nkereina
Last chance to lose your keys.
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2009
Just back from an awesome 10 days at WDW! It was just DH and I, stayed at Coronado Springs from 10/19-10/28. Wanted to provide some random thoughts/observations/opinions from our trip.
Overall, we had a great time with very few negative experiences. Not sure if I’d return this time of year again due to the crowd levels, but the amazing weather does make it tempting. Feel free to ask any questions!
- Moderate crowd levels are a very accurate assessment for this time of year. It was manageable, but very few rides (if any) were walk-on. 20+ minute waits were the norm for the lesser attractions, 55+ minute wait for headliners pretty consistently throughout the day. Epcot on Saturday during F&W was, as predicted, the absolute worst. Didn’t see a ton of ride closures, but I do recall Slinky Dog being down for a while and Spaceship Earth being down for several hours one day as well.
- Refresh strategy for FP+ worked about 75% of the time for us. I think our success was mostly due to being a party of 2. Ones I could not get as a 4th FP at any point were FEA, Slinky Dog, and TSMM. I also was not successful with any headliners in MK on a Saturday night without MNSSHP, but that’s not really surprising. We did have success getting the times we wanted with Alien Swirling Saucers, TOT, RNRC, Test Track, Soarin, Everest, Big Thunder, Splash Mountain, Jungle Cruise, Pirates, and most of the other lesser attractions in MK.
- We were able to pre-book a FOP FP for our last morning, and it was worth returning to AK for. Our first time riding it and we understand the popularity of it now. Loved it. We were also pleasantly surprised by Slinky Dog and Alien Swirling Saucers – both super fun and cute. Better than we expected.
- We did the After Fireworks Dessert Party for HEA and were underwhelmed. Not sure I’d do it again. We headed over to the viewing area in front of the plaza around 8:20 for a 9pm showtime, and it was already 90% full with people sitting and waiting. Once the show started, most people stood and rushed to the front fence. The desserts/apps were good and the party area was only half full.
- We visited Food & Wine on Monday afternoon and it was much more manageable. Very few lines for the food booths. Stand-outs for us were the Beer Cheese Soup & Pretzel from Canada, Teriyaki Chicken Buns from Japan, and Lobster Roll from Hops & Barley. Disappointed in the amount of sold-out exclusive F&W merchandise while there’s still a couple weeks left to go.
- Weather was AMAZING. Low 80s, low humidity, and only rained once for an hour the entire trip.
- Coronado Springs was awesome. The construction was not bothersome to us at all. It is unsightly when you first pull into the resort, but our preferred king room in Casitas faced the inner courtyard and we couldn’t hear a thing. I do think lagoon facing rooms would be able to hear it, and it did start early – was already in progress by 7am we noticed. Buses and housekeeping were just OK. The refurbished room was beautiful and very comfortable.
- Dining experiences were mostly good. We were underwhelmed by Ohana and Via Napoli. Our first time for dinner at Ohana and found it to be loud and chaotic, and the fare just wasn’t our speed. No issues with service, didn’t find that the courses came out too fast, and the food was fine. But just not a place we’re dying to return to. This was our second time dining at Via Napoli and it took FOREVER for our two individual size pizzas to come out. They were good but basic and not very filling. On the flipside, the stand-out dining experiences for us were Liberty Tree Tavern lunch, Garden Grill breakfast, and Homecomin’ dinner. Still dreaming about the fried chicken with mac & cheese at Homecomin’.
- Park bathrooms were mostly yucky. Dirty stalls, empty paper towel, stinky in some cases. I did notice a lot of the park bathrooms are very dated and old, and could use a good refurb - particularly at Epcot.
- Didn’t do MNSSHP, but did hop over to Universal for Halloween Horror Nights. As two adults with no kids, it’s a much a better experience IMO. Loved everything about it.
Overall, we had a great time with very few negative experiences. Not sure if I’d return this time of year again due to the crowd levels, but the amazing weather does make it tempting. Feel free to ask any questions!
