Should We Winnie the Pooh this Thing? - July/August 2018 Trip Report -Complete 8/18

As I hunted for his shorts he grunted impatiently and said “okay, should we Winnie the Pooh this thing??” It took me a second to realize what he meant – he was so ready to be in WDW he was suggesting that he just go out with a top and no bottoms. I cracked up and a trip report title was born.
Ha! :rotfl2: I love this expression. I just wish there were more instances to use it.

As she showed us our room location on the map I realized she’d also upgraded us to preferred. Double woohoo! We were in Casitas 3 on the side near El Centro on the top floor in a refurbished room. We were, of course, thrilled.
I feel like you have a better chance of being upgraded if you check in at the front desk. But I do love getting the room text, sometimes even before we leave New Jersey!

After getting settled into the room, we walked around the resort a little bit and checked out the gift shop before hopping a bus to DS. In my last trip report, @ariane37 had expressed shock over the fact that we had been DBVs (Disney Bus Virgins – gasp!) because we had always driven, walked, boated, or monorailed anywhere we had gone. Well any last trace of Disney Bus innocence is history after this trip, as we used them a ton despite having a car.
So, I assume the buses worked out ok for you guys...

The kids went to Goofy’s Candy Co. and each picked out an apple
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YUM!!!
 
Following...loving your humor and trip report thus far.

Originally, we were going to leave home on this date (we drive over the course of two days).

Usually I breeze over pre-trip reports and travel day info, however I also live in DFW so I’m interested to know how you time your drive and where your overnight stopping point is?
 
As I hunted for his shorts he grunted impatiently and said “okay, should we Winnie the Pooh this thing??” It took me a second to realize what he meant – he was so ready to be in WDW he was suggesting that he just go out with a top and no bottoms. I cracked up and a trip report title was born.

:laughing: That's great! I can totally relate as my current TR title came from our plane ride down ::yes::

As she showed us our room location on the map I realized she’d also upgraded us to preferred. Double woohoo! We were in Casitas 3 on the side near El Centro on the top floor in a refurbished room. We were, of course, thrilled.

Amazing Pixie dust :wizard:

These pins were also left in the room, which DH was extra excited about.

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Those are super cute…makes me want to stay at an under construction resort just to get them :thumbsup2

DH and I also split a side of fries. The food was pretty good, but honestly, I found myself wishing we’d just stuck with our usual – Earl of Sandwich. I decided to change it up and regretted it.

We ate there in April and I felt the same way. We never did make it back to EOS that trip, either, and I missed it :sad2:
 
Enjoying your trip report, especially the Pooh reference. Looking forward to reading more.

So glad you posted pictures of the secret menu items at ASMo. Staying at Sports and may have walk over to try one of these. It's so funny how they bring the menu out in a suitcase like it's a secret.
 


My IPad won't quote but I'm so glad all you #DBV's loved CSR! It's my favorite mod. I've stayed there twice since construction started and have not had it impact either trip at all, nor do I think it takes away from the beauty. And Inlove the refurbed rooms! I've also been in Casitas on all 3 of my stays there and think it's the best location.

My iPad gives me so much trouble on the Dis and that's usually how I'm browsing! And agree on all points on CSR! In fact, we loved it so much we're planning to begin our trip there again next year. However, I am about concerned about how tossing 15 stories worth of tower guests into the resort is going to affect the common areas like the pool and food court. Guess we'll find out!

Haven't tried DLuxe Burger yet but I've read some good reviews, just not that interested in trying it. We do really enjoy EOS though! And lol on the Edna Mode pics :laughing: Both are cute but......you may be right about Cora's! By the way she's getting so big and grown up! Time flies.........

It really does! Where did our littles go??

Ha! :rotfl2: I love this expression. I just wish there were more instances to use it.

I'm making it my mission to find more lol

I feel like you have a better chance of being upgraded if you check in at the front desk. But I do love getting the room text, sometimes even before we leave New Jersey!

It seems like it might be that way. We've been pixie dusted a few times with room locations/layouts and each time we actually went to the front desk. However, I love getting the text too. I always get stupidly excited.

So, I assume the buses worked out ok for you guys...

For the most part, yep!

Following...loving your humor and trip report thus far.

Welcome and thank you!

Usually I breeze over pre-trip reports and travel day info, however I also live in DFW so I’m interested to know how you time your drive and where your overnight stopping point is?

I hear you - you'll notice I skipped all the travel stuff this time and went straight to arrival at WDW. ;) We have never done the drive the same way twice, but our most frequent stopping place has been Mobile/Daphne, AL. We've done the drive 4 times and the furthest we've ever driven on our first drive day is Crestview, FL. It's a 10-11 hour drive which was rough for that day, but meant we got in to WDW pretty early the following day so it was worth it. This time we reverted back to stopping in Mobile because we stopped in Vicksburg, MS along the way to do some sightseeing.

:laughing: That's great! I can totally relate as my current TR title came from our plane ride down ::yes::

I've actually just started reading yours and am having fun with it so far! I'm so happy to have time to read TRs again, but now I'm having to play catch-up all over the place!

Those are super cute…makes me want to stay at an under construction resort just to get them :thumbsup2

Ha! It really did go a long way for a small gesture. DH prizes those pins.

We ate there in April and I felt the same way. We never did make it back to EOS that trip, either, and I missed it :sad2:

Yes! I even mentioned picking up EoS to take back to the room to eat later in the trip just because I missed it, but forgot when we were down there by it. Shame.

Enjoying your trip report, especially the Pooh reference. Looking forward to reading more.

So glad you posted pictures of the secret menu items at ASMo. Staying at Sports and may have walk over to try one of these. It's so funny how they bring the menu out in a suitcase like it's a secret.

Thank you and :welcome:

I would definitely recommend walking over for the secret menu! Just the circumstances surrounding the reveal make it worth the trip, IMO. Stand between the Roxy and Rialto stations and ask a cast member.
 
I'm so happy to have time to read TRs again, but now I'm having to play catch-up all over the place!

No worries! I remember when I finally was done with nursing school how nice it was to just sit and read for pleasure. It must feel like that, times 100 when you get your PhD. Congratulations!
 
We had heard about the secret menu at the food court, so decided to try it for dinner. We went to the “secret” spot and were eventually greeted by a cast member. We requested the secret menu and he brought out this briefcase.
Interesting. I've heard of the secret menu too. As I write, I am only FOUR DAYS!!! away from my stay at All Star Music, so I am thinking I may wander over to Movies sometime and check out that menu. My family don't know about it, so perhaps they might think old Dad is cool...for once? :P
 


Joining in!

I’m on my phone, so I can’t quote, but I love the expression “Let’s Winnie the Pooh this thing”. Now I just need to figure out how to use that in my everyday life...

The refurbished rooms at Coronado look really nice! I might need to look into that as an option on an upcoming trip...
 
Congratulations on earning your PhD! That is a huge accomplishment. I’m four classes away from finishing my second Master’s. I’m so close, I can almost taste it.

I had to chuckle at your comment about only staying inside the Disney bubble from here on out. We are the exact same way. We’ve actually never stayed off property and we have no plans to, ever. We need to be totally immersed in Disney.

Wow, your Coronado room looks beautiful! I’ve never stayed there before. What did you think of the food in the food court? Is it as big and spread out as everyone says?

We ate at D-Luxe Burger in October and really liked it. Our other favorite QS to eat at in DS is Blaze Pizza.

Can’t wait to read more!
 
Hi :wave: joining in. I remember reading another trip report of yours. If I'm remembering correctly you had so many costumes for your kids that were simply precious.

Congratulations on the PhD.
 
I am enjoying your report!! Glad to hear the construction did not interfere with your stay at CSR since we will be staying there next month. Our first time staying onsite and it has been 20 years since we have been to WDW. We are taking our grandson for his 3rd birthday. So excited!!!! :earsgirl:
 
Joining in. Love the matching manicures. My girls love getting their nails done as a special girls treat I may have to schedule that just before our trip.
 
Interesting. I've heard of the secret menu too. As I write, I am only FOUR DAYS!!! away from my stay at All Star Music, so I am thinking I may wander over to Movies sometime and check out that menu. My family don't know about it, so perhaps they might think old Dad is cool...for once? :P

It has been a few days so I'm thinking you're now just ONE DAY!!! away from your stay at ASMu, which means I am incredibly jealous of you lol. Please try out that menu and report back! I'm curious to hear about other folks' experiences with it. Have a great trip!!!

Joining in. Great report so far! Entering the bubble then leaving (even for one night) would have been tough for me, too!

:welcome: I love my fellow Disney folks. People in my regular life cannot fathom how spending one night in a non-Disney hotel could be difficult - they just don't get it!

Joining in!

I’m on my phone, so I can’t quote, but I love the expression “Let’s Winnie the Pooh this thing”. Now I just need to figure out how to use that in my everyday life...

Lol! I'd like to use it more often, but am worried I will end up arrested. Thanks for joining in!

The refurbished rooms at Coronado look really nice! I might need to look into that as an option on an upcoming trip...

They really were wonderful! I'm all about spreading the Coronado love now.

Congratulations on earning your PhD! That is a huge accomplishment. I’m four classes away from finishing my second Master’s. I’m so close, I can almost taste it.

Thank you! Congratulations on being almost done with your second Master's! My first almost killed me - I can't imagine working up the willpower to go back for more!

I had to chuckle at your comment about only staying inside the Disney bubble from here on out. We are the exact same way. We’ve actually never stayed off property and we have no plans to, ever. We need to be totally immersed in Disney.

Never again! #Bubble4Life

Wow, your Coronado room looks beautiful! I’ve never stayed there before. What did you think of the food in the food court? Is it as big and spread out as everyone says?

It was so gorgeous and extremely functional. We ate at the food court twice. Our favorite part of the food court was actually the CMs, who were so nice and remembered us from day to day. The food was decent, but not spectacular. However, I think they're in the process of changing up their menus with the refurb, so that could change. There was also a grab-and-go place just a little down from the food court with breakfast and dessert stuff that I looked around in, but never tried. I didn't find CSR to be too spread out, but we did end up in preferred, so access to the main areas was really easy. However, that meant we were a decent distance from the feature pool and that walk took a little time, though still didn't seem like too much. I walked the entire circle in one go a couple of times and was fine. And the bridges they're adding across the lake should make things even easier to get to regardless of where you are in the resort.

We ate at D-Luxe Burger in October and really liked it. Our other favorite QS to eat at in DS is Blaze Pizza.

That's one I thought about trying too! Maybe next time.

Hi :wave: joining in. I remember reading another trip report of yours. If I'm remembering correctly you had so many costumes for your kids that were simply precious.

Congratulations on the PhD.

Hello and :welcome: Yes, that was us with the crazy costumes. This time we only pulled out a couple because it was just so hot and rainy, but there will be a bit of costume fun because we can't go to WDW and not. ;) Thank you!

I am enjoying your report!! Glad to hear the construction did not interfere with your stay at CSR since we will be staying there next month. Our first time staying onsite and it has been 20 years since we have been to WDW. We are taking our grandson for his 3rd birthday. So excited!!!! :earsgirl:

How exciting! It had been 20 years since my last visit when we took our first family trip back in 2013 and I remember the anticipation was amazing. I'd love to hear about how you liked CSR when you get back. Happy birthday to your grandson and have a great trip!

Joining in. Love the matching manicures. My girls love getting their nails done as a special girls treat I may have to schedule that just before our trip.

Thanks for joining in! This was actually the first time my daughter had had a real manicure, but she is hooked now and I think it's going to have to be a new trip tradition. It was such a nice mother/daughter activity in advance of the trip.
 
A little more from CSR before I get into the main attraction – the parks!

I’m not a huge swimming fan, so while DH and the kids swam, I walked around CSR and took pictures.

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Tower construction

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We had dinner here

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You can see the bit of construction wall, which Alex is helpfully pointing to for some reason. We turned in early to be ready for an EMH rope drop the next morning. It was to be a morning of misadventures…
 
Day 3: July 23, Part 1 – Okay guys, let’s get it together

The plan this morning was to hit up Animal Kingdom for morning EMH and ride Flight of Passage for the first time as our first ride of the trip. Because I knew the crowds for FoP at RD were still pretty rough, we got up a little before 6 to try to be there as early as possible. We decided to drive to maximize our time.

Here is the view from our room when we left a little before the sun came up.

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We arrived at the toll plaza at 6:48am and I was quite pleased as I pulled into the parking lot…and then somewhat less pleased as I proceeded to drive right by all of the parking and back out the exit. What can I say? It was early, it was kind of dark, there were no CM’s out directing traffic yet, and I haven’t driven through the AK lots all that often.

So I sheepishly made my way back up Osceola to the turnaround to get back into AK, made the wrong turn again and ended up back at the exit! By this point DH was laughing at me and the kids had had it with me.

Third time was the charm and we finally made it, if about 10 minutes later.

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We were still just a few people back the tapstiles, thankfully.

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We stood waiting until about 7:30ish, when they started letting people into the park. Cue misadventure: the sequel. As people in front of us started tapping in, DH says “where’s my Magicband???” I turned around ready to roll my eyes at his joke that I figured he was making because I had made a big deal about everyone having their band when we left the room that morning (Cora forgot hers one day on a previous trip) and then had screwed up the parking so badly. But no – he held up his empty wrist in a panic. He figured he lost it somewhere while walking from the car to the gate. Of course, he had not noticed it was missing during the 30 minutes we’d just been standing there.

So I entered the park with the kids by myself and DH hightailed it to guest relations. I was hoping we’d be stopped at a second, internal rope before being let into Pandora to give DH time to catch up, but no such luck this day. We proceeded in a slow steady walk with a CM who walked us all the way back to FoP. I was texting DH what was going on while also trying to hold onto both kids by myself in the crowd. We had FPs for FoP for later in the trip, so I knew he wouldn’t miss it entirely, but texted him sadly that it seemed he was going to miss this first ride, as we were somewhat toward the front of the pack and the crowds were very difficult to move through. I considered just skipping it, but the kids would have been so disappointed, so we pressed on and I texted DH we would meet him at the exit.

Amazingly, just as we rounded the final turn before the queue becomes inaccessible from outside the line, DH ran up and joined us! He said when he had explained the situation to the GR CM they had worked exceptionally quickly to get him a card to use as his ticket and had let him skip the lines to enter the park, then he had wound through the crowd as quickly as he could, which is much easier to do as a single person than a family of four. So we had our planned first ride on FoP as a family and it was just as awesome as I had heard it would be. One of my new favorites!

We came off FoP and immediately headed into the line for Navi River Journey, which we basically walked right onto, and were done with both Pandora rides standby by about 8:10 despite my and DH’s best efforts to screw things up!

We walked and played around in Pandora for a bit before heading into an almost empty Africa.

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We rode Kilimanjaro Safaris, also as a walk-on, then spent some time exploring the Gorilla Falls Trail.

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The kids were all about those naked mole rats.
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We also stopped at a few Wilderness Explorer Stations

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We then saw Festival of the Lion King, during which we were warthogs and Alex became quite annoyed by the screaming baby behind us. They finally took her out around the time of the fire dancer, which was a blessing, but nothing can harsh my tumble monkeys buzz! Love that show.

Next it was time for a new dining experience – Tusker House! I have had a reservation booked at TH for every trip we’ve taken at some point, but always ended up cancelling for one reason or another. DH, who as I mentioned is a huge Donald fan, insisted that we were keeping the reservation this time, dangit (possibly with more *colorful* language)! So we did. And it immediately became my new favorite character meal. Our ADR was for 10:50 so we could head over right after the first FotLK show and the timing was perfect, as we got to sample breakfast and lunch foods. So so soooooo good!

I, again, didn’t really get pictures of the food, but we inhaled that stuff. Alex insisted I take a picture of his Mickey waffle, so that one got documented. I plead the fifth on how many plates I ended up having…

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DH and his true love
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The kids had drawn pictures of the characters for our homemade autograph books, so Mickey insisted on taking pictures with the drawings of him, which was really cute.

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Once we rolled ourselves out of TH we decided to head back to the resort for a break before hitting our evening park where we had FPs booked. We stopped to take a poorly executed selfie on the bridge.

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And then had a couple of photopass pictures taken because our selfie had failed so miserably.

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We saw Timon on the way out and Alex insisted on stopping to meet him.

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When we got back to the resort, DH opened his car door and look what fell out…

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O.M.G. He had lost it in the car before we even got out! I had gone on my phone and reported it lost while we were in line for FoP, and here I was reactivating it just a few hours later. :sad2: Oh well, all’s well that ends well!


Up next: YMCA!
 
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Thank goodness they didn't give him any trouble with the lost magic band.

I've eaten at Tusker House before. Love it!
 
Joining in.

Congrats on your PhD. What an amazing accomplishment.

Your matching manicures are adorable.
 
We were still just a few people back the tapstiles, thankfully.

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That is pretty good, even with your Griswald Parking expierence.

We stood waiting until about 7:30ish, when they started letting people into the park. Cue misadventure: the sequel. As people in front of us started tapping in, DH says “where’s my Magicband???”
Oye!

e GR CM they had worked exceptionally quickly to get him a card to use as his ticket and had let him skip the lines to enter the park, then he had wound through the crowd as quickly as he could, which is much easier to do as a single person than a family of four. So we had our planned first ride on FoP as a family and it was just as awesome as I had heard it would be. One of my new favorites!
That is amazing! Glad it worked out.

The kids were all about those naked mole rats.
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What is with kids and naked mole rats?!? My girls love naked mole rats.

The kids had drawn pictures of the characters for our homemade autograph books, so Mickey insisted on taking pictures with the drawings of him, which was really cute.

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I am trying to get Morgan to make one like this, She draws all the time.
 
Coronado really does look beautiful! Is that tower that is being built there DVC or regular hotel rooms?

I sure hope the rest of your mornings don’t start like your AK morning. I cannot believe that your husband’s magicband was in the car the whole time. Too funny!

We rode FoP for the first time in June, and wow, we all loved it! It’s a new favorite for us, too! The whole Pandora area is just so well themed and truly beautiful to walk around, especially at night.
 

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