I'm too lazy to do a full on trip report, but here is a quick summary of ours. I always enjoy reading other peoples'! We stayed 8d/7n at Coronado Springs with our 5 year old and 9 month old.
Disney customer service is awesome. I wasn't sure what to expect after reading so many mixed reviews, but I can honestly say we didn't have a negative experience all week as far as employees/policies go. I'm not a polyanna type person, but I was really impressed. I saw a lot of cm that went above and beyond...particularly with the kiddos.
The weather....omg, how do people live in Florida? I felt like I needed a shower before I got to the bus stop each morning. I thought October would be ok, but it was gross. lol I don't know how people go during June or July, I really can't imagine. All future trips will be winter trips!
The resort...Coronado Springs gets kind of an "eh" from me. Although the lake and landscaping was very pretty, and the pool/kids' area is wonderful, overall I think I would have preferred to stay elsewhere. It is huge and we were in the back 40. It was a solid 10 min walk, maybe more like 15 with the kids, to get up to the front and the excessive bus stops got annoying. I'd prefer something smaller and with different theming. The staff was very nice though and no complaints about the service.
Dining - I've heard many times that quickservice at Disney is better than the table service, but my experience was the opposite. I think the only quickservice meal I had that I enjoyed was a sandwich from Starring Rolls at HS. Well, I also really liked the Wolfgang Puck Express, but not sure Disney gets credit for that? I was really disappointed in Yak and Yeti and Sunshine Seasons, which get very positive reviews on the Dis for the most part. Sunshine Seasons in particular was barely edible. All of our table service meals were pretty solid.
The parks - Animal Kingdom was my favorite by far. I thought it was a really nice mix of shows/rides and I liked the scenery and the animals. I felt really overwhelmed my Magic Kingdom. It was so busy and I felt like I did a lot of aimless wandering. I needed a better plan for this park. lol We spent 2 days there and there were many attractions I know we didn't do and some I probably wasn't even aware of. I liked Hollywood studios but because there are so many shows I found it difficult to time things. I felt like we were trying to run to catch the start of something all day. We didn't get to see all the shows we wanted to. Epcot....I had really mixed feelings about this park. I liked the world showcase a lot! I found it so interesting to wander around. The rest of the park seemed like the ugly stepsister of theme parks. It seems so outdated and tacky. From the attractions, to the decor. It just looked like a dump, imo.
Shopping - It seemed like every gift shop pretty much carried the same things (outside of the ones found in world showcase). Considering just how many shops there are, I was a bit disappointed. My dd got a ton of junk, but at the end of the week I realized I hadn't bought a single thing for myself. I just never saw anything I liked. I also thought it surprising that they didn't have much merchandise aimed for infants. I wanted to buy something for my ds and my niece/nephew. I saw a few ugly onesies. To be honest with you, the Disney clothing at Target is a lot cuter than most of what I saw at dw, I was really surprised.
This trip was for my dd's 5th birthday and it was really special. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique was definitely a highlight for her. We all had a blast. I look forward to going back for ds' 5th birthday!
Disney customer service is awesome. I wasn't sure what to expect after reading so many mixed reviews, but I can honestly say we didn't have a negative experience all week as far as employees/policies go. I'm not a polyanna type person, but I was really impressed. I saw a lot of cm that went above and beyond...particularly with the kiddos.
The weather....omg, how do people live in Florida? I felt like I needed a shower before I got to the bus stop each morning. I thought October would be ok, but it was gross. lol I don't know how people go during June or July, I really can't imagine. All future trips will be winter trips!
The resort...Coronado Springs gets kind of an "eh" from me. Although the lake and landscaping was very pretty, and the pool/kids' area is wonderful, overall I think I would have preferred to stay elsewhere. It is huge and we were in the back 40. It was a solid 10 min walk, maybe more like 15 with the kids, to get up to the front and the excessive bus stops got annoying. I'd prefer something smaller and with different theming. The staff was very nice though and no complaints about the service.
Dining - I've heard many times that quickservice at Disney is better than the table service, but my experience was the opposite. I think the only quickservice meal I had that I enjoyed was a sandwich from Starring Rolls at HS. Well, I also really liked the Wolfgang Puck Express, but not sure Disney gets credit for that? I was really disappointed in Yak and Yeti and Sunshine Seasons, which get very positive reviews on the Dis for the most part. Sunshine Seasons in particular was barely edible. All of our table service meals were pretty solid.
The parks - Animal Kingdom was my favorite by far. I thought it was a really nice mix of shows/rides and I liked the scenery and the animals. I felt really overwhelmed my Magic Kingdom. It was so busy and I felt like I did a lot of aimless wandering. I needed a better plan for this park. lol We spent 2 days there and there were many attractions I know we didn't do and some I probably wasn't even aware of. I liked Hollywood studios but because there are so many shows I found it difficult to time things. I felt like we were trying to run to catch the start of something all day. We didn't get to see all the shows we wanted to. Epcot....I had really mixed feelings about this park. I liked the world showcase a lot! I found it so interesting to wander around. The rest of the park seemed like the ugly stepsister of theme parks. It seems so outdated and tacky. From the attractions, to the decor. It just looked like a dump, imo.
Shopping - It seemed like every gift shop pretty much carried the same things (outside of the ones found in world showcase). Considering just how many shops there are, I was a bit disappointed. My dd got a ton of junk, but at the end of the week I realized I hadn't bought a single thing for myself. I just never saw anything I liked. I also thought it surprising that they didn't have much merchandise aimed for infants. I wanted to buy something for my ds and my niece/nephew. I saw a few ugly onesies. To be honest with you, the Disney clothing at Target is a lot cuter than most of what I saw at dw, I was really surprised.
This trip was for my dd's 5th birthday and it was really special. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique was definitely a highlight for her. We all had a blast. I look forward to going back for ds' 5th birthday!