Caribbean Beach or Coronado Tower in May?

[firstwdw]

Currently booked at Caribbean Beach but considering the tower at Coronado. 2 adults and older teen

Pros to Caribbean: resort vibe, Skyliner to 2 parks, close to Riviera for more food options.
Cons to Caribbean: rooms are not great even though recently refreshed, old-loud window AC units, lots of walking.

Pros to Tower: rooms (larger, new and central AC), main pool area is great with volleyball, ping pong, long slide, huge hot tub, arcade
Cons to Tower: all bus transportation

what would you do? We've stayed at both recently and like both. Tower costs more but it's doable

 

[gottalovepluto]

CSR Tower. I hate the noise of window ac units and everything necessary is accessible inside the tower. I did May one year and got a few nasty T-storms as summer kicked off. Skyliner closes during t-storms and makes transit miserable as you have to wait for buses to even get ordered and then the bus does the whole Skyliner route…

 

[firstwdw]

CSR Tower. I hate the noise of window ac units and everything necessary is accessible inside the tower. I did May one year and got a few nasty T-storms as summer kicked off. Skyliner closes during t-storms and makes transit miserable as you have to wait for buses to even get ordered and then the bus does the whole Skyliner route…

I am leaning towards CSR tower...good reminder about storm closures for Skyliner. Plus accessing food all inside is nice too. Thanks

 

[ktink]

We loved our stay at GDT aside from the transportation. We were there in October & several times, we would be lucky if we were able to stand on a bus or just wait for the next one. The rooms are so nice though! We had club level but even without club level it would have felt like a deluxe stay. We actually checked out of GDT & into BC. We regretted it instantly.

 

[firstwdw]

We loved our stay at GDT aside from the transportation. We were there in October & several times, we would be lucky if we were able to stand on a bus or just wait for the next one. The rooms are so nice though! We had club level but even without club level it would have felt like a deluxe stay. We actually checked out of GDT & into BC. We regretted it instantly.

hmmmm, maybe we'll rent a car and then just use the bus for Magic Kingdom!

 

[ktink]

hmmmm, maybe we'll rent a car and then just use the bus for Magic Kingdom!

If you're going to have your own transportation I would go with GDT hands down! And to be honest, it's not a deal breaker at all. I would rather be waiting for a bus at Disney than to be almost anywhere else.

 

[firstwdw]

Car rentals right now for May are high but that could always change. I suppose we could just walk over to the first bus stop in the morning when it's busy. I know the MK stop at the park for Coronado is near the front (not as far as the values and other moderates). Is that same at the other parks?

 

[Psymonds]

I liked CBR and frankly felt the rooms were fine. of course we spend so little time in the room as it is.

loved the skyliner access and price, we stayed main season for pretty cheap.

 

[The Foolish Mortal]

For me its easy. I loathe CBR. Its my least favorite moderate. I love the tower (will be there in two weeks!). You are right that the bus is the worst aspect of the resort, but its not terrible. And the bus crowds aren't all star resort level crowded. So I would go with the tower

 

[trishadono]

We did POR FQ, CSR in GDT and CBR all within 6 weeks Sept-Oct 2024.

CBR we liked the least. Rooms were meh, didnt like the air conditioner and didn’t like the walk for food or transport. We were in a preferred section yet everything was far and not easy to navigate. I go to Disney all the time but getting around there was hard without signage or straight paths!

POR FQ new rooms are so pretty! Very similar to GF. The resort is small so easy to get around. Extra perk of boat was nice to DS too. Busses were fine with only one stop.

GDT is great! Well laid out rooms. The rooms are all close to the elevator. It’s quick to the bus stops and they come pretty often. We also often had our own bus in the morning. It would show up empty and leave to the park from there.

Food is pretty easy to get to from the tower as well.

Feels more like a deluxe!

Let me know if any q’s.

 

[jennab]

When in May? If first 2wks is not so CSR as there will be cheerleader groups staying there for their comps.

 

[kylenne]

We actually checked out of GDT & into BC. We regretted it instantly.

I always say that if they somehow dropped GDT on Crescent Lake I’d never stay anywhere else around there. I prefer it to all of them.

 

[gottalovepluto]

hmmmm, maybe we'll rent a car and then just use the bus for Magic Kingdom!

Also run the math on rideshares. Rideshares at CSR pickup/drop off at the Tower

 

[firstwdw]

When in May? If first 2wks is not so CSR as there will be cheerleader groups staying there for their comps.

oh yes well aware-thank you! We've already had to change resorts once due to cheerleaders....

 

[NewDisneyEnthusiast]

My vote would be for the tower. We did GDT tower in Sept ‘23 and loved it. We didn’t have any issues with not getting seats on the bus during that time. Also, there are plenty of dining options at GDT. Besides dining there, we also had a reservation at Sebastian’s over at CBR. We did use Lyft for that or you’ll need to spend some time bus hopping to get CBR.

 

[firstwdw]

We did POR FQ, CSR in GDT and CBR all within 6 weeks Sept-Oct 2024.

CBR we liked the least. Rooms were meh, didnt like the air conditioner and didn’t like the walk for food or transport. We were in a preferred section yet everything was far and not easy to navigate. I go to Disney all the time but getting around there was hard without signage or straight paths!

POR FQ new rooms are so pretty! Very similar to GF. The resort is small so easy to get around. Extra perk of boat was nice to DS too. Busses were fine with only one stop.

GDT is great! Well laid out rooms. The rooms are all close to the elevator. It’s quick to the bus stops and they come pretty often. We also often had our own bus in the morning. It would show up empty and leave to the park from there.

Food is pretty easy to get to from the tower as well.

Feels more like a deluxe!

Let me know if any q’s.

FQ is also in the running! Love the look of those new rooms, one bus stop. We've stayed at CBR, FQ and GDT in the past but now we have an older teen. FQ pool is just not overly thrilling for older teens/young adults. But I love the FQ vibe. Did you have a favorite between FQ or GDT? I know they are different with different pros/cons.

 

[kylenne]

FQ is also in the running! Love the look of those new rooms, one bus stop. We've stayed at CBR, FQ and GDT in the past but now we have an older teen. FQ pool is just not overly thrilling for older teens/young adults. But I love the FQ vibe. Did you have a favorite between FQ or GDT? I know they are different with different pros/cons.

I have stayed at both and overwhelmingly prefer GDT. POFQ was a one and done for me though. The things that people tend to love about it are actually offputting to me—I found the small size to be claustrophobic and limiting and I found the food aggressively mid (including the overhyped beignets). The biggest selling point to me was the boat to DS, I enjoyed that, but I also felt basically forced to use it if I wanted decent food. I am also not wild about the motel style setup.

GDT is a good compromise between a small footprint with the convenience of the tower itself and a larger resort with vastly more and better amenities. I’m not a food court person generally but I think CSR probably has the best one. There’s a truly absurd amount of food options there though, and most of them are really good. I never had issues with the buses there either. The only reason I don’t stay there more often is I have a hard time justifying it when I can often book Swolphin cheaper and get EEH and walking access to 2 parks.

I don’t have kids though so I’m looking at it purely from the standpoint of solo/couple trips. Kids seem to love the Dig Site pool though every time I go.

 

[Choppygirl]

We stayed in the Tower (club level) May 2023. We have not stated at CB but really loved Coronado Springs and if it wasn't for the fact we have just bought DVC would definitely stay there again. It really is a beautiful resort and I think has the best of both worlds. it has the modern tower with all facilities and decor like a deluxe but then also has the 'village' part where you can wander round in the quiet and just take it in. Loved all the different places to eat and drink and just hang out. Really enjoyed the Dahlia Lounge.I much refer the hotel style rooms in the tower rather than the motel style ones where people can walk passed your room and see in.

We had no problems with buses. even from the Tower stop which is the last but then we didn't rope drop.

 

[We’reAllMadHere]

Food options are better at Coronado.

We enjoyed the convenience and novelty of the Skyliner but are unlikely to stay at CBR again.

 

[trishadono]

FQ is also in the running! Love the look of those new rooms, one bus stop. We've stayed at CBR, FQ and GDT in the past but now we have an older teen. FQ pool is just not overly thrilling for older teens/young adults. But I love the FQ vibe. Did you have a favorite between FQ or GDT? I know they are different with different pros/cons.

Generally I prefer CSR over the others. I love the resort! When they added the Tower it was game changing! It’s just so convenient. EXCEPT for the pools. I have done GDT since 2019 5 times? I haven’t been to a pool. It could be they have been short trips/no time.

POR /FQ was not my fav but I got to see the new rooms right when they opened and they were just so nice! I didn’t think I’d like the pool, we had not stayed there since 2006! However my dd and her dh both 29 and I loved it. It’s a nice sized pool with some deep sections.

Food was easy to get and the resort is smallish, we did visit POR a few times, the kids said they preferred FQ . However it’s nice to be able to have access to both.

It’s hard to say. I have stayed at all but SSR and most many times. I always have a good time. You just enjoy different things each trip. Could be a room you like? Food options(love poly) , transportation, can’t leave off price, and amenities.

If I could afford it I’d always stay at the mono resorts….. except I like WL too, but wait Boardwalk resorts I can walk to Epcot and HS, AKL has giraffes and zebras ….. POP has pac man…..AS Movies has Dalmatians….FQ has beignets ,CBR has pirates pool, see what I mean? There is NO BEST resort…. I need the 2 bedroomBLT sometimes too! I keep thinking of trips with a budget, trips with a family member that needed a special trip, extra people on a trip, special occasions….

In the end pick one and enjoy! It’s Disney! All is good.