This seemed to be the first morning where we weren't rushing to get out the door and to the parks. So instead of heading right out, we decided to do some more exploring of the grounds of the lovely Coronado Springs Resort. I had stayed here on a previous trip so I was already familiar with most of the resort, but I wanted my mom and cousin to get to see more of it. It is funny that it took us 5 days to actually look around our resort. But I'm sorry, our room was literally 8 steps from the bus stop. Can you blame us that we only walked to and from the bus stop each and every day thus far?
Welcome to the Blog!
While I would like to think I will offer the best and most up to date information that is out there about Disney, it simply cannot be true. There are too many amazing blogs out there that already do that. And to be honest, I just don't have the time! However, I will offer my honest opinions and experiences as frequently as possible. This blog is simply a way to document my experiences and collect my thoughts while talking about the love of my life, Walt Disney World and Disney in general. Thanks for reading!
Friday December 6th, 2013
This seemed to be the first morning where we weren't rushing to get out the door and to the parks. So instead of heading right out, we decided to do some more exploring of the grounds of the lovely Coronado Springs Resort. I had stayed here on a previous trip so I was already familiar with most of the resort, but I wanted my mom and cousin to get to see more of it. It is funny that it took us 5 days to actually look around our resort. But I'm sorry, our room was literally 8 steps from the bus stop. Can you blame us that we only walked to and from the bus stop each and every day thus far?
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It has seriously taken me this long to get over to Epcot?
That NEVER happens. Thursday, December 5th, 2013 Ok so you probably have guessed it. Today was Epcot day! FINALLY! Not only was it Epcot day, it was surprise day for my mom. We had planned a Candlelight Processional Lunch Package months ago and this was the only reservation we kept from my mom during our entire planning process. I'm not really sure why I decided to keep it a secret, I just thought it would be fun. I will be honest, the Candlelight Processional is not something I've ever been all that interested in. Yes I love the Christmas story, yes I love celebrities, yes I love candles.....I dunno...I guess I've always just been too busy doing other stuff and haven't wanted to stop to get in line or pay the extra to secure my space. But I knew that she would just be OVER THE MOON about it. So this trip we decided it was time to experience it. At least once. And luckily I was able to snag a Biergarten lunch reservation for it which is the cheapest one possible. Good news also, I LOVE Biergarten. So it's really a win win for everyone involved. So again I am cheating with my "only eat at different restaurants" approach, but I justified it in the fact that the Candlelight Processional package was new to me. So there! We arrived at Epcot fairly bright and early. We rode Spaceship Earth right away and had fastpass plus selections for Soarin and Test Track anywhere from 9 to 11. Luckily I made the reservations before the dreaded tier system was put into place! We were stopped twice during our Test Track ride for several minutes. I have not had a seamless ride on Test Track in several years. And no, it wasn't raining. Some entrance photos... Wednesday, December 4th, 2013 Day three of our adventure began with a very exciting breakfast reservation....The Kona Cafe. Now, I have been to Kona several times for dinner. It actually is one of my favorite restaurants on property when it comes to dinner. But I had yet to try it for breakfast. I really am not a huge breakfast person. Don't get me wrong, I like breakfast, but let's be honest...in the morning at Walt Disney World I would much rather be sleeping or rope dropping. Take your pick. We headed out bright and early to catch our Magic Kingdom bus. My experience with the bus service at Coronado Springs has always been stellar. But for some reason throughout this entire trip it was extremely hard to get a Magic Kingdom bus. Six buses for Animal Kingdom would come before a Magic Kingdom bus. It was insane. We started out a little over an hour before our reservation, we arrived at the Magic Kingdom with exactly 10 minutes until our reservation. This is from exiting the bus. We still had to sprint to the monorail and make a stop at the Contemporary and TTC before arriving at Kona. I was extremely nervous due to the new "no show, no cancellation" fee that Disney is supposedly charging people for missing their reservations. We finally arrived, about ten minutes late, but luckily the hostess was very understanding and we were not penalized and there happened to be plenty of tables available. Now on to the good stuff!! I just had to try the Tonga Toast! The Disney community as a whole talks about this particular meal more than anything so I decided it was time. I needed to see exactly what all the fuss was about. For any of you who may not know the Tonga Toast is banana stuffed sourdough bread, rolled in cinnamon sugar and served with Strawberry Compote. All in all, I have to say that I really did love it. It was worth checking out for sure and I will say it does live up to the hype. I am not great at describing tastes and flavors so I apologize for not being more descriptive. The strawberry sauce was one of my favorite things about it as well as the cinnamon sugar glaze.....YUMMMMM. I will definitely be going back to Kona for breakfast at some point. After breakfast we were of course headed into the Magic Kingdom for our one and only day trip to MK. We returned later in the week at night, but this was the one day to try to get to the things we had planned. Most importantly was New Fantasyland. My mom and cousin had yet to see it, so we had plans to spend the majority of our time there. But not before we took some more pics at the Polynesian and made a quick stop to the Grand Floridian to check out some more Xmas decorations! So as you probably already know, I just recently was able to take my annual trip to Walt Disney World! One of my favorite themed areas in New Fantasyland was definitely Storybook Circus. Now, Dumbo was never a favorite of mine but ever since experiencing the new area, I can't seem to get enough of Dumbo. I had to get several pins for my collection, I bought a mug to bring to work, and I got my baby girl a baby Dumbo animal to play with. I am loving on the Dumbo!
I decided that a couple of Storybook Circus themed pins would be a good option for my next giveaway. I hope that you all love Dumbo as much as I do! Please enter to win in the Rafflecopter below. Ahhh how I love Coronado Springs in the morning! But we had places to go and people to see so we headed to the concierge lounge for a small bite to eat and coffee and then we were out of there pretty quick! First stop...Animal Kingdom! Tuesday December 3rd, 2013 I was especially excited for this day of our trip because not only were we headed to one of my absolute favorite parks, we were also about to embark on something I had never done before at Walt Disney World and has been on my bucket list for a long time....The Wild Africa Trek. Our tour was not until 11. I had tried previously to get an earlier time for better animal viewing but it was not available and I did not want to miss it. When we arrived at Animal Kingdom we took our time making our way to the Tree of Life and decided to head towards Harambe first. I am in the minority that on most trips we usually go right at the Tree and experience Dinoland and Everest first. We never were rope droppers for the safari, although after listening to the amazing Radio Harambe podcast I realized that we should have been hitting the safari first in order to see the most animals. It totally makes sense doesn't it? I just never had thought of it before. We had about an hour until the tour began so we really just took our time taking in all the sights and sounds of morning in Harambe. We decided to stroll through the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail, a favorite of mine. We had some fairly good views of the Gorillas. They were out and active but there was one who was more up close who was definitely toying with me. He/she had their back to us and would NOT turn around. I really wanted to get some great pictures of him/her but they were being stubborn. It was now time for the most exciting part, the Wild Africa Trek. I'd like to save my review on this topic for a future blog post in my "Completing the Disney Bucket List" series (and I will shoot for sooner rather than later). But what I will say that it was amazing, amazing, AMAZING! I still find the price to be extreme. I hate that most people who go to Walt Disney World will never get to experience this or even know about it because it really was that good. I am glad at least that part of that ticket price goes toward conservation. I would like to know how much really goes towards it, but I would hope a good portion. Here are a couple spoiler pics from the Trek.
It's my favorite time of the month! You guessed it! It's KILL REFURB MARRY time with Mouse on the Mind and This Happy Place Blog! If you aren't familiar with the rules, every month they choose a category that relates to Walt Disney World. You then have to choose within that category what you would kill, refurb, and marry. This month's category is AERIAL SPINNER RIDES. You would think this one would be easy right? I mean there aren't that many options. But I'm finding that less options means well just that....less options! I can admit that I don't really LOVE or HATE any of these attractions strongly enough to have concrete choices. But alas...I must choose. You know what was really hard??? Finding pictures of these attractions that I actually took! Shows how much I like aerial spinner rides... KILL: TRICERA-TOP SPIN I have nothing specific against Tricera-Top Spin, I just feel that thematically it is probably the least appealing of the aerial spinner tides. It's not pretty like Dumbo, it doesn't have spitting camels like the magic carpets, it's not up high....so therefore less appealing. "Chester and Hester land" is not anywhere near my favorite place in Animal Kingdom and if you read my last Kill Refurb Marry post you would know that I tried to kill Dinosaur. So maybe I just have something against dinosaurs all together. I pretty much wish they were extinct. There....I said it. REFURB: ASTRO ORBITER I really like Astro Orbiter and there is nothing better than being up that high in the Magic Kingdom especially when it's dark outside. It's a solid spinner and actually probably one of the best in terms of coolness. So why refurb? Well it's simple, I've only ever been on the ride twice. Once as a child and once as an adult. That one time as an adult made me realize why this is a child's ride. It could by my own fault for thinking two of us could fit in the thing, but my mother and I tried to get in one car together and we were so jammed together it was probably the most uncomfortable minute and a half of my life. The ride vehicles are hard, small, and just plain no fun! Make em' bigger cause I wanna ride! MARRY: MAGIC CARPETS OF ALADDIN It's possible that I am way in the minority on this one, but I am going to scream it from a mountaintop....I LOVE MAGIC CARPETS OF ALADDIN!!! To be honest, this was one that I ignored for a really long time. The lines always seems pretty long, I thought it was just for kids, and there were other things in Adventureland I was sprinting to get to so I just never stopped. Then one night we were in the parks late and the line was extremely manageable so we decided to give it a shot. I can't explain to you my joy during these next moments of my fairly already joy-filled life! This ride is SO fun you guys! Not to mention it is just too cute for words. I love the ride vehicles and the fact that I was able to steer up and down with no problems. The newly renovated Dumbo ride that I just went on last month didn't even work, but the magic carpets did! Sure I suppose it takes up some space in Adventureland but I think it's adorable. I got spit on last trip as well and it made me smile. LOVE LOVE LOVE let's fly away together on a magic carpet! Want to play along? Join the Blog Hop below! And make sure to check out all the other great sites who played along too! Located at the very back of the France pavilion is a theatre that houses what I feel is the very best film attraction to be found in Epcot. Impressions de France is an 18 minute journey through the beautiful countrysides and towns of France backed by gorgeous classical music that is sure to make anyone want to visit for themselves. Such parts of the country as Normandy, Paris, Cannes, Cognac, and many more are shown and it gives a great view of all that France has to offer. Although it is not a CircleVision 360 film like the ones found in Canada and China, this film can still hold its own in the realm of World Showcase attractions. The music is almost haunting at times and the scenes are nothing short of breathtaking which makes this film my absolute favorite and a must see for your vacation. It’s tucked away to the back of the pavilion and can almost be mistaken for another shop or restaurant so if you haven’t experienced this film before, make sure you explore France a little more carefully on your next visit.
Which World Showcase film is your favorite? It's been a month since my Walt Disney World vacation and life has been a whirlwind ever since. I've totally neglected the blog even though the recent trip should have served as the much needed inspiration for blog topics that I was lacking prior. However, with vacations, come extreme overload of catching up at your regular job. Well that is what it means if you are me anyways. I have been so behind ever since that I haven't had more than 2 seconds to even get a trip report up. Let's hope I still remember. Monday December 2nd, 2013 I usually choose the earliest flight possible in order to get in the most time at WDW as possible. That was before I had children however. Children I would be leaving for the week who I wanted to make sure I could see that day. This trip was one I agonized over for quite a while due to the fact that it would be the first time I had left my daughter for more than maybe a date night or two. I also agonized over whether or not I should just take her. She is currently 18 months old. But to be perfectly honest, when it comes to WDW I believe myself to be a little bit selfish. I know there will be those of you out there who shout, "They are never too young for WDW! How dare you leave your little one at home?" Well, I thought about it long and hard and decided she was too young. Maybe I needed a little getaway, and c'mon guys she is my first. It was not too long ago that I enjoyed countless trips to the world with adults only, was able to do whatever I wanted, stay out as long as I wanted, drink as much as I wanted....you get the drift. I was having a little trouble saying goodbye to that world. True there would be things at Walt Disney World that would make her laugh which would make me laugh but I imagine there would be more things that would make her cry and then I would cry.....in my non alcoholic beverage....on the way to the room....at 7:00 pm. As I said before...selfish. But hey, I am not too terrible. I mean she was home with my husband all week. They needed that bonding. He appreciates me more now. So back to the flight. The passengers were myself, my mother, and my cousin. Three gals on the town living it up. We were set to arrive in Orlando at around 3:45pm. I usually strive to be in by 9am but as recently explained, I had to make some adjustments to my plans. Our dinner reservation for that evening was at 7:30 at Tony's Town Square. The plan was to rush to the Magical Express, get to Coronado Springs, check in, drop our stuff, and rush over to the Magic Kingdom. I knew we would get to Tony's on time but I still wanted to be able to have some time in the Magic Kingdom that evening before dinner. Magical Express was a breeze. We scanned our magic bands when we arrived, walked right onto a bus, and were the first stop to drop off. I might just be lucky but in the last 4 or 5 trips that we've used Magical Express I've been the first stop. Lovin' it! Coronado Springs check in was also a breeze. We were in the one of the business class rooms in building 9B. It was insanely close to the bus stop. So close that we didn't even venture out into the rest of our resort until day 4. It was literally room to bus every day. We didn't even go to the lobby because we had a concierge lounge in our building that offered drinks, breakfast, small snacks. We went there most mornings to grab coffee and a bagel/muffin/etc and hit the road. So on to the Magic Kingdom we went. I want to say it was close to 5:30 at this time and it was just starting to get dark. Not great for my photos I must say. I have never been talented at taking photos at night. I try and sometimes I will get one or two that look ok, but usually I just give up after that and decide not to waste my time.
Some Christmas decor photos on Main Street that I got before the lights went out. Welcome back to "Where in Walt Disney World?" The rules are simple. I post a photo and ask you, the readers, to tell me where that photo was taken. Maybe it's part of an attraction, at a resort, inside a restaurant, the options are endless. So let's get ready to play... Where in Walt Disney World would you find the below photo? Take your best guess in the comments below and stay tuned to see if you guessed correctly.
Last month’s challenge photo is below. This photo can be found in the window displays outside of the Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios. |
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