Coronado Springs Customer Service and Food Court

I often hear that it is impossible to experience everything Disney has to offer. We have been going to Disney every year for seven years, and many trips before that. In the past three years we have spent sixteen weeks at Disney. So, you'd expect we have seen it all. And just when I think we have seen it all, we stumble into a new wonderful experience to add to our favorite list. That's what happened today.

We have never been to Coronado Springs Resort. For whatever reason, the Mexican style theme just wasn't very appealing. We love the Mexican land at Epcot, but never considered the resort as much of a destination.

This year, we decided to stop by. And wow, were we impressed! Our very first interaction with the security guard blew my mind. He was friendly and engaging and interested in us, and wanted to make sure we had a great time. 

The second person we encountered appeared to be a manager for the bus boys (possibly?). He went out of his way to greet us and was very friendly. The bus boys were standing, ready to assist, and were friendly and talking with us as we entered. Once inside, it didn't stop. Every person we passed was friendly and spoke to us. I saw a lady cleaning a table stop what she was doing and call out to some people passing by and waved to them like they were her family members. When we paid for our food, the cashier was like an old friend, talking and helping us out - I felt very welcomed and a sense of excitement and energy about the place - there is something great happening at this resort.

This kind of service at every level was incredible. It blew my mind to see this. Who ever is running Coronado Springs has it figured out and is doing it right. And all the employees we encountered are engaged in this behavior and give the impression they love working this way. 

We were in the mood for some Mexican Food, so, we hit the food court.

The first item was the children's nachos. They place a scoop of melted cheese on a plate, pile chips into the cheese, and then pour melted cheese over the top. There was plenty of cheese, but the dish was very salty.

Next up was the pasta. It was a little odd to get pasta when we were going for Mexican, but, it looked good. And it was. Pasta in a white sauce with broccoli, served with a bread stick. 

Next up is the beef tacos on a soft shell, served with beans and rice. There are many toppings for the taco, but I went simple: cheese and sour cream. The rice was nothing special. The Tacos were incredible.

Finally, the Chicken Enchiladas, served with beans and rice. The enchiladas can be stuffed with many available toppings and covered with a red sauce. Again, I kept it simple. These were as good as the tacos.

You might notice the pictures show real plates and silverware! While most food courts go with paper plates and plastic utensils, this food court is keeping it real.

The food court includes a bar where I ordered Margaritas. The margaritas are poured from a mixing machine. At first, they tasted like all mix and no tequila. That quickly changed and my drink delivered a pretty good punch.

We finished the night walking around the Mexican themed resort and visiting with the alligator that swims in the lake next to the lake side bar. We left the resort completely stuffed with Mexican food and very happy. This resort is going on our "must visit" list for our next trip.

Yehaa Bob at Port Orleans

We love us some Yehaa Bob!

Bob Jackson plays in the lounge at Port Orleans Riverside Resort. We go see Bob every year because he puts on an incredible show. Bob is an incredible piano player and entertainer. He plays Disney classics, favorites we learned growing up, and classics from the 70's that everyone knows. The crowd participation is amazing as he gets people on their feet and dancing. He even gets the "Manly Men", who would otherwise not be seen at such a show, to stand up front and do the YMCA and loving every minute of it. And he gets kids of every age, from young to college, up and dancing. Have that frowning teenager who wants to do nothing? Take him or her to this show and watch them light up and have fun. 

A favorite part this year: when Bob played a song from Frozen, a five year old girl stood up and did all the moves from the movie - it was very cute.

Bob's commitment to Disney and the kids is beyond comparison. Every year, he flies to our home town to put on a charity event for Give Kids The World. Give Kids The World is the arm of the Make A Wish foundation that answers the dreams of children with chronic illness who want to go to Disney. It is, in part, Bob's commitment to fund raising that helps make all this possible.

I encourage everyone to see Bob at the Port Orleans. He is a true Disney treasure and I wish everyone knew about his shows. Check his schedule to see what nights he plays. And arrive early to get a chair. If you don't get a chair, there is plenty of standing-room (or dancing room). And Bob does several back-to-back shows every night.

Florida Sun Pass

The first time I road on a Florida toll road, I was shocked by how expensive tolls were! I toll would come up and I was handing $1 or $1.50 or $2. I think I spent $20 in one round trip to the coast!

In New York State, we are over burdened with tax. When we have to pay a toll, the toll is a tax ontop of other taxes I have already paid. Therefore I avoid toll roads in New York whenever possible.

I made a similar pledge in Florida: avoid the toll roads. What I learned is that it is impossible to get anywhere in a practical and timely matter without paying a toll.

Paying tolls on Florida highways in a pain. You have to pull into a toll plaza, wait in line, and either exchange money with a toll booth operator, or throw exact change into the booth. Both options make a long jounery that much longer.

Florida, like many states, has an automatic toll paying system. Florida calls  it the Sunpass. And with Sunpass, you can fly through the toll booths, usually at highway speeds!

We decided to give Sunpass a try. The morning before heading to the east coast, we went to a CVS Pharmacy and purchased a Sunpass for $5. We registered the Sunpass to our car and it's license plate, then deposited $20 into our Sunpass account to pay for future tolls. We affixed the sticker to the windshield near the rear view mirror. Everything looked perfect... Except for the fact that we missed the part of the instructions that said it would take 24 hours before the pass worked at all toll booths.

With our Sunpass attached to our windshield, we headed to the coast.

I blew through several tolls that apparently didn't read my pass. I didn't understand the warning lights and everything. There was another toll where I got into the wrong lane and was blocked by a median to get into the correct lane, so, I blew through a lane that had a red light indicating the lane was closed.

When we were done with the trip, we used our cell phone app to look at our account and found nothing had been charged. I was really concerned I would get $100 fines for every toll booth I blew through.

Luckily, that didn't happen. Cameras took pictures of my car and captured by license plate. They used the license plate to find my registered Sunpass and simply charged my sunpass the correct amount. After that success, I continued to use the Sunpass for several other trips and became less concerned about the cost of the tolls, and more interested in the convenience.

Interestingly, cash the tolls are, like, $1, $1.50, etc. But if you pay with a sunpass, you get a discount that makes the tolls a little more affordable.

The speed of the sunpass is impressive. Often, I was traveling at speeds not allowed by the law of man and it took a perfect picture and charged my account. There were several toll booths where I had to pass through at 25 mph. At one of those booths, it read my sunpass, processed the charge, saw that my account was low, and lite a "Low account balance" sign at the toll booth, all within a fraction of a second

I am very impressed with the Florida Sunpass system, and I will be a customer from now on.

Ohana breakfast

"Character Dining" at Disneyworld is where there are Disney characters (people in costumes) from the movies and the characters visit the tables. This is a great way for kids to meet the characters and have pictures taken without needing to stand in long lines at the park. Unfortunately, character dining is very expensive, so, we decided to limit our character dining experience to only one restaurant. 

The challenge? Which one? There are so many great experiences to choose from - Chef Mickey at the Contemporary, Crystal Palace, Animal Kingdom, and more!

We decided we would keep our favorite: Ohana. This is set at the Polynesian Resort, a Hawaii themed resort. The breakfast is served family style with all your can eat. Large plates of food are brought to the table and replenished as they are finished. The meal includes bread, fruit, biscuits, waffles, eggs, sausage, and potatoes. 

It is very typical to have a long wait for a seat. We often don't get seated until 30-45 minutes after our reservation, and today was no different. There was a large tour group in the restaurant that had to be cleared out before more guests could be seated. I am very glad I wasn't a customer during the tour group's visit because a room full of young teenage girls can get very loud and out of control. 

Something we miss at Ohana are the pictures. Before getting seated, the family gets a picture and then photographers bring the pictures to your seat for review. In the past, the packages included key chains and magnets plus larger pictures. We would always buy the pictures and we have them all displayed in our living room - showing our children through the years as they have grown.

For the past two years (including this year), photographers follow Stitch (why not Mickey?) and take a picture that gets added to your photo pass. You can then buy the pictures later. However, the pictures don't come in a nice display anymore, they are printed sideways now, and they lack the various sizes that used to come in the package. The trade off benefit is that you can order the pictures anytime, have them delivered to your house, and they have different options such as coffee mugs and Christmas ornaments.

When we entered the restaurant, I told my family that I intended to eat eggs until they came out my ears. That nearly did happen as I ate more food than reasonable. It was a great meal, remains our favorite, and we had a great time.

Snaking through the Disney crowd

When we go through Disney World, we go with a purpose. There are places to go and we don't waste any time getting there. We have a system worked out perfect. Mom is the spear - she leads us to were we are going. Next, in single file, are the boys. I bring up the rear to make sure no one gets left behind and nothing gets lost along the way.

No one had better get in the way of our family train! I have seen my wife cut people off, and cause stroller collision accidents. She often cuts through crowds without remembering that the rest of the train is behind her. She often takes us up the less congested left side of sidewalks. One time, a lady called to her "It is just like driving - stay to the right" and my wife turned, ready to rip the lady's head off, but she was gone.

Watch how we got from the front of Magic Kingdom to the Jungle Cruise by cutting through the stores (Mom is in the blue shirt)
https://youtu.be/0Ef3gAqczPs

The Slowest Day at Magic Kingdom

Ever have one of those days where everything just seems to be running in slow motion? That is what happened to us!

We arrived at Magic Kingdom early in the afternoon. The traffic just seemed unusually heavy, and there was a line backed up to get a parking spot. We slowly crept forward and parked it.

Parking at Disney is a crap shoot. Sometimes you get to park on the end that has the transportation tram. Usually, you get parked all the way out at the end of the row. In our case? We weren't just at the end, we had the very last spot. When I got out of the van I asked the parking attendant "Is there a tram to take us to the tram?"

We arrived to the tram just as it pulled away. Disney is usually smart about this - they don't pull away until the next Tram is ready to pull in. By doing this, people don't feel like they were left behind. For whatever reason, that mentality wasn't in existence. The tram pulled away and we were left behind waiting and waiting for the next tram.

When the tram arrives, everyone hurries to get onboard. Why? We have to sit there for ten minutes for everyone else to board, listen to the conductor's lame jokes, hear the safety message, and then wait until the left over idiots still in the parking lot are "Standing behind the yellow line". Finally the conductor says "Can everyone on the tram look at the guy in the blue shirt and tell him to step back behind the yellow line?"

The tram takes off and we get a brief break from the hundred degree weather as a hundred degree breeze blows through the tram. The lady in front of me has super long hair, flapping in the breeze and carelessly hitting me in the face. Come on! She can't tell that her hair is hitting me in the face?

We arrive at the Ticketing Center and have to decide how to get across the lake to the Magic Kingdom: the boat that holds 600 people? Or the monorail that only holds 200? Of course! We pick the monorail! And wouldn't you know it? We arrive at the monorail station just as the monorail pulls out. Obviously? This is not our day.

After ten minutes, the next monorail pulls into station and nobody gets off! Another ten minutes go by and no one is getting off the monorail. Finally, the doors open and the passenger exists. I turn to my wife and ask "Are we sure we want to take the monorail? The boat holds..." and before I can finish my sentence, she is boarded.

The monorail takes off from the station and half way down the rail, it comes to a stop. Uh-oh. Last year, a monorail broke down and left people stranded twenty feet in the air until the fire department rescued them from the hot oven-like monorail cars. Luckily, that would not be our fate, and the monorail continued to the next station.

At the next station, the doors of the monorail failed to open. After some period of time, the conductor announced "We are having some problems. We are going to try a reset. We apologize for the inconvenience." And just like that, they rebooted the monorail! The lights went out, the air conditioning stopped, and the car became very hot.

The crowd outside the monorail waiting to board was growing. One mother trapped in the monorail convinced her kids to knock on the window and say "Help us! We are trapped". That scared away many of the awaiting passengers, who left to explore the boat option for crossing the lake.

After many hot minutes, the lights came back on and the monorail doors opened.

Our first ride was the Jungle Cruise, and we had a fast pass! Linda expertly snaked us through the crowd to get in line quickly. There was a huge fast pass line at Jungle Cruise! Usually, a fast pass means you can get right onto the ride. Something got messed up and the line stretched all across the sidewalk area. We had a twenty minute fast pass wait!

We decided to reward our selves with some ice cream. The four of us all squeezed onto a single bench with me on the end. Little did I realize that my end of the bench was next to a huge mud puddle. I realized it instantly when an eight year old went stomping through the puddle, filling my shoe with water and drenching me.

This was NOT a great trip to the Magic Kingdom. The crowds were too heavy, the lines were too long, the day was too hot, and I was too wet.

Technology Divide: The impact of Fast Pass for Disney

The other day, I boarded onto Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blaster in the Magic Kingdom. My fast pass allowed me to walk right onto the ride, thus bypassing the stand-by queue that snaked around the ride's lobby. As I did this, it became apparent to that I was seeing the impact of a technology divide.

A technology divide is where those who are tech savvy have an advantage over those who aren't. The advantage might be in education, career, life, or, in this case, enjoying a day at Disney World.

Comprehending the Fast Pass system initially is a challenge for some. And for others, it remains a challenge throughout the encounter (I see the smiling assistants at the Fast Pass kiosks answering the same questions all day long concerning basic functionality of the system). Others, I assume, don't even try to understand Fast Pass.

Even within the ranks of those who understand fast pass, there is a division. Those who expertly understand the system will wear their rfid enabled bands and practically walk into the fast pass line with little trouble. Others try to use cards and are left fumbling to try to find them, and are delayed as they scan a stack of cards into the fast pass terminals.

As I passed into Buzz Lightyear, I had difficulty understanding why anyone would volunteer for the stand-by line. I was able to get my Buzz Lightyear pass very simply: walk up to a kiosk, wave my hand, select the ride, done. The time available for my fast pass was nearly immediate.

I talked to a friend who told me that he went to Disney recently, stood in line for 45 minutes for one ride and was so frustrated and angry that he just left the park and has no plans to return. Obviously, he didn't use the fast pass system. If he had, he would have used his cell phone to schedule his time for the ride before every arriving at the park. Instead of waiting 45 minutes, he could have walked onto the ride at a time convenient to him.

That is where the digital divide exists. Those who are technology savvy (or Fastpass savvy) stand the chance of having a great time at Disney. And those who aren't, stand to stand in line all day.