20th Anniversary Land & Sea Day 1

[brownie]

To celebrate our upcoming 20th anniversary, we booked a Disney land & sea trip through Magical Journeys (thanks Wendy!). Our 2 sons, Justin & Mark, came on the trip with Sharon & I.

We arrived at Detroit Metro Airport at about 8am on Friday, August 1, 2014. We had breakfast at McDonalds in the terminal. Everything was on time and we landed at Orlando International Airport at about 1pm. We got our bags from baggage claim and picked up our rental car from Alamo. It was a quick trip to the Walt Disney World Resort via SR-417.

We checked in at Coronado Springs Resort around 2pm. Online check-in helped us avoid the huge line at check-in. Sharon & I got buttons for our anniversary and Mark got a button for his birthday. They gave Justin a button for celebrating so he wouldn't feel left out.

We had requested a room in Cabanas and we were given a room in Cabanas 8B, room #8511. It was a first floor room with a view of Lago Dorado. We grabbed lunch in Pepper Market before heading to our room.

Overall the Magic Bands worked great but one of my complaints is it was a pain to use to open the gates at the resort. I often had to take it off to get the gate to open. I don't understand why they can detect you on a ride for ride photos but can't detect you in your car to open a gate.

After relaxing for a little while, we headed to dinner at Raglan Road at Downtown Disney. It's a mess there. Parking is easy at the west end but you have to walk to opposite end to get to Marketplace. Dinner at Raglan Road was very good and we enjoyed the Irish dancing & singing.

After dinner we spent time shopping at World of Disney, Once Upon a Toy, and some of the other shops.

At about 7:30pm we headed to the Beach Club for an 8pm ADR at Beaches & Cream to celebrate Marks birthday with a Kitchen Sink. We did our best but didn't quite finish it.

We headed back to Coronado Springs after our attempt to finish off the Kitchen Sink. The boys watched some TV while Sharon & I took a walk around the resort. We turned in summertime around 11pm.

[vizsla]

Thanks for the report.

[faline]

Nice start to your trip, Steve!! Congrats on the anniversary!!

Coronado Springs is a lovely resort!

[yjgirl32]

Thanks for sharing.

[Melanie]

Happy Anniversary!

I agree on the Magic Bands at the gate. It's difficult. I just finally started taking it off every time.

[KylesMom]

What a great anniversary trip! Glad your travel was uneventful and your first evening relaxing.

[honeybear]

Awwww! Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday! Nice first day!

[tinkx2]

Sounds wonderful... Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday... and Happy Sharing

[BriarRose0708]

Happy Anniversary! I always enjoy your reports and am looking forward to reading more

[princessgirls]

Happy Anniversary!!

Your trip is off to a great start!

Thanks for sharing!
Julie

[hauntedmansiongirl]

Happy Anniversary! Kudos for trying to finish a kitchen sink!

[Tigerinvestigator]

Thanks for the report. I learned my lesson a few years ago about online check in at CSR. A few buses had just unloaded for a convention and each person was checking in separately. There were probably 200 people in front of us to check in. The line stretched from check in around the Pepper Market and into the convention center. Probably the worst check in experience of my life.

[emerzmom]

Sounds like a great start to a wonderful vacation.

Julie

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

I agree 100% about the MB at the resort gate ... it was like a game of "when will we get it to open today" every time we tried, way more frustrating than the cards.