Who:
Me, 34 (mom)
DH, 36
DS, 9
DD, 7
When: June 2-8, 2006
Where: Coronado Springs Resort
How: drove from Tennessee, MYW, park hopper, dinning plan
Why: We love Disney!!!
This is my first trip report. I didn't discover this board until recently when planning my Christmas trip. I can't believe I was missing out on all the fun!
We took our second family trip to the World in June '06. We had been two years earlier in June '04 and stayed at the Contemporary. My DH and I honeymooned at Dixie Landings in '93.
This trip was great. We left Tennessee on June 2, planning to stop for the night in south Georgia. Traffic was so good we drove all the way to Orlando that day! Of course, we didn't have ressies until the next day so we got a room at the Holiday Inn Main gate. I'm so glad we weren't spending the week there! We got up as early as we could, had breakfast at McDonalds and went straight to CSR. We were there by 9am and they had a room for us! We got settled in our water view Cabana room and went straight to Epcot.
Epcot is by far my family's favorite park. We spent the entire day there without a break, which we never do. We had lunch at the Electric Umbrella and dinner at Mexico's San Angel Inn. We happened to be there during the Flower and Garden Festival. The grounds were simply beautiful! They had vendors there with all sorts of stuff, and I got a garden Welcome Rock with Mickey Mouse on it. My DD loved the topiaries of all the princesses and Lady and the Tramp. Minnie's butterfly garden was a hit with her too. We stumbled across the Character Greeting and didn't even have to wait in line! We rode Test Track, M:S, and Soarin', which is our new favorite ride. My DS is a history/geography nut so he loved the countries even more than he did two years ago. We stayed until Illuminations and then crashed in our room.
Day 2: We were also fortunate to be at WDW during Star Wars Weekends and my whole family loves SW. My DD even named her doll after Luke Skywalker. So, on Sunday we headed to MGM to see the SW characters. It was fun to watch storm troppers and clone warriors, and Ewoks walking around. We didn't stand in line for any of the Big name autographs, but my DD did get to visit with Queen Amidala. My DH and DS had their picture taken with an X-wing fighter.
We took an afternoon break and enjoyed the Mayan pyramid pool at the resort. It was great!
After a short rest we headed to MK for a little magic. We had ADRs for Crystal Palace. We did this the last time and loved it so we went back to see Pooh and friends. Before dinner we rode Splash at my DD's request and she's the only who stayed dry. Just before dinner it started to rain. It took a long time to get our table because people weren't leaving the restaurant on account of the rain. Once we ate the rain stopped and we went back into the park. We rode one ride and it started to rain again so we went back to the hotel.
Day 3: Breakfastasaurus at AK. We drove to AK instead of taking the bus and this seemed to go much quicker. It was a good idea since we had an early breakfast in the park. That was a great meal and the only place we've ever been able to meet Donald Duck. After we ate we immediately went for the EE fastpasses. We rode EE twice that day, even DD7. It is great! Now I think it our new favorite ride. My DD loves Kali River Rapids, and of course, she's the only one who stayed dry. After some time in Dinoland we discovered the Dinosaur ride which we hadn't seen the last time we were there. It's kind of hidden. That was a very rough ride! None of us wanted to ride it again.
We rested at the resort late that afternoon and went to the Boardwalk where we had ADRs for Spoodles. That is an excellent restaurant. The food was delicious and the service was great. I really liked walking on the Boardwalk after dinner too. My DH and I want to stay at this resort on a future trip. From there we took the boat to Epcot for a quick trip around the world.
Day 4: Time for a little down time. We went to Downtown Disney, played at Legoland, bought out the Disney Store, and had lunch at Earl of Sandwich. That's a good place for lunch. It's not too fancy, but not fast food either. It was a good change from the usual kids' meals too. We experimented with different Disney transportation on this trip. From Downtown Disney we took a bus to the Swan/Dolphin and a boat to MGM. We all rode Rock'n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. My DD7 was game for it all, but really didn't like Tower of Terror. I didn't like RRC because I was holding her hand the whole time and was terrified for her. We got a chance to see Lights, Motors, Action! It was interesting to see how they do all those stunts in the movies, but I'd think twice about sitting under a metal roof, with 5,000 people in 90 degree heat again.
That night we had ADRs for 'Ohana at the Poly. This was a great restaurant. I'd like to go back sometime during Wishes. After dinner we went back to Epcot for EMH. We rode M:S, Spaceship Earth and a few other things. We saw Illuminations again, too.
Day 5: Magic Kingdom day. My DH and I split up with the kids. The guys went to Tomorrowland and the race cars while DD and I watched Cinderellabration and got on Barnstormer just behind Goofy himself. It was a fun day MK and we finished it off by going to the Hoop De Doo Musical Review at Fort Wilderness. That is a great show!!! I liked it a lot better than the dinner show at the Poly that we saw last time. I highly recommend that one!
Day 6: This was our last day in the World. We checked out of our room and put our things in the car then took the bus to Epcot. We spent the day letting the kids hit their highlights. We did Soarin' and M:S again as well as traveled through some of the countries. We left at about 5:30 that evening, took the bus back to our resort and went straight to the car. We drove part of the way home that night and the rest the next day.
It was a great trip and I think we really got our money's worth. We packed it in and had a magical time!!!! Now, we're planning a surprise trip for Christmas. I can't wait!
Me, 34 (mom)
DH, 36
DS, 9
DD, 7
When: June 2-8, 2006
Where: Coronado Springs Resort
How: drove from Tennessee, MYW, park hopper, dinning plan
Why: We love Disney!!!
This is my first trip report. I didn't discover this board until recently when planning my Christmas trip. I can't believe I was missing out on all the fun!
We took our second family trip to the World in June '06. We had been two years earlier in June '04 and stayed at the Contemporary. My DH and I honeymooned at Dixie Landings in '93.
This trip was great. We left Tennessee on June 2, planning to stop for the night in south Georgia. Traffic was so good we drove all the way to Orlando that day! Of course, we didn't have ressies until the next day so we got a room at the Holiday Inn Main gate. I'm so glad we weren't spending the week there! We got up as early as we could, had breakfast at McDonalds and went straight to CSR. We were there by 9am and they had a room for us! We got settled in our water view Cabana room and went straight to Epcot.
Epcot is by far my family's favorite park. We spent the entire day there without a break, which we never do. We had lunch at the Electric Umbrella and dinner at Mexico's San Angel Inn. We happened to be there during the Flower and Garden Festival. The grounds were simply beautiful! They had vendors there with all sorts of stuff, and I got a garden Welcome Rock with Mickey Mouse on it. My DD loved the topiaries of all the princesses and Lady and the Tramp. Minnie's butterfly garden was a hit with her too. We stumbled across the Character Greeting and didn't even have to wait in line! We rode Test Track, M:S, and Soarin', which is our new favorite ride. My DS is a history/geography nut so he loved the countries even more than he did two years ago. We stayed until Illuminations and then crashed in our room.
Day 2: We were also fortunate to be at WDW during Star Wars Weekends and my whole family loves SW. My DD even named her doll after Luke Skywalker. So, on Sunday we headed to MGM to see the SW characters. It was fun to watch storm troppers and clone warriors, and Ewoks walking around. We didn't stand in line for any of the Big name autographs, but my DD did get to visit with Queen Amidala. My DH and DS had their picture taken with an X-wing fighter.
We took an afternoon break and enjoyed the Mayan pyramid pool at the resort. It was great!
After a short rest we headed to MK for a little magic. We had ADRs for Crystal Palace. We did this the last time and loved it so we went back to see Pooh and friends. Before dinner we rode Splash at my DD's request and she's the only who stayed dry. Just before dinner it started to rain. It took a long time to get our table because people weren't leaving the restaurant on account of the rain. Once we ate the rain stopped and we went back into the park. We rode one ride and it started to rain again so we went back to the hotel.
Day 3: Breakfastasaurus at AK. We drove to AK instead of taking the bus and this seemed to go much quicker. It was a good idea since we had an early breakfast in the park. That was a great meal and the only place we've ever been able to meet Donald Duck. After we ate we immediately went for the EE fastpasses. We rode EE twice that day, even DD7. It is great! Now I think it our new favorite ride. My DD loves Kali River Rapids, and of course, she's the only one who stayed dry. After some time in Dinoland we discovered the Dinosaur ride which we hadn't seen the last time we were there. It's kind of hidden. That was a very rough ride! None of us wanted to ride it again.
We rested at the resort late that afternoon and went to the Boardwalk where we had ADRs for Spoodles. That is an excellent restaurant. The food was delicious and the service was great. I really liked walking on the Boardwalk after dinner too. My DH and I want to stay at this resort on a future trip. From there we took the boat to Epcot for a quick trip around the world.
Day 4: Time for a little down time. We went to Downtown Disney, played at Legoland, bought out the Disney Store, and had lunch at Earl of Sandwich. That's a good place for lunch. It's not too fancy, but not fast food either. It was a good change from the usual kids' meals too. We experimented with different Disney transportation on this trip. From Downtown Disney we took a bus to the Swan/Dolphin and a boat to MGM. We all rode Rock'n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. My DD7 was game for it all, but really didn't like Tower of Terror. I didn't like RRC because I was holding her hand the whole time and was terrified for her. We got a chance to see Lights, Motors, Action! It was interesting to see how they do all those stunts in the movies, but I'd think twice about sitting under a metal roof, with 5,000 people in 90 degree heat again.
That night we had ADRs for 'Ohana at the Poly. This was a great restaurant. I'd like to go back sometime during Wishes. After dinner we went back to Epcot for EMH. We rode M:S, Spaceship Earth and a few other things. We saw Illuminations again, too.
Day 5: Magic Kingdom day. My DH and I split up with the kids. The guys went to Tomorrowland and the race cars while DD and I watched Cinderellabration and got on Barnstormer just behind Goofy himself. It was a fun day MK and we finished it off by going to the Hoop De Doo Musical Review at Fort Wilderness. That is a great show!!! I liked it a lot better than the dinner show at the Poly that we saw last time. I highly recommend that one!
Day 6: This was our last day in the World. We checked out of our room and put our things in the car then took the bus to Epcot. We spent the day letting the kids hit their highlights. We did Soarin' and M:S again as well as traveled through some of the countries. We left at about 5:30 that evening, took the bus back to our resort and went straight to the car. We drove part of the way home that night and the rest the next day.
It was a great trip and I think we really got our money's worth. We packed it in and had a magical time!!!! Now, we're planning a surprise trip for Christmas. I can't wait!
