WAIT! IS THAT THE SWALPHIN?! A January 2014 Trip Report

[TinksThree]

We stayed in the Rancheros section one time and it really wasn't that bad. I loved the rooms at CSR. I think those are some of the nicest rooms we've had at Disney (Deluxes not included). Wow...productive night at Epcot! We just love WS at night!

 

[Surfinpiratee]

WOW! Sorry I've been like, non-existent for a while guys...
Sometimes I just don't get around to getting on my computer, or I'm just busy, etc. This past Memorial Day weekend my boyfriend and I went camping in Wisconsin Dells!!! It was pretty fun

Saturday, January 5​

When I left off, we had just watched Illuminations!!! After the show was over we walked pretty quickly to the busses..we didn't want to have to wait too long, we were tired and ready for bed!!!

We waited around 15-20 minutes for a bus, and arrived back at our resort. We got off at the main bus stop in front of the lobby so we could take a scenic walk back to our room ALSO so we could go into the gift shops again. I really can't get enough of Disney stores..

Walking back inside Coronado...


Billy had to use the restroom, so I sat on the fountain, and hung out in the lobby area, taking in our new resort!





Basically the best part of Coronado...


Loved these shot glasses!!! Definitely bringing more spending money next time...


We began to walk back to our room and since we were in the Ranchero section, it was basically the complete other side of the lake. We stumbled upon the hammocks and decided to lay in one! It was nice. Here's a picture looking up:


We could have easily fallen asleep in these! So we decided it was a good idea to continue on to our room. I also started thinking about alligators.. I know there aren't any BIG ones...but still...the lake was dark/I watch a lot of river monsters...

We finally made it back to our room, showered, and went straight to sleep! We had a big day tomorrow!​

 

[MidnightParade]

I love those hammocks! They are just so nice and awesome.

You know I have been a little bit disinclined to stay at Coronado again, just the theme doesn't get me excited, but your pics and TR suggest maybe I need to rethink it...maybe. lol

 

[afwdwfan]

River Monsters is great!!!

I saw probably a 3 or 4 foot gator when we stayed at CSR a couple of years ago. Not a man eater, but I sure wouldn't want it sneaking up on me!

 

[Surfinpiratee]

I love those hammocks! They are just so nice and awesome.

You know I have been a little bit disinclined to stay at Coronado again, just the theme doesn't get me excited, but your pics and TR suggest maybe I need to rethink it...maybe. lol

I really liked Coronado! I liked POR better, just the theming was fun in Alligator Bayou since I go camping a lot! Maybe I was expecting CSR to be a little beachy-er? But you're in Disney...nothing really to complain about!

 

[Surfinpiratee]

River Monsters is great!!!

I saw probably a 3 or 4 foot gator when we stayed at CSR a couple of years ago. Not a man eater, but I sure wouldn't want it sneaking up on me!

Yikes!!!

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Monday, January 6​

Today was the day DBF was looking forward to most! I was looking forward to it as well, but I was sad to leave Disney for a few hours. That's right we were going to the dark side!

We got up pretty early since I really wasn't sure how Universal worked..I didn't really research it. So I figured, better to go early!

The drive was uber short. MAYBE 20 mins..



We arrived!

Now get ready for a slow process....

We drove around following signs, felt like forever. Finally got to the parking garage....but wait! We had to pay first! So we waited in line to pay....

THEN we parked.

I HATE PARKING GARAGES. HATEEEE.

I saw we were in the Dr. Suess section So we began like a 5 mile walk to the entrance. It was basically like an airport. Moving sidewalks and such

Then we waited in a very long security line...mind you, this was a Monday in January at like, 8:30am...

We still had a little bit to walk to the entrance. So me being the smarty I am didn't buy tickets ahead of time...so we had to wait a good like 45 mins to get them. We went to IOA first because it was more important to us. So, if any of you have ever been there, they play this super epic music over the speakers, there's a gong involved..it was awesome.

Anyway, we finally made it in!



LOVEEE THIS PICTURE ^


We saw Woody Woodpecker, but I wasn't going to meet him..lol, we were on a mission!

To here:


More specifically here:


Billy had been telling me for months how awesome this ride is...not gonna lie, it was pretty awesome!!! And I didn't have any motion sickness issues! Yay! It was just fun!

We moved on.. Popeye!!!


We made our way here:




This place was super cool! SO much detail!!!

For all you "Billy selfie taking fans" This one is pretty good...
Selfie stop!


​

 

[MidnightParade]

Yay Universal! Spider-Man is pretty awesome. And I love love the Jurassic Park area/ride. Its just so very neat and I just love it! Can't wait to see how the rest of the day goes!

 

[LuvEeyore]

Great updates!! Cant wait to hear more. I especially want to hear about Universal and IOA. We are going in January.

 

[afwdwfan]

Love me some Universal!

You shouldn't complain too much about the parking garage there. Yes, it is a long way to the park, but the moving sidewalks help, and you don't have to deal with parking lot trams. And let's face it, that parking garage is awesome when you're returning to a car, in the middle of the afternoon, in Florida... Shade definitely makes it much more comfortable!

Spider Man is an amazing ride. Hulk is my definite favorite in IoA though.

Did you actually ride Popeye? I love that ride... it is soooo much better than Kali River Rapids. There is no way to avoid getting absolutely soaked on it though!

 

[TinksThree]

I agree about the best part of the store at CRS...isn't he the cutest?! Getting to the actual parks at Universal is crazy but I think I am spoiled by Disney transportation. Between the parking garage, the walk to Citywalk, getting through Citywalk and finally the park entrance, I find myself worn out!!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

That sounds like quite the ordeal just to park and walk and but tickets etc. I agree about hating parking garages - makes it seem like you are just going to the mall or something

Spider-Man is a super cool ride though!

 

[StitchsMomma]

Hahaha I might get brave and do it next time...I like Thunder Mountain...is it similar?

My 8 year old's favorite rides in Disney are Thunder Mountain and EE. I really enjoy EE maybe once per trip. When we were there this past September, we were able to walk right on so of course my son and boyfriend wanted to ride it over and over. I think we did it 6 times in a row before I had to bow out due to motion sickness. I don't do well going backwards! LOL

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Hello everyone! Sorry I disappeared for a while! Besides the usual life stuff, I've been very busy planning my next trip! And there's a pretty good chance we'll be going over New Years!! You can read all about that in the PTR mentioned in my signature!

Monday, Jan 6​

When I left off we were at Unversal!! We were in Jurassic Park, and we soon entered here:


Notice that clear blue sky? Well it's not as warm as it looked..this particular day was when it was like, -40 back home! Some of the chillyness snuck down to Florida! Grrr

We walked around for a bit and saw these guys:



Pretty sure these were the guys that randomly moved, which FREAKED me out!
There was also an employee walking around holding this little dinosaur that appeared to be real! Although it was just a puppet robot type thing, but I was still convinced it was real

We made our way over to these "which dinosaur are you" machines.
I was a Triceratops:


Billy was a Stegosaurus:


Then we saw these guys!


I believe this is where Billy took my camera...



He wanted to get some 'good' pictures.. psh!
Anyway, we left and ended up in a gift shop. I saw this shirt:



After exploring Jurassic Park, we left and finally ended up here:


And that update will be for later!!!!

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