Food, Fun, and Frivolity: 8 Funtabulous days w/pics! UPDATE 1/20 HELP!!!!

[Leshaface]

Aaaagh! So excited to do this! I've been wanting to write my TR for some time now, just never got around to it! So here I am!!!!! And I'm soooo ready!

Let me begin with some introductions:

Me! Leshaface! Or you can call me Leesh or Lesha. I'm 26 years young and a Disney addict. Own 45 Disney DVD's. Yup I just counted for ya, and the counting will never end as long as I'm around! I used to watch Disney movies on a daily basis (yeah, seriously daily ) and would be on the DIS for HOURS at a time, finding out new information and tidbits for upcoming trips. Anything Disney makes me extremely happy and more at 'home', if that makes sense. I've been going to Disneyland since I was a child, but am very new to the World. But i'm in LOVE with Disneyworld and don't know how I lived my life without it! My favorite character is Belle. Assertive and lovely...like me! My all-time favorite ride at WDW would have to be Maelstrom...... NOT! Probably Test Track or EE. Thrill rides are my thang. My favorite movie is Nightmare Before Christmas...Tim Burton is ridiculous awesome and the music is spectacular!

DH - aka MoveoverGaston here on the Dis...although he only has like 3 posts He's 27 and...was not lucky like me to have inherited the Disney gene But he's a wonderful sport and DEFINITELY loves Disneyworld more than Disneyland (maybe it's because I made him go to Disneyland with me once a week when we lived in Long Beach?! Not sure. ) He loves Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, his fav ride would be the TTA/Peoplemover, his fav movie is Monsters Inc.

Here's the plan:

Coronado Springs Resort January 20-28, 2010, Deluxe Dining Plan, with Park Hoppers.

LOOOOTS of food. No joke. So i'll be inserting my reviews from my Dining TR of the restaurants as I come to them. I'll also put the installments on the bottom so there will be easier access to my updates!

But I do hope you'll join me!!

Day 1
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Day 2
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Day 3
Part 1
Part 2

Day 4
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Day 5
Part 1
Part 2

Day 6
Part 1
Part 2

Day 7
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Day 8
Part 1
Part 2

Day 9

 

[Heimlich1]

sounds great!

 

[joyfulDisneytears]

I'm in! I'd just discovered your last TR with all the dining reviews, when lo and behold they closed the darn thing!

I love your tote bag! Where did you get it?

I am in love with Nightmare Before Christmas as well, I think I could watch it every day. And I am totally with you on watching Disney movies all the time. The difference is I still have most of mine on VHS in the big plastic bubble boxes. I still have a combo VCR/DVD player...yes, indeedy.

 

[Leshaface]

sounds great!

Hi Heimlich!

I'm in! I'd just discovered your last TR with all the dining reviews, when lo and behold they closed the darn thing!

I love your tote bag! Where did you get it?

I am in love with Nightmare Before Christmas as well, I think I could watch it every day. And I am totally with you on watching Disney movies all the time. The difference is I still have most of mine on VHS in the big plastic bubble boxes. I still have a combo VCR/DVD player...yes, indeedy.

I know!!!! I was like, "NOOOOOOOO!!! My lovely Dining TR!!" Lol!

I believe I got my bag at Disneyland in one of the shops...but I saw it everywhere when we were at WDW.

....This sounds crazy but in our room we have a big flat screen (for DH to play his video games on) and we also have a tv with a VCR/DVD player for me to switch between my dvds and vhs'!!!!! Until I can afford the VHS to DVD recorder, I'lll be using my combo tv for a looooong time!

 

[Leshaface]

Jan 19, 2010 - 1030pm LAX Airport

Okay, so we (actually I) made the BEST and grandest idea to take a red-eye out of LA so we could wake up and magically be at Disney World! ......riiiight.....take the 'wake up' part out of the equation and you got two wide eyed, psychotic Disney characters that were filled with an exuberant amount of coffee ...we literally looked like we jumped out of a Quentin Tarantino version of Alice in Wonderland...I felt and looked like the mad hatter...DH tends to smile a lot and 'giggle' (in the manliest term possible..what is a manly term for giggle?) so he would have to be the Cheshire Cat..just cuz of his crazy smile.

We land in Orlando earlier than expected, 5:30am January 20, and go to baggage claim. I figured since we were in no hurry to get to the resort, that I would leave the Magical Express luggage tags off our bags and grab them ourselves. In no time at all we made our way to the Magical Express 'station'. Not a soul in sight. It's a sin to have to see the way I look after an all nighter in between a woman that snored loud and my DH trying to get comfortable in his small seat built for an infant.

They boarded us immediately and we were the only ones on the bus!!!!

Oh, did I forget to mention, we grabbed ANOTHER cup of coffee before boarding the bus..Tee hee..

The ride from MCO to Coronado Springs was so quick and our bus driver was so nice. A Brooklyn dude..(bangzoom you would have loved him ) and he was chatting with us the entire way... thank goodness. I needed to stay awake for our 9:20am ADR at Kona Cafe.

We pulled into CSR right around 6:15am..."Wow there's so not going to be a room ready for us" I thought. We tipped the bus driver and we walked into the lobby to find....

No ONE again!!! I've heard that January was dead, but this was crazy!

A nice older woman, came out from the back and warmly welcomed us. I told her, "I totally understand if you can't get us a room right now. We're ridiculous early but we have an ADR at 9:20, so if you're able to get us our KTTW with our dining credits on there that would be awesome!" I believe this entire statement was slurred. I was tired. I was done. I wanted to slap myself, throw myself into the lake, ANYTHING to wake me up....."Well, looks like your room is ready and in the building you requested, Casitas." I woke up instantly, filled with excitement and pure joy that our room was ready and that we had plenty of time to get ourselves unpacked and situated before breakfast!! I was stoked! She gave us a map, our keys and we were off.

Ever wondered what CSR looks like at 630isham???

Lol, naw jk, forgot to turn my flash off

The sun started creeping up slowly and gave such a pretty sight

We get to our room in Casitas 5 and I immediately start to take pics. I do this wherever I stay.

I was so happy we had plenty of time to unpack and relax a little bit before we had to head off to the Polynesian for breakfast. We put all of our clothes away in the drawers, I hung up a shoe hanger in the closet area to keep all our toiletries in (I'm OCD about counters being clean), and hung up a small Disney dry erase board on the door handle and wrote, "Yay! Day 1! 9:20 ADR @ Kona and 5:30pm ADR @ Artist Point. Free day!" I'm also OCD about things being organized. Also, I hate having to repeat myself...this way DH won't have to bug me about what's going on for the day, even though I had thoroughly discussed this with him about 4 times prior to us boarding the plane, while on the plane, AND on the bus to CSR. MEN! (scoff)

 

[bangzoom6877]

I love it so far!!!

Lots of coffee...we think alike, same thing I would have done!

I love it that your bus driver was from Brooklyn!! We were entering one of the theme parks one day, can't remember which one, and the CM at the front gate asked me where I was from as soon as he heard me speak. I said Brooklyn, NY, then I noticed his name tag said Brooklyn! We chatted for a couple of minutes, and both of us knew our respective neighborhoods very well!

I would have also gotten a second wind to find out that the room was ready so early! That was very lucky!!

This is it...we have to just keep starting interesting threads so we can stay in touch here in the DIS! Can't wait to read more!!!

 

[franandaj]

Yay!

This is going to be fun. We were there at the same time, except we took the day flight and didn't arrive until 6PM that same night! We ate a few of the same restaurants, but we also did a lot of meals in the room. If you don't mind, I'd like to occasionally think about where we both were and if our paths might have crossed, like maybe you were in the background in some of our pictures!
I've seen that happen on the DL board!

I'm totally OCD about taking photos of the room too, that's just about the first thing I do when we get into the room because usually within 15 minutes our stuff explodes and is all over the place. It's not just husbands who forget what's going on, it must have something to do with the butch one in the family, because my DP can never remember what's happening for the day. Sometimes I'll say, "We're eating at so and so tonight."

And she'll reply, "When did we decide to eat there?" Duh! At least 180 days ago! ! ! ! !

More resort photos please! I love seeing all the different resorts. I've never been to CSR.

 

[Leshaface]

I love it so far!!!

Lots of coffee...we think alike, same thing I would have done!

I love it that your bus driver was from Brooklyn!! We were entering one of the theme parks one day, can't remember which one, and the CM at the front gate asked me where I was from as soon as he heard me speak. I said Brooklyn, NY, then I noticed his name tag said Brooklyn! We chatted for a couple of minutes, and both of us knew our respective neighborhoods very well!

I would have also gotten a second wind to find out that the room was ready so early! That was very lucky!!

This is it...we have to just keep starting interesting threads so we can stay in touch here in the DIS! Can't wait to read more!!!

This is EXACTLY what I was thinking...I was thinking, "Dang, she's down to number 1 really soon...and then what?!?!" So I figured, I might as well do this TR! I have so many pictures, I thought I'd share them with my DIS friends!

When I was making the plans originally, I was telling DH that there was pretty much no chance we would get a room, so we were planning on taking our toothbrushes/toothpaste to the bathroom in the lobby area so we can freshen up and ask bell services to hold our stuff for us. I was definitely NOT expecting her to tell us our room was ready!

Your pics come alive tomorrow right?!

 

[Leshaface]

Yay!

This is going to be fun. We were there at the same time, except we took the day flight and didn't arrive until 6PM that same night! We ate a few of the same restaurants, but we also did a lot of meals in the room. If you don't mind, I'd like to occasionally think about where we both were and if our paths might have crossed, like maybe you were in the background in some of our pictures!
I've seen that happen on the DL board!

I'm totally OCD about taking photos of the room too, that's just about the first thing I do when we get into the room because usually within 15 minutes our stuff explodes and is all over the place. It's not just husbands who forget what's going on, it must have something to do with the butch one in the family, because my DP can never remember what's happening for the day. Sometimes I'll say, "We're eating at so and so tonight."

And she'll reply, "When did we decide to eat there?" Duh! At least 180 days ago! ! ! ! !

More resort photos please! I love seeing all the different resorts. I've never been to CSR.

Yay! You found me!

Omgosh this is crazy! I had no idea you were there when we were there! I took a lot of pictures so maybe you're in the background! That would be sweet!

And definitely let me know what your plans were along the way!

The bolded statement made me crack up!!! Guess there's one in every family!

I have hundreds of hotel pictures in my iPhoto account...I'm also a member of TripAdvisor, so I like posting my review and pics about hotels....we've stayed at LOTS! So I figure, why not take 15 minutes out of my day to help those who are trying to decide where to stay!! Pics help a lot with a review of a place!

I'll definitely post more pics of CSR! I'll update that as soon as I get back from lunch...I'm starvin'!!!!!!!!!!

 

[gellybean]

I'm in!

I read most of your Dining Report. Loved it!

You're the reason I want to try Yachtsman Steakhouse one of these days!!

Can't wait for the rest of the TR!

 

[Leshaface]

I'm in!

I read most of your Dining Report. Loved it!

You're the reason I want to try Yachtsman Steakhouse one of these days!!

Can't wait for the rest of the TR!

Are you sure it's the same Dining TR??!!

I didn't make it to Yachtsman on my trip! Let's just say, DH and I had a little too much fun at Rose & Crown Bar and La Cava!

 

[Leshaface]

It was now about 8:25ish, and figured we'd better get a move on, so we head to Bus Stop Number 2 and wait for the Magic Kingdom bus.

this was us for about 10 minutes. Now 10 minutes doesn't seem long (in the real world) but at Disney World, every single minute counts! And I KNOW you guys understand me on this!

Finally, the bus shows up with no one on it since we're the first stop at CSR. Well by the time the bus makes it to the other 3 stops, it's now around 845am. Okay, don't panic. You still have time.

Yup, forgot how long it takes to get to the MK from CSR. Not long, maybe 15 mins BUT still!

We get dropped off and I take a second to enjoy my surroundings. Ah, Magic Kingdom...you're so beautiful. But I'm late for breakfast and I'm starving since we only had dinner in LA at around 6:30pm. "I'll enjoy you on our scheduled day", I promised.

So we catch the ferry from the MK to the Poly.

----Kona Cafe Review----


So after our MARVELOUS breakfast at Kona, I was dunzo. My coffee high had come down, food was in my stomach, and I was ready for a nap.

This time I was enjoying the slooow boat ride back to the MK. It was very nice outside and I was taking in everything I could. I wanted to relax and enjoy the ride. In no time we were at the dock and walking back to the bus stop looking for this sign:

It was pretty and that was our home for a full week!

Us waiting for the bus:

Me giving a kiss goodnight:

A pic of a random bus:

When we got back to our resort, I took a few pics along the way to capture the beauty of CSR

 

[bangzoom6877]

This is EXACTLY what I was thinking...I was thinking, "Dang, she's down to number 1 really soon...and then what?!?!" So I figured, I might as well do this TR! I have so many pictures, I thought I'd share them with my DIS friends!

When I was making the plans originally, I was telling DH that there was pretty much no chance we would get a room, so we were planning on taking our toothbrushes/toothpaste to the bathroom in the lobby area so we can freshen up and ask bell services to hold our stuff for us. I was definitely NOT expecting her to tell us our room was ready!

Your pics come alive tomorrow right?!

Keep in mind that once I finish my #1 restaurant review, I will also be talking about the CS places we went to, and also talking about cost of upgrading to the AP and buying the TiW card vs. deluxe dining plan vs. basic DDP and paying OOP for extra TS meals. So, I will not be quite done yet!

Yes, my pics should be back up tomorrow!! Yay!!! So I will get moving on that review!

 

[Leshaface]

Keep in mind that once I finish my #1 restaurant review, I will also be talking about the CS places we went to, and also talking about cost of upgrading to the AP and buying the TiW card vs. deluxe dining plan vs. basic DDP and paying OOP for extra TS meals. So, I will not be quite done yet!

Yes, my pics should be back up tomorrow!! Yay!!! So I will get moving on that review!

Thank GOODNESS!!! I honestly forgot about your CS restaurants! Yay! I've read all of your reviews except for Kouzzina, since i'm waiting on pics. I mean, I guess I could read it, but when I know there's pics that go along with the review, I'd rather just wait!

Can't wait to hear about your 'versus' section! That will be interesting to read!

 

[bangzoom6877]

CSR looks so beautiful!! We have never seen that resort in person.

I remember your Kona review! We went there for dinner and loved it. We vowed to go back for dinner again on our next trip, and to try it for breakfast too! Here's one of the perks of being a DVC member...the plan is to go to Kona for breakfast one morning, on a day we don't go to a theme park at all. As DVC members, we can pool hop (with a few exceptions), so we would spend the rest of the morning at the pool at the Polynesian! Then, we could head to Capt. Cook's for lunch (CS at the Poly)...who am I kidding? We will give lunch to the boys and get Dole Whips there for ourselves...that will be enough after a delicious breakfast at Kona a few hours earlier! FYI: Dole Whips at the Poly CS are self-serve so as much as you can fit into that cup, pile it on baby!!! Then, we would head back to BWV in the afternoon to shower and relax, then probably end up just going to our beloved Kouzzina on the Boardwalk so we don't have to travel anywhere! We will do dinner at Kona on a different evening. Nice fun plan, huh?!

My kids loved the "Disney Bus" to the MK. When we got home, whenever DS3 saw a city bus he asked us if it was a Disney bus!

 

[Leshaface]

CSR looks so beautiful!! We have never seen that resort in person.

I remember your Kona review! We went there for dinner and loved it. We vowed to go back for dinner again on our next trip, and to try it for breakfast too! Here's one of the perks of being a DVC member...the plan is to go to Kona for breakfast one morning, on a day we don't go to a theme park at all. As DVC members, we can pool hop (with a few exceptions), so we would spend the rest of the morning at the pool at the Polynesian! Then, we could head to Capt. Cook's for lunch (CS at the Poly)...who am I kidding? We will give lunch to the boys and get Dole Whips there for ourselves...that will be enough after a delicious breakfast at Kona a few hours earlier! FYI: Dole Whips at the Poly CS are self-serve so as much as you can fit into that cup, pile it on baby!!! Then, we would head back to BWV in the afternoon to shower and relax, then probably end up just going to our beloved Kouzzina on the Boardwalk so we don't have to travel anywhere! We will do dinner at Kona on a different evening. Nice fun plan, huh?!

My kids loved the "Disney Bus" to the MK. When we got home, whenever DS3 saw a city bus he asked us if it was a Disney bus!

WHAT!!!!???

Self-serve DOLE WHIPS??? Where have I been these past few years?!? That's insanity! AND with DVC you can pool hop? Learn something (in this case, 2 new somethings) everyday! Amazing!

Your plan sounds so relaxing right now! Uggh, I wish I could book a trip right now, just for like 2 nights and do all that. That's definitely something I could use...

Aww! How cute your son! I'm so glad they enjoy Disney! Hope they'll stay like that forever!

 

[bangzoom6877]

WHAT!!!!???

Self-serve DOLE WHIPS??? Where have I been these past few years?!? That's insanity! AND with DVC you can pool hop? Learn something (in this case, 2 new somethings) everyday! Amazing!

Your plan sounds so relaxing right now! Uggh, I wish I could book a trip right now, just for like 2 nights and do all that. That's definitely something I could use...

Aww! How cute your son! I'm so glad they enjoy Disney! Hope they'll stay like that forever!

Even though I knew they sold Dole Whips at Captain Cook's, unfortunately I didn't know that it was self-serve until after my trip. The night we went to Kona for dinner, we were going to go to Captain Cook's for dole whips for dessert (even though we had some at MK earlier that day! ). Then, we decided we really had to have the 100% Kona coffee in the pressed pot, so of course we got a dessert too!! We had the banana chocolate creme brulee, which was out of this world, as was the coffee. We were still gonna get a dole whip to share. But, the coffee was soooooo good that (WARNING: weirdness coming!) we didn't want to get that coffee taste out of our mouths with pineapple dole whip! Yes, it was THAT good!!

Yes, one of the DVC perks is pool hopping! There are some exceptions. Off the top of my head, I know there are certain blackout dates (peak times, but mid-July when we go is not one of them!), and certain pools we can't hop to. The pools we're not allowed to go to (unless staying at that resort of course) are Beach Club/Yacht Club (even the quiet pools), Animal Kingdon Lodge/Animal Kingdom Villas (none of them there either), and Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary. But we can go to the other DVC-resort or WDW-resort pools, and Polynesian is one of them!! Hopefully this perk will last!

 

[LuvsTigger80]

can i join too?? Another Californian that loves Disneyworld!!! People just don't understand why when I live so close to Disneyland.... at least here I won't have to explain myself right??

I loved your dining report.....and can't wait to read more about your trip!!!

 

[Leshaface]

Even though I knew they sold Dole Whips at Captain Cook's, unfortunately I didn't know that it was self-serve until after my trip. The night we went to Kona for dinner, we were going to go to Captain Cook's for dole whips for dessert (even though we had some at MK earlier that day! ). Then, we decided we really had to have the 100% Kona coffee in the pressed pot, so of course we got a dessert too!! We had the banana chocolate creme brulee, which was out of this world, as was the coffee. We were still gonna get a dole whip to share. But, the coffee was soooooo good that (WARNING: weirdness coming!) we didn't want to get that coffee taste out of our mouths with pineapple dole whip! Yes, it was THAT good!!

Yes, one of the DVC perks is pool hopping! There are some exceptions. Off the top of my head, I know there are certain blackout dates (peak times, but mid-July when we go is not one of them!), and certain pools we can't hop to. The pools we're not allowed to go to (unless staying at that resort of course) are Beach Club/Yacht Club (even the quiet pools), Animal Kingdon Lodge/Animal Kingdom Villas (none of them there either), and Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary. But we can go to the other DVC-resort or WDW-resort pools, and Polynesian is one of them!! Hopefully this perk will last!

Omgosh I know what you mean about not wanting to get rid of that coffee taste! I had some Blue Mountain Jamaican coffee when we were in Jamaica for our honeymoon, and it was so magnificent, I had it at practically every meal, and had a whole carafe to myself in the mornings (this was before I turned DH into a coffee addict ).

That's so awesome though about pool hopping! Do all the resort pools have like a changing room? Where do you get changed at??

can i join too?? Another Californian that loves Disneyworld!!! People just don't understand why when I live so close to Disneyland.... at least here I won't have to explain myself right??

I loved your dining report.....and can't wait to read more about your trip!!!

AAhhh I lived in Long Beach too! Well for only two years but I LOOOOVED it! I loved that I was soo close to Disneyland! I hope you have an annual pass!?!

 

[LuvsTigger80]

AAhhh I lived in Long Beach too! Well for only two years but I LOOOOVED it! I loved that I was soo close to Disneyland! I hope you have an annual pass!?!

I've lived in Long Beach all my life. Would you believe I hardly ever went to Disneyland as a child...and yes I do have a annual pass!! I decided to stop bugging my BIL and FIL to sign us in whenever we wanted to go. Plus now I can go more often!!!