocked and the Cast Members are very nice.
CONS: –
- The resort is physically HUGE and if you have issues walking this could be an issue.
- The Pepper Market (food court) is a bit unusual and at most times the food stations seemed just a bit understaffed. This led to some delays in getting food. The layout of the stations seemed a bit confusing and not well labeled. The Cast Members were working their hardest but were put in an awkward situation by being, in my opinion, understaffed. The Cast Members who work the service at the tables were excellent and very attentive (this floor service is different from most food courts) and work hard for the extra 10% added to your bill for their presence.
- Bell Services is a bit weak. Let me emphasize, the issue is NOT with the Cast Members who handle the luggage but those at the Bell Services Desk. We had a room issue that necessitated us changing rooms (at CSR’s suggestion) and the approach that the Bell Services Desk took was inconvenient at best. When I got a manager involved, the issue was resolved as it always is at Disney but it shouldn’t have been necessary. When we left we had a very early departure time and there was only one Bell Services Cast Member on duty to pick up luggage so we had to schlep it ourselves. We were NOT the only ones with the early departure.
Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort is a lovely resort with a beautiful and well maintained setting. It is , however, oriented towards convention type visitors so it seems a bit more “buttoned down” than most of the other Disney resorts. People just didn’t seem as relaxed as they do at other Disney locations, perhaps because of the necessity of maintaining their corporate image while with their peers.
Will we stay there again, probably not. The reason is not so much with the quality or amenities offered by the resort but rather our preference for some of the others we have experienced and will experience in the future. So many resorts, so little time!!! As always, enjoy your visit to Walt disney World!!
Ken
Related articles
- Pepper Market: Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort (disneyfoodreport.com)
- Free ‘in-room’ wireless internet starting at most Walt Disney World Resorts today (chipandco.com)
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I loved this resort. It is big, alot of walking, but you’ll want to see as much as you can of this place! I found it to be breathtaking. The housekeeping was just ok, and water view may mean a fountain or a pool and tree blocking your view of the lake, but I would definately stay there again. The pool was really neat and hammocks were nice. Fountains are beautiful. Food court was really good. Bus service needs lots of work, but we were never in a hurry!
We like to try the different resorts out too. We haven’t tried the Grand Floridian yet. Partially because of cost and partially because it’s not themed enough for us. It looks like a very nice place though, and we love its restaurants.
At the Wilderness, I don’t like the restaurants very much, but the size of the resort, the rooms, the staff, the pools, and the theme are all great. And a big thing for us, the transportation is great. Bus, boat, and monorail via the Contemporary.
See my reply to Christie below. If you don’t spend time at the resort, why spend the extra $$$$$.
It’s a very beautiful resort and if you don’t have any annoying experiences like we and some of the folks who have commented here had it could easily become a favorite.
You might be surprised how many folks are exactly in line with your thinking. We actually spend time experiencing the resorts and therefore prefer the Deluxes first and then the Moderates. For folks who do not spend much time at the resorts themselves, the extra cost is NOT worth it.
As I’ve said before – So many resorts, so little time!!! Try to stay at as many as you can.
We will be staying at the Wilderness Lodge on our next visit. We like to try a different resort each visit with one exception, the Grand Floridian. We like to stay there for lots of reasons but primarily at our age all of our needs are met in a fantastic fashion so we stay there fairly often.
With the current ongoing refurbishment of the Port Orleans resorts they are switching to queen beds in all rooms except the king bed rooms. POFQ has been done for a couple of months and Riverside is in progress at this time. That can only make an excellent resort better!!
I completely disagree on some of these. We stayed there this August, and the bus service was not good. Always waiting for long periods, while buses for other parks continually pass by. Then we witnessed our bus skip stop #1(though last), because the bus already had too many passengers. I understand the driver’s choice, but if you’re waiting at that stop, you’re screwed, waiting for a non full bus.
And the Rid Cafe is terrible. The only carry cans of pop, and refuse to stock/get 20oz. And the selection in general is very poor. And it’s way too cramped in there.
We also found the quiet pool to be any but that. We had multiple families swimming there and most kept cannonballing repeatedly into the small pool. I think it was mainly a side effect of the long distance to the main pool. It still doesn’t excuse the rudeness of these guests, but the quiet pools at other resorts do not have that issue.
This was our second, and last time, staying there. The renovation is the only reason we gave it a second chance, but the refreshed rooms was not enough.
I agree with the rest though. The people are nice, and the place is beautiful, but I think that’s the norm for all Disney resorts. Nothing beats the Wilderness in all honesty.
Ken, another pro you forgot to mention is that the Coronado is the only moderate resort with queen size beds. All the others have double beds…that’s the main reason we’re staying there again this Christmas (like last Christmas)!
Jo Ann
When we go to Disney CSR is always one we price out. We’ve stayed there several times because of the pool mainly. We seem to get close to a quiet pool so even if we can’t make it to the main pool during the afternoon. We love using a snack in the morning to get one of those huge muffins while the adults fuel up on coffee. When the children were younger we stayed at the value resorts because everything was closer, but with the kids getting older we’ve widened our resort choices for something different for everyone.
We prefer value resorts because they offer us the opportunity to extend our stay. We usually spend very little time in our rooms but when we have it is always comfortable. One year we were able to stay 2 full weeks in a value and would have only been able to stay 1 week at a more expensive resort.
With the prices for a Moderate or a Deluxe resort, how can anyone stay here for a week?? We have visited Disney World twice and both times stayed at a Value resort. Because of the inexpensive lodging, we were able to stay for a week both times and I look forward to our next visit, probably at another Value resort. For the small amount of time our family spends in our room, I would much rather have money to spend at the Parks on experiences and souvenirs!
I stayed here and loved it. It was my first time up from a value, and have since stayed at deluxe as well, and I would go back to his resort. 🙂
It’s still Disney Jenn. Having spent nearly 30 years in the hospitality industry I tend to notice things that most folks don’t. I bet your kids wouldn’t notice anything different at CSR than the other resorts. We had a good experience, I was pointing things out that bother me but most sensible people would just blow them off.
Ken
I would love to go to every resort on Disney property(hey,anything can happen). I do plan on trying this one eventually. I wonder how my kids would be with it. It being directed towards business people.
If you are looking at a moderate I would suggest either of the Port Orleans resorts as they are both wonderful.
Ken
Thanks for the insight. I was considering this hotel but now I will think twice.
You are right, although the resort is very beautiful the theme is not really well defined. Based on my experience with transportation on this visit compared to our many, many, many other visits to Disney resorts we found the bus service to be quite good as we were never delayed from any appointed times nor did we ever wait longer than 15 minutes. In fact, we only had one crowded bus ride in 11 days. I was also unimpressed with the Pepper Market more for its organization and understaffing as opposed to food quality.
personally i dont care for coronado springs. it has more of a “condo” feel than anything. i dont feel theres a real “theme” to it. the pepper market has to be the WORST restaurant at disney & the tranportation is not great considering the resort is so big & there are several stops along the way.