EDGAR --- The Crutch That Came on Vacation ..a 9/2014 Trip Report

[geckodani]

Gah! No foot injuries so close to a trip! Gah! GAH!

I do enjoy that Edgar was named and apparently had a jolly old time though.

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

I cannot say enough great things about Coronado!!! I’m about to inundate you all with pictures so be warned!!! We reserved Business Class which guarantees you to be place in a room in Cabanas Building 9 which is closest to El Centro which is the main building with registration, restaurants, gift shops, etc. I believe it was an extra $50 per night, but it was well worth it. We also got use of the Business Class lounge with is open from 7am to 11am and 5pm to 10pm. I swear I took pictures to show all of you, but do you think I can find them on Photobucket? Nope!! I have an excuse though. An unfortunate thing happened on the second day of our trip. My point and shoot camera broke. Grrrrr!!! The lens would no longer open! Now I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t pack a back-up camera (ok, maybe Karen does) as I would have never thought of it. The pictures of rest of the trip were taken with my iphone. Not bad, but I was still freaking out. I don’t mind dropping a camera but if I were to drop my phone, that would be an expense I wouldn’t want!!! My camera has a strap I can easily put around my wrist, but you can’t really do that with an iphone. If anyone is asking, no you cannot buy a digital point and shoot on Disney property. Oh, well you can at the Darkroom in HS, but there’s only Nikon and it’s almost $200. Nope, I don’t want to spend that. I just dealt with my phone, but boy was I upset. I blame Edgar, of course!! Ok, so this may or may not be why I don’t have any pictures of the lounge, but I’ll describe it the best I can. The mornings featured juice, water, cereal, pastries, fruit, bagels and yogurt. It was a little different each day. They had coffee and hot chocolate, too and you (ok me) can ask for soda. The evenings had cheese, crackers, some kind of salsa stuff, little meats, etc. I would normally take a soda or two so I’d have some for the room. I’m a huge Diet Coke consumer. There are 3 tv’s in the lounge all set to different channels and there are little round tables to eat at along with some couches and chairs. It’s very, very nice! It was on the other side of the building from our room so it was just a tiny walk around the corner to get to.

Our room number:



The room itself was gorgeous, but I’m one to love teal! The dark wood trim and teal really went well together! We didn’t have a corner room, so we only had one window, but I still loved it. I didn’t find it to be too dark which is what I’ve read on the boards. The divider between the bathroom and room was a sliding door. Very fancy. The room also included 2 bathrobes which Victoria loved! She’d wrap up in one after swimming.
















Since we were in Cabanas 9B we had a very short walk over the bridge from El Centro to our room.

Bridge from El Centro to our room:



We also had a short walk over a bridge in the opposite direction to get to the Dig Site which is the play/pool/hot tub area. It was majestic ---- so beautiful! The hot tub was HUGE!!! There’s even a volleyball court with sand near the hot tub! And to sit there as the sun is going down was amazing!
The whole area makes one feel like you’re exploring the Mayan ruins. We usually headed to the hot tub in the evening to rest Peter’s foot (and to ditch Edgar!!)









Peter and Victoria in the hot tub….












Victoria in the robe you get in Business Class:



Bridge to the Dig Site



The gator that lives in the lake:

Apparently there are 2 teenage gators that live in the lake. One of the groundskeepers told us that once they get big enough to start crawling up on the land, they will rehome them. There were some massive turtles in the lake, too. So cute!

Picture taken from the bridge from our village to the Dig Site


Another cool surprise was that we could see the Frozen Fireworks from HS in our room! I didn’t realize how close we were to HS. There was a big palm tree in our way, but it was still cool to be able to see a bit of them.

Frozen Fireworks seen from our room:






I hope you enjoyed this little round up of the hotel. As you can tell, we loved it!!!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I think I gasped out loud! YOUR CAMERA BROKE?!?!?!?

I would FREAK!!! and yes, naturally we have a backup camera. It's not MY camera though, so I would be super upset. I would probably do something crazy like spend all my spending money on a camera at Disney. Photos are THE top priority as an actual souvenir for me, so I would give up all my other souvies to have those pics. But you already knew that.

It looks like your phone got some decent shots though! I have ALWAYS wanted to stay at Coronado! I even planned a trip there and then switched to AKL with Rey. I never seem to get there. I think it's that way with the mods for me b/c if I want to save money I go to the values and if I have the money for a mod it's about exactly the same to rent points at a deluxe. I MUST get to Coronado though, it looks awesome. I love the look of the room!

I have heard good thing about business class, we thought of doing it as well. My biggest problem was that it didn't open until 7am, right? I wish it opened earlier. Did you find you used it for breakfast each day or no?

 

[Victoriasmom98]

HAH!!! I KNEW YOU WOULD HAVE A BACKUP CAMERA!!!

Oh, believe me I was super freaking out. We almost rented a taxi to go to Wal-Mart so I would have a camera, but I knew that my phone would take pretty good pictures, so I went with it. I just didn't want to spend the money even though Peter was totally supportive of my going to buy a new one. I knew I had both a Nikon Cool-pix and Fuji AT HOME and it would be a waste of money when I have the phone. You know me, if nothing else I MUST HAVE PICTURES!!! After all, I'm a scrapbooker and those are kind of important for that activity!!

Yeah the lounge doesn't open until 7am. But we did find that we used it every morning that we didn't have a breakfast ADR! Every evening we'd get the sodas for the next day. I take my meds with soda (I know. GASP!! )I'm weird! They didn't have any cookies, though. I would have liked to have chocolate chip cookies.....(like I need those!!)

 

[LoJoDisney]

CSR looks really nice!!! The palm trees remind me of CBR a little bit! Actually- even the rooms look similar now. We were in refurbed room at CBR and it is all dark wood furniture now with similar colors and the wood sliding door by the bathrooms!

I think if I stayed at CSR I would want to stay business class for the location and to have breakfast in the AM!

I'm so jealous of the gator!!! Joe and I looked everyday for gators, we had no luck!

I'm glad you enjoyed your resort so much!!

 

[Tinker326]

Only one back up camera Karen?

I have 3 cameras. (my big one, my old point and shoot, and my newer underwater camera that takes very good overall pictures) And we also carry Becca's point and shoot!

We stayed at Coronado before our cruise in 2012. I know I'm in the minority- but I didn't care for it. I should say, I didn't LOVE it. It's a very nice resort- no complaints about that... it just didn't 'do' it for me.. not sure why? Too businessy maybe and not enough Disney? Too spread out for me? (I never stay at mods..like Karen I either go value or deluxe.. I am a woman of no in-betweens!!). Or maybe it was the theming.. I see Arizona every spring break b/c of my parents house there.. who knows.

But it's very awesome that you loved it so much!! That is most important!

And your camera takes way better photos than mine does!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Only one back up camera Karen?

I have 3 cameras. (my big one, my old point and shoot, and my newer underwater camera that takes very good overall pictures) And we also carry Becca's point and shoot!

We stayed at Coronado before our cruise in 2012. I know I'm in the minority- but I didn't care for it. I should say, I didn't LOVE it. It's a very nice resort- no complaints about that... it just didn't 'do' it for me.. not sure why? Too businessy maybe and not enough Disney? Too spread out for me? (I never stay at mods..like Karen I either go value or deluxe.. I am a woman of no in-betweens!!). Or maybe it was the theming.. I see Arizona every spring break b/c of my parents house there.. who knows.

But it's very awesome that you loved it so much!! That is most important!

And your camera takes way better photos than mine does!

Nicole, that's 4! Totally trying to OUT-Tweedle me!!!!!! ***? (OMG, edited b/c it won't let me put w the f. Jeez.)

See Ann, I'm not the only freak that has multiple cameras. Oh and I didn't mention that I'm thinking of purchasing a bridge camera, which is in between a point and shoot and my dslr. (this is all with the imaginary money I don't actually have) I want something easier to carry around but that gives as good of quality shots or close to, my dslr. I'm not picky, really.

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Checking in at Coronado didn’t take all that long. I had done online check-in as usual and there was only one family ahead of me but they had every question in the book!! Can I just get my packet please??!!! I’m not very patient in Disney. I have things to do, people to meet, places to see after all! Celebration buttons, map, and packet in hand we went to find our room. It was a nice short walk from El Centro and on the way we discovered where the bus stop was. Cool!! The bus stop is even closer than Registration. Yay! We set our carryons down and headed to the bus stop to catch the bus to Downtown Disney. We had a ressie for Planet Hollywood. That seems to be a tradition for us on our first night. We love it there, although Peter thinks it’s a bit too loud with the music playing. I think he was a tad grumpy dealing with Edgar. I told him we could have postponed this trip, but he said no, we were going! Ok bud, then suck it up.

There are construction walls EVERYWHERE!!! It was kind of confusing to find our way around and I usually know DTD like the back of my hand! I also didn’t realize there was no longer a bus stop on the West Side so poor Peter had to walk from the Marketplace all the way to PH. Sorry hon!





As Peter couldn’t do all those stairs, we took the elevator that I never knew existed. I mean, I would imagine there would be one for people with mobility issues, but I’ve never had to think of it before. When you do take the elevator you miss having your picture taken in front by the steps. That’s ok. We were going to have plenty of pictures of us. I don’t need this one, right?







Oh, and here we go……one of many pictures of Victoria with her phone on Twitter. We can’t miss any news now can we??! She needs to be connected. I, on the other hand, want to be in my Disney bubble and not hear from the outside world until it’s absolutely necessary!!







After our meal we decided to take the boat from the West Side to the Marketplace to save on Peter having to walk. I love those boats. I kind of wished we were at POR so we could take the boat all the way back to the resort. This mini boat ride will have to do.



I had no reason at the time to take this picture, but felt I had to. I knew the resort was Sarasota Springs and I thought it was beautiful. This photo will become more important later on into the trip in such a magical way………



After DTD we went back to the room and got some ice for Peter’s foot. We decided to lay low for the evening and be ready for our first park day……..MAGIC KINGDOM!!!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Gah! No foot injuries so close to a trip! Gah! GAH! I do enjoy that Edgar was named and apparently had a jolly old time though. Can't wait to hear more!

Hi Dani!! Oh, you cannot imagine how upset I was at this whole "falling off the ladder" thing! A week before Disney??!! I could have killed him (not really!)

CSR looks really nice!!! The palm trees remind me of CBR a little bit! Actually- even the rooms look similar now. We were in refurbed room at CBR and it is all dark wood furniture now with similar colors and the wood sliding door by the bathrooms! I think if I stayed at CSR I would want to stay business class for the location and to have breakfast in the AM! I'm so jealous of the gator!!! Joe and I looked everyday for gators, we had no luck! I'm glad you enjoyed your resort so much!!

Lauren, CSR does remind me a bit of CBR, but it doesn't have the little island in the middle of the lake. We stayed at CBR before the refurb, so I haven't seen the new rooms. I definitely recommend the Business Class. The location is perfect and the lounge is sooooo worth it! If I ever stayed there again it would have to be in BC! Yep, we saw the gator a couple of times. I called him Gay-Gay the Gator. I know, original, isn't it? Of course I don't know if it was the same gator or different one, so let's just go with it was the same one.

Only one back up camera Karen?
I have 3 cameras. (my big one, my old point and shoot, and my newer underwater camera that takes very good overall pictures) And we also carry Becca's point and shoot! We stayed at Coronado before our cruise in 2012. I know I'm in the minority- but I didn't care for it. I should say, I didn't LOVE it. It's a very nice resort- no complaints about that... it just didn't 'do' it for me.. not sure why? Too businessy maybe and not enough Disney? Too spread out for me? (I never stay at mods..like Karen I either go value or deluxe.. I am a woman of no in-betweens!!). Or maybe it was the theming.. I see Arizona every spring break b/c of my parents house there.. who knows.
But it's very awesome that you loved it so much!! That is most important!And your camera takes way better photos than mine does!

Now that's a lot of cameras Nicole. I just wished I would have thought of it! As for the resort, I've never been to the Southwest so I have no real life experience. I think that POR will always be our favorite as it's the first resort we stayed at as a family and that will always be special. Yeah, I am pleased with the quality of the iphone pics......

Nicole, that's 4! Totally trying to OUT-Tweedle me!!!!!! ***? (OMG, edited b/c it won't let me put w the f. Jeez.) See Ann, I'm not the only freak that has multiple cameras. Oh and I didn't mention that I'm thinking of purchasing a bridge camera, which is in between a point and shoot and my dslr. (this is all with the imaginary money I don't actually have) I want something easier to carry around but that gives as good of quality shots or close to, my dslr. I'm not picky, really.

Do I have to separate you two??!! Let's not fight over cameras ladies. It's very untweedle-like. (actually that's alot like tweedles, isn't it?) A bridge camera, huh? I think I'm going to stick with the Nikon CoolPix. I had let my brother borrow it back in 2011 and he just now is returning it. I had forgotten I had lent it to him and he forgot he had it. It had a pretty good megapixel (12) and a 4x optical zoom. I'm not sure what it has for a digital zoom. Anyways he gave it back to me and it didn't work anymore. I really, really, really wanted to buy a new camera but if this one would just take a battery that costs $18, why not do that? So I put on my practical panties and ordered the battery from Target online on 10/01. I then get the tracking email that said it was delivered to my side door on 10/08. It was no where to be found! I don't know where they delivered it to, but it certainly wasn't MY HOUSE!!! I was out in my pj's and slippers with a flashlight looking all over the property for that stupid package!! Thank goodness whoever it was delivered to put it in my mailbox the next day. I was pretty upset. Our house is CLEARLY marked with the number! Let's just say the battery has this camera running and now I just have to read the instructions on how to operate it. Ugh.....that is if I have the instructions! Yes, this is my life!!

 

[SarahDisney]

I refuse to fly Southwest because of the whole "no assigned seats" thing. I'm glad you guys got good seats!

That room looks incredible ... and I also love teal!

I would freak out so much if my camera broke ... cell phone pictures are not enough for me. I'm very happy to hear you were able to survive on just the iphone pics ... next time you know to bring a backup camera! (And now I'm starting to wonder if I should bring a backup camera for my trip ...)

I can't wait to read all about your first park day!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Here it is!!! Our first day in Disney starting with a Magic Kingdom Day! And it’s not just any MK day --- this was MY day! I was wearing my princess shirt with my tiara and we were having breakfast in MY castle!! I was so excited! We’ve never started our trips with MK, but the crowd calendar just worked out this way!! YES!! We has our ressies at 8:45am --- before park opening so the shots we got were amazing!!









It’s now time for breakfast at MY castle. We first lined up to meet with my sister princess, Cinderella. (and no, that does not make me a wicked stepsister! Let’s just get that out there right now!!)



We saw Cindy’s mouse friends up in the walls watching us



I must say Cinderella’s Royal Table did not disappoint! OMG I loved being in the castle! Everything was so regal, just as you would imagine. I even loved how they set the table! I don’t have one single complaint about breakfast whatsoever. I was there in my castle --- my dream!











We even were given an anniversary cupcake:



Then of course, the big kid had to play with his wand (he got a sword, but Victoria wanted the sword so he was left with the wand). He didn’t look too disappointed, huh?







Breakfast took about an hour and then we were off. Yes, that experience was just as wonderful as I was hoping it was going to be! Magical!

Decisions, decisions….what to do next. You know, we’ve never done Enchanted Tales with Belle, so that’s where we headed next. It would also give Peter a chance to sit down as I was looking for any and all chanced for him to rest as I could. Rest? We are in Disney for crying out loud!! I thought it was cute, but nothing I would probably do again. We didn’t volunteer for any of the characters so we just sat and watched. I thought it was neat that they give you a special Photopass card for the show.

Here’s the crew (and EDGAR!!) relaxing in the chair before we go in…..









Then it was time…..time to see my love! My man! My Gaston!! (It’s ok Peter, I married you….I just lust after him!!)





Oh, while I was standing in line, my family was waiting inside Gaston’s Tavern. I got a Gaston Mug!! Ah, it’s the little things, folks!







This is my favorite character interaction of all!! He is so full of himself and I just love him so much!! He’s a huge flirt and it was women like me (in their 30’s and 40’s) who were having the most fun with him. I applaud that castmember!! He’s fantastic! Ok, I’ll stop drooling now……ahhhhhh……

It was then time for Voyage of the Little Mermaid. I think this ride is cute and we love riding in clamshells. Victoria decided to ride in her own clamshell so Peter and I could have a romantic ride under the sea! Oh, who am I kidding…..she wanted to be on Twitter!! I know my kid!

con't

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Sorry folks, I had gone over photo limit......













Oh, another Edgar picture. Doesn’t he look like he’s having fun??







After the ride we went to meet the Princess herself – Ariel





Con’td

 

[mickeystoontown]

Ann, Ann, Ann, girl what were you thinking not packing an extra camera? I learned my lesson years and years ago when my camera stopped working that you have to carry an extra camera. Otherwise, you may end up looking for a Walmart at 12:00 at night but not finding it until 1:30 a.m.

Aren't the walls at Downtown Disney confusing? One day they'd be in place over here but then the next day, they'd be over there.

We love Planet Hollywood too! So, you didn't tell us what ya'll ate? Inquiring minds want to know.

Yay for starting out your first park of the trip at the Magic Kingdom!

 

[SarahDisney]

Yay for MK day being your day! I LOVE the tiara - and it looks great with the princess shirt!

Peter looks so excited about the wand ... I guess it's not too bad that Victoria took his sword.

I love how in the Ariel pictures Peter is the only one NOT sitting.

Edgar certainly looks like he's enjoying the trip ... and you guys do too! Looking forward to reading more about MK!

 

[Tinker326]

I LOVE that Olaf Picture- what a great Photopass addition!!

I also love the picture of you gushing over Gaston and Peter & Victoria doing their own thing behind you. Very funny!

Great start to the vacation! I also love the Planet Hollywood in DTD. I think it hold sentimental reason for me- as it was the very first restaurant I visited on my first 'on my own' trip to Disney back in like 1995. They also used to have a Shark Attack Drink there that came with a plastic shark in it. I mean, how could a shark lover like myself resist THAT drink? I believe they have unfortunately taken it off the menu.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Shark Drink. Tweedle!

What a perfect start to the day Ann! I loved it all and SO PROUD of you for going over your picture limit!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Up next it was time to ride that big-eared baby elephant!!! Now this is one thing we don’t usually do and in fact I think I was 16 years old the last time I was on it. But during this trip I was trying to do things we don’t normally do and to take things SLOWER than normal. Ugh! I don’t do slow! Victoria and Peter rode together and I was in the Dumbo ahead of them so that I could turn around and take pictures. I do like this ride, but never take the time to stand in line for it. I think it’s helped a great deal that there are two sets of flying elephants now.

Oh look…..a Dumbo selfie!











Now I’m not sure who was holding who up but it looks like both Peter and Edgar were getting fed up by this point. My poor honey ---- Peter, not Edgar!:



Ok, time to come up with another activity that Peter can rest on……oh, It’s a Small World would fit that bill!!! Off to see the little singing and dancing dolls (who I’m hoping don’t really come alive at night to terrorize the others in the park!)







Our ressie for Be our Guest was just about up so off to Beast’s castle we hobbled. We didn’t preorder, but we all knew what we wanted so check in and ordering went smoothly. Peter had the turkey sandwich and both Victoria and I had the roast…Yummers!!! I wanted to sit in the ballroom but it was packed, so we waundered to the West Wing. This is by far my favorite room to dine in!! I loved the “storm” going on outside and the overall theme of the room. The rose in the corner was absolutely stunning! Definitely plan on eating in there again!

















We headed back to Tomorrowland for some of our favorites:

People Mover:


Yes, Edgar sat with me so as to not be in the picture.

Oh look who’s tweeting during the dark portion of the ride:


Up next was Buzz’s Space Ranger Spin:


The great part of this ride is getting stuck and being able to hit the target multiple times, although I still couldn’t reach the top score.

Con’t

 

[geckodani]

I've been reading, and have apparently been a bad DISer and not commenting! So derp on me!

Aaaaanywho, looks like Edgar is having a good time. Was he jealous of the wand Peter had at breakfast? I mean, I would have been if I were him.

I rode Dumbo for the first time in a long time this past trip, and I think I'll do it again; sometimes slowing down isn't a bad thing!

I love your princess shirt and Tiara!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Ann, Ann, Ann, girl what were you thinking not packing an extra camera? I learned my lesson years and years ago when my camera stopped working that you have to carry an extra camera. Otherwise, you may end up looking for a Walmart at 12:00 at night but not finding it until 1:30 a.m. Aren't the walls at Downtown Disney confusing? One day they'd be in place over here but then the next day, they'd be over there. We love Planet Hollywood too! So, you didn't tell us what ya'll ate? Inquiring minds want to know.
Yay for starting out your first park of the trip at the Magic Kingdom!

OH Lisa, I know about the camera!! I’ve now learned and the extra camera is already packed for the next trip. Like I’ve said, thank God my iphone takes pretty good pictures. If I get no other souvenirs whatsoever I must have photos!! Yes, DTD is a large maze without the promise of cheese at the end! I’m sure Disney Springs is going to be beautiful once it’s done! Ok, let’s see…..I had the NY Sirloin, Peter had something I can’t remember and Victoria also had the sirloin. I’m very, very bad about taking pictures of the food.

Yay for MK day being your day! I LOVE the tiara - and it looks great with the princess shirt! Peter looks so excited about the wand ... I guess it's not too bad that Victoria took his sword. I love how in the Ariel pictures Peter is the only one NOT sitting. Edgar certainly looks like he's enjoying the trip ... and you guys do too! Looking forward to reading more about MK!

Thank you for the compliment on my tiara. I did feel kind of silly wearing it, but hey, I’m a princess and I was in Disney, so who cares! I’m trying to grow my hair out so I can wear my Rapunzel braid. I would have to tie my hair into the braid and right now it just wouldn’t look good. (ok, not that a 48 year old woman looks good in a Rapunzel braid, but, whatever) Yes, Peter was having a fun time. When he lets himself let go, he can be extremely silly! And then of course Victoria will roll her eyes at him. Oh Edgar was having a great time, but we were all ready to leave him behind!!!

I LOVE that Olaf Picture- what a great Photopass addition!! I also love the picture of you gushing over Gaston and Peter & Victoria doing their own thing behind you. Very funny! Great start to the vacation! I also love the Planet Hollywood in DTD. I think it hold sentimental reason for me- as it was the very first restaurant I visited on my first 'on my own' trip to Disney back in like 1995. They also used to have a Shark Attack Drink there that came with a plastic shark in it. I mean, how could a shark lover like myself resist THAT drink? I believe they have unfortunately taken it off the menu.

Oh Nicole, you ordered a drink with A SHARK IN IT??!!! TOO FUNNY!!! Neither Peter nor I look at the drink menu so I don’t know if it’s part of the menu, but it sounds really cool! I was questioning the Photopass Photographer big time because I had never seen the Olaf pic before. I think it came out really nice. Ah yes, my gushing over Gaston! I can’t help it! I think he’s so darned HOT!!!! I dream of the day when Peter’s not with me that I can put my hand on his bare chest…OMG,OMG,OMG,OMG!!! Calm down Ann!!! LOL!

Shark Drink. Tweedle! What a perfect start to the day Ann! I loved it all and SO PROUD of you for going over your picture limit!

I think she was rather adventurous to get a plastic shark! There’s one way to enjoy your shark phobia/fascination! Yes, I’m trying to include lots and lots of pictures!!!

 

[Desiree]

New to your trip report but loving so far! We are also staying Business Class at CSR next month when we go! I can't wait!

Sorry about Edgar being an unwanted guest on your trip but glad you guys were able to go!