photobob
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2003
- Messages
- 3,552
Just returned from a very nice trip with my wife and 13 yo daughter. We traveled with friends who have a 9 yo son and also another couple celebrating their 30th anniversary. We stayed from June 25-30th.
We all drove down a day early and stayed at the Holiday Inn Express the night before heading onsite. We stayed at Coronado Springs as did the anniversary couple. Our other friends who are DVC members stayed at the Wilderness Lodge Villas.
Im not going to do a blow by blow trip report just a few rambling observations.
- Coronado is a nice resort, very pretty but a big sprawling layout. The pepper market looked very nice with better looking food options than the food court at CBR, but a little higher prices. We didnt eat there however, we eat a snack breakfast in the room in the mornings, eat a good lunch in the parks and grab dinner wherever or have a sandwich in the room. Coronado is a convention center and you can tell by the in room dining options very high prices with a lot of items you would order for a hospitality room.
- Visited my friends at the Wilderness Lodge and was blown away. I have seen photos of the place and knew it was nice but photos dont do the place justice. Ate at Whispering Canyon Café and all had the skillet dinner which was wonderful. I had read that the antics had calmed down by the waitstaff, but from my perspective the action was loud and fun. There where pony rides, singing and my daughter got the half gallon glass of water. Everyone had a good time and great food.
- My friends were staying in a one bedroom villa at the Wilderness Lodge Villas and we were quite impressed. They have been telling us how happy they have been with DVC and encouraged us to look into it. More on that later.
- I believe we had rain showers every afternoon that we were there. That may sound like a negative but it really wasnt. The rain cooled things off significantly and thinned the crowds as well. We were able to get a good angle for photos of Wishes with the castle in the foreground (Im a photographer and two of my friends on the trip are very good amateurs) as well as excellent position for Spectromagic even though we walked up at 10 minutes before the show.
- My tried and true method of going to parks the day after EMH proved to be a fruitful endeavor. My arrived at MK at opening on such occasion and rode Splash Mountain 3 times and BTMRR twice with little to no wait. Did the same at Epcot, went to Soarin and got a FP then walked over and rode Test Track twice with little wait in the standby line. Got fastpasses again for Soarin which coincided with the FP time for the anniversary couple, so all 8 of us rode together. I told the CM that was about to put us on the third row that the couple had never experienced Soarin and could we wait for front row seats and she said no problem which made my friends quite happy.
- On our Animal Kingdom Day only my family was able to arrive at park opening. I headed to get fastpasses for Expedition Everest while my wife and daughter headed to Kilamanjaro Safari to wait for me. We got off the bus at 9 am sharp and went in with very little wait. When I got to EE the standby line was already nearing the Kali River Rapids entrance. I got to the fastpass distribution line and there were probably 400 people waiting for fastpasses. My fastpass time was for 11:40-12:40. Took me about 20 minutes in line to get them. Great ride BTW, still like RNR better though.
- Took my friends to Typhoon Lagoon for their first waterpark visit and it was a big hit. We got there at 8:30 and rode every slide once and then did the lazy river and wave pool. Left shortly after lunch, in a monsoon.
- Now lets talk food.
- As before mentioned the Whispering Canyon Café skillet dinner was wonderful. We also got a couple of desserts and shared around the table, one was a huge piece of kahlua chocolate cake and they other was vanilla ice cream with a cinnamon tortilla, both yummy.
- Had a very good lunch at 50s Prime Time café. The antics here were definitely more subdued than I have previously experienced and I have been there several times. We had fun and enjoyed the meals but it really looked like they had scaled back on the activities. Could have just been a slow time or by design, Im not sure. Meals included fried chicken, chicken pot pie, pot roast and some type of sandwich.
- Talked our friends in to having lunch at Le Cellier and they really enjoyed it. We are meat eaters if you cant tell by now. I had the steak sandwich and cheese soup which was wonderful and the rest had filet mignon and all raved.
- Enjoyed a nice cool lunch at Rainforest Café at AK. A yearly tradition for us. We like the atmosphere plus its a nice break from the heat of AK.
- We also had some better than expected counter service meals. Hamburgers at Pecos Bills with the wonderful topping bar. Nachos and the wonderful churros at the Canta de San Angel. Turkey wrap at Cosmic rays with a side of pasta salad was a very nice change of pace.
- Ate at the Earl of Sandwich for the second or third time and it was very good and a very good value. Some of the sandwiches we hade were Beef and Blue, Hawaiian BBQ (ham and pineapple), and meatball. No disappointments.
- Conclusion
- Another great trip. The first time we have traveled with friends. The three previous years were with my SIL and her husband and kids, and three previous trips before that it was just wife, daughter, son and me. My son is 19 and couldnt go this year because he is lifeguarding at a Methodist summer camp, didnt go last year either.
- We met with DVC people on the morning of our departure after seeing how wonderful a one bedroom villa is. We told them we knew a great deal about it already and we only had one hour to give so please give us the Readers Digest version. We like what they had to say. We called back the next day and joined. Still have to dot the Is and cross the Ts but we went ahead and bit the bullet
- Till next trip,
- Bob
We all drove down a day early and stayed at the Holiday Inn Express the night before heading onsite. We stayed at Coronado Springs as did the anniversary couple. Our other friends who are DVC members stayed at the Wilderness Lodge Villas.
Im not going to do a blow by blow trip report just a few rambling observations.
- Coronado is a nice resort, very pretty but a big sprawling layout. The pepper market looked very nice with better looking food options than the food court at CBR, but a little higher prices. We didnt eat there however, we eat a snack breakfast in the room in the mornings, eat a good lunch in the parks and grab dinner wherever or have a sandwich in the room. Coronado is a convention center and you can tell by the in room dining options very high prices with a lot of items you would order for a hospitality room.
- Visited my friends at the Wilderness Lodge and was blown away. I have seen photos of the place and knew it was nice but photos dont do the place justice. Ate at Whispering Canyon Café and all had the skillet dinner which was wonderful. I had read that the antics had calmed down by the waitstaff, but from my perspective the action was loud and fun. There where pony rides, singing and my daughter got the half gallon glass of water. Everyone had a good time and great food.
- My friends were staying in a one bedroom villa at the Wilderness Lodge Villas and we were quite impressed. They have been telling us how happy they have been with DVC and encouraged us to look into it. More on that later.
- I believe we had rain showers every afternoon that we were there. That may sound like a negative but it really wasnt. The rain cooled things off significantly and thinned the crowds as well. We were able to get a good angle for photos of Wishes with the castle in the foreground (Im a photographer and two of my friends on the trip are very good amateurs) as well as excellent position for Spectromagic even though we walked up at 10 minutes before the show.
- My tried and true method of going to parks the day after EMH proved to be a fruitful endeavor. My arrived at MK at opening on such occasion and rode Splash Mountain 3 times and BTMRR twice with little to no wait. Did the same at Epcot, went to Soarin and got a FP then walked over and rode Test Track twice with little wait in the standby line. Got fastpasses again for Soarin which coincided with the FP time for the anniversary couple, so all 8 of us rode together. I told the CM that was about to put us on the third row that the couple had never experienced Soarin and could we wait for front row seats and she said no problem which made my friends quite happy.
- On our Animal Kingdom Day only my family was able to arrive at park opening. I headed to get fastpasses for Expedition Everest while my wife and daughter headed to Kilamanjaro Safari to wait for me. We got off the bus at 9 am sharp and went in with very little wait. When I got to EE the standby line was already nearing the Kali River Rapids entrance. I got to the fastpass distribution line and there were probably 400 people waiting for fastpasses. My fastpass time was for 11:40-12:40. Took me about 20 minutes in line to get them. Great ride BTW, still like RNR better though.
- Took my friends to Typhoon Lagoon for their first waterpark visit and it was a big hit. We got there at 8:30 and rode every slide once and then did the lazy river and wave pool. Left shortly after lunch, in a monsoon.
- Now lets talk food.
- As before mentioned the Whispering Canyon Café skillet dinner was wonderful. We also got a couple of desserts and shared around the table, one was a huge piece of kahlua chocolate cake and they other was vanilla ice cream with a cinnamon tortilla, both yummy.
- Had a very good lunch at 50s Prime Time café. The antics here were definitely more subdued than I have previously experienced and I have been there several times. We had fun and enjoyed the meals but it really looked like they had scaled back on the activities. Could have just been a slow time or by design, Im not sure. Meals included fried chicken, chicken pot pie, pot roast and some type of sandwich.
- Talked our friends in to having lunch at Le Cellier and they really enjoyed it. We are meat eaters if you cant tell by now. I had the steak sandwich and cheese soup which was wonderful and the rest had filet mignon and all raved.
- Enjoyed a nice cool lunch at Rainforest Café at AK. A yearly tradition for us. We like the atmosphere plus its a nice break from the heat of AK.
- We also had some better than expected counter service meals. Hamburgers at Pecos Bills with the wonderful topping bar. Nachos and the wonderful churros at the Canta de San Angel. Turkey wrap at Cosmic rays with a side of pasta salad was a very nice change of pace.
- Ate at the Earl of Sandwich for the second or third time and it was very good and a very good value. Some of the sandwiches we hade were Beef and Blue, Hawaiian BBQ (ham and pineapple), and meatball. No disappointments.
- Conclusion
- Another great trip. The first time we have traveled with friends. The three previous years were with my SIL and her husband and kids, and three previous trips before that it was just wife, daughter, son and me. My son is 19 and couldnt go this year because he is lifeguarding at a Methodist summer camp, didnt go last year either.
- We met with DVC people on the morning of our departure after seeing how wonderful a one bedroom villa is. We told them we knew a great deal about it already and we only had one hour to give so please give us the Readers Digest version. We like what they had to say. We called back the next day and joined. Still have to dot the Is and cross the Ts but we went ahead and bit the bullet
- Till next trip,
- Bob
