One Jump Ahead of the Crowds

[vleeth]

Coronado looks wonderful. I might have to check it out next time.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

At 2:30, we decided to find a spot to watch the Festival of Fantasy Parade. Madilyn and I had seen it the year before, but we really wanted Marie to see it and were really hoping to see it on Main Street this time. Our view last time was unobstructed, but the sun was in our eyes and there is something extra special about getting the castle in the background of pictures.

I love this!

We had a 3:15-4:15 FP+ window for Big Thunder Mountain so we rode that again.

Our Splash Mountain FP + window was from 4:25-5:25 so we got on that soon after getting off Big Thunder Mountain. Maddy’s fingernails drew blood from Marie’s arm during this ride! We spent a little extra time in the gift shop and decided that we were ready for a snack and a break.

We found a cart across from Pecos Bills that was selling frozen lemonades. We were really happy for a rest and sat down on a wooden platform to enjoy the cool refreshments. We had only been there a few minutes when we were surprised by a dance party. I know Clarabelle, Horace, and Breer Bear were out, but I can’t remember who else. Marie and I were content to sit and watch, but I probably should have told Maddy to join the fun. It got crowded awfully fast and I was reluctant to get up and join her so we all just sat and watched. No one even got out a camera!

We meandered around the castle and looked for some of the characters we were still hoping to meet: Peter Pan, Fairy Godmother, or the stepsisters, but no one was out.

We decided to head into Tomorrowland for a couple of other low-wait attractions. The Carousel of Progress was a new one for us and we really enjoyed the break from the crowds, heat, and being on our feet! We then enjoyed a ride on The People Mover. We had never done this before either and had no idea what we were missing! We asked if we could stay on for a second ride, but the cast member said the line was too long.

We debating getting in line for Space Ranger Spin, Stich’s Great Escape, or Monter’s Inc Laugh Floor, but all of those had pretty long waits posted so we just found a spot to sit and people watch until our last FP+ window opened up at 7:15.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

Coronado looks wonderful. I might have to check it out next time.

It's pretty, but it's just not my favorite place to stay because of the size!

 

[JAMIESMITH]

When our FP+ reservation window opened up for our 2015 trip, I got online at midnight and tried to get a time for Anna and Elsa. I kept checking back every few days, but never could get a FP for them. It was really frustrating since we were spending a full week at a deluxe resort! When we started planning this trip, I was lucky enough to snag a 7:15-8:15 FP+ and I was really looking forward to seeing Maddy meet the Frozen Princesses.

The interaction here was just kind of meh…especially with Elsa who we met first.

This table kind of spaces out the room, with one character on each side.

There was a guy in line ahead of us who was a “special friend of Anna” according to the cast members so that was kind of neat to watch, but I wasn’t creepy enough to take pictures of them!

We snapped a cute picture of Maddy with the Minnie display. I think this may have been in Castle Couture.

We settled down on the sidewalk in front of The Hall of Presidents around 8:00. We were really worn out by this point. We chatted with a really nice family from Michigan, I think, and waited on our second parade of the day to start. This would be a new experience for all three of us!

 

[vleeth]

Your pictures are so bright and pretty. Is that straight out of the camera?

 

[JAMIESMITH]

Your pictures are so bright and pretty. Is that straight out of the camera?

Thank you! Yes, these are straight out of the camera. Some of them were taken with Marie's Galaxy and some with my iPhone. We didn't bring our nice cameras this time. Maddy had a really cheap one from Walmart with her.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

This is where my plans started to go a little awry. I didn’t realize that the MSEP ran the opposite route of the daytime parade. I knew that it started at 9:00 and thought that we should have plenty of time to make it to our 9:30 dinner reservation. When the parade hadn’t made it to us at 9:15, I really started to panic! We asked a cast member what we should do and she recommended calling the dining reservation line to let them know we were caught up in the parade and to follow the parade around as it ended.

The dining reservation line told us that we had a twenty-minute grace period so that certainly helped me relax and enjoy the parade. In all honesty, I would have been perfectly happy with one of the turkey legs the family next to us was eating!

As soon as the cast members would let us back into the street, we followed the parade route around and came out behind the castle. There were some cast members blocking off the area behind the castle who wouldn’t let us through. I tried to pull up our reservation on MDE, but it wasn’t working. Luckily, I still had my confirmation email and once they saw that, they let us through. It was another nerve wracking experience!

I’m sure you’ve figured out where we were heading for dinner!

 

[JAMIESMITH]

We joined a bunch of other families in the seating area and waited our turn to meet our hostess and go upstairs to dinner. This room was dark and it was very difficult to take photos! Even though the visit with Cinderella was short, she was just lovely!

A few photos snapped while walking to our table…

This was our lovely view for the evening!

She looks happy, but tired!

We made this reservation for the experience of dining in the castle and based on reviews didn’t really have high hopes for the food, but we were pleasantly surprised especially with such a late seating!

Maddy’s appetizer was cheese cubes and grapes.

Marie and I both chose the scallop with risotto. I don’t see it listed on the current menu, but it was really good!

I don’t have a picture of the rolls, but I think they were the same kind we had at Grand Floridian Café. We had just finished our appetizers when our entrees came out. Madilyn ordered chicken nuggets. Marie and I both ordered the filet, which was also really good! We neglected to take photos of our entrees.

The first princess to come around was Snow White, but they were all running behind and didn’t begin circulating until after we had started our main course. When Marie went to the restroom, she heard some of the wait staff say that Ariel was taking a long time to get ready.

We asked for our clock strikes twelve dessert minus the raspberry topping. It was also really good!

Aurora was the second princess to visit our table. We had finished dessert and enjoyed Wishes before she made it to us.

And the lovely Ariel, who was supposedly holding things up.

I had a headache and we were all exhausted so in all honesty we would probably have left early if the last princess hadn’t been the one that we had never met and were all dying to see.

We very much enjoyed our meal. Our waitress was wonderful and the new perspective for Wishes was nice. The princesses took too long to get started so our meal took longer than we expected, which would not have been a big deal if we hadn’t just spent fourteen hours in the park. Our day would have worked better if we had been staying close enough by to take a mid-day break. We were trying to make the most of our one day in Magic Kingdom and I really do think we did that!

After we met Jasmine, we headed downstairs and out of the park. We could have looked for the shuttle bus that goes back to the Hilton, but we decided to just walk back to the Contemporary and catch a cab. We did have to wait a little while for one to come. We were very glad to get back to our hotel!

 

[vleeth]

We've had breakfast at CRT back in 2009 and thought the food was really good.

You guys had a really long day!

 

[JAMIESMITH]

We've had breakfast at CRT back in 2009 and thought the food was really good.

You guys had a really long day!

After reading all the negative reviews, we were very pleasantly surprised by both the food and the service!

This was the longest day ever!

 

[JAMIESMITH]

Marie had to get up early Tuesday morning to present at her conference. Madilyn and I were fortunate enough to sleep until after 9:00. We had crashed and burned the night before so we took baths before heading over to Disney Springs.

We picked out our Christmas ornaments for 2016 in the Christmas store. I got a new Minnie ornament since the one I’ve had since my childhood lost her nose last year when my cat climbed our tree. Maddy got a Chip & Dale ornament. We also spent a good bit of time in World of Disney. I bought Maddy her big souvenir for the trip, a stuffed Lady. I found a sweater that I just had to have, but they didn’t have my size. One of the ladies working there checked her computer and said that they had several at one of the gift shops inside the Poly. We were planning on going there for dinner the following night, so that was perfect!

We enjoyed watching the new amphibian cars. I wish my husband had been with us to see them!

I was on a mission to find Fit2Run. I’ve been running for about two years, but in cheap shoes and I wanted to get fitted for a pair of “real” running shoes since I’ve been a lot more serious about it in the last several months. I looked around for a few minutes before a nice man came over to help me. I ran on the treadmill in a pair of neutral shoes and then again in a more supportive pair. I ended up buying the second pair, a pair of Saucony Hurricane ISO2s. This is easily the most I’ve ever spent on a pair of shoes.

I really enjoyed the whole experience. Everyone was super helpful and I still love my shoes! I do wish that I had been feeling better. The short runs on the treadmill left me winded and flared up my cough.

We hadn’t had breakfast and were getting really hungry at this point so we caught a boat to Port Orleans. We really enjoyed our boat ride!

We got a glimpse of the treehouse villas.

I think one of the Port Orleans resorts will be the next moderate I try.

We walked into Riverside Mill at 1:45. No wonder we were so hungry! The restaurant was practically empty. We both ordered the create your own pasta. We enjoyed watching the chef prepare it.

The pasta was yummy!

We should have spent more time walking around the resort, but we just hopped back on the boat to Disney Springs. What little we saw was lovely!

Maddy had been wearing her swimsuit under her clothes all day and wanted to play at the splash pad and I was also looking forward to relaxing in the pool.

We walked back to our room to drop off our shopping bags and found a surprise from housekeeping.

The elephant didn’t last very long. For some reason, Maddy took it apart soon after we got back in the room and wanted me to put it back together. I didn’t have a clue how to do that so we ended up having a bit of an argument. Not my best parenting moment, but...

Marie had left us a couple of cokes in our fridge when she came up during a break from her conference so we drank those and I changed into my swimsuit before we headed down to the pool.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

I’m so sorry it’s taking me so long to update. I’ve never spent this long on a trip report!

Maddy found some little girls about her age to play with in the pool and I laid out in one of the lounge chairs and spent some time on the phone with my mom. Maddy and I also spent a few minutes in the hot tub before heading back up to our room. It was so nice to have the whole hot tub to ourselves!

I can’t remember if we got to the room first or if Marie did, but we weren’t far apart. We all took baths/showers before heading back to Disney Springs. Marie wanted a chance to look around World of Disney.

I wanted to take her to Fit 2 Run. She ended up buying a pair of Brooks running shoes there. I tried them on as well, because I really liked the look of them, but they just didn’t feel right on my feet.

We took the boat back to Marketside and enjoyed dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express compliments of Marie’s Disney Rewards Points.

Maddy and I both had chicken and potatoes. It was very good!

Adult version:

Child’s version:

Marie had a pasta dish with chicken that she also enjoyed.

We waited in a horrendously long line for our dessert, which we ate on the walk back to our hotel. Maddy didn’t want any and neither Marie nor I could finish ours, but it was delicious!

 

[JAMIESMITH]

We woke up Wednesday morning and packed our bags for one last move. We walked to Disney Springs with our luggage and waited for a bus to take us to our last home away from home. The bus stop attendants asked us where we were heading and put us on a bus headed for Saratoga Springs. They said that after the driver finished there, he would take us to our destination. We enjoyed the chance to take a look at another resort we’ve never stayed at and we had a nice conversation with a couple who were staying there.

Somebody was still sleepy!

Marie stayed here back in 2011, but this was my first to visit the gorgeous Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Maddy found a fun activity as we were walking into the lobby!

We had received our room number in a text message, but we had a little trouble finding it. It was a lovely room, larger than the one we had at Coronado Springs, but smaller than the one we had had at the Polynesian Resort a few years ago. It really was the perfect size!

We had a nice view of the pool, which we would head to as soon as we were settled into our new room.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

We ventured down to the pool around lunch time. It was pretty busy and we had a hard time finding three lounge chairs together.

I feel like we must have eaten something, but I only remember ordering drinks. Marie and I tried a drink called a Moscato Colada that our bus driver had recommended on the way to the resort and Maddy had a Lava Smoothie. We were all very satisfied with our choices!

We spent several hours lounging around and swimming in the pool. When we got out, we checked out the pink flamingos.

We decided to get cleaned up and rest a while in our room. It was a little noisy since we were so close to the pool, but it was still nice to have some down time.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

We had a dinner reservation at The Polynesian Resort that evening. When we ventured out of our room, we made sure we left some extra time to explore the lobby of Animal Kingdom Lodge before heading to the bus stop. It is a truly gorgeous resort!

We took a bus to Magic Kingdom and then rode the monorail around to The Poly.

The new lobby is nice, but I still miss the old water feature.

The lights are cool!

We were quickly seated at one of my favorite restaurants.

Maddy and I loved watching the monorail run behind Marie.

Marie and I started our meal with Lapu-Lapus (which were yummy, but strong!) and the yummy Hawaiian bread.

Maddy had grilled shrimp, which she devoured.

Marie and I both had the steak topped with molasses bacon butter. Yummy!!!

I had the banana-chocolate crème brulee.

And Marie had the Kilauea Torte.

I think Maddy had ice cream, but I don’t have a photo.

After our meal, we walked around the gift shops . I found the sweater I had wanted to buy at World of Disney in my size at Boutiki.

Our plan was to watch Wishes from the beach, but we were all pretty run down (and Marie and I were definitely tipsy!) so we decided to head back to Animal Kindgom Lodge.

We stopped in the gift shop there as well, but didn’t buy anything. Marie remembered that the gift shops loan Disney movies so we let Maddy pick out something to watch. She had never seen The Goofy Movie, which was one of Marie’s older brother’s favorites when we were kids. I think they watched it all, but I fell asleep pretty quickly.

 

[disneyseniors]

Jamie, following along. Love your report. and your daughter is adorable!
Don't you think the man in black in the backseat of the aquacar at DS looks a lot like Ozzie Osbourne??? He looks just like him to me without his granny glasses. Just wondering?

 

[JAMIESMITH]

We were able to sleep in on our last Disney morning. We had a breakfast reservation at Boma at 10AM. We packed our bags and checked them in with the airline before going to eat.

The restaurant was very busy! I thought that the later breakfast reservation would be less busy with more people in the parks, but I was wrong!

Maddy’s first plate.

My first plate. It was all good and the plantains were something new for me to try.

Maries’ first plate.

We went back for seconds, but our cameras were on hiatus.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

We had several hours after breakfast which we spent exploring more of the resort.

We decided to walk over to Kidani Village. I really thought that I would prefer Jambo House over Kidani, but in reality the opposite was true.

The animal viewing area was so much nicer.

We headed back to Jambo House. When we were nearly there, Marie realized she had left her purse in the Kidani Village lobby. Luckily, it was still sitting right where she left it. We also saw a fire truck pulling into the resort. We found out later that there had been a kitchen fire in Kidani Village's quick service restaurant.

We sat around in the lobby until it was time for our Magic Express bus to take us back to the airport. They had several different flavored waters that we enjoyed sipping on and cartoons playing on the t.v.

The security line at the airport was terribly long and barely moving, but we had plenty of time to get through it. There was another lady who barely made it onto our plane. We had a late lunch at McDonalds before boarding.

I hadn’t done online check-in early enough because we were enjoying our dinner at Kona Café and this was a very full plane. Marie ended up sitting in a middle seat towards the middle of the plane. Maddy and I were going to sit in two middle seats at the rear of the plane that were across the aisle from one another, but a man was nice enough to give up his aisle seat so that we could sit together. I really appreciated him doing that!

We had an uneventful flight to Birmingham and an easy drive home. We stopped once for gas and to use a restroom and again in Meridian so that we could get some Chick-Fil-A for supper.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

Thank you, Marie! We had so much fun tagging along on your conference trip!

I was able to mark a few things off my Disney bucket list. I'm so glad that we saw the Main Street Electrical Parade before it left Magic Kingdom. I enjoyed the chance to stay in two new-to-me Disney Resorts and experience an off-sight stay.

I feel like my planning skills were really put to the test. There are a few things I would do differently on a future trip, but I'm mostly happy with how things went!

Speaking of future trips, it will most likely be quite some time before we return to Disney. We have a second daughter due in February and will want to wait until she is at least three or four before taking her for her first visit!

 

[JAMIESMITH]

Jamie, following along. Love your report. and your daughter is adorable!
Don't you think the man in black in the backseat of the aquacar at DS looks a lot like Ozzie Osbourne??? He looks just like him to me without his granny glasses. Just wondering?

Wow! I thought that was a woman! I see your point!