emerzmom
04-20-2011, 04:06 PM
Who: Myself and college age daughter
Where: Coronado Springs Resort (CSR)
When: Sunday 4/3 thru Friday 4/8
Why: Work and fun
I was attending a work related meeting held at the Coronado Springs Resort and decided to bring my daughter along to have some fun too. We went a day early to be able to get in some extra park time before my meetings started. Although it was a treat to be able to go to WDW for “work” I am not so sure this was the best place to have a business meeting. I have to admit it was a little difficult to focus on the meetings when I knew so much fun was just outside the door. The conference facilities were very nice and the staff was very attentive however I think that the vacation type atmosphere did not lend well to concentrating on work related issues.
:magic:Trip Reflections:
Getting there: The night before our flight from Houston to Orlando I went to the NCAA Final 4 Games. It was really fun but made it hard to get up at 5:00 a.m. the next morning. Our flight was on time and we only waited about 15 minutes for the Disney Magical Express. It was a little scary to not pick up our checked bags and hope that they made it to the hotel okay but I can’t say enough about how easy this was and very smooth! This service is reason enough to stay on site! We checked in at CSR about 1:45 and our room was available. We made a quick stop in the room then off to Magic Kingdom.
The Resort: Coronado Springs Resort (CSR) is nice however it is HUGE!!! We were in Casita 1 on the 2nd floor near the conference center. I ran 2 mornings around the lake which is basically what the resort is centered around. It was about 1.7 miles! That meant it was almost a mile to the main pool from the building we were in. (did I say huge???) The resort is in the process of being remodeled. I like the new look and color scheme however it doesn’t really match with the old color scheme and it seems a bit odd in some places (like the bathroom and the exterior paint). The queen size beds were nice. The sliding wood panels in the vanity area were nice because I got up and got dressed earlier than my daughter so it allowed us both some privacy. The doors did not completely close so light still came into the main part of the room a bit but not too bad. My daughter complained once to me about it but she got over it. The walls seemed EXTRA thin in this resort. We could hear the people in the room next door clearly (as in CLEARLY). We also heard toilets flush, doors closing, and water running. I travel a lot and have been to several of WDW resorts as well. This seemed to be worse then normal as far as noise from outside. I would probably rate this as my least favorite WDW resort I have stayed in so far. My favorite moderate is PO French Quarter because it is small, quiet, and quaint.
:smickey:The Parks: We did MK, EPCOT, and the Studios (we still call it MGM). We opted not to go to AK because of limited park time and things we wanted to do. MK was absolutely packed on Sunday 4/3. I usually go in the fall and have been several times during Thanksgiving week. I am sure the parks have been plenty more crowded but I have never seen it quite as crowded than it was that Sunday. We rode Haunted Mansion but Space Mtn, Splash Mtn, and BT Railroad were all really long waits with Fast Pass return times late in the evening. I was truly shocked that we were able to walk into Liberty Tavern and get a table with out a reservation! I guess because it was 4:45 and the dinner crowd had not started yet. We were happy and the food was pretty good. After our early dinner we decided to hop on the monorail and go to EPCOT. The Flower and Garden Fest was wonderful. The topiaries were beautiful. The fairy garden near the entrance to the World Showcase was my favorite. They had little fairy houses all around the garden and the fairy topiaries were lovely. We went through the butterfly tent which had lots of flowers that attract butterflies, lots of butterflies, and Bambi, Thumper, and Flower topiaries. There were Mickey and Minnie topiaries at the front of the park and at the American Pavilion. Another favorite was the “Tangled” tower. I have not seen the movie but I loved the topiary. All Fast Passes were gone for the day for everything but Mission Space. Soarin’ Stand By line was 90 minutes. We did Test Track Single Rider line. It took about 20 minutes (just as the sign posted said). Then we did Mission Space twice (not recommended to do 2 times in a row).:dizzy: We walked around a little more then decided to call it a night.
The next morning we got up early and were at the bus stop @ 8:45 ready to head to the Studios. 3 AK buses, 2 MK buses, 3 EPCOT buses, and 1 DD bus later a Disney Hollywood Studios bus FINALLY came at 9:40. I have never waited that long for a bus at WDW. We also waited one evening for 40 minutes for a bus to MK. Not sure why? Once we finally arrived we had a blast. We did Fast Pass for RR and did stand by for ToT then got Fast Passes for ToT and rode RR...etc. (we love love love these 2 rides!) We decided to have lunch @ Prime Time Diner. We were so happy when we walked up and were told we could be seated within a few minutes. We shared a “Mom’s Favorite” combo plate with chicken, meatloaf, and pot roast. It was pretty good and plenty for 2. I was really pleased to see that there was a little more interaction from the “cast” at the diner. I think the interaction is the best thing about eating there. Our waiter was very funny and made my daughter get up and give me a big hug because I had obviously spent a lot of money to bring her to Disney World and she needed to show her appreciation to her mom. He also gave us a hard time about not cleaning our plate or eating all our veggies. We had Fast Passes to ToT but after a big lunch we decided to skip it so we gave our FP to a couple who seemed very excited to get them. I told my daughter that “Fast Pass Karma” would come back to us and it did several times. We went back to EPCOT and found all the Fast Passes gone again for most rides. I really wanted to ride Soarin’ but was not willing to wait 100+ minutes in Stand By for it. We decided to ride Living with the Land (I love this ride). As we were exiting the ride a sweet older couple approached us and said that they were too tired and had 2 Fast Passes for Soarin’ if we wanted them. Of course! Off to ride Soarin’! We were also approached 2 other times during our park visits with Fast Passes and we gave away 2 sets. I truly believe in Fast Pass karma! :tink:
Every day after my meetings we went to a park or 2 and closed them down. It was fun but exhausting at the same time as I had to be at my meeting each morning at 8:00 a.m.
A few other highlights:
• Wishes Fireworks. I bet my daughter ice cream that I would not cry during the fireworks. She loved her Dole Whip Pineapple ice cream.
• We had dinner at the restaurant in France (name escapes me). Several people from my work group joined us for dinner. We were seated at 2 tables close together all at 7 p.m. without a reservation. I guess we had good dining karma too!
• I talked several colleagues into riding Mission to Mars after dinner. They were a little freaked out at first but really loved it and thought the queue, experience, and technology were amazing.
• We got to see the new Haunted Mansion queue. We liked it. The new "hitch hiking ghosts" were pretty cool.
• We blew a kiss to the castle on our last night at the parks not sure when we would be back. :wave:
• We checked our bags at the Magical Express counter and they printed our boarding passes for us. Again, this service is wonderful and a great reason to stay on site. Our Magical Express bus driver was very sweet. After we began to take off he apologized to everyone on the bus because he knew we were all sad to be going home. He noted when we were actually officially leaving Disney World property and welcomed us all back to “the real world”. It did seem to ease the pain of the return home.
As my daughter and I were waiting to board our flight I asked her what her favorite part of our trip was. She thought about it for a minute and said “just being with you mom” and thanked me for such a fun time. Now that’s magical ! :tink:
Where: Coronado Springs Resort (CSR)
When: Sunday 4/3 thru Friday 4/8
Why: Work and fun
I was attending a work related meeting held at the Coronado Springs Resort and decided to bring my daughter along to have some fun too. We went a day early to be able to get in some extra park time before my meetings started. Although it was a treat to be able to go to WDW for “work” I am not so sure this was the best place to have a business meeting. I have to admit it was a little difficult to focus on the meetings when I knew so much fun was just outside the door. The conference facilities were very nice and the staff was very attentive however I think that the vacation type atmosphere did not lend well to concentrating on work related issues.
:magic:Trip Reflections:
Getting there: The night before our flight from Houston to Orlando I went to the NCAA Final 4 Games. It was really fun but made it hard to get up at 5:00 a.m. the next morning. Our flight was on time and we only waited about 15 minutes for the Disney Magical Express. It was a little scary to not pick up our checked bags and hope that they made it to the hotel okay but I can’t say enough about how easy this was and very smooth! This service is reason enough to stay on site! We checked in at CSR about 1:45 and our room was available. We made a quick stop in the room then off to Magic Kingdom.
The Resort: Coronado Springs Resort (CSR) is nice however it is HUGE!!! We were in Casita 1 on the 2nd floor near the conference center. I ran 2 mornings around the lake which is basically what the resort is centered around. It was about 1.7 miles! That meant it was almost a mile to the main pool from the building we were in. (did I say huge???) The resort is in the process of being remodeled. I like the new look and color scheme however it doesn’t really match with the old color scheme and it seems a bit odd in some places (like the bathroom and the exterior paint). The queen size beds were nice. The sliding wood panels in the vanity area were nice because I got up and got dressed earlier than my daughter so it allowed us both some privacy. The doors did not completely close so light still came into the main part of the room a bit but not too bad. My daughter complained once to me about it but she got over it. The walls seemed EXTRA thin in this resort. We could hear the people in the room next door clearly (as in CLEARLY). We also heard toilets flush, doors closing, and water running. I travel a lot and have been to several of WDW resorts as well. This seemed to be worse then normal as far as noise from outside. I would probably rate this as my least favorite WDW resort I have stayed in so far. My favorite moderate is PO French Quarter because it is small, quiet, and quaint.
:smickey:The Parks: We did MK, EPCOT, and the Studios (we still call it MGM). We opted not to go to AK because of limited park time and things we wanted to do. MK was absolutely packed on Sunday 4/3. I usually go in the fall and have been several times during Thanksgiving week. I am sure the parks have been plenty more crowded but I have never seen it quite as crowded than it was that Sunday. We rode Haunted Mansion but Space Mtn, Splash Mtn, and BT Railroad were all really long waits with Fast Pass return times late in the evening. I was truly shocked that we were able to walk into Liberty Tavern and get a table with out a reservation! I guess because it was 4:45 and the dinner crowd had not started yet. We were happy and the food was pretty good. After our early dinner we decided to hop on the monorail and go to EPCOT. The Flower and Garden Fest was wonderful. The topiaries were beautiful. The fairy garden near the entrance to the World Showcase was my favorite. They had little fairy houses all around the garden and the fairy topiaries were lovely. We went through the butterfly tent which had lots of flowers that attract butterflies, lots of butterflies, and Bambi, Thumper, and Flower topiaries. There were Mickey and Minnie topiaries at the front of the park and at the American Pavilion. Another favorite was the “Tangled” tower. I have not seen the movie but I loved the topiary. All Fast Passes were gone for the day for everything but Mission Space. Soarin’ Stand By line was 90 minutes. We did Test Track Single Rider line. It took about 20 minutes (just as the sign posted said). Then we did Mission Space twice (not recommended to do 2 times in a row).:dizzy: We walked around a little more then decided to call it a night.
The next morning we got up early and were at the bus stop @ 8:45 ready to head to the Studios. 3 AK buses, 2 MK buses, 3 EPCOT buses, and 1 DD bus later a Disney Hollywood Studios bus FINALLY came at 9:40. I have never waited that long for a bus at WDW. We also waited one evening for 40 minutes for a bus to MK. Not sure why? Once we finally arrived we had a blast. We did Fast Pass for RR and did stand by for ToT then got Fast Passes for ToT and rode RR...etc. (we love love love these 2 rides!) We decided to have lunch @ Prime Time Diner. We were so happy when we walked up and were told we could be seated within a few minutes. We shared a “Mom’s Favorite” combo plate with chicken, meatloaf, and pot roast. It was pretty good and plenty for 2. I was really pleased to see that there was a little more interaction from the “cast” at the diner. I think the interaction is the best thing about eating there. Our waiter was very funny and made my daughter get up and give me a big hug because I had obviously spent a lot of money to bring her to Disney World and she needed to show her appreciation to her mom. He also gave us a hard time about not cleaning our plate or eating all our veggies. We had Fast Passes to ToT but after a big lunch we decided to skip it so we gave our FP to a couple who seemed very excited to get them. I told my daughter that “Fast Pass Karma” would come back to us and it did several times. We went back to EPCOT and found all the Fast Passes gone again for most rides. I really wanted to ride Soarin’ but was not willing to wait 100+ minutes in Stand By for it. We decided to ride Living with the Land (I love this ride). As we were exiting the ride a sweet older couple approached us and said that they were too tired and had 2 Fast Passes for Soarin’ if we wanted them. Of course! Off to ride Soarin’! We were also approached 2 other times during our park visits with Fast Passes and we gave away 2 sets. I truly believe in Fast Pass karma! :tink:
Every day after my meetings we went to a park or 2 and closed them down. It was fun but exhausting at the same time as I had to be at my meeting each morning at 8:00 a.m.
A few other highlights:
• Wishes Fireworks. I bet my daughter ice cream that I would not cry during the fireworks. She loved her Dole Whip Pineapple ice cream.
• We had dinner at the restaurant in France (name escapes me). Several people from my work group joined us for dinner. We were seated at 2 tables close together all at 7 p.m. without a reservation. I guess we had good dining karma too!
• I talked several colleagues into riding Mission to Mars after dinner. They were a little freaked out at first but really loved it and thought the queue, experience, and technology were amazing.
• We got to see the new Haunted Mansion queue. We liked it. The new "hitch hiking ghosts" were pretty cool.
• We blew a kiss to the castle on our last night at the parks not sure when we would be back. :wave:
• We checked our bags at the Magical Express counter and they printed our boarding passes for us. Again, this service is wonderful and a great reason to stay on site. Our Magical Express bus driver was very sweet. After we began to take off he apologized to everyone on the bus because he knew we were all sad to be going home. He noted when we were actually officially leaving Disney World property and welcomed us all back to “the real world”. It did seem to ease the pain of the return home.
As my daughter and I were waiting to board our flight I asked her what her favorite part of our trip was. She thought about it for a minute and said “just being with you mom” and thanked me for such a fun time. Now that’s magical ! :tink: