Disney World Resorts: Coronado Springs "Mickey Goes to Mexico"
Written: Aug 11 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Pepper Market and the quiet pools.
Cons: so far from evvvverrryyytthhhing.
The Bottom Line: This rates just where Disney priced it: Moderately.
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| Mom2TyZick's Full Review: Disneys Coronado Spr Wtr |
The M2TZ family traveled to Orlando for our summer vacation this year. I'd promised the children when we were selling our home that if they'd do their part to keep it clean for showings, we would take them to Disney World with part of the proceeds from the sale. They kept their end of the bargain and we were Orlando-bound in mid-June.
My husband and I come from Florida, and have been to Disney World many times...just not in the last 20 or so years! Much has changed at Disney in that time, and the biggest change is perhaps the addition of so many resorts within the walls of Disney World. How does one pick from the plethora available?
The Disney website is surprisingly sparse with information on these resorts. There is information there, but I had trouble getting views of different areas. I eventually went to Flickr and Photobucket, and did a general search to get realistic views of the pools and rooms.
The Rooms
The sheer distance to EVERYTHING here is perplexing. We were perhaps at the farthest possible distance to the main pool (The Dig Site) which made it inconvenient to hall your pool stuff all the way around the 55 acre lagoon that the hotel surrounds. Every parking space is numbered and you can only park in your rooms slot, if you don't want to be a jerk and take someone else's spot. Not to mention, your number was plastered in the windshield, so you might have gotten in "trouble" too! We hoofed it to the big pool once, and after that used the one closest to our room.
And speaking of rooms, I was genuinely disappointed in ours, but I was alone in that in my family. We had two queen-sized beds, table with two chairs, a refrigerator kept in a tacky looking cupboard, a chest of drawers that encased the television and a bedside table between the beds. The bathroom was cramped with a tub/shower combo and a toilet that you must close the door before sitting down upon. TINY! Right outside the door was a single vanity, with hairdryer and an open closet area with ironing board and iron. I will also admit that the central air conditioner was the best I'd ever had in any hotel, and beat the window unit types by miles and miles.
My disappointment was mostly with the size of the rooms, but I did choose a moderate resort, so perhaps this is my own fault. Who comes to Disney for the rooms, right? We were so busy we rarely did stay in, but I just feel like we didn't get the most for our money. We drove everywhere anyway, so next time I may try to stay in one of the fabulous hotels around Orlando and just drive in every morning.
The beds themselves were comfy enough, even though the pillows were too soft. Big and fluffy looking, they offered almost no support with your head sinking down in the middle and the raised sides on either ear threatening to smother you in the night. Another fault? Disney doesn't invest in fitted sheets. They just tuck a flat sheet in (a small flat sheet) and hope for the best. I never once had a night where the sheet didn't come untucked. We called for fitted sheets, promised they'd put them on, but every morning was the same old tucked flat sheets. It's the little things, you know?
The Pool
Being a true water baby, a pool is vastly important to me. I picked the resort based on the pool. We had reservations at the Caribbean Beach Resort until we realized that the main pool was being remodeled. At the late date I got stuck with Coronado Springs. Such is life.
The main pool here is called The Dig Site. It is actually a pretty cool place to be, but not nearly as large as it looks in pictures. Again, a perspective thing. At the pool, there is a waterfall flowing over Mayan ruins (a pyramid with limbs strewn across the bottom) and a fabulous little water slide cool enough for the big kids and adults and tame enough for the little kids...and adults like me.
The Food
One of the best things we did was include the Disney Dining Plan in the cost of our package. It was well worth it! We did have a few clunker restaurants, but knowing that we'd already paid didn't hurt when the check came. For the most part, the food was delicious, and the meal plan allowed us to try restaurants that we normally would not have splurged on even though fast food is tiring.
This resort has 2 eating areas: The Pepper Market and Maya Grill. The Maya Grill is a "sit down" restaurant or "full service". You get one of those daily, with our plan, and we always chose to take these at dinner. You may use your allottment at any meal. Reservations are strongly recommended, in fact, you need to start calling the very day you make your vacation reservations!! You can always try to change them when you get to Disney if your schedule should change.
Back to Maya Grill! The setting is gorgeous! High ceilings, dark interior with candles flickering made a romantic setting...which was bizarre with 2 children! However, my children are well versed in restaurant eating, so we had no problems. Once I realized others weren't so fortunate, it put me at ease. That is the fantastic thing about dining at Disney, you can be a notch more casual than you would at home and it is perfectly acceptable.
The only thing disappointing about this restaurant was the food. Unfortunately for them, that's a big thing. They start you off with homemade rolls and a jalepeno relish which was absolutely delicious. We asked for the recipe, and our waiter happily supplied it. The children's selections for menu was minimal, but no worse than every other non-buffet sit down restaurant. The selections for the adults sounded delicious, but in actuality was bland. My son and I ordered fillets which were no better than any ribeye I'd ever eaten previously. It was covered in an odd tasting sauce that looked like Buerre Blanc, but was just...not. My husband ordered the fish, and pronounced it edible, if not stunning. We also got dessert: Chambord Chocolate Cake, Creme Brulee and Deep Fried Cheesecake. Mine was the Creme Brulee, and it was so sweet it made me pucker. I traded with hubby who had the deep fried cheesecake and just felt guilty. It wasn't good enough to keep eating the gut bomb when I kept thinking the hunk was deep fried. Ty got the winner cake, but even that was so chocolatey only a hard-core choco-phile could handle it. I was afraid after eating here that all of the money I spent on the dining plan was going down the drain. Happily that was not the case.
The Pepper Market more than made up for this clunker of a restaurant. I loved the outdoor market feel and even though I had to wait in line for my own food, I loved everything I ever got. This was the best thing, in my opinion, about the resort. If your family is picky, go here and there will be something there for everyone! I always chose Mexican food, one day getting an enormous taco salad and the next getting a Quesadilla dinner. Both were large enough to share with my daughter who completely abandoned her dry looking chicken nuggets for my delicious fare! Inside was also a bakery filled with delectable breads and goodies, which we took to go to eat poolside later.
I should also mention that this resort does offer limited room service, but we never ordered so I cannot comment on its quality.
Transportation
We were told by our travel agent to drive ourselves everywhere to save time. You could spend an hour in traveling to the Magic Kingdom alone using the bus provided by the Resorts. My husband fought me on this, and one day I told him he could take the bus and we'd drive and see who got there first. I didn't have any arguments after that.
I guess I shouldn't be such a brat about this place. I really don't have any other Disney Resorts to compare it to, so I compare it to other hotel rooms I've stayed in on past trips. This one really doesn't compare.
Recommended:
No
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Mom2TyZick
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Member: Suzanne
Location: North Carolina
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