Where to Stay - The Easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit 2015 - page 63

The resort itself is massive, and some buildings in the Ranchos in particular are quite dis-
tant from El Centro.
Coronado Springs is the only moderate with convention facilities. This has led to much
fussing, largely unfair. The same number of rooms occupied by conventioneers rather than
families means fewer people in total at the resort (because conventioneers average fewer
people per room) and fewer people at the bus stops and pools (as the fewer conventioneers
are in meetings, not going to the parks or the pools). Most of the time, except breakfast,
there's also fewer people in CS's public dining spaces, as most meetings have meals served
as part of the meeting program. However, when a thousand people leave a meeting at once,
and all want to go someplace, things clot up quickly.
On the other hand, because of the demands of the business travelers at the convention
center, Coronado Springs has a much higher level of services and amenities than at the
other moderates. There are the usual nightly movies, campfires, bike rental, fishing, play-
grounds, and arcade. In addition, uniquely at CS among the moderates, you'll find a health
club, spa services, real room service, a main pool menu with real food, the largest hot tub
at Disney World, multiple bars, and a business center. The effect of these extra services is
to make Coronado Springs quite attractive to adults. Kids like the beach-themed Cabanas,
the Dig Site area and main pool, and, if they aren't familiar with the geography, the exotic
Southwest theming.
Standard rooms at CS hold four people on two queen beds in about 314 square feet.
They are similarly sized to those at the other traditional moderates, but have no Disney
theming—and are in fact the most stark rooms among the moderates. In a concession to
convention travelers, they come with a desk rather than the table and two chairs you'll find
in the other traditional moderates. Most other room amenities are similar—a dresser/TV/
mini-fridge combo, coffee-maker, and hair dryer. The bath is divided and family friendly,
but also designed so a conventioneer can use both parts at once. As a result, it has one sink
rather than two, and sliding wooden doors separating it from the sleeping area, rather than
the fabric curtains you'll find in the other traditional moderates except the refurbed rooms
in Caribbean Beach. All buildings have elevators, and no rooms have balconies. All rooms
are accessed from exterior corridors.
Dining is at El Centro, and, unless you are on the dining plan, is more expensive than at
the other moderates. The food court, Pepper Market, used to be the best food court among
the Disney World hotels, but while still good has gotten less interesting recently. The table
service restaurant, Maya Grill, has a menu suited to the Southwest theming of the resort,
but is overpriced. The indoor bar, Rix Lounge, is the closest thing to a club you'll find in a
Disney-owned hotel; there's an additional outdoor lakeside bar, and yet another bar by the
pool. There are no character meals.
The extra amenities at CS come, some times of the year, at a cost of $3-6/night more
than the other traditional moderates. You can pay more for preferred locations that are a
closer walk to El Centro, for king beds, for suites, and for water views. Standard view,
non-preferred rooms are $204/night on weekdays and $226/night on Fridays and Saturdays
during the 2015 Fall season. 2015 peak prices for these rooms are $290, and prices bottom
out at $188/night.