Disney's Coronado Springs Resort

Disney's Coronado Springs Resort Information: Rooms, Pools, Dining, and More

On this page is information on Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, including pictures of the view from every hotel room, pictures and video from inside Coronado Springs rooms, a list of amenities, restaurant reviews and dining menus with prices, pool photos and reviews, reader comments, childcare options, and more. Last updated: December 20, 2024

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Disney's Coronado Springs Resort Overview

Coronado Springs Resort is Disney’s only midpriced convention property. Inspired by northern Mexico and the American Southwest, the resort is divided into four separately themed areas. The two- and three-story Ranchos call to mind Southwestern cattle ranches, while the two-story Cabanas are modeled after Mexican beach resorts. The multistoried Casitas embody elements of Spanish architecture found in Mexico’s great cities.

The Gran Destino Tower serves as the lobby for all of Coronado Springs, and the rooms in this 15-floor building are nicer than those in the rest of the resort. (The idea, we hear, is to appeal to companies reluctant to put their executives in Moderate hotel rooms.)

The vast resort surrounds a 22-acre lake, and there are three small pools as well as one large swimming complex. The main pool features a reproduction of a Mayan step pyramid with a waterfall cascading down its side.

Check-In and Services at the Gran Destino Tower

Adjacent to Gran Destino is El Centro, where you can find a gift shop, food court, and Rix Lounge. A separate area called The Dig Site, between the Ranchos and Cabanas, is where the main pool, play area, and arcade can be found. The walk between these two sites is only a few minutes, but the distance means that most rooms are reasonably close to one or the other.

Where To Check-In, Get Theme Park Tickets, and Make Dining Reservations

A security gate guards the entrance to Coronado Springs’ grounds. If you arrive by car, you'll need to provide photo ID at the gate; it's not necessary to provide your reservation number or paperwork. A dedicated parking lot near Gran Destino serves as temporary parking for those who need it while checking in. If you arrive by Disney bus transportation, there is a bus stop outside of Gran Destino.

Guests keeping a car at the hotel overnight will be charged $20 per day.

Check-in time at Coronado Springs is 3:00 PM, and check-out time is 11:00 AM. Coronado Springs participates in Disney's Online Check-In program, which allows you to you provide name, address, and credit card information before your arrival. If you've checked-in online and provided a mobile phone number or email address, you will receive your room number electronically. Then you can go straight to the room and use your smart phone or MagicBand to open the door, skipping the lobby altogether.

If you've not registered online, look for signs pointing you to the Registration/Check-In area. You'll need to provide a government-issued photo ID and credit/debit card when you register. While parents are completing the paperwork, kids can unwind in a nearby play area decorated with child-sized furniture, and a television showing classic Disney animated films.

Coronado's registration staff can provide MagicBands for your stay, if you don't already have them. As of January 1, 2021, guests no longer receive complimentary MagicBands but will still have the option to purchase them.

Coronado Springs’ Rooms

Most of the 1,839 rooms in the Ranchos, Cabanas, and Casitas measure 314 square feet and contain two queen beds, a desk with an excellent working area, a chair, a minifridge, a coffee maker, and a vanity outside the bathroom. Sliding doors divide the main living area from the sinks, allowing three people to get ready at the same time. Bathrooms have plenty of storage. Rooms are decorated with a subtle Southwestern theme, in a desert-landscape palette. No rooms have balconies.

The 545 rooms in Gran Destino Tower range from standard issue to deluxe, one-bedroom, and presidential suites. The public areas showcase a vibrant mix of Spanish and Moorish design, with bold colors and large, open spaces.

Perhaps because Coronado Springs is geared to conventions, getting actual work done here is easier than at any other Disney Moderate resort. Lighting above the desk provides excellent illumination of the work area. Wi-Fi is available throughout the resort.

Each Coronado Springs room is furnished with the following:

• Two queen beds (some ADA-accessible rooms have 1 king bed)
• Dresser with 6 small drawers and 1 open shelf
• Desk with 1 desk chair
• Nightstand with telephone
• WiFi wireless Internet access
• Flat-panel TV
• Mini-fridge
• Coffee Maker
• Ironing board and iron
• Hair dryer
• Digital thermostat
• In-room safe

The mini-fridge is a dorm-style unit that sits within the large door on the dresser. It's more like a beverage chiller than a refrigerator in that it'll keep drinks cool, but you're not going to freeze popsicles or make ice cubes in it. Every room in Coronado Springs has a coffee maker.

Disney's Coronado Springs Resort - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

Coronado Springs bathrooms are smaller than what most people are used to at home but they are at least larger than bathrooms found in Disney's value resorts. Almost all feature a tiled tub with shower, while some wheelchair-accessible rooms have a roll-in shower without tub. One nice feature in the standard bathrooms is a shower curtain rod that curves outward, so you're not always elbowing the shower curtain while shampooing.

Water pressure in the shower is average - probably less than what you get at home, but still enough to get your hair clean. Eventually.

A separate dressing area next to the bathroom includes two sinks, decent counter space, and under-sink storage so an entire family can find places to keep their toiletries. A hair dryer is provided, but it's not very powerful; bring your own if you've got lots of hair. The dressing area includes a set of sliding barn doors that separate it from the sleeping area which are useful but loud to close. Combined with the bathroom, this means that 2 people can get dressed at the same time.

Gran Destino Tower Rooms

Gran Destino’s standard rooms are almost 20% larger than those in the rest of the resort. They have vinyl “hardwood” floors, large windows, good lighting, and lots of desk and storage space; rooms are also equipped with a minifridge and a Keurig coffee maker. Bathrooms have plentiful lighting and shelf space, two sinks, a huge shower, and separate areas for grooming and the toilet, allowing three people to get ready at the same time. Our one criticism is that there’s little theming: The rooms barely differ from those at other Disney resorts.

Our favorite thing about Gran Destino is the relatively low cost of Club Level rooms, which get you access to the Chronos Club lounge. Standard rates for these rooms run $200–$300 per night less than the next-cheapest Club Level room on-property, and limited-time discounts made the price even better. The Chronos Club has fantastic views, good food throughout the day, and a friendly staff. If you’re looking for a little pampering on vacation, Gran Destino’s Club Level rooms are probably the best value in Walt Disney World.

Handicap-Accessible Room Options

Coronado Springs has around 90 handicap-accessible rooms. Some feature roll-in showers, while others include assistive hearing devices. A subset of these rooms have been converted to comply with Florida's Accessibility Code, with changes to everything from bed, counter-top, and dresser drawer height, to door widths, wheelchair ramps, and more.

Some of Coronado Springs’ accessible rooms have the standard setup of 2 queen beds; all rooms with roll-in showers have 1 king bed, and a small number of roll-in shower rooms have both 1 king bed and 1 double bed. Use our hotel room finder to see which rooms have which features.

Standard Rooms and Preferred Rooms, Standard Views and Pool Views

Disney knows that some hotel rooms are better than others. Most people prefer to be close to the lobby and dining, and want something pretty to look at from their hotel room window. To capitalize on this, Disney categorizes all of Coronado Springs’ hotel rooms based on how long it takes you to walk to the lobby, and what you see from inside the room.

Here's the system Disney uses:

• A Preferred Room with Standard View is a room in Casitas buildings 1, 2, or 3 that is close to El Centro. The view from your window may include landscaping and plants, other buildings, or a parking lot.
  
  
• Water View Rooms can be either preferred or standard. While a room with a water view is always a little pricier, all water views are not alike. A water view can be a pool, a heavily obstructed lagoon view , or a gorgeous lagoon view. Be sure to make your room requests if you’re paying a premium.
  
  
• Standard Rooms with Standard Views are found in all the Coronado Springs buildings other than the preferred and business class buildings listed above. These Standard/Standard rooms are a slightly farther walk to El Centro (an extra 5-15 minutes), and have generally unremarkable views of landscaping, or parking lots. These are the cheapest rooms at Coronado Springs, but there are some gems to be found in this category, though, using our Coronado Springs Resort Room Finder.
  
  

Pools and Playgrounds at Coronado Springs Resort

p>Note: Guests are not required to wear a mask in their resort pool since that would be counterintuitive in ensuring safety. But keep in mind that guests are required to wear a mask when walking to and from the pool area or pool bar.

Coronado Springs has 4 pools. The largest is found at the area called The Dig Site, which also contains the playground and arcade. The area is dominated by a 46 foot tall Mayan stepped pyramid that looks as if it’s been sitting on that spot for centuries and houses the 128 foot water slide.

What the water slide empties into is one of the largest pools at Walt Disney World. The Coronado Springs pool, officially called the Lost City of Cibola Feature Pool, sits directly in the shadow of the pyramid.

Adjacent to the main pool is a water play area, where small children can play in a very shallow pool containing several water spouts. The pool area is also where you will find the Jacuzzi as well as a beach volleyball court.

In addition to the large main pool, each of the three areas has its own “quiet” pool. Quiet pools are Disney’s name for their smaller pools, the noise level varies depending on the pool’s users. Each of these pools is smaller than the main pool and has no extras such as a child play area or slide.

Coronado Springs’ pools range in depth from around 3 feet 6 inches/1.1m to 4 feet 9 inches/1.4m and are open every day, including winter. Pools are heated to 82F/28C throughout the year. Guests can find showers, storage lockers, restrooms, and laundry facilities at each of the pools. Pool hours are at least 9 AM to 9 PM, extending to as much as 7 AM to 11 PM during busy times. The main pool will have lifeguards whenever they are open, but the quiet pools will not have lifeguards at any time.

For more information on the pools at WDW resorts, including towels, entertainment programming, handicap access, kiddie pools, life vests, and much more, see our Walt Disney World Resort Pool Fact Sheet FAQ.

Playgrounds at Coronado Springs

An inventive playground area is found at The Dig Site, tucked off to the side of the pyramid. Also themed with statues and “stone,” the play area contains a large sandbox, a slide, and a climbing structure. Like all Disney playgrounds, the ground is made of a spongy material for safety although the entire area is pervaded by sand.

Restaurants and Dining

Coronado Springs has four full-service restaurants and a food court, plus two bars. One of those full-service restaurants, Toledo—Tapas, Steak & Seafood, is in Gran Destino Tower. An over-water bar called Three Bridges Bar & Grill sits in the middle of Coronado Springs’ 22-acre lake, connected to the resort by—drum roll—three bridges. Even with these additions, though, dining capacity and choices may be just adequate for a resort this big. We suggest having a car to expand your options.

Maya Grill is Coronado Springs’ full-service restaurant. Run by the same company that operates the restaurants at EPCOT’s Mexico pavilion, Maya Grill specializes in southwestern cuisine. Unfortunately, like too many Disney restaurants, Maya Grill doesn’t fully commit to the style and the results are a slightly bland version of authentic favorites. The restaurant mostly caters to convention customers who are both stuck at Coronado Springs and on an expense account.

The dining room was designed to evoke the ancient world of the Maya, achieving "a harmony of fire, sun, and water." But the idea falls short, with the fire taking the form of "flames" made of fan-blown fabric at the top of two large columns. The kitchen is open to view, but so is the barren and starkly lit walkway outside.

Notables on the menu include Chilorio Pork Sliders appetizer and the Arrachera, although much of the menu is under-flavored Tex-Mex at double and triple the prices of your local Mexican restaurant. Our experiences at Maya Grill and those of our readers are mediocre at best. On the bright side, Tables in Wonderland cardholders are eligible for a 20% discount at Maya Grill.

In our annual reader surveys, Maya Grill ranks towards the bottom of table-service restaurants in Walt Disney World with a “thumbs up” rating of 71%, well below the average of 87%. This puts it in the same class as often maligned restaurants such as EPCOT’s Nine Dragons, Downtown Disney’s Rainforest Café, and the now demolished Cap’n Jack’s. As you may imagine, we recommend heading elsewhere for that sit-down dinner.

Maya Grill Hours

• Maya Grill’s Dining Hours 5:00 PM - 10:00 PM Dinner menu Kids' dinner menu

If you are looking for breakfast, lunch, or a quicker meal, Coronado Springs also has the El Mercado de Coronado food court that's also in the same large building as Maya Grill. The food court area is fun and festive and contained in a large space that vaguely resembles and outdoor market.

The overall setup is much like a food court at a mall. There are several different stations, each selling one set of meals. For example, one station sells pizza and pasta; another sells burgers; another is dedicated to sandwiches, and so on. If your kids each want something different, you'll have to line up several times. The good news is that some of the food is prepared on demand, so you'll at least be getting your burger cooked to order.

Prices range from $6 to $18 for an entree so you won't break the bank. Breakfast is the standard fare of egg and meat platters, omelets, and Mickey-shaped waffles. Some standout entrees from the Lunch and Dinner menu include the Crabcake Sandwich and Aztec Burger, both between $12 and $15. None of the desserts are particularly interesting but there is a nice assortment of ice cream sundaes and shakes.

El Mercado Food Court Hours

• Breakfast Dining Hours 7:00 AM - 11:00 AM Breakfast menu / Kids' breakfast menu
• Lunch Dining Hours 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM Lunch menu Kids' lunch menu
• Dinner Hours 5:00 PM - 10:00 PM Dinner menu / Kids' dinner menu

El Mercado participates in the Disney Dining Plan (when it's offered); meals cost 1 Quick Service credit, and there are a wide variety of snacks to use as Snack credits on the Dining Plan. El Mercado is unique among the moderate resorts in that it is a Quick Service venue where waiters bring and refill your beverages; as a result, guests are expected to provide a gratuity.

For grab-and-go items or even quicker meals than El Mercado can offer, you will find Café Rix, also in El Centro. Meals here use 1 Quick Service credit on the Disney Dining Plan (when it's offered), and there are a wide variety of snacks to use as Snack credits on the Dining Plan. Café Rix offers simple things such as breakfast sandwiches, muffins, and doughnuts for breakfast and a small selection of hot or cold sandwiches for lunch and dinner. While the selection is minimal, it is fast and Café Rix opens at 6am, earlier than El Mercado, making it a good choice for a quick pre-park breakfast. There is no seating for Café Rix, but Rix Lounge has quite a bit of seating that is open for Café patrons.

Free refills are available for coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and fountain drinks (including juice and milk) during your meal. Both El Mercado and Cafe Rix will refill mugs purchased thorugh Disney's Rapid Fill refillable mug program, where you purchase a souvenir plastic mug once, and get free refills for the remainder of your stay. The cost is a flat $19.99 for your length of stay.

Rix Sports Bar & Grill is an unusual spot, well for a Disney resort at least. It is the only bar or lounge at a Walt Disney World resort that could be considered a nightclub with DJs spinning the tunes most nights. The décor is upscale and reminiscent of a more urban club although it is decidedly not in line with the Southwestern motif of Coronado Springs. There are many interesting elements to Rix Lounge and a menu full of equally interesting drinks, but Rix Lounge is mostly a hive for the busy bees in town for a convention. When there are large meetings at Coronado Springs, Rix can be quite busy. Otherwise it is often uncrowded.

Rix serves breakfast from 7 AM to 12:30 PM

Rix Lounge Menu

Siestas Pool Bar Directly abutting the main pool is Siestas Pool Bar. The pool bar has poolside seating with a breakfast and lunch menu, and drink menu, with several beer selections, a couple of wines, and a small selection of spirits. It's fine if you want a domestic light beer or a fruity cocktail to relax with by the pool, or to get a nightcap on the way back to your room for the night. Siestas Pool Bar is usually open 9 AM to 10 PM daily, weather permitting.

The lagoon-side Laguna Bar is one of our favorite places to unwind at Coronado Springs. It would be considered a pool bar except that it’s not near a pool. Rather, it is alongside the gorgeous vista supplied by Lago Dorado. Laguna Bar has a similar menu to Siestas Pool Bar, but the view is much, much better. If a casual drink or a snack is what you are seeking, choose Laguna Bar over any other Coronado Springs option.

Barcelona Lounge offers breakfast and coffee by day and cocktails by night. Dahlia Lounge is a rooftop lounge at top of Gran Destino Tower with beautiful views of the entire resort. Three Bridges Bar & Grill is a unique floating bar and grill that unites traditional bar fare with Spanish flair.

Transportation to and from Coronado Springs Resort

Driving Your Own Car Disney's Coronado Springs Resort is near I-4 in Lake Buena Vista. Take I-4 Exit 67 – Epcot Center Drive and you'll end up on Epcot Center Drive. Take the first exit onto Buena Vista Drive and make a left. Go about 2.3 miles/3.7 km down Buena Vista Drive, then turn right on to Coronado Springs’ entrance road. You'll see Coronado Springs’ sign well before you need to turn.

If you have a GPS, here's Coronado Springs’ address and location:

Disney's Coronado Springs Resort
1000 West Buena Vista Drive
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830

Latitude: 28.362871 North, Longitude: 81.572814 West

From Orlando International Airport See our Walt Disney World Transportation Options page for information about how to get to and from Orlando International Airport and Walt Disney World.

From Sanford International Airport It's about a 40-minute drive from Sanford to Coronado Springs. If you're not renting a car, be aware that Sanford's airport offers fewer transportation options than Orlando's, and Sanford's options are generally much more expensive. A taxi from Sanford International Airport to Coronado Springs will cost between $120 and $150, depending on traffic. Mears Transportation offers 3-passenger towncar service to Coronado Springs for around $140 each way, plus tip; 5-passenger SUV service or 10-passenger van is around $190 each way. That means round-trip transportation will run you somewhere between $240 and $380, plus tip, between Sanford and Coronado Springs. At those prices, it may be less expensive to rent a car and park it at the hotel.

Getting to the theme parks, water parks and Disney Springs Disney provides free bus service from Coronado Springs to the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, and Disney Springs. Coronado Springs has a bus stop in each of the three room areas and one at El Centro. Animal Kingdom's bus service is shared with Blizzard Beach, while Disney Springs and Typhoon Lagoon also share a stop and service. Coronado Springs does not share bus service with any other resort, but the large size and four bus stops make the trip somewhat long compared to some other resorts.

If you've got your own car, it's faster to drive yourself to everywhere except the Magic Kingdom. Blizzard Beach is actually right across the street and could be walked to if not for the heavily-trafficked and pedestrian-unfriendly road in between.

Coronado Springs’ Bus Schedule

Ask a Disney Cast Member about Coronado Springs’ bus schedule, and they'll tell you that buses run about every 20 minutes. In reality, the Coronado Springs bus schedule varies considerably depending on the time of day and where you're headed.

For example, if you're headed to the Magic Kingdom between 8 AM and 11 AM, you'll wait around 12 minutes, on average, for a bus to arrive. The bus schedules for EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Disney's Hollywood Studios average about 13 minutes early in the day. Bus schedules to the water parks and Disney Springs are a little less frequent, and you could wait anywhere from 18 to 30 minutes for a ride.

While these are the average times you will wait for a bus at Coronado Springs, the four bus stops at the resort mean a slightly longer ride on the bus without leaving the resort. This is the reason Coronado Springs has some of the highest total bus transportation times despite its central location.

Buses run a little slower from around 11 AM to around 4 PM, when most people are already in a park. Disney's evening buses are scheduled around the theme parks' closing times, where most of the fleet is deployed to get guests back to their hotels. Your waits to return to your hotel from a theme park should average out to around 20 minutes under most circumstances.

Here's the current order in which Disney buses pick up and drop off at Coronado Springs:

• Gran Destino Tower
• Casitas
• Ranchos
• Ranchos and Cabanas

Getting to another hotel from Coronado Springs If you've got dining plans (when they're offered) at another Disney hotel, the cheapest option is to take a Disney bus from Coronado Springs to Disney Springs (or an open theme park), then take another bus from there to your destination hotel. Do the reverse to get back to Coronado Springs. While that's free, it can take anywhere from 90 minutes to 2 hours each way. If your destination is one of the Magic Kingdom monorail resorts, and the Magic Kingdom is still open, you could take a bus to the Magic Kingdom, then either walk (to the Contemporary and Bay Lake Tower), hop on the monorail (to the Polynesian and Grand Floridian), or take a boat (to Fort Wilderness, the Wilderness Lodge, the Polynesian, and the Grand Floridian). We suggest you still allow at least an hour for that.

The fastest option, however, is almost always a taxi from Coronado Springs to wherever you're going; it's generally not more than a $20, 15-minute cab ride to get to most Disney hotels from Coronado Springs, and often less. Taxis are available outside of El Centro; if a taxi is not already sitting out front, the bell services desk also serves as a taxi stand, and they'll call one for you.

To Universal Orlando If you're staying at Walt Disney World and don't have a car, Mears Transportation will shuttle you from your hotel to Universal and back for $18 per person. Pickup and return times are at your convenience. A one-way taxi ride is around $36, and may be the cheapest option if you have three to five people.

Shopping, Recreation, and Things To Do at Coronado Springs

Coronado Springs’ gift shop is Panchito’s Gifts and Sundries, and sits within El Centro, just off the main rotunda. As you'd expect from Disney, Panchito’s has a decent collection of souvenirs ranging from small trinkets such as keychains and pens, to embroidered jackets and Disney princess dresses. Prices for these items are about what you'd pay in the theme parks or Downtown Disney.

Panchito’s also sells basic pharmacy items such as sunscreen, aspirin, allergy and cold medicine, baby diapers and formula, shampoo, and the like. And the shop also has Disney-branded cookies, chocolate, coffee tins, and similar items, if that's what you're looking for. Prices for these items are considerably higher - about double - than what you'd probably pay at home.

Another advantage of staying at a conference hotel is that Coronado Springs has a fitness center, unlike the other Moderate Resorts. The center is located near the quiet pool in the Casitas section, between buildings 3 and 4. It is a small center containing standard equipment such as treadmills, but it is handy if walking around the parks all day isn’t enough exercise for you. There is also a Beauty Salon in the same location for especially bad hair days.

In the Dig Site area, near the main pool, is the Iguana Arcade, which has a decent collection of relatively recent video and arcade games. Most games cost $0.50 to $2.00 per play, although it’s tough to tell exactly how much because of Disney’s arcade points system. Rather than put money directly into the games, you purchase an arcade card that can be loaded with any number of points. The points are 50 per every $1.00 spent and the games requires various amounts of points. The points system allows you to easily set limits for children, but makes it a little hard to calculate exactly how much you’re spending on any given game.

Walkers, joggers and runners will find that one lap around the main part of Lago Dorado is a scenic 0.75-mile/1.2 km course. If you don’t take the bridge near the main pool and instead add the path around the smaller section of the lagoon the path extends to 1 mile/1.6 km. You won't find an indoor pool at Coronado Springs.

What you will find are other activities, many of which fit the Coronado Springs theme either on purpose or coincidentally. Bikes are available to rent at the marina, which is found near El Centro. If a little more activity is to your liking, there is a beach volleyball court in the Dig Site. Unfortunately swimming in Lago Dorado is not allowed.

Coronado Springs’ free Movies Under the Stars program shows a different Disney film every night of the week on a small outdoor screen set up at the Dig Site near the pool. Folding chairs are provided. The movie schedule varies based on when it gets dark, and may start as early as 7 PM during winter, or as late as 9 PM during summer. A sign near the pool will have the schedule for the week.

Coronado Springs Babysitting and In-Room Child Care

Disney contracts with a third party company, Kids Nite Out, to provide babysitting services at the resort hotels. See our Disney resort childcare page for more information.

Miscellaneous Coronado Springs

There are on site washers and dryers available for guest use. For more information on guest laundry services at Walt Disney World hotels, see our WDW Laundry Information page.

If you lose something during your stay, contact Disney's Lost and Found department by calling (407)824-4245.

Would you recommend this hotel to a friend?

Hotel	Definitely (+/- since last year)
Disney's Coronado Springs Resort	56% (-12%)
Average for WDW hotels	76% (+0%)
Average for off-site hotels	57% (+0%)

Would you stay at this hotel again?

Hotel	Definitely (+/- since last year)
Disney's Coronado Springs Resort	97% (+7%)
Average for WDW hotels	92% (+2%)
Average for off-site hotels	79% (-7%)

Hotel Photos

Hotel Videos

Coronado Springs Gran Destino Tower Deluxe Room

Coronado Springs Gran Destino Tower Tour

Coronado Springs Gran Destino Tower Club Level Room Tour

Coronado Springs Standard Room Tour

Good (and Not-So-Good) Rooms at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort

Best and Worst Room Views at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort

TouringPlans offers pictures of the view from any Disney resort room on property. Click here for the Coronado Springs Resort map and to choose a room to see the view.

As convention hotels go, Coronado Springs is kind of an odd duck. Whereas at comparable hotels everything is centrally located and the guest rooms are in close proximity to each other, the rooms here are spread around a huge lake called Lago Dorado. If you’re assigned a room on the opposite side of the lake from the meeting area and restaurants, plan on an 11- to 15-minute hike every time you leave your room.

Coronado Springs’ main lobby is inside Gran Destino Tower. To its west is El Centro, which contains shops, restaurants, and a conference center. There are three accommodation “communities.”

Good Rooms in Casitas Building 1

This building is by far the closest to El Centro as well as the Convention Center, which means that all rooms are considered Preferred. If you are staying here with a family be prepared to be surrounded by business people, especially when a convention is in town. The nicest views are on the third and fourth floors facing the courtyard and the lagoon beyond, rooms 1372-1390 and 1470-1490.

Bad views in Building 1 include:

• Rooms 1X10-1X17 and 1141-1148, which face a parking lot.
• Rooms 1191 and 1291, which face the side of a staircase.

Good Rooms in Casitas Building 2

Building 2 is still all Preferred rooms, but is further away from El Centro than either Building 1 or much of Building 3. The location also means not many good views, almost all of which face other buildings or the parking lot. The second and third floor rooms 2261-2263 and 2361-2363 have an off-center view of the quiet pool, and are about as good a view as you can get in this building.

Bad views in Building 2 include:

• Rooms 2X60, which face the side of the building.
• Rooms 2X80-2X85, which face parking lots.

Good Rooms in Casitas Building 3

If you want a great view and are willing to pay for a Preferred room, building 3 is your best bet. About half of the building faces the lagoon and the East side of it is very close to El Centro. The best lagoon views are rooms on the second and third floors numbered 3X20-3X23, 3X25, and 3X27 and rooms on floors 2-4 numbered 3X66-3X69. There really aren’t many bad views in building 3 as the rooms that don’t face the lagoon simply face other buildings, although there are a handful that look over hallways.

Bad views in Building 3 include:

• Building 21: Rooms 3X16, 3X24, 3X60, 3X74, 3X73, and 3X80, which face hallways.

Good Rooms in Casitas Building 4

If ponying up extra money for a Preferred room doesn’t sound appealing to you, Casitas building 4 is one of the closes buildings to El Centro that isn’t Preferred. This building contains just about every type of view from the parking lot to a pool to the lagoon. The best lagoon view rooms are on floors 2-4, rooms 4X61-4X65.

Bad views in Building 4 include:

• Rooms 4X10, which face a stairwell.
• Rooms 4X01-4X03, which face parking lots.

Good Rooms in Casitas Building 5

By building 5 you start getting a little far away from El Centro and you are still a bit of a walk to the main pool area as well. The good news is that there are a few excellent views from the rooms of building 5. The water view rooms on floors 2-4, room numbers 5X10-5X13 and 5X60-5X63, are the best. If you would rather not pay for a water view room, about half of building 5 faces a pleasant, fountain-centric courtyard.

Bad views in Building 5 include:

• Rooms 5X40-5X47 and 5X70-5X75, which face parking lots.

Good Rooms in Ranchos Building 6A

Next come the Ranchos, set back from the lake. The desert theme translates to lots of cactus and gravel, not much water or shade, and almost no good views. The Ranchos are a hike from everything but the main swimming area. Rooms 6X00–6X04 afford the best views.

A quick note on room numbers: The rooms are listed as 6X21, where you can insert the floor number for X. Because building 6 is split into A and B however, building A contains floors 1, 2, and 3 while building B’s floors are listed as 5, 6, and 7. It is unclear why on Earth they didn’t just add extra building numbers.

Bad views in Building 6A include:

• Rooms 6X30-6X37, 6X50-6X57, and 6X60-6X63, which face a parking lot.
• Rooms 6X10, 6X20, 6X37, 6X40, 6X47, and 6X60, which face hallways or walls.

Good Rooms in Ranchos Building 6B

Building 6B is a very unremarkable building, although that may not be a bad thing. It contains no official “water view” rooms, although rooms 6X72 and 6X73 have views of the quiet pool. Building 6B also contains no parking lot views, with most of the views either of woods or desert landscaping. If you prefer the woods pick rooms on the South side, numbers 6X00-6X03, 6X30-6X36, and 6X50-6X63. If you would rather the desert choose rooms 6X10-6X13, 6X20-6X27, or 6X40-6X47.

A quick note on room numbers: The rooms are listed as 6X21, where you can insert the floor number for X. Because building 6 is split into A and B however, building A contains floors 1, 2, and 3 while building B’s floors are listed as 5, 6, and 7. It is unclear why on Earth they didn’t just add extra building numbers.

Bad views in Building 6B include:

• Rooms 6X37, which face a stairwell.

Good Rooms in Ranchos 7A

This building is as far away as you can get from El Centro and still be at Coronado Springs. On the bright side, it is close to the Ranchos quiet pool as well as the bus stop.

A quick note on room numbers: The rooms are listed as 7X21, where you can insert the floor number for X. Because building 7 is split into A and B however, building A contains floors 1, 2, and 3 while building B’s floors are listed as 5, 6, and 7. It is unclear why on Earth they didn’t just add extra building numbers.

Bad views in Building 7A include:

• Rooms 7X10-7X17, 7X60-7X73, and 7X90-7X93, which face a parking lot.
• Rooms 7X70, 7X84, and 7X93, which face hallways or walls.

Good Rooms in Ranchos 7B

Although far from El Centro, building 7B is not a bad spot if you like to swim. The building wraps around the Ranchos quiet pool and is reasonably close to the Dig Site and its massive themed pool. There are several water view rooms in this building, but they are all of the quiet pool and several of them are heavily obstructed by trees and plants. Most of the non-water view rooms face a parking lot, although the rooms facing away from the pool in the South wing face nice greenery, specifically rooms 7X90-7X92 and 7X94-7X97.

A quick note on room numbers: The rooms are listed as 7X21, where you can insert the floor number for X. Because building 7 is split into A and B however, building A contains floors 1, 2, and 3 while building B’s floors are listed as 5, 6, and 7. It is unclear why on Earth they didn’t just add extra building numbers.

Bad views in Building 7B include:

• Rooms 7X10-7X16, 7X60-7X69, and 7X71-7X73, which face a parking lot.
• Rooms 7X17, 7X20, 7X45, 7X50, 7X59, 7X70, 7X84, and 7X93, which face hallways or walls.

Good Rooms in Cabanas Building 8A

This building, along with building 8B, are good choices of location if you are going to be taking the bus to the parks, want to use the main pool, and don’t want to pay Preferred room prices. They are reasonably close to the bus stop, fairly close to the Dig Site, and, while still a few minute away, not as far from El Centro as the Ranchos buildings. The Cabanas buildings are only two stories tall and while building 8A faces the water, the first floor rooms are often obstructed views. The second floor water view rooms have some of the nicest views at Coronado Springs, specifically rooms 8224-8226, 8228-8231, 8241-8243, and 8245-8247. If you really want a bargain, rooms 8220-8222 have lovely views of the lagoon, but are not technically considered “water view” for some reason.

A quick note on room numbers: The rooms are listed as 8X21, where you can insert the floor number for X. Because building 8 is split into A and B however, building A contains floors 1 and 2 while building B’s floors are listed as 5 and 6. It is unclear why on Earth they didn’t just add extra building numbers.

Bad views in Building 8A include:

• Rooms 8X04, 8X08, 8X23, 8X27, 8X44, and 8X53, which face hallways.

Good Rooms in Cabanas Building 8B

Much like building 8A above, 8B is close to the bus stop although 8A is a little closer to the pool and 8B is a little closer to El Centro. About half of the rooms in building 8B are water view and the other half look at a parking lot. There are several good water view rooms, namely the second floor rooms 8650-8653.

A quick note on room numbers: The rooms are listed as 8X21, where you can insert the floor number for X. Because building 8 is split into A and B however, building A contains floors 1 and 2 while building B’s floors are listed as 5 and 6. It is unclear why on Earth they didn’t just add extra building numbers.

Bad views in Building 8B include:

• Rooms 8X04, 8X60, and 8X70, which face hallways.
• Rooms 8X20-8X318X80-8X83, which face parking lots.

Reader Comments

Reader opinions concerning Coronado Springs are split. A family from Cumming, Georgia, was disappointed:

The convention center really interferes with a family vacation—everyone we met there was working and wanted to talk about work while we were trying to get away from work!

A Chester, Virginia, mother had a very different experience:

Coronado Springs was absolutely fabulous. The staff was friendly, the kids loved the pool, and we all loved Pepper Market. It was nice and quiet at night. There were many convention guests, but they did not interfere with our trip.

For a family from Kansas City, Kansas, Coronado Springs was their first accommodations in a Disney Moderate resort:

This was the first time we stayed at Coronado Springs. On our previous three trips, we stayed at Pop Century, and I was curious if the Moderate resorts were worth the extra money. At first, the size of the resort was daunting, and having the main building so far away from the rooms was a challenge at first. But we quickly settled into a routine and figured out the bus routes—for some of the buses, the main building was the last stop, and for other routes, the first. Maybe it was our bad luck, but finding the internal shuttle was like spotting a unicorn! The bus service was really the only major drawback. The room at Coronado was more spacious and came with a ceiling fan. The door separating the living area from the bath vanity was very useful because I was able to get ready in the morning without waking the kids. The kids really enjoyed the pool area, and I thought it was better themed than Pop Century. The size of the resort meant that we had more walking to and from the pool and main areas, but that also meant it felt less crowded. Overall, I thought the resort was worth the price difference.

A family from Indianapolis liked the swimming pools:

The pool at Coronado Springs was excellent—the kids loved the slide! Also utilized smaller pool close to our room—was good for kids to relax before bedtime.

Finally, a Canvey Island, England, reader was fair and balanced:

We stayed at Coronado Springs and were very satisfied overall. The Pepper Market food court was overly complicated (stamping tickets to pay at the end, multiple tickets per party), but the quality was good. The Maya Grill was a disappointment, overpriced for the quality of the food. The walk around the lake on a nice day is a delight.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths	Weaknesses
Most sophisticated room decor of the Moderate resorts	Conventioneers may be off-putting to vacationing families
Setting is beautiful at night	Some rooms are a long distance from check-in, lobby, and restaurants
Themed swimming area with waterslides	Multiple bus stops
Large feature pool
On-site business center
Best public Wi-Fi at any Disney resort
Gran Destino club-level rooms are best value in WDW

Disney's Coronado Springs Resort Dining

• Barcelona Lounge (Bar or Lounge)
• Cafe Rix (Quick Service)
• Coronado Springs Private Dining (Table Service)
• Dahlia Lounge (Bar or Lounge)
• Laguna Dock Bar (Bar or Lounge)
• Maya Grill (Table Service)
• El Mercado de Coronado (Quick Service)
• Panchito's Gifts & Sundries (Market)
• Rix Sports Bar & Grill (Table Service)
• Siestas Cantina (Bar or Lounge)
• Three Bridges Bar and Grill at Villa del Lago (Table Service)
• Toledo - Tapas, Steak & Seafood (Table Service)

Commuting Times to the Parks

Park	Bus	Personal Automobile
Magic Kingdom	27.0 min	37.0 min
EPCOT	26.0 min	18.0 min
Hollywood Studios	24.0 min	16.0 min
Animal Kingdom	23.0 min	11.0 min
Disney Springs	27.0 min	13.0 min