Just a Couple of Childless (for the week) Millennials, Here to Ruin the Fun for Families *COMPLETED 1/5*

[missangelalexis]

There is nothing better than driving under that sign at the start of a trip!

Your room looked really nice!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Joining in. So excited to read about your adults trip, although I must say that I will miss seeing pics of your adorable boys!!!

 

[heaven2dc]

Joining in too! I would have waited for the next Magical Express too. A friend of our family stayed at Coronado Springs resort last December and absolutely loved it! I love the decor of the rooms. Anxious to find out more about Joe's surprises!

 

[buzzrelly]

We found out a few days later that this is now behind a wall and under construction, I wonder if it will change?

They'll probably add some SWGE images...

We were getting closer to the Magical Express and the anticipation was building.

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I can never fully relax until we get to our resort when we drive, but now I felt at ease right when we landed because I knew Disney would take care of the rest.

I love that feeling

I had requested casitas 1, upper floor. Sadly we weren’t granted building one, but building 2 which was quite a walk from Gran Destino and El Centro. As we walked, I couldn’t get over how beautiful this resort was though.

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Bummer you didn't get your building request, but what a pretty resort

I was in love with the room.

Very nice

And, Congrats to your DH for completing his Bachelor's Degree!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

I spent the hours I should have been sleeping, stressing out about moving our plans around. In the end, I got around 3 hours sleep.

Oh, no! I understand not being able to sleep well before a trip due to excitement (or last-minute packing? ), but to miss sleep due to worry is NOT the way to start a trip!

It's too bad the AH event was not meant to be, but I think it was the right call to check with Joe on what he wanted to do. I look forward to hearing about what you did instead!

In the end they were unnecessary, because Joe woke up at 2:00 am and I was up at 2:30.

Goodness, that's early! I always fear sleeping through my alarm for vacation (it's often at a similar early hour), but also tend to wake up on my own due to the fear of sleeping through the alarm.

At least your early wake up meant you had plenty of time to get to the airport and settle in before your flight!

Since we were flying Southwest we had purchased early bird and gotten position A 28 and 29.

I love flying Southwest and always purchase the early bird check-in, too. It's so much easier to get right on and grab the seats you want before the masses pick the leftover seats!

We were able to walk right on to the MCO peoplemover, and I even got to sit up front.

My favorite spot! It's always great to enjoy the ride on that seat.

Since we always go out the A side, we never pass the WDW sign, this time I stopped for a picture.

I love that artwork - it always signifies the beginning of the vacation for me. I hope they're just refurbishing it as I'd be quite sad if it was gone on my next trip!

The first two seats didn’t have a sign that it was reserved so we snagged those and then settled into our seats.

NICE! That's the best way to experience the Magical Express!

Sadly we weren’t granted building one, but building 2 which was quite a walk from Gran Destino and El Centro.

It doesn't seem so, but Coronado Springs is HUGE. We stayed in Casitas 5 back in 2013 (I'd requested near a bus stop and close to the pool, and they delivered!) but it was a 10+ minute walk to the main building (and I'm fast!). It makes me hesitate to stay there again, but your very nice looking room may make me change my mind. That king bed and all the floor space would be great with a child in a Pack N Play!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Yay you made it to Disney!

I love the renovated rooms at Coronado!

 

[afwdwfan]

We set many alarms, afraid we wouldn’t be able to get up.

I can relate to that... my alarm list usually looks like that when I have to get up extra early for something too.

At the end of the flight, they welcomed us to Orlando and sang the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song.

Gotta appreciate a fun flight crew! Sounds like you had a good group.

When we got to the room we found the letter from the manager and a Mickey towel, which I haven’t seen since our trip in 2015.

Hmmm... You know, now that you mention it, I haven't seen anything like that in quite a while either!!

 

[tinkerbell1991]

Following along x

 

[jwoodbury]

Following along!! A kidless Disney trip...how nice! Hoping to do that in the near future!

 

[ashw100]

There is nothing better than driving under that sign at the start of a trip!

Your room looked really nice!

I know I was really enjoying its simplicity, made me feel very relaxed .

Joining in. So excited to read about your adults trip, although I must say that I will miss seeing pics of your adorable boys!!!

Welcome, glad to have you. The boys may make an appearance or two.

Joining in too! I would have waited for the next Magical Express too. A friend of our family stayed at Coronado Springs resort last December and absolutely loved it! I love the decor of the rooms. Anxious to find out more about Joe's surprises!

I found the decor very relaxing, it was a nice room to come back to at the end of a busy park day.

Very nice

And, Congrats to your DH for completing his Bachelor's Degree!

Thank you, I am quite proud of him.

Oh, no! I understand not being able to sleep well before a trip due to excitement (or last-minute packing? ), but to miss sleep due to worry is NOT the way to start a trip!

It's too bad the AH event was not meant to be, but I think it was the right call to check with Joe on what he wanted to do. I look forward to hearing about what you did instead!

I think it worked out for the best in the end, we didn't need the AH.

Goodness, that's early! I always fear sleeping through my alarm for vacation (it's often at a similar early hour), but also tend to wake up on my own due to the fear of sleeping through the alarm.

At least your early wake up meant you had plenty of time to get to the airport and settle in before your flight!

Oh yeah, we had no problems making our flight

I love flying Southwest and always purchase the early bird check-in, too. It's so much easier to get right on and grab the seats you want before the masses pick the leftover seats!

Exactly, I still save money flying with them and getting EB, but I don't have the stress.

My favorite spot! It's always great to enjoy the ride on that seat.

I was very happy to snag it

I love that artwork - it always signifies the beginning of the vacation for me. I hope they're just refurbishing it as I'd be quite sad if it was gone on my next trip!

I think it will still be there, maybe just updated.

It doesn't seem so, but Coronado Springs is HUGE. We stayed in Casitas 5 back in 2013 (I'd requested near a bus stop and close to the pool, and they delivered!) but it was a 10+ minute walk to the main building (and I'm fast!). It makes me hesitate to stay there again, but your very nice looking room may make me change my mind. That king bed and all the floor space would be great with a child in a Pack N Play!

Exactly, we had a preferred room and we were as about as far as we could be from both the main buildings and the bus stops. It sucked to be honest, but in the end it didn't ruin our vacation, so we just rolled with it.

 

[ashw100]

Yay you made it to Disney!

I love the renovated rooms at Coronado!

Me too, they were so tranquil.

I can relate to that... my alarm list usually looks like that when I have to get up extra early for something too.

At least its effective

Gotta appreciate a fun flight crew! Sounds like you had a good group.

We did, I love SW and we usually have good ones, but this one was by far the best we've had.

Hmmm... You know, now that you mention it, I haven't seen anything like that in quite a while either!!

I thought they completely stopped it, maybe this is a sign it's coming back

Following along x

Following along!! A kidless Disney trip...how nice! Hoping to do that in the near future!

We love our kidless trips, I hope you get one soon, they're a godsend.

 

[ashw100]

Heavily Armored Ninja Turtles

The bus stop felt like a long walk, but we actually really ended up liking where we were. Our bus stop was the first one most of the time, so we never had to fight to get on. We got on the bus to Disney Springs, which we found out is the only time it stops at Gran Destino first and Joe had to stand. I had planned four surprises for Joe, one was supposed to be the After Hours, which we ended up foregoing. But our first surprise was this afternoon, and he knew it was at Disney Springs, but that’s. Well as he was standing he sees the poster for The Void, and he says, “Is that my surprise”? He was so happy, see…

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Before our reservation at The Void, we were in need of some lunch. We passed this store on the way to out lunch destination, and we snapped a pic of this store to send to Joe’s brother Johnny. Our lunch spot was Chicken Guy.

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The line was out the door in the scorching sun, but we might as well get used to the heat now. Once inside, the menu is pretty simple, we both went with the three tenders.

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I got the combo to share the drink and fries with Joe and Joe just went for the tenders. Joe got the teriyaki ginger and bourbon brown sugar BBQ sauces, and I went with the special sauce and garlic Parmesan.

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I had to laugh because I make a simplified version of the special sauce and have as long as I can remember, my mom taught me it. And when Joe and I first started dating, we would eat in the cafeteria in our dorm all the time and I would make this concoction to dip my fries in and he thinks it’s disgusting. Well fast forward almost 13 years later, and I have taught it to my oldest, who now loves it. Turns out we’re not freaks since Guy Fieri put it on his menu . Or does that make us bigger freaks???

We got a seat at the bar looking out on the patio and enjoyed our lunch and people watched.

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The chicken was just okay, it was pretty dry and tasteless. The sauces were good, but I feel like a better seasoned chicken would have brought out the flavors more. The fries were really good though, and tasted great with the garlic Parmesan sauce. We had just enough time to walk to the other end of Disney Springs for our 1:00 reservation at The Void.

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We had a little bit of a wait until we were in the briefing room.

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In there we were able to pick out our stormtrooper color, so we would be recognizable in the VR world. We were briefed by Cassian here. To be honest I don’t really remember what the mission was about specifically, I was geeking out too much, but basically we were going undercover as Stormtroopers to steal something from the Empire. After the brief, we were paired with two other people and lead to another room where we had to wait some more. Finally we, were in the room where we put on the gear.

We put our backpacks in a locker and then had to suit up. The gear is pretty bulky and heavy, but you get used to it quickly. I think the weirdest thing, was actually orienting yourself in the virtual world. Once we were suited up, we were lead to another room and here we could put on the headgear and begin the mission. I do not want to give anything away, so I will leave it here. Once the mission was over, Joe and I had the opportunity to take our picture with all the gear on. If you tell them VOID at the end, you get a digital copy of the picture for free.

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Don't we look like heavily armored Ninja Turtles?

We absolutely loved this experience so much. To be honest I was not excited to do this, but I am so glad I did. It was the most immersive and cool experience I have done. You forget that it is all fake, they make it seem so real. Joe was on cloud nine and can’t wait until the boys are old enough to do it too.

We decided to do some window shopping, but only stopped in Uniqlo. I didn’t want to buy anything quite yet, because I wanted to make a trip to the outlets at some point, so we held off and wandered around. It was pretty hot, and we were in need for refreshments, so we walked over to a bar I had been wanting to try.

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It was really cool in here. I have never seen Indiana Jones, but Joe is a big fan so he loved looking around.

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Joe ordered the Reggie’s Revenge.

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I got the cool headed monkey.

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Both drinks were refreshing on this hot day. We also ordered a pretzel.

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After our snack, we were both feeling pretty beat. It was only 2:30, but we had already been up for 12 hours. We got on the bus back to the resort. The line was empty, which we assumed meant we had just missed a bus, the wait was around 20 minutes. This would be our luck for most of the trip, we were perpetually just missing the bus. We went straight to out room. Here is the courtyard area between Casitas 2 and 3.

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Our bags were in the room when we got back.

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We were too tired to unpack, so we just turned off the lights and laid down for a nap. Sadly I was woken just 20 minutes later by my phone. My mom had called because my youngest just had to tell me that the birthday cake he was eating was the best cake ever. My mom had taken the boys over to my brother’s house for the day for my niece’s first birthday party. Not able to go back to sleep and Joe was out for the count, I unpacked and made myself at home. By 4:30, I was antsy and ready to go explore. I left Joe who was still groggy, and explored the resort.

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I still cannot get over how beautiful it is, I loved all the fountains. Joe met up with me in El Centro, where I got an iced coffee to give me a pick me up.

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We then walked over to Gran Destino, so I could get some pictures there. We weren’t allowed to go outside, as they were setting up for a wedding that was being filmed for the Disney Fairytale Weddings TV show.

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I stopped at the front desk, to confirm my eligibility for the TA rate and to decline room service so I could get the gift card. The cast member said I had an envelope waiting for me, and she had to go get it. I thought that was odd, and she came back with the envelope. Joe and I went over to the table area to open it.

I was two cards with a game of mini golf on them. I was confused because we had already received the Magical Extras card with our magicbands. We look around some more and took more pictures.

The Gran Destino tower is so beautiful. I really feel like it feels more like a deluxe than a moderate with the new lobby. However, it annoys me that is doesn’t fit the theme of the rest of the resort. The old part is themed to Mexico and the American Southwest, but the tower is themed to Spain, which is a VERY different aesthetic to the original section. It feels like a big contrast going from the tower to El Centro and make the older section feel not as nice. Other than the themeing discrepancy, I really enjoyed Coronado and would stay there again.

Once we had explored the tower we went back, we stopped in the shop at El Centro and picked up milk, a 2 liter of Coke, and a liter of water. We had thought about doing Amazon or something , but since we needed so little it would have been more expensive to do it that way. We had packed coffee, creamer, cereal, and some snacks, so this was all we needed. We went back to the room to relax some more before our dinner reservation.

Next Post​

 

[Boopuff]

Loving this... but YOU'VE NEVER SEEN INDIANA JONES!!!! get thee and ipad and download it!

 

[buzzrelly]

We absolutely loved this experience so much. To be honest I was not excited to do this, but I am so glad I did. It was the most immersive and cool experience I have done. You forget that it is all fake, they make it seem so real. Joe was on cloud nine and can’t wait until the boys are old enough to do it too.

I did this in April with my 17 yo DS and I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed it! I would definitely do this again

I got the cool headed monkey.

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Jock Lindsey's is high on my list of places I want to try when DH and I go next March. Do you know if you can purchase those Monkey Mugs? I can totally see my DH wanting to bring one home…he already has a collection from Trader Sam's.

The Gran Destino tower is so beautiful. I really feel like it feels more like a deluxe than a moderate with the new lobby.

I've watched the videos and am really impressed with how gorgeous this looks. Definitely looks more deluxe than moderate. I've never really had any desire to stay there because I'm totally averse to resorts that require an internal bus to get around, but seeing how gorgeous this is makes me somewhat more interested.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

The chicken was just okay, it was pretty dry and tasteless. The sauces were good, but I feel like a better seasoned chicken would have brought out the flavors more. The fries were really good though, and tasted great with the garlic Parmesan sauce.

That's a bummer that your meal wasn't very good! At least the fries slightly redeemed the meal for you.

Don't we look like heavily armored Ninja Turtles?

Yes, a bit! I'm so glad you had a great time!

We also ordered a pretzel.

That pretzel looks DELICIOUS!

Joe met up with me in El Centro, where I got an iced coffee to give me a pick me up.

The cinnamon iced coffee at Café Rix was one of my FAVORITE parts of the Coronado Springs Resort. I hope you enjoyed your iced coffee!

It's a shame you missed out on a nap, but it looks like you had fun wandering around the resort. Hopefully you slept well that night and caught up on sleep!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

The Gran Destino tower is so beautiful

What a gorgeous addition!

 

[xrosario]

You were up so early on your travel day! Do you prefer early flights? My next trips flight leaves at 5am and I am so worried I'll be exhausted early and that my room won't be ready until actual check-in time.

 

[missangelalexis]

I'm glad you guys enjoyed the void!

Ah that stinks that your nap was cut short. Great pics around the resort though!

 

[BLAllee]

The Void sounds awesome.

 

[ashw100]

Loving this... but YOU'VE NEVER SEEN INDIANA JONES!!!! get thee and ipad and download it!

My oldest loves it too, maybe I should watch it. I think it's on Netflix, maybe??

Jock Lindsey's is high on my list of places I want to try when DH and I go next March. Do you know if you can purchase those Monkey Mugs? I can totally see my DH wanting to bring one home…he already has a collection from Trader Sam's.

So we were not offered to buy one, which made me think they were sold out. We went to Trader Sams the next day, and all the mugs expect for the Pearl were out and the bartender said it had been 8 months. Apparently the people who make all the mugs around the resort, are the only supplier, so it takes forever. I do believe at one point they were for sale though, so ask if you go.

I've watched the videos and am really impressed with how gorgeous this looks. Definitely looks more deluxe than moderate. I've never really had any desire to stay there because I'm totally averse to resorts that require an internal bus to get around, but seeing how gorgeous this is makes me somewhat more interested.

The Gran Destino Tower is last, which never seemed to be a problem for those people needing to get on and ten you wouldn't have to go around the entire resort.

That's a bummer that your meal wasn't very good! At least the fries slightly redeemed the meal for you.

Well in Texas we have AMAZING chicken places, so I may be biased.

It's a shame you missed out on a nap, but it looks like you had fun wandering around the resort. Hopefully you slept well that night and caught up on sleep!

What is sleep in Disney?

What a gorgeous addition!

It was so beautiful, I am glad we got to check it out.

You were up so early on your travel day! Do you prefer early flights? My next trips flight leaves at 5am and I am so worried I'll be exhausted early and that my room won't be ready until actual check-in time.

No I do not like early flights, I would much prefer night, but you do have the benefit of being there and being able to do stuff. If you do have an ealry flight, make sure you do online check in and let them know what time you are arriving. If you prioritize early arrival over room preferences they will try and get you to your earlier. Of course there is no guarantees, but our room was ready when we got there.

I'm glad you guys enjoyed the void!

Ah that stinks that your nap was cut short. Great pics around the resort though!

Thanks, I guess sacrificing sleep for some cool pictures is worth it.

The Void sounds awesome.

It was I highly recommend it.