Disney's Coronado Springs Resort Review

Disney's Coronado Springs Resort is a Southwestern US/ Mexican themed resort near Animal Kingdom that opened in August of 1997.  This resort is huge!  There are 1,921 rooms located around a 22 acre lake, Lago Dorado. There are three types of rooms located in three villages: Casitas, Ranchos and Cabanas.   Coronado Springs features a 95,000-square-foot convention center that includes a 60,214 square-foot ballroom, as well as a full-service business center.

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The average guest room is approximately 314 square feet. There are 224 rooms with king-size beds and 99 wheelchair-accessible rooms.  The remaining rooms feature 2 double beds.  While the standard rooms are smaller than the deluxe hotels at Disney, these rooms are still suitable for four guests.  The rooms include a coffee maker, refrigerator, hair dryer, iron, ironing board, small wall safe and WiFi.  The bathroom area has only one sink in the vanity area- which is different from the other moderate resorts.  Each room comes equipped with a flat screen TV, armoire, small table with 2 chairs, a nightstand, and a ceiling fan.  For families with small children, cribs and bed rails are available upon request.

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There are so many things to do at Coronado Springs!  The Dig Site is where you will find the main pool of this resort.  The pool surrounds a Mayan Pyramid and has a 123 foot waterslide!  There are additional pools at each guest room area.  There is also an arcade and playground at the Dig Site.  Guests can also rent boats and bikes at the resort.  Two hour fishing excursions are offered on Lago Dorado.  Call 407-WDW-BASS to schedule.  Those guests who want to work out during vacation can hit the Heath Club fitness center.  There is also a full service salon for haircuts, manicures, facials and more!  Panchito's Gifts and Sundries is the best place to find Coronado Springs themed gifts along with many other Disney goodies. 

There are three restaurants at this resort: Cafe Rix which is a quick service eatery, Maya Grill which is a table service restaurant for breakfast and dinner and the Pepper Market, a nontraditional food court.  In addition to the restaurants, guests can have access to room service for breakfast and dinner.  Guests can also grab drinks at the lagoon side lounge, Laguna Bar, the Rix Lounge which also serves appetizers or Siestas, the pool side bar.  

I have stayed at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort three times: January 2003, November 2006 and December 2010.  The first time was for the WDW Marathon and the race expo was held at the convention center.  The last two times I was attending a youth ministry conference at the convention center.  You can see in the map below where I stayed each trip.  

While I enjoyed all three rooms, I definitely liked the ones closest to the main lobby, food court and gift shop.  The walk from the back of the resort to the food court got old and I didn't like waiting on a bus to take me to the front of the resort.  We loved all the extra things to do at the resort and the Pepper Market is one of my favorite food courts on property!  

This resort is quite large and if there is a big convention going on, it will be busy.  There will be men and women in business attire pulling briefcases behind them.  Sometimes I felt like I was in the way with my children and stroller!  These business guests are definitely not always there to experience Disney magic.

Have you ever stayed at Coronado Springs?  What are your thoughts?

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