I had often wondered why, given our tendency to blog while away, I had not kept a blog of either of our previous trips to Disney World. I am now aware of the answer... you actually have to sleep sometime. There is just not time to blog when there are characters to meet, roller coasters to ride, Not SO Scary Halloween Parties to attend, not to mention Late Nights Live at the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. So, I am sorry for the delay in posting, and this entry is going to be a three day retrospective on what was a fabulous Disney World Experience.
Our trip to Orlando was reasonably smooth. We trained it out from Penn Station on Amtrak to the Newark Airport and were whisked through executive check in because Chris had sprung a great deal and got us a business upgrade on the flight. YAY! So we dosed, ate yummy Beef salad and I got my inner Disney groove happening with a view of Saving Mr Banks. Of course Disney's Magical Express met us at the airport, and while the sky looked ominous everything else was smooth and soon enough we had arrived at our resort, the Coronado Springs Resort. It is HUGE. We are in Casistas 3, which is quite a hike from reception in a King Bed room on the second floor. The room does not scream Disney. It is tastefully appointed in Spanish style with dark woods and it has the standard bathroom configuration. But there was no time to waste at the Resort because we had tickets to the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. So t-Shirts and Pumpkin Mouse ears at the ready we headed off to wait for the bus. And the rain began... and it rained and it rained and it rained. But we managed. Into the Magic Kingdom and a photo with the Mouse himself before we got to be too soggy and then off to ride some inside rides. There was a very short queue for Peter Pan's flight when you have a fast pass!! And yes family, we even stooped to It's a Small World because it was dry. We trick or treated at the Pinocchio Haus and secured a great spot, hoping that the rain that had eased, would hold until the parade. Parade TICK! Some other riding and then there was the Seven Dwarf's Mine Train Ride... the brand new one that we were just so looking forward to riding and it only had a 20 minute queue. What a bonus! And as an even bigger bonus, the fireworks were on by the time we were riding so we saw them from the Mine Train and then we were off in time to see the end of them from behind the castle. The night was still young and we found some more characters to be photographed with, rode standards like Dumbo and Space Mountain and finished the night with our favourite, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It was such a fun night, and our "costumes" were so tame in comparison to how some people get into it.
The second day at Disney saw us back in the Magic Kingdom for more riding, especially the Mine Train and then our big ticket item, a Fast Pass to lunch at the Be Our Guest restaurant. Soooo exciting. The theming of the place is quite amazing. There are three rooms for dining. the central ballroom is the largest , then there is the East Wing with the dancing statue of Belle and the Beast and the haunting West Wing or Rose Room, where we had lunch. It was dark and dingy and spooky and really created the Beauty and the Beast atmosphere. We both chose pulled pork with potatoes and green beans for our meal and Chris chose the Tropical Mouse Profiterole and I chose the Lemon Meringue Cupcake which we shared. Yummy and a great and new Disney experience for both of us.
A quick spot of shopping and then over to Hollywood Studios for our evening entertainment. The good news for all Disney tragics... the HAT is still there!!! Here we had Fast Passes organised for Star Tours, Tower of Terror and Midway Mania. We saw the Beauty and Beast show, another one of the favourites. The lines were short and so there were extra rides on Star Tours and Tower of Terror before dining at the Brown Derby. It still remains as classy as and the food was lovely. The storm that threatened to hit as we left Star Tours did not amount to much and so we were on for Fantasmic. Having used all our Fast Passes we could even enrol for a Fantasmic Fast Pass which meant centred seating for the show. It was great. Love the music, it never disappoints. And so day two of Disney finished, with aching feet and tired muscles but lots of good memories.
Disney day 3 was to start at the Animal Kingdom, and we were so well organised that we managed Breakfast at the hotel and even got to the park before opening time. Everest was the first stop. Love the thrill on that coaster and had even forgotten how far back it goes in the dark. Chris wasn't keen to ride a second time, but as there was no line I had another go, this time, for Sarah! Any excuse to ride a roller coaster really. Then it was off on safari. This time we got very up close and personal with the giraffes which was fun and we saw lots of other animals too. It was then time to wait for the Festival of the Lion King, in its new home in Harambe Village. The set up is much as it always was and the spectacle with singing and dancing is terrific. A great singalong. Our lunch reservation today was at the Tusker House right next door to the Lion King. It is character dining with Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Mickey and we were totally unabashed having pics with all the characters. The food was interesting too. Not your standard character dining buffet, it was an great mix of African inspired salads and meats with some old faithfuls like Mac n Cheese and Corn Dogs and the desserts were beyond yummy. We transferred back to the resort to organise some packing before going to our final park for the afternoon, EPCOT.
We arrived, just in the nick of time for our Fast Pass experience with the characters. Then it was time to go Soarin' over California. We were interrupted in our plans by another huge thunderstorm and that slowed us down a bit as we headed off to find the place to pick up our Late Night Live passes. This was incredibly poorly organised. The cast did not seem to know anything and we were sent on a wild goose chase across to near the America pavilion on bad advice. But when we got there, The Commodores were about to start playing... yep, the real Commodores... so we got our inner Mowtown happening and grooved along to the very loud beat. They were most entertaining. More searching for tickets found us up near Test Track so we jumped the hour long wait by going single rider and had a fabulous ride... I still like Cars land better!! Tickets found, we needed to "find Nemo" and then eat before Illuminations. As the park was nowhere near as crowded as it was when we were there at Christmas time, it was great to get a prize spot just near the Canada pavilion. It is an inspirational show. Then came late night live, where you wander a small strip between Canada and Ireland and food stalls have sample sized portions of food and glasses of wine to match. No wine for us, although others sure made up for it. We had everything from lobster pie to fillet mignon and finished off with a trio of desserts that were very very rich. The night had street entertainment and musicians and Chris felt like he was at a Conference opener... The only real downside was that it was a long wait at the end of the night for a bus, and as we didn't leave til nearly Midnight, and we had to pack, we didn't have time to wash and were very late falling into bed. But it was the end of a fabulous 3 days at the happiest place on earth. SO much fun. Ah we are both such Disney Tragics, don't you agree?
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