It’s finally time to step inside Gran Destino Tower, the newest addition to Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort! We’ve been anticipating the opening of this massive tower since the project was announced over two years ago!

In this post, we’ll take you on a photo tour through the lobby and main public areas as well as through the tower resort rooms! Note that we’ll be doing full photo tours and reviews of all the restaurants and other public spaces as well, so stay tuned! You can always return to our “LIVE” post to see more photos and get links to the other full photo tours! OK, here we go!

Gran Destino Tower Exterior

When barricades came down recently, guests and visitors strolling the resort got a look at the exterior of the new Tower. This includes landscaping that makes use of palm trees and grasses, driving home the tropical feel of the Resort.

The Tower’s exterior design elements merge natural colors with metal accents. Shades of brown and ochre are in keeping with the look of buildings throughout the Resort, so while the Tower certainly stands out for its sheer size, it does blend in terms of colors and tone.

But we’ve been looking at the exterior of the 545-room Tower for years (really!), so let’s go INSIDE Gran Destino Tower for the very first time!

Gran Destino Tower Lobby

The Gran Destino Tower lobby will be the main check-in area for all of Coronado Springs Resort beginning July 9.

The lobby area is truly exquisite, with rich wood and metal accents playing on a largely light and airy, marble-feel foundation.

The front desk area and concierge are anchored with marble desks studded with down-lit wood-style decorative tile. The backdrops are bright and sophisticated.

There’s a small area for the kiddos to wait while you’re checking in. It consists of small stools, a table, and videos!

The main lobby is on a higher floor than Barcelona Lounge. You’ll check in on this floor, then descend down to the lobby bar and lounge area if you want to check it out. This separation is nice for the families checking in so they’re not wading through a lively bar crowd during their first experience at the resort.

Barcelona Lounge and an exit to Lago Dorado are on the ground floor below.

The elevator area is clean and smartly decorated with Spanish accents and strong carpet colors and designs.

Note that this elevator system is a lot like the one you’ll encounter at Disneyland’s Paradise Pier Resort!

You select your floor, and then the elevator tells you where to board.

Gran Destino Tower Rooms & Suites

Gran Destino Tower boasts 545 rooms, 50 of which are suites. And while Coronado Springs Resort as a whole is known for catering to convention guests, Gran Destino Tower’s rooms and suites are absolutely kitted out for the business traveler. 

When entering the room, a sliding barn door conceals the entrance to the bathroom. It’s wood and metal details are in keeping with the Spanish modern design. This is the basic layout for Disney’s Contemporary Resort rooms, and don’t mimic Coronado Springs’ original rooms with a vanity area outside of the actual bathroom. This gives the rooms a more deluxe feel already.

Note that we’re not seeing a LOT of hidden Mickey touches in these rooms, but your sliding door may have a friendly face…

The large stand-up shower is on your right as you step into the bathroom, where tile is used on floors and walls.

Note that there is no bathtub in these rooms. This is a direction Disney World has been going recently with its room renovations. It’s a little upsetting for families with small children who really do depend on those bathtubs to wash the little ones. But for business travelers, this is preferable most of the time.

Disney’s committed to reducing plastic waste across its resorts and parks, and these refillable amenities are one of the main outcomes of that commitment. While you won’t see these used yet in most deluxe resorts, you do see them here in Gran Destino Tower and in other moderate and value resort hotels in Disney World.

There are two sets of these hooks in the main bathroom — one next to the shower and the other near the water closet.

Note, too, that there are four outlets — two on either side of the double vanity.

The double vanity consists of two separate sinks, granite countertops, Moorish-style tile backsplash, and a large mirror. As is the case at Contemporary Resort as well, there is PRECIOUS little counter space here. So families who are used to taking up plenty of space with their toiletries will need to downsize.

But storage beneath the sinks is generous. This is also where you’ll find the Conair hair dryer.

Lighting in the bathroom isn’t great for pics, but it’s good for getting ready to conquer the World! Lighting is embedded in the frame around the mirror.

And an adjustable magnifying make-up mirror is also lighted.

H20+ products are available (not pictured: Sea Salt bar soap).

The water closet is accessible to the left of the entrance via a space-saving pocket door.

There are two towel racks inside the WC, loaded with towels for your stay.

And in case you were wondering, Coronado is an over-the-roll establishment. 😉

Artwork over the commode classes things up.

Back in the bedroom and living space, the name of the game is warm wood tones. A large armoire stands to the right, adjacent to a desk space.

Guests will find the Coronado Springs dry cleaning service order form as well as a plastic, standard-issue laundry bag inside the closet.

An ironing board and safe are located inside the closet as well.

You’ll find the iron has its own little house!

And extra pillows and blankets are available if needed.

A small bench or luggage rest fills the space between the closet and the desk.

And here’s another area where we find the rooms focused on the business traveler: instead of a standard bureau, you’ll find this long desk console.

A mini-fridge is concealed behind one cabinet door, and above that a Keurig coffee maker with pods, an ice bucket, and glasses (mugs, paper cups with lids, and drinking glasses) are available. There are a couple of drawers for clothing in the console.

The desk space beyond those conveniences is generous. A tiny (like seriously tiny) table lamp provides some task lighting. The lamp has two plugs and two USB ports.

The desk chair features lovely upholstery, but it’s not designed for comfort… .

You’ll find informational pamphlets and the in-room dining menu on the desk.

In-Room Dining menu options vary a bit from what’s available in the Tower. At present, only Barcelona Lounge offers breakfast items, all grab-and-go. In-Room Dining offers a little of everything: Overnight Oats, an American Breakfast, Smoked Salmon Toast, and more.

Dinner Menu options are distinct from the Tower’s restaurants and lounges, too. Items like a Grilled Chicken Sandwich and kids’ Chicken Tenders aren’t found elsewhere in the Tower. In fact, dining for kids is a little limited in the Tower, and this may be the only way to save yourself a walk (albeit short) to El Mercado.

Beverages available via In-Room Dining include non-alcoholic options like coffee, iced tea, and soda. Beer and Cider, packaged single-serve Wine and Cocktails and Spirits By The Bottle are available, too.

Above the desk, a personalized smart TV plays background music (elevator music, basically, but curiously not Disney music). Note that the TV is personalized with your family’s name on it.

You can also connect your devices and magic bands so that you can view photopass pictures on your room TV.

By the end of the year, the interactive screens will be in all Coronado Springs Resort rooms, but for now they’re exclusive to the tower. When you connect your device, you can stream from ipods and use Hulu for streaming.

Note that Elsa can even read you a bedtime story!

Just past the desk is a small sitting area with a lovely burnt orange armchair and a small side table with a lamp.

A large picture window with sheer and opaque curtains covers the exterior wall. But if you’ve got 11th floor views, throw those curtains open!

In this view, you can see Three Bridges lounge and restaurant there in the middle of the lake. To your immediate left is El Centro, where the resort’s former lobby was located, and where you’ll find the counter service location. (You can also see Expedition Everest!)

To the right, you’ll see the resort’s main Dig Site pool and the Cabanas room village.

The curtains feature this pattern, a mix of neutrals and burnt orange. These are prettier from afar. 😉

The queen size platform beds in Gran Destino feature a patterned white covering and four pillows.

Interestingly, I’ve seen some duvet covers with Mickeys on them in other resort rooms, so it really does look like Gran Destino is de-disneyfying these rooms considerably.

The headboards are truly works of art, with carved wood and padded orange accents.

Ambient lighting is embedded in the top of the wooden headboard (controlled by a switch near the side table).

A surprising feature: the beds have built-in reading lamps! No more waking everyone else up when you just. can’t. sleep. because DISNEY!

The shared side table features a large lamp, a phone, and other typical room essentials. Note that this lamp has two plugs AND two USB ports for nighttime (or naptime) charging.

Don’t forget the room’s best feature, though. In this shot out the window, you can see the resort’s main Dig Site pool area.

Also note that there’s a full-length mirror… sort of. It’s on this wall and blocked a bit by the bed, so you’ll have to get creative for that outfit check.

And in case you were wondering, it’s 72 degrees fahrenheit. 😉 But you have full control of your room’s temperature through this device.

Gran Destino Tower Dining

Dining at Gran Destino Tower brings three new establishments for eating and drinking: Toledo — Tapas, Steak, & Seafood is the Tower’s rooftop restaurant, Dahlia Lounge sits adjacent to Toledo on the rooftop, and Barcelona Lounge serves a dual purpose in the Tower’s lobby.

We’re bringing you inside each of these dining locations today! Click on over to our We’re LIVE from Gran Destino Tower post where we’ll link up all of our posts — including food and first looks at each dining locale!

Follow along as we go LIVE to explore everything Gran Destino Tower has to offer!

What are you most excited to explore at Gran Destino Tower? Let us know in the comments! 

Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited to a media preview of Gran Destino Tower. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ