Wanda Chow Beard -- September 2000 -- Walt Disney World (CSR, ASSR)
Wanda's September 9-16, 2000 WDW Trip Highlights
Cast of characters: Just me, Wanda, 39. This was my 8th trip to WDW and
my 4th trip within a year's timeframe. Going for a Conference at Coronado
Springs Resort, but tagging on a few days of vacation after the conference.
This trip I split my stay between Coronado Springs and AS Sports. I had
never stayed at a moderate before and was anxious to check out the Coronado,
since I've heard good/bad things about it on the newsgroup. Overall, I
had a wonderful time, even solo. The rooms I got at Coronado and AS Sports
were better than I had hoped for.
Good Experiences:
- I love Southwest Airlines. After all the bad things I hear on TV about
delayed flights, I have never had a delayed flight with Southwest.
- This was my first experience using Mears, since I usually rent a car,
or drive down to Orlando with my family. Bought Mears ticket at 11:15am,
and arrived at Coronado Springs at 12:30pm.
- First impression of Coronado Springs was that it was a pretty resort,
though the colors were a bit to the bright side. But I got use to it
quick enough.
- Even though I was checking in around 12:30pm, my room (1261) was ready
for me in Casitas #1 (as I requested), second floor. This worked out
perfectly, since there was a second floor entrance into the Conference
Center connected to Casita #1. Other ladies at the conference were just
so jealous that I was so close. They never thought about requesting
a room close to the Conference Center.
- The conference facilities at the Coronado were very nice. They had
some of those internet kiosks, which I played with for a bit. I checked
some internet mail free of charge. The conference that I attended also
had setup a cyber cafe for checking mail and browsing the web.
- The Manager for Emergency Preparedness at WDW gave a talk at the conference.
It was very interesting. He talked about the hostage situation and hurricane
Floyd. He showed a list of situations they had dealt with in the past,
but he didn't leave that slide up too long. I remember one about contaminated
Coke and disgruntle Coke employee though.
- He mentioned at one point with the hostage situation, that they were
planning to cancel Illuminations that evening, afraid that it might
set off the kidnapper. But after some talk with a psychologist, they
decided to continue everything as planned to keep everything appearing
normal. Michael Eisner was on a plane to WDW preparing to give a media
report, but the hostage situation got resolved before he arrived.
- Whenever there is a situation, Disney pulls all Ads, similar to why
there are not any Firestone Ads being shown lately.
- On 9/9, as I walked into MGM Studios, I saw a trio of young men with
Mickey driving by in a convertible. I did not know who they were, but
I waved. Later found out from someone on the newsgroup that it was BBMak,
a teen singing group.
- On 9/11 I watched a Coke commercial being filmed at Epcot. They were
using the Living Seas and Spaceship Earth as the background. Can't wait
until I see the commercial on TV.
- Saw Hunchback of Notre Dame 3 times during this trip. Each time there
was a different preshow juggler, Matt, Randy, and Brian. They all were
good, and did different juggling tricks. Some of the jokes were the
same though.
- I love HBOND. It's my favorite attraction at WDW. There were different
people playing the Hunchback at the shows. Only once did I get my favorite
Hunchback. This guy is so good. My eyes tear up when I hear him sing
that =93Out There=94 song. The other Hunchbacks were good too, but they
just don't arouse the crowd the same way, at least in my opinion.
- Transferring luggage from Coronado to AS Sport went without a hitch.
When I was ready to leave Coronado, I just rolled my suitcase to Bell
Service where luggage is stored, and they told me that my luggage would
be transferred between 1 and 3pm. After I checked into the AS Sport,
I called the number given to me by the Front desk, and they brought
my luggage to me within a few minutes.
- My room at AS Sports (6147) was great. They gave me a non-smoking
first floor handicap room with a king size bed in Surfs Up building
#6. All I had asked for was a non-smoking room close to the main building.
The king size bed gave me a little extra walking space. Another surprise
plus was a refrigerator hidden in the drawers. Great, since I had some
canned sodas with me.
- There were no lines. Only place that was remotely crowded was Fantasyland.
Pooh had a 30-minute wait. I went back to Fantasyland during early entry,
and there was no wait in Fantasyland. Also in Epcot there was a posted
45-minute wait for Test Track, but since I was alone anyway, I just
used the single rider line.
Bad Experiences:
- Tried to get to MGM for an early entry. Got up and arrived at the
bus stop at 7:30am. By 8:00am no MGM bus had come by. Several families
were upset, especially since they had gotten up early to do early entry
for MGM. I ended up changing my plans and going to Animal Kingdom instead,
- Not a bad experience, but a disappointment was having dinner at Rose
and Crown, and not seeing the illusionist Joe Armstrong. I decided to
eat there because I wanted to see him before he left. I asked when will
he be performing, and they told me he just comes out and wanders from
table to table at no scheduled time. I waited and waited, but did not
get a chance to see him.
- Waiting for Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney. I had met 2 ladies
at the Conference I was attending. We decided to go to Downtown Disney
to eat dinner. Since neither of the ladies had been to Downtown Disney
before, or to a Rainforest Cafe, we decided to go there for dinner.
We were told it would be a 30-minute wait, but it ended up being over
an hour. One of the ladies decided to skip dinner and go shopping while
we ate. If we had known that the wait was going to be so long, we would
have went somewhere else for dinner.
- When taking a Mears shuttle back to the airport, the shuttle I was
scheduled to be on filled up. Another family was upset and called Mears,
since two earlier shuttles that filled had turned them away. Ends up
that people were taking earlier shuttles they were scheduled for, taking
the spots of the scheduled people. Mears did not check when people where
piling in the vans which shuttle they were suppose to be on. Mears ended
up sending an extra van to pick up us people who did not get on our
scheduled van, after someone called and complained.
Miscellaneous thoughts:
- I liked the Coronado, but I (or my work) paid around $130 per night
there, versus $75 at AS Sport. I can't say I would be willing to pay
the difference while vacationing, especially since we don't spend much
time in our hotel room. I tried to get the $89 rate, but it was not
available at the Coronado at that time. If I could get the $89 rate,
I would stay there as opposed to one of the All Stars.
- Never tried the Pepper Mill, though it did smell good when I walked
by. The conference provided a lot of food, and other times I ate meals
out.
- Enjoyed my trip very much, even though I was solo. I kept so busy
that being alone did not bother me.
- I had a slightly different attitude with this trip. Since I had been
to WDW so many times this past year, I did not feel obligated to do
everything in the parks. I just did what I wanted to as many times as
I wanted to. I went to see Bear in the Big Blue House, even though I
had never seen the TV show, nor did I have any kid with me. Can't say
that I'll do it again though ;)
Wanda Chow Beard
matt_beard@msn.com
|
