Coronado Springs or Carribbean Beach Resort??

[IamBelle]

I want to try I moderate resort this summer and I really would like opinions about Coranado Springs and Carribbean Beach. Are the rooms very far from the main lobby area? Is there any bus sharing with other resorts? Do you think it is worth staying at either of these resorts, or do you prefer a different moderate resort?
Thanks for the help!!

[Scar]

For me, it's not even close. I will never stay at Caribbean Beach again, yet Coronado Springs is my favorite moderate. Buses do not share at either. Room distance from main area is debateable, some are close, some are a 10 min walk, but you can always take a bus.

[buzznwoodysmom]

I've stayed at both and really liked both, but for my family CBR was a more enjoyable resort, especially in the summer. We enjoyed the pool at CBR much more than the one at CSR.

Both resorts are really spread out, and you will have a nice walk to both the food court and main pool area, unless you book a room in a prefered location.

Neither of these resorts share buses with other resorts, but each resort has multiple stops within the resort. So you could be one of the first to get on, but have to pick up at all the other stops, or be one of the last to be picked up and have standing room only. CBR, I'm pretty sure, has more stops than CSR.

We really love CBR, but I also loved POFQ. It's such a small resort that no matter where your room is located you are a very short distance to anything at the resort. This resort has only one bus stop, and when we were there we never shared with POR. I know that from time to time Riverside and French Quarter share, but that was not our experience. We enjoyed the food court at French Quarter, they had the best shrimp poboys!!! The only thing my kids did not like about FQ was the pool slide. They thought it was "lame". It's a great slide for the younger set, but if your party includes kids looking for a more thrilling waterslide this one won't impress. The good thing is you can use both the pool at FQ and the main pool at Riverside. My kids thought the Riverside pool was great.

Good luck!!!!

[disneymom15]

Of the moderates, we've stayed at CBR and POFQ. Didn't care for CBR and wouldn't stay there again. Really liked POFQ (stayed there twice). Very quaint resort and enjoyed the boat to DTD. POFQ does share buses with POR from time to time.

[Kairi_7378]

We stayed at CSR last year and loved it. It's my favorite moderate resort. We were in the furthest room possible from the main lobby, and for me it was about a 10 minute walk. It's a very enjoyable walk in the morning. We had some wonderful cast member experiences here. Gift shop was large and had a good selection of merchandise. We did not get to eat at the Pepper Market.

[btharvey]

We've stayed at Coronado Springs, Caribbean Beach, Port Orleans French Quarter, and Fort Wilderness (trailer camping), and by far the best resort was the cheapest: Fort Wilderness. If you have the opportunity to stay there, I heartily recommend it.

However, back to the topic, Caribbean Beach left us flat; we'll never return. Coronado Springs is very large, and you either love Pepper Market or hate it. It is very quirky.

Honestly, I'd recommend Port Orleans, either French Quarter (very cozy and though it does share busses sometimes, we never rode on a shared one) or Riverside, which has arguably the best food court of all the moderates (and a great table service restaurant to boot), plus wonderful nightly music entertainment.

Between CB and CSR, CSR. If you're limiting to them.

[Angelgirl65]

I'm a big fan of CSR. My children love the pool and having the playground right there is a plus. CSR has a few extra pluses to like queen beds.

[Melanie]

CSR and CBR are our favorite mods. The PO resorts just don't do anything for us. In regards to size, CSR and CBR are very similar in that they are large. No doubt about it. But the size makes for a beautiful resort. Overall if we had to choose, we choose CSR. It has many deluxe ammenities (since it's a convention hotel) and the pool area rivals many of the deluxe resorts. The CBR pool is also very cool with the Pirate theme, but it always seems to be packed.

CBR, I'm pretty sure, has more stops than CSR.

I believe you are correct, and I believe I'm correct in saying that CBR is the only resort on property with it's own INTERNAL bus system.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Both are pretty big spread out resorts but of the two I would choose Coronado Springs just think its a nicer resort

[brownie]

Angelgirl65, welcome to INTERCOT!

[joonyer]

I believe you are correct, and I believe I'm correct in saying that CBR is the only resort on property with it's own INTERNAL bus system.

Except for Fort Wilderness, which although not a "hotel", has it own internal bus system also. It's by far, the largest resort in size.

[Disney Doll]

CSR is my favorite moderate. It has more of a deluxe feel and seems quieter than CBR. CBR is fun and if you have young kids it might be a good pick. It feels more kid friendly and as a result you always have a lot of kids there which can make it seem loud and busy. They do have a lot that would appeal to kids like sand, pirate pool, and Nemo or Pirate themed rooms. It is big though so be prepared to either walk or use that internal bus.

[grumpydude]

CSR gets my vote, the pool with the slides are cool

[Angelgirl65]

Angelgirl65, welcome to INTERCOT!

Thanks!

[thrillme]

I like Carribean beach. Not a huge fan of Coronado Springs. The food in the "Market Place" was terrible. The pool was nice but they shut down the bar at a totally unreasonable hour. The other bar seemed like it was a mile away. (I know it wasn't but my feet felt like it). We were in the Rancho which was the fartherest from the main building. If you choose that one be sure to take a cooler and your own drinks. One aggravating thing was they had "courtesy carts" but ONLY for conventioneers. They'd be "empty" driving around in circles...driving past us. Only occasionally would they ask if we could use a ride. I get it they were for "conventioners" but when you're exhausted and you're walking that millionth mile from the front to the back it's annoying especially when you figure you've spent plenty of money there too. I was really annoyed when I saw one of these carts pass an elderly couple with a walker. It lapped them twice.

Carribean was quite nice...nice pool, bar in the pool stayed open, food was good...nice beachy theme with hammocks all around, rentals available. It was very tropical and plenty of busses. I heard other people recommending French Quarter too.

[MNNHFLTX]

One aggravating thing was they had "courtesy carts" but ONLY for conventioneers. They'd be "empty" driving around in circles...driving past us. Only occasionally would they ask if we could use a ride. I get it they were for "conventioners" but when you're exhausted and you're walking that millionth mile from the front to the back it's annoying especially when you figure you've spent plenty of money there too. I was really annoyed when I saw one of these carts pass an elderly couple with a walker. It lapped them twice.

Did CM's actually tell you that the courtesy carts were only for conventioneers? Because I've hitched a ride on them more than once, either by calling the front desk or flagging them down and it was never a problem. I do think that they will bypass people on the paths unless they are flagged down as some people like to walk the grounds. Of course, it would have been nice for them to stop and offer a ride to the elderly couple you mention--that is perplexing.

I actually prefer Coronado Springs--it just feels a little more upscale than the other moderates. Plus it has a great pool area and huge hot tub. However, they only had king rooms left when I tried to book my son's and my upcoming trip in May, so I ended up booking a preferred room at Caribbean Beach. I have not been a big fan of this resort in the past, due to the layout (the Customs House being quite far away from the other main buildings), but I'm going to give them another chance!

[MrPeetrie]

We usually stay at a moderate. We've tried them all and we love them all. They each have their own appeal.

Coronado Springs is a beautiful resort. It is quite large, but it never seems unnavigable. It has a top-flight restaurant (the Maya Grille), and its Pepper Market is a nice twist on the traditional food courts. The one detractor: there is a convention center there. If there's a convention taking place, you will run into many people "on the clock" to take you out of your Disney-induced stupor.

The Caribbean Beach is one of the larger resorts. It is massive. It, too, is beautiful. However location is more important here. We stayed at Martinique once and were right in the center of things. However, on this past trip, we were in S. Trinidad. We were as far removed from the food court as you could be. Now you could either view our room as being in an isolated paradise (because it was picturesque). Or look at it as if we were from the wrong side of the tracks.

S. Trinidad is on the opposite side of the bridge that leads to the resort's exit. On heavy mornings, we could see buses turn and leave the resort without stopping at our stop because they were already full. Other times, the bus would stop at our stop, but because it was so full, only a few people could board. On our last stay, there was a cast member at our stop every morning monitoring this. If it was taking too long for a Magic Kingdom bus to come, the CM would notify someone and a bus would be re-routed. Despite that, buses were still pretty efficient, especially leaving parks.

Just a few things to keep in mind.

[AmandaChan]

CBR
pros -
really cute buildings and festive colors
nice food court (loved the caribbean food selection and CM were always nice)
nice pool for kids
bus service, for us, was awesome. we rarely waited more than 10 minutes for a bus and sometimes we would run after one. usually were the second building to be dropped off at (aruba)

cons-
spread out, i know some people like this but for me and my 1 year old, just walking to the food court was a major headache sometimes. the little bridge and island thing was really nice but i really did hate the walk. i would get a preferred room next time.
mousekeeping, i had an encounter with someone that was SO RUDE, i called the manager. and i am not one to complain about staff members. but i found myself slamming the phone on her. which really stinks, but it happened.
bus boy that took us to lobby in the early am for DME was very impatient with us (we weren't moving that slow, b/c quite frankly we were in a rush) and blatantly heard me say 1 year old was not strapped in before he took off.
the main lobby is kind of far from the buildings, especially the food court (on the other side of the resort) but how often do you need to go to the main lobby?? a bus can take you to your bldg

[thrillme]

Did CM's actually tell you that the courtesy carts were only for conventioneers? Because I've hitched a ride on them more than once, either by calling the front desk or flagging them down and it was never a problem. I do think that they will bypass people on the paths unless they are flagged down as some people like to walk the grounds. Of course, it would have been nice for them to stop and offer a ride to the elderly couple you mention--that is perplexing.

Yep...they told us "only for conventioneers". We were able to hitch twice, one even told us that if he saw a "conventioneer" he'd have to let us off...oh...well...uh...ok. Flagging them down was difficult when some drove rather fast. Maybe we just had a bad group of drivers...and YES we tipped the two that picked us up...but we never saw them again.

[Ms. Mode]

We have stayed at both resorts and loved them both! However...CSR is my favorite and CBR is my DDs.

I like the way CSR feels like a "deluxe" resort; my DD loves CBR but we were there in the winter during a week when the parks and resorts were on E and I think it would be really different if it were a busy time of year.

I doubt we will ever go back to CBR because we had a "perfect storm" the year we went and I doubt we could do that again. CSR on the other hand I would not having any problem going back to again and again.

PS. I LOVED Pepper Market!