March Break at CR – with stops at Poly, GF, WL, BW, BC, YC, MK, Epcot, HS, DD, and TL - Page 2 - The DIS Discussion Forums

JanetMom · 03-22-2010, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tinkgurl

Hi! When in March were you there? We just got home from our 14th to the 20th trip. I'd love to see if I ended up in any of your pictures!

We were there from March 13-20, so I'd say it is highly likely you are in our shots.

After all, there weren't too many other people there then.

Keep your eyes open and let me know if I have caught you on camera.

tinkgurl · 03-22-2010, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JanetMom

We were there from March 13-20, so I'd say it is highly likely you are in our shots.

After all, there weren't too many other people there then.

Keep your eyes open and let me know if I have caught you on camera.

Okay!

JanetMom · 03-22-2010, 08:49 PM

Additional fact from day 1 – When talking about LTT, I forgot to mention that they do not serve alcohol, so you cannot get beer or wine with dinner. (You understand why that is a point of note, when we get to Day 5 – also known as “flight day”

)

Day 2 – the far too long day

Our second day began with a wakeup call so that we could make it to the Kona Café for breakfast. I’m good at scheduling our ADRs but less good at matching them up to our travel fatigue or extra magic hours. Given that we were still tired from travelling it would have been much nicer to sleep in on our second day. We also came to realize that we should attempt the extra magic hours from 11:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m. that evening, since the park crowds were fairly heavy.

By the way, the darn spring forward time change happened during the night – I think it is a complete rip-off to have one hour of Disney time snatched away by a time change! (And it contributed to our being tired.)

Back to our day, we began by taking the monorail over to the Polynesian. We find on our Disney trips that we get really tired of the Disney food by the end of the week. (I’m convinced there is only one Disney kitchen buried deep underground with the same food going by long conveyer belts to every restaurant, it just gets some special flavouring if the restaurant theme dictates it.) We decided the best way to add variety to our food, escape the park crowds, and see some new places, was to book our ADRs all over WDW, covering as many different resorts as possible, so that is why we went to the Poly (and many other places.)

Mural shot on the way to the monorail

Once at the Poly we went straight to the Kona Café to get us some of the famous Tonga Toast. It was so good and lived up to its reputation. I booked the Kona early in our trip in case we wanted a second helping of Tonga Toast on another day. While the Tonga Toast was good, it is just too much for us and we did not book a second Kona breakfast.

After breakfast we wandered around the Poly grounds and took pictures of the beautiful views from the beach.

After Poly the plan was to go to Magic Kingdom, but since we were going to go there in the evening we changed our plans to Epcot. On our way back to the main lodge to find the monorail, we wound up on the path directly to the TTC. The TTC is very close to the Poly, so no need to take the resort monorail and transfer.

Incoming Epcot monorail at the TTC

Once at Epcot it was straight to Soarin’ to grab some Fast Passes. Then to fill the time we went to Mission Space which I rode with my son – the Green version! When we did Mission Space back in the crazy pre-calm version days, my husband and I were sick for the rest of the day. My son, of course, loved it. So, the deal was I would ride Mission Space, but only the Green version. My husband sat the ride out.

Random garden shot

Next we went on Test Track. I love this ride, but hate the line. I find it very stressful listening to all the banging and loud noises coming from the speakers. After Test Track it was back to the nice and short Fast Pass Soarin’ line.

Now it was time for lunch. We didn’t have an ADR, but we decided to try to get into the Rose and Crown. Here in Toronto we are regulars at a pub called “The Rose and Crown”, so we always like to go there in Disney - it makes us feel at home. Even though we didn’t have an ADR, we were seated within 10 minutes with a great table overlooking the Showcase Lagoon. We had a nice meal and my husband took home a souvenir beer glass.

The view from our table

Given that we were planning on a late night we decided to take it easy and head back to the hotel. On the way out we took some more pictures, bought some pins (St. Patrick’s Day Mickey head, Jack Skellington on a running shoe, and another Jack Skellington.) Of course, on the way out we did have to walk by Canada and couldn’t resist a family shot. Thankfully some nice stranger (maybe it was you tinkgurl) was kind enough to take our picture, which we paid forward by taking the next family’s shot (maybe that was your family tinkgurl.)

Lion King garden shots

The sphere (I miss the Mickey hand sign for Epcot which was no longer beside the sphere

)

Once we arrived at the hotel, it was back to the balcony to take more pictures (this looks the same as day 1, but it is a different day

)

That’s all for tonight, Day 2 will be continued later in the week.

tinkgurl · 03-22-2010, 10:10 PM

Aw darn it. Nope that wasn't us! This was March 14? We were at MK this day/night.

You'll have to head over to my TR sometime so you can see if you made it into any of my pics too!

thechesters420 · 03-23-2010, 09:26 AM

love love love your pics! Great update again!

JanetMom · 03-24-2010, 07:14 PM

Day 2 – continued

Since we were back at the hotel and no one wanted to take a nap we decided to head down to the pool. My son and I enjoyed a swim and my husband enjoyed some margaritas (I enjoyed one too!). Then we gave my son the arcade coupon. We told him he absolutely wasn’t getting any money from us for the arcade. If he wanted more than the free points he would have to buy his own points, so after the free points ran out, he spent some of his own money and enjoyed more time in the arcade. After that, all of our resolve flew out the window and we gave him more arcade money so that we could play Skee Ball. It is so addicting. I think we spent $30-40 in the arcade over the week.

Next we were off to supper. We were so excited to have a reservation at Artist Point. I was nervous about going to WL because we have stayed there on the past two trips and absolutely love it. We love the boat rides, so we were quite happy to get on a boat to WL.

View of CR from the boat

View of WL as the boat gets close

I gotta admit it, it felt so good to be back at The Lodge. As much as we loved the CR, it really isn’t a relaxing hotel. The room was relaxing, the balcony was relaxing and the beds were way beyond relaxing, but the CR lobby and concourse are always such a buzz of activity that they just don’t feel relaxing. Once we arrived in the lobby of the WL we were so happy to have 30 minutes until our reservation. We simply plunked ourselves down in a couple of comfy lobby chairs and relaxed. The lobby of the WL is just incredible.

WL totem

Supper at WL was fine. It wasn’t spectacular but we enjoyed it anyway. If it wasn’t the most expensive restaurant we went to I would say it was amazing, but considering it was so much more expensive than the other restaurants we went to, I would only say it was fine.

After dinner we were happily heading to the boat dock to take a boat over to the Magic Kingdom.

The rabbits at WL are so tame. This shot is taken with a regular lens. I was only a metre away from this rabbit.

Next came a crushing disappointment… The winds were so strong that they stopped the boats! We couldn’t take a boat to the MK!! So we headed to the bus stop with everyone else. The line for the MK was really long, so when a bus pulled up headed for the CR we jumped on and went to the CR, and then decided to take the monorail, to conserve energy for the extra magic hours.

The sunset was so pretty through the concourse windows

Incoming monorail

Our first stop at the MK was Space Mountain, but the line was way out the door so we decided to give it a miss and come back later in the evening. So we went on the People Mover, Buzz Lightyear and caught the Monsters Inc. Laugh show.

Buzz action shot

After we covered Tomorrowland to our satisfaction we decided to head over to the Haunted Mansion and saw some of the fireworks along the way.

After Haunted Mansion the extra magic hours were just about to start and we ran out of energy. We just didn’t have it in us to stay in the park until 2:00 a.m. so we decided to head back to the hotel. I took some time to take pictures of the castle on the way out – I really love how the castle looks when it is all lit up.

Back at the hotel we were all thirsty, but sadly it was so late that the lounge was empty. So I went down to the Contempo Café and bought some drinks.

That’s all for day 2 – next up Hollywood Studios

thechesters420 · 03-25-2010, 07:14 AM

I had no idea they shut the boats down because of high winds!

JanetMom · 03-25-2010, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thechesters420

I had no idea they shut the boats down because of high winds!

There may be other reasons, but I'm guessing at least one reason is that shallow channel they have to cross to get from WL to MK. That at the fact that the boats could easily get tossed around.

It makes sense when you think about it, but I too had no idea and we were really disappointed when we couldn't take a boat!

Señor DonDuck · 03-25-2010, 10:36 AM

Sorry to hear no boat ride back. I was also unaware that can happen. Safety first, I guess.

Great action shot on Buzz. Also love the shots of resorts.

tinkgurl · 03-25-2010, 10:52 AM

I couldn't believe the high winds! They were crazy!

ixmnrs · 03-25-2010, 12:14 PM

Subscribing. Great report so far, I always like to get other Canadian perspectives on WDW.

I do have one gripe about that arcade though... that coupon in the MYW package is worth about 2 dollars and maybe 2-3 games... I can't believe how cheap Disney can be with these package 'perks'. I still haven't gotten over the 1 game of minigolf for 1 member of the group as opposed to the whole party before.

It looks like you guys had better weather than we did the week before. I hope you had an awesome remainder of your trip and look forward to reading more.

Disneylvr · 03-25-2010, 12:22 PM

We were there March 14-22nd so I am looking for us in your pictures too! Haven't had the time to start our own trip report yet but we were at Epcot on the 14th too! We stayed at CBR but had breakfast at Chef Mickey's on the 19th and visited the Polynesian 3 times (Kona Cafe, fireworks, electrical water pageant...). Enjoying your report!

JanetMom · 03-25-2010, 05:36 PM

This just in...

Today I found out that I am going to a conference in May at ... Coronado Springs. I get to go back to Walt Disney World!

Yeah!!

It does feel wrong to have to work while at WDW, but hey at least I'll be there.

TinyDancer · 03-25-2010, 06:34 PM

Love your pics!!

heaven2dc · 03-25-2010, 08:33 PM

Truly enjoying our TR! You really lucked out on your view - how great to be lying on your bed and see MK at night

I wish my boss would send me to WDW for a conference - hope you have fun!

03-22-2010, 08:49 PM	#18
JanetMom DIS Veteran Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,122	Additional fact from day 1 – When talking about LTT, I forgot to mention that they do not serve alcohol, so you cannot get beer or wine with dinner. (You understand why that is a point of note, when we get to Day 5 – also known as “flight day” ) Day 2 – the far too long day Our second day began with a wakeup call so that we could make it to the Kona Café for breakfast. I’m good at scheduling our ADRs but less good at matching them up to our travel fatigue or extra magic hours. Given that we were still tired from travelling it would have been much nicer to sleep in on our second day. We also came to realize that we should attempt the extra magic hours from 11:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m. that evening, since the park crowds were fairly heavy. By the way, the darn spring forward time change happened during the night – I think it is a complete rip-off to have one hour of Disney time snatched away by a time change! (And it contributed to our being tired.) Back to our day, we began by taking the monorail over to the Polynesian. We find on our Disney trips that we get really tired of the Disney food by the end of the week. (I’m convinced there is only one Disney kitchen buried deep underground with the same food going by long conveyer belts to every restaurant, it just gets some special flavouring if the restaurant theme dictates it.) We decided the best way to add variety to our food, escape the park crowds, and see some new places, was to book our ADRs all over WDW, covering as many different resorts as possible, so that is why we went to the Poly (and many other places.) Mural shot on the way to the monorail Once at the Poly we went straight to the Kona Café to get us some of the famous Tonga Toast. It was so good and lived up to its reputation. I booked the Kona early in our trip in case we wanted a second helping of Tonga Toast on another day. While the Tonga Toast was good, it is just too much for us and we did not book a second Kona breakfast. After breakfast we wandered around the Poly grounds and took pictures of the beautiful views from the beach. After Poly the plan was to go to Magic Kingdom, but since we were going to go there in the evening we changed our plans to Epcot. On our way back to the main lodge to find the monorail, we wound up on the path directly to the TTC. The TTC is very close to the Poly, so no need to take the resort monorail and transfer. Incoming Epcot monorail at the TTC Once at Epcot it was straight to Soarin’ to grab some Fast Passes. Then to fill the time we went to Mission Space which I rode with my son – the Green version! When we did Mission Space back in the crazy pre-calm version days, my husband and I were sick for the rest of the day. My son, of course, loved it. So, the deal was I would ride Mission Space, but only the Green version. My husband sat the ride out. Random garden shot Next we went on Test Track. I love this ride, but hate the line. I find it very stressful listening to all the banging and loud noises coming from the speakers. After Test Track it was back to the nice and short Fast Pass Soarin’ line. Now it was time for lunch. We didn’t have an ADR, but we decided to try to get into the Rose and Crown. Here in Toronto we are regulars at a pub called “The Rose and Crown”, so we always like to go there in Disney - it makes us feel at home. Even though we didn’t have an ADR, we were seated within 10 minutes with a great table overlooking the Showcase Lagoon. We had a nice meal and my husband took home a souvenir beer glass. The view from our table Given that we were planning on a late night we decided to take it easy and head back to the hotel. On the way out we took some more pictures, bought some pins (St. Patrick’s Day Mickey head, Jack Skellington on a running shoe, and another Jack Skellington.) Of course, on the way out we did have to walk by Canada and couldn’t resist a family shot. Thankfully some nice stranger (maybe it was you tinkgurl) was kind enough to take our picture, which we paid forward by taking the next family’s shot (maybe that was your family tinkgurl.) Lion King garden shots The sphere (I miss the Mickey hand sign for Epcot which was no longer beside the sphere ) Once we arrived at the hotel, it was back to the balcony to take more pictures (this looks the same as day 1, but it is a different day ) That’s all for tonight, Day 2 will be continued later in the week. __________________ Janet Trip Report - March Break 2012 at the YC http://www.disboards.com/showthread....5#post44422655 Trip Report - March Break 2010 at CR – with stops at Poly, GF, WL, BW, BC, YC, MK, Epcot, HS, DD, and TL http://www.disboards.com/showthread....4#post35923604 Trip Report - Solo trip - A brief stay at CSR with a stop at AKL (with pics!) http://www.disboards.com/showthread....2#post36750372 FW - 1972 (I think, I was little then!); WL - 2004; WL CL - 2007; CR CL - 2010; CSR - 2010; YC CL - 2012 janetmakesthings.blogspot.com

03-22-2010, 10:10 PM	#19
tinkgurl Life is what happens in between trips to WDW Those "flying cookies" flying through space can be seen I'm hoping that the little guy likes them! Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 10,734	Aw darn it. Nope that wasn't us! This was March 14? We were at MK this day/night. You'll have to head over to my TR sometime so you can see if you made it into any of my pics too! __________________ '07 TR: Tinkgurl goes “home” to NeverNeverLand '08 TR: I do get to go! I do get to go!A trip that almost wasn’t! '09 TR: A Dis meet, loopy luau, and 1900 PF fight all on our June trip '10 TR: Our March 'Just Engaged',freezing, and full of surprises trip '10 TR: You've Got a Friend in Me:TINKGURL & XOKTENOX'S Adventures in WDW '12 TR:~Our August Honeymoon..a whole new World for 2 WDW Veterans~

03-23-2010, 09:26 AM	#20
thechesters420 Mouseketeer Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 289	love love love your pics! Great update again! __________________

03-24-2010, 07:14 PM	#21
JanetMom DIS Veteran Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,122	Day 2 – continued Since we were back at the hotel and no one wanted to take a nap we decided to head down to the pool. My son and I enjoyed a swim and my husband enjoyed some margaritas (I enjoyed one too!). Then we gave my son the arcade coupon. We told him he absolutely wasn’t getting any money from us for the arcade. If he wanted more than the free points he would have to buy his own points, so after the free points ran out, he spent some of his own money and enjoyed more time in the arcade. After that, all of our resolve flew out the window and we gave him more arcade money so that we could play Skee Ball. It is so addicting. I think we spent $30-40 in the arcade over the week. Next we were off to supper. We were so excited to have a reservation at Artist Point. I was nervous about going to WL because we have stayed there on the past two trips and absolutely love it. We love the boat rides, so we were quite happy to get on a boat to WL. View of CR from the boat View of WL as the boat gets close I gotta admit it, it felt so good to be back at The Lodge. As much as we loved the CR, it really isn’t a relaxing hotel. The room was relaxing, the balcony was relaxing and the beds were way beyond relaxing, but the CR lobby and concourse are always such a buzz of activity that they just don’t feel relaxing. Once we arrived in the lobby of the WL we were so happy to have 30 minutes until our reservation. We simply plunked ourselves down in a couple of comfy lobby chairs and relaxed. The lobby of the WL is just incredible. WL totem Supper at WL was fine. It wasn’t spectacular but we enjoyed it anyway. If it wasn’t the most expensive restaurant we went to I would say it was amazing, but considering it was so much more expensive than the other restaurants we went to, I would only say it was fine. After dinner we were happily heading to the boat dock to take a boat over to the Magic Kingdom. The rabbits at WL are so tame. This shot is taken with a regular lens. I was only a metre away from this rabbit. Next came a crushing disappointment… The winds were so strong that they stopped the boats! We couldn’t take a boat to the MK!! So we headed to the bus stop with everyone else. The line for the MK was really long, so when a bus pulled up headed for the CR we jumped on and went to the CR, and then decided to take the monorail, to conserve energy for the extra magic hours. The sunset was so pretty through the concourse windows Incoming monorail Our first stop at the MK was Space Mountain, but the line was way out the door so we decided to give it a miss and come back later in the evening. So we went on the People Mover, Buzz Lightyear and caught the Monsters Inc. Laugh show. Buzz action shot After we covered Tomorrowland to our satisfaction we decided to head over to the Haunted Mansion and saw some of the fireworks along the way. After Haunted Mansion the extra magic hours were just about to start and we ran out of energy. We just didn’t have it in us to stay in the park until 2:00 a.m. so we decided to head back to the hotel. I took some time to take pictures of the castle on the way out – I really love how the castle looks when it is all lit up. Back at the hotel we were all thirsty, but sadly it was so late that the lounge was empty. So I went down to the Contempo Café and bought some drinks. That’s all for day 2 – next up Hollywood Studios __________________ Janet Trip Report - March Break 2012 at the YC http://www.disboards.com/showthread....5#post44422655 Trip Report - March Break 2010 at CR – with stops at Poly, GF, WL, BW, BC, YC, MK, Epcot, HS, DD, and TL http://www.disboards.com/showthread....4#post35923604 Trip Report - Solo trip - A brief stay at CSR with a stop at AKL (with pics!) http://www.disboards.com/showthread....2#post36750372 FW - 1972 (I think, I was little then!); WL - 2004; WL CL - 2007; CR CL - 2010; CSR - 2010; YC CL - 2012 janetmakesthings.blogspot.com

03-25-2010, 07:14 AM	#22
thechesters420 Mouseketeer Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 289	I had no idea they shut the boats down because of high winds! __________________

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03-25-2010, 10:36 AM	#24
Señor DonDuck DIS Veteran Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 574	Sorry to hear no boat ride back. I was also unaware that can happen. Safety first, I guess. Great action shot on Buzz. Also love the shots of resorts.

03-25-2010, 10:52 AM	#25
tinkgurl Life is what happens in between trips to WDW Those "flying cookies" flying through space can be seen I'm hoping that the little guy likes them! Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 10,734	I couldn't believe the high winds! They were crazy! __________________ '07 TR: Tinkgurl goes “home” to NeverNeverLand '08 TR: I do get to go! I do get to go!A trip that almost wasn’t! '09 TR: A Dis meet, loopy luau, and 1900 PF fight all on our June trip '10 TR: Our March 'Just Engaged',freezing, and full of surprises trip '10 TR: You've Got a Friend in Me:TINKGURL & XOKTENOX'S Adventures in WDW '12 TR:~Our August Honeymoon..a whole new World for 2 WDW Veterans~

03-25-2010, 12:14 PM	#26
ixmnrs Mouseketeer Join Date: May 2007 Location: Toronto, Ontario, CANADA Posts: 151	Subscribing. Great report so far, I always like to get other Canadian perspectives on WDW. I do have one gripe about that arcade though... that coupon in the MYW package is worth about 2 dollars and maybe 2-3 games... I can't believe how cheap Disney can be with these package 'perks'. I still haven't gotten over the 1 game of minigolf for 1 member of the group as opposed to the whole party before. It looks like you guys had better weather than we did the week before. I hope you had an awesome remainder of your trip and look forward to reading more. __________________ June 2004: Beach Club Villa 2BDRM Nov 2005: Polynesian June 2006: Disneyland Hotel August 2007: DCL Land (POLY)/Sea(DWonder) August 2008: Off Site Nickelodeon Hotel March Break 2009: Contemporary Tower March Break 2010: YC CL August 2013 : Polynesian CL ME(Still Young at Heart) DW (Likewise); DS(15); DD(12)

03-25-2010, 12:22 PM	#27
Disneylvr Mommy of Madelyn, Ebay Addict and Happy Scrapbooker No longer addicted to the Creek We could watch Wishes every night Join Date: Aug 1999 Location: St. Louis, Missouri Posts: 2,977	We were there March 14-22nd so I am looking for us in your pictures too! Haven't had the time to start our own trip report yet but we were at Epcot on the 14th too! We stayed at CBR but had breakfast at Chef Mickey's on the 19th and visited the Polynesian 3 times (Kona Cafe, fireworks, electrical water pageant...). Enjoying your report! __________________ 20+ Disney Trips Since 1985 - All Star Movies, All Star Music, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Caribbean Beach, Contemporary, Polynesian, Port Orleans French Quarter, Port Orleans Riverside and Wilderness Lodge

03-25-2010, 05:36 PM	#28
JanetMom DIS Veteran Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,122	This just in... Today I found out that I am going to a conference in May at ... Coronado Springs. I get to go back to Walt Disney World! Yeah!! It does feel wrong to have to work while at WDW, but hey at least I'll be there. __________________ Janet Trip Report - March Break 2012 at the YC http://www.disboards.com/showthread....5#post44422655 Trip Report - March Break 2010 at CR – with stops at Poly, GF, WL, BW, BC, YC, MK, Epcot, HS, DD, and TL http://www.disboards.com/showthread....4#post35923604 Trip Report - Solo trip - A brief stay at CSR with a stop at AKL (with pics!) http://www.disboards.com/showthread....2#post36750372 FW - 1972 (I think, I was little then!); WL - 2004; WL CL - 2007; CR CL - 2010; CSR - 2010; YC CL - 2012 janetmakesthings.blogspot.com

03-25-2010, 06:34 PM	#29
TinyDancer DIS Veteran Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 636	Love your pics!! __________________

03-25-2010, 08:33 PM	#30
heaven2dc DIS Veteran Join Date: May 2003 Location: California Posts: 3,229	Truly enjoying our TR! You really lucked out on your view - how great to be lying on your bed and see MK at night I wish my boss would send me to WDW for a conference - hope you have fun! __________________ The "C" Family DM DS34 DGD2 DD33 DGS5 DGD DS30 DS26 DS19 WDW Trips: March 1997 (BWV), February 2008 (BWV), December 2008 (BWV), Nov/Dec 2010 (BWV) All Our Dreams Come True If We Have the Courage To Pursue Them - Walt Disey

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