DonnaS
Ratsrule & CathyCanada-- 2 who are greatly missed
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
<font color=blue>Cast Members:
DonnaS, late 30's, a Disney Connoisseur
RogerS, Donna's DH, early 30's, a Disney Connoisseur but not to extent that Donna is.
Guest Appearances by:
Teri and her family (Teri on the DIS)
Matt (Eeyore'stail on the DIS)
Nancy (NancyIL on the DIS)
Dan Murphy
Ted and his wife Von (Tednvon on the DIS)
Mindy (Donna's former co-worker who now lives in Florida)
Last trip to WDW was last December when we came for two weeks and bought APs for that trip. This trip was added in when we found airfares too good to pass up, especially since our APs were still good.</font>
Tuesday, November 21, 2000
The alarm woke us up at 615am. Surprisingly the kitties didn't wake us before then. Actually it probably wasn't that surprising since we had left a lot of food in their bowls the night before. We got up and showered and dressed and packed last minute items. The taxi was due to arrive at 715am and we were pleased that he arrived on time. It was a fast trip to the airport this a.m. as we were able to use the carpool lane. The route to the airport is the same that we take to work each morning so it was easy to know how long it would take. We were at the airport by 730am. Fare was $20.00 including tip.
The line to check in was long at United but our flight wasn't scheduled to leave until 911am so we had plenty of time. Apparently a lot of people don't arrive early as they were taking people from the end of the line that had a plane leaving in 20 minutes! It's nice that the airline doesn't want to ruin someone's holiday but geesh they really should get to the airport earlier than that! I guess it is possible their taxi was late or there was an accident.... Once we were to the head of the line, the very nice ticket agent upgraded us to Economy Plus for our longer leg of the trip (LA to MCO) so that Roger would have more legroom. We used to ask for exit rows but now many United flights have exit rows with no more legroom than regular seats.
We bought some bagels, cream cheese, fruit and juice and sat down to wait for our flight to LA. Our flight left late but landed a bit early which was nice. The plane was not full and the very nice flight attendant encouraged the man sitting in our row to move to another so that everyone could have more room. All of the flight attendants were very nice and friendly.
In LA we had an hour that went by quickly. We then boarded our flight on time with hopes (per the captain) of an on time departure. We were all set but ground control wouldn't let us leave the gate. We loved our Economy Plus seats. They really had a lot more legroom than regular economy seats. Roger could sit comfortably! We finally took off. On board I had ordered a fruit plate and Roger had the regular chicken meal. We shared so that we could each get a little more low fat nutrition than we would with the standard meal. The in-flight movie was The Kid with Bruce Willis. I watched it and enjoyed it.
Surprisingly our flight got in 15 minutes early at about 7pm. We headed for baggage claim and noted that our driver from Tiffany wasn't waiting yet. We got our luggage and then found him. Our driver kind of mumbled his name so we never caught it. He seemed nice enough but definitely was not big on conversation. We stopped at Publix and bought some snacks and beverages and then headed for the Coronado Springs Resort. We bought two six packs of the plastic Diet Coke bottles they sell in the parks. Just on Diet Coke alone we saved $25 from park prices! We also bought bottled water, etc.
Check in went smoothly and we were assigned room 7606 in the Ranchos section. We had decided not to specifically request an area and we're glad we didn't. From photos Ranchos didn't appeal to me all that much but in person we liked it best. All we asked was for a non-smoking room with king bed (we paid king rate) on the top floor. We were in a two story building on the second floor. We ended up really loving this location and the resort. The lake is beautiful and the path around more pleasant in our opinion than even the one around Yacht Club/ Beach Club etc. Our building (7B) was right by the quiet pool and laundry. And not too far from bus stop 3. The Dig Site was a little further but not too bad and El Centro was further but still not bad when we took the lighted bridge shortcut.
We had 9pm PS for dinner at Maya Grill so we walked on over after getting settled a bit. We were seated by the whirlpool and found it very pleasant. We shared two orders of appetizers and one entree. Our appetizers were ham and shrimp croquettes and Beef Pincho and our entree was the PumpkinSeed Encrusted Snapper. We order this way in order to get a variety of tastes and also we end up eating a little less this way. To drink I tried the Margarita Classica. This is a traditional margarita with lots of limejuice and no sweet and sour mix. It is extremely tart! Roger had a Mexican coffee. Our meal without tip was about $55. We enjoyed this meal a lot. The ambience is very nice and the bread they bring you when you are seated is incredible.
Afterwards we walked around the lake a bit and then finished unpacking and turned in.
                  
<font color=darkblue>Donna S.
California
WDW 1990,1992,1994,1995,1997,1999
Disneyland Paris 1998
Disneyland California--too many times to count
</font color>
DonnaS, late 30's, a Disney Connoisseur
RogerS, Donna's DH, early 30's, a Disney Connoisseur but not to extent that Donna is.
Guest Appearances by:
Teri and her family (Teri on the DIS)
Matt (Eeyore'stail on the DIS)
Nancy (NancyIL on the DIS)
Dan Murphy
Ted and his wife Von (Tednvon on the DIS)
Mindy (Donna's former co-worker who now lives in Florida)
Last trip to WDW was last December when we came for two weeks and bought APs for that trip. This trip was added in when we found airfares too good to pass up, especially since our APs were still good.</font>
Tuesday, November 21, 2000
The alarm woke us up at 615am. Surprisingly the kitties didn't wake us before then. Actually it probably wasn't that surprising since we had left a lot of food in their bowls the night before. We got up and showered and dressed and packed last minute items. The taxi was due to arrive at 715am and we were pleased that he arrived on time. It was a fast trip to the airport this a.m. as we were able to use the carpool lane. The route to the airport is the same that we take to work each morning so it was easy to know how long it would take. We were at the airport by 730am. Fare was $20.00 including tip.
The line to check in was long at United but our flight wasn't scheduled to leave until 911am so we had plenty of time. Apparently a lot of people don't arrive early as they were taking people from the end of the line that had a plane leaving in 20 minutes! It's nice that the airline doesn't want to ruin someone's holiday but geesh they really should get to the airport earlier than that! I guess it is possible their taxi was late or there was an accident.... Once we were to the head of the line, the very nice ticket agent upgraded us to Economy Plus for our longer leg of the trip (LA to MCO) so that Roger would have more legroom. We used to ask for exit rows but now many United flights have exit rows with no more legroom than regular seats.
We bought some bagels, cream cheese, fruit and juice and sat down to wait for our flight to LA. Our flight left late but landed a bit early which was nice. The plane was not full and the very nice flight attendant encouraged the man sitting in our row to move to another so that everyone could have more room. All of the flight attendants were very nice and friendly.
In LA we had an hour that went by quickly. We then boarded our flight on time with hopes (per the captain) of an on time departure. We were all set but ground control wouldn't let us leave the gate. We loved our Economy Plus seats. They really had a lot more legroom than regular economy seats. Roger could sit comfortably! We finally took off. On board I had ordered a fruit plate and Roger had the regular chicken meal. We shared so that we could each get a little more low fat nutrition than we would with the standard meal. The in-flight movie was The Kid with Bruce Willis. I watched it and enjoyed it.
Surprisingly our flight got in 15 minutes early at about 7pm. We headed for baggage claim and noted that our driver from Tiffany wasn't waiting yet. We got our luggage and then found him. Our driver kind of mumbled his name so we never caught it. He seemed nice enough but definitely was not big on conversation. We stopped at Publix and bought some snacks and beverages and then headed for the Coronado Springs Resort. We bought two six packs of the plastic Diet Coke bottles they sell in the parks. Just on Diet Coke alone we saved $25 from park prices! We also bought bottled water, etc.
Check in went smoothly and we were assigned room 7606 in the Ranchos section. We had decided not to specifically request an area and we're glad we didn't. From photos Ranchos didn't appeal to me all that much but in person we liked it best. All we asked was for a non-smoking room with king bed (we paid king rate) on the top floor. We were in a two story building on the second floor. We ended up really loving this location and the resort. The lake is beautiful and the path around more pleasant in our opinion than even the one around Yacht Club/ Beach Club etc. Our building (7B) was right by the quiet pool and laundry. And not too far from bus stop 3. The Dig Site was a little further but not too bad and El Centro was further but still not bad when we took the lighted bridge shortcut.
We had 9pm PS for dinner at Maya Grill so we walked on over after getting settled a bit. We were seated by the whirlpool and found it very pleasant. We shared two orders of appetizers and one entree. Our appetizers were ham and shrimp croquettes and Beef Pincho and our entree was the PumpkinSeed Encrusted Snapper. We order this way in order to get a variety of tastes and also we end up eating a little less this way. To drink I tried the Margarita Classica. This is a traditional margarita with lots of limejuice and no sweet and sour mix. It is extremely tart! Roger had a Mexican coffee. Our meal without tip was about $55. We enjoyed this meal a lot. The ambience is very nice and the bread they bring you when you are seated is incredible.
Afterwards we walked around the lake a bit and then finished unpacking and turned in.
<font color=darkblue>Donna S.
California
WDW 1990,1992,1994,1995,1997,1999
Disneyland Paris 1998
Disneyland California--too many times to count
</font color>
