My family and I spent a long weekend at Gran Destino Tower at Coronado Springs Resort. We loved the tower and the resort. This trip was a bit of an experiment. I wanted a weekend getaway where we didn't have to drive, cook, or clean. I didn't want to have to rush anywhere, so this visit was a non-parks visit. We just enjoyed the pool and resort amenities, Disney Springs shopping and dining (I love Jaleo!), and resort hopping/riding all four forms of transportation in one day. This ended up being a lot of fun and very relaxing as it was hot and I'm not sure you could have paid me to take my kids into the parks!
We stayed in a deluxe suite with club access (Chronos Lounge). Room 457 (triangle, parking lot/parks view).
The Great:
The Chronos Lounge was wonderful. The lounge is well appointed and comfortable. There are toys/games and books for kids and adults.
The lounge was busy in the morning, but didn't feel cramped. My family was always able to find seating. It was quiet in the evenings. The staff was lovely. Maria is surely the most gracious, hardest working cast member at Disney. The food was wonderful.
Breakfast offerings included: eggs, oatmeal, bacon, Mickey waffles, assorted breads and baked items, cheese and salmon, and fruit. Ask for a mimosa! The beer and wine selection was excellent and available at various times throughout the day. The evening wine and hors d'oeuvres was lovely and plentiful. Desserts were good (although there was shortage on Mickey tart shells the last couple of nights of our stay so no cute and delicious Mickey tarts). The various offerings in the evening were good (plant-based ceviche was surprisingly delicious). My children were able to find enough that suited their palate.
The coffee machine was not working during most of our stay, which was disappointing. The staff offered to get espresso coffees from the bar downstairs, but we felt bad asking them to do so since they were constantly busy in the morning.
The Deluxe Suite was spacious and well designed. Having a half bath made a huge difference for my family. Each room has it's own temperature control (that is illuminate all night-be prepared if you are sensitive to light when you sleep). The storage is brilliant. My family fully unpacked for our 4-night stay and had plenty of storage available. Note: There was no alarm clock in our room, which felt odd. There were plenty of USB ports. I enjoyed having a mini refrigerator.
The housekeeping was excellent during our stay! Thank you to the amazing staff. I loved the modern feel with the subtle Mickey touches. I definitely felt I was at Disney World, but a newer, fresher Disney World.
Disney internal transportation was excellent. We never waited more than 10 minutes or so for a bus to various parks. We left most days around 10 and returned in the late afternoon. Thus, we never used the bus service during peak times of day.
The Good:
We enjoyed the main pool area, playground, table tennis and arcade. I loved having life vests provided for kids of all ages. We had marshmallows at the fire pit by the pool which was fun. I do wish there were more activities scheduled. There are many great spaces around the resort that could be creatively utilized for activities.
The Bad:
We arrived after midnight on the Magical Express. At check in, there was at least one other family behind us and a large group. The one person at the front desk was very busy finding a manager or someone who could accept a compliment that a guest she had just helped was giving her instead of quickly accepting the compliment and moving on to assist the exhausted group of guests in line. I was not happy.
Our deluxe suite was on the 4th floor facing the parking lot (one morning I had a view of several delivery trucks lined up. I imagine this view costs the same as the water view rooms on the other side of the building since there is a view of fireworks, but being on the 4th floor fireworks were barely visible over the treeline except for the very highest ones. I loved our room, but management should consider charging a different rate for lower floor suites, or not making these club level. Differential pricing would allow all suite guests to feel like they are provided comparable experiences.
Disney Signature Services (DSS) called me and left a message about a week after I booked our reservation. I called DSS (available to club level guests) twice to request a rollaway bed (my children fight when they sleep in the same bed--will they every outgrow this behavior?) , an L-shaped deluxe suite to accommodate a roll away, and bottled water in our room since we would be arriving after the club lounge was closed. None of these requests were fulfilled. I was deeply disappointed, especially about the bottled water. At the very least, placing a few bottles of water in the room would be an easy way to make guests happy. In addition, I was not told that I needed to register for the Magical Express from the airport. I happened to read this on Disboards. DSS should have inquired about my travel plans to ensure that had everything settled. You don't know what you don't know, so asking me if I need anything else wasn't really useful. DSS was able to move a reservation time for me that I could not move myself on the My Disney Experience app.
Recommendation:
If you can afford it, stay club level. I am rather frugal, so I calculate whether a particular service is a value or not. The full breakfast kept us fueled and the evening offerings were plenty for us (we are not big eaters). We ate lunch out at our favorite restaurants for our heavy meal of the day. We truly got great value for the cost.
Pics from the resort are posted after this post.
. Are there elevators in all of the buildings? Mom is going to be using an ECV, what should I request for the closest standard room? Fingers crossed for an answer. Thanks!
