Husband and Wife Vacation - July 7-14 - Coronado Springs (Pics added)

[dobball23]

My wife (Erica) and I (Todd) made our first trip together to Disney World the week of July 7-14. I had been previously with my family in 1988 (I was 7) and Erica had never before been to the Happiest Place on Earth. We are in our mid-20s, have been married for three years and don't have any children, so it was just the two of us.

The vacation was more than a year in the making and planning. I travel to Kissimmee for work once a year and in 2005 and 2006 I visited Walt Disney World property. The first year I walked around the Boardwalk area, while the next year I checked out Animal Kingdom Lodge. Seeing the detail put into those two properties intrigued me and I knew I wanted to go on vacation to Disney World. I easily convinced Erica and the planning began in earnest in the spring of 2006. We settled on an early-July 2007 trip, which we arrived home from last Saturday.

Knowing we couldn't afford a Deluxe resort on our modest salaries, and not liking the "tacky" look of the value resorts, we made reservations at Coronado Springs Resort. We also got seven-day park hopper tickets and the dining plan for our vacation. Erica was in charge of picking out the restaurants and I made reservations 180 days in advance.

So, our trip actually began on Friday, July 6. We left our Central Pennsylvania home and drove to my parents' house near Rochester. We were using them as transportation to the airport for our early-morning flight on July 7. At the back end of our trip we visited with them for a couple of days instead of returning directly to reality.

At the Rochester Airport

So, our 6:50 a.m. flight from Rochester, with a layover in Charlotte, went smoothly and we touched down at Orlando International Airport at 11:11 a.m., a full 11 minutes ahead of schedule! We were on the Magical Express bus 25 minutes later and at the Coronado Springs registration desk just 58 minutes after landing, even with a stop to let people off at Pop Century.

Disney Magical Express Bus

We had requested a Cabanas room at Coronado Springs and were lucky enough to get one in Cabana 8B overlooking the lake with a clear view of El Centro. We were in the room by 12:35 and had more than six hours to enjoy before our 7 p.m. ADR at Maya Grill. Our first task was to take a leisurely stroll around Coronado Springs to fully engross ourselves in the resort. We walked through all the sections, checked out the Dig Site, marveled at the details, took pictures and sweated. After deciding we loved the resort, Erica chose to go swimming. She had thought ahead and packed her swimsuit and sunscreen in her carry-on bag since our luggage had not arrived yet. Erica went to the Cabanas Quiet Pool, while I went to purchase a refillable mug at the Dig Site.

Registration Area at Coronado Springs Resort

A few Pictures of Coronado Springs Resort

After the cooling-off session for Erica, we arrived back in our room at 3:30 p.m. only to find our luggage there to greet us. The luggage had been delivered within the three-hour window promised by Magical Express.

Having walked around our resort enough for the afternoon, we decided to check out the Disney transportation system I had read so much about. Since the Animal Kingdom Lodge had impressed me so much on my visit there, and because we had an ADR for Boma later in the week, we decided to head that way. Instead of taking an Animal Kingdom bus, we jumped on the first one that came to our bus stop, which was Epcot and transferred there. Soon we were at AKL and watching zebras and giraffes etc. Erica was nearly as impressed as I was by AKL.

Animal Kingdom Lodge

After marveling at that resort for awhile we jumped on a bus to Animal Kingdom so we could transfer back to Coronado Springs for our Maya Grill ADR.

After unpacking our bags and utilizing the drawers in the dresser, we walked over to Maya Grill. This meal was not high on our list going into the week, but we wanted to try the restaurant out since it was at our resort. Well, it ended up being rated second of our seven table service meals throughout the week. Erica ordered the filet mignon, while I had the char-grilled chicken breast. We split our appetizers, which were the Caribbean Style Chicken Roll and the Pulled Pork Empanada. For dessert, which we also split, we had deep fried cheesecake and some sort of coconut ice cream with banana sauce. Everything was excellent and our first meal at Disney World kicked things off right.

After walking around the resort a little more, and checking out the hammocks on the beach in front of the Cabanas as the sun set we went back to our room to make sure we had a good night's sleep considering we were planning on Epcot morning EMH the next day and an evening at MGM capped by Fantasmic.

Some of our Maya Grill Food

More to come in another post...

 

[dobball23]

July 8, 2007
Our first full day of vacation started early for me. I enjoy running in the morning, and with Epcot opening at 8 a.m., I had to get up around 5 a.m. to get a good run in. After dealing with rabbits lining the dimly lit Cornoado Springs paths (the fitness center didn't open until 6:00), I finally got a few miles in and arrived back at our room before the sun started rising to rustle Erica from bed.

Not a morning person, Erica exceeded my goal of being at Bus Stop 4 by 6:45 a.m. and we got out there about 6:40. Unfortunately, an Epcot bus did not come until approximately 7:15, after a pair of MK and one MGM bus already came by. No sweat, we were on vacation!

That delay in waiting for the bus did not hurt us, as we ended up fourth in line at one turnstile with about 25 minutes to go until park opening. When they started letting pople through the turnstiles, Erica went ahead of me to get to the rope on her way to Test Track. I followed and quickly caught her before the rope. Minutes later the rope fell and we hurried behind the Cast Members to Test Track. However, the attraction was down and they urged us to get Fast Passes. We did exactly that and hurried across Future World (me walking fast, Erica nearly sprinting) to Soarin'. Starting a trend that would continue throughout the week, we did not wait long for Soarin'.

Following Soarin', we went back toward Test Track where we rode it back-to-back, going through the normal line once and using our fast passes right afterward. I quickly learned the value of fast passes and, since I am much faster, we decided that throughout the week I would always go ahead and claim fast passes.

We spent the rest of the morning hours checking out the attractions in Epcot, including Journey into Imagination with Figment, Spaceship Earth (on its last day before refurbishment), The Seas with Nemo and Friends and Honey I Shrunk the Kids, which was the first of many, many attractions we would visit throughout the week where we heard to move ahead and fill in any available space as we waited.

Around noonish, we headed toward World Showcase, leaving Future World behind. Erica knew she wanted to eat at the counter service place at the Mexico Pavilion, so we went there first. I got a wet burrito and bunuelos, while Erica got the Plato Combanacion and churros. The meal was very good, but there were birds (cranes?) walking 1 foot from our table the entire meal, making it somewhat uncomfortable for me.

After our meal, we walked around World Showcase. We more watched and observed things, but we did go on the boat ride in Mexico, Maelstrom at Norway and watched the 360-degree video at China. It was nice because in order to cool off it was possible to go into the pavilions, but we decided it the World Showcase area is better when you can devote time to it and are in the mood for it. We couldn't really do either.

With our walk around the World Showcase complete, and Erica in need of a little rest, we took the boat over to MGM. We figured the ride on the air conditioned boat would be helpful for her to get a second wind, however, about two minutes into the ride, the air conditioning broke. Thus, we were on a sweltering boat for the next 20 minutes or so! Our mister fan definitely got a workout!

Our reason for heading to MGM was a 6:30 p.m. ADR at Mama Melrose's and for Fantasmic. With it still only approaching 4:00, we were able to explore MGM and took in the Muppett Vision 3D attraction and Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show before dinner. The stunt show was AMAZING! One of the few times it rained during the week was when we were in the Muppet Vision theatre...luckily it was sunny when we went in and sunny when we came out!

After the end of the Extreme Stunt Show, we walked to Mama Melrose's. This meal was high on our expectation list, but it was actually rated last of our seven table service meals. The meal wasn't bad by any means, but it didn't live up to our expectations. It was still very good as we got a plate full of bread that was a meal by itself for one appetizer and the mozzarella and tomoatoes for the other. Erica ordered some sort of pasta, while I got the four-cheese flatbread, which Erica actually preferred to what she ordered. For dessert we split the truffle cake and cheesecake.

After dinner we just explored and took our time heading over to Fantasmic. We were able to check out Walt Disney: One Man's Dream, which intrigued me since I just got finished reading a book on Walt Disney.

We capped the night with an hour of sitting waiting for Fantasmic and then enjoying the outstanding show. I thought it was second-best of the nighttime entertainment shows at (Wishes, Illuminations, Fantasmic).

Following the conclusion of the show we herded out of the park and got on the first bus to Coronado Springs. After loading our pictures onto the computer, me taking a shower and Erica treating her blisters, we went to bed knowing another full day at the parks were ahead of us the next day.

The following day featured Animal Kingdom in the morning and Magic Kingdom in the evening...

 

[mcarthur205]

Enjoying your report! My DH and I were also on an adults only trip at the same time as you (we have three kids), but only for three days, July 9-11. I am soooo jealous that you got to ride Spaceship Earth before it closed, it was one of my favourite rides in all WDW, but we got there too late! I hope its still good when it reopens! One of my other favourites is Haunted Mansion, but it was closed too! Oh well, it gives us something to look forward to on our next trip right?

We stayed at the Dolphin this time, but we have stayed at the CSR in the past and it is a beautiful resort. Did you enjoy the Pepper Market? It was one of the features of the resort that we enjoyed most.

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip!

 

[dobball23]

Enjoying your report! My DH and I were also on an adults only trip at the same time as you (we have three kids), but only for three days, July 9-11. I am soooo jealous that you got to ride Spaceship Earth before it closed, it was one of my favourite rides in all WDW, but we got there too late! I hope its still good when it reopens! One of my other favourites is Haunted Mansion, but it was closed too! Oh well, it gives us something to look forward to on our next trip right?

We stayed at the Dolphin this time, but we have stayed at the CSR in the past and it is a beautiful resort. Did you enjoy the Pepper Market? It was one of the features of the resort that we enjoyed most.

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip!

We did enjoy the Pepper Market. In fact, we ate three counter service meals there during the course of the week. It can be confusing at first if you are on the dining plan, and like others have said in the past the staff does not seem to be the friendliest, most helpful bunch. However, we enjoyed it. The most difficult thing about the Pepper Market is where you order and then pick up the food at each "station" is not labeled well. It is possible to be standing in "line" for five minutes and then find out there really isn't a line!

Overall CSR was great and we already have a return trip to WDW on our radar for 2010!

 

[dobball23]

July 9, 2007
Our second full day at WDW, and our second consecutive day of morning 'til night parks, featured another early start. With us not taking advantage of morning Extra Magic Hours by going to AK I was able to get in a few miles on the treadmill as soon as the fitness center at CSR opened up at 6 a.m. It was then off to the bus stop a little after 7:30.

For the second consecutive day we were right near the front of the line, but this time we were able to lean on the turnstiles as we waited to enter the park. The cast members finally let us through and we walked quickly up to the rope just onto Discovery Island. With the rope holding us back, we had a "front-row" sight at the opening show. When the rope dropped Erica headed to Kilimanjaro Safaris to wait for me, while I went to Expedition Everest to get her a fast pass. Unfortunately, the fast pass machines at Expedition Everest had some problems as did the attraction, which was not running yet. After about 10 minutes of standing in a sweltering crowd, the machines started spitting out fast passes and I obtained one for Erica.

I proceeded to walk very quickly to the safari where Erica was getting nervous because she said she had seen "a ton" of people go in. Luckily we had no wait at all as the people she saw enter must have disappeared! After the brisk walk across the park I was wishing the safari vehicle was air conditioned as I had worked up quite a sweat.

After the safari, Erica and I walked back toward Expedition Everest with a stop at Kali River Rapids to obtain fast passes for both of us. Erica then went on Expedition Everest...it took her nine minutes from the time she entered the queue to the time she appeared in the gift shop where I was gladly cooling off. Impressive!

With an ADR at 'Ohana that night, we decided to check on eating an early lunch, so we walked into Pizzafari and were the "First Family of the Day". The reward, which was to choose your own order on the computer screen, would have been more fitting for a family with a kid, but it was still kind of fun. I am sure the cast member was wishing a family would have been first rather than us.

With it now around 11:00 following our tasty meal at Pizzafari, we commenced the rest of our day. We went on Kali River Rapids, which Erica didn't like because she was wet afterward, causing her to become miserable for a short time. We also took in It's Tough to be a Bug, Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl, the Maharajah Jungle Trek and were able to observe much of the details around the park, in addition to taking a number of pictures of the Tree of Life, my favorite landmark at Disney World. It was a great time at Animal Kingdom. We capped our day there with Festival of the Lion King. I am not one for shows/musicals, but I would go back and watch this again right now if I could. It was amazingly entertaining.

With it approaching the 4:00 hour after Festival of the Lion King, we headed for the exit to board a bus to the Polynesian for our 5:00 ADR at 'Ohana. I was excited to go back to the Polynesian, a place my family had stayed in 1988 when I was 7-years-old. When we got there we briefly explored the grounds before locating 'Ohana on the second floor.

We checked in with the person at the front desk of the restaurant, who was from Bloomsburg, Pa., just 25 minutes from where we live. We were among the first people to sit down at 'Ohana for dinner and we loved the entire meal. The family style buffet gives you more food than you know what to do with. With dishes of chicken wings, shrimp, potatoes, mixed stir fry vegetables and people coming around constantly with skewers of meat we were thoroughly stuffed after our meal. I am not a big meat eater at all, but we rated this as our top table service meal of the week. In fact, Erica had to call her dad right after we were done so we could convey our excitement to him, who would be sure to love it.

After that fulfilling dinner, we boarded the monorail for the first time for our first trip to the Magic Kingdom. The first thing that amazed me was the amount of people pouring off the monorail at 6:30 p.m. It was an amazing amount of people, especially with the park open until 11:00 (I think) that night.

Our goal at the Magic Kingdom that night was to familiarize ourselves with the lay of the land and to check out as many attractions as we could without having to wait in line all that long. We mostly stayed in Fantasyland and did Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White's Scary Adventure, Winnie the Pooh, It's a Small World and a few other attractions in that area. This was one time when we were just flying by the seat of our pants since we knew we would be back for a full day on Wednesday, giving us the opportunity to get many of the bigger attractions done then. We also did Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor and Stitch's Great Escape (which we did not understand and deemed as the worst attraction at WDW, along with the Narnia thing at MGM). The highlight of my evening was riding the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, which I still call the WEDway People Mover, and remember from my trip in 1988.

Erica is a big fireworks fan, but we didn't stop for Wishes, focusing on getting some attractions done. We knew we would be back and scout out a good location for Wishes on Wednesday. However, we did get caught up in the crowd of people leaving the Park after Wishes. Despite that, we got out of the park and back to our room not long after 11:00. Not bad, especially with a lighter day ahead of us on Tuesday...

More to come on our "day off", which featured breakfast at Boma, in another post...

 

[dobball23]

July 10
After back-to-back full days in the parks, I decided to give Erica (DW - I will refer to her this way from now on to coincide with everyone else's abbreviations rather than names) a day off. Despite that fact we were still up and at the bus stop by slightly after 8 a.m. to head to AKL for our breakfast at Boma. Being the breakfast lover I am, I was really looking forward to this meal. Boy, was it good. It was so good we promptly changed our ADR at Tony's Town Square later in the week to a dinner ADR at Boma.

Following breakfast we headed back to CSR and relaxed most of the rest of the day. We spent some time at the Cabana quiet pool, I walked around some, we made use of our refillable mug and DW took a nap. To help with my constant need to be busy, DW agreed to go on a paddle boat. The cost was $6.10 for a half hour. It was very hot and when we were done it looked like I had just run 10 miles. In fact, the person working at the marina said a mother and son had recently gone out, but could only make it 10 minutes before having to head back to shore because it was so hot.

That evening we hit the Pepper Market for the first time. I found the staff to not be that helpful when we were trying to figure out what counted as dessert for the dining plan, but we eventually got it figured out and enjoyed our meals. I got a calzone and DW got a taco salad of some sorts.

After dinner it actually started to rain some. We decided to go do some laundry. I think we both had enough clothes for the week, but it made both of us feel better to start off with a clean slate mid-way through.

We went back to our room and got ready for our full day at the Magic Kingdom...More on that in another post...

 

[MomofCKJ]

Enjoying your report! I would love to go back again with just my DH, it has been 10 years since we got to do that. Can you tell me some things you really liked about Boma? I was considering it but wasn't sure I wanted to deal with the transportation issues of getting there (we are staying at POFQ and I know resort to resort transportation isn't always the fastest). Which did you prefer, breakfast or dinner?

Allyson

 

[dobball23]

Enjoying your report! I would love to go back again with just my DH, it has been 10 years since we got to do that. Can you tell me some things you really liked about Boma? I was considering it but wasn't sure I wanted to deal with the transportation issues of getting there (we are staying at POFQ and I know resort to resort transportation isn't always the fastest). Which did you prefer, breakfast or dinner?

Allyson

Our trip to Boma was very good. The breakfast was pretty much a standard American breakfast with just a couple of "African"-themed dishes. I LOVE breakfast buffets, so it was perfect.

For dinner, my wife and I both decided to try a few of the weirder things on the buffet. Some of them we liked, some we didn't, but it was fun to experience a couple of new tastes.

In addition to the food, the atmosphere at Boma is really nice. We decided if we ever have enough money, we will stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Regarding transportation of getting to Boma, we didn't find it all that bad. In fact, I had read on the DIS about how hard it is to go from resort to resort, but we were able to do it a couple of times and never had to wait all that long for a bus. Maybe we just had good luck! Or, perhaps we aren't as impatient as others. Either way, getting to AKL from Coronado Springs wasn't too bad with a transfer at Animal Kingdom.

Good luck in getting the chance to go back to WDW with just your husband! After watching all the exhausted, miserable and crying kids during our trip we decided if we ever have kids we will leave them home!

 

[dobball23]

July 11
After experiencing our "day off", DW and I were both ready to get back to the parks. As I do every day, I got up and ran before we headed to the bus stop to catch a motorcoach to the Magic Kingdom. It took the bus a little while to arrive, so I was getting nervous we wouldn't be first in line at the turnstiles, but one finally arrived and we pulled up to the Magic Kingdom slightly after 8 a.m. We hurried to the turnstile and were there first in line once again.

At the Magic Kingdom they let us through the turnstile very quickly, but then we waited at the rope entering the tunnel underneath the train stop.

When the rope finally dropped we split up once again, since I am a lot faster. I headed up Main Street and to the rope drop at Tomorrowland. DW headed the opposite way on her way to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to wait for me. My task was to get her a Fast Pass for Space Mountain.

I obtained the Space Mountain Fast Pass and hurried across the Magic Kingdom. I remembered riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in 1988 and I don't like roller coasters, so I was a little aprpehensive. However, we went on it back-to-back with no wait whatsoever. It was really fun!

Following Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, we walked toward Adventureland and took in Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise before crowds got too big. We got on each of those with little or no wait as well.

With those attractions behind us, it was now time for DW to use her Fast Pass for Space Mountain. I took off on my own to get Fast Passes for both of us for Mickey's Philharmagic. We then met at the entrance to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. I got there first and enjoyed observing people as I waited.

With our excellent timing, and as the crowds started to grow, we went on Tomorrowland Transit Authority and took in the Carousel of Progress before our Fast Passes kicked in.

Following Mickey's Philarmagic, which was one of the best 3-D shows in any of the parks, we had lunch at Pinocchio's Village Haus. We had an unruly guy behind us in line as the restaurant did not open a couple of registers despite cast members standing there. I think they had to wait until exactly noon. This guy was making rude comments and yelling at the cast members since other kiosks were open. The place was busy, but the guy had no reason to be rude.

Frontierland was next on our itinerary as we rode the Liberty Belle Riverboat and went to the Country Bear Jamboree. Neither of us were fans of the Country Bear Jamboree. When we got out of the theatre surprisingly it was raining. We waited five minutes and it stopped and we started our walk toward Main Street USA. After exploring that area for awhile, DW was hitting her need for a break in the midafternoon. We headed for the exit, but instead of going back to our resort as many recommend, we rode the monorail for one loop. On the second loop we decided to explore the resorts.

Our first stop was the Contemporary. It was very unimpressive. DW said it felt like she was in an office. We spent about two minutes in the resort before getting back on a monorail because we disliked the atmosphere so much.

Our next stop was the Polynesian. We had been there on Monday for 'Ohana, but since we were familiar with it, we figured it might be a place for DW to take a nap while I located a newspaper or walked around the grounds. As luck would have it, there was a USA Today on the table in the lobby. DW got a 45-minute nap while I perused the newpaper.

That nap got DW refreshed for the rest of the day as the time was now 4:00 and we headed for the Grand Floridian. I have not been impressed by the looks of the Grand Floridian and that was backed up when we walked into the lobby. DW said "I feel like I am 100 years olf!". It was nice, just not our style.

A few minutes later the monorail dropped us back off at the Magic Kingdom. I still wanted to check out Wilderness Lodge, since I knew the lobby was designed by the same company as Animal Kingdom Lodge. We jumped on a boat over to the Wilderness Lodge and explored there for a little while before heading back to the Magic Kingdom. The Wilderness Lodge was definitely impressive!

Back at the Magic Kingdom, we didn't do a whole lot before our 7:30 ADR at the Plaza Restaurant. The restaurant was busy and the staff showed it, but it was still an excellent meal, especially the desserts. DW had a brownie sundae, while I had my second-ever banana split.

With DW a huge fan of fireworks, we wanted to make sure to get a prime spot to watch Wishes. We had heard the bridge to Tomorrowland was a good place, so we staked out our spot starting about 8:30 (which was about an hour earlier than we really had to!). It was actually kind of fun to watch people gather for the Spectromagic Parade on Main Street USA and to watch Cinderella Castle as the sky behind it got darker.

Wishes was amazing and it was our favorite of the three night-time attractions at the parks. We then stayed for the 11:00 Spectromagic Parade and got seats on the curb on Main Street USA. It was A LOT better than I was expecting, since I am not a big parade guy.

With the crowd thinned out by 11:30, we headed out to the bus to head back to Coronado Springs...we ended up getting to bed by about 12:30-12:45. The next day we were planning on opening up MGM, which would make us at the rope drop of each of the four parks in a five-day span...

 

[roberrl187]

I'm really enjoying your trip report.

 

[dobball23]

I'm really enjoying your trip report.

It is a lot of fun to write, even though I can be long-winded at times.

I just figured out how to add pictures (you can see I experiemented with two in my first post), so there will be a number of pictures added over the next day or two. Keep an eye out for them!