Whatever it takes...June 2019 Trip Report - Day 8

[MinnieMrsA]

Sunday 23rd June

Dave still wasn’t feeling his usual sparkling self this morning, so we decided to cancel our FP+ plans for Animal Kingdom. Honestly – it isn’t our favourite park so we weren’t too upset about it. I thought it best to have no set plans, and just to see where the day took us and how Dave was feeling. He stayed in bed to watch the French Grand Prix and we had double breakfast – cereal and pastries! We got up and Dave said he was feeling well enough to go out, so I suggested going to Magic Kingdom to collect our Annual Pass sliders, and book tickets for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party for our December trip.

As we got to the bus stop, a bus pulled up immediately – great bus luck! It was a smooth journey, and we were soon having our pictures taken on Main Street. I realised that I had spilt Gatorade down my top whilst waiting for the bus, hopefully it isn’t too obvious on these pictures!

We headed for Liberty Square to the Annual Pass ticket office, and spoke to a very helpful lady. We were entitled to a free magic band – but they only had the plain ones available, and we had decided we wanted an upgraded magic band for our Annual Passes. The cast member recommended we visit the emporium for the largest choice, and so we hot footed back to Main Street to choose our bands (using our AP discount obviously!). The Emporium was absolutely rammed – we couldn’t even get close to the magic band display, so I asked a cast member where else we could go to choose a band. She made an excellent suggestion – the DTech location in the Space Mountain gift shop – where it turns out you can personalize and print your own magic bands!

We whizzed across to Space Mountain, and lo and behold you really could totally personalize your band. I didn’t even know this service existed, but what a great idea!

20 minutes and a ride on the People Mover later (and a nosy at the Tron Construction), we were the proud owners of our new magic bands! Mine was pale pink with a Vera Bradley inspired Minnie Mouse pattern, and Dave’s was black with a Test Track print. The cast member in the shop complimented Dave on his choice as he gave us our bands. Back to Liberty Square we went – and got our sliders, all the data from our current magic bands transferred to our new magic bands, and purchased two very slightly discounted tickets for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. SORTED!

We didn’t intend on riding any rides at Magic Kingdom, and I had brought our refillable cups, so we headed to the Polynesian on the monorail for some lunch.

I liked the look of the menu at Captain Cook’s, and it did not disappoint. I had the veggie noodles, and Dave had a Hawaiian flatbread, which he said was good. The mistake I did make – sitting outside. Honestly – it was absolutely baking today. I like that they bring you your food here – just a nice touch and a step up from standard quick service locations. Once we had finished our lunch, we got another cold drink and sat in the lobby for a while people watching. I thought about getting a dole whip but I actually was really full after lunch.

Once our food had suitably settled in our stomachs, we got the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom and got the bus back to our resort for a much needed freshen up. We had a couple of hours to chill too – we didn’t want to catch too much of the sun as it was really hot – we were entering the hottest period Orlando had seen for 3 years!

We were unsure of what to do for tea, but decided we wanted to try somewhere new. A quick whizz down the list of available ADRs saw us choose the Maya Grill at Coronado Springs. We drove past this resort pretty much every day, and with the new Gran Destino Tower just days from opening, took the opportunity to have a mooch. There was no AP discount there, but full price the food wasn’t too expensive, so we went for it.

Well – our heads were certainly turned by this beautiful resort! I had always been put off by the whole convention aspect – but lots of large groups stayed at All Stars so I guess you might get them anywhere! Back to the food for now – we were seated soon after check in, and our server was Tanya – and she was outstanding! Great sense of humour, but also kept us informed when we had a bit of a wait for our food – my allergy meant that everything was being prepared slightly differently, which was taking longer. Can’t complain about that really! I had veggie tacos, and Dave had some kind of cheesy chicken with vegetables. He said it was lovely! I had sorbet for dessert, and Dave had a panna cotta – again said it was delicious. Tanya asked a few questions about my allergy, and I explained that if I am ever handling cheese or anything with cheese in it at home (it’s not fair for me to deprive Dave!), I wear gloves. Tanya jokingly punched Dave on the arm and said he was mean for making me do it! I obviously do choose to do that, but still – that was pretty funny! She also brought us the wrong bill, but again more laughs were had.

We decided to nosy round the resort, and honestly I was blown away – it was just so beautiful. I appreciate it is freshly refurbed, but the theming was incredible. We could see some of the lights in and on the tower – that is one impressive piece of architecture. We stood on the bridge and seriously debated moving our December stay to Coronado Springs. As the light fell, Dave took a few snaps before we drove back to our resort for beer and bed!

Steps:12627
Food cost: $117.81

[collybird]

I love how relaxed your trips is. I really want to just take it easy and always swear that I’ll be better next visit but as the countdown gets smaller the urge to do ‘everything’ takes over and then every minute is planned to military precision. I wish I could just ‘go with the flooooooooow’.

I think getting an AP slider would rank up there with the proudest moments of my life.

We stayed at CSR in 2017 when the construction was at its height, the construction wasn’t an issue but I wasn’t really feeling the resort and it’s the one place I had no urge to return to. Yet somehow, we are heading back there this year and I am SO excited, the Tower, which at first, I thought was a real eyesore, has made it seem new and exciting. We’ll definitely be eating at Maya Grill too so I am glad to hear you enjoyed it.

[MinnieMrsA]

Originally Posted by collybird

I love how relaxed your trips is. I really want to just take it easy and always swear that I’ll be better next visit but as the countdown gets smaller the urge to do ‘everything’ takes over and then every minute is planned to military precision. I wish I could just ‘go with the flooooooooow’.

I think getting an AP slider would rank up there with the proudest moments of my life.

We stayed at CSR in 2017 when the construction was at its height, the construction wasn’t an issue but I wasn’t really feeling the resort and it’s the one place I had no urge to return to. Yet somehow, we are heading back there this year and I am SO excited, the Tower, which at first, I thought was a real eyesore, has made it seem new and exciting. We’ll definitely be eating at Maya Grill too so I am glad to hear you enjoyed it.

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I am super excited to hear what you think of Coronado - and hope your FP+ went ok!