Pop or Coronado based solely on transportation to the parks and DS during Christmas and New Year periods?
Pop has a singular stop and does not share with other resorts.
Coronado has multiple stops but also does not share with others.
Pop is further out from most things
Coronado is more centrally located
But either way the bus will take you roughly 20 mins to get where you’re going (because of one stop vs multiple stops)
I’m so tempted to raise other pros and cons but you said purely based on buses and it’s kind of a toss-up for me based on that. So I would choose Coronado but only if GDT is the option. Otherwise I would save a bit of money and stay at Pop (provided it’s not more than 2 adults in the room)
Thank you. My concern was queuing for the Skyliner at both Pop and then CBR for early entry. Are there bus options from Pop to Epcot and HS or is the Skyliner the only option?
There are no entries on the extremely helpful google spread sheet about Coronado.
The main focus is early morning transportation but if you have time, I would be interested to read your pros and cons.
My bad
I was blurring your post with another one which was at a time when the Skyliner is closed for refurbishment
No buses to Epcot and HS from Pop under normal circumstances.
I’ll be back a bit later with my other pros and cons. Who is traveling with you?
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The group is three mid 20s adults.
Coronado. More spacious.
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Pop has the Skyliner but with caveats. It does not run if there is lightning in the area (I forget if it’s 6 or 10 miles), really high wind, or if there is a mechanical problem. Then they provide buses. But it can be a challenge to know where to head if the weather is iffy, since there’s no status on MDE.
TLDR: Coronado has the advantage of knowing it uses buses all the time. Pop is “it depends” for HS/EP.
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This was a complaint I made to Disney, particularly in the case of EPCOT, when you to to opposite ends of the park, depending on the state of the Skyliner. (We did a lot of needless walking because the Skyliner was down, but then back up while we were waiting for a bus to show up.) I asked that they provide the status in MDE directly. The response was, “That’s a good idea.” 
It is also worth noting that the Skyliner sometimes stops running at times for no good reason at all. We woke up three mornings at Pop with a message on the phone saying the Skyliner was having a delayed opening.
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I knew I’d read of someone’s bad experience with this at EP. Thanks for sharing the details.
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I’ve never stayed at Pop but I stayed at CSR last January and the room was very spacious compared to the All Star Music (which is about the same size as Pop). With more than 2 people I completely agree with the voice of reason @OBNurseNH , CSR is your only comfortable option. I didn’t even stay in the tower and the room was just fine for me. If you are young and able to get around there is nothing wrong with the non-tower rooms but I’d request Cabanas or Casitas to be closer to the tower and restaurants in Casitas. I really liked Casitas because Bus Stop 2 which is over in that area is the first stop. There were times we didn’t stop at all the stops (Bus Stop 1 at the Tower is the last stop) because we got full. So I honestly preferred Casitas because I knew I’d always make the next bus. I think the resort is gorgeous and I had no trouble rope dropping with the busses from Bus Stop 2.
Also Bus Stop 2 is the first one to get dropped off so if you are in Casitas you’re also the first back to your room 
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I second this. I stayed in the Cabanas very close to the Dig Site pool. But it was also fairly close to the tower, and (more importantly) pretty close to Three Bridges! I love CSR. It’s beautiful. I think I would always choose it over Pop.
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Agree
I stressed the GDT piece if it was otherwise a wash and OP was willing to splurge. Since it’s not a wash - you won’t be comfy at Pop with 3 adults in the room - any room at CSR will be preferred, GDT again if you can plus it up but not required.
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Staying at Coronado this December and from what I have read Gran Destino is the first stop and Ranchos is the last stop, arriving and departing. Pop has a great bus system going to the parks in the morning, but we always seem to have some issues leaving the parks at night getting to POP.
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Bus Stop 2 is first which is Casitas, Bus Stop 3 is second which is Ranchos, Bus Stop 4 is third which is Cabanas and Bus Stop 1 is last which is Gran Destino*. Unless they’ve changed it…that’s what it was when I was there. There were times we did not make it to Bus Stop 1 and we drove right past them because we were full.
*arriving and departing it was this order for us both ways. So you’re first on the bus and first off the bus if you’re at Bus Stop 2 in Casitas. I would even recommend hiking here in the mornings to make sure you make the next bus if you’re rope dropping.
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When I was there GDT had its own buses every morning. Empty buses arrived at the stop each morning, and did not stop before going to park
In the afternoons/evenings on the way back we stopped at multiple stops.
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Interesting, just curious when that was because it’s been January since I was there so deep in the pandemic and less crowded than now for sure.
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It was back in April so it has been a minute for sure.
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Based solely on transportation Pop for the ease of the skyliner to DHS and Epcot.
We just went through this decision making process, and with 4 adult-sized people, we chose Coronado. We’ve stayed there many times and the bus transportation is always pretty good for us.
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