chris

My husband and I are going to Disney World, partly to attend a conference and partly to have fun. We can't decide which hotel on the property to stay in: the Dolphin (where the conference is and would be most convenient) or the Coronado Springs (so much more cheaper). Can anyone offer their opinion and share their experiences of both or either. Thanks.

Annemarie

Cannot speak for the Dolphin as I have only seen it from a distance...you probably know enough about it from the books...one thing good about it, I would imagine, is that I believe there is now a boat shuttle that takes you from this property to the Boardwalk and the back of Epcot which is wonderful for reaching these 2 places. We stayed at the coronado Springs and quite enjoyed it...it is a moderate property , but the best moderate, I think,...they all have terrific atmosphere...but the CS has a much better food court. It is actually more market style where you go to different cooking stations and order, choose your food...,a little more pricey, quite generous and tasty. Dixie and Port Orleans have terrific atmosphere for a moderate but their food courts are just terrible. Now, I hope someone with more recent info can get you informed about the Dolphin.

Lori

I have a different opinion of Coronado Springs. The food court does have delicious and fresh food. We got really tired of having to go and fetch everything ourselves, though. This gets extremely complicated when you have children to feed, too. And despite the self-serve atmosphere they add an automatic gratuity on to your bill when they ring you up.

Our room was acceptable size-wise, but we had a real problem getting any fresh, dry towels. I know I don't use fresh towels every day at home, but those towels just would not dry! The room always felt damp.

Rooms open directly outside, motel-style. Nice in that you can park near your room, but I really freaked out one night when someone was trying to open my room door (probably an honest mistake, but still!).

Also, because it's a convention hotel we were quite uncomfortable being in the pool areas in our swimsuits and having businessmen and businesswomen strolling by in their business attire during breaks in their meetings.

Yes, the price was good. Was it worth it? We'd rather stay at the Wilderness Lodge again and pay the premium price.

chris

Thanks, Annemarie and Lori, for your replies. I do agree with you Annemarie that the Coronado (based on pictures we've downloaded from some unofficial Disney websites) is a much nicer hotel than the other moderately priced ones. On those websites, I've also read some common complaints about the Coronado that it's a long trek to get around the hotel (from room to food court to swimming pool to etc.). We are now leaning on the Dolphin primarily for convenience. We are waiting, however, for other responses for the Dolphin...if there are any...

Kristin

Hi Chris---I met my husband for a few days at the Coronado Springs resort at the end of his business trip. We didn't have to pay, so everything was great!! Altho-----if I had to pick a Disney resort, I probably wouldn't pick this one for my vacation. The rooms were OK, clean and nice, nothing spectacular, but like other posters mentioned, if your time is short (and ours was) it is quite a trek to get from your room, to the food market, to the Disney busses, etc. The food was fine, but nothing fancy. Again, for two days of Disney in January (1999) it was fine. All I can tell you about the Dolphin is that at night it looked really dramatic. Good luck choosing!!