Trip Report 8 Trips in 10 Years - A Decade of Disney

12in12 · Aug 1, 2017

Following along.

todd23 · Aug 6, 2017

Arrival Day - Day 1 (Part 1 of 2)

Arrival day actually started the day before we left home. I am quite possibly the world’s worst packer. I comment that I would love to be a turtle so I can just carry my home on my back. Unfortunately, that is not the case. So, after getting home from work and mowing the lawn immediately following a long downpour, I started packing. Luckily, Erica had gotten packed during the day and was able to help! After some dithering about what to pack, I put our suitcases in the car and we went to bed just before 11 p.m. That doesn’t sound too late, until you find out the time we were pulling out of the driveway was 2:30 a.m.

After we returned home, I tallied up the amount of clothes I brought for our nine-night, 10-day trip:
T-shirts: 24
Athletic Shorts: 8
“Regular” Shorts: 7
Sneakers: 4 pairs

I’ll spare you the number of socks/underwear I packed.

My alarm went off just after 2 a.m., although I may have awoken a couple minutes before it was scheduled to beep. It’s tough to sleep with the excitement of Disney World coming. Even Erica woke up on the first alarm, which never happens! I took a shower, ate some breakfast to use up the remaining milk, turned down the water heater temperature and unplugged a few things to save us on our electric bill. We were in the car ready to pull out of the driveway right at 2:30 a.m. and were on our way to Baltimore.

We enjoy the town we live in, and it is within a few hours of a number of major cities, but it is not close to any of them. The closest airport for us is located about 90 minutes away. Baltimore and other truly major airports usually have lower prices, so we typically have a 2.5-3 hour drive to catch a reasonably priced flight.

Driving in the middle of the night usually means we won’t hit much traffic. As expected, we didn’t see many other cars on the road, but we were slowed by some torrential rain for about 45 miles. Instead of zooming along at 70 MPH, I was forced to hover in the 45-55 MPH range in fear of hydroplaning. Even the large trucks on the road were slowed. Despite the slowdown, we arrived at the long term parking lot long term parking A at 5:15 a.m., two hours before our 7:15 a.m. flight – right on time according to our goal.

Erica at our first bus stop of the trip in Long Term Parking A at BWI Airport

We prefer to take early flights on our way to Disney World and late flights on our way home. This enables us to maximize our time on vacation. We also find that we have very few delay issues with the early morning flights. Thanks to our early flight time, we landed at MCO at 9:21 a.m. and we rushed to the B side of the terminal to the Magical Express area. I always dread that we might get one of the yellow Mears buses, but we were lucky and got one of the Magical Express buses to bring us to Disney World. We hopped on and arrived at Coronado Springs at 10:58 a.m., after a stop at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Our Magical Express bus

We did online check-in in the weeks leading up to our trip. It was our first time doing online check-in and it didn’t go as smoothly as we’d hoped. When we got off the Magical Express, we had not yet received a notification about our room. To double-check on our status, I thought I’d check in at the registration desk.

After a brief wait, we were invited up to the desk to talk to a cast member. I explained that we had done online check-in and wanted to confirm we were all set. He looked in the computer and started assigning us a room.

As some of you may know, Coronado Springs is undergoing some enhancements, including the construction of a new tower building. We had requested the Cabanas section since we enjoy the “beachy” theme along the path. The cast member mentioned the construction would be nearby to our room, and I said that would be no problem. I wasn’t too worried as I like to check out construction and new projects at WDW. The one thing he didn’t remind us about was the fact that the path adjacent to the construction was closed and would necessitate a much longer walk from our Cabana (9A) to El Centro, the main building at Coronado Springs. I should have thought of this, but it slipped my mind while he was explaining the location. If the normal path had been open, I would have been very pleased with our location. As it was, we were not thrilled with the extra walking (and I don’t mind walking!). It turned out that our building was also being painted, so there was large equipment and several painters outside our room that were unrelated to the construction.

The Construction at Coronado Springs as of July 14

The next day, we’d find out we did not have charging privileges back to our room, something that should have been set up during this time (and I thought was set up when we did the online check-in). Overall, the check-in process with the cast member was underwhelming, and it made me wonder what the advantage of online check-in is?

Knowing we were eating at ‘Ohana this night, we wanted to get our first meal out of the way ASAP, so we walked over to the Pepper Market. Unfortunately, it did not open for another 20 minutes. We secured our refillable mugs and walked to our room, 9200. Despite the long walk, we were pleasantly surprised to find out we’d gotten a corner room! A second window so while we had the parking lot view we expected, we also overlooked the quiet pool. We’d often talked about having the second window in a corner room.

Erica and our two windows in Room 9200 at Coronado Springs

With our backpack deposited in the room, we walked back over to the Pepper Market. The Disney Dining Plan provides each person one table service meal, one quick service meal and two snacks per night of their stay. Since we arrive early on our first day and depart late on our last day, we basically need to stretch our meal credits over an extra day. To accomplish this, we wanted to share one quick service meal on this day. We got the Market Nachos (one of Erica’s favorites) and a brownie, and it ended up being plenty of food for the two of us.

Erica with the Market Nachos we shared

Since we’re paying the money to stay at Coronado Springs, I like to start our trip off with a lap around the resort so we can experience the theming, make observations and enjoy the atmosphere. We spend so much of our time at the parks the rest of the trip, that I like to make sure we get some value out of our resort when we first arrive.

Me approaching the Casitas quiet pool during our initial walk around Coronado Springs

After that traditional loop around, we returned to our room to find our luggage had been delivered. Erica and I love Disney’s Magical Express. It is so nice to know that when we check our luggage in Baltimore that we don’t really need to do anything with it again until we return to Baltimore at the end of the trip. We enjoy unpacking and really moving in to our room. We weren’t sure with the split stay how we’d do with it, but we did get our stuff unpacked and put in its “place”. We are pretty routine, so unpacking and settling in only really takes us about 15 minutes.

As Erica began to unpack her suitcase, she realized she was missing some key articles of clothing. She had, unfortunately, forgotten some supportive undergarments that were hanging up on the drying rack at home. After a brief meltdown, I calmed her down and convinced her to order some online and they would hopefully arrive by the middle of our trip. More on that later.

Erica really likes to go swimming, but I never go with her unless we are at Disney World. Since we were mere feet from the pool, we decided to head outside for a quick swim. This was when Erica first really noticed the equipment for the painters, mainly because they were moving things around near the end of their work day. It turns out that other than this first day, they weren’t too noticeable or intrusive. I also got to debut my Syracuse swimsuit that I got a couple years ago, but had not yet worn. After a few minutes in the pool, it started raining a bit. That might not seem like a big deal since we were already wet, but it’s not fun to have the cold rain drops pelting you on the head, so it was a short-lived activity.

Up Next: Part 2 of arrival day.

todd23 · Aug 7, 2017

Arrival Day - Day 1 (Part 2 of 2)

After swimming, it was time to leave Coronado Springs for the first time. We were heading to the Magic Kingdom for two important tasks. We were set to become Annual Passholders for the first time, and we wanted to watch the Flag Retreat.

Since we are also going to Disney World in January for Marathon Weekend, it made financial sense to upgrade our nine-day tickets to Annual Passes. It was exciting to walk up to the window at the Magic Kingdom and do this transaction. It might be the best $541 we have ever spent! It also answered my question of who is always waiting in line at the ticket booths. It always amazes me the number of people there, because I figure most people are purchasing tickets in advance. The cast member we worked with was very helpful and was able to work with us even though Erica had neglected to bring her ID. With being able to do so much with magic bands, she hadn’t even thought of it.

Annual Passholder entrance at Magic Kingdom

We knew Disney had recently started utilizing special Annual Passholder tapstiles as a perk. Leading up to our trip, I didn’t like them and thought they were completely unnecessary. As soon as we became Annual Passholders, my viewpoint changed and I think we entered every park through the special lanes.

Our first attraction as Annual Passholders was the TTA, one of our favorites. Tomorrowland seemed very crowded on this day, which we would notice as a trend throughout our trip, so we then walked back to Storybook Circus to check out the tents. We had never really spent much time in there, and Erica was scouting out potential snacks. It was nearing 5 p.m. and the Flag Retreat at this point, so we jumped on the train at Fantasyland Station and took it around to Main Street, getting us there in plenty of time.

The view of a busy Tomorrowland from the TTA

Erica has an extra level of interest in patriotic acts she learned from her grandfather. After watching a video of the Flag Retreat online, we decided to take the time to watch it during this trip. Luckily, it fit in nicely on this day. We stood on the second level of the train station waiting for it to begin and enjoyed watching all the activity in Town Square. The Flag Retreat was nice to watch, and it amazes me the number of cast members involved in an event that is not really highlighted much by Disney. There are probably 30-40 cast members in action surrounding the ceremony, from crowd control to the Dapper Dans to the people actually bringing the flag down to managers walking around making everything goes smoothly. We are glad we took the time to watch and at some point would do so again.

A view of the Flag Retreat

As soon as the ceremony was complete, we left the Magic Kingdom and were on our way to ‘Ohana (quite possibly my favorite restaurant at Disney World). This was our sixth Disney World trip and our sixth time eating at ‘Ohana. And, we already have reservations to eat there again in January on the day of the Marathon. I am hoping we will be celebrating me completing all 48.6 miles of the Dopey Challenge. Since my favorite part of ‘Ohana is the bread pudding dessert, Erica has said she will ask them on that day if they can bring that to me first. I can’t wait!

This trip to ‘Ohana was as good as ever. Erica loves the noodles almost as much as I love the bread pudding. She has tried to recreate them at home and has been pretty successful, but she says it just isn’t the same. After stuffing ourselves with the main courses, I was able to polish off nearly two of the bread puddings. The second one was huge, though, and I couldn’t quite finish it. I’ll try to do better in January!

'Ohana noodles and 'Ohana dessert

I, especially, like to switch up our transportation vehicles regularly. Since we took the monorail from the Magic Kingdom to the Polynesian before dinner, we took a boat from the Polynesian back to the Magic Kingdom after dinner. We had also never taken a boat on that route before, so it was something new for us.

One of the most memorable moments of the entire trip happened as we were walking from the boat dock to the entrance of the Magic Kingdom. All of a sudden Erica turned to me and said, “That kid just jumped the railing!” As she said that, I looked up and someone important-looking with a walkie talkie was coming quickly in our direction. I turned around and saw the young man on the other side of the fence along the water near the boat dock. Suddenly, he just took a swan dive into the water (the same body of water in which a child was killed by an alligator just over a year ago). He proceeded to swim around a little bit and then just floated on his back for a few moments. The entire time a growing number of Disney personnel and security was gathering. A life raft was thrown to him, the boat captains were making loudspeaker announcements and a fellow Guest came sprinting down saying he was a lifeguard and ready to help. It was all a little surreal.

Guest swimming in the Seven Seas Lagoon

After a lot of attention and really only a few minutes in the water, the swimmer was removed and headed off to be dealt with by security. Based on his actions and some observations as he came out of the water, Erica thinks there may have had some developmental disabilities. We and everyone else then resumed our vacations and continued on to the Magic Kingdom, but it is something we won’t soon forget!

With it after 7 p.m., we really didn’t do too much at the Magic Kingdom this evening other than soak up our first bits of Disney atmosphere and revel that we had a whole trip ahead of us. We caught the end of Move it, Shake it, Dance and Play it, which I renamed to “Move it, Shake it, Fill in the Blank it” on this trip, given the different variations on the name it has had over the years.

We concluded our evening by watching Happily Ever After for the first time. This was an experience. We crammed in on Main Street by Casey’s Corner around 8:40 (HEA started at 9). A group of people in front of us were sitting down on the ground with 3-4 trays of food. Note to others…just eat your food near the restaurant. You don’t need to clog things up, and it can’t be an enjoyable experience for a meal. We were just waiting for someone to step in the piles of fries…why would you want peoples’ shoes so close to your food!?

Erica – who is only about 5’3” – was standing behind someone of similar height, so she thought her sightline would be decent. However, as soon as the show started, one of the women that had been sitting on the ground stood up and started recording with her phone. Not only was she recording with her phone, but she had it held high above her head and she was dancing along with the music, meaning her phone was swaying back and forth, making it impossible for Erica to see. So, basically, Erica watched Happily Ever After on this person’s phone. This person also proceeded to take out a second phone for additional pictures/video at one point.

I have watched Happily Ever After online. Why do people have the need to record the whole thing themselves? Their video will be the same as the ones already online, and they are impacting the experience of other Guests. Very rude and frustrating.

I really liked Happily Ever After, but found it difficult to concentrate on both the fireworks and the projections (maybe because of this phone in front of us!). Erica didn’t have much of an opinion after this first viewing since she couldn’t really watch at all.

After a day that had started at 2 a.m., we were headed back to CSR to get a good night of rest before our first full day at the parks (Animal Kingdom and EPCOT on the docket).

Us leaving the Magic Kingdom for the night

Both Erica and I both wear Garmin Vivofit 3 fitness trackers. It was fun to track our steps and sleep each day. I will conclude each day’s recap with our numbers. We think they’re pretty impressive!

Total Steps (July 14)
Todd – 19,485
Erica – 26,042

Total Sleep (July 13 to July 14)
Todd – 3:13
Erica - 3:14

Trip Report 8 Trips in 10 Years - A Decade of Disney

12in12

Well-Known Member

todd23

Active Member

todd23

Active Member