Yo ho, yo ho a Pirate Room for Us - May 6-9th PTR

[birdie757]

Introduction:
We are a family of Disney World fanatics. Since we only live 2 1/2 hours from WDW it really feeds our addiction. We average 3-4 trips a year and display our AP's like badges of honor. Our last two trips have been with family. Nov 2009 was with my parents and Jan 2010 was with my in-laws and BIL's family. We are so ready for a trip alone so we can do Disney our way. Last May we had the absolute perfect trip...not one thing was even slightly off. We are hoping for a repeat this May...but even if it is half as great it will still be an awesome trip!

Our Family:
We are currently a family of 3. We have a dd who is 4. I started coming to Disney in the summer of 1989. My family went very frequently and that is how I got my Disney start. Dh, however, lived all over the country as a kid and only went to Disney once...and they still can't remember if it was Disneyland or Disney World. He got hooked once he moved to Florida and has tried to make up for the lack of trips in his childhood ever since then. Dd's first trip was Nov of 2007. She has now been 7 times and stayed in 6 different resorts on property. Lucky kid! Here are a few photos...
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h201/birdie757/DSC01060.jpg
Dd and I on our May 2009 trip.
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h201/birdie757/IMG_6466.jpg
Dd and her pink Cinderella dress I made her for her birthday to wear for her dinner at CRT.
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h201/birdie757/DSC01362.jpg
Dd at her birthday meal with Cinderella
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h201/birdie757/DSC01382.jpg
Minnie showing dd how to properly pose for a pic

Dh doesn't want pics online cause of his job....so you will just have to use your imagination.

Next up Accommodations...
Accommodations (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=35934776&postcount=2)
ADR's (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=35935065&postcount=3)

[birdie757]

Accommodations:

We had a hard time deciding where to stay this trip. Since we live so close we tend to book with short notice...which can make planning less than ideal at times. We have a goal of staying at least once at every resort (Except the Values...once was enough and we will not stay in one again). So far we have crossed off:

Contemporary
Beach Club
Yacht Club
Boardwalk
Port Orleans Riverside
All Star Sports
Wilderness Lodge
Caribbean Beach Resort

We had really wanted to try the Poly this time but we were too late getting in on the Fl resident discounts this time. Dh is a big pirate fan so ever since we saw the concept photos of the newly themed rooms at the Caribbean Beach Resort we had been really itching to try them. Last May they didn't have any availability. This time they did and by staying there we could save over $400 what we would pay for the Poly. It was a win win for us.

We were really torn on this decision though...and hope we won't regret it. We really have a hard time not staying in the Epcot resorts area because we are huge Epcot fans and love the benefit of walking there for dinner and being able to walk home and not have to bus at the end of the day. We really do enjoy POR though, so I am really praying for a similar experience. I have read of people complaining about buses and walking at CBR, but I am hoping that they are a bit exaggerated. The last time I stayed there I was 10 and it was the first summer it was open...so a lot has changed since then!

Next up ADR's...

[birdie757]

Well, being as I just booked our room today I am quite a bit behind the rest of the crowd getting ressies. We have our usual list of "dream" meals but we rarely if ever get into those...(I.e. Le Celier and Chef Mickey's). This time we were all about trying out something new.

The way we operate at WDW is that all evening meals occur in Epcot...because that is just the way we like to finish a day. We only do one TS a day. We will either bring something from home for breakfast or grab something small in the food court, depending on if there is one or not at our resort. For lunch we usually try to go lite...with dh and I both often getting kids meals. That way we can get more healthy sides and much better portion size. We do early dinners at a TS and usually finish the night with a treat...I am a fan of the enormous sugar cookies in Germany while dd and dh prefer either popcorn or a rice crispie treat.

I was pleasantly surprised to not have any difficulties finding availability today online. Last May there were no available reservations in Epcot while we were there. Here is our tentative ADR schedule...

Thus May 6th - Restaurant Marrakesh
Fri May 7th - Les Chefs de France
Sat May 8th - Garden Grill

Les Chefs is the last TS restaurant in the World Showcase we have not eaten at. I doubt I will change this reservation. I think dd will love the characters at Garden Grill...so that will likely stay as well. However, Thurs night is totally up for grabs. While we were there in Jan my BIL and his wife were able to walk in to Le Celier on a Sat night at 5 with 4 adults 1 child...and this was MLK weekend! So, we are going to walk up early to Le Celier...like 430 and see if we can get in...if so we will cancel Marrakesh. I know it is a long shot but what does it hurt to try?

Now as far as lunches go...we do have a few fav CS places. We are really hoping El Pirate and Perdito is open while we were there...we missed out in Nov and Jan and it is one of our favs. We would also like to try the bbq place in AK. We have never stayed long enough there to eat lunch. Any ideas on a good CS at HS...feel free to share.

[dismagiclover]

:woohoo: I'm first! How I would love to be 2 1/2 hours from Orlando! A girl can dream! Your DD is so stinkin cute and I love the dresses you make for her! So adorable.:cutie: Your plans look great so far. I'm with you on the Epcot resort area. We stayed at Beach Club last summer and it was heaven to spend the morning in a park, go swimming at SAB in the afternoons and stroll over to Epcot for dinner:cloud9: I'm sure CBR will be great too though! Those pirate rooms really do look fun. Looking forward to more.

[deslynnpatterson]

hey i am joining in!!! :cool1: First i want to say your DD is adorable:) and second i am very jealous that you get to go to disney so many times a year and live so close!!:) thats awesome!! I can't wait to hear all about the pirate room:) your ADR choices sound delicious too! I am going in Sept and just got done making my adrs today--- This will be my 8th time to disney! I can't wait to hear more about your trip!!!

[birdie757]

Yeah! I am so glad I have a few people reading along. Today I am going to start on the most difficult part of our trip....deciding on which outfits to sew for dd! She has some big plans so it might take me the entire time between now and when we leave to get it all done.