Review of Gran Destino Tower at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort: Feels Like a Deluxe Resort at a Moderate Price

Review of Gran Destino Tower at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort: Feels Like a Deluxe Resort at a Moderate Price

Everyone in our family (my husband, son and I) is born within ten days of each other. So, when we were planning our birthday celebrations for this year, I wanted to stay somewhere on property that I had never stayed at before. I had actually never stayed at a moderate resort before, only either value (because I’m just there to have somewhere to rest my head and to take advantage of extra magic hours) or deluxe resorts (because I planned to spend the majority of my time relaxing at and enjoying the resort).

This time, because I was about eight months pregnant, I wanted to stay somewhere nice because I didn’t think I’d be able to handle walking at the parks for too long, but I also didn’t want to spend a crazy amount of money. For about the same price, I was considering either a princess room at Port Orleans Riverside Resort or one of the water view rooms at the new Gran Destino Tower at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort. I knew with a baby boy and another boy on the way, my chances of getting a princess room in the future would be pretty low. They’re probably going to be more interested in getting a pirate room when they’re old enough to voice their own opinions. However, I also liked the idea of staying at the newest resort on property (it was about a week before the Riviera Resort opened). Ultimately, I opted for the Gran Destino Tower because of the appeal of staying somewhere brand new, and I’m very glad I did.

The Lobby

Gran Destino Tower main lobby at Christmastime

Immediately upon parking and walking into the lobby, it took my breath away. It was Christmastime, so there was a huge Christmas tree in the middle, and the walls were glowing with red and green lights. The atmosphere and everything about this resort was gorgeous. I absolutely loved the décor. It reminded me a lot of when my husband and I traveled across Spain with touches inspired by Spanish artists Antoni Gaudí and Salvador Dalí.

Gran Destino Tower side lobby

In fact, Dalí and Walt Disney were actually good friends and started collaborating on a film together, Destino. This film wasn’t actually finished until 2003, but it served as inspiration for the name of this tower, and it could be found playing on screens by the check-in and concierge desks.

Side note: They also had infused water available for free next to the concierge desks, which was yummy and refreshing after coming in from walking around the parks all morning.

The Room

Gran Destino Tower water view room

We had a water view on the ninth floor, and it was gorgeous. Not only could we see the lake and pool of the resort, but we also had a pretty good view of Expedition Everest, Pandora: The World of Avatar, and the Tree of Life from Animal Kingdom.

Gran Destino Tower water view

The room itself was just as nice as any deluxe resort room I had stayed in before (except maybe the three-bedroom treehouse I stayed in at Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House). There was plenty of storage space for our luggage, and I appreciated the complimentary tea and coffee with the little Keurig and condiments. It was roomy, the beds were comfortable, and the linens and pillows were very soft. Plus, I loved the Mickey head made out of towels that Mousekeeping left on one of our two queen beds.

Gran Destino Tower Mickey towel animal

The room also featured a smart TV that welcomed us with our family name on it. We could not only watch regular TV and Disney+, but we could also use the TV to check the weather, look at our PhotoPass pictures, see what the resort and parks had to offer, and even connect our phones.

Gran Destino Tower bathroom shower

The bathroom was really nice as well with a waterfall shower, two sinks and a separate little room for the toilet. The theming overall was beautiful. It’s absolutely worth the price — I think our annual passholder discount brought it down to about $190/night, which is hundreds of dollars less than what we would pay for a similar room at a “deluxe” resort and not that much more than what we had paid to stay at All Star Movies just a couple months earlier. I would say our room was significantly nicer than an All Star resort and honestly not any worse than rooms I’ve stayed in at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort (with a Magic Kingdom view) or Wilderness Lodge Resort. I’ll still give Animal Kingdom Lodge the edge when it comes to views overall if you can get a Savannah View.

Dining at Toledo: Tapas, Steak & Seafood

We had 9 p.m. reservations at Toledo on the top floor of Gran Destino Tower, and we showed up about 20 minutes early to request a fireworks view. Because we were so early, we stopped into Dahlia Lounge to hang out while we waited for our table. My husband ordered a beer, but before he even got it, our table was ready. I didn’t get to see a lot of Dahlia lounge, but what I did see looked very nice. I was pregnant at the time, so I unfortunately didn’t get to taste any of the drinks.

Gran Destino Tower Toledo restaurant

The restaurant itself was beautiful with a stained glass arched ceiling and filled with trees down the center and bottles of wine along one side. We were seated on the window side and were treated to a fantastic view of the Hollywood Studios fireworks. We saw both Fantasmic and the Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular fireworks. This view alone was worth coming to the restaurant. I’m sure it would be beautiful to go during the day too, but I didn’t get to see it while it was light outside.

Toledo Tronchon Cheese Gratinado

For an appetizer, we ordered the Tronchón Cheese Gratinado off the tapas menu, which was cheese melted over crunchy bread topped with nuts, tupelo honey and lavender. I absolutely loved it — definitely the star of our meal.

Toledo Gran Destino Tower Hangar Steak

My husband ordered the Hangar Steak because he was told it had more meat than the Manhatten Filet. To be honest, while it did taste good, it wasn’t enough food for him and was still pretty small. I’d hate to see how small the filet was. At least we had ordered some Bravas Potatoes on the side, and those were very yummy.

Toledo scallops Gran Destino Tower

I ordered the scallops, which were plenty for me, and I liked it a lot. My favorite part was the harissa vinaigrette. If you’re trying to decide between the steak and the scallops, I thought the scallops were certainly more flavorful, but if you’re really hungry, you’re going to need to get a side or appetizer in addition to either of these entrees.

Toledo Gran Destino Tower birthday dessert peppermint bark

Because it was our birthdays, they brought us a complimentary chocolate-peppermint bark for dessert. Again, if you’re hungry, you’re probably going to want to order another dessert because it was pretty small. But the cheesy appetizer and potatoes on the side were enough to help fill our bellies, so we didn’t get any extra desserts. It was tasty, but I wouldn’t say it’s the best Disney sweet treat I’ve ever had by any means. Now that Christmas is over, I’m sure there’s a different dessert that they offer anyway.

Overall, I’d say Toledo was a bit overpriced for the small portions, but I loved the view of the fireworks, and the food (especially that appetizer) was delicious. I’d like to go back to Dahlia Lounge after I have the baby to taste some of the drinks and maybe order a different dessert too.

High Tea at the Grand Floridian

High Tea at the Grand Floridian

First off, do resorts get any prettier than Disney World’s Grand Floridian? I mean, come on! Gorgeous! My sister and I absolutely love high tea. We grew up going all the time with our grandparents on cruises, so of course I had to take her to try out the high tea at the Grand Floridian in the Garden View Tea Room for her 19th birthday. It did not disappoint.

High tea at the Grand Floridian

You do need to book this in advance because times for high tea at the Grand Floridian do fill up. Both my sister are huge fans of the book Pride and Prejudice. So of course I had to get the Derbyshire Tea package, just because Mr. Darcy owns half of Derbyshire. However, I pronounced it like they do in the movie, but our waiter pronounced it phonetically. I was a little put off by that. Maybe I’m just a snob — ha!

Grand Floridian champagne

The Derbyshire Tea package was $45 and included various finger sandwiches, cheeses, fruits, a scone, a tart and my choice of dessert and tea (duh). It also included a glass of Veuve Clicquot, which happens to be my favorite champagne. (We had it for the toast at my wedding.) Because she’s not 21 yet, my sister opted for the Bedfordshire Tea package, which is $30 and is essentially the same exact thing as the Derbyshire Tea package, just without the champagne. A $15 upcharge to include a glass of Veuve didn’t seem like that bad of a deal when you consider how expensive a bottle is.

Grand Floridian high tea

For the teas, my sister got the Earl Grey, which the server warned tasted more like licorice than regular Earl Grey. My sister didn’t seem to notice the licorice though. I opted for the nutty chocolate tea because it sounded like it was going to taste like Nutella. While it was good, it wasn’t Nutella good. Then again, few things are.

Grand Floridian high tea sandwiches

The sandwiches they brought out were all very good. In order of how I liked them, there was a curry chicken sandwich, a golden beet and goat cheese sandwich, a cucumber and cream cheese sandwich, and an egg salad sandwich. This actually surprised me because cucumber and cream cheese and egg salad are usually my two favorite kinds of sandwiches. However, I wasn’t huge on the bread they paired with the cucumber, and the egg salad had a bit too many chives. Overall, they were all yummy, especially that curry chicken one. The scones came with butter, apricot jam and lemon crème. The lemon crème was definitely my favorite. It was delicious!

For dessert, my sister chose the strawberries and cream—so beautiful! It came with a sprinkle of red sugar in the Grand Floridian logo, and she said it tasted as good as it looked. I got the assorted pastries, which included two macaroons (love!), a chocolate-dipped strawberry and a puff pastry in the shape of a swan, filled with a strawberry cream. Amazing!

Briar roses

Everything was absolutely delicious and well worth the price. Plus, they even gave us each a rose at the end of tea. A Briar Rose, get it? (If you don’t get it, you’re not a true Disney fan.) We were so full from this (our reservations were for 4:15) that we didn’t even notice that we didn’t eat dinner before the fireworks at the end of the night. I highly recommend afternoon tea in the Grand Floridian’s Garden View Tea Room!

Animal Kingdom Penthouse

Animal Kingdom Penthouse

One of the coolest experiences I ever had at Walt Disney World was when my family got upgraded from a one-bedroom suite at Animal Kingdom’s Kidani Village to the two-story, three-bedroom penthouse with two living rooms, a dining room, a kitchen and four bathrooms. I wouldn’t even call it a hotel room. It was bigger than my house. And let’s not forget about the view. I think we saw more animals from our three balconies at Kidani Village than we did at Kilimanjaro Safari at Animal Kingdom. Want a peek at what the penthouse at Animal Kingdom’s Kidani Village looks like? Check out these photos.

Animal Kingdom Living Room

This is the living room on the first floor. You can see the dining area and kitchen in the background as well.

Animal Kingdom room

Here is one of the three bedrooms. I wish I took more photos so you could see all the beautiful details, but of course at the time I didn’t know I was going to have a Disney blog, haha.

Animal Kingdom Kidani Village

While my mom relaxed, I couldn’t stop checking out the view.

Animal Kingdom view

And this is why. Look at all those zebras and giraffes! They fed the animals right outside our window.

Animal Kingdom balcony

My brother, husband and I were all so excited about our upgrade.

Animal Kingdom breakfast

We had enough space for eight of us. In the morning, we had room service delivered, and it was actually really reasonable and not expensive at all. I think it wound up being around $15 each, including tons of food, juice and coffee, all served by a private butler who set the table and made extra pots of coffee in the kitchen. She was really great and super friendly.

Animal Kingdom dining room

Animal Kingdom kitchen

Check out some more photos from our three-bedroom villa at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village.

Animal Kingdom bathroom

This is one of the four full bathrooms.

Animal Kingdom staircase

Here’s the staircase to the second floor.

Animal Kingdom landing

When you walked up the stairs, this was the landing.

Animal Kingdom couch

View of the living room from the second floor.

Afrique

One of the beautiful pieces of art.

Animal Kingdom Lodge view

Animal Kingdom chair

View from Animal Kingdom Penthouse