1st Trip, Thanksgiving Week, Coronado Springs

[asfarrell]

I hope this isn't too long. I didn't know if I was supposed to divide it up. I tried to make is simple and to the point

I wanted to write this report to make sure there was a POSITIVE post on the week of Thanksgiving. When I first started making plans for our trip to DW and started reading the posts of Thanksgiving week, how it was so crowded, I began to re-think the trip. However, this was the only week we could go, so there was no turning back…WE WERE GOING THE WEEK OF THANKSGIVING, CROWDED OR NOT! With that said here is our Trip Report.

I always dreamed (as a little girl) of going to Disney World. We never went. Once we had children, I knew we wanted to take them, once they were old enough to remember and enjoy the trip. I actually did not think we would be able to afford it and/or take the time off work to go (we have a family business, it’s a really big deal to miss work, everyone has certain jobs they do). We decided we were going no matter what and planned it one year in advance so everyone could adjust to the idea we would be gone and we could pay it out. At one point, I thought about cancelling the trip due to the cost, thinking I could put new countertops in, re-do the floor in the game room, etc…My husband, who wanted to go to DW, but was not into the planning or anything said “we have two children, who are already growing up way too fast…we have the rest of our life to pay bills, install countertops, etc…we won’t get this time back. We are taking our children to Disney World.” So the planning continued.

The week of Thanksgiving…... I assumed Disney World was just always crowded, but we braced ourselves for extreme crowds (due to what we read). We stayed at the Coronado Springs Resort, Cabana 9B. I am so glad we chose this resort. It was absolutely beautiful. The kids loved the pool. Pepper Market could not have been better. Pepper Market was convenient, stayed open late and had great food. We used most of our CS meals there and would grab a snack on the way back to the room after a day at the park. We could have stayed an entire day at the resort, there was that much to do. The week of Thanksgiving was a great time for us to go due to the “holiday hours” at the parks. We are not early risers. We never got to a park before 11:00, but since they stayed open so late, it did not matter. Magic Kingdom stayed open until 12:00 a.m.

Quick note: Our children’s main goal was to get autographs! They purchased their autograph books and pens when we first arrived at the resort and they were on a mission. A good portion of our trip and days at the parks revolved around this mission.

Another quick note: Our daughter was 41.5 inches in June….she knew she had to be 44 inches to be able to ride most rides. I don’t know how but she was about 43.5 when we arrived, throw on some thick soled shoes and a large bow…she was good to go!

Day 1 – Tuesday, Magic Kingdom: We arrived at CSR at 7:00, we grabbed dinner at Pepper Market and headed to MK. Right as we entered Main Street, Wishes started, it was like entering a magical place. We then caught the Spectro Magic parade, beautiful. GREAT- first night we caught the fireworks and parade, so I knew when we came back the next day, we could ride rides while everyone was watching the fireworks and parade. The park was not crowded after the parade, so we were able to hit all the “must do rides”. Space mountain, tea cups, dumbo, etc…

Day 2 – Wednesday Magic Kingdom: We slept in, swam at the pool, then headed to MK. This day was especially fun for our daughter who loves Cinderella more than anything; we were eating at Cinderella's Royal Table for dinner. We loved MK, it truly is “Disney”, and we rode as many rides as we could, went through Minnie and Mickey’s house and yes, got several autographs. We didn’t try to do everything this day, we knew we were coming back at the end of the week for MVMCP.

Day 3 – Thursday, Thanksgiving Animal Kingdom: Our son was really looking forward to this park; he liked MK, but thought it was to “princessy” (not a word). We really enjoyed this park, the sites alone were beautiful. The Tree of Life was breathtaking. Both kids rode Expedition Everest, but if you ask our DD, she will say it was fun, but she doesn’t want to ride it again. The parade was great; all the characters were dressed up for Christmas. This is the only place we were able to get Mickey’s autograph, which was a very big deal. Somehow, we missed the Dinosaur ride, hmmm, didn’t notice it was at that park until the bus ride back to the resort. We ate dinner at 1900 Park Fare. Dinner was fun, our DD got to sing and dance with Cinderella, she absolutely loved that. Traditional Thanksgiving food was served. (wow, the Grand Floridian is beautiful) .

Day 4 – Friday MGM. We loved MGM. I wish we would have actually gone there two days. There was so much to do and see, we didn’t get to do everything and some things we had to rush through, so we didn’t miss anything else. Our family loves movies, we love Cars, Toy Story, Power Rangers, Star Wars, the list goes on and on, so we LOVED this park. We saw Fantasia, it was so entertaining, this was the only day it was cold, we were freezing as we were watching, but it was worth it. The Osborne Festival of Lights, you can’t imagine how beautiful they are until you actually see them for yourself, add in the snow, it was truly magical. We ate dinner at the Sci Fi Theater; the kids thought that was the neatest dinner, ever! We got to watch the High School Musical 2 performance. The Parade of Cars was so fun to watch. We did not get to see the Indiana Jones show or ride the Rockin’ Roller Coaster (DD too short). Kids rode the Tower of Terror, our DD was so brave. We watched the Beauty and the Beast performance, this was a great show, like a scaled down Broadway show (we love Belle so anything with her, is great to us). Autograph city! We ate lunch at Toy Story Pizza Planet - that part of the park is just like you are in another world. I really can’t express how much fun we had at MGM.

Day 5 – Saturday, Epcot. No flames please. We did not really enjoy Epcot, it did not feel like “Disney”. If we ever get to go back to Disney World, we will skip Epcot. With that said, here are the parts we did enjoy. The countries were beautiful, very detailed, like being there. This is the only place we saw Snow White and was able to get her autograph - that alone was worth it. Soarin’ was fun, Living with the Land was truly educational and fun, where else can you see a pumpkin shaped like Mickey-take the kids on this one. We ate at the Coral Reef for dinner, which was very nice and the kids loved the giant aquarium. Illuminations was spectacular, a very long, enjoyable firework show.

Day 6 – Sunday, Magic Kingdom. We saw three parades at MK during the week, each one was different. We bought tickets to MVMCP, this was so worth the extra money. The party had wonderful character interaction; our DD was dancing with Goofy, holding his hand—WOW! We finished up all the “for sure things” we wanted to do and see. We did not ride Splash Mountain, to cold, plus I didn’t want the kids custom outfits’ messed up-haha. Obviously we did not do all there is to do at MK, but it gives us an excuse to go back. This night we ate dinner at the Liberty Tree Tavern. I read several bad reviews about the food, we thought the food was great and the characters made it worth it. Our DD got all of the Princess’s autograph with the exception of Aerial. We had a wonderful time; it seemed to go by so fast.

End notes:
Was Thanksgiving crowded? Yes, but not to the point you couldn’t do all that you wanted to do and have fun. Use fast passes, make ADR’s, and don’t visit parks on extra magic hours. Expect crowds and make the best of it, have fun.
If we ever visit again, we will not go to the parks six straight days; we will have at least one down day to rest and relax by the pool. It took me two days after we got home to catch up on sleep and get my feet and back to stop aching (maybe I am just a wuss).
Next time, we will take it slower and enjoy it more, instead of rushing, rushing, rushing, but the kids needed a picture with Mater-so whatever it took.
I completed a dining report on all the restaraunts listed, enjoy and thanks for reading my trip report

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Thank you for the report. I had planned everything around EMH until I started reading on here. We are going the same schedule as you this year and I had thought about doing the parks on the days you mentioned.

Glad you had fun!!