We just decided yesterday to go to the tournament, but the hotel is all booked (both regular and chess rate rooms). Does anyone have a room they no longer need at the Coronado Springs for 12/12-12/15 or any nights during that time?
My recommendation is (under circumstances – no rooms available at any rate) that you book a room at a “regular” hotel nearby and rent a car to get on site. There are plenty of Marriott’s in 10-15 minutes drive proximity.
Two years ago my son participated in the tournament and we stayed on-site. I like to support US Chess and tournament organizers and typically stay on-sites if rooms are available. However, in that particular case, I would rather stay off-site and get a car (or used uber). Room charges were way over what we typically like to pay, breakfast not included (food choices and prices on-site were reasonable though). Most annoying was that is a huge resort and we were given room at the most remote place of it. With so many people, it also took over 1 hour to get checked in. Our travel to tournament hall (or to get a breakfast) was 10-12 minutes and it made little sense to get back to the room between the rounds. Overall experience was not bad, but I am strongly considering to stay off-site if my son to participate again. One bright spot (that was cool) was that you can take a bus from the premises to visit Disney parks and you are given Disney bracelet to pay for things on resort premises and parks (if you go)
A few suggestions. First suggestion is to use the overflow hotel, which is listed on the Grades webpage. It is 10 min away, and a 4 mile drive or uber. Second suggestion is to call the Coronado on a regular basis and check for cancellations. Finally, can split this up and stay at overflow until Saturday, and move mid-tournament to Coronado.
In 2008 the blitz 7-12 first U800 trophy was won by the third (of three) U800 players (the other two took a U1200 and a U1000 trophy). If you get in early enough to play in the blitz then even a lower-rated player that finds it challenging may still end up finding it rewarding.