Trip Report 2019 "It's Been a Long, Long Time" Trip Report *COMPLETED*

My husband and I just got back from our week at WDW yesterday and I will be starting this trip report soon. To give everyone a reminder, we were there from April 27th to May 4th and were doing a split stay at three resorts - Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, and AKL Kidani Village. Also, every trip we hear one song more often than any other, which becomes our theme song for the trip, which strangely usually also coincides with something that happened in our trip - and this year was no different. I'll explain the title of this report in a later installment. I do have to say that I have mixed feelings about WDW after this trip and I'm not totally sure I can put those feelings into words. I still LOVE the resort and can't wait to go back but there was something different this trip that I can't quite figure out. We were focusing less on the parks and more on the resorts and other experiences so may be that had something to do with it. I'll try to explain during future entries. I did write my thoughts in a journal this time so that I didn't forget the small details. Did we accomplish everything we wanted to do and see? Was there any family drama this year? Stay tuned

 

[LeighM]

Man... how RUDE!

Rude turned out to be a recurring theme this trip

 

[LeighM]

Sunday, April 28th

We split in this day because DVC was going to pick up us outside the lobby at 10:10AM for our DVC tour at 10:30AM at Saratoga Springs. We went to the food court but I wasn't hungry yet (I'm not big on breakfast) and R didn't want to wait in the line. So we went to the grab and go section and he got a premade hot breakfast sandwich. We forgot to take a picture of it but it was actually really good. We still had some time left, so R found a lounge by the pool while I went back to the room to get my eye drops. Here are more pictures I took at the resort.

This lawn on the island is where they show the movies at night.

The view of the Riviera Resort. I do not like this towering over CBR. I can understand why longtime fans of CBR aren't happy with the changes. I like being experiences and resorts that make me feel transported somewhere else. And the gondolas and Riviera totally take me out of that experience. Especially those darn gondolas! They could've put them someplace else instead of right dab in the middle of these resort sections. I wouldn't want to relax next to a quiet pool in Aruba (I think it was) with those gondolas going right over me.

A very happy looking DVC van arrived to pick us up. Another family thought that van was for them because they had just booked a tour at the same time but the driver explained he was there to pick us up and another van would arrive shortly for them.

He had an ADA friendly van so there were only a couple of seats left, which definitely would not fit their family of 5. We had a nice talk with the driver. We mentioned the horrible sewer smell at the bus stops at MK and he told us that Disney has tried to fix the issue a couple of times but nothing they do stops the sewer smell - it keeps reappearing. And it was really rank on Saturday night while we were waiting for the CBR bus He also said the Skyliner gondolas would not be operating during thunderstorms. Soon we were at Saratoga Springs and the driver explained to us that Disney tries to stay as true to the resorts theme as possible so if we paid close attention we would notice that there are no palm trees to be seen at SSR because they don't grow up in upstate NY. It blew our minds because it was something R and I had never once paid attention to but totally did once he pointed it out to us.

While waiting in the lobby for the agent, R had a glass of POG juice and a pastry. I was on fluid restriction so that I wouldn't take many bathroom breaks during the Avengers and I was back on my diet so I couldn't have any of the pastries they offered. We met with the DVC agent for an hour and a half and he answered most of R's questions. I almost purchased DVC on the resale market back in 2014/2015 but life got in the way. Mom started getting sick, things around the house were breaking and needed to be replaced. So I had to postpone my dreams of purchasing. Good thing, because my life went haywire in 2016 when both Granddaddy and Mom died within 6 months and left my job and home to move to another town to be with my husband. Everything works out for a reason but I'm glad that R is finally on board with it. Now he wants to do more research into points, resorts, and direct vs. resale. One reason I booked Kidani with our SIL's points was to experience AKL before purchasing. He took us on a tour of the rooms at Copper Creek and Riviera. OMG those rooms at Riviera are GORGEOUS! I want that bathtub in my house lol. Soon we had to leave so we could have lunch at Disney Springs before the movie began. We had to skip over the free ice cream but they gave us a $100 gift card ($50 for each of us) and each got 3 extra FastPasses. Oh! This reminds me that I also had $187 on my Disney Visa Rewards Redemption card so we now had $297 of "free" money to use. When we checked into Coronado Springs on Monday, we got another $30 for opting out of housekeeping so that made $327 of money we could use on food throughout our stay. Loved it! The driver dropped us off at the Marketplace section of Disney Springs since we weren't sure where we wanted to go. We decided on Chicken Guy. There was a line outside to get in but it moved quickly and we were lucky enough to score a table inside.

R got the fried chicken strips (which I can no longer have because most of them are made with flour that has gluten) so I was good and had the grilled chicken. I loved the curry mayo and honey mustard but I had to have the curry mayo in moderation because of the fat content. The menu lets you know which sauces are gluten free but they don't really help with the fat content. R had the garlic Parmesan and a BBQ sauce. The BBQ one was good but I much preferred my sauces. The fries were fantastic too and I'm not even a big fan of french fries. I may have eaten more than I should by dipping them in the curry mayo sauce Side note - I brought travel sized bottles of apple cider vinegar with me because I learned it really helped my gallbladder. My plan was to have some every night before bed to help control any pain that may occur if I eat more fat than I should. What I didn't know was that I purchased the White House acv. I typically use Bragg's at home. The White House acv was nasty!!! I tried a couple of nights and just couldn't do it.

After lunch, we went to AMC, which was a short walk. I was so excited to watch Endgame in a Dolby theater. We don't have Dolby where I live, the closest 2 are over an hour away. So this was something I was looking forward to. I'm Team Cap/Thor while the husband is Team Iron Man/Hulk. If you saw the movie, you know which one walked away smiling

My mind was blown when I walked into Dolby and saw those leather reclining seats! The sound was great, the seats vibrated with the action. Such a better experience that the usual theater we go to. We've been spoiled!!!!

I won't give away any spoilers for those that haven't seen it but this was the second time I heard "It's Been a Long, Long Time" when it was played in a scene at the end of the movie. Loved it!!

After the movie, we wandered around Disney Springs a little bit because we had some time before our dinner reservation at House of Blues. The plan was for R to eat at Bongo's quick service window so he could get plantains and the lechon and I would eat at House of Blues since they had more gluten free options for me. But he decided he would want until later in the trip to get Bongo's. We went to the new World of Disney store. I hate it. I loved the old store that was full of Disney character. Exploring the store and seeing all of the small details was one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much. Now it's all boring with the same merchandise they have everywhere just packed full of people. We walked back to the other side of DS for dinner.

I had the shrimp tacos because they were made with corn tortillas which are gluten free. Very difficult to eat but were very tasty and was the perfect choice on such a hot day.

R had the fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, and corn on the cob. He said the corn on the cob was some of the best he's ever had. I thought the potatoes were tasty and very buttery and I don't remember the cole slaw. The fried chicken was just okay but I lived in a Southern foodie town that had some of the best fried chicken options anywhere. He didn't eat it all because he was saving room for dessert.

Their bread pudding. We saw on The Disney Food Blog that AJ thought it rivaled the bread pudding at 'Ohana so R must try it for himself. It was very sweet and good but I wasn't tempted like I am for the other. R said he would definitely get it again but he wouldn't get a craving for it like the one at the Poly. Also, for the first time, I remembered to use the Magical Extras card that comes with booking a WDW vacation package, so we got either 20% or 25% off the cost of the meal.

I was saving room for dessert from Erin McKenna's bakery because I wanted to try her gluten free cupcakes. I got there and was tempted by a gluten free pineapple upside down cake. No pictures were taken but the serving was HUGE and I couldn't eat it all because it was so very sweet. We didn't spend as much time at Disney Springs as we wanted to because it was just too hot and crowded. We decided to go back to CBR and relax there for our last night at the resort.

 

[LeighM]

We made our way to the bus stops and we had a bus completely to ourselves. I couldn't help by say "King of the Bus" - I watch a lot Tim Tracker videos

We got off at the lobby because we both wanted that Tropical Paradise drink again so we made a stop here

I wish I had more time to eat here because some of their menu items looked really good!

We found a seat to enjoy our drinks and wait for the fireworks at 9PM. Does this guy look relaxed or what?! Yes, he's wearing a Cap shirt but it was the only one he had. I had ordered it for myself but I got a size too large.



We had a really good spot to watch the fireworks outside of Sebastian's but some woman felt it was her right to smoke there, in a non smoking area, with the wind blowing it right into our faces so we had to move to a location that was blocked by the huge gondola poles. This does remind me that I saw more cigarette butts on the ground in this resort, away from the smoking areas, and they stayed there the whole weekend we were there. I wasn't very impressed by that.

We could see the fireworks from both Hollywood Studios and Epcot. It was a great way to end our no park weekend. The next day, on Monday, starts our park days. We only had 3 park days and I added a last minute After Hours ticket for HS, so we had 4 park days. Then Friday was going to be a resort day before leaving early Saturday morning to fly home.

Up next, Monday - Animal Kingdom theme park and switching to Coronado Springs resort.

 

[maxntina]

What's up with the rudeness level on this trip? Yikes!
Loving being able to tag along with you!

 

[LeighM]

What's up with the rudeness level on this trip? Yikes!
Loving being able to tag along with you!

More stories of this type of behavior will be showing up in future entries. It was so common so I'm only going to mention the truly standout instances of bad behavior. Mostly from adults that are old enough to know better. I did have a couple of great encounters but they were few and far between - I'll also be talking about them. I don't know if it was the heat and time of the year but it really made me question whether I want to go back during the same time of year. My next trip won't be until 2021 (next year is supposed to be a Disney cruise) so I have some time to figure out when I want to go back once they start releasing info for their 50th celebrations.

 

[Minnie1986]

For me, figuring out that gluten was my problem was a multi year ordeal. For a while the doctor thought I had some auto immune disorder and one of my tests came back abnormal. So I went to a rheumatologist, but all of their tests came back normal. So then I began wondering if it was something in my diet so I cut everything out except lean protein, fruits, and veggies and then started slowly introducing things again. I never once suspected gluten because pasta has been a staple in my diet since I was introduced to solid foods. Pasta is my thing. But what happened was I began cutting most meat out of my diet and added in even more pasta. Breaking that addiction has been hard and I'm still struggling with it. But sure enough, weeks without pasta made my pain go away. I began eating it again and pain came back. Then I looked at my results from 23andMe, and sure enough I have a variant for gluten intolerance. The answer had been in that account for the last few years and I just never looked LOL I can still have small amounts of gluten a day - like a couple of those pull apart rolls. But I have to really watch my intake of gluten, carbs, and fat.

I actually just came back from the GI and he suspects a gluten intolerance, so I'll be starting my elimination diet soon. wish me luck!

 

[Minnie1986]

Sunday, April 28th

We split in this day because DVC was going to pick up us outside the lobby at 10:10AM for our DVC tour at 10:30AM at Saratoga Springs. We went to the food court but I wasn't hungry yet (I'm not big on breakfast) and R didn't want to wait in the line. So we went to the grab and go section and he got a premade hot breakfast sandwich. We forgot to take a picture of it but it was actually really good. We still had some time left, so R found a lounge by the pool while I went back to the room to get my eye drops. Here are more pictures I took at the resort.

This lawn on the island is where they show the movies at night.

View attachment 370012

View attachment 370013

The view of the Riviera Resort. I do not like this towering over CBR. I can understand why longtime fans of CBR aren't happy with the changes. I like being experiences and resorts that make me feel transported somewhere else. And the gondolas and Riviera totally take me out of that experience. Especially those darn gondolas! They could've put them someplace else instead of right dab in the middle of these resort sections. I wouldn't want to relax next to a quiet pool in Aruba (I think it was) with those gondolas going right over me.

View attachment 370014

A very happy looking DVC van arrived to pick us up. Another family thought that van was for them because they had just booked a tour at the same time but the driver explained he was there to pick us up and another van would arrive shortly for them.

View attachment 370015

He had an ADA friendly van so there were only a couple of seats left, which definitely would not fit their family of 5. We had a nice talk with the driver. We mentioned the horrible sewer smell at the bus stops at MK and he told us that Disney has tried to fix the issue a couple of times but nothing they do stops the sewer smell - it keeps reappearing. And it was really rank on Saturday night while we were waiting for the CBR bus He also said the Skyliner gondolas would not be operating during thunderstorms. Soon we were at Saratoga Springs and the driver explained to us that Disney tries to stay as true to the resorts theme as possible so if we paid close attention we would notice that there are no palm trees to be seen at SSR because they don't grow up in upstate NY. It blew our minds because it was something R and I had never once paid attention to but totally did once he pointed it out to us.

While waiting in the lobby for the agent, R had a glass of POG juice and a pastry. I was on fluid restriction so that I wouldn't take many bathroom breaks during the Avengers and I was back on my diet so I couldn't have any of the pastries they offered. We met with the DVC agent for an hour and a half and he answered most of R's questions. I almost purchased DVC on the resale market back in 2014/2015 but life got in the way. Mom started getting sick, things around the house were breaking and needed to be replaced. So I had to postpone my dreams of purchasing. Good thing, because my life went haywire in 2016 when both Granddaddy and Mom died within 6 months and left my job and home to move to another town to be with my husband. Everything works out for a reason but I'm glad that R is finally on board with it. Now he wants to do more research into points, resorts, and direct vs. resale. One reason I booked Kidani with our SIL's points was to experience AKL before purchasing. He took us on a tour of the rooms at Copper Creek and Riviera. OMG those rooms at Riviera are GORGEOUS! I want that bathtub in my house lol. Soon we had to leave so we could have lunch at Disney Springs before the movie began. We had to skip over the free ice cream but they gave us a $100 gift card ($50 for each of us) and each got 3 extra FastPasses. Oh! This reminds me that I also had $187 on my Disney Visa Rewards Redemption card so we now had $297 of "free" money to use. When we checked into Coronado Springs on Monday, we got another $30 for opting out of housekeeping so that made $327 of money we could use on food throughout our stay. Loved it! The driver dropped us off at the Marketplace section of Disney Springs since we weren't sure where we wanted to go. We decided on Chicken Guy. There was a line outside to get in but it moved quickly and we were lucky enough to score a table inside.

View attachment 370029

R got the fried chicken strips (which I can no longer have because most of them are made with flour that has gluten) so I was good and had the grilled chicken. I loved the curry mayo and honey mustard but I had to have the curry mayo in moderation because of the fat content. The menu lets you know which sauces are gluten free but they don't really help with the fat content. R had the garlic Parmesan and a BBQ sauce. The BBQ one was good but I much preferred my sauces. The fries were fantastic too and I'm not even a big fan of french fries. I may have eaten more than I should by dipping them in the curry mayo sauce Side note - I brought travel sized bottles of apple cider vinegar with me because I learned it really helped my gallbladder. My plan was to have some every night before bed to help control any pain that may occur if I eat more fat than I should. What I didn't know was that I purchased the White House acv. I typically use Bragg's at home. The White House acv was nasty!!! I tried a couple of nights and just couldn't do it.

After lunch, we went to AMC, which was a short walk. I was so excited to watch Endgame in a Dolby theater. We don't have Dolby where I live, the closest 2 are over an hour away. So this was something I was looking forward to. I'm Team Cap/Thor while the husband is Team Iron Man/Hulk. If you saw the movie, you know which one walked away smiling

View attachment 370016

My mind was blown when I walked into Dolby and saw those leather reclining seats! The sound was great, the seats vibrated with the action. Such a better experience that the usual theater we go to. We've been spoiled!!!!

View attachment 370017

I won't give away any spoilers for those that haven't seen it but this was the second time I heard "It's Been a Long, Long Time" when it was played in a scene at the end of the movie. Loved it!!

After the movie, we wandered around Disney Springs a little bit because we had some time before our dinner reservation at House of Blues. The plan was for R to eat at Bongo's quick service window so he could get plantains and the lechon and I would eat at House of Blues since they had more gluten free options for me. But he decided he would want until later in the trip to get Bongo's. We went to the new World of Disney store. I hate it. I loved the old store that was full of Disney character. Exploring the store and seeing all of the small details was one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much. Now it's all boring with the same merchandise they have everywhere just packed full of people. We walked back to the other side of DS for dinner.

I had the shrimp tacos because they were made with corn tortillas which are gluten free. Very difficult to eat but were very tasty and was the perfect choice on such a hot day.

View attachment 370019

R had the fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, and corn on the cob. He said the corn on the cob was some of the best he's ever had. I thought the potatoes were tasty and very buttery and I don't remember the cole slaw. The fried chicken was just okay but I lived in a Southern foodie town that had some of the best fried chicken options anywhere. He didn't eat it all because he was saving room for dessert.

View attachment 370020

Their bread pudding. We saw on The Disney Food Blog that AJ thought it rivaled the bread pudding at 'Ohana so R must try it for himself. It was very sweet and good but I wasn't tempted like I am for the other. R said he would definitely get it again but he wouldn't get a craving for it like the one at the Poly. Also, for the first time, I remembered to use the Magical Extras card that comes with booking a WDW vacation package, so we got either 20% or 25% off the cost of the meal.

View attachment 370021

I was saving room for dessert from Erin McKenna's bakery because I wanted to try her gluten free cupcakes. I got there and was tempted by a gluten free pineapple upside down cake. No pictures were taken but the service was HUGE and I couldn't eat it all because it was so very sweet. We didn't spend as much time at Disney Springs as we wanted to because it was just too hot and crowded. We decided to go back to CBR and relax there for our last night at the resort.

May I ask what you do with the Apple Cide Vinegar? Meaning, do you mix it with something or just drink it straight? I saw someone else mention it helping.

 

[LeighM]

I actually just came back from the GI and he suspects a gluten intolerance, so I'll be starting my elimination diet soon. wish me luck!

May I ask what you do with the Apple Cide Vinegar? Meaning, do you mix it with something or just drink it straight? I saw someone else mention it helping.

Good luck! I relied heavily on pastas in my diet and I'm still trying to find a nongluten pasta that actually tastes edible LOL. I had a bowl of it somewhere that was really good and I meant to ask what brand/type it was but completely forgot. The veggie pasta gets by in a crunch to make me think I'm eating real pasta and sometimes zucchini noodles will work for me. I have yet to find a good gluten free bread that I can have so I still eat that with an occasional sandwich and that doesn't bother me too much. What's hard is when you realize just how much has gluten in it - most fried chicken and shrimp because of the flour (so you have to have grilled), gluten free soy sauce, and having to read the labels carefully. That strangest things have gluten in them. The apple cider vinegar helps my gallbladder process sludge or something. I can't really explain it. My gallbladder isn't functioning properly and can't process fatty foods so I have to be on a low fat diet. The acv helps my gallbladder do something lol. I haven't had pain since the diet change and the addition of acv. You can have up to 2 tablespoons of diluted acv a day but that's too much for me. Right now, I'm good at just 1/2 tablespoon a day. If I ate something with more fat than I thought and get pain, then I'll take another 1/2 tablespoon. I dilute mine with half a cup of water. The Braggs brand is much better tasting.

 

[LeighM]

Monday, April 29th

Today I woke up at 5:45AM so that I could begin to get ready and get bags packed to take to Bell Services so we can be on the bus early for the 8AM EMH at Animal Kingdom. We already had a FP for Flight of Passage for later in the day so the goal was to ride Navi River Journey as many times as we could before the lines got long.

Not too far into the park, I saw one of these.

And, as a side rant that completely shows my increasing age, I saw so many young girls wearing totally inappropriate clothing in the park. I don't want to see exposed butt cheeks (and more on one occasion thanks to those short shorts ). I think some 13-14 year old girls got confused and thought they were college students spending the week at Daytona on spring break. I don't know what their parents were thinking. My Mom would've laughed her self silly if I had even suggested wearing something like that out of the house at that age LOL. I felt completely old when I channeled my Grandma and said to my husband that someone needs to go tell that girl to put some clothes on . End rant.

We managed to ride Navi twice before the wait time ballooned to 25 minutes. The wait for FoP was already an hour and it wasn't quite 9am yet.

Anyone spot one of the two fake waterfalls in this picture? We watched a video about the secrets of Pandora and there is some trickery at work here to make the guests think the waterfall goes up higher than it does. The "waterfalls" at the top are just wheels that make it look like falling water. Tricky tricky there Disney.

I love everything about Pandora!!

We went to wait in line for the Safari, which was 20 minutes because some animals had blocked the road. We requested the last row and got some great pictures. I will only share a few of the many we always take on that ride.

I caught the lion yawning

Baby giraffe ❤

It was a great safari this time and every animal, except the lions, were active and moving around. After our ride was over the park was fully open and the husband was starving. So off we go to Yak and Yeti quick service. They longer had my favorite item, the breakfast burrito on the menu, which made me sad. But it also removed a very big temptation in my new diet. It was still early in my trip and I was determined to be good. While R was waiting for the food to be ready, I found a table in a quiet alcove away from the chaos that was Y&Y and found one overlooking the river.

R ordered the breakfast bowl with bacon and I had the regular one. I wasn't too hungry and this was very filling. I didn't eat that too many of the fried potatoes and I brushed off most of the cheese. R said that individually the items were good but together they were just okay. A breakfast bowl can't really be too exciting, can it?

This was our view

 

[LeighM]

A few more pictures of the area we were sitting:

And this little prayer niche underneath the tables

We walked around the park and just took in the small details. Our goal this time was to not rush around but really to take it all in. Again, we noticed gardenias blooming everywhere. We visited Gorilla Falls trail and saw the baby meerkats but didn't get a good picture of them. I did get this one of the bird that completely fascinated me

Then we rode It's Tough to Be a Bug. Ran into this bird walking around:

Went into a few shops. I miss the uniqueness of the merchandise. With the exception of the store in Africa and Pandora, almost everything looked the same. We went back to Pandora and tried to sit in some shade while waiting for our FP window to open. This time, the FP was a walk on for us. To prevent R from experiencing motion sickness this time, I requested the lowest level and he had been taking Bonine since after the flight. I had to skip it because the breakfast and the heat were making me nauseous. I waited for him on the other side and talked to a very nice CM. But as I was sitting (SITTING!!!) on the bench, I was almost run over by a woman driving a scooter that backed up right into me. Yes, I was sitting there talking and she just decided to park her vehicle right in front of me. I was like "excuse me, I'm sitting right here!" Somehow she didn't even notice me sitting there!!! R came out of the ride saying how it was even more awesome this time (no motion sickness for the win!). He was saying how he wanted to ride it again but the line was too long. I told him that we could try to do the standby line right before the park closed. We were both getting hungry and wanted out of the heat. So we went to Nomad Lounge because he wanted to try the wagyu beef sliders.

We found an empty seat/table inside. He got what he had been wanting to try and I got the chicken satay and churros. The waiter said that everything on their menu can be made gluten free. Gluten free churros? Yes please!!

R said the sliders tasted like sloppy joes. Not bad but not something he would want to order next time. However, let me say that my meal was one of the best things I had all trip! Chicken satay was perfectly cooked and seasoned. I LOVED the peanut sauce although I did not inhale it like I wanted to because of the gallbladder and all. And those churros!! I don't even know what to say except I want them right this instant. It came with raspberry and vanilla dipping sauce and both were very good. And wouldn't you know that R helped himself to some of my churros! Him eating my food yet again I was starting to feel like my Mom and Grandma when I was a little girl and would eat their food but not my own. I'm sorry y'all for eating all your good food. I now know what it feels like LOL. After lunch, our FP opened for the Safari so we made our way there. Animals were sleeping because of the heat. By now I was wishing I would get my room ready text because I was ready to take a nap too! We stopped by Harambe Market to get R's favorite drink of all time, Bibo. Someone at CSR must have been reading my thoughts because we got the room ready text soon after.

 

[Swissmiss]

Your comment about the teen girls and clothing made me smile. A few years ago my nieces came over for a visit (they were 18 and 16 at the time). They are both pretty girls with long blonde hair and cute figures. In order to keep family peace I mostly bit my tongue as they got dressed (more the older one than the younger one - she at least had all parts covered). One morning we are at Disneyland Paris and the older one is getting dressed for the parks and all I can think about is my brother - their father - is ultra conservative and how I’d be up the proverbial creek when he sees how she was dressed in pictures. At the same time, my relationship with the older niece is not as easy as with her younger sister ... As I was trying to figure out how to tell her there was no way in Hades that she was going into the park dressed the way she was dressed, bless her younger sister who says « I don’t think your outfit will look very good in pictures ». The outfit was immediately changed and I didn’t have to be the bad guy

 

[LeighM]

While on the bus, I noticed we received a room upgrade!! I had booked a standard with Disney Visa discount. A week before our trip, I realized that Coronado was going to be full of cheerleaders and dancers for the worlds and nationals competition (more on this later if I don't forget). I sent the resort a fax and asked to be put in a building far away from their block of rooms. I prefer the Ranchos section but because this is where they were putting the competitors, they gave us a room in the preferred section, Casitas 1. It was great to be so close to the lobby and covered walkways but we were literally the furthest away from the main pool at the Dig Site. It will be so much better when they open the bridges over the lake because it's quite the hike without them! We stopped by the room to check it out before going to the lobby to get our own luggage.

As much as I love Riverside, I have to say there is something about Coronado Springs that can knock it out of the park with the visuals. Our room was on the 4th floor and the highest just off of this courtyard. This was in front of the elevators we took to our room.

This was the view from outside of our door. Not a bad view for someone who booked a standard view

These beds and pillows are sooooo comfortable. And I'm loving the platform beds that fit most luggage. My Donald suitcase was slightly too thick so I had to take over the spot in front of the connecting door. But the way it's designed, it wasn't in the way at all.

The TVs are huge! The rooms at Coronado Springs have Keurigs but the room at Caribbean Beach had a Mr. Coffee coffee pot. Doesn't matter to use because we don't drink coffee or use it anyway but I know that some people do care about their coffee.

The bath and storage areas are so much more efficient than the old style rooms at Caribbean Beach.

I don't have a bathtub this trip?!! Now this part I'm not happy about because I like taking a hot bath after a busy day walking around the parks. I even brought some packets of Aveeno oatmeal bath powder in case I burned (foreshadowing!). I guess I'll just have to make due with a walk in shower

Can't complain about the shower heads though. Everything looks so clean and modern compared to our room at Caribbean Beach. Do these rooms have me spoiled so much that I won't be happy with the rooms at Riverside? I guess I'll find out in 2021

After determining that the room will do, we made our way to the lobby...

 

[aliceismad]

Wow. That rooms looks much nicer than I has in my head for Coronado.

 

[LeighM]

The view from the other side of our building

The casitas section is full of fountains.

We went to check in and I requested to opt out of housekeeping so I got a $30 gift card. Saw the famous greeter, John Mancini, working in the lobby so I had to go over and tell him thank you for something that he had done for a friend of mine and her family during their trip the previous year.



We checked out the new gift shop, which I don't like. They renovated all of the fun character right out of it and made it smaller. I do like the changes to the food court though. After getting our luggage, we went back to the room and took a nap and enjoyed the AC. I woke up hungry so we went to the pool bar to get something to eat. Cheerleaders were everywhere! Except for a few girls sneaking cigarettes where they shouldn't they were no issue. Now I have a couple stories about some of their mothers that will show up in a future entry.

I can't believe how much progress they've made since we were here last March. I still don't like large towers like these at the themed moderates. But this one fits in better with the theme at Coronado Springs than the Riviera resort has with Caribbean Beach. It's a lot less jarring. Maybe when the Riviera is finished, I'll feel differently. I just know they better not add a tower like this to my beloved Riverside!!

On our way to the Dig Site and lunch. I do like how private this area feels compared to Caribbean Beach. And, yes, the pirate fort can be cool at CBR, but no way does it compare to a Mayan pyramid

Looking back to one of the Casitas buildings from the Dig Site.

Yes I got the nachos. Sue me lol. They were calling my name and I was no about to say no. The tortilla chips were not made with flour so that was gluten free. I did have the cheese, which was high in fat, as was the meat sauce, but I wasn't going to eat it all so it shouldn't bother me too badly. I would just take some apple cider vinegar to help the gallbladder. Which is how I determined that I had the nasty tasting White House brand instead of Braggs I did get pain from this later. Why? Because I ate the entire dang thing. But would I go back and change it? No. No, I wouldn't. These nachos are fantastic and I only have them when I'm at CSR.

After dinner, we went back to the room to change before going back to AK. The theme park bus stops currently go to casitas first, then ranchos, cabanas, and lastly at the lobby. While our room was closer to the lobby stop, I wanted to be first on the bus so we walked to the Casitas bus stop. Found a short cut through the casitas, which decreased our walking time. One of the courtyards in the casitas section had hedges of gardenias. Wish I had taken a picture of it!

We got to the bus stop at 6:30PM and was on our way to AK to experience the park at night...

 

[LeighM]

Your comment about the teen girls and clothing made me smile. A few years ago my nieces came over for a visit (they were 18 and 16 at the time). They are both pretty girls with long blonde hair and cute figures. In order to keep family peace I mostly bit my tongue as they got dressed (more the older one than the younger one - she at least had all parts covered). One morning we are at Disneyland Paris and the older one is getting dressed for the parks and all I can think about is my brother - their father - is ultra conservative and how I’d be up the proverbial creek when he sees how she was dressed in pictures. At the same time, my relationship with the older niece is not as easy as with her younger sister ... As I was trying to figure out how to tell her there was no way in Hades that she was going into the park dressed the way she was dressed, bless her younger sister who says « I don’t think your outfit will look very good in pictures ». The outfit was immediately changed and I didn’t have to be the bad guy

I can understand older teens because it is hard to tell an 18 year old how to dress. Technically they are an adult although parents can always use the "while you're living under my roof" card. But a 13/14 year old is just too young. I'm not even conservative but a 13 year old wearing a midriff baring tube top with nothing underneath and shorts that are so short you can see cheek is just not appropriate. People can call me a prude all they want but a kid should be a kid for as long as possible and not deal with the type of attention that comes with dressing like that. No matter what children that age think, they are still children, and are not ready for it. The parents should totally know better. I saw much older men checking out these young girls. If I was their dad, I would not want these men to have those thoughts of my little girl

 

[LeighM]

Wow. That rooms looks much nicer than I has in my head for Coronado.

The rooms at Coronado are so much better than other resorts. It's light and airy with so much storage space. It has sockets and USB plugs next to the bed. They really thought of everything when they renovated these rooms. Once they finish the tower and construction on the lake, it will be a very good place to stay! I think it is now but the construction does bother some people especially those closer to the tower in the cabanas section.

 

[aliceismad]

Sort of off topic, but I sympathize so much with you and your stomach/gallbladder issues. I had horrible chronic pains for a while that started right around my last WDW trip in 2017. (I'd had what the doctor later called gallbladder attacks for years, but this was suddenly like pain and nausea pretty much every day.) It was miserable at times. (They eventually pulled my gallbladder after my scan came back bad, and I have had very little problem since.) I really hope the ACV continues to help you!

 

[LeighM]

Sort of off topic, but I sympathize so much with you and your stomach/gallbladder issues. I had horrible chronic pains for a while that started right around my last WDW trip in 2017. (I'd had what the doctor later called gallbladder attacks for years, but this was suddenly like pain and nausea pretty much every day.) It was miserable at times. (They eventually pulled my gallbladder after my scan came back bad, and I have had very little problem since.) I really hope the ACV continues to help you!

I've been having issues with my gallbladder since I was about 16, when I had my first attack. The pain was so intense that I actually blacked out from it. Mom took me to ER but everything was fine and the doctors suggested that another issue was the cause. It wasn't. The early attacks had no rhyme or reason to them so the doctors never knew what was causing it. Finally, my PCP scheduled an ultrasound but by that time, the pain was gone and scan was normal. That happened off and on for years. Within the last year and a half, however, things changed for the worst. More frequent, longer lasting, pain was worse. Right before my WDW trip last year, I went to urgent care twice and ER once. But because the tests were fine, and they would push on it and no pain, they just brushed me off. When I went back to my PCP after the last ER visit, and I explained to him everything, he finally had a lightbulb moment. He was like if the gallbladder wasn't functioning properly, then all of the scans WOULD come back normal, and pushing on the gallbladder wouldn't cause pain because there was no inflammation. I was like "where the hell was this epiphany 20 years ago?!" But because I'm sensitive to most medications, he wants to postpone doing the official dye test because he's worried I'm going to have a similar reaction to what my Mom had - and she wasn't sensitive to medications etc. like I am. So before we even go that route and discuss removal, he wanted to see what diet changes would do. I added the ACV on my own after my body kept craving pickled beets. My husband asked me one day, "what if you're craving those beets because your body just wants the vinegar?" Then I had my own lightbulb moment. Once I added in the daily ACV, the cravings went away and pain got better. If only I can control the desire for creamy, dairy based sauces!!! Sometimes I just can't control the urge to have a good alfredo sauce I wouldn't be surprised if it has to be removed one day, especially since I've had issues with it for so long. Luckily though I don't have gallstones or blocked ducts. Then I would have no option. So fingers crossed the diet changes continue to help!

 

[aliceismad]

I've been having issues with my gallbladder since I was about 16, when I had my first attack. The pain was so intense that I actually blacked out from it. Mom took me to ER but everything was fine and the doctors suggested that another issue was the cause. It wasn't. The early attacks had no rhyme or reason to them so the doctors never knew what was causing it. Finally, my PCP scheduled an ultrasound but by that time, the pain was gone and scan was normal. That happened off and on for years. Within the last year and a half, however, things changed for the worst. More frequent, longer lasting, pain was worse. Right before my WDW trip last year, I went to urgent care twice and ER once. But because the tests were fine, and they would push on it and no pain, they just brushed me off. When I went back to my PCP after the last ER visit, and I explained to him everything, he finally had a lightbulb moment. He was like if the gallbladder wasn't functioning properly, then all of the scans WOULD come back normal, and pushing on the gallbladder wouldn't cause pain because there was no inflammation. I was like "where the hell was this epiphany 20 years ago?!" But because I'm sensitive to most medications, he wants to postpone doing the official dye test because he's worried I'm going to have a similar reaction to what my Mom had - and she wasn't sensitive to medications etc. like I am. So before we even go that route and discuss removal, he wanted to see what diet changes would do. I added the ACV on my own after my body kept craving pickled beets. My husband asked me one day, "what if you're craving those beets because your body just wants the vinegar?" Then I had my own lightbulb moment. Once I added in the daily ACV, the cravings went away and pain got better. If only I can control the desire for creamy, dairy based sauces!!! Sometimes I just can't control the urge to have a good alfredo sauce I wouldn't be surprised if it has to be removed one day, especially since I've had issues with it for so long. Luckily though I don't have gallstones or blocked ducts. Then I would have no option. So fingers crossed the diet changes continue to help!

Yup. Attacks for years. Pain no one could locate or replicate. Tests with no results. Sounds so very familiar. I was so thankful for that HIDA scan and the vindication I felt. My doc and I talked a lot about the pros/cons of surgery vs. trying more elimination diet and whatnot, but I was so nauseous for a while that I just wasn't functioning well. I really hope the diet changes work for you! I've read lots of success stories online!

 

[LeighM]

Yup. Attacks for years. Pain no one could locate or replicate. Tests with no results. Sounds so very familiar. I was so thankful for that HIDA scan and the vindication I felt. My doc and I talked a lot about the pros/cons of surgery vs. trying more elimination diet and whatnot, but I was so nauseous for a while that I just wasn't functioning well. I really hope the diet changes work for you! I've read lots of success stories online!

People that have never experienced gallbladder pain don't realize just how painful it can be. You would think that pain would be motivation enough to cut out the alfredo sauce completely, wouldn't you LOL? I think I figured that out though. I was having those cravings because my body needed more good fat. So I've added in smaller amounts of avocado oil and almond oil into my diet to control the urges for high fat foods. Just something you might want to keep in mind @Minnie1986 when you start your diet changes.