Queen of Crocs Culinary Coronado Capers - PRE-TRIP WAFFLE

[Guest]

Queen of Crocs Culinary Coronado Capers - PRE-TRIP WAFFLE
Try saying that when you've had one too many!

Firstly, i must make it quite clear that i have in no way been bullied or coerced into writing these Trippies.
You may recall my so-called Buddy Mark (Mcknigma) and his Croc-hating followers (shame on you all, especially Matt) started a thread a while back threatening to cremate my Crocs if these reports didn't materialize! Evil, pure evil!

I bear no grudges against all those poor, deluded Souls who said my masterpiece would never see the light of day, and threatened the nastiest of endings for my beloved Crocs, but HA here it is! My comfy little friends will live to see another holiday so nah nah nah nah nah to you all!

The Cast:
Me: Veronica, 35, more commonly known as The Queen of Crocs.
Compulsive planner, lover of all things Disney, prone to the occasional bout of emotional tears.

DH: Andy, 36, more commonly known as Ajm.
Holder of the wallet, entrusts all the planning to me (wise boy), anything for a quiet life, loves Disney really but would never admit it, is determined to eat his weight in steak this trip.

DD: Beth, 10 going on 20, more commonly known as Boo or Biff.
Coaster fanatic, obsessed with all things Betty Boop, The Nightmare Before Christmas and anything Piratie.

So here we are again, happy as can be, with our 4th trip to the Happiest Place on Earth looming on the horizon (less than 2 weeks to go! WOOHOO! )

So, if you're all sitting comfortably, i shall begin:


Once upon a time (12 months ago to be precise) in a land far, far away (or to give it it's more exotic title - Essex) the Queen of Crocs turned on her trustee computer, after the ruddy thing had been on the blink for almost 2 weeks - not so trustee after all, and happened upon the glorious sight of the free Disney Dining Plan that Virgin were offering for Aug/Sept 2007! They were also offering 3 nights free accommodation at certain Onsite Resorts and a Bank Holiday discount.
Alas, the Queen and her Royal Family were already booked to go to the wondrous land of the Mouse in Nov 2006 and her beloved, King Anything-For-A-Quiet-Life, was adamant it would be their last trip ever. So the Queen really didn't hold out much hope of convincing him, but hey, you can't blame a girl for trying.

So she did a bit of research, dropped a few subtle hints, and said those three little words every man loves to hear "bargain" "saving" and "freebie"! And then, as if by magic, a miracle happened and King Anything-For-A-Quiet-Life was suddenly enquiring about the price of a 3 week stay!

So, prices were checked and the King was impressed. The Queen then sought guidance from her Fairy Godmother (otherwise known as the wonderful Val, Cinders Mum) who kindly offered to turn the Queens dream into a reality! OH HOW I BET SHE REGRETS UTTERING THOSE WORDS!

So, after spending a very fraught day trying to clear the Royal Diary of all commitments between the 13th August and 4th September, the Fairy Godmother waved her wand and magically whipped up 21 nights at Coronado Springs Resort.
The Royal Family rejoiced and they all lived happily ever after! THE END


Right, that's enough of the fairytale malarkey, let's get down to some cold, hard facts.

We've never had a 3 week holiday before ... which means we've never spent so much "quality time" together before ... 3 weeks ... 21 nights ... 504 hours ... 30,240 minutes ... 1,814,400 seconds ...
3 weeks in one room with a hyperactive, slightly manic, Disney Fanatic (yep, that's me), an extremely hormonal 10 year old, and a man who's so laid back he's practically horizontal! Can we really spend that much time together without throttling each other?
Hhhhhhhm, it seemed like such a good idea at the time!

Anyway, as i mentioned before, we're staying at Coronado Springs Resort. We've previously stayed at All Star Movies and The Dolphin so this will be our first time in a Moderate. We had a quick nosey round the Resort last year and were very impressed. It looks lovely.

We will also be spending 2 nights at the Royal Pacific Resort to get our mitts on those all important, worth-their-weight-in-gold FOTL passes. We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel last year and had an amazing time so we're hoping RPR will be just as fabulous.

We will also be taking our first trip home as DVC Members. Last year we did the Saratoga Springs tour and signed up there and then. Yes, i know DH dared to utter those awful words "We are never going to WDW ever, ever, ever again" but you know what men are like for changing their minds! I came home from work one day to find him scribbling down numbers and frantically working out facts and figures. I don't know if it was sheer boredom or a moment of complete madness that led to him spending an entire day off work researching the merits of DVC, but i certainly wasn't about to argue. So all my previous hints had finally paid off and DH agreed it was a great idea! WOOHOO

The original plan was to take our first trip 'home' in 2008, but as we will be in the area anyway i thought it would be rude not to have a bit of a trial run, so we have booked 2 nights in a one-bedroom villa during the last week of our stay. I can't wait!

We're also staying at the Travelodge the night before our flight. This will save me the trauma of pulling my hair out on the journey to Gatwick during rush-hour on a busy, Monday morning. We will be taking advantage of Twilight Check-in before partaking in a drink or 2 with Dizneyblonde and any other Dibbers who happen to be staying at Gatwick that night and fancy a mini-meet. The more the merrier!

I'd like to say a huuuuuuge thank you to the wonderful Val for booking this trip for us and all the work that went into it. She'll be the first to admit what a total pain in the bum i can be!
She's a true Star and we have certainly had a few giggles along the way. Thank you Hun.

Well, i think that's about it. I can't think of anything else i need to mention ...


Well there is one teenie-weenie, ickle thing, but it is such a trifling little matter it barely seems worth mentioning ...

It's not as if this little matter has totally taken over my life these past few months. It's not as if I've wasted hour after hour researching it and planning it, dreaming about it or constantly changing my mind about it. In fact, I've barely given it a second thought ...

So what is this little matter that hasn't caused her many a sleepless night, i hear you cry ...





FREE DINING!

During these reports i may occasionally mention the odd meal here or there (after all, we've got to eat) and i may even force myself to take the odd foodie pic, but free dining certainly won't be the main focus of our trip as it is of so little consequence to me ...





YEAH RIGHT!

Planning our adr's has been my total obsession for the past few months. I have spent hour upon hour scouring each and every menu and arranging then re-arranging our itinerary.
My occasional change of plans has caused great mirth on the Food & Snack Forum and my foodie indecisiveness even spawned a new phrase. Yep, i fear the changing of an adr will be forever known as "doing a Vabeth!"

But, most importantly of all, I've had great fun and it was wonderful being able to share thoughts and ideas with fellow Dibbers.

So I'd like to say a big, big thank you to my fellow DDP adr'ers, especially Leanne and Val for making the last few months such great fun and helping me come up with my final, final, FINAL adr list ... Ok, let's not go there!

So free dining, here we come!

BRING IT ON!

Edited: Thought i'd better include the final, final, FINAL adr list to ensure no last minute changes can be made!

The Crystal Palace - breakfast & lunch
Le Cellier - x2
Boma - x 2
The Coral Reef - dinner
Sci-Fi Diner - lunch
Whispering Canyon Cafe - lunch
'Ohana- breakfast & dinner
Yachtsman Steakhouse - dinner
Marrakesh - dinner
Hollywood Brown Derby - Fantasmic Package
Maya Grill - dinner
Liberty Tree Tavern - dinner
Spoodles - dinner
Concourse Steakhouse - dinner
Cap 'n Jacks - dinner
Kona Cafe - dinner
The Garden Grill - lunch

We will also be doing Bubba Gumps and The Hard Rock Cafe!

Phew, that's an awful lot of food!

[DizneyBlonde]

Woohoo V's done a pre trippie and what a fab one it is too.

Can't wait to meet you hun.X

[DizneyBlonde]

What's all this Free Dining and ADR's stuff about then?

[Guest]

Originally Posted by DizneyBlonde

What's all this Free Dining and ADR's stuff about then?

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Leave it ...

[purple myra]

sounds like you're going to have a blast!
i've done ' A VABETH' twice already and i only started booking mine at the beginning of the month :-(
keep up the good work, that was a joy to read

[Guest]

brill pre-trippie cant wait for the first installment of the real thing

[highland lass]

BRING IT ON! [/QUOTE]

i will second that - looking forward to the trippie

[Guest]

Ooohh that's fab. Hurry up and come back so I can read the real thing

[Cinders Mum]

ohhhh sweetie, it has been a blast, I am almost sorry it is coming to an end, but there will be loads more laughs before we are done.

And you have a long long long way to go before being a real pain in the bum...

you'll still get mad lunatic phone calls from me though ...

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Cinders Mum

you'll still get mad lunatic phone calls from me though ...

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I blooming well hope so! I'd miss your mad rantings otherwise!