Book Gran Destino at Coronado Springs for $199!

Disney Visa Credit Cardholders can now book the new Gran Destino Tower at the reimagined Coronado Springs Resort at a discounted rate of $199 per night for a water view room. This deal applies to Walt Disney World travel dates most nights from July 15 to September 28, 2019.

Gran Destino Tower literally just opened, and our assumption is that it has a surplus of occupancy for the summer, which is before the convention season begins in October. As Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort is increasingly a destination for conventions, we’d anticipate more deals like this (albeit probably not as attractive as this initial discount) at times when conventions aren’t occurring.

We just finished our first stay at Gran Destino. During that, we talked to several guests who had been upgraded to the tower, which lends some credence to this assumption. We’ll have a “First Impressions & Photos” post in the next couple days and a full review thereafter, but here are some preliminary thoughts if you’re on the fence about booking this Disney Visa Credit Card discount…

For starters, Gran Destino is not going to be for everyone, but you probably won’t know if it’s for you until you check it out. Think of it as being like one of the Disney Springs area third party tower resorts, but in a resort setting and offering more style.

Alternatively, it could be compared to Disney’s Contemporary Resort–minus the history, ideal location, and price point. (Ultimately, both are very imperfect comparisons–Gran Destino falls somewhere in the middle.)

We ended up liking Gran Destino far more than expected. I still have a bunch of qualms with it, but it exceeded my expectations. I figured it’d be a Marriott tower in a flashy-but-bland Vegas style, but it ended up being more visually restrained and engaging than that.

Gran Destino is still definitely not to my personal tastes when it comes to a resort (not hotel) at Walt Disney World, but it will appeal to more guests than just the disinterested in Disney convention crowd. If you want a consolidated hotel rather than a sprawling resort, some Deluxe-caliber amenities, and don’t particularly care about location (so long as you have access to on-site Walt Disney World perks), Gran Destino could be for you.

If it’s a hotel you want to give a try, there’s no better time than right now. We normally don’t comment on service in reviews on this blog (and won’t in our full Gran Destino review) since it can be so hit or miss, but every single Cast Member we encountered at Gran Destino was superlative. It was far and away the best resort experience we’ve had at a Walt Disney World hotel in years–not that we’ve had many negative ones; these Cast Members just went above and beyond.

We’d attribute that in large part to the newness of Gran Destino. We booked our stay for its second week of operations, and the Cast Members were all clearly enthusiastic to be working in this location. Once the ‘new hotel smell’ wears off, we’d likewise expect some of that to fade away.

If you do book Gran Destino, consider upgrading to the Club Level. We did this, and found the experience at Chronos Club to be exceptional.

Chronos Club is not the best lounge, but in terms of bang for buck (it’s by far the cheapest Club Level experience) it cannot be beat. Right now, the food and drinks are all shockingly good and ambitious, too.

This also might be attributable to Gran Destino being new, with a future degradation of quality once the tower settles in to regular operations.

It’s also possible that the more demanding convention demographic of the tower will keep things at this high level. There’s no sense in saving a few dollars on lounge food if it costs Walt Disney World highly lucrative convention business.

We’re starting to veer into ‘full review’ territory, but my overarching point is that there’s no better time to book a stay at Gran Destino Tower if it’s potentially something that interests you. This deal can be booked yourself by calling Disney Visa or requesting a quote from our recommended Authorized Disney Vacation Planner to have them do the work for you; the deposit must be paid for with a Disney Visa card.

While the bold ‘pitch’ of the discount is water view rooms for $199/night, this is actually an up to 35% off discount that can be applied to any rooms at Gran Destino. I haven’t seen this mentioned anywhere, but I know this because we booked a standard view room (for $180/night).

In addition, there are a handful of other hotel specials available for Disney Visa cardholders at Walt Disney World. Apparently, these are not new, but they’re “new to me.” You can save up to 35% off Animal Kingdom Lodge or Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, up to 20% off Port Orleans Riverside, and up to 25% off All-Star Sports or Art of Animation Resort.

Each of these discounts is about 5% better than the NEW Fall & Christmas 2019 Room Discounts at Walt Disney World that were released yesterday. It’s nice to see Disney Visa cardholders receive some worthwhile, exclusive discounts in the last couple of years–glad we didn’t cancel our credit card!

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

Your Thoughts

Will you take advantage of this deal on Gran Destino, or does this hotel not interest you? Do you view this as a fair price for Gran Destino, or is it still too high of a rate for a Moderate Resort? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!

26 Responses to “Book Gran Destino at Coronado Springs for $199!”
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