Cornado Springs Dining question

[spin0908]

HI all! I just had a question- We are planning a trip to Disney June 3-13 2010 and trying to figure out what resort to stay at. I had my heart set on Cornodo Springs, until I figured out they do not have any resturants that participate in the dining plan. It wouldn't be a major deal, except we usually use our counter service credits for breakfast. I am having a hard time with knowing we will have to leave the resort for breakfast. Is it possible that this is a mistake and there are participating resturants at Cornado springs? How can I make CS work for us without having a place for breakfast> :veryconfu

 

[EaglesfanNJ]

Hi there! There is a table service restaurant at Coronado Springs, it's called the Maya Grill, and we used the dining plan to ear there last trip.

Here's a link for the menu. Wife and I split the pork empanadas, i got some kind of fish, wife got beef tenderloin. Overall it was decent, nothing like the big hitters WDW has to offer, but for what it is was decent. Service excellent.

I wouldn't base your staying there off of whether or not they have a table service though, transporation is easy no matter where you stay and where you want to eat

http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm#cs

 

[DreamAurora]

Hey Spin, I wouldn't be too concerned about the dining plan right now. Traditionally the dining at Coronado springs gets added later than most restaurants to the dining plan. By the first week of January it should be on the dining plan and if for some very strange reason it doesn't get added by mid-January then I'd switch hotels.

Pepper market has breakfast and the dining plan includes the 10% gratuity for it since it's the only QS location in the hotel. The variety is pretty typical but if you make a few in park reservations for breakfast or just eat a light breakfast you'll be good to go!

 

[LarryStoken]

The UnOfficial Guide to Walt Disney World book gives the Maya Grill at Coronado Springs the lowest rating of any Table Service restaurant in the entire park. :hurl:

 

[Lucky]

I've heard some very favorable reviews for Maya Grill so I'm surprised at its low rating in the UG.

I haven't eaten there, but we used Pepper Market on the dining plan in 2007 and 2008. And we love CS. We're going back next year.

 

[EPCOTPluto]

From what I saw during my trip there, it was a buffet breakfast....

 

[amjt660]

I have stayed at the Coronado twice (March 08 and August 09), both times with my family (DW and 2 DD).

The first trip was a big sucesss- beautiful resort and the food at the Pepper Market was the most diverse/good/fresh of all counter services that I had eaten at. The grounds are well kept, it is the only Moderate with a fitness club, and the main pool is first class.

Second trip this August was dissappointing. The Pepper Market has scaled down its menu. They closed down the Stir Fry section and no longer offer Faijtas all the time. They still have good pizza, salads and other entrees but not the same. We also tried Mayan Grill and everyone in our group agreed that it was our worst meal of the week and that we would never go back.

We will not be returning to the Coronado anytime in the near future.

 

[Wakkie Nu Nu]

Pepper Market, etc. is out biggest hang up in booking CSR this trip. We've done all the other mods, and we most frequently stay at CBR... one of the things we like most about CBR is Old Port Royale... the food court is relaxing and easy, the grab and go is great for a late snack, and the arcade/big shop/pool bar everything is RIGHT there, so it's a nice little central hub, always buzzing with activity... the rooms/grounds at CSR really appeal to us, but I worry about El Centro.

 

[alanindy]

I stayed at Coronado in 2005, and honestly could not understand the negative comments I had seen online about it. It's a beautiful resort, well located (only far from Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney), and was very relaxing. I thought the fitness center was exceptional for the type of hotel and the other amenities such as the business center onsite (was great for shipping some purchases home), far outweighed anything that one could find lacking. I felt I was at a premium resort, not a moderate. Yes, it is very spread out and a large property, but isn't Caribbean Beach and Port Orleans Riverside as well?

I never tried the Pepper Market since I tend to eat at the parks or some of the other premium resort hotel restaruants (Boma, Artists Point, etc.), but I did eat 2 meals at the Maya Grill and while I found it to not be anything exceptional, however it was completely fine. The only negative would be that the amosphere/theming was a bit lacking. The breakfast was a buffet style (if I remember correctly) and was as good as most others on property.

If the Dining plan is an important element, I would double check with the hotel and it's restaurants directly to find out if it is on the plan during your visit. If it isn't, you'll have to decide if it is that huge of an issue for you over a very nice hotel that is also affordable.

 

[atsolomon]

Last summer the restaurants in Coronado Springs were most definitely on the dining plan. I have a coworker who particularly like Coronado Springs since you can get prime rib at the Pepper Market as a counter service meal.

I'm a vegetarian and I found the Pepper Market to be tough to deal with as a result -- the people who worked there were willing to make vegetarian items, but you really had to coach them through it. For example a I had to specify that vegetarian bean burrito can also have rice in it. ;-)

Overall my family loved the Coronado Springs Resort. It is defintely rather large however and you might want to use the golf carts or the resort buses to get around. All the bus lines stopped at El Centro last before heading out to their destinations, as I recall.

 

[DisneyRunner]

In August, my family ate at Pepper Market on the DDP and there was no problem accepting it. And as someone else mentioned the 10% gratuity was not an issue with the DDP.

 

[JWH]

We were at the Coronado for a week in June, and ate at the Pepper Market and Maya Grill. The Maya Grill was pretty good, not the best meal we had at WDW, but we would go back. The Pepper Market still has a lot of options, plus there is the snack shop that always has sandwiches, pizza, gelato counter, etc, so don't let dining options steer you away from CSR - - the resort is beautiful.

 

[LarryStoken]

We were at the Coronado for a week in June, and ate at the Pepper Market and Maya Grill. The Maya Grill was pretty good, not the best meal we had at WDW, but we would go back. The Pepper Market still has a lot of options, plus there is the snack shop that always has sandwiches, pizza, gelato counter, etc, so don't let dining options steer you away from CSR - - the resort is beautiful.

A drawback to Coronado is that it gets packed with conventioneers.

 

[spin0908]

Thank you!

Thank you everyone for the input. I think I am going to book CS and hope that it gets on the dining plan, and if not- we'll find a way to deal with it. My daughter is 6, and is VERY cranky if she doesn't eat within 5 minutes of her feet hitting the floor! IF CS doesn't add their Counter Service resturant to the dining plan, i'll bring LOTS of Snacks i guess

We stayed at CB for our Honeymoon 10 years ago, this trip will be for our 10th anniversary.:sohappy: So it should be a good time no matter where we stay. We did stay at Port Orleans 2 years ago, very nice resort as well, we were hoping to stay somewhere we've never stayed before. If i win the Lotto, maybe i'll spring for the Beach Club :ROFLOL:! Thanks again!

I did read that there are a lot of conventions there- :hammer:it might be a bit more busy that we are use to...

 

[alanindy]

A couple of advantages to having conventions there: it didn't seem as busy during the late nights when I would get in from the parks as most meeting goers were either at the bar or already getting to bed, plus during the day when I came back to the hotel, the pools were nearly empty as opposed to other non-meeting oriented resorts. Plus service during lunch at the restaurant seemed to be more time oriented and speedy - as meeting goers would be on a tighter time schedule.

 

[Disney05]

The food at the Coronado is not that bad. And yes they take the dining plan for all. Was there 2 weeks ago. It's not Victoria and Albert's but I think it's just fine.

 

[Buzz2001]

This year they did not get added until January 3rd, 2009. Don't worry, they will get added.

 

[Buzz2001]

The food at the Coronado is not that bad. And yes they take the dining plan for all. Was there 2 weeks ago. It's not Victoria and Albert's but I think it's just fine.

I agree. The PM is definitely better than the other food courts.

 

[TinkSassy]

Cafe Rix was honored as QS in December - I liked the sandwiches here. We just went out and ate by the lake. I don't know if they have breakfast - as we ate cereal in the room.

Request building 9B if it's available - close to main building, easy walk to the main pool and really close to a bus. Another plus of being a convention hotel it gets one of the closest drop off and pick up points for all the parks!

 

[Buzz2001]

Yes, Cafe Rix has breakfast.