Walt Disney World’s Coronado Springs Resort: A Hotel Review

Coronado Springs Resort is a moderate Walt Disney World hotel near Disney’s Animal Kingdom park.  As are all of Walt Disney World hotels, it has a wonderful theme throughout the property – an American Southwest/Northern Mexico feel to it.   And it’s one of the largest hotels on site – even bigger than the Magic Kingdom once you include the parking lot.

We recently spent 5 nights at the Coronado Springs Resort and I have mixed feelings about staying here again. Bottom line, I thought the price for what your get was great. The property had all the amenities (and more) that a family could need and it was very easy to get to all the parks compared to other on-site properties. But I did feel that it wasn’t as comfortable as other Disney resorts I have stayed at. And the size was intimidating as well.

Here’s my complete review of Coronado Springs Hotel.

Pros of the Coronado Springs Resort

Very clean resort: The Coronado Springs Resort was very well maintained.  The architecture and landscaping was perfect to make you feel as if you were in Mexico.  The whole resort is set around a large lake, making for a very beautiful resort.

Very quiet resort: Because of the size, this resort is very quiet.  The doors to the rooms open to the outside, which made me think we’d hear a lot, but we rarely heard noises.  Even noises to the rooms next to us – nothing.  After a long & loud day at the park, it was very nice to come home to a resort that was so quiet & relaxing.

Lots of food choices: Coronado Springs Resorts had many great food choices. Pepper Market is a counter service restaurant.  Maya Grill is a sit down restaurant serving breakfast & dinner.  And Las Ventanas is a small, sit-down restaurant for breakfast & lunch.  We had breakfast here on our last day and it was outstanding, complete with french press coffee.  Also, we enjoyed the Rix Lounge for margaritas and pomegranate guacamole – it was delicious!

Really fun pool: The Lost City of Cibola Pool has a great waterside, fun play area for kids, bar, & big sand volleyball pits. We were only able to swim here one morning but could see how it would be a great spot to refresh at in the afternoons.  I have to say, it was one of the most themed pools I have seen at the WDW resorts.  There are 3 additional “quiet pools” that we were able to swim in one evening as well. The resort also has planned pool activities and swim up movies.

Great jogging trail: The resort has a walking trail that circles the lake – Lago Dorado – it looked like a great place to jog, although I never got up early enough to do that. It’s approximately 3/4 of a mile and there are additional paths to make for a longer route.  I figure after walking almost 8-10 miles a day at the park, my tired feet needed a break. There is also a nice fitness center – La Vida Health Club – and bicycle & surrey rentals.

Quick Park Bus Service: The resort has four bus stops around the resort – and one was located right off our door to our room.  We found the buses to come very regularly and never had to wait longer than 10 minutes for a bus.  Other resorts may combine bus services and you have to wait a long time just to get back to your resort.  Also, every time we left a park to get on the bus, there was ALWAYS one waiting for us to climb aboard.  Maybe it was luck for us and others will not have the same experience.  But after waiting close to 20-30 minutes last year for the bus for the Disney Yacht Club, it was a welcome treat. TIP: Ask for a room close to a bus stop.

Comfortable beds: I was impressed at how comfortable I was in the beds at the Coronado Springs.  They don’t look like much, but they were very comfortable to “sink” into after an exhausting day in the parks.  There was always plenty of towels, extra pillows, and blankets.  We lacked for nothing in our rooms.

Cons of the Coronado Springs Resort

Lots of walking: This resort is BIG and you will do a lot of walking from the lobby to your room, especially if you are in the Ranchos or Cabanas.  We stayed in Casitas 4 and it was about a 5-7 minute walk to the Lobby.  I was there for a meeting in the Convention Center, so I did need to do quite a bit of walking.  Normally, it wouldn’t bother me, but after walking so much in the parks, the LAST thing I wanted to do was walk more.  I had wished there was some sort of shuttle at times, especially for my tired kids.

That said, we encountered a very kind cast member on our first day who offered to drive us up to the lobby in a golf cart after we had gotten lost.  You can call the bell desk and they will pick you up when you request it. TIP: Use the bell service for your luggage.  You don’t want to haul it back & forth.

Lack of plugs:  With 2 adults and 2 kids, we have many electronics that needed to be charged each evening.  We only found ONE plug in the entire room that actually worked. It was in the bathroom and luckily I had a travel adapter with multiple plugs, so it worked out fine for us.  I spoke with others who were staying there as well and they had a desk that worked with multiple outlets.  Ours did not. I mentioned it to the hotel but we were not there long enough to see it fixed. TIP: Take a travel adapter to this hotel- ok heck, travel with it everywhere you go!

Can only fit 4 to a room: This is the one major downer of this resort. The rooms only have 2 queen-sized beds and no room for a roll-away (fire hazard).  So if you are a family of 5+, this resort is not for you unless you don’t mind getting 2 rooms.

Magic Band Issues: From the moment we checked in, we had issues with our magic bands.  A magic band serves as your room key, tickets to the park, credit card, and more.  For some reason, the computer system could not verify all of our magic bands the first night, so we hiked to the room with only 2 and hiked back an hour later to retrieve the others.  The second day, one band didn’t work in the park. The third day, my band didn’t work on the door (again – a long walk back to the lobby). And the last day, none of our bands worked (so we got a back up room key – yes, they still issue those!).

That said, EVERYONE at the resort & parks who we encountered were very polite and apologetic with our magic band issues.  They were so respectful & kind that it really became a non-issue and one that I almost did not bring up in my review of the resort.  However, I wanted you to see the bright side of the story – one that makes me respect the level of customer service you receive from a Disney cast member even more. I’d argue you wouldn’t see that so consistently at an offsite property or another theme park.

Summary of our Stay at Coronado Springs Resort

As a matter of personal preference, if you can afford a Deluxe level Walt Disney World Resort, stay at one.  We have stayed at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge twice and nothing compares for us.  That said, the value for what you get at the Coronado Springs is great.  The quiet you will experience here is more than any other on property resort I have stayed at.  And the proximity to Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios makes it a very convenient resort.

If I stayed here again, I would ask for a lake-view room that is CLOSE to the lobby.

Panasonic Home Monitoring System

While at Walt Disney World for the week, Panasonic sent us their DIY Indoor/Outdoor Home Surveillance Camera Kit to try out while we were away.  This system included 2 outdoor cameras and a HUB unit to connect you to your home while you are miles away.  With one quick touch of the app on my iPhone, I can see and hear what my cameras are recording.  I’ll admit, I was intimidated to set it up, but it honestly took us less than 10 minutes to have it up and running.

I love it while I am traveling as I can pop on and see what’s happening at the house.  It has a feature to talk too, so I can give a little love to my dogs or even tell my big girl to go to bed if I see she is up too late. And when we head out of vacation this summer, we will move the cameras to the outside to monitor all the entries.  It’s a relatively inexpensive system ($299.95) considering, you don’t have to pay a company a monthly fee to monitor it.  There is no fee after the initial purchase.

Other Disney Articles You May Enjoy:

My Thank You to Walt Disney World Cast Members
10 Cool Experiences at Epcot
New Star Wars Attractions at Walt Disney World
Animal Kingdom at Night
11 Tips to a RunDisney Race
Jungle Navigation Co., Ltd. Skipper Canteen Review
13 Cool Facts About Disneyland’s Tommorowland
Walt Disney World’s Coronado Springs Resort Review
10 Tips to a Multigenerational Trip to Disney Parks
A Visit from Tinkerbell at Walt Disney World

Disclosure: I was invited to stay at Coronado Springs Resort as a guest for 2 nights and received a media rate for another. I was not compensated for this review.  All opinions are my own.