A Big Ol' Gay Bear & His Disney Trip

[ursalita]

Cute envelopes! This post (and others that I've read since scouring the DIS) makes me realize I've been doing it wrong. Tipping, that is. We usually leave a lump sum before we go home. Oops. Will definitely rectify that trip.

 

[JNPants]

Hi, Marshall! Following along. Love your writing style. Don't for a second feel like a 7th wheel on your trip! Sounds like without you your family would be schlepping themselves to the park from the Nickelodeon hotel every day just to use their Small World FP's. I get it though. One wrong click and you've ruined a hard to get reservation.

It's also endearing to see so many (well, two, which I'll extrapolate to thousands) upset by the loss of the beloved TV home that was the Golden Girls house. Such a tragedy. *cue the violin/flute music*

 

[grarsh]

Hi, Marshall! Following along. Love your writing style. Don't for a second feel like a 7th wheel on your trip! Sounds like without you your family would be schlepping themselves to the park from the Nickelodeon hotel every day just to use their Small World FP's. I get it though. One wrong click and you've ruined a hard to get reservation.

It's also endearing to see so many (well, two, which I'll extrapolate to thousands) upset by the loss of the beloved TV home that was the Golden Girls house. Such a tragedy. *cue the violin/flute music*

Hey there! Thanks for following along! I feel like they should have brought back the GG House this week for Betty White's bday!

 

[grarsh]

Section 5: Plane Tickets!

I know this is terribly last minute, but today I finally bought my plane tickets! Crazy, I know! BUT...apparently nobody travels the last week of January because tickets were super cheap and I was able to score nonstop flights on Southwest. I absolutely LOVE Southwest and the whole "choose your own seat thing." And I make it my business to never be in C group. How embarrassing!

I'm leaving in the afternoon so that I can still go to work for most of the day. It's going to be the longest day ever, but I work at a college and students are just coming back this week from winter break, so I'm lucky to be getting the rest of the week off. I've updated my magical express reservation and am good to go! I will be flying out of Manchester, NH Monday afternoon and arriving in Orlando at 8:15pm. Hopefully it will be a quick magical express trip to Coronado Springs. I've only ever taken the ME early in the morning - is it usually lower key in the evenings? Anyone have experience with taking it this time frame. Just curious. And soooooo can't wait!

 

[Lady Marie]

Did NOT know about the GG house! And I never saw it How rude of them to remove it...

Anyway, following along!

 

[Elevationist]

Sorry I kind of fell off, Marshall! January has been kind of a crazy month!

OMG OMG OMG! Just two more dayyyyyssss!!! Are you packed? Are you dying? Are you super duper excited?

I'm a peanut butter and a jealous sandwich right now! I still have over 300 days to go!

 

[grarsh]

Hey hey!!!! Leaving this afternoon and cannot wait!!!! I'm at work this morning (wearing my magic band) and hoping my flight gets out before the snow storm apocalypse hitting the Northeast!!!!

 

[grarsh]

Section 6: Almost Time!!!

I am soooooo not impressed with the weather right now! I'm sitting at work constantly checking the weather reports and my flight status. I NEED for my plane to leave before the huge snowstorm hits New Hampshire! Last reports said it wouldn't get bad until 8pm, so hopefully my 4:40pm flight will be just fine.

Last night my other family members' flights got canceled due to where they connected (Baltimore), so they almost had to cancel the trip because nothing else was going out until Thursday. Luckily I found them flights for this morning out of Boston, and they just called saying they had landed.

I'm sitting here wearing my magic band desperately needing some Disney!!!

The only bummer was leaving my little baby Peachy at home. I wish Disney would let me just rent a stroller and bring her along. She'd be fine! She'd totally love it!

 

[Elevationist]

Oh my god, look at that sweet puppy! What a doll baby!

Wishing you lots and lots of pixie dust for your flight this evening! Let us know how it goes!

 

[xlsm]

(I have my Golden Girls house picture framed...no lie.)

I hope everything works out with your flight! that's one of my biggest fears.


I hate leaving my dogs too We have three and they're used to being with me all day. My shih tzu could totally fit in a baby carrier, LOL. I'm sure she'd love Space Mountain.

Have fun and safe travels!!

 

[ursalita]

Sweet pup! I hope your flight goes ok. If you do get out you couldn't have picked a better time to leave New England.

 

[ach222]

Have a great trip! We were there last week and the weather was amazing!

 

[JNPants]

Hope you made it out ok! It's nasty up here on the north shore in Mass. You couldn't have picked a better time for a Disney getaway.

 

[Elevationist]

I'm hoping no news is good news, and the lack of update means you're safely at Disney and having a fabulous time!

 

[grarsh]

I'm hoping no news is good news, and the lack of update means you're safely at Disney and having a fabulous time!

Hi All! I did make it!!!! Sorry for the delay in posting, but I couldn't get a message to post just using my phone while I was away! Anywho, back in NH now and working on my trip report!!!

 

[grarsh]

DAY 1!!!!! (sort of)

I will call this first post of the actual trip Day 1, even though I did not arrive in Orlando until 8:30pm, and didn’t make it to Coronado Springs until 10pm. But the day still involved Disney, so not bad at all!

So...after a day of obsessively checking the weather and only two delays, my flight departed and Disney World was in reach. The flight that I was on was one of the only nonstop flights and all the other ones had to go through Baltimore, so with some cancellations of other flights, my flight was super full. I was also pretty stupid and fell asleep on the couch yesterday afternoon, so I checked in to Southwest an hour after check-in began. This resulted in a B 54 boarding pass. I was so mad at myself. I always make it my business to be A group! I’m a firm believer in needing a window seat because I HATE getting up for other people to go to the bathroom. I understand that nature calls, but just let me huddle up in the window seat and zone out until the flight lands.

I ended up sitting in the back row of the plane in an aisle seat next to a couple that was...how should I put it...kind of rough...and crazy. They continuously drank throughout the entire 3 hour plane ride, kept standing up, couldn't sit still in their seats, and had a boozy beer breath burping contest. They also played casino games on their phones with the volume at full blast. It was gross. And annoying. The flight attendant took pity on me and gave me a free drink ticket. I'm not much of a drinker, but appreciated the gesture. When it was time to deplane, this couple basically kept yelling comments at how slow everyone was getting off the plane before barging past me and pushing their way past people. I'm surprised they didn't get some sort of something from the flight attendants. I guess they just wanted them off the plane. Oh well. Disney is worth it.

This is a kind of hard to see pic, but it's a board full of cancellations at Manchester (NH) airport:



I made my way through the airport, called home to check-in on my little doggie Peachy (she missed me sooooo much), and headed to the magical express. This is where I was greeted with this magical scene:



NOBODY else was there! It was crazy! I checked in using my magic band, and got on the Coronado Springs bus. This is when I was told that it was also the Pop Century bus, the Yacht Club bus, and the Beach Club bus, and that we would wait about 20 minutes for more people. Guess which order the drop-offs went in (spoiler alert, Coronado Springs was the last stop). It’s all good though, because I love the “Magical Express TV” videos that they show.

Around 10pm I made it to Coronado Springs and nobody else was at registration. I had done the online check-in, so everything was all ready to go, which was awesome. The concierge also checked my magic band to make sure that the park tickets, dining plan, and room access was all set and that I wouldn’t have any problems with it. It was a whole lot of awesome Disney customer service, which I totally appreciated .

Before heading to my room I went to check out the Pepper Market food court. I was super hungry and purposely did not buy dinner at the airport because I wanted to use my Disney Dining Plan and was really excited to try Pepper Market. I will say right now that Pepper Market is absolutely AMAZING! The seating area is really well themed and super fun, and the food options had a lot of variety. For dinner I had the Aztec Burger, which had spicy seasonings, onions, jalapeno peppers, and guacamole. It also came with spicy potato wedges. I got the churros for dessert, but was so stuffed that I brought them back to my room for enjoyment at a later date.



I will also say right now that I absolutely LOVED the Coronado Springs resort and would definitely stay there again. My room was in the Ranchero section, building 6B, room 6542. It was a little bit of a hike from the main building (I think they said half a mile), but the resort was beautiful, super quiet, and there are multiple bus stops, and my room was super close to one.

Here are some room pics:







And that was about it for me for the night! After a day of work, worrying about snow, traveling, and then having a late night dinner where I inappropriately stuffed myself, it was time for bed.

 

[ursalita]

Hi! Glad you had a great trip and looking forward to hearing about it. That's lucky that you got out of NE before the storm hit but incredibly unlucky to get seated next to those bozos on the plane.

That burger looks so tasty!

Sounds like you got a good room, too.

 

[Elevationist]

Yay, I'm so happy your flight didn't get cancelled! Sorry about your crappy seat buddies, though. Makes me happy I can skip the whole flight thing all together, and make my 5-hour drive to Orlando in relative peace!

I love Coronado Springs!!! I stayed there in 2009, shortly after the renovations were completed, in Casitas 4. I absolutely loved it! As a travel agent, it's always my #1 recommendations for clients interested in staying in a Moderate resort. The only reason I haven't been back is I'm trying to slowly but surely complete my goal of staying at all of Disney's resorts! It's a gorgeous resort though, and they rooms are so comfortable. I'm really thrilled to hear that you enjoyed it!

I recall having some pretty great meals at Pepper Market, too! And we did the breakfast buffet at Maya Grill morning, and it was delish!

Can't wait to hear more about your adventure!

 

[grarsh]

Yay, I'm so happy your flight didn't get cancelled! Sorry about your crappy seat buddies, though. Makes me happy I can skip the whole flight thing all together, and make my 5-hour drive to Orlando in relative peace!

I love Coronado Springs!!! I stayed there in 2009, shortly after the renovations were completed, in Casitas 4. I absolutely loved it! As a travel agent, it's always my #1 recommendations for clients interested in staying in a Moderate resort. The only reason I haven't been back is I'm trying to slowly but surely complete my goal of staying at all of Disney's resorts! It's a gorgeous resort though, and they rooms are so comfortable. I'm really thrilled to hear that you enjoyed it!

I recall having some pretty great meals at Pepper Market, too! And we did the breakfast buffet at Maya Grill morning, and it was delish!

Can't wait to hear more about your adventure!

Thanks!!!! I'm bummed I didn't try the Maya Grill breakfast! It'll have to be one for next time! In my post-Disney longing, I looked at Resorts today and I'm torn between going back to Coronado or trying Caribbean Beach. What do you think?

 

[grarsh]

Day 2: Animal Kingdom & Hollywood Studios

Fast Pass+: Kilimanjaro Safaris, Dinosaur, It’s Tough to be a Bug

ADR: Mama Melrose’s

DISCLAIMER - Had some technical problems today, so more pictures will be added soon!

Despite not going to bed until midnight, I was up at 5am because I was so excited to hit the parks! Every night at Disney feels like being a kid on Christmas Eve to me. The anticipation and excitement is just too much and sleep time usually pays the price. I had started the Couch 25K program a few weeks prior to arriving at Disney, and I didn’t want to fall off the exercise wagon, so I ended up doing a slow jog around Coronado Springs. I mean, what better way to familiarize yourself with the resort? Nobody else was out and about so it felt like I had a private resort. It was awesome (or as awesome as exercising can get). Then it was back to the room to shower and change and meet my family for a 7:15am breakfast time, with the goal to be on the bus to Animal Kingdom no later than 8:20am. The park opened at 9am. PLENTY of time to make rope drop.

Breakfast at Pepper Market was delicious! There was absolutely no line, and I had the biscuits and sausage gravy. It was SUPER yummy!

Now, disclaimer here…I can be a bit Type A/Commando in my approach to hitting the parks. Since there were many family members on this trip, I had decided ahead of time to not be crazy and to try to go with the flow…at least a little bit. With that said, I am a firm believer in the power of rope drop. That first hour after park opening is critical in being sure to do all your park “must-dos” without experiencing long waits. We had a plan and I was feeling good about getting there. Sadly, my brother and his girlfriend did not believe in my vision for the morning. They took a “let’s have a relaxing morning and take our time getting ready and make coffee in our room with the coffee makers provided” approach. We ended up getting to the parks at about 9:20am. Not all that bad, but the damage had been done.

As a side note, does anyone really use the in-room coffee makers? I mean, I’m sure they’re fine, but it sketches me out a little bit because anybody could do anything to them. Someone could take a tinkle right in the coffee maker and you’d never know. It just gives me the heebie jeebies a little bit. I’m more about using the refillable mug that comes with the dining plan and getting coffee at the food court. Just sayin’.



But anywho, we arrived at Animal Kingdom and it was BUSY! Probably not as busy as it looked, but there was a lot of construction walls up and I think the park seemed a little crowded. I don’t think Animal Kingdom does well in managing crowds anyway based on the way its laid out, but with the construction it seemed extra congested. Since we had fast passes for later in the morning and because lines for the Safari were already long, we decided our first stop would be the gift shops (I know, I know…don’t judge).

Another side note – Before arriving at Disney I had decided to try to pursue a more minimalist way of living. I have an entire second bedroom in my apartment that is basically only used as storage, and constantly moving around with all sorts of stuff I never look at is just getting too overwhelming. So, I purged like nobody’s business, and my souvenir goal for this Disney trip was to enjoy having the experience and memories without bringing home bags of Disney merchandise. It was HARD. Like, I’m at home now still looking at the Disney Parks online store and having to freeze my credit card in a block of ice to resist. But, while at the parks/downtown Disney, I bought a total of two souvenir items. So I feel good about it. Even though I still want those mickey ears salt and pepper shakers.

After the gift shop we went to Kilimanjaro Safaris to use our first Fast Pass+ of the day. As we walked from Discovery Island toward Africa, we could tell something was very long. The fast pass line went all the way down to the start of Harambe Village. WHAT?!?!?!?!?! Apparently the ride had stopped because there were animals in the road. The CM told us that once it started, they would put all the fast pass users on the ride first before starting with stand by. We decided to take our chances and come back toward the end of our fast pass window, where hopefully the line would be shorter.

We walked the Pangani Forest Trail, then we then made our way to It’s Tough to Be a Bug. We had another couple of hours until our Fast Pass+, but the standby wait was only 5 minutes so we just went in. I think this show is absolutely amazing, but the bug feeling at the end when you’re leaving creeps me out every time! This is also when we had our first experience with a tween filled Brazilian tour group. I have read horror stories about getting caught up in the wave of tour groups, and I will say they were extremely loud and rude during the show. They also all stopped right at the exit for a group photo, thus blocking everyone else.

After It’s Tough to be a Bug we went back to Africa and got into the now much shorter Fast Pass+ line for Kilimanjaro Safaris. We got on fairly quickly, and saw TONS (literally) of animals that were really active. It was one of the best rides I’ve taken on Kilimanjaro Safaris. After this it was lunch time!

Since our final fast passes were for Dinosaur, we decided to have lunch in DinoLand USA. We went to Restaurantosaurus. I had chicken tenders, fries, a soda, and chocolate mousse. It was typical counter service fair, but super yummy. They also have plenty of seating, which is really nice, and service was super speedy.

Up next was Dinosaur! We went into the Fast Pass+ line and made it to the end of the line…when the ride went down. SUPER BUMMER! But luckily it only took them about 10 minutes to get everything up and running and one we went. Spoiler Alert, we were able to bring back the Iguanadon. After Dinosaur we hit a couple more gift shops and then decided our time at the Animal Kingdom was done. My father decided to go back to Coronado Springs for a nap, and the rest of us headed to Hollywood Studios!

For some reason I didn’t think you could get a bus from one park to another without going to a hotel stop, but you totally can. We hopped on a Hollywood Studios bus and got the park fairly quickly. We were greeted by the last part of the Sorcerer Hat:



Since we knew we were coming back the next day, we didn’t feel pressure to go on any rides, so it was more shopping around the gift shops, and then a trip to the Lights, Motor, Action! Extreme Student Show. I’m not a super lover of this show (especially since it was the impetus for the removal of my beloved Golden Girls House), but my brother really wanted to see it. On our way we stopped for snacks at the Writer’s Stop, which has the ABSOLUTE BEST snack in Disney World…the supremely awesome carrot cake cookie. If you haven’t had one, make it your business to try it on your next trip! We made it just before the show started, and they had us go up the back way, which meant going up four flights of stairs. Not to be a big lazy bum, but blah! Guess it worked off some of that carrot cake cookie.

After the show it was just about time for our dinner reservations at Mama Melrose’s. I absolutely love this restaurant! I had the Charred Strip Steak with five cheese mad and cheese. It was way delicious! For dessert I had the Cannoli Plate. YUM!



After dinner we decided to call it a night and returned to Coronado Springs. Tomorrow would be another big day at Hollywood Studios. And we would attain ROPE DROP.