Day 1: We arrived in Orlando and boarded the Magical Express w/o much of a wait and we were off to the Coronado Springs! We have not stayed at this resort since Jan. '05 for the Marathon! We were not disappointed. We absolutely loved it! Everything is grown in and lush. We were given a water view room in Casitas 3! The newly updated room was beautiful.
View from our room:
Updated rooms:
The main part of this trip was to visit with my good friend and her little boy. They recently moved to FL and are going through a difiicult time.
We rested in our room for a bit as my mom tires easily and then we met my friend, son and her mother down by the Pepper Market outside and visited! It was warmer than we had expected which made it tough on my mom. But, we were determined to make the best out of it on this vacation!!! After visiting for a while, it was time hit the sack! We were going to Sea World the next day!
Day 2: We were picked up by my friend, her son and mom and headed to Sea World! I have not been to SW since I was 8! It seemed strange to be on Disney property and not going to parks right away! I thought SW would be a one day park, but it was actually the opposite. We only accomplished about 1/2 of the park for an entire day! There are shows, rides and exhibits. The park is beautiful and green! It was really a fun day! My friend's little boy is just 3 and he's was great! It's alot of fun to see things through a child's eyes! We took in two of the shows and did the penguin encounter. I absolutely LOVE penguins, so to me, this was a huge thrill. The penguin we met was "Kobe" and what a personality! The keeper had to coax him out into the hallway at first but you could tell in a moment that was just for show. Then he was really strutting his stuff! I didn't realize penguins were so soft?! I wanted to take him home with me, but I don't think he would've fit in my suit case!
Kobe:
Day 3: My mom and I slept in the next morning and then I went for a run. I went too late in the morning b/c it was already VERY warm! I didn't get as far as I would've liked so I just tried to enjoy the scenery! After my run, my mom and I enjoyed some coffee and fruit down by the quiet pool. In the afternoon my friend picked us up and took us for a behind the scenes tour! She is CM and showed us where they all get their costumes. Unfortunately I could not take pictures since we weren't supposed to be there and had to act like we belonged there! She also took us to the CM store where things are deeply discounted. You could lose your mind in there, all this merchandise you see in the stores.... AUGH! The coat I bought B-dude last year for $49 was $8! I had to control myself! It was fun though! After that we had dinner with my friend and her family and spent the evening with them, it really was lovely to sit outdoors, eat and be with good friends. (Not sure if they want to be pictured or named, so that's why I will leave the details out) They live on a golf course and every evening Cranes come for a visit and they like to be fed! LOL
Day 4: My mom and I headed to Epcot! It was extremely warm this day and the heat is rough on my mom. So, we did the best we could and decided to really enjoy what we did get to accomplish.
We immediately headed for Soarin and got our fast passes, this is my mom's favorite! We went on The Land with no wait. Next we headed over to Nemo! The Clam Mobiles were a walk on. We wandered around the Seas for a while, I had to check out the tank and say hello to all of my fish friends! It killed me not to dive! But, soon!!! After Nemo we rode SSE. The last time my parent's were there the video at the end did not work for them. So this time my mom got to see it, she thought it was hilarious! After SSE it was time to head to Innoventions West for the character meet and greet. We hit the jack pot too!
After our picture with 3 of the Fab. 5 it was time to head to Paris for our ADR at Chefs de France. We have never eaten here! Our waiter was lovely, and the food was very good. I would def. eat here again! After our lunch it was very warm, we walked around WS but didn't really get to stop and do much, I could tell my mom was uncomfortable with the heat. I did see the new Via Napoli! We made it back to WS and went on Soarin! We picked up our picture from the meet and greet and decided to head to the Poly to check in and instead of rushing back to Epcot for Illuminations, we would watch the fireworks from the beach at the Poly with a Dole Whip! I wanted this vacation to be enjoyable for my mom too. And dragging her around and making her tired and sick, would not be a good time for either one of us! We took the monorail to the Poly (ahhh, my beloved Poly) and checked in! We were in Tahiti on the second floor. Pure heaven! So good to be home, at last!
We relaxed in our room and then we headed down to the beach, watched the water light pageant and took in Christmas Wishes! The Dole Whips did NOT disappoint! We drank in every moment!
Day 5: This was our Polynesian day! We had nothing planned, it was just what we needed. Again, very warm. We had breakfast/coffee on our balcony, just hearing the train whistle from MK brought tears to my eyes. I have so many childhood memories at the Poly. Then, I got my mom to do something I never dreamed she would! I got her on a Sea Raycer! I wish we had video of the two of us! She is not a swimmer and afraid of the water, but she donned her life vest and climbed in with me! I went slow, for a littel while!
She absolutely LOVED it, she loved seeing all the views from the water, but she refused to let go of the rope. LOL.
After our water adventure, I chilled by the quiet pool and she sat in the shade under the fan. We had a Dole Whip (shocking, I know!) and then we went to the beach that is in front of Tahiti all the way down by the big fairy boat. I swayed in a hammock and my mom lounged in a chair. That is what vacation is all about!
We then had to get cleaned up headed to Narcoossee's for our special dinner.
To our dismay, they ruined our most fav. dish there! The crab crusted halibut was replaced by mahi mahi. I checked the menu online before making the ADR and they changed it in between. My mom cannot eat spicey food due to her auto immune disease. And food is not good when it's spicey just to be spicey. The waitress was very nice and let us reorder, we tried the scallops, but those were diasppointing too. In the end, we payed alot of $ for a meal we did not enjoy. We won't be returning to Narcoossee's until they bring back our halibut. The dinner took longer than we expected and we caught the fireworks on our way back to the Poly.
Day 6: This was our MK day! My friend and son met us at the Poly (she had never seen the Poly!) and we all took the monorail over together! This was the day the weather did not cooperate and we had rain. MK was packed too! Which really did not help us to accomplish a whole lot! We waltzed down Main St. USA, it chokes me up every time to see the Castle! We got a pic. in front of the castle and then headed to Tomorrowland!
We were able to do Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor and TTA. The line was too long for Buzz. We walked towards Fantasyland and the Speedway was packed and the Tea Cups were closed. I was saddened to see the blue walls up for construction, it really ruined my Fantasyland experience. I still think Disney could do better than that. You could see skeletons of buildings going up. We stopped for a Mickey bar (yum), rode the carousel then headed towards Frontierland. My mom and I planned to come back in the evening and see if the lines were better?! We rode the train all the way around the park, which is something my mom hadn't done in a long time. Then we headed for Adventureland and stopped at Aloha Isle (Dole Whip, don't act surprised)! Perfect timing b/c it started to pour! We luckily got a table under the overhang. It poured for a good 2 1/2 hours! We just sat and talked. The rain started to let up, my friend and son were going to head home for his nap and my mom started to get cold. We went back to the Poly, said good-bye to my friend and my mom and I changed, took a small break had something to eat at Capt. Cook's and wanted to head back to MK! The crowds were not a whole lot better. It was still sprinkling too. We did Swiss Family Treehouse (which was crowded, are you kidding me?!)
Got onto Pirates (yo-ho) which also had a 10 min. wait, I'm used to walking onto Pirates! We got onto HM which is always awesome! And then decided to head back b/c it was raining, AGAIN! We went back to the Poly via the boat. We dried off in our room and hoped it would stop raining for fireworks! It did and I grabbed a bunch of towels from the pool, dried off a spot for us on the beach and we got to enjoy fireworks for our last night at the Poly!
We did get to accomplish as much as we wanted to in the parks, but I'm happy and blessed for the vacation time I had with my mom. We had alot of great talks while we were together and enjoyed eachother's company. I did miss B-dude and my mom missed having my dad there, but it was time we needed together! It was wonderful to see my friend and her family as well.
I can't wait for our upcoming trip! I hope you enjoyed my report, I tried not get to get too wordy but give enoug detail!
Aloha
