Trip Report Our best trip yet!

So as I sit here, 4 days removed from WDW, suffering from a good but of Disney Depression, I figured a trip report might be my to fight it!

This year, my 14 year old DD and I traveled to Orlando from 3/31/15 to 4/7/15. This was our first year doing a split stay (first night at the Contemporary, theme park view and the other 6 nights were Coronado Springs Resort), our first trip with Park Hopper (we didn't even use it once) and our first trip with Table Service Meals included in the dining plan.

The previous trips we had only ever had the QS dining plan and always stayed at Pop Century and had never used any form of transportation other than the bus. Needless to say, this year was going to take us out of our usual routine. And it was great. As my daughter has matured into a young lady, our vacation has matured as well, and we couldn't be happier!

We flew out of Baltimore (BWI) at 6:15 am on 3/31/15. We love to do this as it puts us in Orlando by 8:30 and usually on the Magical Express by 9:15 or 9:30 am. This trip was no different as we had no delays or anything holding us back. There was a little wait, in waiting for our bus to fill up at DME, but after that we were on our way!

Now is the part where I'd need to note that it had always been a dream for my daughter and I to stay in a tower room at the Contemporary. From the first moment we saw it back in 2007, we were in love with it's look and wondered what it would be like to stay there. Needless to say, we were very excited during our bus ride there. We got there around 10:45am and checked in. Our room wasn't ready yet, so we gave our bags to Bell Services and changed into some shorts we had in our carry-on's. From there, we explored a little bit of the hotel, gift shops, café and surrounding Bay Lake Tower. I was unaware that I would be unable to access the 16th floor observation deck from BLT, so that was a bummer.


From that point, it was time to get on the monorail for the first time and head to Magic Kingdom, as we had fast passes for Splash Mountain at 11:45am!

 

[corey154]

Awww, I'm still dreaming of staying at Contemporary with park view. Sounds like it was a fun trip! Hope there's more to follow!

 

[Brickcity Pauly]

There absolutely will me more to follow! I'm trying to figure out of it will be easier to post pics that pertain to the story as I write, or if it's easier to save them all for the end.

Anyway, for Splash Mountain, we were practicing a pose for a few nights later, when we'd have a prop available. This made for an awkward ride photo, but we were ok with that. From there, we were very excited to go to our favorite Quick Service spot as we were hungry; Pecos Bill's! Unfortunately what we found was a shell of it's former self. They no longer offer the steak and chicken combo and they no longer offer the taco salad in a tortilla bowl! This was somewhat upsetting because it differentiated itself from all the other QS spots because of those two items. We contemplated Tortuga Tavern, but just ended up eating at Pecos, possibly for one of the last times.

Having been awake since 3:30am, we naturally got tired at a few points in the day. We were prepared for that, and headed to Tomorrowland so that we could use our FP for Space Mountain and also take in the Peoplemover and Carousel of Progress. It was a crowded day at the park but with our FP+, we knew these were things we could get done in an hour.

 

[Hannah99]

Contemporary?! Ah that sounds like so much fun! I can't wait to read the rest of your TR and see this Splash Mountain prop of yours... And through 4/7 hmmm... I wonder if we ever bumped into each other, or were at least in the same park lol. Following along!

 

[FlaggNL]

Great start of the TR! Love to see and read more! Thanks for sharing your trip!!

 

[mrdrift]

Wonderful star to the trip report. My family wants to stay at the Contemporary resort on an upcoming trip. Following along.

 

[Brickcity Pauly]

Thanks for reading!

So as we made our way to Tomorrowland (one of my favorite places!) we used our FP for Space Mountain and went on some other things in the area (Stitch, Peoplemover and CoP). Around this time I received a text that our room was ready, so we hopped on the Monorail and went to the Contemporary to look at our room and call Bell services to have our luggage delivered.

Our room was beautiful and was just about as spectacular as I could have imagined it. See pics above for the room and our view. We were careful not to sit down or get too comfy in there though, as we had already been awake for 12+ hours at this point, with a long night ahead. Plus we had a dinner reservation at Tony's Town Square Restaurant at 5:45 PM, our first TS reservation and one I did not want to miss. So after spending maybe 30 minutes in the room, my daughter and I got back on the monorail headed for the Kingdom.

We arrived at Tony's right around 5:40 and had a 5 to 7 minute wait before we were seated. It was our first time here, so I took in about as much as I could, but I was very hungry as well and was excited for the meal!


Fresh mozzarella, tomatoes with a raspberry vinaigrette for an appetizer.
I had the cannelloni for entrée (my daughter had the chicken parmesan, not pictured). It was stuffed with sausage and ricotta.
For desert we split some chocolate gelato and I had a cappuccino.

I enjoyed Tony's and will definitely go back. My daughter just seemed to think it was pretty average. I told her maybe she just wasn't a fan of the chicken parm (she's spoiled by my mom's great Italian cooking).

The time was around 7pm by this point, so I had 15 minutes before my FP expired on a ride we had waited over 2 years to ride, The Seven Dwarves Mine Train!

 

[CheersBigEars]

Following along. Great start to your TR.

 

[Hope15]

Following! My family and I stayed at the very end of the Contemporary with a TP view. Best view ever

 

[dolce20]

Love the mother-daughter trip idea! Sounds like good fun and bonding time. Glad you enjoyed

 

[Zipadeelady]

following along!!

 

[Brickcity Pauly]

Well, this was a father/daughter trip...but I'm glad to inspire!



I had written out a long, end to our day post, and then the network crashed and I lost it.



We had a FP+ for SDMT for every trip to MK, seeing that it's a new ride and all and the average wait times we were seeing were somewhere around 100 minutes, actually seeing it at 140 minutes at one point. I enjoyed the ride and the way it's themed...it's beautiful inside and out. I knew that it wasn't supposed to be some crazy coaster thrill ride...it resides in Fantasyland after all! I thought the ride portion was fun, the dark ride was fun as well...loved the animatronics and everything in the mine! Don't forget the dancing scene at the end, with a surprise visitor! All in all, I enjoyed the ride and I'd give it maybe a 7 or 8 out of 10. My main complaint is wishing the ride were a little longer, even if only the dark ride portion.



After that, we made our way to Pirates since the wait was down to 15 minutes there. Always a good time.



We decided it would be best to take advantage of our Theme Park View room and go to our balcony and watch Wishes and call it a night. It was beautiful and worth every penny, just for that moment. We were also able to watch the Electrical Water Parade from our balcony as well. Great moment for my daughter and I.



My daughter was then able to talk me back into going back to the park one more time, utilizing the monorail in our lobby and being right next door to MK. I obliged, but probably should have done so with another cup of coffee or two. I was exhausted, having been up since 3:30 am...but we made it back to MK and went straight for the world famous Jungle Cruise! That could wake me for a few moments at least! After that, we went over to Haunted Mansion. We probably should have called it a day after that one, because I can barely recall what we did next. I know we went to Small World and checked that one off the list, and we hit PhilHarmagic and the Voyage of the Little Mermaid at that point as well. At that point...I was done...toast. Haha. We headed back to Main Street as the 12:15am Main Street Electrical Parade was going on and walked back to the Contemporary, not before grabbing a box of popcorn to eat on the walk back.


All in all, it was a very tiring (as day 1 always is for us!) but Magical and wonderful day!

 

[12in12]

I hear the music in my head when I look at your photos of the MSEP.
And wow, watching Wishes from your balcony must have been so magical. Could you hear the music?

 

[Brickcity Pauly]

Yes, we could hear all of the music, which surprised me and made it so great!

 

[12in12]

I have eaten at the CG a few times and loved the view from there for Wishes but sitting on your own balcony must be even better. I am looking forward to rest of your report.

 

[Brickcity Pauly]

Day 2!

We slept in til about 9 am or so at the Contemporary, and might have even longer if not for the celebrations at Chef Mickey's waking me, which was fine. This was a morning where we had to pack up a little bit and transfer over to Coronado. I really felt that a 2nd night in a Deluxe Theme Park View room would have been best, getting to experience it a little longer than day 1...but the price jump for the room for the night on April 1st was incredible...it was just too much for me to justify.

This was the day that the weather looked like there would be the least amount of clouds, so we planned it as a Typhoon Lagoon day, with some Downtown Disney and Earl of Sandwich at night!

Bell Services was great in taking our luggage from our room and getting it over to Coronado Springs. We decided to walk to MK and take the bus to Coronado, to at least check in before we headed to Typhoon Lagoon. Check in was quick and easy and even just at 11 am, our room was ready. I had requested a room as close to El Centro (main building) as possible. They housed us in the Casitas, which was right next El Centro and not too far from the gym either.

After seeing our room, it was time to head to the Lagoon and straight to the wave pool! I'd say a good portion of my TL days are usually spent in the wave pool and lazy river. We also did a few of the single raft rides, gangplank falls, Humunga Cowabunga and the Storm Slides. We didn't make it over the Crush N Gusher this year...and I had a pact with my daughter not to make her do Shark Reef ever again, haha. We stayed at TL until close, spending the last 45 minutes back in the wave pool. We had a QS lunch around 2 or 3 pm, just chicken tenders and fries.

Back to Coronado and had our bags delivered to our room and we showered and got ready for a little evening at Downtown Disney and Earl Of Sandwich, a favorite of my daughter. Other than the usual shopping and taking in sites, it was a slow paced evening which is needed every now and then. We each bought a few souvenirs and enjoyed our evening.

That about wraps up day 2!

 

[DiSnEyF@n]

I'm loving your father/daughter trip report!!! It sounds like you had a wonderful time. Looking forward to reading more!

 

[Ariel1986]

Loving this! Looking forward to reading more

 

[mrdrift]

Wonderful father /daughter report. Seems like the two of you are having a wonderful time. Following along.

 

[Brickcity Pauly]

Sorry it's been so long between updates! The real world always has a way of creeping in and keeping me from Disney! But...I also just booked another trip for my daughter and I on 9/15/15 for 6 nights...the free dining plan was calling my name! Plus it will be the first night on the Not So Scary Halloween Party, which we have never seen. It should be great!

So I had left off on Wednesday April 1st with our TL Waterpark and Downtown Disney day/night. We move on to:

Thursday April 2nd- Disney's Animal Kingdom

This was the first day where we had decided to hang out at Coronado in the morning, so that we could enjoy the pool. But first, I was off to La Vida Health/Fitness club to get a workout in. I know, I know...it sounds crazy to many people to workout on your vacation, especially one where you're walking for miles everyday anyway. But I typically go to the gym 6 days a week...it makes me feel great! I liked the gym, located by the quiet pool. It also offered spa services which I did not partake in. It was small as I expected, but there were never more than 2-3 people in there with me, so it had everything you'd need for a quick 45-60 minute workout.

After the gym, it was time to head to the Dig Site for the first time. The Dig Site is Coronado's main pool and playground. It offers the pool, hot tub, waterslide, sandpit volleyball, quick service snack bar and bar, arcade and childrens play area. We were mostly interested in the pool and water slide, The Jaguar Slide! Loved it. I've heard it's a good one for the moderates, but seeing as this was our first moderate, it was great! We hung out there for about an hour, got a late breakfast at Pepper Market (I had some platter withy eggs, bacon, ham, home fries and a biscuit), showered and headed off to the park.

We had three fast passes for the day, Kilimanjaro, Everest and Khali Rapids. But first, after exploring the wildlife upon entering the park, it was off to "It's Tough to be a Bug" which I always enjoy. My daughter and I always try to figure out how many children will have to be rushed out of there due to fear. It was only 3 this time. We were off to the Jungle Trek at that point, after which, we both enjoyed our first Mickey's premium bar of the trip. It was then time for our FP on Expedition Everest, always a favorite of my daughter and mine. I enjoy the queue there as well, filled with all kinds of interesting info and artifacts. It seemed like the strobe light by the broken down Yeti was brighter this time, which gave the appearance of movement, to us anyway.

Back over to Africa after that as it was getting closer to our FP for Kilimanjaro (our favorite!)...but first, our traditional stop at the Harambe Fruit market, for a snack of cheese, crackers, grapes and strawberries. We then loaded on the safari vehicle and went about our journey. Great as always, but we did not see the lions this time. We did get a great look at both cheetah's though. The Giraffe's were very close to our vehicle as well. I didn't take any pictures this time, as I usually do every year and it was nice just to sit back and relax this time. My daughter was taking a lot though. We enjoyed it so much, that we looked at the MDE app and saw there was only a 20 min wait and we got right back on! Never did 2 rides in a row, but we loved it! After that we did the Pangani Forest Trail. We got to see a baby gorilla harassing it's father, who swatted it away after pulling on dad's ears for a while. Ha! The Gorillas are always our favorite part of Pangani.

Off to Khali before our 6pm dinner reservation at Yak and Yeti! Now, as a child, I often laughed at the people who would go on water rides (the ones where you get soaked, not flumes) with ponchos. Well, we're officially that family I guess. We brought our ponchos with us that we had purchased the prior year and put those on before boarding at Khali. I just don't like to be THAT wet when I'm still going to be walking the park and eating at a sit-down restaurant.

Yak & Yeti time, our first time here (as it was at every TS restaurant). I loved it. I love how at every place, they'll ask you if you've been there before and if not, basically give you a tour and answer any questions. We were seated upstairs right by a window, overlooking Asia. It was nice. I started off with the pot-stickers which were great. I ordered a steak with coconut shrimp, mashed potatoes and veggies, while my daughter has some chicken lo-mein. We were both very pleased with our selections and are definitely going back. For desert I had a cheesecake with mango sauce I believe, while she had a piece of chocolate cake with raspberry drizzle. Great service and a great meal.

Times at Everest were now short, so we rode again 3 times in a row! My daughter loves being able to do that.

Headed over to Dinoland USA to ride Dinosaur, of which there was no wait for. It was approaching 8pm park closure at this point and my daughter and I realized that we have never been here in the dark!

After that, we took the bus back to Coronado for an early night...because EPCOT would be the next day!