Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort is a moderate hotel at Walt Disney World Resort. With an on-site convention center, the hotel is geared slightly toward business guests, 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 generally falls 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 2025 start at $260 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 purchase and book Lightning Lanes 7 days in advance of your trip, rather than 3 days in advance of your visit date.
Coronado Springs is also home to a convention center, which makes it unique among the moderate resorts. Catering to business guests, the resort is maybe a little more understated in its theming, which is Spanish Colonial Mexico. Or, at least, it lacks some of the classic Disney zest you’ll find at other resorts.
Gran Destino Tower at Coronado Springs
The centerpiece of 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. That said, this review focuses on the rest of the resort, including the non-Tower rooms, which we also enjoy.
Booking Coronado Springs
For a last stay outside the Tower, there was an Annual Passholder offer advertised, but the rate shown was $418.50 per night, the same as the rack rate. We booked through our go-to travel advisor, Lauren Quirk of Travel With Character LLC.
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, regardless of room location, is completed at the Gran Destino Tower.
We 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 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 contains 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 a “unique blend of Spanish, Mexican and Southwest American cultures.” Outside the Tower, I feel like the theming is more understated than most of the other Disney resorts. Within the Tower, the vibe is certainly more distinct, but, in the eyes of some, lacks a certain “Disney” feel.
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 surprised to feel like the theming doesn’t quite hit you like at some other resorts.
Village (Non-Tower) Rooms at Coronado Springs
We have a separate review of the Gran Destino Tower, which has 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. The “Village” (non-Tower) rooms were last updated in 2019. They were among the first to get the most modern detailing that is finally resort-wide as of 2025.
Here’s a look…
I’ve been a fan of these rooms since the debuted. Now that you can get this quality or close to it at almost every other resort at Disney World, I’m more at a loss for commentary. Overall, we’re fans of the hardwood floors, which are more sanitary than carpet and easier to clean. Storage space is nice, with plenty of space under the beds and plenty of surface space under the tv.
I wrote this when the rooms originally debuted:
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.
Somewhat ironically, these USB ports are now outdated because USB-C is becoming standard. It’s a subtle but significant way these “new” rooms are already out of date. (We also just stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter, and you’ll notice the USB-C ports there.) As someone who has “update travel electronics” on his to-do list for this week, it’s good to be reminded that even as we shift to USB-C, we’ll still want to have an old school USB-A cord with us on occasion.
I showered after my daily runs and had no notes on the shower (which is a good thing, though I’m no shower aficionado).
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.
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. I ran in it one morning, it was fine.
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, 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 more problematic, 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.
I’m sure there’s some official rules about which order the buses make their stops in, but I’d never count on that when it comes to requesting a room location or booking the Tower (I’ve had the order change even within a single trip). The better approach is, once you’re at the hotel, to use the app to check bus arrival times. While this feature remains imperfect, it lists all the stops at the resort and estimated times, allowing you to infer the order a given bus is going to make the stops.
For a business hotel, transportation issues to/from the parks aren’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 Mexican (“Mexican”, really) food is available throughout Walt Disney World regardless. Contrast this with a place like Port Orleans, which (at least sometimes) 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
With the other resorts having caught up to Coronado when it comes to room quality, the big advantage the hotel maintains is that Gran Destino Tower is wonderful. 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 located between the Dig Site Pool area and Gran Destino Tower.
But if I’m comparing Coronado to the other moderate resorts, I’d say Coronado is perfect for people who (1) will stay in the Tower and (2) will appreciate the Tower’s vibes. If you’re looking at the rest of the resort, I think you’ll still have a good stay, you’re just not getting much of an advantage over, say, Caribbean Beach (FWIW the Coronado rooms are still better than the majority of the Caribbean rooms, but it’s a small difference.)
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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