Whenever I call Disney World to book our hotel reservations, I always ask what the cheapest rate I can get with the military discount. There are only select resorts with the military discount rooms, so I'm happy to take any one of those.
Normally it's Port Orleans French Quarter or Riverside, which I've come to love. But this time I was told those military rooms were gone, so I'd have to stay at Coronado Springs.
I didn't mind. A deal is a deal, you know? Some people told me I would regret it because of all the construction. And yeah, it was a bummer to know the pool, know as the Dig Site, would also be closed for refurbishments, because it's a pretty cool pool with a Mayan pyramid.
However.
The resort truly is gorgeous. Yes, you see the construction. But we never heard it in our area. We stayed at Ranchos 6A.
We were right by the bus stop, which is stop 3.
At the moment, the bus stops the following way: stop 2, 3, 4, and 1 or Casitas, Ranchos, Cabanas, and El Centro, which is the main area of the resort.
And yes, that's beautiful too.
Behold.
When we first arrived, my daughter was like, "Can we go shopping?"
Naturally.
You can go down the hall and it'll lead you to the food court. It used to be called Pepper Market, but now I believe it's called El Mercado. I admit, we never ate there, we just stopped by to check it out.
You can also make reservations at the Maya Grill, or eat at Cafe Rix and Rix Sports Bar & Grill. There's also room service! But again, we never ate there, so I can't speak about the food or service. We always ate at the parks.
The walk to our room wasn't horrible. It took about 10 minutes and I was able to capture some pretty shots along the way.
Our room was comfortable. I don't know why my son was making that face. I mean, he got the bed to himself. I had to share one with his sister, who kicks in her sleep. The beds are two queens, and they were nice to sleep in.
There's also reading lights! Or if you want to pretend your stuffed animal is on stage and the the light is actually a spotlight, it works well for that too. My daughter did this. "Presenting Sylvester the Cat!"
While the construction is going on, you get free pins:
Want to know Natalie's favorite part? The sliding doors that lead to the bathroom.
"Can I get these doors in front of my bedroom at home?" she asked.
"No," I answered.
The bathroom was a nice size. Sorry about all our stuff. I remember I need to take pictures of the room after I unpack.
You get these:
I was grateful for the cooling aloe gel since I got a sunburn on my shoulders the first day. It helped a lot!
Some people aren't liking that the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash are attached to the wall now, but it didn't bother us:
You get TWO shower heads, which we loved. And yes, the water stays hot! I hate staying in hotels where the water is lukewarm. Or stays warm for like a minute and then goes cold.
There's also an option to have a bath if you have small kids. I remember those days.
My daughter was a fan of this mirror when she put on makeup. I didn't bother.
There's a cozy chair but honestly, it ended up being a spot to hold our clothes.
I liked how you could put your suitcase under the bed if you wanted. I didn't. We live our or suitcases when we travel, but I know there are some people who actually unpack and put their things away. Yes, there are drawers and a closet in the room. Plus a mini fridge.
PLUS, there plenty of plugs and USB areas. I hate going to a hotel room and finding only one, but they are all over the room.
There's also a Keurig in the room with pods:
If the construction bothers you, it's set to be finished in Spring 2019. The pool re-opens in December.
This is what the a building will look like:
And there will be a new restaurant:
So did I find anything wrong? Well, one thing, yes. We had to catch the Magical Express at 615 AM. This meant we had to walk in the dark to El Centro. As I mentioned before, this takes about 10 minutes from where our room was. We are NOT morning people, so this was a struggle. We could have asked bell services and perhaps they would have sent a golf cart to take us to the front, but it wasn't guaranteed and maybe it would have cost extra. I think for for people not close to El Centro the service should automatically be provided until at least 8 AM because that was a trek with heavy luggage.
Also, if I had small kids, I don't know how that would have worked.
Would we stay again?
Yes. It was a spectacular resort. The cast members were all polite and the buses never took too long to take us to the parks. (The longest we had to wait was 25 minutes for a bus to Magic Kingdom, but I think it's because the rain was coming down hard. Normally our wait was around 10 minutes and we usually got seats since we were the second stop. The bus stop at El Centro was the busiest it seemed.)
Again, we never heard the construction in our area and actually, I never saw it either. It's only when we'd walk to El Centro that I'd see and hear what was going on around us. So basically, if someone asks if they should stay at Coronado Springs, I'd say yes.
Have you ever stayed at Coronado Springs? Would you?
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