Did I mention I really liked the Dodge Charger? Very smooth ride.
Anywho...we headed down 417 to Exit 3. It seems the roundabout way to get to Coronado Springs Resort (AKA CSR), especially in the dark, but it got the job done.
I had done Disney Online Check-In. By the way, it rocks...most of the time. It probably rocked on June 11, too, but I was too tired and too impatient with the front desk people to register that feeling at the time.
Here's the scoop with Online Check-In:
You can go online 10 days out from check-in and essentially pre-register yourself. You plug in your reservation number and put your credit card on file, if you want privileges on your room keys. The big key feature, in my opinion, is that it asks you for your arrival time and departure time. When you arrive at your resort, you go to the special check-in line that says, "Online Check-In" to get your room keys and stuff.
I think this is a key service for people who check in early in the day. My theory is they ask for your arrival time so they can assign you a room right when you arrive and not make you wait for a room. As rooms as cleaned, they are assigned to the online check-in people based on arrival time.
That's my theory anyway. Since I arrived at 8:45pm at night this time, it probably didn't make a difference for me.
BUT...I will say that in the last two times I've traveled to WDW since online check-in went live, I've checked into the resort between 12:30pm and 1pm. Official check-in time isn't until 3pm or 4pm, depending on your resort. Each time, my room was ready to be occupied.
Back to CSR check-in...Only one person was at the front desk and I probably had to wait 5-8 minutes (thought it seemed like 10-15 minutes) just to pick up my keys. It was a little aggravating, but I admit that I am not a patient person.
We stopped at Bell Services to have them bring our Owner's Locker and Garden Grocer order to our room.
We got in the car and drove around to Casitas 3 - exactly the location that I had requested. It's centrally located between El Centro and the theme pool, The Dig Site. Plus, the Casitas quiet pool was right there next to us.
Finding the elevator was a challenge. The signage was a little weird and we went on a trek just trying to find one. Again, one more strike against arriving after dark. Had we arrived during daylight, we probably could have found it sooner.
Got up to our room - #3360 - and it was conveniently located around the corner from the elevator and also in its own little corner.
If you haven't been in a room at CSR, most rooms have two queen beds, as ours did. We had a nice large flat screen TV plus a small refrigerator and coffee pot. I also called down to Housekeeping to request a microwave. If they have them available, they'll bring one to your room for the length of stay for FREE. Very nice for microwave popcorn.
Bell Services came with our Owner's Locker and groceries. Turned out I somehow didn't order the special muffins I wanted for my daughter. I thought I had typed it in the notes box, but apparently I didn't because it wasn't on the enclosed invoice nor was it in their system when I called. Crap. So she was stuck with Cheerios for most breakfasts.
Since it was late, we hopped in our PJs, got out the Aero bed and hit the hay for the next day.
More in the next post!
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