PamNC
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 19, 1999
I will give more details if anyone is interested but I thought I would share my thoughts. We had a wonderful trip. Arrived 9/3 and left 9/8 ... stayed at Coronado Springs.
We flew in on a buddy pass (more later on why that's important) and arrived at the resort by 12:30 - room wasn't ready but we spent the time at the pool. However, by the time we sat down it was ready. And, we got a new refurbished room in Ranchos 7A. I requested it about two days prior by calling in and it worked apparently... now, I want to share my thoughts on the new rooms. THEY ARE VERY VERY NICE. Loved the double sinks, the TV screen was HUGE - maybe 60" if I had to guess. Mounted on the wall. No carpeting - laminate floor/tile. Very very crisp and modern and the beds were MAJOR comfy. The only thing - theming was really missing. Only pictures of the Three Caberllos (I know I spelled that wrong, sorry) were truly Mexico/Southwestern themed. That was a little disappointing to me as I would have preferred more theming. But, the grounds are gorgeous and we all know the pool rocks at CSR. The CM's were absolutely top notch. Buses ran smoothly most of the time - we did have to wait about 30 minutes 2 times, but oh well. No biggie. Construction is all over the place but as long as you don't stay in Cabanas, not too bad. They gave us pins for the inconvenience. 3 "under construction" type pins. Kinda' cool and cute. Overall, I don't at all regret picking Coronado Springs. We ate at Maya Grille the first night as we didn't go to a park until Monday. The food was absolutely EXCELLENT. I'd give it a 10. I had the bone in pork chop and the boyfriend had steak. Great service and food!!! Highly recommend this place.
Did the MK on Monday....yes on Labor Day. It was pretty crowded so maybe I should have not scheduled it that way, but alas, we had fun. Not the most crowded I've seen but certainly busy busy busy. Had a blast, did most of what we wanted except Space Mountain was down during our Fastpass time and we didn't make it back. I hated not getting to ride Splash - it's down for refurb. I did notice more break downs during the MK day than normal. People Mover went down, Space Mountain, on the Pirates the boat kept stopping over and over and for long periods. Also, Seven Dwarfs train stopped twice. A little strange but who knows the reasoning. All in all a great day - it was crowded enough that we decided not to do the fireworks there but rather to see the Guardians of the Galaxy at the studios - loved it. I'll catch Happily Ever After next time.
Next day - Animal Kingdom - GREAT TIME - BEST TIME EVER!!! My favorite park. Flight of Passage is absolutely incredible and Pandora as you've already heard is amazing just to walk around... loved it! Thank goodness for fastpasses - or else it would have been a 2 hour + wait. FP worked well, we were on in 20 minutes. Kinda' long for FP but I expected it at this attraction. Great safaris - took 2. EE was basically 10-15 minute waits. We had a magical time! CM's were fabulous - very clean at the park. None of the bad "stuff" I've read lately about magic missing. Not an ounce missing from our trip. Had the character dinner at Tusker House - LOVED IT - it's a new must do for me. Delicious and the characters spend a lot of time with you...and we don't even have kids.
Epcot was good - Food & Wine in full effect. Had a good time, don't spend much time in FW because to me it's so outdated. Loved the new Soarin. FP worked great there too - about 15 minute wait. I think the hurricane was scaring people off - waits were minimal except Frozen and Test Track. Just skipped those. Ate at Via Napoli - eh - not so good. Just okay. Think the food was pretty "so-so" if you ask me. I'll mark that one off the list.
HS was fun - however, I don't really consider this a full day park, not even close. We did TOT twice, RNR once, Muppets, Star Tours, and Fantasmic - did the dining package @ Holiday Brown Derby - FANTASTIC MEAL!!! I'm putting Brown Derby down as a must do every trip. Loved having the Fantasmic package. Great seat - center of the stage.
Buses ran pretty good leaving the parks at night - no issues. Quicker than I imagined. We drive most of the time so I was concerned. Only my third time flying there. Of course, crowds thinned out as Irma got closer so our "buddy pass" was no longer a pass because flights were full. We had to rent a car to leave and drive back to NC. What would have been 8.5 hours turned into 17. UGH! Other than that - AN AMAZING TRIP and I can't wait to go back!
The magic still lives at Disney people! It's there! I saw it and felt it.
PamNC
We flew in on a buddy pass (more later on why that's important) and arrived at the resort by 12:30 - room wasn't ready but we spent the time at the pool. However, by the time we sat down it was ready. And, we got a new refurbished room in Ranchos 7A. I requested it about two days prior by calling in and it worked apparently... now, I want to share my thoughts on the new rooms. THEY ARE VERY VERY NICE. Loved the double sinks, the TV screen was HUGE - maybe 60" if I had to guess. Mounted on the wall. No carpeting - laminate floor/tile. Very very crisp and modern and the beds were MAJOR comfy. The only thing - theming was really missing. Only pictures of the Three Caberllos (I know I spelled that wrong, sorry) were truly Mexico/Southwestern themed. That was a little disappointing to me as I would have preferred more theming. But, the grounds are gorgeous and we all know the pool rocks at CSR. The CM's were absolutely top notch. Buses ran smoothly most of the time - we did have to wait about 30 minutes 2 times, but oh well. No biggie. Construction is all over the place but as long as you don't stay in Cabanas, not too bad. They gave us pins for the inconvenience. 3 "under construction" type pins. Kinda' cool and cute. Overall, I don't at all regret picking Coronado Springs. We ate at Maya Grille the first night as we didn't go to a park until Monday. The food was absolutely EXCELLENT. I'd give it a 10. I had the bone in pork chop and the boyfriend had steak. Great service and food!!! Highly recommend this place.
Did the MK on Monday....yes on Labor Day. It was pretty crowded so maybe I should have not scheduled it that way, but alas, we had fun. Not the most crowded I've seen but certainly busy busy busy. Had a blast, did most of what we wanted except Space Mountain was down during our Fastpass time and we didn't make it back. I hated not getting to ride Splash - it's down for refurb. I did notice more break downs during the MK day than normal. People Mover went down, Space Mountain, on the Pirates the boat kept stopping over and over and for long periods. Also, Seven Dwarfs train stopped twice. A little strange but who knows the reasoning. All in all a great day - it was crowded enough that we decided not to do the fireworks there but rather to see the Guardians of the Galaxy at the studios - loved it. I'll catch Happily Ever After next time.
Next day - Animal Kingdom - GREAT TIME - BEST TIME EVER!!! My favorite park. Flight of Passage is absolutely incredible and Pandora as you've already heard is amazing just to walk around... loved it! Thank goodness for fastpasses - or else it would have been a 2 hour + wait. FP worked well, we were on in 20 minutes. Kinda' long for FP but I expected it at this attraction. Great safaris - took 2. EE was basically 10-15 minute waits. We had a magical time! CM's were fabulous - very clean at the park. None of the bad "stuff" I've read lately about magic missing. Not an ounce missing from our trip. Had the character dinner at Tusker House - LOVED IT - it's a new must do for me. Delicious and the characters spend a lot of time with you...and we don't even have kids.
Epcot was good - Food & Wine in full effect. Had a good time, don't spend much time in FW because to me it's so outdated. Loved the new Soarin. FP worked great there too - about 15 minute wait. I think the hurricane was scaring people off - waits were minimal except Frozen and Test Track. Just skipped those. Ate at Via Napoli - eh - not so good. Just okay. Think the food was pretty "so-so" if you ask me. I'll mark that one off the list.
HS was fun - however, I don't really consider this a full day park, not even close. We did TOT twice, RNR once, Muppets, Star Tours, and Fantasmic - did the dining package @ Holiday Brown Derby - FANTASTIC MEAL!!! I'm putting Brown Derby down as a must do every trip. Loved having the Fantasmic package. Great seat - center of the stage.
Buses ran pretty good leaving the parks at night - no issues. Quicker than I imagined. We drive most of the time so I was concerned. Only my third time flying there. Of course, crowds thinned out as Irma got closer so our "buddy pass" was no longer a pass because flights were full. We had to rent a car to leave and drive back to NC. What would have been 8.5 hours turned into 17. UGH! Other than that - AN AMAZING TRIP and I can't wait to go back!
The magic still lives at Disney people! It's there! I saw it and felt it.
PamNC
