MOVING ON!!!
Day of arrival: July 12, 2011.
I'll be entering in quite a bit of info for first timers - so jump ahead if needed!!
Disney has a really cool service called Magical Express (ME) - this is a service that allows you to hop on a bus straight from the airport - without going to baggage claim. The bus takes you straight to your resort and your bags arrive straight to your room later in the day (usually 2-4 hours).
We flew out of KCI at 1:00 pm. This was Cayden's first time on a plane - and Torrie's second.
Our plane landed at 4:50 in Orlando (Florida time). When you get to the airport, you're supposed to see lots of Disney "Cast Members" waving their Mickey hand shaped gloves and directing you to the Magical Express desk. We saw none of the Waving Mickey Hands...
We wandered around a bit, but finally found the right place to go: Head towards Baggage Claim B Level 1 and turn right - then you will see signs directing you to ME. We waited very briefly in a line - they take your name and have your reservations on file - they print out a boarding pass for the bus. There are MANY winding cues. Each cue is assigned 2-3 resorts. The cues were completely empty - we boarded our bus immediately and left as soon as we sat down. We were on the bus by 5:20 and on our way!
When we arrived to our resort: Coronado Springs - I had already checked in online from home (able to do this within 10 days of leaving). So I was able to go to a separate line - no waiting - and immediately check in.
BTW: we had booked a "room only" night for the 12th - and then our "package deal" would start the next day.
-- and this is MY picture...what the lobby looked like when we arrived! NICE!!! - no waiting!
No matter how many nights you plan to stay, I recommend making your first night a "room only" - then this is not a park day/disney plan day... then the next day you're "true" vaca begins - and even though "check in" isn't until 3:00 pm, you can go straight to the parks that AM!!!
We were assigned room number 5407 - We were in our room a little after 6:00 pm. So from LANDING in Orlando to our room - it was about 2 hours... not bad!!!
We had requested and paid for a water view. Here is our gorgeous water view ---
on the third floor - and on the very end - as far away from the elevator as possible. THIS is where i'm going to stay for the next 15 nights?? I don't think so....
After arriving in our room,
the original plan was to do some swimming this first night, but we were hungry - and it had JUST finished raining --- I had intentionally not made a dining reservation for this first evening. The family knew that we could either go to the resort quick service restauarant (Pepper Market) - or go to the 'nice' restaurant on property: "Maya Grill" - but either way - we were paying for it OOP (out of pocket) as this first night was not a
DDP (
Disney Dining Plan) night.
Family (Jeff) decided to go ahead and have a nice sit down meal at Maya Grill.
We were seated immediately and there were very few people in the restaurant.
I had a to have Margarita on my first day in Disney! !
I can't remember the name of the margarita that i had - but it was one of their house specials - and had a bit of BASIL! yes, BASIL in it.. it was actually very good - fruity - but not too sweet
We ordered an appetizer:
Pulled Pork Empanada served with Jicama Slaw.
I ordered a mahi mahi with a pineapple mango salsa.. sounded DELICIOUS!!!
Jeff ordered a traditional steak with "vegetables".
Torrie's kids meal was beef tips with corn and fries.
Can't remember what Cayden had.
They brought out some interesting bread/breadsticks with an herb/oil dipping sauce.
The appetizer was $9 --- for two little Epenada's. I didn't care for them at all.... and the Jicama slaw was terribly bitter.
Jeff said that the steak was 'fine', but the 'corn mush' was not what he was expecting for his "vegetable". He thought that Torrie's kids meal looked like something he would have wanted. (You will discover very quickly that my husband and kids are NOT adventurous eaters!)
My fish was VERY dry with NO flavor. The "pineapple salsa" was primarily all red onions... i think i found one little sliver of a pineapple piece.... very disappointing.
And - for this OOP meal?? $102 + tip. and if you're not familiar with Disney Dining -- they are sure to tell you what a 15% tip is and what a 18% tip amount would be. So -- yes... over $15 tip for this very bland - and for lack of better words - gross -- meal.
As we left the restaurant - we passed the Pepper Market - wishing we would have just eaten there - the aroma was much more pleasing -- and the out of pocket expense would have been more satisfying as well.
Although our first meal at Disney did not set the tone for our magical trip ahead, we knew that there were MANY restaurants in our near future that we could not wait to get to.
After eating at the Maya Grill -- i thought i'd take a stab at requesting a different room --- the more i thought about that "water view" and being there for 15 nights, the more daring and gutsy I became... it never hurts to ask --- right???
I approached the counter - and was very pleasant and courteous to the gentleman on the other side -- and just was very honest about our room - and how disappointed we were with the view. He found a room for us in a different building (building 9) - said that it would be on the first floor - and would walk right out to a quiet pool. This sounded great to us - we were told that it probably wouldn't be available until the following afternoon -- but that they would come get our luggage from our first room (which hadn't arrived from ME, yet) - and deliver it to the second room. We agreed to move the next day and were excited to have a first floor room walking straight out to a small pool - this sounded so nice and convenient!!
We then went to the Cafe Rix and got some convenient breakfast foods for the next AM: To-Go cereal, 2 muffins, 2 cookies (for the evening), two little milk cartons, and a banana: $40. We quickly decided that we needed to look into the grocery delivery service and get some bfast foods delivered! We weren't going to pay these prices for 15 nights!
When we returned to our room - the bags came around 10:00 at night. I couldn't believe that one man had to lug all of those bags by himself -- we had 7 FULL suitcases... two of which were over the weight limit! LOL. We were very impressed at how efficient their system was. When the man put the bags in our room - he had us verify that all the bags were there. Then he had a scanner .... similar to what a UPS/Fed Ex guy might carry and scanned all of our baggage claim tags from the airport. and then i THINK they had us sign it, too - saying that the correct bags were delivered... so that process was nice and smooth!!!!
FINALLY --- we get to bed... then around 4 am - Cayden wakes up with a fever... GREAT!!! I brought lots of OTC medications - but no tylenol/ibuprofen!! I called down to the desk and told them my situation - they said that they could send someone into the gift shop and bring something out for me --- I walked down to the front desk -- and although i did have to wait awhile for the person with the authority to get into the shop to find what i needed, i was SOOO glad that they were able to do this! As I waited, i made a comment that i was worried about giving him the ibuprofen on an empty stomach - and could they bring some crackers or something, as well. A gentleman overheard me and went into Cafe Rix and brought back a muffin and an apple!! HOW SWEET!! AND - -they didn't charge me for the food!!! I signed a little sheet authorizing the gift shop purchase... for them to process later - The lady who went into the shop for me then gave me a ride back to my room in a golf cart... I was so tired. I was very appreciative and thankful for their help and willingness to accomodate my needs. Meanwhile, scared to death that Cayden was getting sick and was coming down with something!!
I will come back tomorrow and post about our first day in the parks: July 13: ANIMAL KINGDOM!!!
I'm joining in, that cake looks great!!
I DOOO promise to deliver lots of tips and ideas for the readers --- but before I move on to the good stuff -- I suppose I should give some background on myself and my family..
