kityrussell
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 29, 2001
- Messages
- 57
Just got back from a weekend with DH and my friend from California who had never been before. She's a Disneyland AP holder though so it was fun getting her reaction to things. We only had a weekend but DH & I just went in Dec. so we could be choosy. To start....
Friday night:
Everyone's flights were about an hour late. All got in @ 10pm. But we hadn't planned anything so it was no big deal. We got our rental car (which came in handy) and went to Coronado Springs. Check-in took a little while (20 mins) but we were still upbeat and my friend was able to get a length of stay pass then so things worked smoothly. I had requested Cabana 9B but it was not available. So we got Casitas 5A and the CM said she would note we would like room change the next day if available. Since there was a convention we did want to move. 5A was nice and well-located, just too many convention people. Then we took the car to Boardwalk and had late-night snacks and drinks at ESPN Zone which was fun. Nice way to mellow out for the evening.
Saturday:
Had a message re: room change. We were approved to move to 9B. So we called and told them we would check with them when we got back that afternoon. Couldn't decide whether to do MK or Epcot so we just grabbed the first bus: MK. Good choice. Low crowds, basically rode everything we wanted in 4 hours. That even included the Winnie the Pooh ride and Splash Mtn. Fastpass worked like a charm that morning. Even managed to sit down and have a danish at Hoopdedoo Revue and watch 10 mins of the show. PERFECT!
Then off to Epcot and went straight to Test Track since we had never done it. Since the FP time was @4pm we decided to wait. Then we saw the singles line. What a great idea. We didn't care if we rode next to each other and it worked out that two of us were in the same car and my husband was in the one right behind us. Pretty fun ride but wouldn't see the need to do it again. Then we hit World Showcase for some lunch. Had champagne in France and walked over to Germany for some beer and food. Walked around some more, went to Norway but the line for Maelstrom was a little long so we left. Split another beer in England and walked to Boardwalk from the Gateway. By this point, I was asking myself why didn't we stay there? Took the bus back to CSR and went to registration. Had little confusion with room change but was quickly fixed and asked about moving to Boardwalk but the room was $500 so said "no thanks". Then went to our new room (corner) and was very happy.
Hit the pool and we loved the water slide! We were like three big kids! That pool is great! Then we went and got ready for dinner.
Sat. night: Had PS at Flying Fish Cafe. Checked in, was given a pager so we went to find a drink. Got seated at Belle Vue Lounge, ordered and was immediately paged! Why do they do that? Anyway the bartender called and said we'd be down when we finished so all was okay. The dinner was fantastic!!!! I will try to do a separate review but suffice to say we were extremely happy with it. Good food, good wine, etc. We wanted to see Illuminations but dinner took too long. But hey, we were just going with it.
Then on to Pleasure Island. Had trouble there! Tried to get AAA discount, was told absolutely not! Have to get it from AAA before you get there!
Should have turned around and gone back to BW but we went on. Started at Adv. Club. Should never have let my friend order. We ended up with something a Monkey-head cup that I'm sure was expensive. BEWARE of bartenders hawking monkey-heads! I actually survived the evening pretty well but my friend was gone. Husband just got a little happy. Luckily she just got real quiet and started drinking water so I knew it was time to go.
Sunday:
Obviously, we slept in. DH woke up and noted you couldn't see 2 ft from the doorway. That's right...SMOKE! But we got ready leisurely (my friend was moving kind of slow) and went to catch the bus to MGM. Smoke starting to dissipate and it was pretty crowded by that point. We got FP for Tower of Terror and then went to wait for R&R Coaster. That was @40 min. so not too bad. THen Great Movie Ride (20 min) and food became a necessity. Had burgers at Commissary which were fine. Then proceeded back to TofTerror. I'll say it again, Fastpasses are terrific! This sold my friend. Her absolute favorite ride! She perked right up. We knew we were going to do Fantasmic that night so we left after that. Everyone was still a little "zoned" so we decided to take a nap. Then about 3 pm.....
Time for shopping! Got the car and drove to Downtown. Spent some money, went to Bongo's for early dinner. Again a good meal, nice atmosphere. Then decided to drive to MGM. My husband wasn't too thrilled to sit down for 1 1/2 hrs waiting but we did it and it was definitely a Great show! Probably wouldn't wait for it again but definitely have to do it once. Took a few minutes to get out and then a happy surprise.
Tower of Terror was still open and they were practically hawking for people to get in line. Don't have to ask us twice! So nice way to end the evening. THen we did ice cream at BW. Going to have to stay there! But then I may never leave!
My friend really enjoyed her first visit and so did we. Granted we were lucky with crowds. Big tip: Just be as flexible as you can. No point worrying about getting here and there. I missed Illuminations but why get in a snit? That's always an excuse to go back!
Friday night:
Everyone's flights were about an hour late. All got in @ 10pm. But we hadn't planned anything so it was no big deal. We got our rental car (which came in handy) and went to Coronado Springs. Check-in took a little while (20 mins) but we were still upbeat and my friend was able to get a length of stay pass then so things worked smoothly. I had requested Cabana 9B but it was not available. So we got Casitas 5A and the CM said she would note we would like room change the next day if available. Since there was a convention we did want to move. 5A was nice and well-located, just too many convention people. Then we took the car to Boardwalk and had late-night snacks and drinks at ESPN Zone which was fun. Nice way to mellow out for the evening.
Saturday:
Had a message re: room change. We were approved to move to 9B. So we called and told them we would check with them when we got back that afternoon. Couldn't decide whether to do MK or Epcot so we just grabbed the first bus: MK. Good choice. Low crowds, basically rode everything we wanted in 4 hours. That even included the Winnie the Pooh ride and Splash Mtn. Fastpass worked like a charm that morning. Even managed to sit down and have a danish at Hoopdedoo Revue and watch 10 mins of the show. PERFECT!
Then off to Epcot and went straight to Test Track since we had never done it. Since the FP time was @4pm we decided to wait. Then we saw the singles line. What a great idea. We didn't care if we rode next to each other and it worked out that two of us were in the same car and my husband was in the one right behind us. Pretty fun ride but wouldn't see the need to do it again. Then we hit World Showcase for some lunch. Had champagne in France and walked over to Germany for some beer and food. Walked around some more, went to Norway but the line for Maelstrom was a little long so we left. Split another beer in England and walked to Boardwalk from the Gateway. By this point, I was asking myself why didn't we stay there? Took the bus back to CSR and went to registration. Had little confusion with room change but was quickly fixed and asked about moving to Boardwalk but the room was $500 so said "no thanks". Then went to our new room (corner) and was very happy.
Hit the pool and we loved the water slide! We were like three big kids! That pool is great! Then we went and got ready for dinner.
Sat. night: Had PS at Flying Fish Cafe. Checked in, was given a pager so we went to find a drink. Got seated at Belle Vue Lounge, ordered and was immediately paged! Why do they do that? Anyway the bartender called and said we'd be down when we finished so all was okay. The dinner was fantastic!!!! I will try to do a separate review but suffice to say we were extremely happy with it. Good food, good wine, etc. We wanted to see Illuminations but dinner took too long. But hey, we were just going with it.
Then on to Pleasure Island. Had trouble there! Tried to get AAA discount, was told absolutely not! Have to get it from AAA before you get there!
Should have turned around and gone back to BW but we went on. Started at Adv. Club. Should never have let my friend order. We ended up with something a Monkey-head cup that I'm sure was expensive. BEWARE of bartenders hawking monkey-heads! I actually survived the evening pretty well but my friend was gone. Husband just got a little happy. Luckily she just got real quiet and started drinking water so I knew it was time to go. Sunday:
Obviously, we slept in. DH woke up and noted you couldn't see 2 ft from the doorway. That's right...SMOKE! But we got ready leisurely (my friend was moving kind of slow) and went to catch the bus to MGM. Smoke starting to dissipate and it was pretty crowded by that point. We got FP for Tower of Terror and then went to wait for R&R Coaster. That was @40 min. so not too bad. THen Great Movie Ride (20 min) and food became a necessity. Had burgers at Commissary which were fine. Then proceeded back to TofTerror. I'll say it again, Fastpasses are terrific! This sold my friend. Her absolute favorite ride! She perked right up. We knew we were going to do Fantasmic that night so we left after that. Everyone was still a little "zoned" so we decided to take a nap. Then about 3 pm.....
Time for shopping! Got the car and drove to Downtown. Spent some money, went to Bongo's for early dinner. Again a good meal, nice atmosphere. Then decided to drive to MGM. My husband wasn't too thrilled to sit down for 1 1/2 hrs waiting but we did it and it was definitely a Great show! Probably wouldn't wait for it again but definitely have to do it once. Took a few minutes to get out and then a happy surprise.
Tower of Terror was still open and they were practically hawking for people to get in line. Don't have to ask us twice! So nice way to end the evening. THen we did ice cream at BW. Going to have to stay there! But then I may never leave!My friend really enjoyed her first visit and so did we. Granted we were lucky with crowds. Big tip: Just be as flexible as you can. No point worrying about getting here and there. I missed Illuminations but why get in a snit? That's always an excuse to go back!
