My Celebration Vacation

[havinfun]

August 10, 2008 - Day 5 of Florida Vacation
Day 1 at WDW
Coronado Springs Resort


We woke up early, got ready and packed the car. This was it, the day I had been waiting for since February. This was our first day at WDW. We had breakfast at Perkins and we were on our way.

We arrived sometime after one. After exiting the highway, we came up to that wonderful sign, “Welcome to Disney World.” I was disappointed that I didn’t have the camera ready. Oh well, I still got that WONDERFUL Disney Magic Feeling.

We arrived at Coronado Springs and it was as pretty as all the pictures I had seen. You probably have seen these pictures before but I will post them in case you haven’t.

Lobby Pictures of Coronado Springs.

The ceiling in the registration area:

The ceiling above the fountain:

The fountain:

Check in was quick. The man checking us in first had us in Rancheros. I told him I had requested Cabana 9B, but I would be ok with any Cabana or Casitas. He checked the computer and told us it was our lucky day because there aren’t many King rooms available. We were given a room in Casitas 1. It was the building closest to the El Centro. We exited through the exit outside the lobby.

We drove to Casitas Building 1 and found our room. Our room was on the fourth floor. There was an elevator nearby. We were in room :

View from our room. We were upgraded to a water view.

One mistake we did make was not to ask for assistance with our luggage. We had wrongly assumed that there would be a cart there. We carried the entire luggage ourselves. So before you leave the registration ask for assistance with your luggage. Your life will be much easier.

King Room pictures

The birdcage is a nice touch

Nice size closet

Towel Bunny in the bathroom

Another creation

Before we left I had looked at pictures of the Coronado Springs Resort. I had seen pictures of a curtain hanging between the bathroom and the bedroom. In this room it was a door. The made me very happy, since DH gets up earlier than me.

We decided to go buy some food and beverages to have in our room. On our way out I took some pictures.

Looking down from the 4th floor is a fountain in the inner courtyard, this is also a designated smoking area.

This fountain was below our room

Zoom shot of El Centro from outside our room

We went Win-Dixie and bought, cereal, milk, orange juice, water, pop and beer.

On our way back we entered WDW property from the Downtown Disney area. I was able to get these pictures.

Next Chapter: Dinner at the Grand Floridian

 

[TCKK]

I'm here and ready to read. CSR looks so beautiful. Your room looks really nice and your view is awesome. Love all the fountains. We definitely need to check this resort out on a future trip. Looking forward to more

Cathy

 

[havinfun]

Hi Kathy,

Thanks for reading. I'll try to add a little bit each day. I sure was hot there wasn't it? Did you have the Dis meet? Was it on Sunday? We were at the Grand Floridian that night. I am glad you had a good time. Peggy

 

[freeair]

I'm here and ready to read. CSR looks so beautiful. Your room looks really nice and your view is awesome. Love all the fountains. We definitely need to check this resort out on a future trip. Looking forward to more

Cathy

agree with you..that place is really amazing..love everything about it..

 

[havinfun]

Chapter 2

Narcoossees

We are on the Disney Dining plan this trip. DH and I don’t usually eat at expensive restaurants. So I decided I would use two table service meals and eat a signature restaurant. It was a hard decision on which restaurant to eat at. We decided on Narcoosses because it had the food we like to eat.

We walked to our bus stop at El Centro and quickly caught a bus to the MK. When we arrived there we caught the monorail to the Grand Floridian. The Grand Floridian is an elegant looking resort.

We arrived at Narcoossees and were promptly seated. First we ordered cocktails. I chose this: “Blue Floridian - Sauza Gold Tequila, Triple Sec, Blue Curacao, sour mix, and lime juice. - $7.00 “ DH thought that sounded good and ordered this too.

It came with a glow cube. The waiter told us that we could take the cubes home. Here DH enjoying his glowing Blue Floridian;

The people that were sitting across from us were done. I wish I had that table.

For dinner we chose the “Surf and Turf”. Here is how it is listed on the menu. “Surf and Turf - Grilled Filet Mignon and Butter-poached lobster tail, with potato gratin and a green peppercorn-brandy sauce. - $54.00 “ It was delicious. The filet was cooked perfectly. The potatoes were seasoned very well. This was the best meal we had on our trip.

For dessert DH had Strawberry Shortcake.

I had “Almond-crusted Cheesecake - Inspired by the Year of a Million Dreams and served with Lambert cherry sauce. - $8.00”. It was very good.

When our dinner was done. We paid our bill and stepped outside onto the deck. The Electric Water Parade. It was a wonderful feeling seeing this. On our last trip to DW we stayed with our 3 kids in a Fort Wilderness Cabin. Every night the kids and I would go the beach to watch this parade and the fireworks over the MK. I missed my kids watching the Electric Boat parade. They really aren’t kids anymore. My oldest son is 29, married with 2 kids and currently in Iraq now. He is a sergeant in the Army. My daughter is 27 and has one child. My youngest son is 23 and is a Sr. Airman in the Air Force. He is scheduled to deploy to Iraq in Dec. or Jan.

Anyway sorry I was off topic. I took pictures of the parade. They are blurry but you get an idea on what the parade looks like.

Here is a video. I didn’t have the sound on and some of it is blurry so if you have a slow speed modem you might not want to wait for it to load.



As we were walking through the Grand Floridian to catch the monorail I took a picture of the pool.

We entered the Resort and found Prince Charming, Cinderella and her Wicked step-sisters. It was a magic Disney moment.

Will it fit?

It fits but it isn’t glass.

“Try it on me” the Step-sisters said.

That’s the end of our visit to the Grand Floridian. It was so pretty there. There were musicians playing in the lobby.

Chapter III coming up—Extended Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom.

 

[<3WDW]

Sounds like a wonderful evening! Glad you enjoyed your fancy dinner.

 

[babytrees]

What a great start to a great reason to celebrate and go to WDW !!

 

[havinfun]

agree with you..that place is really amazing..love everything about it..

Hi Freeair,

Thanks for reading. I was very happy with CSR. It was so quiet and relaxing.

 

[havinfun]

Chapter III - Extended Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom

We took the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom. When we arrived Main Street was packed. Everyone was there for wishes. We tried to move up to the castle but it was impossible. Twenty minutes later Wishes started. I tried to take some pictures, most of them turned out to be blurry. I’ll post some of the better ones.

Wishes just starting. I was so happy to there that I got teary thinking about the last year, all I had been through and how I was finally here at the Magic Kingdom.

When wishes ended we visited the Haunted Mansion. It is such a fun ride. I enjoyed it so much I forgot to take pictures. Next was Pirates of the Caribbean. We rode it twice. I liked the changes.

We rode the Jungle Cruise, that hasn’t changed since I rode it 30 years ago. You just don’t change a classic.

Then Buzz Lightyear. That was fun.

By this time we were really tired. It was about 1 am. The parked closed at 2. We decided to do Stitch and then head back to the hotel.

We went in the first room, and waited and waited. It was really getting hot in there. An announcement told us that there were technical difficulties. Finally 15 minutes later we saw the movie and were let in the ride.

On our way through the park look who I found hiding in the bushes.

We didn’t have to wait long for the bus.

I took some pictures that I took of the bathroom in our room when I got back. I liked having the extra counter space.

I wasn’t crazy about the wallpaper.

These are the drapes in the room.

The next day we had wanted to go Animal Kingdom which would have required getting up early. We were too tired so we decided to do Epcot.

Wow I finally finished Day 1. Next Chapter 4- Day 2 Epcot.

 

[havinfun]

Sounds like a wonderful evening! Glad you enjoyed your fancy dinner.

That was a wonderful dinner. Sure wish I was back there.

 

[havinfun]

[

What a great start to a great reason to celebrate and go to WDW !!

It was a good reason to celebrate, but I think I just wanted to go back to WDW. LOL I am glad we were able to go. Thanks for reading my report.

 

[havinfun]

August 11, 2008
WDW Day 2
Epcot

In this section I have entered some links to You Tube. This is a spoiler alert. If you don’t want know what the rides are like and want to be surprised, don’t click the link. For those who like to remember the links are fun.
I woke up at 10:45. I must have really been tired. I did stay up late the night before watching all those Disney Channels about the parks. We caught the bus and arrived at Epcot. First thing we did was grab a fastpass to Mission Space. We hadn’t eaten yet so we headed over to Sunshine
Season’s. I had the Half Rotisserie Chicken with two sides $9.99

Doug had the Grilled Salmon with Olive Pesto sauce and two sides $9.99

We both liked our lunch. The meals were a nice break from hamburgers.

For desert we had the Asian cake.

That cake was really good. I really recommend Sunshine Seasons for a counter service meal especially if you are on the dining plan. They have a very large menu with a big variety of food. Eating there worked out for us. Our ADR wasn’t until 8:50 that day at LeCellier. Our meals kept us full until dinner.

It was all most time to get our next fast pass. Soarin was in the building where Sunshine Seasons was. We grabbed a fastpass for 6:50 pm. After eating it was time to go to Mission Space.

We passed the fountain.

The entrance to Mission Space is impressive.

We chose the more intense ride. Standing in line…

I was a little nervous about choosing the intense ride because I get motion sickness and just remembered to take my Bonine. I did fine on the ride. The ride is great. It was better than the Space Shuttle Experience at the Kennedy Space Center. If you would like to relive Mission Space or get an idea what it is like. Visit this link on You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQcdE_x2eb0. You won’t get the full effect but it will show you the film you will be seeing during the ride.

We wanted to ride Test Track.

The lines were really long and it was too soon to get a fast pass. We got into the single riders line and it cut our wait time at least in half.

After standing in line we saw a film. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxMAyh4wv3Q


I thought the ride thought the ride was really fun and not too scary. This is a video of the ride.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahOg9i33MUI&feature=related

Here are pictures I took walking through Epcot on our way to the Universe of Energy.

It was really hot. Ellen’s universe of Energy is 40 minutes long. I thought that would be a good way to get cool.

The wait time was about 15 minutes. Here is a dinosaur I saw while waiting outside.

Ellens pre-show is really very funny. I watched the original pre-show on You Tube and it was boring.

This is a link to the original pre-show. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c76VO7JwJSg&feature=related

Ellen introduces the show and helps you really get interested in the subject of energy. When the pre-show was over we got into the cars and started on our journey.

Then the ride broke. We sat there for about ten minutes before they told us to leave the theatre. I was really glad that I hadn’t waited in a long line to go on this ride.

We have been to Epcot two times before and had been to the Living Seas, but we had not seen Nemo.

First was Turtle Talk with Crush. That was really fun, dude. The kids in the audience sit up front and really have a good time talking with Crush. We then got on our Clam-Mobile

and rode into the The Seas with Nemo. I enjoyed seeing Nemo and his friends swimming with the real fish. This video shows the whole ride. Some parts or it are good and other parts are hard to see. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctehvUWcrBw

I took many pictures of the fish in the aquariums. Here are some of them.

Jellyfish

These are some funny looking fish.

Next it was off to the Land. I had never been on this tour before. It was really interesting. I wish I had taken pictures. This You Tube video shows the entire ride.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teuQp_Yn0ZM

We saw O’Canada with Martin Short narrating. The link is part 1 of the “first offical screening of O Canada”. It starts outside as you walk into the Canada section, the pre show room and then the first part of the movie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE9FbpXSwI8

Part II here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zOoex857Cs The film seems so much more interesting in Circlevision. After the O Canada film it was time to to use our fastpass at Soarin.

Coming up next- Our dinner at Le Cellier

 

[havinfun]

I was really looking forward to this meal. I got an ADR for 8:50 PM. I tried several times to get an earlier time, but no luck. That's okay we were there and ready to eat. It was dark when we entered Canada.

We saw the sign ...

...and we walked a little farther.

While we waited to be seated we talked with the cast members. One had only been working for two weeks and really loved it. They told us they roomed with girls from other countries and lived off site. All the girls seemed very happy to be at Disney World.

When we were seated I had to try the--

"Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup - Made with Moosehead Beer and Smoked Bacon Cup $5.49 ". It was really good. I could taste a hint of the beer. It was not overpowering. Sorry I forgot to get a picture. I think I was too hungry. I did get a picture of the bread stick basket. There were several different types of bread sticks. I remember one being a pretzel bread.

We both ordered the same thing. "Le Cellier Mushroom Fillet Mignon - with wild mushroom risotto, white truffle and herb butter sauce $34.99 ". We were really getting our money out of the dining plan. The picture I took was blurry, but I will post it anyway.

On the picture it doesn't look like much food. We really got enough. The truffle and butter sauce was really good, as was the fillet. My fillet and DH's were cooked just as we ordered them. You have to really like mushrooms to like the risotto. I thought the risotto was really sticky. I don't know if it is always like that or it was because we ate so late. Our service was really good. It was better than when we were at Narcoossee's.

For dessert DH ordered "Chocolate on Chocolate Whiskey Cake - Chocolate Cake brushed with Canadian Whiskey, layered with Chocolate Mousse, finished with Honey-Thyme Anglaise and a Chocolate-Vanilla Walnut Sauce $7.99 ". he really liked it.

I had never had Creme Brulee, so I ordered "Maple Creme Brulee $6.99 "

I thought it was good but not spectacular. Of course I have never had it before so I didn't have anything to compare it too. I love chocolate, I think I should have ordered the cake.

I enjoyed my dinner at Le Cellier and would go back. The atmosphere was nice and the service was great. The food was good too.

Here are some pictures I took on the way back to the bus.

Night pictures of fountains at Coronado Springs Resorts.

That's all for day 2 at WDW. Next DHS and a change of dinner plans. Stayed tuned.

 

[lazydoxy66]

Hello!!
I'm trying so hard to get caught up on all the TRs I've missed. Looks like you were able to do a lot at Epcot.

I'm so glad to see you stayed at CSR. I booked a return trip with free dining for next year with my BFF. CSR and POFQ were the only 2 mods available. I picked POFQ but I'm thinking of changing to CSR. Did you have good Mousekeeping and CMs, bus service? Of course she and I would have a room with double beds - any certain building better than the others?

I'll be trying to get my TR started by Sunday. Keep your fingers crossed.

 

[jmskinner]

Just found your TR! Sounds like you had a great time. Now I want to stay CSR, your pictures are great!

All the pics of food are making me hungry. I need to try Le Cellier, maybe if DH and I can get an alone trip.

Looking forward to more.

Melissa

 

[shadowryter]

Chapter 2

Narcoossees

We are on the Disney Dining plan this trip. DH and I don’t usually eat at expensive restaurants. So I decided I would use two table service meals and eat a signature restaurant. It was a hard decision on which restaurant to eat at. We decided on Narcoosses because it had the food we like to eat.

I soooo want to be seated at that table next year. DH and I were thinking about dining here for our 20th anniversary.... next Dec. What do you think?
Linda

 

[havinfun]

Hello!!
I'm trying so hard to get caught up on all the TRs I've missed. Looks like you were able to do a lot at Epcot.

I'm so glad to see you stayed at CSR. I booked a return trip with free dining for next year with my BFF. CSR and POFQ were the only 2 mods available. I picked POFQ but I'm thinking of changing to CSR. Did you have good Mousekeeping and CMs, bus service? Of course she and I would have a room with double beds - any certain building better than the others?

I'll be trying to get my TR started by Sunday. Keep your fingers crossed.

Hi,

How nice that you booked a return trip. I bet the free dining was nice. I didn't have free dining but we had 40% off our room. Free dining would have saved us a little more money.

I really liked the CSR. It was quiet and peaceful. I saw kids at the pool, but I don't think there were a lot of kids there. Mousekeeping and the CM's were great. We stayed at Casitas 1. This was the closest building to EL Centro which houses the lobby, restaurants, convention center and bars. We were at the parks most of the time. We didn't eat or use any of the amenities at CSR. I wish I would have built into my Itinerary more relaxing time.
Cabana 9b is a building many people try to get because it is a short walk to the pool and El Centro.

The one bad thing about staying in casitas 1 is we were the last bus stop. We were there during the busy season so we had to stand a couple of times. The CSR does not share a bus with any other resort, so that is a plus. I would definitely stay there again.

I am looking forward to your trip report. It's taking me a long time to write mine. I'll finish eventually.

Peggy

 

[havinfun]

WDW Day 3- August 12, 2008
Hollywood Studios and back to Epcot

Today was Hollywood Studios.

I took these pictures on Sunset Blvd on my way to grab a fastpass for TOT.

An example of old Hollywood

They are on their way to film a movie, bickering the whole time.

I got my fastpass for TOT…

… then got in the single rider line for the Rock n Roll coaster.

I think I was in line for about 20 minutes. DH waited patiently for me. He doesn’t like roller coasters. I loved the RnR coaster. The take off is great. It is so cool to have the Areosmith music playing the whole time. If DH wasn't waiting I would have gone again. When you exit the ride you wind up in a very small gift shop. I left there and looked for DH for about 10 minutes. I kept going in circles and couldn’t find him. I finally did find him but that sure was a waste of time. You know how it is. Every minute counts when you are at Disney. Now it was time for TOT. DH didn’t go on that one either. He doesn’t complain about waiting and I don’t nag him to go.

Last time I was on TOT was 12 years ago so I forgot about the preshow. I love the way the car rides into the Twilight Zone. This ride was better than the last time I was on it. We went up and down several times. I would never get tired of this ride.

Next plan go and get a fast pass for Toy Story Mania. So we rush over there. Fast Passes are gone and there is a 90 minute wait. I guess we’ll see it on our next trip. It is now getting gloomy out. The sunshine has left. We were really hungry now since we hadn’t had breakfast. Now I have to find the ABC Commissary. I took a couple of pictures while trying to find our way there.

Finally we found it. I had “Cheeseburger - with choice of apple slices or fries $6.49” and DH had “Fried Fish - battered fried fish served with choice of apple slices or fries $7.09”. For desert I had “Chocolate Mousse $3.59” and DH had “Strawberry Parfait (no sugar added) $3.59. We were both very full.

Now that we are full we start walking. Star Tours is the first ride we see. The line was 20 minutes. I took some pictures while standing in line.

Star Tours was new when we visited in 1996 but now Mission Space is much better. Just don't tell that to Star Wars fans.

Right now it is 2:25 am so I am done for today. Next will be the Great Movie Ride and more.

 

[<3WDW]

Sorry you missed TSM! It's too bad everyone has to run there first thing in order to get on it. I love ToT as well!

 

[havinfun]

I soooo want to be seated at that table next year. DH and I were thinking about dining here for our 20th anniversary.... next Dec. What do you think?
Linda

Linda,

I thought my meal at Narccoossee's was worth the two table meals. Every thing was delicious. I am not a martini drinker, but that martini was really good. I hope you get that table for your anniversary.

Thanks for reading my report.
Peggy