WDW and Coronado Springs
We just returned from WDW and spent 6 days at CSR. What a wonderful choice we made. We had the best time right from the start. This trip was me (DGF-45) and my DBF-58 and his DS-8 . DS first trip and our first in over 15 yrs. I originally asked for Cabanas at CSR but none was available when we checked in. The entire hotel was full and we had very limited choices on rooms. I finally decided on one that was cleaned and ready. I picked Ranchos 7A Room 7135- corner room on first floor. Great choice, even if it was on the back side of the resort. Our room ended up being approx 30 ft from the bus stop! Short walk to Dig Site and quiet pool. No problems with room. It was clean, well maintained and quiet. We loved it. We also had great luck with the buses. Never had to wait too long and if we wanted to go to Front of hotel, just hopped the next bus. Then you could either take a Dwntn Disney bus to the back of resort or jump on one of the golfcart shuttles. Depending on the time of day, they were moving with a short wait. We didnt do much walking around the resort, it was too hot. Over 95 every day with high humidity. Walking at the parks was plenty for us.
First night we arrived we ate dinner at the Maya Grill.. (DDP) food was wonderful. And server was good and attentive. I had made the reservations for 6:30 each night. We ended up changing almost every one to an earlier time with no problems. We were never told we couldnt eat earlier than our reservation. Waiter made DS sign for the meal- He loved that. Dont hesitate about choosing this restaurant- It was terrific. We then went to MK for the evening. Big mistake. Fridays are an EMH for MK. Open till 3AM!!! We tried to leave approx. 10:30- between parades and fireworks. It took over an hour to get from the Castle to the front gates!!!!! Packed like sardines with people sitting on the sidewalks holding places for the next parade. We will never go back during those times again. Go before and get out before the madness starts.
Next morning we went to EPCOT until about 2pm. Rode Soarin and lots of the kid rides for DS. He is too short for some rides and scared to ride the coasters, etc. After going back to hotel to play in the pool for the afternoon, we returned to MK to have dinner at Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh!!!! Very fun. DS LOVED THIS. (SO DID I) Food was good- better than I expected and characters were friendly and good at spending time with each child. After dinner we rodes some more rides and left before the fireworks started to have an early night.
Next was MGM- had a blast here. No coasters or TofT.. just plain kid fun. Indiana Jones and Backlot Tour, Muppets 3D and Sounds Dangerous!!! Saw the High School Musical Pep Rally. Ate lunch at ABC Commisary. Food was ok.. Had dinner at 50s Prime Time. This was great. Really good food and waiter was much fun! Teased DS but picked on the boy at next table more!!! Told him he needed a haircut and made him stand against the wall when he said he didnt miss him while he was gone!!! Our DS then became the star. Waiter took him around to other tables telling all that he was the good INDIANA boy! DS offered him a treat out of his back pack- the waiter went and got one of the chefs and they both looked through his backpack looking for a special treat. When we left, the chef was waiting for DS and gave him Disney Pin for being such a nice boy and offering him a snack!!!! After dinner we went back to hotel and swam in pool. DBF and DS both LOVE the slide at the Dig Site!!
Next day was EPCOT all day. We won DREAM FAST PASSES!!! As we were walking into the Imaginations bldg- 2 castmembers were handing them out! They said they give out 125 per day. Thats it! So we were very lucky and got to ride all the rides with no waiting! Loved Soarin again- and Test Track is very cool too! Didnt ride Mission Space- DS isnt tall enough. Had lunch at Liberty Inn. Very good chicken sandwiches!! We saw all the shows on World Showcase and DS had fun visiting all the Kidcot spots to make his mask and get autographs. I had made him an autograph book and downloaded pages from a website to create it. I printed it on adhesive paper and cut out and stuck to pages of a spiral notecard book. Worked great and he loved getting the autographs! We had dinner at Coral Reef. This was our best dinner!!! Fabulous food! Wonderful atmosphere- Waiter was terrific again!!! We had great service on the DDP- no problems at all! Order the Chocolate WAVE!!!!!!! Its better than S**!!!! I swear!
AK was our last day and unfortunately we picked the hottest day of the week!!! Had breakfast at Donalds Breakfastaurus.. This was very fun. The chef picked DS to bring out the characters!!! We got to go behind scenes and have pics taken before they entered. Then he got to walk out with them!!! He was walking on air and loving that. Kilaminjaro Safari is great. And loved the Pangani Trail- we won another Dream on this !!! Castmembers were handing out 100 lanyards with special Year of Million Dream Pins on them!!! Lucky US!! Rode Primeval Whirl- kinda lame coaster.. but DS is scared of the big ones. Tough to be a Bug is fun. Had fun at Rafiki Planet too. Weather got to us. Heat index was over 110. so we cut the day short and headed back to the pool. Swam for couple hours and then went to Pepper Market for dinner. Food was good everytime we ate here. Service isnt the greatest, but its a food court.. Huge portions- never could finish anything.
Suggestions for everyone! Invest in mister to carry with you. Dont buy the $20 ones at WDW!!!! I got same thing- no logo at Walmart for under 6$. I also bought water bottles for each of us. I got these at Walgreens for $5- they have carrying strap and insulated holder. LIFE SAVERS!!!!! Even DBF said this was great idea. I bought couple boxes of the drink mix for water bottles and these are small enough to fit in your pocket!!! Drinks are expensive at all parks! Min $2.50 each.. usually more than that. Water is free everywhere and even ice water. DS carried a small pouch backpack and I stuck snacks in it every day- 100 calorie snack packs of cookies, etc. ringpops, suckers, gum. We ended up using most of our snack options on last day for drinks before flight and snacks for friends at home. Took several of our deserts back to hotel fridge and ended up throwing them away. I used snack credits for 2 liter of Dcoke, box of Entemanns donuts and ½ gallon of milk for room and we ate breakfast in room on 3 mornings.
All in all, we had a wonderful MAGICAL trip. No rain the entire time we were in FL. Just hot days. I highly recommend the Coronado Springs resort. It was full and there were 2 conventions going on, but we didnt see much of them- except in the Pepper Market and only at specific meal times. Buses worked great and all the Disney transportation was prompt and quick. DBF said we will never do it any other way. DDP was great too. We had great service and wonderful food. We are even talking about taking an adult only trip to WDW sometime!!!!! But regardless, we will be coming back and using all these options again!
PS- I wore crocs every day and no blisters, no sore feet.. everyone else had on tennis shoes and was complaining about their feet hurting!!
We just returned from WDW and spent 6 days at CSR. What a wonderful choice we made. We had the best time right from the start. This trip was me (DGF-45) and my DBF-58 and his DS-8 . DS first trip and our first in over 15 yrs. I originally asked for Cabanas at CSR but none was available when we checked in. The entire hotel was full and we had very limited choices on rooms. I finally decided on one that was cleaned and ready. I picked Ranchos 7A Room 7135- corner room on first floor. Great choice, even if it was on the back side of the resort. Our room ended up being approx 30 ft from the bus stop! Short walk to Dig Site and quiet pool. No problems with room. It was clean, well maintained and quiet. We loved it. We also had great luck with the buses. Never had to wait too long and if we wanted to go to Front of hotel, just hopped the next bus. Then you could either take a Dwntn Disney bus to the back of resort or jump on one of the golfcart shuttles. Depending on the time of day, they were moving with a short wait. We didnt do much walking around the resort, it was too hot. Over 95 every day with high humidity. Walking at the parks was plenty for us.
First night we arrived we ate dinner at the Maya Grill.. (DDP) food was wonderful. And server was good and attentive. I had made the reservations for 6:30 each night. We ended up changing almost every one to an earlier time with no problems. We were never told we couldnt eat earlier than our reservation. Waiter made DS sign for the meal- He loved that. Dont hesitate about choosing this restaurant- It was terrific. We then went to MK for the evening. Big mistake. Fridays are an EMH for MK. Open till 3AM!!! We tried to leave approx. 10:30- between parades and fireworks. It took over an hour to get from the Castle to the front gates!!!!! Packed like sardines with people sitting on the sidewalks holding places for the next parade. We will never go back during those times again. Go before and get out before the madness starts.
Next morning we went to EPCOT until about 2pm. Rode Soarin and lots of the kid rides for DS. He is too short for some rides and scared to ride the coasters, etc. After going back to hotel to play in the pool for the afternoon, we returned to MK to have dinner at Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh!!!! Very fun. DS LOVED THIS. (SO DID I) Food was good- better than I expected and characters were friendly and good at spending time with each child. After dinner we rodes some more rides and left before the fireworks started to have an early night.
Next was MGM- had a blast here. No coasters or TofT.. just plain kid fun. Indiana Jones and Backlot Tour, Muppets 3D and Sounds Dangerous!!! Saw the High School Musical Pep Rally. Ate lunch at ABC Commisary. Food was ok.. Had dinner at 50s Prime Time. This was great. Really good food and waiter was much fun! Teased DS but picked on the boy at next table more!!! Told him he needed a haircut and made him stand against the wall when he said he didnt miss him while he was gone!!! Our DS then became the star. Waiter took him around to other tables telling all that he was the good INDIANA boy! DS offered him a treat out of his back pack- the waiter went and got one of the chefs and they both looked through his backpack looking for a special treat. When we left, the chef was waiting for DS and gave him Disney Pin for being such a nice boy and offering him a snack!!!! After dinner we went back to hotel and swam in pool. DBF and DS both LOVE the slide at the Dig Site!!
Next day was EPCOT all day. We won DREAM FAST PASSES!!! As we were walking into the Imaginations bldg- 2 castmembers were handing them out! They said they give out 125 per day. Thats it! So we were very lucky and got to ride all the rides with no waiting! Loved Soarin again- and Test Track is very cool too! Didnt ride Mission Space- DS isnt tall enough. Had lunch at Liberty Inn. Very good chicken sandwiches!! We saw all the shows on World Showcase and DS had fun visiting all the Kidcot spots to make his mask and get autographs. I had made him an autograph book and downloaded pages from a website to create it. I printed it on adhesive paper and cut out and stuck to pages of a spiral notecard book. Worked great and he loved getting the autographs! We had dinner at Coral Reef. This was our best dinner!!! Fabulous food! Wonderful atmosphere- Waiter was terrific again!!! We had great service on the DDP- no problems at all! Order the Chocolate WAVE!!!!!!! Its better than S**!!!! I swear!
AK was our last day and unfortunately we picked the hottest day of the week!!! Had breakfast at Donalds Breakfastaurus.. This was very fun. The chef picked DS to bring out the characters!!! We got to go behind scenes and have pics taken before they entered. Then he got to walk out with them!!! He was walking on air and loving that. Kilaminjaro Safari is great. And loved the Pangani Trail- we won another Dream on this !!! Castmembers were handing out 100 lanyards with special Year of Million Dream Pins on them!!! Lucky US!! Rode Primeval Whirl- kinda lame coaster.. but DS is scared of the big ones. Tough to be a Bug is fun. Had fun at Rafiki Planet too. Weather got to us. Heat index was over 110. so we cut the day short and headed back to the pool. Swam for couple hours and then went to Pepper Market for dinner. Food was good everytime we ate here. Service isnt the greatest, but its a food court.. Huge portions- never could finish anything.
Suggestions for everyone! Invest in mister to carry with you. Dont buy the $20 ones at WDW!!!! I got same thing- no logo at Walmart for under 6$. I also bought water bottles for each of us. I got these at Walgreens for $5- they have carrying strap and insulated holder. LIFE SAVERS!!!!! Even DBF said this was great idea. I bought couple boxes of the drink mix for water bottles and these are small enough to fit in your pocket!!! Drinks are expensive at all parks! Min $2.50 each.. usually more than that. Water is free everywhere and even ice water. DS carried a small pouch backpack and I stuck snacks in it every day- 100 calorie snack packs of cookies, etc. ringpops, suckers, gum. We ended up using most of our snack options on last day for drinks before flight and snacks for friends at home. Took several of our deserts back to hotel fridge and ended up throwing them away. I used snack credits for 2 liter of Dcoke, box of Entemanns donuts and ½ gallon of milk for room and we ate breakfast in room on 3 mornings.
All in all, we had a wonderful MAGICAL trip. No rain the entire time we were in FL. Just hot days. I highly recommend the Coronado Springs resort. It was full and there were 2 conventions going on, but we didnt see much of them- except in the Pepper Market and only at specific meal times. Buses worked great and all the Disney transportation was prompt and quick. DBF said we will never do it any other way. DDP was great too. We had great service and wonderful food. We are even talking about taking an adult only trip to WDW sometime!!!!! But regardless, we will be coming back and using all these options again!
PS- I wore crocs every day and no blisters, no sore feet.. everyone else had on tennis shoes and was complaining about their feet hurting!!
