I had the pleasure of experiencing the new hotel tower at Coronado Springs. Grand Destino is the name of the new tower, not the resort, the resort remains Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort. For those of you that don’t know, Coronado Springs has been in existence for a while. It is a moderate resort, but with the amenities of a deluxe. Reason being, is it has a convention center attached to it. Disney upped their moderate game on Coronado Springs to keep up with other hotels that are attached to convention centers. Just recently, Disney took it one step further by adding the brand new Destino Tower. The tower portion opened in May of this year, and changed a lot of how we know Coronado Springs to exist. In the past, Coronado was accused of being a very large moderate resort with amenities expanding throughout it’s property. However, the tower has centralized the property a lot. The check in area has now moved from its old location in the main building to the tower. It is important to know, that no matter where your room may be(Coronado Springs or Grand Destino Tower)you check in at Grand Destino Tower. If you have a room not in the tower, you are most likely walking pretty far to find that room after check in. Hence, one of the biggest complaints of Coronado Springs is its size. When booking a room here I would first choose the tower, and my second option would be a preferred room. The preferred room will at least keep you in close proximity to amenities at the hotel. If preferred room or tower are not in your budget, you will have comfort in knowing there are bus stops throughout the property to pick you up and transport you where you are going.

The restaurant and bar options are plentiful! In a normal moderate resort you will see one quick service and one sit down restaurant and a bar. This is NOT the case in Coronado Springs. This resort has many food and drink options. To start the old standbys have not changed, there is one quick service in the “old” main building, El Mercado de Coronado, formerly known as the Pepper Market, as well as Café Rix for quick bites, Rix Sports Bar and Grill and the Mexican restaurant, Maya Grill. Nothing has changed in the “old main” building. However, to get to the “old main” building there is a long hallway that connect the tower and “old main” building.

Everything about it from the décor, to the views, the pricing and the menu items scream signature restaurant, but we lucked out it and so far Disney is not calling it a signature restaurant. So that means, if you want great views of the world with phenomenal food and don’t want to use 2 of your dining credits, book Toledo(reservation required), you will not be disappointed. This would be the best use of the dining plan yet! Right next to Toledo, is a bar lounge called the Dahlia Lounge. This lounge has outside seating with views of Hollywood Studios. There is no reservation required. You will find specialty cocktails, as well as, a selection of tapas. Both restaurant and lounge are not open for lunch and the lounge opens at 4:00pm and Toledo opens at 5:00pm.

Along with the tower additions, another new restaurant was born in the middle of the lake called the Three Bridges Bar and Grill. I know what you are going to ask, yes there are truly 3 bridges that connect the restaurant in the middle. This, of course, to help with vastness of the hotel property. Disney is describing the Three Bridges as casual dining with Latin cuisine. If you have been to Geyser Point Bar and Grill in Wilderness Lodge, this has a very similar feel. It is open to the outside air and although covered, that will not save you from the high humidity of Florida.

Nothing has changed with the location of the pool, that remains in the same spot with the options of a small counter service for food, and a bar.

All in all this is a HUGE update to the resort, and keeping it inline with other convention center hotels. At this point the amenities speak for themselves. It should be noted, I have always enjoyed the location of the resort as it is fairly centrally located. Transportation is still by bus only, nothing has changed there. You always have the option of Minnie Van, Lyft or Uber. I recommend this hotel for my clients and I am happy to say that with the new additions I will feel more confident in its ability to feel like a deluxe resort with moderate pricing.