Mgoblue44
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2008
- Messages
- 30
Hello, we just returned home yesterday 
September 23rd. We arrived the evening of Wed. September 17th and stayed at Coronado Springs. I have two kids ages 10 and 7 and we traveled with another family of four whose kids are 12 and 10 and it was their first trip. Just some random thoughts about our experiences;
First, CSR was excellent. We were in building 9B which is very, very close to Bus stop #1 and the Main Lobby/Restaurant area, this made for very short walks. The Mousekeepers in this building were FANTASTIC !! It got to the point where the kids were just as excited to return to the rooms every night to see what creations the Mousekeepers came up with as they were to go to the parks. One negative, I called 2 weeks prior to arrival to request Ranchos which have been recently upgraded to Queen size beds and was told "no problem", well, that didn't happen and we had the puny double beds. Didn't complain though and did not let it effect the trip. Also, check and see if any conventions are scheduled before booking CSR - there was a convention of about 1500 childless twentysomethings checking in during our last 2 days, wasn't a huge problem but there was a lot of loud partying going on til 1 or 2 am, didn't cause us much grief but could for families with younger children.
Weather was perfect and crowds were low. Longest wait was 40 mins on Soain' and 20 mins for Test Track, both were in the height of the day though.
OTHER GOOD THINGS DURING THE STAY:
- 2 of the kids won Ice Cream as part of Year of a Million Dreams.
- I was "that guy" in Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor.
- Disney Wife was picked to be Cow Bell player for Band at DHS.
- Daughter picked to ask Crush a ? on Turtle talk.
- Carlos at Kali River Rapids let us stay on raft for a 2nd trip.
- Ishmeal at Maya Grill made us food not on Menu to meet requests.
- 2 of the kids lost Autograph books but were returned by caring CM's
A FEW NEGATIVES:
- NOT SEEING 1 OTHER LIME GREEN MICKEY HEAD THE WHOLE TIME !
- I understand bus service is a win some/lose some kind of thing, but it seemed particularly bad this time. 2 - 50 minute waits.
- New FANTASMIC ending. Maybe the boat at the end is just out of service temporarily, but it was def. missed.
- 3 hours at Ackerhouse for lunch really put a dent in our plans.
- We did 5 straight days of Parks open to close so the family we were with could see as much as possible, I won't do that again !! GET SOME REST !!
MNSSHP
Did this on Friday Sept 19th. It was great and we stayed the whole time, very, very light crowd and all rides were walk-on. BUT, just as the saying goes, "you can't do everything", it's especially true for MNSSHP. Basically prioritize these catagories: 1) Parade 2) Fireworks 3) Dance Parties and Villan Meet 4) Rides 5) Trick-or-Treating. We did the Parade and Fireworks, met the Villans no Dance Parties, few rides and trick-or-treating. If I could do it differently, I'd skip the Fireworks and do more rides as everything was walk-on, you could get a lot of rides in during this time. I would definately make sure you see the Parade and meet the Villans as this is your only chance throughout the year, the fireworks seemed nothing different than any other of the fireworks shows you can see. We only hit 4 trick-or-stations, but they give you HANDFULS at each one, I'd keep it a low priority, nobody wants their kids with that much candy and neighborhood trick-or-treating is right around the corner.
I've done the Dining Plan all 4 trips but am starting to question it's value to our family. I feel like were spending to much time planning around eating and I felt completely glutonous. Now that you have 18% gratuity added right into your bill it's getting costlier. I think with a little research you can feed your family much better and cheaper for a week. One great food deal, in France there is a small Bakery that has ham and cheese croussiants. They are a meal in themselves and are very good, and a deal at only 3.99. We also had some grocieries delivered by wegoshop.com - I would highly reccomend, you pay regular walmart retail plus reasonable delivery rates.
Most everyone on this board is very knowledgeable and I don't believe I have anything new to tell people, but would be happy to answer and ?'s, esp. about MNSSHP. One last thing, I bought a 5.00 over the door shoe organizer for toileties and a collapsable laundry hamper. These 2 small things did wonders for helping to keep our room clean and organized. Now on to Disney 2010 !
September 23rd. We arrived the evening of Wed. September 17th and stayed at Coronado Springs. I have two kids ages 10 and 7 and we traveled with another family of four whose kids are 12 and 10 and it was their first trip. Just some random thoughts about our experiences;First, CSR was excellent. We were in building 9B which is very, very close to Bus stop #1 and the Main Lobby/Restaurant area, this made for very short walks. The Mousekeepers in this building were FANTASTIC !! It got to the point where the kids were just as excited to return to the rooms every night to see what creations the Mousekeepers came up with as they were to go to the parks. One negative, I called 2 weeks prior to arrival to request Ranchos which have been recently upgraded to Queen size beds and was told "no problem", well, that didn't happen and we had the puny double beds. Didn't complain though and did not let it effect the trip. Also, check and see if any conventions are scheduled before booking CSR - there was a convention of about 1500 childless twentysomethings checking in during our last 2 days, wasn't a huge problem but there was a lot of loud partying going on til 1 or 2 am, didn't cause us much grief but could for families with younger children.
Weather was perfect and crowds were low. Longest wait was 40 mins on Soain' and 20 mins for Test Track, both were in the height of the day though.
OTHER GOOD THINGS DURING THE STAY:
- 2 of the kids won Ice Cream as part of Year of a Million Dreams.
- I was "that guy" in Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor.
- Disney Wife was picked to be Cow Bell player for Band at DHS.
- Daughter picked to ask Crush a ? on Turtle talk.
- Carlos at Kali River Rapids let us stay on raft for a 2nd trip.
- Ishmeal at Maya Grill made us food not on Menu to meet requests.
- 2 of the kids lost Autograph books but were returned by caring CM's
A FEW NEGATIVES:
- NOT SEEING 1 OTHER LIME GREEN MICKEY HEAD THE WHOLE TIME !
- I understand bus service is a win some/lose some kind of thing, but it seemed particularly bad this time. 2 - 50 minute waits.
- New FANTASMIC ending. Maybe the boat at the end is just out of service temporarily, but it was def. missed.
- 3 hours at Ackerhouse for lunch really put a dent in our plans.
- We did 5 straight days of Parks open to close so the family we were with could see as much as possible, I won't do that again !! GET SOME REST !!
MNSSHP
Did this on Friday Sept 19th. It was great and we stayed the whole time, very, very light crowd and all rides were walk-on. BUT, just as the saying goes, "you can't do everything", it's especially true for MNSSHP. Basically prioritize these catagories: 1) Parade 2) Fireworks 3) Dance Parties and Villan Meet 4) Rides 5) Trick-or-Treating. We did the Parade and Fireworks, met the Villans no Dance Parties, few rides and trick-or-treating. If I could do it differently, I'd skip the Fireworks and do more rides as everything was walk-on, you could get a lot of rides in during this time. I would definately make sure you see the Parade and meet the Villans as this is your only chance throughout the year, the fireworks seemed nothing different than any other of the fireworks shows you can see. We only hit 4 trick-or-stations, but they give you HANDFULS at each one, I'd keep it a low priority, nobody wants their kids with that much candy and neighborhood trick-or-treating is right around the corner.
I've done the Dining Plan all 4 trips but am starting to question it's value to our family. I feel like were spending to much time planning around eating and I felt completely glutonous. Now that you have 18% gratuity added right into your bill it's getting costlier. I think with a little research you can feed your family much better and cheaper for a week. One great food deal, in France there is a small Bakery that has ham and cheese croussiants. They are a meal in themselves and are very good, and a deal at only 3.99. We also had some grocieries delivered by wegoshop.com - I would highly reccomend, you pay regular walmart retail plus reasonable delivery rates.
Most everyone on this board is very knowledgeable and I don't believe I have anything new to tell people, but would be happy to answer and ?'s, esp. about MNSSHP. One last thing, I bought a 5.00 over the door shoe organizer for toileties and a collapsable laundry hamper. These 2 small things did wonders for helping to keep our room clean and organized. Now on to Disney 2010 !
-glad to read a report not nagging or complaining. Love the positives! Great tip about the laundry-i always pack a laundry bag-never thought to mention it...Sounds like you had a very busy trip. I would reccommend lots of rest this week. I completely agree about the Dining Plan we are APs and enjoy the DDE card for 20%...good luck planning you 2010 trip!
