A Year of Disney Magic - New ToC, March TR updates, Dec ADR countdown

[Colleen27]

Love the pics!

You can really tell which days I took my good camera and which days I decided to get by with my phone or tablet. I love having a phone that can take semi-decent shots, though - the girls were posting our progress to Facebook throughout the drive.

 

[Colleen27]

Day 5 - March 5

The plan for the day was Animal Kingdom, and since this was forecast to be the warmest day of the trip it was perfect timing. The park was open until 8 so I decided to let the girls sleep in and head to the park in the afternoon. Crowds later in the day are just as low if not lower than at park opening when AK is open that late, and I figured we’d head over in the early afternoon some time.

Again I was up early without an alarm, so I threw my tablet, the book I’m reading, and my school stuff in my backpack and headed down to the lounge. Our room location was so lovely and quiet, there wasn't another soul to be seen until I got around to the lounge side of the building.


View from our room by Cam5279, on Flickr

I left the girls a note letting them know where I’d be, but that turned out to be entirely unnecessary – I stayed in the lounge until 10am, when breakfast service ends and they close up until evening, and when I got back to the room they were both still sleeping. I’d grabbed a muffin and a milk for each of them, so I put that away in the fridge, but just that little bit of commotion woke Shanna. I let her know I was going to walk around and take some pictures of the resort, and she decided to throw on some clothes to come with me. We left Kaylee a note to call or text when she woke up and headed out.


Looking at Our Building by Cam5279, on Flickr


Coronado Springs views by Cam5279, on Flickr


Coronado Springs views by Cam5279, on Flickr

The weather was just beautiful, warm and sunny without a cloud in the sky. Coronado is a really pretty resort too, very tropical and relaxing. Shanna found a hammock to rest on for a few minutes while I called Ken, who had apparently called while we were in the room. That ended up being the one downside of our resort – I had one bar at best in the room and even that was iffy. Though I suppose under different circumstances it could be a perk.


Resting by Cam5279, on Flickr


Enjoying the hammock by Cam5279, on Flickr


Paradise by Cam5279, on Flickr

While we were out walking we stopped in at the main building so Shanna could try the gelato from Café Rix. She liked it, but I didn’t even try a bite. It was still too early for sweets for me.


Enjoying the sunshine by Cam5279, on Flickr

We wandered around for maybe a half hour before Shanna decided she wanted to swim, so we went back to the room to change. This time we woke Kaylee up too because we knew she’d want to go down to the pool with us.


Pyramid by Cam5279, on Flickr

The pool area is really spectacular here, so well themed and landscaped.


In the shadow of the pyramid by Cam5279, on Flickr

The playground is really unique too. We've stayed at quite a few different resorts and this is by far the best themed, most creative playground we've encountered.


Fun slide by Cam5279, on Flickr


Playing on the playground by Cam5279, on Flickr


Eek! by Cam5279, on Flickr


Climbing on the playground by Cam5279, on Flickr

For the next couple hours we swam, played a little volleyball – Shanna is on a team for the first time this year and wanted to practice her serve – and grabbed lunch from Siesta’s, the pool bar. The food there is nothing special but for take-out the nachos were decent and the hot dogs were 100% beef rather than the cheap mixed-meat type. Kaylee actually didn’t like them because of that, but it worked out okay – Shanna finished Kaylee’s hot dog and Kaylee polished off Shanna’s fries. They shared a Coke because I only got one refillable mug this trip. The design hasn’t changed since January of 2011 and we have way too many already now that they’re included with the dining plans, but I figured I’d get the one for the girls to have at the pool and Kaylee could take it home with her. I got a passion fruit margarita, which was pretty good but nowhere near on par with the wonderful one that La Cava in Epcot makes.

It was after 1 by the time we were dried off, dressed, and headed for the bus stop.


What a beautiful resort! by Cam5279, on Flickr


Enjoying the sunshine by Cam5279, on Flickr

We didn't have much of a wait for a bus and before we knew it we were at Animal Kingdom. CSR is really in an excellent location when it comes to transportation - it doesn't have super-quick access to any of the parks like the deluxes do, but it is so central to everything than none of the rides feel long.


A wild time with my wild girls. by Cam5279, on Flickr

Again the line at the regular entrance gate was ridiculous while the RFID gates were a breeze. I’m so glad I’ll be able to convert my AP to RFID on the next trip! Our first stop in the park was Tough To Be A Bug, and after explaining every single attraction all day yesterday Shanna told Kaylee exactly nothing about this one so all the effects came as a surprise to her. It was so funny!


Picking the gorilla's nose by Cam5279, on Flickr

Next we headed back towards Asia to ride Kali River a few times while it was still warm and sunny. The line was posted at 20 minutes but it was more like 10 for our first ride and 15 for the second. After getting completely soaked on both, I decided to sit out round three and just let the girls go without me. Neither of them got more than a little wet! After Kali, we decided to wander back to Africa to ride the safari before our early dinner reservation at Tusker House.


Little Drummer Girl by Cam5279, on Flickr

On the way I noticed a couple of new street performers – a Bollywood-style dance party in Asia and a band in Africa. I couldn’t get the girls to join the dance party, but we grabbed drinks from Tamu-tamu and listened to the African band for a little while before moving on to the safari. The line was posted at 20 minutes so we didn’t bother with Fastpasses, and again the actual wait was shorter than advertised. The safari was just okay. We saw a lot of the giraffes, who were blocking the road for a few minutes, but the big cats’ areas were sort of hidden behind burlap fencing and the new zebras were nowhere to be found.

After the safari we had a little time to kill before dinner, so we walked the Pangini trail and watched the gorillas. The little ones are always so cute. Then we headed over to Tusker House to check in. We had almost no wait to be seated, as expected with an opening-time reservation, and we got a great table in the main room but off to the side away from the traffic flow. The girls really enjoyed the buffet. Picky Kaylee had salad with ranch and a ton of rotisserie chicken. Shanna tried a little of everything, but really liked the pork roast and seasoned potatoes the best. I stuck to the more unconventional dishes, finding a couscous dish that I really loved and having two helpings of the spiced tofu I liked so much on our last visit. I’m really glad they didn’t add characters here for dinner; the food is a good balance of “normal” and unusual, the service was good, and without characters the restaurant is nicely quiet.


Taking a break at Animal Kingdom by Cam5279, on Flickr

Everyone was stuffed when we left Tusker House, so we decided to head for the tamer attractions of DinoLand before braving Everest. We did stop to pick up Everest FPs on the way, though those ended up being entirely unnecessary. The girls rode Primeval Whirl a couple times but I sat it out. The spinning is sometimes enough to make me feel lousy and although I have ridden in the past and can usually manage once without any ill effect, after a big dinner I didn’t feel like chancing it. Then we headed for Dinosaur, with a stop to take a picture at the hidden Mickey dino statue on the way.


Picking the gorilla's nose by Cam5279, on Flickr

On the ride, Kaylee about jumped out of her skin and then hid her head when the big dinosaur jumps out, and that is by far the funniest ride picture we got all trip!

Next we headed for Everest. Kaylee was starting to get cold feet about riding but I encouraged her to try it at least once and she reluctantly agreed.


Ready or not! by Cam5279, on Flickr

After the first ride, which had about a 10 minute wait, they wanted to use our fastpasses to ride again. By that time, the crowds had thinned so much that they’d closed down the single rider line, and then closed the standby line and just routed everyone through the FP return.


Going up! by Cam5279, on Flickr

I love the view from the top!


From the top of Everest by Cam5279, on Flickr

I rode with them for the second time, but on the third started to feel a little light headed and just not quite right so I found myself a rock outside the ride and watched as they rode again, and again, and again.


Everest, after ride #10 by Cam5279, on Flickr

They decided to stop after 10 rides so we could head back to the resort in time to relax in the lounge a bit. Kaylee wanted to have a little time to text her boyfriend, who can’t get calls/texts after 9pm. Shanna didn’t mind either, because she hadn’t found time to touch base with any of her friends because we’d been so on the go in the evenings, and we’d more than done everything the girls wanted in the park.

We relaxed in the lounge for a while, then the girls decided they wanted to swim a while since it was by far the warmest evening we’d had. I didn’t much feel like swimming but I did head down to enjoy the hot tub, which was starting to heat up at last… The first couple days of our trip there was an issue with the heater and it was actually cooler than the main pool, and once it was repaired it took a day to get back to slowly warm back up to hot tub temps. Around 11 we headed back to the room to get showered and go to bed.

 

[disfanforlife]

Just found your report. I am enjoying it. We haven't been to Disney in two years so I have been consoling myself with trip reports. BUT, we will be there in 10 days - can't wait!