Coranado springs vs contemporary resort dilemma

[Midwestisbest]

So I am really struggling to decide whether to stay at the Coronado springs resort or the Contemporary resort.

It would be myself and my wife who has some back problems. My 8 year old and 5 year old.

We would stay in the tower at CS. Planning on magic Kingdom 3 days and one day for each of the other 3. At CR would be staying in the garden wing.

The most concerning thing for me is that my family isn't great at long walks. We have about 2 consecutive hours before we start falling apart.

I just don't know whether it would be worth it to pay $1100 extra for 6 nights. I am also surprised they both have the same score on TripAdvisor.

Any experiences out there of these 2 or better resorts for our situation?

Thanks in advance

**Edit**
A couple other concerns I have with coronado is that it doesn't have the daybed for my other kid. It has wood floors that look uncomfortable for sleeping.

I have heard from many many sites that Coronado doesn't have good food. In looking at menus it seems like bar food and not much else which is a bummer.

Dont think we have the option of lyft because finding a car with a booster and a car seat seems slim.

I have heard being the last stop is actually a bad thing as buses will fill up and some people end up walking to another stop.

Concerns with contemporary would be obviously cost, wondering how far the walk from garden room to MK is.

Is the pool situation at CR really that bad? My kids can't swim so I would need to go in any deep water with them.

Are there better resorts for families that check these boxes? Magic Kingdom and Epcot will be our main goals coming back to the room twice a day for rest. Going out 3 times.

 

[Skippyboo]

Where are looking on staying at CS? The resort is pretty spread out. But the new tower is centrally located. What parks are you going to visit the most? CS you are stuck with the buses or driving. CR you can monorail to MK and maybe boat over to MK(I never have stayed there).

 

[Midwestisbest]

Where are looking on staying at CS? The resort is pretty spread out. But the new tower is centrally located. What parks are you going to visit the most? CS you are stuck with the buses or driving. CR you can monorail to MK and maybe boat over to MK(I never have stayed there).

We would stay in the tower at CS. Planning on magic Kingdom 3 days and one day for each of the other 3. At CR would be staying in the garden wing.

 

[Dave006]

CR you can monorail to MK and maybe boat over to MK(I never have stayed there).

Sorry only a 5-7 minute walk to MK or the Monorail to MK no boat option from CR to MK.

I just don't know whether it would be worth it to pay $1100 extra for 6 nights. I am also surprised they both have the same score on TripAdvisor.

Any experiences out there of these 2 or better resorts for our situation?

Location, location, location. The CR is a very compact resort and CSR is a massive resort. It is so large it has it's own internal bus system.

The key is how important is the $1100 toward your entire vacation? If you can afford it and still do all the things you planned I would go with the CR Garden wing since you plan to spend 3 days at the MK.

You will be able to take daily breaks back at the CR with minimal time usage for your MK days. Going back and forth to CS adds 15-20 minutes each way plus waiting for buses. Just a quick Monorail ride one stop to the CR.

The GDT (tower) is very nice and centrally located at CSR but it is buses everywhere and we find it really eats into our day.

Dave

 

[Ross Kratter]

If you're planning on 3 days at MK, you can't go wrong with the Contemporary; you can walk right there or just hop on the monorail as well, though the monorail will take longer (wrong direction). For the way back, the monorail will be fastest, since the Contemporary is the first stop, but walking is still super fast and easy.

 

[Skippyboo]

Could you do a split stay - CR for three MK days and then GDT for other park days? Save some money that way but you would have to do your MK days all in a row.

 

[Marthasor]

CR will be the most convenient to MK. We actually love the garden wing as it's the most convenient to the MK path - you don't have to contend with the, typically, very busy CR tower elevators. I'm not sure of your dates, but, if it's open during your travel period, you may want to check out Wilderness Lodge to see if it prices out less than CR. You lose the walk to MK that you would have at CR, but WL has a short bus ride or boat to MK which would definitely cut down on the transportation time you will find coming from CSR.

Someone suggested a split stay which might also be good if you want to cut down on costs and transportation time. If you want to consider it, I would look at CR-garden wing and WL for your MK days and Pop/AoA/CBR for you other park days as you would be able to utilize the Skyliner to DHS and EP from those resorts.

 

[nkereina]

CSR is a massive resort. It is so large it has it's own internal bus system.

The OP said they would be staying in the tower at CSR, so everything they need at the resort will be conveniently located. CSR is a larger resort, but the OP will have no need to go to the way back Ranchos section for anything. And FWIW, the distance from those rooms has been drastically decreased with the addition of the Three Bridges restaurant - the bridges cut across the lake whereas before, you'd have to walk around the lake.

OP mentioned that walking long distances is the primary concern. Contemporary has the shortest commute in terms of time, but in terms of distance, the walk from CR is actually longer than the walk from the bus depot to the gates. I'd also estimate that the walk from the monorail ramp to the gates is negligibly shorter than the walk from most of the bus depots at MK. So while you may save time going from CR to MK, the walking aspect is very similar, if not shorter, coming from the bus depot where you'd be dropped off coming from CSR. At CSR, bus stop 1 is right outside the tower.

IMO, the additional $1100 would not drastically cut down on walking times enough to make it worth the cost. I think the monorail is more fun than taking a bus, and CR has better dining options, but that still wouldn't justify the added expense for me.

 

[CastAStone]

Normally I advocate people to the cheaper resort but a round trip to CS is 90 minutes to 2 hours including all of the related walking time. CR garden wing is probably 30. If you’re doing that 3x a day you’ll get an extra 3 hours of time you can spend in the parks on your MK days.

The flip side is that CR is poorly located for the other 3 parks. I would strongly recommend finding ways to take a long break at the parks at AK, Epcot, DHS (e.g. at DHS see the Frozen show and then immediately go to a dining reservation at 50s prime time diner to get a solid 100 minutes off your feet, save for the 3 minute walk from the theater to the restaurant). This is harder to do at MK which doesn’t have long theater shows.

I’d suggest it’s worth it in your situation.

 

[Eastern]

Do you take breaks and go back to the parks? CR would be more convenient. Do you go to parks for 2 hours and then you are done for the day? I would pick CSR for the savings since you will only be using parks transportation one round trip per day.

 

[CastAStone]

By the way your family’s two hour limit IMO makes you all excellent candidates for Disneyland where you can stay across the street from the main entrance for $190/night and where they have as many attractions crammed into 2 parks as WDW has in 4.

 

[Farro]

I mean, walking to MK really can't be beat.

But, if you stay in the Tower at CSR, you are the last to be picked up on the resort loop - which means once you get on a bus, straight on to the parks! CSR is very centrally located to all the parks, from all accounts the ride is very short.

Purely on room-type, I would take Tower at CSR over Garden Wing at CR.

Based on your walking needs - stay at CR and take monorail to MK and Epcot.

 

[mousehouse23]

We stayed at CSR when our kids were your age, and enjoyed it. Being in the tower will help, for all the reasons mentioned. (The rooms look gorgeous.) If you're willing to use Uber or Lyft to get around the bussing issue, you could take some of that $1100 and put it to good use.

We have also stayed at CR. Obviously, it's better in terms of convenience to MK. But for us, not $1100 better.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Scubadaddy32]

We would stay in the tower at CS. Planning on magic Kingdom 3 days and one day for each of the other 3. At CR would be staying in the garden wing.

The bus stop is located directly to the right of the lobby as you walk out at Gran Destino. (We have stayed there 3 times since it opened.) We stayed there for 12 days last month and we spent no more than 5 or 10 minutes waiting on any bus. Typically in the morning they sent two buses back to back for MK and HS. The bus trip to MK is no more than 15 minutes to MK. The hotel is lovely and it's a hotel with interior hallways to enter the rooms. I come on these forms and see crazy times listed for bus waits when it comes to the, "is it worth spending the extra money to stay at a walking distance resort". I honestly question if any of these people have actually stayed at these hotels or if they are just making stuff up, as my experience is never anything like theirs. Ha
CR on the other hand is loud as all get out in the main building, once Chef Mickey's opens at 7:00am (I've stayed there. LOL) so if you want to sleep past that... Good luck! The garden wing is outside so you will have to walk out of the hotel to get to those rooms much like the Poly. Bay Lake Tower if you get a Park View is great, but we walk a ton already at WDW so 10 to 15 minutes on a bus where I'm not pounding the pavement is a joy! LOL $1,100.00 buys a lot of meals and you can pay for a lot of UBER rides.
Being that my wife and I have stayed at most of the deluxe resorts on property, we have a pretty good pulse for these things. I would recommend a Water View at GDT if you decide to stay there.

 

[bellebud]

Based on your walking needs, I'd take that $1100 difference and rent a scooter for your wife from an offsite company that delivers them right to your hotel. We did that for my mom one year, and it was so worth it! Also rent double strollers in the parks for the kids (or from an offsite company, it might even be cheaper). You want to be able to enjoy the parks, and it's hard with walking challenges.

 

[JoelB]

GDT is awesome. I will pretty much always recommend people stay there over a deluxe unless they have a really good reason not to. Yes, it's bus-only, but the rides are, on average, the shortest you'll ever experience due to it being the most centrally located resort. It sounds ridiculous to be wowed by Disney bus service, but I honestly was when we stayed there in early December 2019.

The ability to walk to MK from CR isn't going to help your family much, as that would just be adding another mile or so worth of steps for each round trip. And as others have said, you can do an awful lot to improve your vacation (or your non-vacation life) with $1100 in ways that simply staying in a more expensive room will not.

 

[MATTERHORN]

Agreed with a lot that was said right above me, If you stay Contemporary, it will just add that much more walking to each day if you wanted to take advantage of the walkway, whereas CS would be a bus ride, but at least you're not walking any extra. There's really no need to even walk the rest of the massive resort there if you don't want to!

 

[Midwestisbest]

We stayed at CSR when our kids were your age, and enjoyed it. Being in the tower will help, for all the reasons mentioned. (The rooms look gorgeous.) If you're willing to use Uber or Lyft to get around the bussing issue, you could take some of that $1100 and put it to good use.

We have also stayed at CR. Obviously, it's better in terms of convenience to MK. But for us, not $1100 better.

Good luck with your decision.

Does Uber or Lyft have car seats. That is a big concern for my littles.

 

[TexanMinnie]

Does Uber or Lyft have car seats. That is a big concern for my littles.

I believe you have to request for one when you search for a driver using the app.

 

[dmband]

If you are going to have a scooter, CS
If not CR