eeyore7567
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2005
Here is yet another report from WDW for the middle of September which included the promotional free dining plan. Four of us adults went from the 14th 19th and stayed at the CSR. The first night was just my wife and I:
Wednesday, September 14, 2005: We arrived at MCO right on time. We thought there would be signs to find the Magical Express, but after asking directions from someone in baggage claim, we found the desk with no problems. There was no line for check-in and within 5 minutes we were on the bus. Our bus left about 5 minutes after sitting down. We were the third stop out of four. (All Star Sports, All Star Movies, CSR and Animal Kingdom Lodge.) The knee space on the bus isnt great, but its well air-conditioned. For some bizarre reason the driver had the front window shades down so that we couldnt see where we were going. For a brief moment he raised and lowered the shades so we could see the Walt Disney World Resort arch. We arrived at CSR about 45 minutes after leaving the airport.
There was no line for check-in at the hotel. Upon check-in, we found that some of our requests were not met (like same cabana area, king-size bed and top floor.) The cast member was very rigid and kind of off-putting when we asked him to see what he could do. After going back to talk to a supervisor, or twiddle his thumbs or get a cup of coffee, etc., he came back and was able to get us in the same area and thats about it. King beds are a luxury at this hotel which I guess makes sense for families who need beds for their children.
The room was nice and overlooked the lake. The fridge was a nice touch, but they didnt have any soaps or lotions. We called mousekeeping and within 20 minutes, we had more soaps, shampoos and towels than we could ever ask for. We were only one building away from the restaurant and we were perfectly situated between two of the bus stops.
We decided to take advantage of the EMH at the Magic Kingdom and caught a bus within 5 minutes. The ride took about 12 minutes and we walked through the gates at 6:00pm with a closure time of midnight. It was still hot and humid but not overbearing. (Give it time.) We shared a hamburger at PECOS BILL and after looking at the calories in the Peanut Butter Brownie Mousse, (over 600 for the small dessert) we each took a big bite and saved the fats for another day. The condiment bar was a great touch and I highly recommend this place for a counter service meal. The park was relatively empty even with the EMH. We were able to ride Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Small World, PhilharMagic, Winnie the Pooh, Big Thunder (twice), Pirates, Snow White, Stitchs Escape and the Haunted Mansion. ALSO we watched the SpectroTragic parade, waited 30 minutes in front of the castle to watch Wishes and still left the park at 11:30pm. We werent even walking at a brisk pace. *On a very cool note, 25 minutes before the fireworks, we decided to sit down on the ground somewhat near where Walt and Mickeys statue is but in an open area. All of a sudden, everyone around us started to sit down. We thought how cool the view of the
castle was and how great it would be if everyone would just remain seated. And they did. Everyone in our area watched the fireworks in comfort with no obstructions. If I can ever figure out how to post pictures, I might be able to show you what it looked like.* We left the park at 11:30 and missed our bus by literally 20 seconds. This cost us a good 25 minute wait for the next bus. (This was one of the only few times we had to wait a long time for the bus or had a bus filled with standing people. (The same could not be said for some of the Value resorts. It seemed like throughout our trip, the Value resort bus lines were always long and required at least 3 busses to empty them.) We got back to our resort a little after midnight to find our luggage in the room and ready to be unpacked.
Thursday, September 15, 2005: We met up with our friends and went back to the Magic Kingdom around 11am. (We didnt know how much we would have accomplished on the first day.) The longest wait of the day was about 12 minutes for Peter Pan. Other than that, I think we walked on every single ride in the park. We ate at PINOCCHIO VILLAGE HOUS. I had the Fried Chicken Strips and my wife had the Grilled Turkey and Bacon Panini. The chicken was exactly what you think it would be and my wife thought the Panini was excellent. We took two of the Rice Krispy Treat Mickey Ears to go. It was so hot and humid that the treats melted off of the stick they were on. We decided to take one tour around the park on the Walt Disney World Railroad. Having just missed the train, we took some pictures with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Chip. (Dale was a bit pissed at Chip for some reason and chose not to be in the pictures with us.) Usually Character lines are huge, but we got pictures with all of them before the train came back around. We left the park around 4:30. The bus came within a few minutes and we showered and changed to go to FLYING FISH.
We took a bus to MGM and then took the boat to the Boardwalk. The whole process took about 45 minutes from our hotel. FLYING FISH was amazing. We shared the Peeky Toe Crab Cake, the Calamari, the Potato Wrapped Red Snapper, the fish of the day, the Valrhona Chocolate Soufflé and the Raspberry Napoleon. The well-filled crab cake was amazing and the pieces of fish were huge and perfectly cooked. Normally a chocolate fan, I found the Napoleon to be the better of the two desserts.
We walked around the Boardwalk and then walked over to Epcots EMH around 10:45pm to maybe catch a ride or 2 and then the bus. We headed straight over to Test Track which we could hear whirring throughout the empty park. We exited the video presentation room to see that the ride was in a holding pattern. After 10 minutes they got it up and working. After sending out another set of cars, it broke down again. We took this as a sign and left. On the way out, we were stopped by Stitch who wreaked havoc in our pictures. We were on the bus back to CSR in no time. The bus lines were pretty quiet this evening.
Friday, September 16, 2005: Animal Kingdom called us around 10:30am. We got there just in time for a showing of Festival of the Lion King. The energy of this show was incredible. The cast was having a great time ensuring that we were having a great time. Lines at the Animal Kingdom were non-existent. We walked right on to Kilimanjaro Safari, Tough to Be a Bug, Kali River Rapids, Primeval Whirl and the Rafiki Plant area. The safari was neat, but for some reason I was expecting to see more animals cohabitating with each other. Again it was hot and humid. I was extremely disappointed with the Kali River Rapids. Aside from the one major drop (where no one in our boat actually got all that wet) there wasnt much too it. The Grizzly River Rapids at Disneys Craptacular Adventure was so much better in theming and in ride. We ate at the FLAME TREE BBQ and had the BBQ Pork Sandwich and the Chicken Salad. The food was incredible. We saved the frozen lemonade desserts for later and I managed to lose the receipt. (It really didnt matter because the restaurant was closed when walked by it later.) We ended our day at Animal Kingdom riding Dinosaur. All I can say about that ride is, Wow! It was like Indiana Jones at Disneyland, but on steroids. This is by far one of the best rides in the Resort. There was nobody (and I mean nobody) in line when we pulled back in that they allowed our entire car to stand up and sit right back down and ride the ride a second time. It was just as much fun, if not better, the second time around. We closed down the park at 5:00pm and headed our hot and sweaty selves over to Epcot.
After more pictures with Goofy at AK, we were at Epcot by about 5:45pm. We walked right on to Spaceship Earth to cool off and enjoy some peace and quiet. We waited about 25 minutes for Soarin. Soarin is everything I remember it being at DCA. The music, sights and smells are just wonderful. After a boat mishap across the lake, we went over to BIERGARTEN for dinner. We passed on reservations for BOMA at the Animal Kingdom lodge because we werent hungry yet. With no reservations, we waited about 25 minutes for dinner. We were still eating dinner during Illuminations, but our waitress told us to go outside to watch it and then come back in for dessert. Illuminations was a good show, but I dont think Germany is the greatest place to watch whats going on on the lake. We walked back into BIERGARTEN and had a leisurely dessert. The park was officially closed long after we left the restaurant. Having the park to ourselves, we walked slowly to the busses. Again, there was no line and very little wait to get ourselves back to CSR.
Saturday, September 17, 2005: Having been to Epcot twice and pretty much not doing anything there, we finally experienced Epcot around 11am. We rode Test Track and our car malfunctioned during one of the major tests. The sound effects didnt quite mirror what our almost stopped car was experiencing. The cast member let us go back on again and the ride worked perfectly. Test Track is a well-themed amazing ride. None of us had the stomach for Mission Space, so we passed on that. We waited 25 minutes to go experience Soarin for the second time on our trip. (This seemed to be the longest wait on our trip.) We had a basic lunch at LIBERTY INN. I had the Bacon Double Cheeseburger and my wife had the Turkey Sandwich. We wanted to experience different cuisines, but the air conditioning of this restaurant made the final decision. We saved the Apple Cobbler and the Smores for later, but we never seemed to get back to the restaurant to eat them. Better for the waistline I guess. The World Showcase Pavilions are fascinating to look at, but the propaganda from each show was a bit annoying. We saw some Chinese acrobats performing outside in the heat. They were amazing, but we could only stand in the sun for so long. How they were able to keep it up is beyond me. Maelstrom makes no sense and El Rio Del Tiempo was .ummmm ..Air Conditioned. Oh yeah .and I learned that Canada is beautiful. If theres any rich history there, then they might have cut it from the film. We ended our Epcot day with Journey into Imagination with Figment. The look on my face at the end of the ride sent everyone into major laughter. What the hell had I just ridden? Apparently Im not using my imagination well enough.
We left the park around 5:45pm and headed back to the hotel to shower and change and go to ARTIST POINT at the Wilderness Lodge. Bus hopping from Epcot to CSR to MGM to the Lodge was simple and quick.
ARTIST POINT was spectacular. We shared the Crispy Venison Spring Rolls, the Duck Confit, the Grilled Beef Tenderloin, the Grilled Buffalo Ribeye, the Cobbler and the Coffee Two Ways. Each and every item was perfect. The Beef was so tender you could cut it with your pinkie. The presentation was top notch and it was well worth the 2 dining points. On our way in, we saw the WHISPERING CANYON CAFÉ and it looked like a lot fun. So much so that we chose to go there the next night. But before we jump ahead, we had to head back to our hotel. The bus to Downtown Disney came pretty quickly, but we had to make a pit stop over to the Grand Floridian which seemed really out of the way. The ride to Downtown Disney felt like forever and a day. We got off the bus at midnight just in time for a small fireworks show over Pleasure Island. There was one standing room bus load waiting for our bus back to CSR/AKL. There were some drunken conventioneers staying at our hotel waiting in line as well. The bus showed up in about 15 minutes and we were at our hotel in an OK amount of time.
Sunday, September 18, 2005: We finally made it to MGM. We arrived just in time for the Beauty and the Beast show. We sat right behind the sound board. I was not very impressed with the show. Im not sure what I was expecting but it seemed that the timing was off, the story was stilted and the energy was just down. We quickly washed away that feeling by walking right on to Tower of Terror. Seriously we walked out of the Library and right into the elevator car. DCAs version is just fair compared to MGMs. We waited 10 minutes twice for Rock n Roller Coaster. Had the front row the first time and the middle the second time. This ride really feels different depending on where you sit. The front feels more controlled while the back is very disorienting. All in all a wonderful ride. I was very disappointed with the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. It felt like a rip off from Universal Studios Hollywood in so many ways. It was neat to see the sets move, but the payoff in the heat and humidity wasnt there. Star Tours was the same as in Disneyland but the outside theming was much better. Our last lunch at BACKLOT EXPRESS was much like our first lunch the VILLAGE HAUS. Grilled Turkey and Cheese and Chicken Fingers. Both were very good and it was nice to be out of the hot weather. Once again we never went back for our Chocolate Cake or Cherry Cooler. Lights, Motors, Action was a much better show than Indiana Jones. The behind the scenes talk and descriptions made this show a lot of fun. We got pretty good seats showing up just 5 minutes before show time. Having been a tour guide at Universal Studios Hollywood, I had some sort of expectation for the Great Movie Ride and the Backlot Tour. Im not sure which ride was worse. They packed us in like sardines on the Great Movie Ride when there were obviously short lines waiting to get on. Do you really need 6 in a row when the park isnt crowded? The ride was neat to look at, but the live tour guide was just a waste. This ride could have easily been a sit down and relax ride. As for the Backlot Tour, we waited about 15 minutes to get to the first section of the tour. The Pearl Harbor demonstration was OK, but Universal had been doing this same thing for years. They rushed us through the prop warehouse to wait something like 15-20 minutes to board the tram. Two empty trams passed us before we finally sat down. In fact, we waited so long; the following group had time to fill in some empty seats. Our guide was bland and boring and apparently hot herself. We passed by a water tower with no water, cars from movies that we couldnt care less about, closed wardrobe shops and finally Catastrophe Canyon. The effects in the canyon were really cool. Disney really likes fire in all their shows dont they? We rode by more cars from movies we didnt care about and got to pass backstage of the Lights, Motors, Action show. This was actually kind of neat seeing the stunt men prep while the show was going on. We made a U-turn and .What??? Thats the tour? Are you out of your minds? We waited all that time for this garbage? Why not just make Catastrophe Canyon a walk-through ride and save on the gasoline for the trams? Did I miss something? Was there something cut from the tour? Will I get that hour of my life back somewhere? What a horrible disappointment. So we washed down our pain and made our last ride at the Walt Disney Resort the Tower of Terror. And boy did we finish with a bang. We went up and down the drop chute 5 times. What a way to cap off the parks.
We headed out to the busses and back to Wilderness Lodge to go to WHISPERING CANYON CAFÉ. At this point, we had used up all our dining points and paid for it ourselves. Treating ourselves to FLYING FISH and ARTIST POINT removed 4 of our 5 points. Oh yeah .except for one frozen banana all our snacks were used on much-needed water. The bus to WL came within 5 minutes and we were at the lodge in no time.
Im not a big loud noise and kid-filled restaurant kind of person, but WHISPERING CANYON was so much fun. I dont even know where to begin. Where ARTIST POINT was a refined dining experience, WHISPERING CANYON was quite the opposite. Our waitress was hysterical. With straws all over the place and our neighboring table having some sort of ketchup fetish, our table enjoyed the All-You-Care-To-Eat Skillet. Everything in that skillet was great. The salad, cornbread, Yukon gold mashed potatoes, beans, cole slaw, ribs, pulled pork, chicken and sausage we wonderful. Completely sober, I found myself riding my horse around the restaurant with a group of 6 year-olds. I took my various oaths and got my Pony Express certificate. This was just one of those places that you just have to go in and think, Im going to have fun. And you will. As we left the restaurant, one of the hostesses told me that I rode my horse well. It had been well over an hour since those festivities and she had noticed. Kind of a nice touch.
Since MGM was having the EMH, we hopped a bus to the Studios and then sweet-talked the dispatch officer to send a bus our way. And lo and behold he did.
Monday, September 19, 2005 CHECK-OUT DAY: We had a bus pick-up at 10:15am for a 1:25pm flight. We brought our luggage to the hotel/airline check-in at 9:30am and had our boarding passes in about 2 minutes. If you fly on certain airlines, you can check your bags all the way to your final destination. This was great. The bus came right at 10:15 and we were at our terminal by 10:50. We happened to be the last hotel stop before departing the WDW Resort. Im not sure how many stop the bus had made prior. Our luggage arrived safely in Los Angeles and it was the end to an almost perfect trip.
Random Thoughts:
Coronado Springs Resort: Its a nice hotel but its really really big. If you find yourself out on the far side of the hotel, its a long walk to get a cup of coffee or pick up any packages you had sent from the various theme parks. They have less than 200 King room for the 2,000 plus rooms on their premises. The rooms are clean and spacious and come with refrigerators. The dig site pool area is nice, but shouldnt be your main draw to the hotel. Their Wi-Fi access isnt the greatest in the lobby and convention area. The staff is friendly overall and their bus system is exceptional. The hotel is centrally located to all the parks although it seems that the Swan and the Dolphin are really the legitimate center. Nothing is in walking distance to the hotel so you are at the mercy of the busses and/or rental cars.
Busses vs. Rental Car: I thought about renting a car and it turned out that it was not necessary. It was nice letting someone else drive me for a change. We were very lucky at our hotel, but it seemed that other hotels were slammed with bus lines all week long. Most notably Pop Century and the All Star Resorts. Unless you really are a control freak, the bus system is the way to go.
Travel in September: It was hot and it was humid. Sometimes it was a little overbearing. But the crowds being next to nothing more than made up for it. I would go back to WDW in September without giving it another thought. Of course we slid in between two hurricanes, but thats the chance you take.
Dining Plan: We originally had a AAA rate for the hotel and the difference between the AAA rate and the promotional free dining plan was $30.00 a day. Figuring we would easily spend $150.00 in food, we chose the free dining plan. I figure that the average price for a sit-down, counter service and snack ran us about $90.00 per day. But we rarely ate the desserts at lunch. So that figure was closer to $83.00 per day. Disney normally charges $70.00 per couple. We like to fine dine so the restaurants we chose would probably be places we would have gone to whether we were on the plan or not. If you are more of a counter service kind of a person, then the dining plan might not be up your alley. Tax and tip were included at every meal, but we slipped a few more dollars in for the excellent service.
OK I think that this is way too long and I doubt anyone has read this far. If you have .and you still have questions, feel free to ask.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005: We arrived at MCO right on time. We thought there would be signs to find the Magical Express, but after asking directions from someone in baggage claim, we found the desk with no problems. There was no line for check-in and within 5 minutes we were on the bus. Our bus left about 5 minutes after sitting down. We were the third stop out of four. (All Star Sports, All Star Movies, CSR and Animal Kingdom Lodge.) The knee space on the bus isnt great, but its well air-conditioned. For some bizarre reason the driver had the front window shades down so that we couldnt see where we were going. For a brief moment he raised and lowered the shades so we could see the Walt Disney World Resort arch. We arrived at CSR about 45 minutes after leaving the airport.
There was no line for check-in at the hotel. Upon check-in, we found that some of our requests were not met (like same cabana area, king-size bed and top floor.) The cast member was very rigid and kind of off-putting when we asked him to see what he could do. After going back to talk to a supervisor, or twiddle his thumbs or get a cup of coffee, etc., he came back and was able to get us in the same area and thats about it. King beds are a luxury at this hotel which I guess makes sense for families who need beds for their children.
The room was nice and overlooked the lake. The fridge was a nice touch, but they didnt have any soaps or lotions. We called mousekeeping and within 20 minutes, we had more soaps, shampoos and towels than we could ever ask for. We were only one building away from the restaurant and we were perfectly situated between two of the bus stops.
We decided to take advantage of the EMH at the Magic Kingdom and caught a bus within 5 minutes. The ride took about 12 minutes and we walked through the gates at 6:00pm with a closure time of midnight. It was still hot and humid but not overbearing. (Give it time.) We shared a hamburger at PECOS BILL and after looking at the calories in the Peanut Butter Brownie Mousse, (over 600 for the small dessert) we each took a big bite and saved the fats for another day. The condiment bar was a great touch and I highly recommend this place for a counter service meal. The park was relatively empty even with the EMH. We were able to ride Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Small World, PhilharMagic, Winnie the Pooh, Big Thunder (twice), Pirates, Snow White, Stitchs Escape and the Haunted Mansion. ALSO we watched the SpectroTragic parade, waited 30 minutes in front of the castle to watch Wishes and still left the park at 11:30pm. We werent even walking at a brisk pace. *On a very cool note, 25 minutes before the fireworks, we decided to sit down on the ground somewhat near where Walt and Mickeys statue is but in an open area. All of a sudden, everyone around us started to sit down. We thought how cool the view of the
castle was and how great it would be if everyone would just remain seated. And they did. Everyone in our area watched the fireworks in comfort with no obstructions. If I can ever figure out how to post pictures, I might be able to show you what it looked like.* We left the park at 11:30 and missed our bus by literally 20 seconds. This cost us a good 25 minute wait for the next bus. (This was one of the only few times we had to wait a long time for the bus or had a bus filled with standing people. (The same could not be said for some of the Value resorts. It seemed like throughout our trip, the Value resort bus lines were always long and required at least 3 busses to empty them.) We got back to our resort a little after midnight to find our luggage in the room and ready to be unpacked.
Thursday, September 15, 2005: We met up with our friends and went back to the Magic Kingdom around 11am. (We didnt know how much we would have accomplished on the first day.) The longest wait of the day was about 12 minutes for Peter Pan. Other than that, I think we walked on every single ride in the park. We ate at PINOCCHIO VILLAGE HOUS. I had the Fried Chicken Strips and my wife had the Grilled Turkey and Bacon Panini. The chicken was exactly what you think it would be and my wife thought the Panini was excellent. We took two of the Rice Krispy Treat Mickey Ears to go. It was so hot and humid that the treats melted off of the stick they were on. We decided to take one tour around the park on the Walt Disney World Railroad. Having just missed the train, we took some pictures with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Chip. (Dale was a bit pissed at Chip for some reason and chose not to be in the pictures with us.) Usually Character lines are huge, but we got pictures with all of them before the train came back around. We left the park around 4:30. The bus came within a few minutes and we showered and changed to go to FLYING FISH.
We took a bus to MGM and then took the boat to the Boardwalk. The whole process took about 45 minutes from our hotel. FLYING FISH was amazing. We shared the Peeky Toe Crab Cake, the Calamari, the Potato Wrapped Red Snapper, the fish of the day, the Valrhona Chocolate Soufflé and the Raspberry Napoleon. The well-filled crab cake was amazing and the pieces of fish were huge and perfectly cooked. Normally a chocolate fan, I found the Napoleon to be the better of the two desserts.
We walked around the Boardwalk and then walked over to Epcots EMH around 10:45pm to maybe catch a ride or 2 and then the bus. We headed straight over to Test Track which we could hear whirring throughout the empty park. We exited the video presentation room to see that the ride was in a holding pattern. After 10 minutes they got it up and working. After sending out another set of cars, it broke down again. We took this as a sign and left. On the way out, we were stopped by Stitch who wreaked havoc in our pictures. We were on the bus back to CSR in no time. The bus lines were pretty quiet this evening.
Friday, September 16, 2005: Animal Kingdom called us around 10:30am. We got there just in time for a showing of Festival of the Lion King. The energy of this show was incredible. The cast was having a great time ensuring that we were having a great time. Lines at the Animal Kingdom were non-existent. We walked right on to Kilimanjaro Safari, Tough to Be a Bug, Kali River Rapids, Primeval Whirl and the Rafiki Plant area. The safari was neat, but for some reason I was expecting to see more animals cohabitating with each other. Again it was hot and humid. I was extremely disappointed with the Kali River Rapids. Aside from the one major drop (where no one in our boat actually got all that wet) there wasnt much too it. The Grizzly River Rapids at Disneys Craptacular Adventure was so much better in theming and in ride. We ate at the FLAME TREE BBQ and had the BBQ Pork Sandwich and the Chicken Salad. The food was incredible. We saved the frozen lemonade desserts for later and I managed to lose the receipt. (It really didnt matter because the restaurant was closed when walked by it later.) We ended our day at Animal Kingdom riding Dinosaur. All I can say about that ride is, Wow! It was like Indiana Jones at Disneyland, but on steroids. This is by far one of the best rides in the Resort. There was nobody (and I mean nobody) in line when we pulled back in that they allowed our entire car to stand up and sit right back down and ride the ride a second time. It was just as much fun, if not better, the second time around. We closed down the park at 5:00pm and headed our hot and sweaty selves over to Epcot.
After more pictures with Goofy at AK, we were at Epcot by about 5:45pm. We walked right on to Spaceship Earth to cool off and enjoy some peace and quiet. We waited about 25 minutes for Soarin. Soarin is everything I remember it being at DCA. The music, sights and smells are just wonderful. After a boat mishap across the lake, we went over to BIERGARTEN for dinner. We passed on reservations for BOMA at the Animal Kingdom lodge because we werent hungry yet. With no reservations, we waited about 25 minutes for dinner. We were still eating dinner during Illuminations, but our waitress told us to go outside to watch it and then come back in for dessert. Illuminations was a good show, but I dont think Germany is the greatest place to watch whats going on on the lake. We walked back into BIERGARTEN and had a leisurely dessert. The park was officially closed long after we left the restaurant. Having the park to ourselves, we walked slowly to the busses. Again, there was no line and very little wait to get ourselves back to CSR.
Saturday, September 17, 2005: Having been to Epcot twice and pretty much not doing anything there, we finally experienced Epcot around 11am. We rode Test Track and our car malfunctioned during one of the major tests. The sound effects didnt quite mirror what our almost stopped car was experiencing. The cast member let us go back on again and the ride worked perfectly. Test Track is a well-themed amazing ride. None of us had the stomach for Mission Space, so we passed on that. We waited 25 minutes to go experience Soarin for the second time on our trip. (This seemed to be the longest wait on our trip.) We had a basic lunch at LIBERTY INN. I had the Bacon Double Cheeseburger and my wife had the Turkey Sandwich. We wanted to experience different cuisines, but the air conditioning of this restaurant made the final decision. We saved the Apple Cobbler and the Smores for later, but we never seemed to get back to the restaurant to eat them. Better for the waistline I guess. The World Showcase Pavilions are fascinating to look at, but the propaganda from each show was a bit annoying. We saw some Chinese acrobats performing outside in the heat. They were amazing, but we could only stand in the sun for so long. How they were able to keep it up is beyond me. Maelstrom makes no sense and El Rio Del Tiempo was .ummmm ..Air Conditioned. Oh yeah .and I learned that Canada is beautiful. If theres any rich history there, then they might have cut it from the film. We ended our Epcot day with Journey into Imagination with Figment. The look on my face at the end of the ride sent everyone into major laughter. What the hell had I just ridden? Apparently Im not using my imagination well enough.
We left the park around 5:45pm and headed back to the hotel to shower and change and go to ARTIST POINT at the Wilderness Lodge. Bus hopping from Epcot to CSR to MGM to the Lodge was simple and quick.
ARTIST POINT was spectacular. We shared the Crispy Venison Spring Rolls, the Duck Confit, the Grilled Beef Tenderloin, the Grilled Buffalo Ribeye, the Cobbler and the Coffee Two Ways. Each and every item was perfect. The Beef was so tender you could cut it with your pinkie. The presentation was top notch and it was well worth the 2 dining points. On our way in, we saw the WHISPERING CANYON CAFÉ and it looked like a lot fun. So much so that we chose to go there the next night. But before we jump ahead, we had to head back to our hotel. The bus to Downtown Disney came pretty quickly, but we had to make a pit stop over to the Grand Floridian which seemed really out of the way. The ride to Downtown Disney felt like forever and a day. We got off the bus at midnight just in time for a small fireworks show over Pleasure Island. There was one standing room bus load waiting for our bus back to CSR/AKL. There were some drunken conventioneers staying at our hotel waiting in line as well. The bus showed up in about 15 minutes and we were at our hotel in an OK amount of time.
Sunday, September 18, 2005: We finally made it to MGM. We arrived just in time for the Beauty and the Beast show. We sat right behind the sound board. I was not very impressed with the show. Im not sure what I was expecting but it seemed that the timing was off, the story was stilted and the energy was just down. We quickly washed away that feeling by walking right on to Tower of Terror. Seriously we walked out of the Library and right into the elevator car. DCAs version is just fair compared to MGMs. We waited 10 minutes twice for Rock n Roller Coaster. Had the front row the first time and the middle the second time. This ride really feels different depending on where you sit. The front feels more controlled while the back is very disorienting. All in all a wonderful ride. I was very disappointed with the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. It felt like a rip off from Universal Studios Hollywood in so many ways. It was neat to see the sets move, but the payoff in the heat and humidity wasnt there. Star Tours was the same as in Disneyland but the outside theming was much better. Our last lunch at BACKLOT EXPRESS was much like our first lunch the VILLAGE HAUS. Grilled Turkey and Cheese and Chicken Fingers. Both were very good and it was nice to be out of the hot weather. Once again we never went back for our Chocolate Cake or Cherry Cooler. Lights, Motors, Action was a much better show than Indiana Jones. The behind the scenes talk and descriptions made this show a lot of fun. We got pretty good seats showing up just 5 minutes before show time. Having been a tour guide at Universal Studios Hollywood, I had some sort of expectation for the Great Movie Ride and the Backlot Tour. Im not sure which ride was worse. They packed us in like sardines on the Great Movie Ride when there were obviously short lines waiting to get on. Do you really need 6 in a row when the park isnt crowded? The ride was neat to look at, but the live tour guide was just a waste. This ride could have easily been a sit down and relax ride. As for the Backlot Tour, we waited about 15 minutes to get to the first section of the tour. The Pearl Harbor demonstration was OK, but Universal had been doing this same thing for years. They rushed us through the prop warehouse to wait something like 15-20 minutes to board the tram. Two empty trams passed us before we finally sat down. In fact, we waited so long; the following group had time to fill in some empty seats. Our guide was bland and boring and apparently hot herself. We passed by a water tower with no water, cars from movies that we couldnt care less about, closed wardrobe shops and finally Catastrophe Canyon. The effects in the canyon were really cool. Disney really likes fire in all their shows dont they? We rode by more cars from movies we didnt care about and got to pass backstage of the Lights, Motors, Action show. This was actually kind of neat seeing the stunt men prep while the show was going on. We made a U-turn and .What??? Thats the tour? Are you out of your minds? We waited all that time for this garbage? Why not just make Catastrophe Canyon a walk-through ride and save on the gasoline for the trams? Did I miss something? Was there something cut from the tour? Will I get that hour of my life back somewhere? What a horrible disappointment. So we washed down our pain and made our last ride at the Walt Disney Resort the Tower of Terror. And boy did we finish with a bang. We went up and down the drop chute 5 times. What a way to cap off the parks.
We headed out to the busses and back to Wilderness Lodge to go to WHISPERING CANYON CAFÉ. At this point, we had used up all our dining points and paid for it ourselves. Treating ourselves to FLYING FISH and ARTIST POINT removed 4 of our 5 points. Oh yeah .except for one frozen banana all our snacks were used on much-needed water. The bus to WL came within 5 minutes and we were at the lodge in no time.
Im not a big loud noise and kid-filled restaurant kind of person, but WHISPERING CANYON was so much fun. I dont even know where to begin. Where ARTIST POINT was a refined dining experience, WHISPERING CANYON was quite the opposite. Our waitress was hysterical. With straws all over the place and our neighboring table having some sort of ketchup fetish, our table enjoyed the All-You-Care-To-Eat Skillet. Everything in that skillet was great. The salad, cornbread, Yukon gold mashed potatoes, beans, cole slaw, ribs, pulled pork, chicken and sausage we wonderful. Completely sober, I found myself riding my horse around the restaurant with a group of 6 year-olds. I took my various oaths and got my Pony Express certificate. This was just one of those places that you just have to go in and think, Im going to have fun. And you will. As we left the restaurant, one of the hostesses told me that I rode my horse well. It had been well over an hour since those festivities and she had noticed. Kind of a nice touch.
Since MGM was having the EMH, we hopped a bus to the Studios and then sweet-talked the dispatch officer to send a bus our way. And lo and behold he did.
Monday, September 19, 2005 CHECK-OUT DAY: We had a bus pick-up at 10:15am for a 1:25pm flight. We brought our luggage to the hotel/airline check-in at 9:30am and had our boarding passes in about 2 minutes. If you fly on certain airlines, you can check your bags all the way to your final destination. This was great. The bus came right at 10:15 and we were at our terminal by 10:50. We happened to be the last hotel stop before departing the WDW Resort. Im not sure how many stop the bus had made prior. Our luggage arrived safely in Los Angeles and it was the end to an almost perfect trip.
Random Thoughts:
Coronado Springs Resort: Its a nice hotel but its really really big. If you find yourself out on the far side of the hotel, its a long walk to get a cup of coffee or pick up any packages you had sent from the various theme parks. They have less than 200 King room for the 2,000 plus rooms on their premises. The rooms are clean and spacious and come with refrigerators. The dig site pool area is nice, but shouldnt be your main draw to the hotel. Their Wi-Fi access isnt the greatest in the lobby and convention area. The staff is friendly overall and their bus system is exceptional. The hotel is centrally located to all the parks although it seems that the Swan and the Dolphin are really the legitimate center. Nothing is in walking distance to the hotel so you are at the mercy of the busses and/or rental cars.
Busses vs. Rental Car: I thought about renting a car and it turned out that it was not necessary. It was nice letting someone else drive me for a change. We were very lucky at our hotel, but it seemed that other hotels were slammed with bus lines all week long. Most notably Pop Century and the All Star Resorts. Unless you really are a control freak, the bus system is the way to go.
Travel in September: It was hot and it was humid. Sometimes it was a little overbearing. But the crowds being next to nothing more than made up for it. I would go back to WDW in September without giving it another thought. Of course we slid in between two hurricanes, but thats the chance you take.
Dining Plan: We originally had a AAA rate for the hotel and the difference between the AAA rate and the promotional free dining plan was $30.00 a day. Figuring we would easily spend $150.00 in food, we chose the free dining plan. I figure that the average price for a sit-down, counter service and snack ran us about $90.00 per day. But we rarely ate the desserts at lunch. So that figure was closer to $83.00 per day. Disney normally charges $70.00 per couple. We like to fine dine so the restaurants we chose would probably be places we would have gone to whether we were on the plan or not. If you are more of a counter service kind of a person, then the dining plan might not be up your alley. Tax and tip were included at every meal, but we slipped a few more dollars in for the excellent service.
OK I think that this is way too long and I doubt anyone has read this far. If you have .and you still have questions, feel free to ask.
and had a great time!! I am also glad that this time next week it will be me!!! 
