Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort is a moderate hotel at Walt Disney World Resort. With an on-site convention center, the hotel is geared toward business-types, but it has the essential Disney touches as well. Read on to learn about our experiences at this Disney World moderate resort!
Coronado Springs Basics
Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort is a moderate resort at Walt Disney World, which means it should fall between the value resorts and deluxe resorts in price and quality. If you’re considering this hotel, you may want to read some of our other posts. We have a ranking of the best Disney World moderate resorts. We also have a guide to all the hotels of Walt Disney World. And here are our reviews of all the moderate resorts (links open in new tabs):
Review of Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort (you are here)
The Cabins at Fort Wilderness fall into a similar price category, but aren’t technically considered moderate hotels. And if you’d like to see where this resort falls overall, check out our complete Disney World hotel rankings.
Rack rates for standard rooms at Coronado Springs in 2024 range from $260 to $470 per night. Staying at Coronado Springs, you get the perks of any Disney stay. You’ll have access to free transportation (by bus, as discussed below) to and from the parks and Disney Springs. You’ll also have access to Early Theme Park Entry and the ability to book your individual Lightning Lanes at 7AM (as opposed to when the parks open).
Coronado Springs is also home to a convention center, which makes it unique among the moderate resorts. Catering to business types, the resort is maybe a little more understated in its theming, which is Spanish Colonial Mexico.
Gran Destino Tower at Coronado Springs
At Coronado Springs is the Gran Destino Tower. The Tower is not its own hotel, rather it is a set of rooms at Coronado Springs. The Tower also houses the hotel’s lobby as well as a few bars and restaurants. We have a separate review of the Gran Destino Tower. When staying at Coronado, we prefer to stay in Gran Destino Tower. (You may also want to read about Chronos Club Level at Gran Destino.)
Booking Coronado Springs
For a last stay outside the Tower, there was an Annual Passholder offer, which brought the rate of our room down from $259 nightly to $172—about 34% off. This isn’t the best price we’ve seen for Coronado Springs, but it’s a good price.
Arrival and Check-In
Disney has ended their Magical Express shuttle service, so you’ll have to find your own way from Orlando International Airport if you’re flying in. Check-in for all guests is completed at the Gran Destino Tower, and you can find the details of our last check-in there over at our Gran Destino Review.
Generally, we still recommend checking in via the My Disney Experience app when you can. If your room isn’t ready when you arrive, you can swing by the desk to ask if anything is available.
Since many guests of Coronado are in town mainly for conferences, it’s helpful to know that the front desk can also help you acquire park tickets. You’ll particularly want to use this option if your conference has access to any discounted park tickets.
Grounds and Theming at Coronado Springs
Coronado Springs can be broken down into seven sections. Gran Destino Tower is the new centerpiece of the resort, and it is where you’ll find the main lobby and several restaurants.
El Centro was the main area of the resort prior to the Tower opening. It contains restaurants and the resort gift shop. The Convention Center is attached to El Centro.
Casitas, Ranchos, and Cabanas are the room sections. Each has three to five buildings of rooms, a laundry room, and a small pool. With El Centro, these are located around the Lago Dorado lake and comprise a loop of just under one mile.
The Dig Site is the main recreation area of the resort hotel. It comprises a pool, playground, the Iguana Arcade, and volleyball court. The Dig Site is about a five minute walk from El Centro. We cover The Dig Site more below.
Coronado Springs is themed to Colonial Mexico. It has more understated theming than the other Disney resorts. This might be appealing to some, but if you’re comparing to the other Disney resorts, particularly the values or the better deluxe hotels, don’t be surprising to feel like the theming is pulled back.
Rooms at Coronado Springs
We have a separate review of the Gran Destino Tower, and it is definitely our preferred room type at Coronado Springs. That is mostly a location issue, though, as all the rooms at the hotel are some of our favorite at Walt Disney World. These rooms were remodeled in 2019 and are great.
The pics and video below are of a standard room in the Cabanas section of the resort. This is a corner room, so it might not exactly reflect the most common room type at the hotel.
I’m a huge fan of the rooms at Coronado Springs. Yes—the theming is very light. But unlike the rooms at other moderate hotels (which also tend to have light theming), these rooms are highly functional.
We’re fans of the hardwood floors, which are more sanitary than carpet and easier to clean. You’ll notice there’s also space under the beds for luggage.
The vanity area was the largest we’ve had recently. It had significantly more counter space than the one we had at Yacht Club, a deluxe resort, recently.
Like the new rooms at Pop Century and All Star Movies, the Coronado Springs rooms make good use of their space. This is most notable in their use of the dresser space under the TV.
Instead of just having a dresser there, the counter sits over a dresser and open space for a chair, creating desk space.
Outlets and USB ports abound, and the beds have reading lights. Outlets in hotel rooms were relatively meaningless two decades ago, but now are incredibly important, particularly at Disney World.
This is just because everyone has a smartphone these days. It’s because Disney so encourages use of your smartphone. You’ll be taking photos and maybe booking Genie+ reservations all day long, so when you get home you need to charge your phone.
Combine this with the fact that your phone will probably serve as your alarm to get up bright and early and start your day at the parks (or your conference at Coronado), it’s important to have outlets readily accessible from your bed.
For their price, these are some of the best rooms on property. They’re easily a step up on the other moderate rooms; they’re larger than the refurbished value rooms; and they are more reasonably priced than the deluxe rooms.
The Dig Site, Pools, and Recreation at Coronado Springs
The main recreation area at the hotel is called “The Dig Site” or, alternatively, “The Lost City of Cibola,” named after the mythical cities of gold sought by Coronado.
The Dig Site is located over by the Cabanas and Ranchos buildings, about a five-minute walk from El Centro. This means guests in Casitas get the benefit of being close to El Centro, but are farthest from The Dig Site.
The main pool, the Lost City of Cibola Pool is overshadowed by an impressive Mesoamerican pyramid structure.
The pool and pyramid also house a water slide (not pictured here). There’s also a kids’ play area pool, though its a little simpler than some of the other resorts’ offerings.
Siestas Cantina, a bar and counter service spot, offers refreshments at The Dig Site.
The arcade, spa (hot tub), volleyball court, and playground are also at The Dig Site.
Cabanas, Ranchos, and Casitas also have their own secondary pools. There’s nothing noteworthy about these, and they’re useful only if you want to avoid crowds or just be completely alone.
Coronado Springs maintains an active recreation schedule, including campfires and Movies Under the Stars. Here’s an August 2019 activity schedule (two pages):
You’ll notice that the resort has a Fitness Center. While the spa and salon services cost money, the fitness center is complimentary to resort guests and accessible via Magic Band.
Location and Transportation at Coronado Springs
The hotel is categorized as being located in the “Animal Kingdom Resorts Area.” It’s nestled between Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Blizzard Beach.
Guests who bring a car to Disney World will have the easiest time getting around with Coronado as their hotel. Each of the sections of the hotel has parking, so you’ll only be a few steps from your room. Parking is free, and parking at the theme parks is included. Keep in mind if you drive to Magic Kingdom, you’ll be parking a Transportation and Ticket Center.
Otherwise, from Coronado Springs you have to take the bus to all four theme parks, Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, and Disney Springs. Magic Kingdom is the farthest, about a 15 minute trip.
Coronado Springs, like the other moderate resorts, except Port Orleans — French Quarter sometimes, utilizes multiple bus stops. This is theoretically great because it means you don’t have to walk all the way to the main building for your bus.
Practically, it’s a disaster, because your bus trips can take an extra 10-20 minutes pretty easily. As always, we’re keen to suggest you consider Uber for getting around Walt Disney World. Pickup and dropoff for Uber will typically be at Gran Destino, but Lyft and Minnie Vans may be able to come to your specific room block.
For a business hotel, this isn’t such a huge problem, but for families who stay here (with or without business people), transportation continues to be a problem at the moderate resorts.
Food and Drink at Coronado Springs
Between the tower and the regular hotel, Coronado Springs has a wealth of dining options. Coronado Springs has a total of four table service restaurants, two quick service restaurants, one snack shop, three dedicated bars (along with a few at the restaurants), and in-room dining.
Table Service at Coronado Springs
Outside Gran Destino, Coronado Springs has three table service restaurants—Three Bridges Bar and Grill, Maya Grill, and Ricks Sports Bar and Grill. A fourth, Toledo, at Gran Destino, is briefly discussed in our tower review.
Three Bridges Bar and Grill
Three Bridges Bar and Grill is located on the lake at the center of the resort and accessible via—you guessed it—three bridges. Read a review of Three Bridges over at Disney Tourist Blog.
Maya Grill
We haven’t eaten at Maya Grill. It’s a table service restaurant requiring one table service credit if you’re on a Disney dining plan. WDW Vacation Tips has a review.
Rix Sports Bar and Grill
Rix Sports Bar and Grill is a standard sports bar, but with a very limited menu.
Our time at Rix was the low-light of our time at Coronado Springs, as the staff struggled for 45 minutes to work the TVs. It was an NFL Sunday, and several TVs were showing college basketball, college football highlights, and soccer. At one point, despite multiple requests from multiple tables for (American) football, they only managed to get the three TVs in front of us to show soccer.
Quick Service at Coronado Springs
Coronado Springs has two quick service restaurants—El Mercado de Coronado and Siestas Cantina.
El Mercado De Coronado
El Mercado de Coronado is the food court-style option, serving things like bowls, burgers, and pizzas. It is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This was one of the more disappointing food court options at the moderate resorts, but it’s not super surprising.
The resort hotel is Mexican-themed, and middling Mexican food is available throughout Walt Disney World regardless. Contrast this with a place like Port Orleans, which offers New Orleans style food not available anywhere else. Regardless, we found the selection to be more limited than we like.
Siestas Cantina
Siestas Cantina is a quick-service enhanced pool bar at Coronado Springs. It’s located over at The Dig Site, making it a good option for guests in the Ranchos buildings. It serves a very limited menu, sort of designed to have one item in every category—one burger, one fish, one chicken, one salad, etc.
Bars and Snacks at Coronado Springs
Two bars, Barcelona Lounge and Dahlia Lounge are at Gran Destino Tower and are discussed in that review. One of the factors that makes the tower our recommended moderate hotel for adults visiting Disney World is the range of dining and drinking options in the area. (We don’t count this as a Disney World bar crawl, but you could easily take an evening visiting the bars of Coronado Springs for a great time.)
Cafe Rix is listed as a quick service option on the latest listing of Disney restaurants, but it’s only a snack stop now, serving pastries, cereals, candies, and coffee.
There are bars at Siestas Cantina, Rix Sports Bar and Grill, and Three Bridges Bar & Grill, which we previously discussed. In addition, Laguna Bar is a bar just outside the main lobby. Besides offering a decent view of the resort, it’s just another watering hole.
Shopping at Coronado Springs
Coronado Springs’ store is “Panchitos.” Besides standard hotel essentials and Disney merchandise, Panchitos has a small selection of Coronado Springs gear and Mexican-inspired items.
Coronado Springs — Conclusions
Almost all of our love for Coronado Springs comes down to two factors. First, the rooms are wonderful. Second, Gran Destino Tower is wonderful. Outside that, it’s a mixed bag.
That’s definitely not to suggest we think you have to book at Gran Destino. Indeed, rooms in the Cabanas section of the resort are perfectly positioned between the Dig Site Pool area and Gran Destino Tower.
While we think the standard rooms in Gran Destino are probably slightly better (we’ve only personally stayed in a suite) than the other Coronado Rooms, all the Coronado rooms are good.
And then there’s transportation. Coronado Springs, along with Port Orleans Riverside, is a real laggard in this area. It utilizes multiple bus stops (unlike French Quarter) and it doesn’t have the Skyliner (unlike Caribbean Beach). A car or an Uber/Lyft/Minnie Van budget can help with this problem.
We struggle a little bit to get past the convention vibe. If you’re looking for something that feels Disney, we just don’t think Coronado is it (like all the resorts, I’m sure it has hardcore fans who disagree).
Rather, the resort feels like what it is—a convention hotel in Disney clothing. This might make it good for adults visiting Disney World, but is it great for families? Tough to say.
All Disney hotels are good for families. And the Dig Site pool area is a favorite for many kids. But if you want something that screams Disney characters you’ll need to drop down to a value resort. If you’re in the moderate / deluxe bracket, you’re “free” from the giant plastic figurines.
While I’d like to see Coronado find a way to bring a little more Disney feel into the resort (a character meal would be excellent), the truth is that even with the convention feel it isn’t too far behind the other resorts, and the fun pool area and great rooms make it a hotel worth considering.
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