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SUMMER 2013 DISNEY WORLD ROOM RATE DEAL AND FALL 2013 FREE DINING

Update 3/28:  See this for more on the room rate deal out next week.

Crack commenter J., a South American travel agent, noted earlier today two interesting points:

• A room rate deal will be coming out next week for the South American and European markets.  Since US discounts end this Sunday, March 31, there’s a darn good chance the next US deal will come out then too, or not a whole lot later. The overseas deal covers arrival dates June 13 through August 14.
• She also had a thought to offer on the possibility of fall 2013 free dining at Walt Disney World being shortened compared to usual dates for moderates and values, noting that South American spring breaks are common the third week of September…

So what we have here from J. is a report and a fact, and added to it my speculation.  We won’t really know about 2013 fall free dining–or even the summer room deal–til we see it; but J.’s comment, and our subsequent email correspondence, are intriguing…

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TAKING A BREAK AND STILL HAVING A BALL AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Welcome to those coming from Capturing Magical Memories and those of you just hopping aboard.

I am the 2nd stop on our Magical Blogorail. Enjoy the ride as this month Magical Blogorail Teal discusses our favorite “take a break and just sit there” Disney World attractions!

MICKEY’S PHILHARMAGIC AT THE MAGIC KINGDOM

This site advises first time visitors to Walt Disney World who may never return to try every attraction, and leaves out of its itineraries just some character meet-and-greets aimed at younger ones (covered instead by character meals), and some minor entertainments.

It also provides tools for families on shorter trips, and/or with younger kids, to help thin down the list of things to see–especially the Comprehensive Guide to Rides.

The Comprehensive Guide to Rides rates all the rides from the point of view of both little kids and older kids and adults.  There’s one group of around twenty rides ranked both as “Best-Loved” for little kids, and “Favorites” for older kids and adults.

Mickey’s PhilharMagic is one of the rides that’s top ranked for all age groups. 

And it’s also an attraction where–at least for the 12 minutes of the show–you can just plop your self down and not do a darn thing except watch.

REVIEW: MICKEY’S PHILHARMAGIC AT THE MAGIC KINGDOM [Read more →]

The Basics: Where to Stay

THE MODERATE RESORTS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

You can have a wonderful visit at any Walt Disney World resort. However, this site recommends that first time visitors to Walt Disney World avoid the moderate resorts, while noting that these resorts are wonderful for visits after the first. (See this for why.)

That said, the moderates do represent almost 30% of the room capacity of Walt Disney World, and will be sought by some you because you aren’t a first-timer, or because this site’s recommended resorts are sold out. Or you are just contrary.

(For what the moderates provide, and how they compare to the other Disney World resort classes, click here)

Caribbean Beach

Because of this, I’ve stayed in each of the moderate resorts multiple times, including in each of their major room variants, and published and updated detailed reviews of them all. Since I began working on this site, I’ve stayed in the moderates almost 40 times, for more than 100 nights.

What follows is an overview–see the links to the detailed reviews for more.

[Read more →]

DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: MARCH 23, 2013 TO MARCH 31, 2013

The material below details operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

The same stuff is in the table, but organized by park, not by topic.

This is one of the busiest weeks of the year.  For some thoughts on dealing with it, see this.

(For more on March 2013, see this.)

[Read more →]

WALT DISNEY WORLD DEAL EXPIRES SOON

Disney World currently has just one deal running, for arrival dates into mid-June.  This deal needs to be booked by March 31st!  See this for more on the deal.

DISNEY WORLD FREE DINING IN 2013?

It’s been unusual recently for Disney to have no deals out, so rumors are rife that a new deal will come out as early as April 1.

And everyone is hoping that it will be the usual fall free dining deal!

We’ve seen no free dining so far in 2013, and I expect the factors that have led to this to mean we won’t see a lot of free dining at Disney World the rest of 2013.

But I do forecast that we will see the return of the traditional fall free dining offer. It may be very different than in the recent past, and it may not be announced on April 1…but I do expect to see something, sometime soon!

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

MORE STUFF ON DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

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.

Although the typical moderate rooms, at 314 square feet (the cabins have 508 square feet), look much smaller than the rooms available at the deluxe resorts, differences in hall/entry layout make the living space of the typical moderates much more comparable to many Walt Disney World deluxes than raw square footage would imply. See this for more on square footage and livability.

Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort is officially “an American Southwest-themed…hotel set on Lago Dorado—a glimmering 22-acre lake—that invokes the spirit and romance of Spanish-colonial Mexico.”

Its 140 acres include an area where you check in, buy tickets, and find shops, dining, bars, etc., called El Centro. The Convention Center and business services space also is accessed here.

EL CENTRO AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

The main entry illustrates the graceful architecture you’ll find in most of the resort.

The check-in lobby has a graceful, Mexican-influenced look.

Near it is a large gift shop…

…with mostly standard stuff, but a bit of selection similar to what you can find in Epcot’s Mexico Pavilion.

Also in this main building you’ll find the very fun Rix Lounge…

…a grab and go food shop…

….and Pepper Market, the “quick service” meal offering.

Pepper Market, for those who have been to Coronado Springs before, has changed a bit.

Offerings are more pre-prepared and less varied than they had been, and you now settle with your waitress, rather than when you leave.

Pepper Market used to be clearly the best, and most intriguing, of the Disney World resort quick-service offerings; however, the quick service offering at the new Art of Animation Resort eclipsed it, but even with the recent changes, Pepper Market is still is the best quick service among the moderates.

Rounding out the offerings inside the main building is a table service restaurant, the Maya Grill. OK, but not worth a special trip.

Just outside the main building you’ll find a nice waterside bar, often filled with convention-goers…

…and a marina, which was empty during my last visit–in January 2013.

THE MAIN POOL AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

Unlike the other traditional moderates, the main pool is a hike from the central services. (See the top of the page for another view, and below for a map.)

It has the largest hot tub I’ve seen at any Disney resort–for the conventioneers?…

…a pool for little ones…

…and a kids play area.

Uniquely among the traditional moderates, the pool bar also cooks and serves hot food.

This is likely largely because of the hike from the other dining options, and perhaps also an additional service aimed at convention visitors.

Here’s the pool menu. (As with all this site’s images, click it to enlarge it.)

THE THEMED ROOM AREAS AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

The 1917 rooms at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort are divided among three differently themed 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.”

THE CASITAS AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

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

The Casitas also have the highest appeal to conventioneers, being both closest to the convention center, and the location of the Coronado Springs suites.

(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.)

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

THE CABANAS AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

The Cabanas, the opposite direction from the Casitas, have undistinguished architecture…

…but look lovely from across the lake…

…and alone among the three room areas of Coronado Springs, are fronted by beaches.

Here’s a view of the beaches in the evening.

The kid appeal of these beaches and overall convenience to both El Centro and 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.

You can’t swim in the lake from these beaches, but there is a quiet pool at the Cabanas where you can swim.

THE RANCHOS AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

The third area, the Ranchos, has a wilder Southwestern theme, which may be a little too realistically arid and barren for some kids to enjoy,

The Ranchos are also a hike from the resort central services, though some of these rooms are near the main pool.

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

SUMMARY: DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

Among the moderates, Coronado Springs’s strengths for first time visitors are its visual kid appeal, especially in the Cabanas section (not as much as at Caribbean Beach, but more than the other moderates), its food court (the best among the Walt Disney World moderates), and its very high level of amenities compared to the other moderates—e.g. the only “real” room service menu among the moderates.

The principal negatives are that it can be choked by conventioneers, and costs slightly more than the other moderates—i.e. $3-$6 per night.

Returning visitors often find Coronado Springs to be a favorite—because of its amenities approaching the level of a deluxe for the little more than the cost of a typical moderate.

See this for more on distinctions among the moderates.

EXTERNAL LINKS FOR CORONADO SPRINGS

• Official Disney Coronado Springs site
• Buzz2001’s unofficial fan site

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MORE ON WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• For where to stay, see this
  • For your next best choices, in order, see this
  • For picking your resort based on appeal to kids, see this
  • For picking your resort based on convenience, see this
  • For where not to stay, see this

• For what you get in each resort price category, see this
  • For Walt Disney World resort price seasons, see this
  • For resort reviews, see this
  • For the value resorts, see this
  • For the moderate resorts, see this
  • For the deluxe resorts, see this
  • For suites at the deluxe resorts, see this
  • For the Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) Resorts, see this

• For a (geeky) overview of comparative room size, see this

• Large families should look at this, and also at
  • Large Families Looking for Value Pricing at Walt Disney World
  • Large Families Looking for Deluxe Accommodations at Disney World
  • Beds and Sleeping Spaces at the Walt Disney World Resorts
  • Renting Disney Vacation Club Points
  • Suites at Walt Disney World

• Military/DOD families should look at this

• Tightwads should look at this

• Families seeking the most comfortable place to stay should see this

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