Resort Preference: Coronado Springs

Located in the Walt Disney World Resort, Coronado Springs is really a vacation destination in itself! The main lobby is a beautiful sight in itself- there is a fountain the middle of the lobby with a breathtaking vaulted ceiling. There are numerous desks staffed with friendly castmembers, and we did not have to wait to check in, even though the lobby seemed full. Connected to the main lobby is a very large convention center (95,000 square feet!) that can be divided into 45 different rooms. Also located in this building is a business center, which was a wonderful touch to the hotel.

We saw conferences coming and going during our stay, but they were never a distraction during our vacation. In fact, since most of the conferences were in session during the days, we enjoyed having the pools almost to ourselves! We did notice a bit more of a "party" atmosphere in the evenings just outside of the main lobby at the outdoor bar, but besides a little extra noise, there was no real issues.

Since Coronado Springs is used most often for conventions, it is one of the largest resorts on property, containing 1,967 rooms. The rooms are all set around a 15 acre central lake, named the Lago Dorado, which features a marina where you can rent boats, bikes and surreys. The guests rooms are located in separate buildings that are divided into three very distinct "cities."

Located to the left of El Centro (the main lobby) are the Casitas, which means "little houses." The buildings open up to beautiful courtyards containing pristine landscaping, fountains and other water features, statues and benches to just sit and enjoy your surroundings. The colors on the buildings here are very inviting; bright and warm. Since the Casitas are located closest to the main convention center, most of the rooms are used for attendees. Also located in the Casitas are a full-service salon, and a fitness center.

To the right side of El Centro is the Cabanas buildings, themed with more of a "beachy" atmosphere. Here you will find 2 story buildings that have more of a bungalow type of look. This theme is carried out in the cozy hammocks situated over the white sand close to the water of Lago Dorado. The Cabanas buildings have considerably less rooms than the 1,024 rooms of the Casitas, coming in at only 319.

The last section of guest rooms is located across the lake from El Centro, and is called the Ranchos section. This is the section that we stayed in, and we loved how quiet the Ranchos buildings were; we were away from the hustle and bustle, and felt very secluded from everyone else, which was welcomed while on vacation. We had a rental car during our stay, and we were thankful for that once we saw the location of our room; we stayed in building 7A, which is located at the farthest point from El Centro. While the walk was not bad for my husband or I to get to the main lobby, it was about three-quarters of a mile, which was a lot for my 4 year old son to handle after a long day at the parks. The parking lots surround the entire resort, and we never had a problem getting a parking space very close to our building.

There are bus stops located at various locations around the resort for easy accessibility. The buses were awesome!!! We rarely had to wait more than 5 minutes for a bus and often it was mostly empty - I think that's because there was a convention going on and most of the guests were attending that rather than visit the theme parks. We stayed in the Cabanas, building *a, and it was 50 yards from the bus stop and 50 yards from the pool.

Some of the extras that Coronado Springs has to offer include the pools and play areas for the kids. The pool is called "The Dig Site," and features a huge Mayan temple that spills water down into the main pool. We were there for opening one morning, before the water was turned on for the day. The lifeguards called all the kids over to the temple to chant to the "water gods" to turn on the water- great fun for the kids, and fun for us parents to watch the ceremony. There is a large water slide going into the pool, plenty of chairs and and chaise lounges to relax on, and a kiddie wading pool for the younger ones.

There were always 3 lifeguards on duty during the pool's official hours, which were 10:00 am to 8:00 pm during our stay. Guests could swim at the pool after hours, but there were no lifeguards on duty; we took advantage of this one night, and I must say this pool is fabulous during the day, and even more spectacular at night under all the lights! One of the lifeguards pointed out to us that we could go over to the marina and rent a life jacket for our son free of charge to use at the pool, which was nice. The Dig Site also has a snack bar, an arcade, and a huge hot tub big enough for 20 people! There is also a play area for the kids to climb on, swing, dig, and well, just be kids. The pool is located next to the lake, and is within easy access to all three sections of guest rooms.

If a guest is looking for a more laid-back swim, each of the three villages at the resort has their own quiet pools. There are no lifeguards at these pools, and there are no towels available at the quiet pools like there are at the Dig Site; (we brought the towels from our room, and had mousekeeping replace them for us.) There are, however, restrooms located adjacent to the pools, and plenty of chairs and chaise lounges for guests. We found these pools to be a nice change of pace during our stay- they were almost always empty when we visited them, and it was a nice relaxing atmosphere to escape the noise and crowds at the Disney parks.

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Feel free to leave your lists of Pros/Cons below and let me know what you think!