Category — q. Reviews

(For the first page of this review of Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, see this.)

Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort is one of 5 moderate resorts at Walt Disney World:

• Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, the first Disney World hotel to be designated a moderate, which opened in 1988
• Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter Resort (opened in 1991 as Disney’s Port Orleans Resort)
• Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort (opened in 1992 as Disney’s Dixie Landing Resort)
• Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort (opened 1997) and
• The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort, officially classed as moderate in 2008, but opened (as the Wilderness Homes) in 1986. (Fort Wilderness Campground opened much earlier, but precursors to the Cabins did not arrive until 1986.)

The moderates have much more room than the value resorts, more amenities, and (except for Fort Wilderness) much better landscaping. See this for what you get by Disney World price class.

Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort is themed to a  “blend of Spanish, Mexican and Southwest American cultures… This beautiful lakeside oasis offers classic influences, Disney touches and modern comforts to energize and inspire as you delight in an array of new features, eateries and enhancements.”

Rooms here typically have two queens or one king, and dozens of suites are available as well, uniquely among the moderates.  Club level rooms (“club” is what Disney calls “concierge”) are available as well–also uniquely among the moderates.

The resort is divided into El Centro, with some amenities and the convention center, and four differently themed lodging areas:

• The Casitas, resembling a graceful cityscape
• The Ranchos, based on Southwestern desert habitats and architecture; and
• The Cabanas, intended to give the sense of “a quaint beachfront retreat complete with cozy hammocks.”
• Gran Destino Tower, which extends the theming concept to South America and Spain, and has most of the other amenities

Gran Destino rooms are accessed from interior corridors, and rooms in the other three areas have a different layout as they are accessed from exterior corridors.

The two basic rooms types have largely similar amenities, but Gran Destino rooms have less Disney theming, better baths, yet a weak bath layout compared to standard rooms elsewhere in the resort.  Gran Destino is best for adults, and the Cabanas are best for families. See the map for their locations.

A photo tour of a Gran Destino room is here, and a photo tour of the sort of standard rooms you’ll find in the rest of the resort is here.

THE CASITAS AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

The Casitas, closest to the main building and Convention Center, have the loveliest architecture among these.

Until Gran Destino Tower opened in July 2019, the Casitas also had the highest appeal to conventioneers, being both closest to the convention center, and the location of most of the Coronado Springs suites. They remain a sound choice for convention visitors, but Gran Destino is better.

Most suites are in Casitas 1, and there are many lovely courtyards and fountains between Casitas 1 and Casitas 2.

(Yes, Coronado Springs is the only moderate with suites; these are required to compete for convention business, as they are often given away or heavily discounted to meeting planners in return for reserving a block of rooms, and are also required as sales and meeting settings by some exhibitors.)

Buildings 1, 2 and 3 are closest to the services at Gran Destino and to El Centro and to the Convention Center.  They are also interconnected by covered walkways, very handy in the rain or summer sun. Buildings 4 and 5 are balanced between El Centro and the main pool at The Dig Site. Buildings 2 and 4 are closest to the bus stop.

THE CABANAS AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

The Cabanas, the opposite direction from the Casitas, have undistinguished, dull architecture, meant to recollect casual beach houses, hence the perhaps overly subtle patching on the roofs…

…but look lovely from across the lake. These rooms have the best location for families, being in between the El Centro services and the main pool.

Alone among the three room areas of Coronado Springs, the Cabanas are fronted by beaches.

Another view of the beaches…

…and the beaches in the morning.

The kid appeal of these beaches and overall convenience to both the Gran Destino and El Centro services and to the main pool makes the Cabanas the best area for families, and is why I rate Coronado Springs as the second-best moderate for first-time family visitors.

Building 8c (formerly 9a) is the Cabanas building most convenient to both Gran Destino and El Centro and the main pool, and is the best choice for family travelers.  Buildings 8a and 8b are also fine choices–a little further from Gran Destino and El Centro, but closer to the pool and bus stop.

THE RANCHOS AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

The third area, the Ranchos, is the only area off the water, and has a wilder cactus-y Southwestern theme, which may be a little too realistically arid and barren for some kids to enjoy.

Theming includes dry washes…

…hitching posts…

…and animal tracks.

The buildings are meant to reflect the main buildings of old ranches. This works better in the tall buildings, not so well in the two-story buildings.

Note the stonework on the columns and the (fake) chimneys.

The Ranchos are also a hike from the resort central services and convention center, though some of these rooms are near the main pool. Building 7a is next to the bus stop but is otherwise the most inconvenient building at Coronado Springs.  If you are here as part of a team attending a convention, your colleagues are in Gran Destino, and you are assigned by your boss to 7a–well, update your resume.

GRAN DESTINO TOWER AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

Gran Destino Tower is the tour-de-force at Coronado Springs, and has both the best amenities and best location, although its bus stop can be over-pressed with guests.

It is the only Disney World moderate space with accommodations, dining and bars in the same building, the only moderate space with interior corridors, and the only accommodation area at Coronado Springs with a temperature-controlled walkway to El Centro and the convention center there. The club lounge is also here.

You will read, here and there, claims that the Disney-Dali collaboration Destino deeply influenced the theming of Gran Destino Tower.  The actual influence of the film is fairly slender-the only material references you’ll find are a couple of names and dandelions. Jim Korkis has more on this here.

And if you know your Dali, you will recognize that this is a good thing. Ants turning into bicycles is not the recipe for a delightful place to stay.

What you will find instead in Gran Destino is a gorgeous set of colors and textures that, while not often much Disney, together create, by far, the loveliest spaces among the moderates.

A few more images from inside Gran Destino:

The issue with Gran Destino, if there is one, is its rooms, so let’s now turn to the two basic rooms types at Coronado Springs.

PHOTO TOUR OF A CASITAS/RANCHOS/CABANAS ROOM AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

This review continues here!

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

• Overview and summary review of Coronado Springs
• The theming and accommodations areas of Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a standard room at Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a Gran Destino Tower room at Coronado Springs
• Amenities at Coronado Springs
• Dining at Coronado Springs
• The pools at Coronado Springs

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 150+ stays in them

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

(For the first page of this review of Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, see this.)

Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort has two standard room types. One, found only in Gran Destino Tower, is covered here. The material on this page covers the other standard room type, which you will find in the other three accomodations areas at Coronado Springs–the Casitas, Ranchos, and Cabanas.

Coronado Springs completed a room refurb project in its Casitas, Ranchos, and Cabanas areas in the fall of 2018. The main differences in the refurbed rooms compared to what was offered in these areas before:

• Double rather than single sinks
• More Disney theming
• The addition of an easy chair
• Wooden rather than carpeted floors
• Higher beds, with storage underneath
• Bigger TVs and many, many more power points
• More structured storage, especially in the old closet area
• Many rooms with showers instead of tub/shower combos, and where tub/shower combos still exist, the shower curtain is now sliding glass, rather than fabric

The rooms continue to be largely similar to those in the other Disney World moderate resorts, but with a few key differences related to the importance of the convention and meetings market at Coronado Springs–specifically, a desk instead of a table and two chairs, and a dresser optimized for two convention-goers.

As you enter the room, on one side you’ll find a pair of queen beds.

The bed side from the back.

A closer view of one of the queens.

Besides the lights over the beds you can see, there’s four of these pencil reading lights–one on each side of each bed.

As has become common in recent Disney World refurbs, the beds are a single mattress on a platform, and are about 30 inches high.

Open underneath, there’s now room for you to stick your luggage under the beds–there’s about 14.5 inches of clearance.

Between the two beds is a bedside table. Note the Three Caballeros-inspired art above.

There’s multiple power points on either side of this table…

…and a drawer, small but big enough for your important books.

Inside the table you’ll find a safe.

It’s as large a safe as I’ve seen in a Disney World room, likely so it can hold to hold the valuables of two conventioneers.

To give you a sense of its size, my book is six by nine inches.

The other side of the room is dominated by an easy chair and a long mini-fridge/desk/dresser combo.

This side of the room from the back.

The easy chair by the window is new in this refurb, replacing a couple of small ottomans, and makes the room more comfortable for conventioneers or families. Note more Three Caballeros art.

Next to it is the first part of the long object…

…with a glass-doored mini-fridge below…

…and a coffee service above.

Next is the desk area with a task lamp and set of power points.

Next is the dresser with a 54 inch TV above and another set of power points in between at the right.

The six drawers of the dresser will easily fit the two conventioneers or family of four that these rooms can hold.

The divided bath is in the back of the room, separated from it by a pair of sliding doors.

The sinks are just behind these doors. Note the makeup mirror, new with this refurb.

There’s an extensive set of toiletries, including sunburn relief gel, a shower cap, and a sewing kit–more than you’ll find at other moderates, or most deluxes–suited to the demands of business travelers.

There’s some storage below the sinks…

…and also at the back of the sink area.

The formerly open closet area is now enclosed.

Inside the closet you’ll find the iron and ironing board.

The rest of the bath is enclosed behind a pocket door.

It features either a shower, or (as I learned on Mario’s terrific Coronado Springs Facebook group–also see his site and forum), a shower/tub combo with sliding glass doors. If a tub is important to you, Mario says to request one.

Either way you’ll get a rainfall showerhead and in addition a hand-held head.

As is becoming common in hotels at Disney World and elsewhere, shampoo, conditioner and body wash is available in large wall-mounted bottles.

A motion-sensitive fan is in this part of the bath, and because it is loud and seems to never shut off, it may drive you mad until you realize that you can turn it off by tapping on the left-most of the three controls in this area.

In general this refurb is a positive step. Some will object to the lost carpet, and others to the shower or the glass doors in the tub. But the added sink, added easy chair, bigger TV, plethora of power points, re-structured closet, and other additions are all positives for both business and family visitors.  And the Three Caballeros art adds a bit of Disney theming to a space that in its prior life did not have any.

PHOTO TOUR OF A GRAN DESTINO TOWER STANDARD ROOM AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

This review continues here!

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

• Overview and summary review of Coronado Springs
• The theming and accommodations areas of Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a standard room at Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a Gran Destino Tower room at Coronado Springs
• Amenities at Coronado Springs
• Dining at Coronado Springs
• The pools at Coronado Springs

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 150+ stays in them

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

(For the first page of this review of Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, see this.)

AMENITIES AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort has more amenities, by far, than any other moderate resort. Most are centrally located in either Gran Destino Tower or El Centro, but a few–especially the pools, but also some dining–are elsewhere in the resort.  This review has separate pages on dining at Coronado Springs and the pools at Coronado Springs. Other amenities are covered below.

GRAN DESTINO TOWER AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

Gran Destino Tower is where you check in and also where you’ll find guest services for help with your tickets, luggage, or other matters.

You can valet at the large port cohere outside the tower, or self park.

The area to which you are directed for self parking is fine for check-in parking, but too small for those staying in the tower. Another large parking area, shown above, is steps away, across the bus stops and nearer El Centro. (For those returning to Coronado Springs, this second area is the old check-in parking area.)

Also outside of (and also shown above) Gran Destino Tower is a bus stop that can be overwhelmed by the net increase of about 465 rooms using this bus stop (545 new at Gran Destino, about 80 demolished in the old Cabanas 9b). The other three lodging areas each have their own bus stop.

There’s a separate set of bus stops for Disney’s Magical Express…

…and also outside Gran Destino is an area that can help with boarding passes and luggage for those not using the Magical Express. (This is a tip-based service, and not all airlines are included.)

Inside Gran Destino Tower you’ll find the lobby, with decorating concepts inspired by the Disney-Salvador Dali collaboration Destino.

On one side of the lobby you’ll find check in services, and also help with tickets, dining and such…

…some nice seating areas…

…and an area that does double duty. Sometimes it is open and you can sit/charge your electronics here…

…and at other times it used for overflow check-in services when a bolus of folk attending a conference, meeting or convention have shown up.

Also in this area is one of two workout gyms at Coronado Springs. That’s two more than at any other moderate, BTW.

The other gym is near the Casitas quiet pool, where you will also find the La Vida spa–the only spa at a moderate resort.

Most other amenities at Coronado Springs are in the next-door El Centro. There’s an enclosed, temperature-controlled walkway from Gran Destino to El Centro–in the image, it is the curving corridor-shaped space.

EL CENTRO AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

In El Centro you’ll find shops, much dining (dining at Coronado Springs is covered here) and the entry to the convention center.

The gift shop Panchito’s is large, and while it has mostly standard Disney hotel gift shop stuff, there’s a bit of a Mexican selection similar to what you can find in Epcot’s Mexico Pavilion.

Coronado Springs is a convention resort, with a medium-sized convention center in El Centro, a circumstance which has led to much fussing, most of it silly.

All the deluxe resorts except the Polynesian, Wilderness Lodge, and Animal Kingdom Lodge are also convention resorts, and these get little fuss.

Conventions yield fewer people overall because there are fewer people per room, and most of the time they are spending their time in meetings, in catered meals, and on the exhibit floor, rather than clotting the buses or food courts.

Demands for business services means that Coronado Springs also has more amenities than any other moderate–more than double the dining options and bars, club level rooms,  a real pool grill, a spa, workout gyms, a health club–none of which you’ll find at the other moderates.

But when a thousand people leave a meeting and head to the pool, you’ll notice.

DINING AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

This review continues here!

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

• Overview and summary review of Coronado Springs
• The theming and accommodations areas of Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a standard room at Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a Gran Destino Tower room at Coronado Springs
• Amenities at Coronado Springs
• Dining at Coronado Springs
• The pools at Coronado Springs

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 150+ stays in them

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

(For the first page of this review of Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, see this.)

DINING AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort has always had a wider range of dining options than any other Disney World moderate resort, and added even more in July 2019. In dining, it now far outclasses the other moderates, and is comparable to several deluxes.

Dining options are in four areas.

• Gran Destino Tower offers a new table service venue, Toledo, and two new bars, Dahlia Lounge and Barcelona Lounge, each of which also serves hot food. Barcelona Lounge during the daytime does double duty as a coffee shop with various simple breakfast options.
• Also new, over the water between the Casitas, Ranchos, and Dig Site, is the Three Bridges Bar and Grill, which combines a table service venue with a small bar.
• In El Centro are two table service venues, a counter-service option, and a grab and go coffee shop.
• It shares with Caribbean Beach the distinct position among the moderates of having hot food at the main pool bar, and it has a more extensive room-service menu than any other moderate, although the room service menu is weaker than it used to be.

Coronado Springs also has six bars–two in Gran Destino, two in or near El Centro, one over the water, and one at the pool.

If you are counting, that adds up to four more bars than any other moderate, and three more table service venues than any other moderate.

DINING AT GRAN DESTINO TOWER AT CORONADO SPRINGS

The standout at the new in July 2019 Gran Destino Tower is Toledo, a sixteenth floor Spanish-influenced venue with some nice, though limited, views, of Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot.

Toledo specializes in steak, seafood, and small plates. The non-entrees are the stars–the appetizers, cazuelas, house boards, and pintxos.  Above are a couple of these, the stuffed piquillo peppers and the Spanish charcuterie, both of which were delightful.

The rooftop setting is lovely for a moderate–or any hotel, for that matter–but can get quite loud, so much so that I would not consider it a date night option.

Despite the noise, I enjoyed the hanger steak, served on a bed of crushed potatoes and with charred peppers, greens, and salsa verde mixed in.

Here’s the review from our book, The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2020:

You can find the menu for Toledo on Disney’s website here.

Next to Toledo is the new bar, Dahlia Lounge.

Quite nice, it has both indoor and outdoor seating.

The view from outdoor seating at Dahlia Lounge. Just under the rail at almost the far left you can see Tower of Terror; the blue building just to its right is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. The camera lens makes these appear farther away than they are–we are just over a half a mile away.

Dahlia Lounge also has an extensive food menu.  See it here. Above are the savory churros, which I kinda felt I had to order, but were a little disappointing–other than the presentation.

And by the way, if you, like me, are a tad empty in the head regarding just what is a Dahlia, above are some examples, courtesy of the Cuyahoga County Fair–my go-to source for Disney World questions. That said, the namesake of the bar is not a flower, but the love interest in the Disney-Salvador Dali collaboration Destino.

The third new option at Gran Destino is Barcelona Lounge.  This first floor space is on the way out to either the pools or El Centro, so it sees much traffic. While there is nothing wrong with it, during times both are open I can’t think of any reason to go here rather than the Dahlia Lounge.

Barcelona Lounge also serves hot food–the full afternoon and evening menu is here.

Not in the online menu (at least as I write this post) are the breakfast offerings–a range of cold and room temperature options like pastries and fruit plates, and also coffee drinks.

There’s no refillable mug station in Gran Destino–there should be–but there is a set of coffee urns off to the left (if you are facing the bar).

There’s an event lawn just outside the Barcelona Lounge. Above is a shot of it from my 8th floor room, while it is being set up for a wedding, which Disney would film for its “Fairytale Weddings” series. The Barcelona Lounge is just behind the left side of the picture.

The propinquity of this event space–and the presence of the Dahlia Lounge upstairs–makes me expect that at times the Barcelona Lounge will be closed for events.

THE THREE BRIDGES BAR AND GRILL AT CORONADO SPRINGS

Also new in July 2019–but not part of Gran Destino Tower–is the Three Bridges Bar & Grill.

This over-the-water venue on Lago Dorado is connected by three bridges–also new–that start from El Centro, the Casitas, and the Dig Site–shortening walks from the Casitas to the Dig Site in particular.

Among other Disney World resort venues, Three Bridges is most like Geyser Point at the Wilderness Lodge, with its views, and the fact that its sides are open to the weather. But it is larger than Geyser Point, and feels more like a restaurant than a bar–though besides tables, it does have a lot of lounge chairs that can do double duty as either bar-area or dining-area options, depending on how much dining is booked.

The night I dined here, dining was so heavily booked that bar guests literally could sit only at the small bar–although the cast member volunteered to move me to a table if one opened up.

I had the stuffed mushrooms appetizer, and the braised pork tacos entree.  Both were terrific.

Overall, Three Bridges Bar & Grill is the most comfortable (so long as the weather cooperates) and casual of the Coronado Springs table service venues, and has some pretty nice prices (the tacos were $13, and the mushrooms $12). That said, I could easily see it being a popular event space as well.

The Three Bridges Bar & Grill menu is here.

DINING IN EL CENTRO AT CORONADO SPRINGS

El Centro, between Gran Destino and the Casitas, has a gift shop where you can buy various shelf-stable and refrigerated snack sand such, and also a grab and go shop, a bar that doubles as a table service venue, a food court, another table service venue, and another bar outside along the lake.

The grab and go food shop offers pastries, coffee, soft drinks, and such, and can get quite crowded if a convention or meeting is happening.

Next to it is the food-court style El Mercado de Coronado, formerly Pepper Market, the “quick service” meal offering.

The food stations used to be overly complicated, but fresh and interesting, making Pepper Market then the best food court among the moderates, though admittedly convoluted.  Now El Mercado de Coronado is much more like any other Disney World food court, with a bit of an added garnish of southwestern offerings and flavors.

Checkout and payment used to have a mystifying multi-step approach that garnered the envy of former Warsaw Pact customer service staff, but now is utterly simple. El Mercado de Coronado is now comparable to other moderate quick service offerings, a loss on the food front but a gain on the service and simplicity dimension.

The El Mercado de Coronado menu is here.

There are two table service offerings in El Centro.  Best known of these two is the Maya Grill.

The Maya Grill review from The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2020:

The Maya Grill menu is here.

Also available for dining is the Rix Sports Bar & Grill, offering a table service menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The Rix Sports Bar & Grill is in particular a great option for a hot breakfast that’s fresher than the cafeteria style offerings at EL Mercado. That’s the Chorizo Skillet, at $14 not wildly more expensive than a less tasty option at El Mercado.

The Rix Sports Bar & Grill menu is here.

On the lake side of El Centro, you’ll find the last venue in the El Centro area, the Laguna Bar.

Because of its lakeside setting, Laguna used to the best bar among the moderates. However, it is now just the third or fourth best bar at Coronado Springs–a testimony to the quality and number of bars that opened here in July 2019.

Also here is lots of other outdoor seating.

DINING AT THE DIG SITE POOL AT CORONADO SPRINGS

The main pool bar, Siestas Cantina, is unique among the moderates in offering a hot menu.

One of my lunches-Carnitas Tacos–from Siestas Cantina, no longer on the menu.

Another more pedestrian lunch. As much as my co-author Josh is dubious about their actual ingredients, that Snake River Wagyu Hot Dog is quite good.

A perhaps more legible version of the menu is here.

ROOM SERVICE AT CORONADO SPRINGS

Coronado Springs used to offer the best room service menu among the moderates.

Above is the room service menu from as recently as April 2018.

The menu is much less interesting now…

…and food from it is presented unappealingly.

I expect that the demands of the meetings and conventions markets will force Coronado Springs to up its room service game.

THE POOLS AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

This review continues here!

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

• Overview and summary review of Coronado Springs
• The theming and accommodations areas of Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a standard room at Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a Gran Destino Tower room at Coronado Springs
• Amenities at Coronado Springs
• Dining at Coronado Springs
• The pools at Coronado Springs

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 150+ stays in them

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

(For the first page of this review of Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, see this.)

THE POOLS AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort has four pools. The main pool, full of amenities, is the Lost City of Cibola pool at the central Dig Site.

Three of the four accommodations areas at Coronado Springs–the Casitas, the Ranchos, and the Cabanas–has a pool as well, each much smaller than the main pool, and with no material amenities.

The new Gran Destino Tower between the Cabanas and the Casitas added (net) about 25% more rooms to the resort, but no new pool. From it, the main Dig Site Pool is a little more than 200 yards, and the closest quiet pool, outside Cabanas 8c, is less than 200 yards.

THE DIG SITE AND LOST CITY OF CIBOLA POOL AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

The Lost City of Cibola Pool is the main pool at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort. Themed to represent a lost Mayan ruin including a decaying pyramid handy for sun-bathing, it’s the second best family pool among the moderates, bested only by the more kid-appealing pool at Caribbean Beach. It’s by far the best pool for adults among the moderates.

For kids, the appeal is the exotic theming, the playground, and the 123 foot water slide. For adults, the appeal is the expanse of pool chairs, biggest hot tub at Disney World, and hot food at the pool bar.

The pool is centrally located in an area of Coronado Springs called in total “The Dig Site.” See the map below. The Dig Site area and pool is just above the words “Lago Dorado.”

This area is convenient to Gran Destino, the Ranchos and Cabanas, and some of the Casitas. Other Casitas rooms are a hike, although new bridges added in 2019 cut some of the walking. The Ranchos, Cabanas, and Casitas areas each also has a smaller pool, and this smaller pool is particularly convenient if you are in buildings 1-3 at the Casitas and you don’t need the amenities and fun of the Dig Site.

The pyramid dominates the pool.

Next to it is an 120 foot+ water slide.

The Dig Site pool is quite large, with plenty of varied lounging areas, but is more crowded after the added rooms of Gran Destino Tower.

There’s also a fairly weak kids pool…

…a fire pit…

…a hot tub–the largest at Disney World…

…a volleyball court…

…and a bar, Siestas, that unusually among the moderates serves hot food.

The Siestas menu. The menu changes from time to time–see Disney’s website for the latest.

Siestas sometimes has live entertainment.

Next to Siestas is an extensive playground, with ping pong and cornhole games available.  The large sandbox that used to be here was removed in a 2018 renovation, kinda busting the “Dig Site” theme.

There’s also a slide, and…

…in the background, a jungle gym.

The entire area is called The Dig Site…

…and is particularly nice at night.

Each accommodations area except for Gran Destino has its own smaller pool as well–and those come next!

THE CASITAS POOL AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

The quiet pool at the Casitas is the only pool at Disney World laid out for swimming laps.

The Casitas pool from the other end…

…and the side.

The Casitas pool at night.

THE CABANAS POOL AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

The Cabanas pool.

The Cabanas pool from the other end.

THE RANCHOS POOL AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

There’s a quiet pool in the Ranchos area as well.

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

• Overview and summary review of Coronado Springs
• The theming and accommodations areas of Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a standard room at Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a Gran Destino Tower room at Coronado Springs
• Amenities at Coronado Springs
• Dining at Coronado Springs
• The pools at Coronado Springs

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 150+ stays in them

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

(For the first page of this review of Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, see this.)

A new accommodations building, Gran Destino Tower, opened at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in July 2019. It includes 545 new rooms in a 15 story building–50 suites, and the rest a mix of king bed and two queen rooms.

I stayed in a two queen Gran Destino room in late July, and these photos are from that stay. (A photo tour of a standard room in the other accommodations areas at Coronado Springs, the Casitas, Ranchos, and Cabanas, is here.)

The main differences in the Gran Destino two queen rooms compared to two queen rooms in the rest of Coronado Springs:

• Interior, rather than exterior entries
• No Disney theming in the rooms themselves
• A larger overall space–but with most of the extra space absorbed in the hallway from the entry to the sleeping area, not adding any actual livability
• A nicer and larger bath, but with an awkward layout for families and (I believe) no tub option–showers only
• Nicer views

Room amenities otherwise are largely similar to those in the other Disney World moderate resorts, but like the rest of Coronado Springs rooms, there are a few key differences related to the importance of the convention and meetings market at Coronado Springs–especially offering a desk instead of a table and two chairs, and more drawer storage.

As you enter the room, you’ll find a somewhat sterile hallway, with the closet and connecting door (if present) on one side and the bath on the other.

This entry hallway from inside the room.

Back to the room entrance, the bath on one side is closed by a sliding barn door. If you leave the barn door open and shower in the glass shower, you may have an interesting effect if someone opens the entry door.

A closer view of the shower–note the rainfall and hand-held shower heads. So far as I can tell, no standard rooms in Gran Destino have tub/shower combos. This is a needlessly limiting design choice.

As is becoming common in hotels at Disney World and elsewhere, shampoo, conditioner and body wash is available in large wall-mounted bottles.

The sink area is between the shower and the toilet space.

More toiletries here.

There’s storage–and a hair dryer– underneath the sink.

The toilet is in its own separate space.

A better design would have 1. made a tub/shower combo available, and 2. (cut and pasted together above) put both the toilet and the tub/shower into one separate space, with the sinks outside of it.

On the other side of the entry is a closet.

Inside the closet. On the right, barely visible, is an ironing board. Also note the safe.

I did not measure the safe, but it is large–my book is 6 inches by 9 inches.

Deeper in the room on one side you’ll find a pair of queen beds.

The bed side from the back.

A closer view of one of the queens.

As has become common in recent Disney World room designs, the beds are a single mattress on a platform, and are about 30 inches high. Open underneath, there’s room for you to stick your luggage under the beds–there’s about 14.5 inches of clearance.

Between the two beds is a bedside table.

There are three unusually large drawers in this table, each easily big enough for your important books.

The other side of the room is dominated by a long mini-fridge/desk/dresser combo, and an easy chair.

This side of the room from the back.

Closest to the closet is an object that doubles as an uncomfortable bench seat and a luggage rack.

Next to it is the first part of the long object…

…with a glass-doored mini-fridge below…

…and a coffee service above.

Next is the desk area and beyond it a dresser with a 54″ TV above.

The three dresser drawers, when combined with the three drawers in the bedside table, the closet, under-bed space for luggage, and cubbies in the bath, provide plenty of storage for the four people this room will sleep.

The menu structure of the TV is new–see the bottom row.

Channel selection also has a new interface.

Here you’ll also find the room service menu, weaker than past Coronado Springs offerings–but better than what you’ll find at the other moderates…

…with an uninspiring presentation of food when delivered.

Next on this side is the easy chair with lamp and small table, near the window.

The view outside my room. There are two bookable room views–water views, as is this one, and standard views.  Gran Destino Tower water view rooms are, on average about $50 more per night than standard rooms elsewhere in Coronado Springs.  Standard view tower rooms are about $20 more per night on average than rooms elsewhere.  Some of these standard rooms also have views of the fireworks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and even Epcot, but such views are not specifically bookable. A water view won’t give you them, but a standard view may or may not.

These Gran Destino standard rooms are about 86 square feet larger than standard rooms elsewhere in Coronado Springs (and at the other traditional moderates), but that’s misleading in terms of livability:

• 76 extra square feet are dedicated to the entry hall, and not valuable
• 20 extra square feet are in the bath–which is nicer than that in standard rooms, but less well laid out
• The main living sleeping area is about 10 square feet smaller than that in other standard rooms, a difference that is not noticeable

The awkward bath design, absence of a tub, and lack of Disney theming in these rooms make these Gran Destino standard rooms best suited to solo travelers and to couples.  Dual occupancy conventioneers, and families, will find standard rooms elsewhere in Coronado Springs more livable.

AMENITIES AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

This review continues here!

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

• Overview and summary review of Coronado Springs
• The theming and accommodations areas of Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a standard room at Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a Gran Destino Tower room at Coronado Springs
• Amenities at Coronado Springs
• Dining at Coronado Springs
• The pools at Coronado Springs

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 150+ stays in them

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!