vadersprincess12
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2016
- Messages
- 189
I love all things Disney, and DH and I have been to Disney World many, many times over the years. We just returned from a 5 night visit to Coronado Springs. We only planned two parks this visit as I am rehabbing from knee replacement so we figured some pool time, visiting Disney Springs, and some resort hopping could fill the other days and keep the walking to a manageable level.
I'll share the good and the bad so let's start at the beginning.........
Things started off on the wrong foot when we had to wait almost an hour for Magical/Tragical Express at the airport. In all of the years we have been visiting Disney, more than 25 visits, we have never waited so long; usually no more than 15 minutes.
CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT
This was our first visit to Coronado Springs and it is a lovely resort. We were in the Casitas buildings. The resort is really spread out with beautiful landscaping and it is easy to navigate. Our room was very nice. I would warn groups of 3 or 4 that the bed closest to the bathroom is almost up against the wall so there is very little space to move in and out of the bed on that side.
The bathroom area itself is really nice, with a nice “rain” shower head. The “barn” style doors that close the area off from the sleeping quarters are heavy, but nice ~ they keep the light and noise down from those still sleeping.
It’s nice having two sinks, but they are a bit small and slanted and if you like to keep your head near the sink to avoid splashing water everywhere, beware the shelf above the sink!
A nice plus is having a Keurig coffee machine in the room.
The Dig Site pool area is really nice and Siesta Cantina is close by for snacks and drinks. Prices are, as usual, outrageous ~ $30 for two drinks.
El Mercado was very nice and had a variety of foods to suit everyone. Rix Sports Bar was also nice. During our first visit we split an entree as I cannot eat a large portion and DH ordered soup to supplement his meal. Our server, Luis brought the burger to the table already cut and on two separate plates with the fries. Great service. On our second visit, I tried to order from the kids menu which I have done many, many times before at Disney, and our server Ashley would not permit it, so I ordered a full entree and when I could not finish it, she asked if I wanted to take it with me ~ I simply asked her, “where am I going to heat this up?” She didn’t seem to get it!
DAY 1 ~ DISNEY SPRINGS/RESORT HOPPING/MINI-GOLF
We spent time at Disney Springs on two different days. On our first day, a Sunday, it was really crowded. We tried to go to the Disney Store but they had every entrance closed with the exception of the street side entrance ~ all other entrances were being used as exits. We had to walk all the way around the store but found the line to get in snaking through the shrubbery so we left.
We visited the Polite Pig, a favorite of ours, for a nice meal. Their Caramel Whiskey Brussel Sprouts are great!!!
Then we decided to visit Arribas ~ we have purchased items there before and always stop by when in the Springs. DH saw the 50th Anniversary Tiara and asked about buying one. The cast member he spoke with said they had to be ordered. I barely overheard the conversation and when I repeated, “we have to order it?” the rude cast member replied, “you don’t HAVE to.” We walked away. There was absolutely no reason for him to be rude. We did go back later that week to order it.
We left Disney Springs and went to ride the Skyliner from Hollywood Studios area to see the Riviera Resort. Frankly, we were not impressed. I guess being modeled after Paris we expected more pizazz. We went to the bus stop to go back to Hollywood Studios so we could take the boat over to the Swan and Dolphin to play some mini-golf. The signage instructed everyone to use the Skyliner instead so we had to walk back.
Finally got to mini-golf and went through the process of giving them our coupons, etc. and were then told it would be an hour wait to play. What? Isn’t golf a continuing game of walking and hitting balls? We didn’t wait. We went back to the hotel and spent some time at the pool.
DAY 2 ~ HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
On a previous visit we went through the entire queue to ride ROTR and as soon as we were ready to board, the ride went down and never came up the rest of the day; it was our last day so we didn’t get to ride, so this visit we went directly there. It happened to be down then too, but it came up within about 10 minutes so we jumped in the line. We still had to wait 140 minutes to ride. While it was a pretty cool attraction, waiting that long is ridiculous!
Our 7 hours day at HS consisted of ROTR, the Beauty and the Beast Show, and a ride on RNR. That’s it ~ nothing else in 7 hours due to the wait times. Remember, I’m rehabbing the knee so walking and waiting for 7 hours is about all I can handle.
DAY 3 ~ DISNEY SPRINGS AGAIN
This visit to Disney Springs was more fruitful as far as the Disney Store as the regular entrances were open. I bought a new pair of ears and we wanted to buy one of the 50th Anniversary Celebration gift cards, but they would not put it on our magic band. Said we had to pay with a credit card. Makes no sense as our credit card is connected to our magic bands!
We decided to try a “walk-up” lunch at Rain Forest Cafe and were able to sit at the bar. They must be short-handed because there were plenty of empty tables. We ordered a “trio” entree to share. We wanted to swap out one of the sides for another as we didn’t want fries. The cast member said she could give us double fries but could not substitute rice. Again, makes no sense.
The food was really good. When the check came we said we’d use magic band and she made some comment that it was okay to do that as long as our credit card was tied to it. HUH? Isn’t every magic band tied to a credit card, or at least a cash account? Anyway, Justin S., and I’m calling him out specifically, took my band and 15 minutes later comes back and says it won’t work and that he tried it on three different computers. My husband offers up his band and about 20 minutes later Justin S. comes back and said it worked. My husband joked that we should get a deduction for our time waiting and Justin S. snarks off with “next time bring a credit card.” This type of treatment is totally unacceptable and will be dealt with through Disney.
We ended up spending the rest of the day at the pool.
DAY 4 ~ MAGIC KINGDOM
My favorite park! We arrived during the 30 minute resort guest time frame and went directly to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and it was still an hour wait.
Next we went to the Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Wait times for both of these were around 45 minutes. We wanted to go on the Jungle Cruise but the wait time was 90 minutes ~ that’s just too long, so we went to Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor for a brief respite before our lunch reservation at Tony’s Town Square. Lunch was delicious and the service was great!
We saw a few of the cavalcades during the morning/early afternoon. We took a break and went back to the resort to give my knee a rest so we could come back for Disney Enchantment at 8:00 p.m.
We always have to stop at Casey’s for a hotdog when we are at the Magic Kingdom. Not happy that it’s mobile ordering but it is what it is. We had to scout around for a place to sit and eat which is always a pain in the butt.
Enchantment was good, but in our opinion not as entertaining as previous shows; didn’t care for the voice of the singer or the slightly condescending sounding narration. The saving grace is always seeing Tinkerbell fly!!!
MISCELLANEOUS ~
Bus Service ~ can anyone explain bus service to me? As far as getting the bus from our resort, that was great. We never waited more than 5 minutes for a bus. But leaving the parks? OMG. When we were leaving Hollywood Studios to return to our resort a bus pulled up and they went through the driver change where the new driver has to inspect the bus first. That was done and then the new driver got in the bus a left!!!!!!!!!!
At the parks there were always about 8-10 buses idling on the sidelines with the message “refilling my pixie dust” while lines were forming in the queue. There were also many tour buses supplementing the Disney transportation so it’s strange that we saw so many buses sitting idly.
Capacity ~ I have serious doubts that Disney is at anything but 100% capacity given the crowds. We didn’t mind at all that we had to wear our masks but given the Covid situation it’s still unsettling to hear “please move forward and fill in all available space”.
Rude People ~ I guess this is something that will never change but there were some really rude people. During Enchantment while we were packed in like sardines a couple came by with a stroller and their child and were trying to squeeze through, where there was absolutely no room to squeeze through and the man almost kicked a woman who was sitting on the ground in the head, and he was nasty to us simply because there was no where to move in order for them to get through. Then another woman pushing an empty wheelchair tried to get through as well. I’m not kidding when I say there was absolutely NO room to squeeze by.
GENIE+ and LIGHTENING LANE ~ NOT A FAN!!!!! Genie is useless and really doesn’t provide any type of information that you can’t figure out for yourself.
We REFUSE to pay more money over and above the approximately $110 per ticket per day cost.
Over the years Disney has/or will ~~~
Things are changing and not in a good way. Seems GREED is taking over. I think it will be quite some time before we return, if at all. I think we’ll get our Disney fix on Disney Cruise Line.
I have officially dubbed this the “World’s Most Mobbed Celebration”
I'll share the good and the bad so let's start at the beginning.........
Things started off on the wrong foot when we had to wait almost an hour for Magical/Tragical Express at the airport. In all of the years we have been visiting Disney, more than 25 visits, we have never waited so long; usually no more than 15 minutes.
CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT
This was our first visit to Coronado Springs and it is a lovely resort. We were in the Casitas buildings. The resort is really spread out with beautiful landscaping and it is easy to navigate. Our room was very nice. I would warn groups of 3 or 4 that the bed closest to the bathroom is almost up against the wall so there is very little space to move in and out of the bed on that side.
The bathroom area itself is really nice, with a nice “rain” shower head. The “barn” style doors that close the area off from the sleeping quarters are heavy, but nice ~ they keep the light and noise down from those still sleeping.
It’s nice having two sinks, but they are a bit small and slanted and if you like to keep your head near the sink to avoid splashing water everywhere, beware the shelf above the sink!
A nice plus is having a Keurig coffee machine in the room.
The Dig Site pool area is really nice and Siesta Cantina is close by for snacks and drinks. Prices are, as usual, outrageous ~ $30 for two drinks.
El Mercado was very nice and had a variety of foods to suit everyone. Rix Sports Bar was also nice. During our first visit we split an entree as I cannot eat a large portion and DH ordered soup to supplement his meal. Our server, Luis brought the burger to the table already cut and on two separate plates with the fries. Great service. On our second visit, I tried to order from the kids menu which I have done many, many times before at Disney, and our server Ashley would not permit it, so I ordered a full entree and when I could not finish it, she asked if I wanted to take it with me ~ I simply asked her, “where am I going to heat this up?” She didn’t seem to get it!
DAY 1 ~ DISNEY SPRINGS/RESORT HOPPING/MINI-GOLF
We spent time at Disney Springs on two different days. On our first day, a Sunday, it was really crowded. We tried to go to the Disney Store but they had every entrance closed with the exception of the street side entrance ~ all other entrances were being used as exits. We had to walk all the way around the store but found the line to get in snaking through the shrubbery so we left.
We visited the Polite Pig, a favorite of ours, for a nice meal. Their Caramel Whiskey Brussel Sprouts are great!!!
Then we decided to visit Arribas ~ we have purchased items there before and always stop by when in the Springs. DH saw the 50th Anniversary Tiara and asked about buying one. The cast member he spoke with said they had to be ordered. I barely overheard the conversation and when I repeated, “we have to order it?” the rude cast member replied, “you don’t HAVE to.” We walked away. There was absolutely no reason for him to be rude. We did go back later that week to order it.
We left Disney Springs and went to ride the Skyliner from Hollywood Studios area to see the Riviera Resort. Frankly, we were not impressed. I guess being modeled after Paris we expected more pizazz. We went to the bus stop to go back to Hollywood Studios so we could take the boat over to the Swan and Dolphin to play some mini-golf. The signage instructed everyone to use the Skyliner instead so we had to walk back.
Finally got to mini-golf and went through the process of giving them our coupons, etc. and were then told it would be an hour wait to play. What? Isn’t golf a continuing game of walking and hitting balls? We didn’t wait. We went back to the hotel and spent some time at the pool.
DAY 2 ~ HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
On a previous visit we went through the entire queue to ride ROTR and as soon as we were ready to board, the ride went down and never came up the rest of the day; it was our last day so we didn’t get to ride, so this visit we went directly there. It happened to be down then too, but it came up within about 10 minutes so we jumped in the line. We still had to wait 140 minutes to ride. While it was a pretty cool attraction, waiting that long is ridiculous!
Our 7 hours day at HS consisted of ROTR, the Beauty and the Beast Show, and a ride on RNR. That’s it ~ nothing else in 7 hours due to the wait times. Remember, I’m rehabbing the knee so walking and waiting for 7 hours is about all I can handle.
DAY 3 ~ DISNEY SPRINGS AGAIN
This visit to Disney Springs was more fruitful as far as the Disney Store as the regular entrances were open. I bought a new pair of ears and we wanted to buy one of the 50th Anniversary Celebration gift cards, but they would not put it on our magic band. Said we had to pay with a credit card. Makes no sense as our credit card is connected to our magic bands!
We decided to try a “walk-up” lunch at Rain Forest Cafe and were able to sit at the bar. They must be short-handed because there were plenty of empty tables. We ordered a “trio” entree to share. We wanted to swap out one of the sides for another as we didn’t want fries. The cast member said she could give us double fries but could not substitute rice. Again, makes no sense.
The food was really good. When the check came we said we’d use magic band and she made some comment that it was okay to do that as long as our credit card was tied to it. HUH? Isn’t every magic band tied to a credit card, or at least a cash account? Anyway, Justin S., and I’m calling him out specifically, took my band and 15 minutes later comes back and says it won’t work and that he tried it on three different computers. My husband offers up his band and about 20 minutes later Justin S. comes back and said it worked. My husband joked that we should get a deduction for our time waiting and Justin S. snarks off with “next time bring a credit card.” This type of treatment is totally unacceptable and will be dealt with through Disney.
We ended up spending the rest of the day at the pool.
DAY 4 ~ MAGIC KINGDOM
My favorite park! We arrived during the 30 minute resort guest time frame and went directly to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and it was still an hour wait.
Next we went to the Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Wait times for both of these were around 45 minutes. We wanted to go on the Jungle Cruise but the wait time was 90 minutes ~ that’s just too long, so we went to Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor for a brief respite before our lunch reservation at Tony’s Town Square. Lunch was delicious and the service was great!
We saw a few of the cavalcades during the morning/early afternoon. We took a break and went back to the resort to give my knee a rest so we could come back for Disney Enchantment at 8:00 p.m.
We always have to stop at Casey’s for a hotdog when we are at the Magic Kingdom. Not happy that it’s mobile ordering but it is what it is. We had to scout around for a place to sit and eat which is always a pain in the butt.
Enchantment was good, but in our opinion not as entertaining as previous shows; didn’t care for the voice of the singer or the slightly condescending sounding narration. The saving grace is always seeing Tinkerbell fly!!!
MISCELLANEOUS ~
Bus Service ~ can anyone explain bus service to me? As far as getting the bus from our resort, that was great. We never waited more than 5 minutes for a bus. But leaving the parks? OMG. When we were leaving Hollywood Studios to return to our resort a bus pulled up and they went through the driver change where the new driver has to inspect the bus first. That was done and then the new driver got in the bus a left!!!!!!!!!!
At the parks there were always about 8-10 buses idling on the sidelines with the message “refilling my pixie dust” while lines were forming in the queue. There were also many tour buses supplementing the Disney transportation so it’s strange that we saw so many buses sitting idly.
Capacity ~ I have serious doubts that Disney is at anything but 100% capacity given the crowds. We didn’t mind at all that we had to wear our masks but given the Covid situation it’s still unsettling to hear “please move forward and fill in all available space”.
Rude People ~ I guess this is something that will never change but there were some really rude people. During Enchantment while we were packed in like sardines a couple came by with a stroller and their child and were trying to squeeze through, where there was absolutely no room to squeeze through and the man almost kicked a woman who was sitting on the ground in the head, and he was nasty to us simply because there was no where to move in order for them to get through. Then another woman pushing an empty wheelchair tried to get through as well. I’m not kidding when I say there was absolutely NO room to squeeze by.
GENIE+ and LIGHTENING LANE ~ NOT A FAN!!!!! Genie is useless and really doesn’t provide any type of information that you can’t figure out for yourself.
We REFUSE to pay more money over and above the approximately $110 per ticket per day cost.
Over the years Disney has/or will ~~~
- End Magical/Tragical express
- Started charging for parking at resorts
- Stopped airline check in and boarding passes
- Removed all of the “Disneyesque” theming at resorts
- Ended FastPass
- Now charge for FastPass under a different name and then there is the additional cost for the top attractions
Things are changing and not in a good way. Seems GREED is taking over. I think it will be quite some time before we return, if at all. I think we’ll get our Disney fix on Disney Cruise Line.
I have officially dubbed this the “World’s Most Mobbed Celebration”
