We are just back from our trip to the world October 10-17 at the Coronado Springs resort and while I have always had intentions of doing a post trip report on previous trips it just never seemed to get done so I thought I would take a shot at it on this nice Autumn morning here in PA.
We flew out of Phila via AitTran. Having flown all of our other trips with Southwest I was unsure about this but since the prices were $180 less with AirTran we made the decision to save the money. Trips down and back were uneventful and pretty much what you would expect. The only thing I can say is that Southwest has more comfortable seats as the ones on AirTran felt like park benches.
On arrival at MCO we used a car service from Happy Limousine instead of ME. We like doing this for the one complimentary stop on the way to our resort where we get a couple of cases of water, some beer and wine for the room and whatever other sundry items we forgot to pack. The other advantage to car service is the speed at which you are guaranteed to get to your resort and it lessens the chance of a log jam at check-in if half of the bus happens to be from your resort. This was out first time with Happy Limousine and the driver was very courteous and I enjoyed talking with him during the trip.
When we got to CSR the excellent service began and never let up. Check in was fast and informative and bell services took us right to our room via golf cart without having to ask. In fact they would not let us touch our luggage (in a nice way) and did everything they could to make check-in a great experience. The resort was beautiful and we loved the atmosphere. We were in a preferred room in Cabanas 8B which was centrally located to the pool and main building. I know that a lot of people would disagree but we found this resort much more enjoyable than our stay at POFQ last trip. The pool was awesome and the grounds were beautiful. The only real critique I would have is that I wish in their effort to be more energy efficient they would choose a nicer type of CFL bulbs for the lighting in the rooms. The lights that were over each bed reminded me of office lighting when they were turned on. The light is stark white and not very warm and relaxing at all. Other than that very small detail the stay was one of the best we have enjoyed so far at any of the resorts we stayed at.
State of the parks….
I have to say that with all the griping that goes on here on WDWMagic I had a pretty grim view of what I was to find going back from our last trip in Oct 2010. Maybe I am not as critical as some because our family had a great time and honestly could care less about three bulbs being out in Main Street USA and other small minutia. Crowd levels seemed very busy for this time of the year though and while I had grown to trust TouringPlans.com on previous trips their predictions were right out the window on this one and by day three I threw them in the trash. I also found that napkins are not as big a deal as everyone makes them out to be…at least for us. Brazillian tour groups were out in full force but other than that bringing the crowd levels higher they did not bother us.
The bad stuff…
Splash Mountian – down a good portion of the time we were there and in talking to a cast member many of the shut downs are due to lap bar malfunctions and the fact that to do a hard reset of the system takes an hour and a half. We did get on for ride the morning of our last day and even with all the problems it remains one of my favorites in the park. I cannot wait for the renovations to be begun in December to see what they can show some love to this classic.
Jungle Cruise – Another classic that we love. Yes it is not the most technologically advanced
attraction but it is quintessential Disney. The only thing I can say is that on both of our rides the female captains sounded like they had marbles in their mouths and seemed like they were “going through the motions”. I have enjoyed this ride for so many years but they need to send these cast members back to training and teach them how to have fun at their job.
Mickey’s Philharmagic – Seats are looking pretty crummy and worn on the bottoms. Still we loved the attraction and there are some good laughs in it!
MNSSHP – All I can say is that I will always have an issue being told I have to leave the park after paying full price for the day only to be told I need to pay to get back in. I know we are in the minority here but I could swallow it a whole lot easier if the general admission tickets were a few dollars less those days OR if they charged a few dollars less to get into the special ticketed events if you had already purchased general admission tickets for that day.
Soarin’ – Still a great ride but wait times were crazy probably due to the closing of Test Track and fast passes went like hot cakes. I just hope sometime soon they take time and money to remaster the film or change it up with a new film
The Living Seas – The seagulls out front were not working and neither were the waves. There is some sort of renovations being done to the left of the main entrance so maybe that had something to do with it.
Spaceship Earth – Other than the usual gripes about the descent I noticed that it seemed like I “felt” the ride more than ever. The cars are rather jerky when turning fully right or left or when they swivel backwards and I felt a lot of bumpiness from the tracks themselves. I have to say the animatronics looked great and were very smooth and fluid mimicking human movements very well though. They seem to have this part of the ride dialed in but I still miss the chariot disappearing into the distance in the roman scene.
TSMM – Ugh….what can I say except why is this ride broken down every time we try to ride it and why does it happen after we are a half hour into the wait?!
Fantasmic – I know I will catch flack for this but…I just don’t get it. This is the first time we saw this show and from what everyone has said I had hoped for so much more. The images on the fountains were hard to see and the boats the characters ride on looked like something a high school built for a Thanksgiving Day parade. While it is an excellent premise and story line I just don’t feel like it is presented well other than the few live scenes that Mickey is in.
Circusland – Or whatever they are calling this mess….pretty much nothing of value here and I have to say I think it is a waste of usable space and that the old MTTF (although not a favorite) brought more to the table than this new iteration. Other than dueling Dumbos it is easily passed over in our book.
That’s it for the bad that we noticed. None of that was earth shattering and none of it killed one bit of magic for us. We rode pretty much all of the big attractions, enjoyed some excellent eating and used EMH’s to their fullest. Below are some rambling thoughts and reviews of individual experiences.
California Grille – What can I saw but WOW! Food and service were superlative and the view of the fireworks was excellent. That having been said I would still rather be onMain Street for Wishes. We got to see a young fella propose to his girlfriend on the viewing deck just as Wishes started…well played my friend and kudos to you!!!! Looking forward to seeing what the re-do will be like that they have planned for December.
Flame Tree – This was our first time dining there and we thought it may be one of the best counter service meals we have tried.
Flights of Wonder – One of the most underrated live experience on property. If you have not taken this in I recommend it!
Expedition Everest - We rode eight times and while the Yeti is disappointing it is still one of DD favorites...and ours as well
Mission Space *orange* - DD and I rode this for the first time this year and loved it. While it is not as intense as I had thought it would be I still definitely felt my cheeks heading towards the back of my head! Great experience for those that are ok with the sensation.
ECV’s – Not nearly as bad as I had thought they would be from the posts on the forum. Are their people abusing it…sure but I did not think it was all too bad. I actually had more issue with people pushing strollers who think they are to be used like some sort of cloak of invincibility.
Idol Experience – While not my cup of tea by any stretch they do put on a good show for those who are into that sort of thing.
Food and Wine Fest – I have to say that this years offering of food that we tried was not that great. Most of what we tried was overly salty and lacking of any real taste. With the crowds that you have to endure to experience this I do not think we will do it again for a while in hopes that if we give it a break for a couple of trips that the experience will get better.
Crystal Palace breakfast – Remains our favorite breakfast on property and is consistently great time after time.
Rope Drop at MK – We had not seen RD since 2010 and I like the changes including the small fireworks display they are using to officially open the park.
What we were able to do in seven nights in no specific order.
Expedition Everest (x8)
Kilimanjaro Safari (x2)
Flights of Wonder
Festival of the Lion King
It’s Tough To Be A Bug
Dinosaur (x3)
Primevil Whirl
Spaceship Earth (x3)
Soarin’
Mission Space – 1,green 1, orange
Nemo atLivingSeas
RnR – (x3)
TSMM
Jungle Cruise (x2)
POTC
SplashMountain
BigThunderMountainRailroad (x4)
Haunted Mansion (x3) cemetery queue
Peter Pan
IASW
Mickeys Philharmagic
Space Montain (x4)
Winnie The pooh
MILF
The Great Movie Ride
StarTours(x7)
Walt Disney OMD – I have to say I enjoyed this tremendously!!!
Idol Experience
Alladins Magic Carpets
Swiss Family Tree House
Living with the Land
Wedway People Mover (it will always be called this to me)
I am sure I missed one or two but that pretty much sums it up. All in all it was an excellent trip with zero issues or problems that were memorable and we took advantage of the bounceback offer so we will be back to the world in September 2013 in a preferred room at CBR. We held back on the FLE soft openings as we really just want to see it in all its grandeur in a complete state on our next trip. Disney remains one of the greatest (and most exhausting) vacations we can imagine and we will be going long after DD has moved on to a life of her own someday. We joked around when we saw senior couples enjoying themselves that it will be us someday.
We flew out of Phila via AitTran. Having flown all of our other trips with Southwest I was unsure about this but since the prices were $180 less with AirTran we made the decision to save the money. Trips down and back were uneventful and pretty much what you would expect. The only thing I can say is that Southwest has more comfortable seats as the ones on AirTran felt like park benches.
On arrival at MCO we used a car service from Happy Limousine instead of ME. We like doing this for the one complimentary stop on the way to our resort where we get a couple of cases of water, some beer and wine for the room and whatever other sundry items we forgot to pack. The other advantage to car service is the speed at which you are guaranteed to get to your resort and it lessens the chance of a log jam at check-in if half of the bus happens to be from your resort. This was out first time with Happy Limousine and the driver was very courteous and I enjoyed talking with him during the trip.
When we got to CSR the excellent service began and never let up. Check in was fast and informative and bell services took us right to our room via golf cart without having to ask. In fact they would not let us touch our luggage (in a nice way) and did everything they could to make check-in a great experience. The resort was beautiful and we loved the atmosphere. We were in a preferred room in Cabanas 8B which was centrally located to the pool and main building. I know that a lot of people would disagree but we found this resort much more enjoyable than our stay at POFQ last trip. The pool was awesome and the grounds were beautiful. The only real critique I would have is that I wish in their effort to be more energy efficient they would choose a nicer type of CFL bulbs for the lighting in the rooms. The lights that were over each bed reminded me of office lighting when they were turned on. The light is stark white and not very warm and relaxing at all. Other than that very small detail the stay was one of the best we have enjoyed so far at any of the resorts we stayed at.
State of the parks….
I have to say that with all the griping that goes on here on WDWMagic I had a pretty grim view of what I was to find going back from our last trip in Oct 2010. Maybe I am not as critical as some because our family had a great time and honestly could care less about three bulbs being out in Main Street USA and other small minutia. Crowd levels seemed very busy for this time of the year though and while I had grown to trust TouringPlans.com on previous trips their predictions were right out the window on this one and by day three I threw them in the trash. I also found that napkins are not as big a deal as everyone makes them out to be…at least for us. Brazillian tour groups were out in full force but other than that bringing the crowd levels higher they did not bother us.
The bad stuff…
Splash Mountian – down a good portion of the time we were there and in talking to a cast member many of the shut downs are due to lap bar malfunctions and the fact that to do a hard reset of the system takes an hour and a half. We did get on for ride the morning of our last day and even with all the problems it remains one of my favorites in the park. I cannot wait for the renovations to be begun in December to see what they can show some love to this classic.
Jungle Cruise – Another classic that we love. Yes it is not the most technologically advanced
attraction but it is quintessential Disney. The only thing I can say is that on both of our rides the female captains sounded like they had marbles in their mouths and seemed like they were “going through the motions”. I have enjoyed this ride for so many years but they need to send these cast members back to training and teach them how to have fun at their job.
Mickey’s Philharmagic – Seats are looking pretty crummy and worn on the bottoms. Still we loved the attraction and there are some good laughs in it!
MNSSHP – All I can say is that I will always have an issue being told I have to leave the park after paying full price for the day only to be told I need to pay to get back in. I know we are in the minority here but I could swallow it a whole lot easier if the general admission tickets were a few dollars less those days OR if they charged a few dollars less to get into the special ticketed events if you had already purchased general admission tickets for that day.
Soarin’ – Still a great ride but wait times were crazy probably due to the closing of Test Track and fast passes went like hot cakes. I just hope sometime soon they take time and money to remaster the film or change it up with a new film
The Living Seas – The seagulls out front were not working and neither were the waves. There is some sort of renovations being done to the left of the main entrance so maybe that had something to do with it.
Spaceship Earth – Other than the usual gripes about the descent I noticed that it seemed like I “felt” the ride more than ever. The cars are rather jerky when turning fully right or left or when they swivel backwards and I felt a lot of bumpiness from the tracks themselves. I have to say the animatronics looked great and were very smooth and fluid mimicking human movements very well though. They seem to have this part of the ride dialed in but I still miss the chariot disappearing into the distance in the roman scene.
TSMM – Ugh….what can I say except why is this ride broken down every time we try to ride it and why does it happen after we are a half hour into the wait?!
Fantasmic – I know I will catch flack for this but…I just don’t get it. This is the first time we saw this show and from what everyone has said I had hoped for so much more. The images on the fountains were hard to see and the boats the characters ride on looked like something a high school built for a Thanksgiving Day parade. While it is an excellent premise and story line I just don’t feel like it is presented well other than the few live scenes that Mickey is in.
Circusland – Or whatever they are calling this mess….pretty much nothing of value here and I have to say I think it is a waste of usable space and that the old MTTF (although not a favorite) brought more to the table than this new iteration. Other than dueling Dumbos it is easily passed over in our book.
That’s it for the bad that we noticed. None of that was earth shattering and none of it killed one bit of magic for us. We rode pretty much all of the big attractions, enjoyed some excellent eating and used EMH’s to their fullest. Below are some rambling thoughts and reviews of individual experiences.
California Grille – What can I saw but WOW! Food and service were superlative and the view of the fireworks was excellent. That having been said I would still rather be onMain Street for Wishes. We got to see a young fella propose to his girlfriend on the viewing deck just as Wishes started…well played my friend and kudos to you!!!! Looking forward to seeing what the re-do will be like that they have planned for December.
Flame Tree – This was our first time dining there and we thought it may be one of the best counter service meals we have tried.
Flights of Wonder – One of the most underrated live experience on property. If you have not taken this in I recommend it!
Expedition Everest - We rode eight times and while the Yeti is disappointing it is still one of DD favorites...and ours as well
Mission Space *orange* - DD and I rode this for the first time this year and loved it. While it is not as intense as I had thought it would be I still definitely felt my cheeks heading towards the back of my head! Great experience for those that are ok with the sensation.
ECV’s – Not nearly as bad as I had thought they would be from the posts on the forum. Are their people abusing it…sure but I did not think it was all too bad. I actually had more issue with people pushing strollers who think they are to be used like some sort of cloak of invincibility.
Idol Experience – While not my cup of tea by any stretch they do put on a good show for those who are into that sort of thing.
Food and Wine Fest – I have to say that this years offering of food that we tried was not that great. Most of what we tried was overly salty and lacking of any real taste. With the crowds that you have to endure to experience this I do not think we will do it again for a while in hopes that if we give it a break for a couple of trips that the experience will get better.
Crystal Palace breakfast – Remains our favorite breakfast on property and is consistently great time after time.
Rope Drop at MK – We had not seen RD since 2010 and I like the changes including the small fireworks display they are using to officially open the park.
What we were able to do in seven nights in no specific order.
Expedition Everest (x8)
Kilimanjaro Safari (x2)
Flights of Wonder
Festival of the Lion King
It’s Tough To Be A Bug
Dinosaur (x3)
Primevil Whirl
Spaceship Earth (x3)
Soarin’
Mission Space – 1,green 1, orange
Nemo atLivingSeas
RnR – (x3)
TSMM
Jungle Cruise (x2)
POTC
SplashMountain
BigThunderMountainRailroad (x4)
Haunted Mansion (x3) cemetery queue
Peter Pan
IASW
Mickeys Philharmagic
Space Montain (x4)
Winnie The pooh
MILF
The Great Movie Ride
StarTours(x7)
Walt Disney OMD – I have to say I enjoyed this tremendously!!!
Idol Experience
Alladins Magic Carpets
Swiss Family Tree House
Living with the Land
Wedway People Mover (it will always be called this to me)
I am sure I missed one or two but that pretty much sums it up. All in all it was an excellent trip with zero issues or problems that were memorable and we took advantage of the bounceback offer so we will be back to the world in September 2013 in a preferred room at CBR. We held back on the FLE soft openings as we really just want to see it in all its grandeur in a complete state on our next trip. Disney remains one of the greatest (and most exhausting) vacations we can imagine and we will be going long after DD has moved on to a life of her own someday. We joked around when we saw senior couples enjoying themselves that it will be us someday.
