Team Renfroe - Pre-Trip Report for May 15-22, 2009 **Final Chapter**

[alan_renfroe]

Congrats on the upgrade, Alan! Sometimes it's worth it to pay a little extra, especially if you know you are going to enjoy where you are staying.

Thanks. I agree! I thought I might feel a little guilty about spending the extra money in this economy.....but I am having no regrets whatsoever! Next year, DD is going to need braces, so we will not be going to WDW in 2010. I figure we might as well go all out for this trip!

Congrats on the upgrade. I agree that it pays to be comfortable!

Thanks, Mary! A big comfy bed at a beautiful resort sounds like a great plan!

 

[kaysmommie]

Hi there, I haven't posted on your pretrip in a while. Congratulations on your upgrade to CSR. You loved staying there last year and that was before the refurbed rooms. So I completely understand why your family feels at home there. We feel that way about Poly but won't be staying there this year unfortunately. I think our trip is some of the same dates as yours, ours is may 17-22nd we are going for my DS birthday! Your DD and mine are almost the same age too. Mine turns 9 in March. Too bad your not going to Chef Mickey's for dinner on the 20th, that is where we will be celebrating my DS 5th Birthday. Maybe well see you at the parks though. good luck with the rest of your ADR's, it's so stressful with Disney changing from the 180 day window.

 

[englishrose47]

Well, it is official. I called Disney Travel and upgraded our reservations from the Pop Century to Coronado Springs Resort. The price difference was about $40 per night more, and we felt like it would be worth it for the extra amenities. Here's why:

1 - I am a big guy, and CSR now has queen-sized beds in their newly renovated rooms. To me, the only bad thing about vacations is that I miss my bed at home, and I usually don't sleep that well. (We sleep on a queen-size at home.) I think these beds are going to really make a difference in my relaxing and getting sleep.

2 - The rooms are bigger, and as our kids are growing I was afraid the four of us would be all over each other while in the room. While it is true that we spend most of our time in the parks anyway, we are big believers in the afternoon breaks.....so we do spend some afternoon time at the resort.

3 - The Dig Site pool. Ahhhh.... need I say more? Seriously, we LOVED this big pool area and the jaquar slide. My kids would have been perfectly happy to just hang out at the resort and swim all day! I know the Pop has three really cool pools, but we all loved the slide at CSR. Also, we loved having the towel service poolside.

4 - Siesta's Cantina. DW and I enjoyed having a nice, tropical drink while watching the kids swim in the pool. It was a great way to relax in the afternoon! The kids used their refillable mugs to keep from being thirsty.

5 - The Pepper Market. Even though we only ate their twice on our last trip, we really enjoyed it and we thought the atmosphere was really cool! Most people consider it to be one of the best values for counter service in all of Disney World. We also filled our refillable mugs there often.

6 - The room amenities, such as refridgerator, flat screen TV, a vanity area that can be seperated from the rest of the room for changing, etc.

7 - Maybe it sounds a little corny, but it just feels "homey" to us now. I think it is just "our place."

All in all, the cost was just over $280 extra dollars, and when we look at the investment we are making in this trip otherwise, $280 doesn't seem like a lot. We are thrilled and I can't wait!!!

Congrats Alan !! We will still plan a meet !!If you tell me when you are eating at Biergarten I would love to meet you there !! Alsoif I have time I definately plan a meal atPepper Market !! I loved it there !!

 

[Luis Rodriguez]

Good for you, Alan!! As I see it, the difference is worth it!

... I thought I might feel a little guilty about spending the extra money in this economy.....!

Nope. You are helping the economy

Regards,

Luis

 

[Bibbidi]

Alan, I think it was really smart to upgrade. We were at ASMu during free dining with a 5 and 7 yo. The rooms are tiny and the beds are small. My Dh and I are not big people, average height-both on the thin side and we found the doubles to be just too small. That reason alone will prevent me from staying there again. I'm so glad to read that CSR has upgraded to queens. That opens up a whole new idea for our next trip. For $280 it is DEFINITELY worth it. The values are a lot of fun, especially for a budget trip, but mods IMO are always worth the extra.

 

[Michelle_and_Aaron]

Hey there Alan! Congrats on upgrading. We thought about it but so far at least are sticking with Pop. I wanted CBR or POFQ but Aaron didn't see paying the extra money when we really just sleep in the room and he knows I will spend the difference (plus some probably! haha) on souvies anyway.
It is a bummer about the class but you are so right, everything happens for a reason. Maybe the extra $ from next fall and spring can go into a Disney fund and the Renfroes can have a WDW '10 trip after all! I know I certainly would love to steal, I mean read, more of your plans and ideas.

 

[tiggerunner]

Hi,
My hubby, daughter and I will be at CSR. Hubby for work, so in a club room or suite until the 20th and then my daughter and I are on our own until the 22. We are excited because it's her 22nd bday and having been to the world a few times before are going to hit as many parks as we can on her special day.
Should be fun.

 

[stepdisney]

Excellent choice. While we loved Pop, we had 2 rooms, one for the children, which made it very nice. you can't beat the $280 upgrade!!! It will be worth it now that they have queen beds. You next upgrade may be to CL....you may have to come over to the resort changers site if you change anything else Alan...... We'd be happy to have ya....

 

[fterie4u]

HI! I just finished reading both your trip report and your pre-trip report, they were GREAT! I so loved your pictures and comments regarding the placers you ate. This really helps when making decisions for our next trip! We are trying to pick at least 2 places we have not dined at yet and we can not make up our minds!

Anyway, we are booked for our first stay at CSR and can't wait!!! Hearing about your stay has made us even more excited!!! I can't wait to hear all about your upcoming trip! Have you decided where you are going to make ADR's for?

 

[flafan]

SUBSCRIBING Better late than never. I just spent my Sunday morning reading your PTR.

You have a lovely family and great photo's. I am so glad you are going to be at CSR so we can see more photo's. Even though I do not have any future trips in the works I have already decided that is where I will be going.

I can not wait to hear more. Thanks for sharing.

 

[alan_renfroe]

Hi there, I haven't posted on your pretrip in a while. Congratulations on your upgrade to CSR. You loved staying there last year and that was before the refurbed rooms. So I completely understand why your family feels at home there. We feel that way about Poly but won't be staying there this year unfortunately. I think our trip is some of the same dates as yours, ours is may 17-22nd we are going for my DS birthday! Your DD and mine are almost the same age too. Mine turns 9 in March. Too bad your not going to Chef Mickey's for dinner on the 20th, that is where we will be celebrating my DS 5th Birthday. Maybe well see you at the parks though. good luck with the rest of your ADR's, it's so stressful with Disney changing from the 180 day window.

Hi kaysmommie! Glad to see you back on this thread! Thanks...we are very excited about the upgrade. I think we truly fell in love with CSR, and now it just feels like home!

Maybe we can meet up and introduce these girls of ours. Have you made any preliminary plans about which parks you are going to visit on which days?

Congrats Alan !! We will still plan a meet !!If you tell me when you are eating at Biergarten I would love to meet you there !! Alsoif I have time I definately plan a meal atPepper Market !! I loved it there !!

Hi Rosie! We will definitely still plan a meet. We could possibly meet at Epcot, or Downtown Disney, or Pepper market! I think it's a neat place also.

Good for you, Alan!! As I see it, the difference is worth it!



Nope. You are helping the economy

Regards,

Luis

Hello Luis! I'm glad to get some support from my DIS friends on the upgrade. I just figured that for the extra amount, it really is worth it.

Alan, I think it was really smart to upgrade. We were at ASMu during free dining with a 5 and 7 yo. The rooms are tiny and the beds are small. My Dh and I are not big people, average height-both on the thin side and we found the doubles to be just too small. That reason alone will prevent me from staying there again. I'm so glad to read that CSR has upgraded to queens. That opens up a whole new idea for our next trip. For $280 it is DEFINITELY worth it. The values are a lot of fun, especially for a budget trip, but mods IMO are always worth the extra.

Hey! Thanks for the kudos on upgrading to CSR. To me, the queen beds were what pushed my decision over the top. I will sleep SOOO much better, and that alone will allow me (and the rest of the family) to have a better trip!

I wish we would have gone to one of the values when our kids were younger. If only I had known how much FUN we all would have had!

Hey there Alan! Congrats on upgrading. We thought about it but so far at least are sticking with Pop. I wanted CBR or POFQ but Aaron didn't see paying the extra money when we really just sleep in the room and he knows I will spend the difference (plus some probably! haha) on souvies anyway.
It is a bummer about the class but you are so right, everything happens for a reason. Maybe the extra $ from next fall and spring can go into a Disney fund and the Renfroes can have a WDW '10 trip after all! I know I certainly would love to steal, I mean read, more of your plans and ideas.

Hey Michelle! Gosh, we've missed you around here! Hope all is well with you and Aaron.

No worries on the class situation....it will just give me a little more time to prepare. I play guitar on the weekends, and that is a great way for me to make extra money.

On those plans.....feel free to steal away my friend!

 

[alan_renfroe]

Hi,
My hubby, daughter and I will be at CSR. Hubby for work, so in a club room or suite until the 20th and then my daughter and I are on our own until the 22. We are excited because it's her 22nd bday and having been to the world a few times before are going to hit as many parks as we can on her special day.
Should be fun.

Hi tiggerunner!! Your upcoming trip sounds like a great time! Maybe we'll meet at the pool one day. We like to have a drink from Siesta's poolside bar in the afternoons - very nice!

Excellent choice. While we loved Pop, we had 2 rooms, one for the children, which made it very nice. you can't beat the $280 upgrade!!! It will be worth it now that they have queen beds. You next upgrade may be to CL....you may have to come over to the resort changers site if you change anything else Alan...... We'd be happy to have ya....

When we first booked our trip at the Pop, we were very excited about trying a new place. Our kids especially thought the Pop looked like a lot of fun. I even got our dates booked for a free fridge swap...so that was going to be nice. However, I sometimes have issues with my back and when I started reading about CSR's renovated rooms, it got me wanting to go back to CSR.
I decided to price out the difference and call Disney. When I found out the difference, I felt like it would be worth that amount. (Before the 4/3 deal, the Pop would have been tremendously less expensive than CSR, but with the deal it was less than $300!) Thanks for the invite to the resort changers site!

HI! I just finished reading both your trip report and your pre-trip report, they were GREAT! I so loved your pictures and comments regarding the placers you ate. This really helps when making decisions for our next trip! We are trying to pick at least 2 places we have not dined at yet and we can not make up our minds!

Anyway, we are booked for our first stay at CSR and can't wait!!! Hearing about your stay has made us even more excited!!! I can't wait to hear all about your upcoming trip! Have you decided where you are going to make ADR's for?

Hi Erin! Thanks very much for ready the trip report and this pre-trippy! It has been SOOO much fun writing them. I really appreciate your comments about the trip report - before our trip this past May we had never been, so I loved reading trip reports with pictures and restaurant reviews! So, I decided to do one of my own when I got back home!

As for our ADR plans, I will be posting our tentative plans in the next post! Stick around!

SUBSCRIBING Better late than never. I just spent my Sunday morning reading your PTR.

You have a lovely family and great photo's. I am so glad you are going to be at CSR so we can see more photo's. Even though I do not have any future trips in the works I have already decided that is where I will be going.

I can not wait to hear more. Thanks for sharing.

Hi flafan!! Glad to have you onboard for the report! I am assuming that flafan means you are a fan of the Florida Gators? Well, guess what? The university where I work, Jacksonville State University, will be playing the University of Florida in 2012!! We just found out this week.

Anyway, that was WAYYY off the subject! Thanks very much for your wonderful comments about my family and our pictures. If you get a chance, I would definitely recommend CSR. It is absolutely breathtaking.

Again, glad you are subscribing!

Alan

 

[alan_renfroe]

Okay, so we have 15 days until our official 90-day window to make ADRs. I wanted to share our tentative plan with everyone and your feedback would be greatly appreciated. Here is our tentative itinerary:

Friday, May 15, 2009
Arrive at Coronado Springs Resort around 10pm
Check in and unpack

Saturday, May 16, 2009
Park = DHS (assuming morning EMH)
Breakfast = use snack credits
Lunch = Sci-Fi
Dinner = Flying Fish

Sunday, May 17, 2009
Park = MK
Breakfast = Crystal Palace
Lunch = The Wave
DW & DD to do GF Tea and DD’s hair beaded
DS & I do Dinner at Tony’s Town Square

Monday, May 18, 2009
Park = AK
Breakfast = Tusker House
Lunch = Yak & Yeti
Dinner = Narcoossee’s

Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Park = Epcot
Breakfast = Pepper Market
Lunch = Le Cellier
Dinner = Ohana

Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Park = Typhoon Lagoon/Blizzard Beach
Breakfast = Chef Mickey’s (13) (8:05am) (reservations made)
Lunch = Raglan Road
Dinner = California Grill

Thursday, May 20, 2009
Park = Epcot
Breakfast = Pepper Market
Lunch = Coral Reef
Dinner = Yachtsman Steakhouse

Friday, May 22, 2009
DHS & Downtown Disney
Breakfast = (use snack credits)
Lunch = Wolfgang Puck
Dinner = Kona
Leave WDW and drive home

We have some repeat restaurants on our list from last year, including California Grill, Narcoossee's, Yachtsman Steakhouse, Kona, Le Cellier, and Yak & Yeti.

Of course we want to try lots of places that would be new to us also! Those include the Flying Fish, ohana, Raglan Road, The Wave, Coral Reef, Sci-Fi, and Wolfgang Puck.

We also are going to try some breakfasts, including Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, and Tusker House.

The only ones that we ABSOLUTELY MUST do are: California Grill, Le Cellier, Kona, and Yak & Yeti. Also, I'm very sold on doing Flying Fish and Raglan Road. Other than that, I am negotiable. So, let me know what you think!

 

[Bibbidi]

I'm glad you have Ohana on your list. We had it on ours in 2005, 2007 and cancelled it on both those trips because the menu just seemed kind of narrow when compared to Kona. However, this last trip when we had free dining, it seemed like the perfect time to try it--we thought, "hey, it's free and if we hate it, no sweat". It was our hands down favorite meal of the trip. Now our table location was nothing special, but we had the nicest waiter, the food was all cooked perfectly--the steak was the best grilled steak I've had in ages and all the dishes were just great. We will not make the mistake of skipping Ohana in the future. Enjoy!

 

[englishrose47]

Alan Iam goin to Raglan Road again in May !! I wantto try the It's not bleeding chowder ! I hav seen pix of it and it looks delish !! Also this time want to try the Baileys cheese cake ! I loved the Ger's bread puding but it is VERY filling so this time I ant to try the cheese cake !! Iam almost set with plan but when those May hours come out things could change !I am alsotrying Y&Y based on your reviews ! The moreI look at it Tepon Edo is another for me !! Dsil wants to try that in Sept so Ithoiught I'd do the cecking out !!

 

[pmama]

wowza I'm always amazed by the dining schedule of those on the deluxe plan. But of course, I wouldn't mind the challenge. I've heard some good things about The Wave. Can't wait to see all your reviews.

 

[englishrose47]

Alan May Hours are up !!!!

 

[kgle]

Alan we will have to meet at the Cantina to have a drink, or two, or three.

I kid I kid! But definitely a drink

 

[Camster0307]

Hey Alan! I'm a little behind -- but congrats on the upgrade. That's a good deal and, if you can get a bigger room, why not?

Great selections of ADRs! I forgot - are you getting the deluxe DDP this time?

I'm so glad to hear you're trying the Wave. I'll be looking forward to your food porn from that one. It looks interesting. And Raglan Road? You WILL NOT be disappointed! Aaah - the atmosphere, the beer, the bread pudding -- I really wanted to eat there in Feb., but since it's Lauren's birthday trip, I've let her pick the restaurants and her choice in DTD is Fulton's -- again! I guess there's no harm in repeating restaurants, right? We like what we like!

 

[kaysmommie]

Your ADR's and park plans look great! Of course we are eating at a lot of the same places but looks like it will be different days. I will know more when the hours and EMH come out and then let you know. Too bad we aren't staying at CSR, then our girls would have a friend to swim with. I'm sure they woukld get along great! We rented points for Saratoga for this trip. This is our schedule so far.

May 17th- check in at Saratoga
Blizzard beach
Hoop Dee Doo at FW for dinner

May 18th - Epcot
Dinner at Le cellier

May 19th - Magic Kingdom or Hollywood studios, (not sure yet)
Dinner at Sci Fi or MK (Tony's or the Plaza)

May 20th
Most likely agi Kingdom this day since we will celebrating DS Bday
Dinner at Chef Mickey's

May 21st - Animal Kingdom and breakfast at Tusker House
Afternoon and evening at one of the other parks Maybe Epcot
Dinner World SHowcase (need to decide in 2 weeks)

May 22nd departure day