AWilliams
Wishing on a star...
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2000
- Messages
- 325
For report with pictures:
AMY & JOE do DISNEY - Day 1
The Cast:
Amy - Trip planner and DIS fan!
Joe - Amy's DH, loves Baloo
Mel - Amy's sister, professional photographer
Justin - Mel's BF, Everquest addict
DAY 1: Friday, May 2
Were off!
The alarm went off at 3:30am. I still had packing to do!!! We left our house at 5am for our 7:20am flight on Delta. I dont know if I was more nervous about actually making it to the airport on time or getting on the plane. The car ride took about 45 minutes (thanks to the Ted Williams tunnel!) and even though we got lost trying to find economy parking we still made it into the airport just after 6:00. Check-in was fairly quick and easy. It was my first time using the machines that require an ID or credit card. We made it though security without problem. They hand checked my film as requested. Mel sat with the carry-on bags, I went to throw-up, and Joe and Justin grabbed some breakfast. When we all met back up our row number was being called to board the plane. I wont go into the plane ride details, but we did arrive safely and even about 15 minutes early.
Tiffany Towncar
Our driver, Tiffany Towncar, was waiting at the bottom of the escalator. We had requested a sign with Justins name on it to surprise him, but in a rush to get our bags he missed out on seeing it. Our driver took the first bag off the carousel and went out to pull the car up to the nearest exit. He loaded the rest of our stuff in (two large suitcases, two smaller suitcases, and two carry-ons). I couldnt believe it all fit with room to spare! We stopped at the grocery store and the driver gave us his discount card to use. We grabbed some soda, water, and beer. Our driver was great and joked around with us for the rest of the drive.
Coronado Springs Resort
We arrived at CSR at around 11am. Tiffany unloaded all our luggage and groceries onto a bellman cart. I paid/tipped the driver and Joe grabbed our baggage claim from the bellman. Joe and I went in to check-in and Mel and Justin had a smoke. The check-in line was short, about 3 families in front of us, and we were at the counter in about two minutes. The cast member checking us in was friendly, but I dont think he had worked here long, as he had to get help frequently. I had to make two reservations since we reserved two different room types. Joe and I reserved a King room and requested a lagoon water view. When he pulled up our reservation it indicated that we had requested a Savannah view. I guess they got that mixed up with our ALK request. Mel and Justin had requested a standard room. I asked if it would be possible to stay in the cabanas section and for our rooms to be close to one another. He had a standard room in Cabanas 8B available immediately and located a king room in the same building that was waiting to be cleaned. YEAH! He gave us a card with a phone number to call to get our room number when it was ready. The next step for our reservation was to add UHPs to all our room keys, less the first day for everyone and last day for Mel and Justin. The third step was adding a credit card to Joe and my room card and cash to Mel and Justins room cards. Finally we paid for/received our Hoop Dee Do tickets for that evening. I think that whole process took about a half hour. The cast member was really patient!!
Mel and Justin had given their room information to Bell Services and had a shuttle with our luggage waiting for us outside. We hopped in and were taken to their room. Since ours would be close by we just had the entire luggage delivered at once. Their room (8521) faced the parking lot and the bus stop. We went inside and I was surprised to see how big the room was. We rummaged trough our luggage, put on bathing suits and hit the pool (Dig Site). It was a really short walk, maybe 2 minutes. The pool area was just incredible. In fact, the entire resort was incredible.
We decided to stop by the pool bar (Siestas) for our first of many drinks this trip. The bartender was great and explained all the special drinks and we were introduced to Bacardi 151 for $1.00 more. We split two orders of fries and had another round of drinks for lunch. After lunch, Mel, Joe, and I relaxed in the pool and Justin played in the arcade. The water in the pool was cool, but it didnt take long to get use to it. At 2:00 I went back to Mel and Justins room to call to see if our other room was ready. It was!! Our room (8552) was on the first floor and looked out over a small lagoon with a sandy beach and hammocks. The room was just perfect. We unpacked our stuff and got ready to head to the Hoop Dee Do.
The Hoop Dee Do
Joe and I met Mel and Justin at the bus stop at about 4:00 our HDD reservation was for 5:00, so we were cutting it kind-of close. The bus to the Magic Kingdom came quickly and only made one stop at the main entrance of CSR before heading out. I never timed the bus rides, but aside from trips to DD, they were all pretty short. We got off the bus and headed for the boat to WL/FW. The boat ride seemed to take forever. I love the WL but I dont think I would ever stay there because of these slow boats!! FW was the second stop. We got off the boat and realized that we had no idea where we were going, so we just followed a group of people. It wound up that they had no idea where they were going either, so we asked and got directions. It was 4:45 and there was a huge line to get in. I didnt realize that the doors dont open until 5:00. We finally got in and we seated just one table back from the stage! I only made reservations about 90 days in advance, so I wasnt expecting to be so close. By this time we were all staring and we devoured the bread that was on the table. Mel and I ordered Sangria and Joe and Justin had beer. It took forever to get our drinks so when they did come we requested a pitcher of each, so we wouldnt have to keep hounding our waitress. She was pleasant enough and returned quickly with the pitchers. I also reminded her that I had ordered a vegetarian plate.
The show started and it was definitely corny. Midway through the show one of the actors came down and started hitting on Joe. It made the show more entertaining to be included in it (or maybe it was the third pitcher of beer?) We did enjoy the show and the food was pretty good.
After the show we looked through the gift shop at FW. We attempted to have a drink at the restaurant there, but decided just to go back to our resort. I was ready for some serious sleep and it was only 8:00! The boat ride back to the MK was shorter and the sun was setting so it had cooled off a bit. The birds have certainly taken over Discovery Island. There must have been over a thousand of them there. Another short wait for the bus and we were back at CSR. We didnt remember our bus stop number so we had to pay attention to the areas and figure out where we were. The bus started at stop 2, then 3, then 4 (our stop), and finally 1. We all got off the bus and said our goodnights. I told them we should plan to meet at the bus stop at 8:15 the next morning. We were going to eat breakfast in Cinderellas castle!!!
I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
AMY & JOE do DISNEY - Day 1
The Cast:
Amy - Trip planner and DIS fan!
Joe - Amy's DH, loves Baloo
Mel - Amy's sister, professional photographer
Justin - Mel's BF, Everquest addict
DAY 1: Friday, May 2
Were off!
The alarm went off at 3:30am. I still had packing to do!!! We left our house at 5am for our 7:20am flight on Delta. I dont know if I was more nervous about actually making it to the airport on time or getting on the plane. The car ride took about 45 minutes (thanks to the Ted Williams tunnel!) and even though we got lost trying to find economy parking we still made it into the airport just after 6:00. Check-in was fairly quick and easy. It was my first time using the machines that require an ID or credit card. We made it though security without problem. They hand checked my film as requested. Mel sat with the carry-on bags, I went to throw-up, and Joe and Justin grabbed some breakfast. When we all met back up our row number was being called to board the plane. I wont go into the plane ride details, but we did arrive safely and even about 15 minutes early.
Tiffany Towncar
Our driver, Tiffany Towncar, was waiting at the bottom of the escalator. We had requested a sign with Justins name on it to surprise him, but in a rush to get our bags he missed out on seeing it. Our driver took the first bag off the carousel and went out to pull the car up to the nearest exit. He loaded the rest of our stuff in (two large suitcases, two smaller suitcases, and two carry-ons). I couldnt believe it all fit with room to spare! We stopped at the grocery store and the driver gave us his discount card to use. We grabbed some soda, water, and beer. Our driver was great and joked around with us for the rest of the drive.
Coronado Springs Resort
We arrived at CSR at around 11am. Tiffany unloaded all our luggage and groceries onto a bellman cart. I paid/tipped the driver and Joe grabbed our baggage claim from the bellman. Joe and I went in to check-in and Mel and Justin had a smoke. The check-in line was short, about 3 families in front of us, and we were at the counter in about two minutes. The cast member checking us in was friendly, but I dont think he had worked here long, as he had to get help frequently. I had to make two reservations since we reserved two different room types. Joe and I reserved a King room and requested a lagoon water view. When he pulled up our reservation it indicated that we had requested a Savannah view. I guess they got that mixed up with our ALK request. Mel and Justin had requested a standard room. I asked if it would be possible to stay in the cabanas section and for our rooms to be close to one another. He had a standard room in Cabanas 8B available immediately and located a king room in the same building that was waiting to be cleaned. YEAH! He gave us a card with a phone number to call to get our room number when it was ready. The next step for our reservation was to add UHPs to all our room keys, less the first day for everyone and last day for Mel and Justin. The third step was adding a credit card to Joe and my room card and cash to Mel and Justins room cards. Finally we paid for/received our Hoop Dee Do tickets for that evening. I think that whole process took about a half hour. The cast member was really patient!!
Mel and Justin had given their room information to Bell Services and had a shuttle with our luggage waiting for us outside. We hopped in and were taken to their room. Since ours would be close by we just had the entire luggage delivered at once. Their room (8521) faced the parking lot and the bus stop. We went inside and I was surprised to see how big the room was. We rummaged trough our luggage, put on bathing suits and hit the pool (Dig Site). It was a really short walk, maybe 2 minutes. The pool area was just incredible. In fact, the entire resort was incredible.
We decided to stop by the pool bar (Siestas) for our first of many drinks this trip. The bartender was great and explained all the special drinks and we were introduced to Bacardi 151 for $1.00 more. We split two orders of fries and had another round of drinks for lunch. After lunch, Mel, Joe, and I relaxed in the pool and Justin played in the arcade. The water in the pool was cool, but it didnt take long to get use to it. At 2:00 I went back to Mel and Justins room to call to see if our other room was ready. It was!! Our room (8552) was on the first floor and looked out over a small lagoon with a sandy beach and hammocks. The room was just perfect. We unpacked our stuff and got ready to head to the Hoop Dee Do.
The Hoop Dee Do
Joe and I met Mel and Justin at the bus stop at about 4:00 our HDD reservation was for 5:00, so we were cutting it kind-of close. The bus to the Magic Kingdom came quickly and only made one stop at the main entrance of CSR before heading out. I never timed the bus rides, but aside from trips to DD, they were all pretty short. We got off the bus and headed for the boat to WL/FW. The boat ride seemed to take forever. I love the WL but I dont think I would ever stay there because of these slow boats!! FW was the second stop. We got off the boat and realized that we had no idea where we were going, so we just followed a group of people. It wound up that they had no idea where they were going either, so we asked and got directions. It was 4:45 and there was a huge line to get in. I didnt realize that the doors dont open until 5:00. We finally got in and we seated just one table back from the stage! I only made reservations about 90 days in advance, so I wasnt expecting to be so close. By this time we were all staring and we devoured the bread that was on the table. Mel and I ordered Sangria and Joe and Justin had beer. It took forever to get our drinks so when they did come we requested a pitcher of each, so we wouldnt have to keep hounding our waitress. She was pleasant enough and returned quickly with the pitchers. I also reminded her that I had ordered a vegetarian plate.
The show started and it was definitely corny. Midway through the show one of the actors came down and started hitting on Joe. It made the show more entertaining to be included in it (or maybe it was the third pitcher of beer?) We did enjoy the show and the food was pretty good.
After the show we looked through the gift shop at FW. We attempted to have a drink at the restaurant there, but decided just to go back to our resort. I was ready for some serious sleep and it was only 8:00! The boat ride back to the MK was shorter and the sun was setting so it had cooled off a bit. The birds have certainly taken over Discovery Island. There must have been over a thousand of them there. Another short wait for the bus and we were back at CSR. We didnt remember our bus stop number so we had to pay attention to the areas and figure out where we were. The bus started at stop 2, then 3, then 4 (our stop), and finally 1. We all got off the bus and said our goodnights. I told them we should plan to meet at the bus stop at 8:15 the next morning. We were going to eat breakfast in Cinderellas castle!!!
I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
