Surprise To Emily,

[Emsparents]

Well, after saying and swearing we would break our streak and NOT go to Disney this year and would wait until sometime next year, we should have listened to the advice Never Say Never!

We are now booked for the first weekend of December, at Coronado Springs, somewhere we have never stayed before. This is going to be our Christmas present to each other. We are staying 5 days with a 4 day park hopper and free dining plan. We are not telling our daughter until we are on the way to the airport. So it will truly be a Christmas surprise for her.

We do have some concerns.
1. We will be there during parade taping and POP Warner. Hoping it does not make a difference in the crowds.

2. We are staying at Coronado Springs, it is the only Moderate we have not stayed at so do not know anything about it good or bad.

3. Trying some new restaurants this time:
Cape May Seafood Buffet, Dad loves seafood Mom and Daughter not so much. Hoping there will be plenty of stuff for them to eat as well.
Also trying 1900 Park Fare for the Character Breakfast. Reading about it all seems great, plus it also has some of our favorite characters.

We are also doing Crystal Palace and Le' Cellier, which are both favorites of ours and we feel lucky we got reservations at them this late in the game.

Any advice or comments on the resort and restaurants anyone can offer is appreciated. We are also doing MVMCP. We are only planning on Epcot and Magic Kingdom this time due to the lack of days available.

We are very excited, Wife and I, Cannot wait to see our daughter's face when we break it to her where we are going!

We will post trip report upon return.

Thanks Intercot Family!!!!!

[Main Street Jim]

1. We will be there during parade taping and POP Warner. Hoping it does not make a difference in the crowds.Stay *awaaaaaaayyyyyy* from Magic Kingdom on Parade taping days. Just some, uhhh..."professional" advice from a former Cast Member :thumbsup:

On your Party day, you can enter the park with *just* your party tickets after about 4:00pm. My advice: Do EPCOT in the morning, take a break around 1:30-2:00pm back to the hotel, and *relax* before heading out for a late night at Magic Kingdom. Usually two parades - if you can help it with the little one, see the second parade (much less crowded).

Also, for travel time between resorts and parks, allow * at least* an hour's travel time, even if you're driving yourself.

[faline]

Pop Warner and the Christmas parade taping do not typically increase the crowds in the park. The Christmas taping does however, impede getting around the Magic Kingdom. Once you get past Main Street, it should not be a problem.

Coronado Springs is one of my favorite moderate resorts (The other is Port Orleans French Quarter). What I really like about Coronado Springs is that it offers many of the amenities you typically find in the deluxes. It is a bit spread out but the grounds are lovely. Our favorite area is the Casitas but, on our last stay, we were in Rancheros which worked out just fine. We didn't plan to stay there the last time we were there but transferred there after our arrival - long story - but it all worked out!

Buffets typically have something for everyone.

Enjoy!

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

We really liked Coronado Springs. Although the resort is large and spread out there are several bus stops around the resort so you do not have to walk that far to the bus. It is a hike if you are not close to the gift shops and food court though. We loved Pepper Market when we stayed in 2005 but I've been hearing negative things lately. I think its worth one counter service to try it out though and see for yourself. Have fun

[cuteduck223]

About the food:

We did cape may dinner buffet back in February..and we loved it. It's absolutely terrific for the seafood lover, but my brother had some chicken and they had some other meats as well. One of the better dinner buffets IMHO.

We also usually keep 1900 park fare breakfast as one of our regulars. We really missed it this year when we opted to head to norway for the princess breakfast instead...the characters and atmosphere is great at 1900 park fare--you won't be disappointed.

[AuntLaura]

I''ve never stayed at Coronado Springs, but talked with someone who stayed there recently and they enjoyed it ( they usually stayed at the GF so that says something ). They said the pool was great. I'm not a big seafood eater. Ate at Cape May once a long time ago and it's not my favorite. I really enjoy Crystal Palace and LeCellier. The MVMCP parade is always great. Pick a place to view it early so you'll have a good view.

[Kairi_7378]

Loved our recent stay at CSR. The CMs were some of the best that we've had at WDW. Bus service was efficient. Grounds were very well maintained.