Coronado Springs

Vacation pics would not be complete without a bunch of pictures of the resort we stayed at. We were there for a total five nights. While I did get a chance to wander around and grab some pictures, we really didn't get to enjoy the resort as much as we should have. It was still nice and comfy.

I never got a picture of the big sign at the entrance, this is where the bus drops you off in front of the main building at Disney's Coronado Springs. We didn't stay in this tower but know that next time it might be easier if we had.

Nice wall of something in the entrance. The colors slowly shifted behind that whatever group of lanterns or bells.

Balcony overlooking a lower lounge area with a cool random chandelier. I... wanna swing... from the chandelier.

See that Mickey Mouse head hidden in the design? That's called a "Hidden Mickey" and it's like a secret game to play all over any Disney place. Point one out if you see it.

Um, we have to use a different word than "momentarily" here. The line was reeeeeeaaaaaallllllyyyy long. Like a whole hour. Can we get a Fast Pass for this?

This is the magic um,.... Magic Band. It's the key to your room, key to the parks, it's how you pay for stuff because the credit card is linked to it, it's got the Fast Pass appointments in it...It's like everything you'd normally carry in a pocket except it's on your wrist. It's also waterproof so you can wear it in the pool if you want.

This screen was looping the short film "Destino" which is a Disney film done in collaboration with the artist Salvador Dali, and somewhat the inspiration for this resort. The story about how it was an abandoned project from ages ago that was found and finally finished is pretty interesting.

The old check in area, now to the side of the big tower, is still here. Statues and all. Is this the modern equivalent to abandoned ruins?

I'll try to give you the short version of the story here; the last time my friend stayed at Coronado Springs, he brought several extra Lego Luke Skywalkers to "hide" throughout the parks. One was tossed in this fountain. No surprise he's not there anymore. Ah, memories.

Out of the tower you can see the huge lake in the middle. see the pyramid over there? That's where the pool is.

Yeah our room is waaaaay over here on the other side of the lake. See what I mean that it would be easier to stay in the tower?

Is that Turbo? Maybe a cousin. Even the squirrels seem magically happy to be here.

Authentic Florida jungle over here. What point was I trying to make with this picture? That reality is right next to the magic? What's the difference?

Still more walking to get to the room. We passed a rock garden. Because if you're in the desert you gotta make a garden out of the rocks, yo.

Yes it's a cactus. Stop taking pictures, we still have to figure out where our room is. Hey, cactus is unusual and cool.

Room 6250. That's our home for the next week. Magic Band the door to get in!

Typical comfy hotel room. How many people take pictures of the rooms everytime they travel? Oddly enough, seeing a picture of the room really does spark back the good memories. If you don't do it, I suggest you try next time.

Oh ho ho. Classic "Hidden Mickey." We left tips for the room service daily and they would leave us happy notes, it was pretty cool.

 This chair was on a spring swivel, it wouldn't quite turn all the way around. So you couldn't do an Evil Villain reveal. We tried but it was lame. Also, you could see we got a corner room which had an extra side window. So that's was cool.

 Nice art of Donald Duck's Mariachi band The Three Caballeros. Notice the wall plugs there have USB ports right next to them. Welcome to the future!

 My friend was excited to leave his wallet in the room safe, and would only need his Magic Band from here on out! Except right at the bus stop, this vending machine did not accept my thirsty friend's Magic Band. Oh that's some kind of irony, right?

 Busted! Later we found this ice bucket lid is not quite up to the Magic Disney standards, right? We just got a laugh out of it and didn't report it or anything.

 Look at the vulture silhouette right above the building sign. Other signs had different desert animals.

 Wandering around one morning I got a glimpse of the big pool. Every night we got back it was just a little chilly enough to scare us away from jumping in the pool for a little bit.

 In the gift shop. This sign says these carvings are from authentic Southern Mexico trees! Does this count as a souvenir from Coronado Springs, or Mexico?

 Here's the stuff you can forget to pack because it's right in the gift shop anyway. So if you are wondering if they have anything in particular later, just check the picture.

 More desert plants happily surviving in the much-less-harsh Florida terrain. Do they still need the thorns to scare away plant-predators?

 Hey! It's one of those Butterfly Sanctuary pit stops like the one we have in New Jersey! I wonder if any of the same butterflies came from way up there? That's a long way to fly on those tiny butterfly wings.

 Lillypads in the water. Looked really neat had to get a picture. Is this cool enough to get a picture of, or am I just getting too many pictures? Sometimes I wonder.

 I wandered around one night on my way back to the front desk to see if I could upgrade my final day's park ticket to a "Park Hopper" and found this extra pool. It was still chilly outside but it would have been nice and quiet over here.

 I think this was the "more expensive rooms" area, because they had much cooler architecture like this long lighted fountain.

 Exploring the tower and found the convention center. Looking down this hallway and seeing the giant room over there, it doesn't look like you can see that from the outside of the building. Is this some kind of Doctor Who tech going on? Where it's bigger on the inside? Or is the Doctor Who phone booth using... Disney technology?

 That was a big negative on the ticket upgrade. Since I bought them as a group, I would have had to upgrade the whole group, including the three days I already used. No big deal, I guess. Would have been nice to go back to the Galaxy's Edge for some more souvenirs but I already had a lot anyway. I got a night time stroll out of the failed quest, and a few nice pictures.