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!

 

[DiSnEyF@n]

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!

Yay!!! You're going back!!! How wonderful!

 

[Brickcity Pauly]

Very Excited! We usually go once a year. This will be the first time we've been there twice in one year!

 

[mrdrift]

What wonderful news about the return trip in September. Included was a great day at Animal Kingdom, and just love those Mickey premium bars a must have one a day. Following along.

 

[JohnWD]

I am so enjoying your TR - thank you for sharing!

 

[Brickcity Pauly]

WDWMagic Readers: Please subscribe/like/comment on me and my daughter's Disney Youtube Channel! There's only a slideshow of this trip, but we'll also make a slideshow of some other trips as well as start VLOG'ing our next trip! Please help make it a success! Link is in my sig. Thanks!

Tomorrow I will post our day at EPCOT!!!!

 

[Brickcity Pauly]

Friday April 3rd, EPCOT


Ahhhh...a favorite day for me here! We got to experience TWO table service restaurants in one day, as well as walk EPCOT on a beautiful 90 degree day during F&G Festival.


We woke up Friday morning and I went to the gym at Coronado and had a small bite to eat at Pepper Market. There was no time for the pool today, as we had to get to Epcot by 12pm for our first FP for Soarin', a ride I like, but generally refuse to wait in a line for.


We ended up having to wait for a bus to EPCOT for a little bit longer than we had anticipated and arrived at EPCOT around noon. We did some photopass photography around Spaceship Earth and then had to have a quick walk to Soarin', as to miss our FP...and then get to Italy by 1:30! I don't think my daughter and I have ever speed-walked a park like that before! Luckily at Soarin', we were loaded on to the ride even faster, as they needed a party with 2 people and that just happened to be us! Enjoyable as always (except for the lady next to me who kept talking during it, and looking ALL AROUND the theater, away from the screen) we then exited the ride to start our very quick walk over to Italy. And then there it was, Tutto Italia.


Now, I have heard such great things about Via Napoli many many times. But I always wanted to try the Italian food...not just pizza (which I'm not a fan of at Disney, at all!) I was impressed! We were seated almost immediately, having just made our reservation. I started with a bottle of Pellegrino mineral water and a glass of Pinot Grigio. Being an Italian myself, I started the meal with their antipasto, which was great! While eating that, I decided that I’d try the Ravioli di Ricotta which was served with a white sauce with bits of sausage. It was delicious. My daughter had the Fettuccine Campagnole with no tomato. For desert I enjoyed a cannoli, which was every bit as good as I’ve had at any pastry shop in Jersey or New York. My daughter had the chocolate gelato and I sipped on a cappuccino. We knew at that point, that this was a MUST DO for us for every other trip. We couldn’t have been more pleased. Great service and great food!


After our meal, the digestion process had to begin with those full stomachs! We stopped by to watch The American Adventure, which I enjoyed but put my daughter to sleep, almost. J We walked to France, where we witnessed the street show where chairs and tables were stacked on top of one another, while a young “waiter” balanced on each as it grew higher and higher. Very entertaining. We continued our walk until we got to Canada, where I was ready to take it down a notch and watch their circle vision movie while enjoying the air conditioning. From there it was time to head back to Future World for a little while, as we wanted to ride Journey and The Land. I hadn’t been on The Land for quite some time and it was my daughter’s first. We enjoyed both, but in doing so, missed our FP+ for Mission Space. That was totally ok with me, as it’s not something I usually go out of my way for. We headed to Club Cool, another new thing for us. Beverly L. So bad. We decided to go head to Test Track at this point, as we had some time to kill before our reservation at La Hacienda De San Angel. Test Track was awesome as always and I had its music stuck in my head for the rest of the night.


Following Test Track, we started making our way back to the World Showcase where I wanted to ride the Grand Fiesta Tour before we ate dinner. We went on the boat ride and hung out in the pavilion for a little while. We then walked across the pat to La Hacienda. There was a great atmosphere there with a wonderful view of the world showcase lagoon. Now, we didn’t have the greatest service at La Hacienda. We seemed to be the exception, however. Our waitress was simply very slow and forgetful and seemed preoccupied with other tables. I’m usually not one to complain about these things, as everyone has a bad day or moment. But she was just slow. It took her at least 15 minutes to come over to us and get my appetizer order. I had the gorditas, which were very good. The tortilla chips we shared at the table with salsa were quite tasty as well. For dinner, we ordered the family platter which had steak, chicken and chorizo. It was all so good! It was served with some kind of rice and corn and vegetables. My daughter typically doesn’t enjoy Mexican, but she loved this! For desert she had the chocolate mousse and I had the Empanada de Manzana, which was served with a delicious caramel ice cream. To top it all off, right when we got our deserts, Illuminations started! We actually hadn’t planned on that until we got there at 7:30…it was a great coincidence and surprise.


After dinner, we went back to Test Track one more time and then began the walk over to Spaceship Earth. Usually I ride this when first entering the park, however due to needing to get to Soarin’ so quickly, we had to bypass it until now. Always happy to get to Spaceship Earth and smell it, see it and take it all in. We never actually got over to The Seas, as I usually like to see the fish and do Turtle Talk. But that will be fresh for us next time!


As always, a great day at Epcot!


Stay tuned for Saturday April 4th…Magic Kingdom day and the Splash Mountain Photo reveal!