|
|
|
|
|
DAY
1: Friday, May 2nd |
|
| We’re off! |
| The
alarm went off at 3:30am. I still had packing to do!!! We left our
house at 5am for our 7:20am flight on Delta. I don’t know if I
was more nervous about actually making it to the airport on time
or getting on the plane. The car ride took about 45 minutes
(thanks to the Ted Williams tunnel!) and even though we got lost
trying to find economy parking we still made it into the airport
just after 6:00. Check-in was fairly quick and easy. It was my
first time using the machines that require an ID or credit card.
We made it though security without problem. They hand checked my
film as requested. Mel sat with the carry-on bags, I went to
throw-up, and Joe and Justin grabbed some breakfast. When we all
met back up our row number was being called to board the plane. I
won’t go into the plane ride details, but we did arrive safely
and even about 15 minutes early. |
| |
| Tiffany Towncar |
| Our
driver, Tiffany Towncar, was waiting at the bottom of the
escalator. We had requested a sign with Justin’s name on it to
surprise him, but in a rush to get our bags he missed out on
seeing it. Our driver took the first bag off the carousel and went
out to pull the car up to the nearest exit. He loaded the rest of
our stuff in (two large suitcases, two smaller suitcases, and two
carry-ons). I couldn’t believe it all fit with room to spare! We
stopped at the grocery store and the driver gave us his discount
card to use. We grabbed some soda, water, and beer. Our driver was
great and joked around with us for the rest of the drive. |
| |
| Coronado Springs
Resort |
| We
arrived at CSR at around 11am. Tiffany unloaded all our luggage
and groceries onto a bellman cart. I paid/tipped the driver and
Joe grabbed our baggage claim from the bellman. Joe and I went in
to check-in and Mel and Justin had a smoke. The check-in line was
short, about 3 families in front of us, and we were at the counter
in about two minutes. The cast member checking us in was friendly,
but I don’t think he had worked here long, as he had to get help
frequently. I had to make two reservations since we reserved two
different room types. Joe and I reserved a King room and requested
a lagoon water view. When he pulled up our reservation it
indicated that we had requested a Savannah view. I guess they got
that mixed up with our ALK request. Mel and Justin had requested a
standard room. I asked if it would be possible to stay in the
cabanas section and for our rooms to be close to one another. He
had a standard room in Cabanas 8B available immediately and
located a king room in the same building that was waiting to be
cleaned. YEAH! He gave us a card with a phone number to call to
get our room number when it was ready. The next step for our
reservation was to add UHPs to all our room keys, less the first
day for everyone and last day for Mel and Justin. The third step
was adding a credit card to Joe and my room card and cash to Mel
and Justin’s room cards. Finally we paid for/received our Hoop
Dee Do tickets for that evening. I think that whole process took
about a half hour. The cast member was really patient! |
| Mel
and Justin had given their room information to Bell Services and
had a shuttle with our luggage waiting for us outside. We hopped
in and were taken to their room. Since ours would be close by we
just had the entire luggage delivered at once. Their room (8521)
faced the parking lot and the bus stop. We went inside and I was
surprised to see how big the room was. We rummaged trough our
luggage, put on bathing suits and hit the pool (Dig Site). It was
a really short walk, maybe 2 minutes. The pool area was just
incredible. In fact, the entire resort was incredible.
|
|
|
|
|
| We
decided to stop by the pool bar (Siestas) for our first of many
drinks this trip. The bartender was great and explained all the
special drinks and we were introduced to “Bacardi 151 for $1.00
more”. We split two orders of fries and had another round of
drinks for lunch. After “lunch”, Mel, Joe, and I relaxed in
the pool and Justin played in the arcade. The water in the pool
was cool, but it didn’t take long to get use to it. At 2:00 I
went back to Mel and Justin’s room to call to see if our other
room was ready. It was!! Our room (8552) was on the first floor
and looked out over a small lagoon with a sandy beach and
hammocks. The room was just perfect. We unpacked our stuff and got
ready to head to the Hoop Dee Do. |
| |
| The Hoop Dee Do |
| Joe
and I met Mel and Justin at the bus stop at about 4:00 our HDD
reservation was for 5:00, so we were cutting it kind-of close. The
bus to the Magic Kingdom came quickly and only made one stop at
the main entrance of CSR before heading out. I never timed the bus
rides, but aside from trips to DD, they were all pretty short. We
got off the bus and headed for the boat to WL/FW. The boat ride
seemed to take forever. I love the WL but I don’t think I would
ever stay there because of these slow boats!! FW was the second
stop. We got off the boat and realized that we had no idea where
we were going, so we just followed a group of people. It wound up
that they had no idea where they were going either, so we asked
and got directions. It was 4:45 and there was a huge line to get
in. I didn’t realize that the doors don’t open until 5:00. We
finally got in and we seated just one table back from the stage! I
only made reservations about 90 days in advance, so I wasn’t
expecting to be so close. By this time we were all staring and we
devoured the bread that was on the table. Mel and I ordered
Sangria and Joe and Justin had beer. It took forever to get our
drinks so when they did come we requested a pitcher of each, so we
wouldn’t have to keep hounding our waitress. She was pleasant
enough and returned quickly with the pitchers. I also reminded her
that I had ordered a vegetarian plate. |
|
|
The
show started and it was definitely “corny”. Midway through the
show one of the actors came down and started hitting on Joe. It
made the show more entertaining to be included in it (or maybe it
was the third pitcher of beer?) We did enjoy the show and the food
was pretty good. |
|
| After
the show we looked through the gift shop at FW. We attempted to
have a drink at the restaurant there, but decided just to go back
to our resort. I was ready for some serious sleep and it was only
8:00! The boat ride back to the MK was shorter and the sun was
setting so it had cooled off a bit. The birds have certainly taken
over Discovery Island. There must have been over a thousand of
them there. Another short wait for the bus and we were back at
CSR. We didn’t remember our bus stop number so we had to pay
attention to the areas and figure out where we were. The bus
started at stop 2, then 3, then 4 (our stop), and finally 1. We
all got off the bus and said our goodnights. I told them we should
plan to meet at the bus stop at 8:15 the next morning. We were
going to eat breakfast in Cinderella’s castle!!! |
| |
|
)
)
)
)
)