Hola y bienvenido a un lugar donde vienen los sueños  de verdad.

Each of the Disney resorts has a different theme, each one unique and detailed to its place of origin. There is a place where the serenity of Mexico meets the riches of the American Southwest. That place is Lake Buena Vista Florida, at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort.

At Disney’s Coronado Springs there was a surreal feeling that overcame us the minute we stepped off the Disney’s Magical Express bus and entered the lobby area. In the distance you can hear the subtle sound of mariachi music playing as you pass by the Panchito’s Gifts & Sundries shop and the fountain of the El Centro building.

Holding true to its theme, Coronado Springs resort is modeled after different regions throughout Mexico and are showcased in the three sections of the resort area surrounding beautiful Lake Dorado. The Ranchos not only brings you into the Mexican countryside, but they are also the closest accommodations to the Dig Site, the featured pool where the Lost City of Cibola is located. The only downside to these ranch-style accommodations is that they are the farthest away from the Pepper Market food court and the Maya Grill restaurant. The Cabanas bring the Mexican coastline to life while offering guests a quiet pool and a short walk to the dining options or the main pool.

One thing to keep in mind when booking the Coronado Springs is that the resort is home to one of the largest convention spaces in North America. Although the convention center is located on the western edge of the property and well away from resort guests, the people attending those conventions will require accommodations. The Casitas offers guests soothing fountains inside a peaceful courtyard and usually are the most requested rooms for people attending the conventions. However don’t let the convention center scare you away from my favorite moderate resort. Our room was in the Casitas and offered the usual standard room setup. The decor of the room offers the soft earthy colors one would expect to find in the desert. Cactus green headboards with hand painted Native American symbols are accentuated with natural wood nightstands and a warm diamond pattered bedspread.

One of my favorite things about this resort is the Pepper Market food court. This food court is, in my opinion, the best food court on Disney property, and for those guests on the Disney Dining Plan this is a must do. This food court is more like a table service location as you will have a server assigned to your table and you pay at the end of your meal rather than after you order, not to mention the excellent food selections.

With a great themed pool, an arcade, a marina and 220,000 square feet of convention space, Disney’s Coronado Springs resort is certainly the gold crown of moderate resorts.

The Coronado Springs is a Disney moderate resort, which means it's a step up from the All Star and Pop Century, but a step below the ones surrounding the lake in front of the Magic Kingdom. It's worth the extra money compared to the budget resorts for the larger rooms and the far superior bus service.

Bus service is fantastic. Four stops around the resort make every room an easy walk to a stop. You never have to wait more than ten minutes for the bus you want, and this resort does not share bus service with any other.

The rooms are great. Spacious and clean, a family of four would have space to be comfortable. There is an ice machine and drink machine on every floor. There are three different areas of the resort, but the only difference in the rooms is the decor, which is tasteful and not distracting in every case.

A neat perk to staying at a Disney resort is the way they do room keys. You get a personalized credit card upon arrival that works as a room key, park ticket, and credit card anywhere on property. Makes everything very simple and prevents having to care around a bajillion things your entire vacation.

My only complaint about this resort is the distance of many of the rooms from the main building. As the main building is the only place to get breakfast, this can make for a long walk first thing in the morning. My advice is to look at a map of the resort and request a room in a building close to the main one. Disney is usually very accommodating to such requests.

The unexpected first choice among the moderate resorts for travelers with disabilities, often overlooked because of its rep as a "convention" resort.

True that, but the convention center provides advantages to the leisure traveler: Coronado Springs has the most services, most amenities, and most recreation of all the moderate reports at WDW.

Coronado and Port Orleans Riverside are the only ones with sit-down restaurants, and Coronado’s wins easily. For example, "Maya" has the same filet mignon that you would get at the Wilderness Lodge’s Artists Pointe restaurant, but for $26 instead of $32 (as of this writing). Although not as thoroughly themed as the places at the Deluxe resorts, it has food and service every bit as good.

Coronado’s food court is the biggest, best, and most varied of the moderate resorts. In keeping with the resort’s theme, you will find Tex/Mex aplenty, but also ample other options.

Handicapped people may be deterred by how spread out the resort is, with buildings surrounding a largish lake. Not to worry. Just get into one of the buildings near the central area and you will be fine. Preferably, get into buildings 9A or 9B, and ask for near the elevator on the second floor facing AWAY from the lake. You will have a sweet view of a quiet pond, easy access to the wonderfully themed pool, and the shortest route to the lobby, the food, and a bus stop (look for the shortcut that bypasses the lobby). The buildings on the other side of the central area have covered walkways to the lobby/restaurants, but they are a multi-story rat maze. I got lost repeatedly. No cheese for me! Not to mention the often-noisy party courtyard for conventioneers. (These buildings are where they tend to house the conventioneers.)

Handicapped parking is typical of the moderate resorts. That is, scattered all over the place, consistent with the way the lodging buildings are spread out around the lake. So it is more convenient than at Deluxe resorts, which tend to have one central handicapped parking area (see the major exception in my review of Animal Kingdom Lodge).

Bus transport is fine, with stops convenient to all rooms. Unlike most of the Deluxe resorts, the bus stops are level with the lodging areas – no downhill routes. Go figure. Don’t overlook the bus stop at the convention center. It might be your best bet and usually has fewer people waiting (bonus: in hot weather, you can wait indoors and watch for the bus in air-conditioned comfort). Coronado does not share bus service with any other resort, an advantage over the Deluxe resorts in the Magic Kingdom area (Grand FL, Polynesian and Contemporary share a bus route, which is criminal considering what you pay for lodging there). Another advantage of having the conventioneers for neighbors: they do not compete with vacationers for seats on the buses!

This was our sixth trip to Walt Disney World in the last 9 years. With five in our group (three adults and two teenagers), we usually stayed at the Polynesian, with one stop at the Contemporary. This time we tried TWO ADJACENT rooms at the Coronado Springs. We liked the theme, and had eaten dinner at Maya Grill one time in the past. The total room charge was substantially less than at the Poly, AND we had FOUR beds and TWO bathrooms.

We missed the fine restaurants at the Poly ('Ohana and particularly Kona), and we missed the Monorail. But since the favorite parks for the adults were Epcot and Animal Kingdom, the bus wasn't too much of a compromise (Coronado Springs is actually VERY close to Epcot, MGM, and Animal Kingdom). Peppers Market is handy, and the food is OK, not great (the kids liked it). Generally we skipped breakfast, opting to get into the parks on a timely basis (including WALKING up to a table at Cinderella's Royal Table one morning - write me for instructions on THAT little trick). Dinners were spent out at the parks, or at other Resorts. So Peppers was fine for drinks and snacks (the kids got the refillable mugs, which turned out to be a good investment).

We tried Disney's Magical Express, which clearly still has some bugs to work out. Our bags arrived at our rooms about 10 hours after we did, and I was glad WE PACKED EVERYTHING WE NEEDED FOR THE FIRST DAY AND NIGHT IN OUR CARRY-ON BAGS. But the FREE Bus transport, to and from the airport, was certainly appreciated.

We heard from one of the Mears (bus service) drivers that many drivers had quit because of Magical Express. The drivers tend to be older, or retired. And Mears told them they would not have to handle luggage. But since the luggage portion of the program still does not work, the drivers have to pack bags under the bus, and pull them out. SO IF YOU USE THE BUS SERVICE, PLEASE GIVE THE DRIVER A TIP FOR HANDLING YOUR BAG, IT'S ABOVE AND BEYOND WHAT HE'S GETTING PAID FOR.

Favorite restaurant was Jiko at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Favorite ride was Mission: Space.

We also had the advantage of being there (we planned it that way) during Star Wars Weekends at MGM, and the Epcot Garden Festival.

And please don't hesitate to drop me a line with your own observations about this journal/review. I like to see if my advice has value. email me at rickhowe@aol.com

I went down to Orlando and visited Disney's Coronado Springs Resort for a conference. It appeared to be one of their older resorts.

Magical Express at the Orlando airport was fantastic and much better than renting a car or taking a cab, as Disney is a good hike away from MCO. Luckily, the driver spared us from the promotional video, as it was quite late when we arrived. Apparently there's usually a loud and long Disney promo loop that plays during your ride, but hey, it's free!

Check-in was slow, and even though there were four to five people working the counter, the line took quite some time to move. The rooms can be located quite far away from the front desk, so you may want to take a chauffeured golf cart, unless you don't mind a walk. The farthest rooms are about a 15-minute walk away, mainly because you have to walk around this huge lake that sits between the guest rooms and main facilities.

The room itself was quite tired. Maybe it had something to do with the colors, which were not quite Latin and not quite pastel, reminding me of the '80s. The quality of the beds and other furniture was on par with a budget hotel, like Motel 6. It was a cool winter night and my room only had A/C, no heat, which makes sense for peak season but is somewhat difficult when you like it around 70 to 72 degrees F.

If you care about toiletries, Disney gives you subsistence-level stuff. There's nothing special about the soap or shampoo, save that they've got the Mouse on the wrapper. The bathroom was small, with a standard tub/shower and toilet. The sink was adjacent to the bedroom space.

A nice touch was the mini-fridge in the room, which I'd imagine comes in handy for families.

The TV had mostly ABC channels, all ESPNs, plus some park promo stuff. There is Internet available in the room using LAN cable. Wi-fi is available in conference areas.

The conference facilities were okay, nothing special. Many of the attendees complained about the difficulty in getting a signal. I'd say that it was no better or worse than what you'd expect at any industry conference. And they were definitely serving liquid concentrate coffee.

I'd probably choose a different resort if I were going to Disney, but at least this one is reasonably priced and gets you close to the park.