On one of my most recent trips to Walt Disney World, I stayed at Coronado Springs in the Gran Destino Tower with my family. It just finished going through renovations last year and oh my goodness... it's breathtaking. Within one hour of being there, this resort became my absolute favorite on all of Disney property. From the decorations, to the amenities, to the restaurants, to the rooms, this moderate resort is absolutely killing it and I would recommend it to anyone.
The Rooms
We had a parking lot view in the Tower and oh my goodness was it magical. Beyond the parking lot we could see Epcot, Hollywood Studios, ESPN Wide World of Sports, Blizzard Beach, and various resorts. My brother and I woke up the first morning to watch the sunrise and it rose over the Tower of Terror. HOW MAGICAL.
Our room had 2 queen beds, two dressers with three drawers each, so much room under the beds, a chair/small table, a TV(with Walt Disney World resort TV music of course), a closet with a full size mirror, bathroom with a full size shower and two sinks.
Disney rooms are usually on the smaller side compared to other hotels off-property in our opinion. I don't care about space... I'd rather stay on property. However, my parents would rather have more space considering price which I totally understand. Taking that into consideration, we did have lots of space since there was so much storage under the beds. It was still a little bit smaller than an off-property hotel at that price but we all loved it SO much considering it is a Disney resort.
The Dining
Since we had two packed park days, we didn't take advantage of every restaurant but the ones we did dine at, I loved! We ate breakfast at Mercado which is a food-court style Quick Service located in El Centro (the old lobby of Coronado) that we got egg and cheese wraps from that were suprisingly very good. Quick Service can go either way at Disney in my opinion but Mercado truly didn't disappoint!
We had drinks and appetizers from Dahlia lounge and if you do anything at this resort, PLEASE check out this lounge. It's located at the top of the tower and has a view of most of the theme parks, water parks, and ESPN Wide World of Sports. We dined outside on the balcony and it was just such a cool view!! We had charcuterie board and croquettes for appetizers. Even though I'm 23, I'm very picky with my drinks and only really like a drink if it doesn't take like alcohol at all LOL. The Cast Member serving us brought me some drink with pineapple and cranberry juices and rum and oh my goodness it was magical. I never like drinks when I go out to eat because they're way to strong but this one was PERFECT.
The Decorations/Atmosphere
Word won't do this resort justice so here's a massive photo dump of this gorgeous resort!! The lobby in the Gran Destino Tower has to be my favorite but honestly... I love it all.
Transportation
We took the Disney buses to Epcot the first day and to Magic Kingdom the second day. The buses were a breeze for us. It wasn't super busy and was very easy to find. The bus stop is located outside of the front doors of the Gran Destino tower and to your right and down a staircase as you leave the tower. There are signs everywhere to help you find the stop because it's a little hidden by trees. The first bus comes 45 minutes before the park opens and come every 10-20 minutes after that. My family and I got there early because the first bus does fill up since everyone wants to get to the park at rope drop!
Because of COVID, the buses are nowhere near capacity and have dividers throughout to ensure parties are socially distanced. It honestly made the ride nice not being so close to other people!
This resort also has magical express but we didn't utilize that since we drove!
Things To Do
We didn't take much advantage of the other things to do at this resort because our main priorities were going to the parks. But, there is GORGEOUS pool, a really nice gift shop with a good amount of merchandise (ears, pins, plushes, face masks, mugs, snacks, first aid, etc.).
All in all, I LOVED this resort. The convenience of being on property and how nice our room/the resort itself was, made the stay INCREDIBLE. I would go back and stay here in a heartbeat and really would recommend it to anyone! Let me know if you have any questions about this resort or let me know if you've stayed here too!
See ya real soon,
Danielle
