A Visit to El Centro at Disney’s Coronado Springs

We’ll start with a view of El Centro from across the lake. The entire area comprises the resort’s lobby, quick service food court, and gift shop. If you’ve been following along, we discussed the best and worst room locations at Disney’s Coronado Springs. Proximity to this central hub will be the deciding factor for some when upgrading to or requesting specific areas.

Here is the main entrance on the resort side.

For the sake of this article, we’ll jump to the front of the resort and check out the main entrance. Longtime fans of Coronado Springs will likely look at the photo below and reminisce about the days of the former Magical Express. This is where the magical bus service would drop you off on your first day, and tragically pick you up to return to the airport on your last day. This area was always bustling back then.

We’ll turn around and walk properly back inside the resort’s front entrance.

Mainly, because I wanted to tell you about a hidden Mickey that a cast member pointed out to me. When you’re walking into the resort, if you look to the door on your left, you’ll find him.

He’s on a decorative button toward the top of the door. I can’t help but wonder who had the idea to put him there.

We’ll continue inside, where we’re greeted by the pineapple fountain. It’s reminiscent of the fountain at Old Port Royale at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort.

To our right, we see the resort’s lobby area. You’ll find a couple of casual seating areas and plenty of workspaces with charging stations for your electronic devices. You can also see a substantial hidden Mickey in the photo below.

He’s in the form of a projection that lights up the resort’s coat of arms. I cannot tell you how many times I visited Coronado Springs before learning about this “in plain sight” hidden Mickey. Once you see him, you can’t not see him.

This area was formerly where you checked in for your stay. Of course, these days, most guests bypass check-in and head directly to their rooms thanks to Disney’s Direct-to-Room offering.

If you need assistance, you might find a cast member in this area, or you can continue down the adjoining hall to Gran Destino Tower.

This hallway is a huge asset for guests who are staying in the tower. It allows them to pass between the hotel and El Centro. All of the other villages require an outdoor walk to reach El Centro. If you’re curious, we discuss the walking distances from each village at Coronado Springs in a separate article.

Here are a few more photos of the lobby area at El Centro. We’ll have a look at the Gran Destino Tower lobby in a separate article. It’s vastly different, but as a guest of the resort, you can access either.

On the opposite side of the main entrance fountain, we run into Panchito’s, the gift shop at Disney’s Coronado Springs.

A statue of Panchito Pistoles appears to be serenading the fountain. He is one of The Three Caballeros.

We always like to browse Panchitos and check out the resort-branded merchandise.

A long hall extends down the opposite side of El Centro, leading to the resort’s Convention Center and restaurants.

The star-shaped light fixtures make for a pretty effect.

Cafe Rix is immediately on the left. This is one of the many places to order a cup of specialty coffee at Coronado Springs.

Past Cafe Rix, you can stay straight or take a perpendicular left turn. Once you turn, you’ll see Rix Sports Bar and Grill on the left, and El Mercado is on the right. Cafe Rix is a place we consider a hidden gem. They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and have some very quality and reasonable menu items.

Straight ahead, you’ll see the subtle entrance to the resort’s Convention Center. I say subtle because the convention hall is massive, but you would never know it unless you passed through those doors.

Back to the main hall, we continue to the entrance of El Mercado, the resort’s quick service food court.

At the end of the hall, you’ll run into Maya Grill, a table service Mexican restaurant, just before the exit.

Back outside, you’ll find a variety of tables and chairs around the El Centro area.

The view faces the lake. Three Bridges Bar and Grill sits in the center.

Laguna Bar is also in this area. They serve a variety of margaritas and other beverages.

Throughout a week’s vacation, you’ll likely visit El Centro multiple times. I hope this photo walk-through helped put things into perspective.

Final Thoughts

We enjoy staying at Coronado Springs and find that it often feels more like a deluxe resort than the other moderate category resorts. For more on the resort, you might enjoy the following:

• The Dig Site at Coronado Springs (Photos + What to Expect)
• Disney’s Coronado Springs vs. Disney’s Caribbean Beach (A Resort Comparison)
• Getting To and From Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort (A Mini Pocket Guide)
• Photos: Coronado Springs Standard Room

Or you might enjoy our entire guide to Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort.

More Planning

Resorts Gal specializes in Disney World Resorts, Characters, and Dining. Explore our resources, including our Disney World Resorts Guide. It provides an overview of everything you need to know about the Disney Resort Hotels. For dining, our Disney World Dining Guide is an excellent place to start. Our Disney World Transportation Guide is a wonderful resource for planning your routes. It’s one of our most popular resources. If you plan to meet characters in the parks, we have an updated list of Disney World Characters. It includes every available character meet-and-greet in the parks and where to find rare characters throughout the year. Lastly, our Disney Parks Guide provides a complete overview of all four theme parks and water parks.