Just got back from spending six days at WDW, my sixth trip in four years. Because of work obligations (in the form of a conference my boyfriend, Mike, had to attend) and hotel availability (our favorites were booked full), we stayed at three different Disney resorts during our trip. So this trip report will focus mostly on the hotels, with a few digressions along the way.
Day 1: Arrived at Coronado Springs, where my boyfriend's conference was taking place. Having recently heard some negative feedback about it, I didn't have high expectations for the place. But I was pleasantly surprised. The themeing is nice and our room was close to El Centro. The Pepper Market is a unique twist on the food court and the views of the lake were stunning.
After taking a walk around, my boyfriend went to the conference and I jaunted to Downtown Disney. I had intended to go to the movies at AMC, but there was nothing I wanted to see playing. Instead, I went to DisneyQuest for the first time in 10 years. And ... it hasn't changed much in 10 years. Back in 1998, I thought it was an awesome place. But what was awesome then, isn't awesome now. My Nintendo Wii is more advanced than half of the games there. So it was a big disappointment.
Day 2: More conference for Mike, more alone time for me. I headed to Animal Kingdom to take some photos of animals and ride Everest. Then it was back to the hotel for some relaxation time.
Which brings me to the only complaint I have about Coronado Springs -- other than our room, there were no places to sit and relax indoors. Almost all of the public seating there is outside by the lake, which was nice for an hour, but not several hours. And although the Mayan pool area was fantastic, I'm not a sunbathe-by-the-pool kind of guy. (A brush with skin cancer three years ago will do that to you.) So instead of chilling in a lobby, like I can do at Wilderness Lodge or Animal Kingdom Lodge, I had to kill time in the room instead.
Day 3: The conference ended (finally!) and Mike and I moved to our second resort destination -- The Contemporary. Since it was only for one night, we splurged and got a tower room with a Magic Kingdom view. I had requested as high up as possible and was placed on the 11th floor. I have three words to describe the room and the view -- Ah. May. Zing.
It was the sleekest, nicest hotel room I've ever stayed in. (And that includes the Bellagio in Las Vegas.) Flat-panel TV. Awesome decor. The coolest bathroom. (Those who've stayed there know what I'm talking about.) And the view! Not only did we have a direct view of the entire castle, but we could see the tops of Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain, the TTA wind around through Tomorrowland, even the steam from the train and the Liberty Square riverboat rising over the trees. Occasionally, we could hear the train's whistle and even the howling from the Haunted Mansion. It was incredible. And at night, we sat on our private balcony and watched Wishes. Wow. What a great time.
Day 4: We reluctantly left the Contemporary and went to Animal Kingdom. The animals were crazy active, even the tigers on the Jungle Trek. Normally, they're sleeping in some corner, but on that day they were roaming all over. (I didn't even know that the left side of the suspension bridge was a tiger area. But there were three of them there. You learn something new every trip.)
A side note about Animal Kingdom: I love it there, but it's time they built something new. Yes, I know Everest isn't that old. But I mean a new land, with new animals. For a repeat visitor like me, it would be nice to see another viewing area along the lines of the Exploration Trail and the Jungle Trek. Camp Minnie-Mickey would be a great area for a trail with Northwestern animals. Imagine strolling through a pine forest and stopping to see bears and moose and otters and elk. Think about it, Imagineers!
That afternoon, we checked into our third hotel -- The Grand Floridian. And the whole place left me with mixed feelings. It's elegant, of course, and the room was massive. It had a very comfy daybed and reading chair. Our balcony was enormous. Even the smoking area had a view of the castle.
The problem we experienced was that the hotel is so eager to be fancy that it focused on little things and ignored the bigger picture. The mouskeeping staff parade through the grounds with parasols in the morning, but when we returned to our room at 2:30 p.m. for a break from the parks, we found it hadn't been cleaned yet. The self-park lot was so far away (you have to cross a road to get there) that everyone is pretty much forced to use valet parking. And because they like to keep things pretty, the courtyard was filled with landscapers and leaf blowers and guys power-washing the balconies.
The best time we had there was right after we checked in, when we spent an hour on the second floor at Mizner's Lounge. We sat by the window and people-watched while listening to the band just outside the lounge.
On our last day, Mike and I talked about if we'd ever stay there again, and both of us concluded probably not. Maybe we were just there at an unusually busy time. Maybe we were spoiled by how awesome the Contemporary was. Or maybe paying that much for a hotel room creates humongous expectations that can never be met. Either way, we'll take Wilderness Lodge or Animal Kingdom Lodge over Grand Floridian any day.
Day 5: Epcot! We had the whole day planned out there, including a side trip to Flying Fish Cafe for dinner. But Mike wasn't feeling well in the morning, so we didn't get to the park until after noon. That forced us to do something we never do at Disney -- be spontaneous. We cancelled our dinner reservation and played it by ear. When it came time to eat, we strolled on up to Tokyo Dining in Japan and got in no problem. We wandered around without a game plan. We strolled instead of power-walked. We even stayed for the movie after the Maelstrom in Norway! All in all, a very satisfying day.
The best part, however, was that afternoon at Test Track. All fastpasses were gone for the day at that point and the standby line was 120 minutes. Just when we were deciding not to ride it, a man and his daughter came up to us and asked if we wanted two fastpasses for that very moment. We accepted and were so grateful that I let the daughter pick one of the pins I had attached to my camera bag. She was happy, her father was happy, we were happy. It was a nice bit of Disney magic.
Day 6: Magic Kingdom. Because we had tickets to the Princess and Pirate Party that night, we took it easy in the morning, riding only a few things. After a nap break at the hotel, we had dinner at California Grill and then went to the party. I'm not too big of a fan of hard ticket events. Basically, it's Disney forcing you to pay $50 more a person if you want to be in the Magic Kingdom after dark. But it was worth it. There was no one at that party. (Which makes me wonder why they keep adding dates for it.) So we walked on to every ride in the park. It was excellent.
Well, that's my rambling report. Next trip is December and we're staying at only one hotel, the Polynesian. After this past trip, we thought it wise to stay in one place.
Day 1: Arrived at Coronado Springs, where my boyfriend's conference was taking place. Having recently heard some negative feedback about it, I didn't have high expectations for the place. But I was pleasantly surprised. The themeing is nice and our room was close to El Centro. The Pepper Market is a unique twist on the food court and the views of the lake were stunning.
After taking a walk around, my boyfriend went to the conference and I jaunted to Downtown Disney. I had intended to go to the movies at AMC, but there was nothing I wanted to see playing. Instead, I went to DisneyQuest for the first time in 10 years. And ... it hasn't changed much in 10 years. Back in 1998, I thought it was an awesome place. But what was awesome then, isn't awesome now. My Nintendo Wii is more advanced than half of the games there. So it was a big disappointment.
Day 2: More conference for Mike, more alone time for me. I headed to Animal Kingdom to take some photos of animals and ride Everest. Then it was back to the hotel for some relaxation time.
Which brings me to the only complaint I have about Coronado Springs -- other than our room, there were no places to sit and relax indoors. Almost all of the public seating there is outside by the lake, which was nice for an hour, but not several hours. And although the Mayan pool area was fantastic, I'm not a sunbathe-by-the-pool kind of guy. (A brush with skin cancer three years ago will do that to you.) So instead of chilling in a lobby, like I can do at Wilderness Lodge or Animal Kingdom Lodge, I had to kill time in the room instead.
Day 3: The conference ended (finally!) and Mike and I moved to our second resort destination -- The Contemporary. Since it was only for one night, we splurged and got a tower room with a Magic Kingdom view. I had requested as high up as possible and was placed on the 11th floor. I have three words to describe the room and the view -- Ah. May. Zing.
It was the sleekest, nicest hotel room I've ever stayed in. (And that includes the Bellagio in Las Vegas.) Flat-panel TV. Awesome decor. The coolest bathroom. (Those who've stayed there know what I'm talking about.) And the view! Not only did we have a direct view of the entire castle, but we could see the tops of Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain, the TTA wind around through Tomorrowland, even the steam from the train and the Liberty Square riverboat rising over the trees. Occasionally, we could hear the train's whistle and even the howling from the Haunted Mansion. It was incredible. And at night, we sat on our private balcony and watched Wishes. Wow. What a great time.
Day 4: We reluctantly left the Contemporary and went to Animal Kingdom. The animals were crazy active, even the tigers on the Jungle Trek. Normally, they're sleeping in some corner, but on that day they were roaming all over. (I didn't even know that the left side of the suspension bridge was a tiger area. But there were three of them there. You learn something new every trip.)
A side note about Animal Kingdom: I love it there, but it's time they built something new. Yes, I know Everest isn't that old. But I mean a new land, with new animals. For a repeat visitor like me, it would be nice to see another viewing area along the lines of the Exploration Trail and the Jungle Trek. Camp Minnie-Mickey would be a great area for a trail with Northwestern animals. Imagine strolling through a pine forest and stopping to see bears and moose and otters and elk. Think about it, Imagineers!
That afternoon, we checked into our third hotel -- The Grand Floridian. And the whole place left me with mixed feelings. It's elegant, of course, and the room was massive. It had a very comfy daybed and reading chair. Our balcony was enormous. Even the smoking area had a view of the castle.
The problem we experienced was that the hotel is so eager to be fancy that it focused on little things and ignored the bigger picture. The mouskeeping staff parade through the grounds with parasols in the morning, but when we returned to our room at 2:30 p.m. for a break from the parks, we found it hadn't been cleaned yet. The self-park lot was so far away (you have to cross a road to get there) that everyone is pretty much forced to use valet parking. And because they like to keep things pretty, the courtyard was filled with landscapers and leaf blowers and guys power-washing the balconies.
The best time we had there was right after we checked in, when we spent an hour on the second floor at Mizner's Lounge. We sat by the window and people-watched while listening to the band just outside the lounge.
On our last day, Mike and I talked about if we'd ever stay there again, and both of us concluded probably not. Maybe we were just there at an unusually busy time. Maybe we were spoiled by how awesome the Contemporary was. Or maybe paying that much for a hotel room creates humongous expectations that can never be met. Either way, we'll take Wilderness Lodge or Animal Kingdom Lodge over Grand Floridian any day.
Day 5: Epcot! We had the whole day planned out there, including a side trip to Flying Fish Cafe for dinner. But Mike wasn't feeling well in the morning, so we didn't get to the park until after noon. That forced us to do something we never do at Disney -- be spontaneous. We cancelled our dinner reservation and played it by ear. When it came time to eat, we strolled on up to Tokyo Dining in Japan and got in no problem. We wandered around without a game plan. We strolled instead of power-walked. We even stayed for the movie after the Maelstrom in Norway! All in all, a very satisfying day.
The best part, however, was that afternoon at Test Track. All fastpasses were gone for the day at that point and the standby line was 120 minutes. Just when we were deciding not to ride it, a man and his daughter came up to us and asked if we wanted two fastpasses for that very moment. We accepted and were so grateful that I let the daughter pick one of the pins I had attached to my camera bag. She was happy, her father was happy, we were happy. It was a nice bit of Disney magic.
Day 6: Magic Kingdom. Because we had tickets to the Princess and Pirate Party that night, we took it easy in the morning, riding only a few things. After a nap break at the hotel, we had dinner at California Grill and then went to the party. I'm not too big of a fan of hard ticket events. Basically, it's Disney forcing you to pay $50 more a person if you want to be in the Magic Kingdom after dark. But it was worth it. There was no one at that party. (Which makes me wonder why they keep adding dates for it.) So we walked on to every ride in the park. It was excellent.
Well, that's my rambling report. Next trip is December and we're staying at only one hotel, the Polynesian. After this past trip, we thought it wise to stay in one place.