Shopaholic, Workaholic & Bargain Betty Take On WDW A DM/DD TR-Last Day!

[DisMomAmy]

Well in our neverending quest to create the "perfect" Disney experience we upgraded our hotel today! I haven't been certain about staying at a value since we had a bad experience at ASMo in 2007. The first room we were assigned had bugs on the ceiling, the bathroom door looked like a mirror had been ripped off of it and it was covered in black goo and the walls were all marked up. They did give us a new room but it marred our stay and left us determined not to return to any AllStar resort. When we booked this trip we thought we'd do a "budget trip "and thought we'd do the quick service plan and a value. We booked ASMu then switched to Pop when it became available. Well we decided to switch the dining plan to the regular plan (too many ts restaurants we want to try) and now we've upgraded our resort too. We found there was only a 300$ difference between Pop and a mod so we went for it! We have stayed at POR twice and CSR once and love them both but we wanted to try somewhere new. My first choice was POFQ but of course its filled so we are staying at...wait for it...CBR! I am a bit leery of how large it is but I think it looks beautiful and I love that the rooms are newly refurbed!!Thats all for now...but what do ya'll think? Did we make the right choice? Will we enjoy CBR more than Pop? (I do want to hop to Pop while we're there and if we like it we'll stay there next year.)

I'm hoping CBR is the right choice... since that's where we are staying!

The only other on-site resort I've stayed at is Pop - other than a couple visits as a kid and I have no idea where we stayed then...

We chose CBR over Pop for the larger rooms, in room refrigerators and pool slides. I think you'll be happy!

 

[HeatherBelle614]

We used to always stay at CBR; this will be our first time at POP. You are going to LOVE CBR though! We've stayed at every moderate and value (other than POP), and CBR is number two on our list. (Number one for us is POFQ!)

 

[dawnbu40]

Thank you both for the positive things about CBR. I do prefer the mods the values. I like the little extra perks. My hesitation about CBR stemmed from the fact that DH has always said thats the one resort he "never" wanted to stay at (due to a silly incident 5 years ago) I don't remember the exact circumstances but we had been at one park and wanted to hop to DTD. We got on the first bus that came,CBR, and got off there and waited for the DTD bus. And waited. And waited. And waited. I think after about an hour we got picked up.This somewhat colored our attitude on their bus system. I've gotten over it. I mean I don't even know if we were at the main bus stop or where we were but whatever its past. When we discussed upgrading for this trip DH said "anywhere but CBR". Well when we called hoping for POFQ and it wasn't available Caitlin and I chose CBR. When DH came home last night I broke the news to him. His first reaction looked like this then I brought him on here and showed him all the beautiful pics and he looked like this Wow! What a relief! I am now officially excited for our CBR stay!

 

[Disneylove1228]

Love love love your PTR! Subscribing!

Your plans are so exciting!!

Congrats on getting a job! YAY!

 

[dawnbu40]

Love love love your PTR! Subscribing!

Your plans are so exciting!!

Congrats on getting a job! YAY!

Welcome! Glad you're on board! Your wedding pic looks beautiful! I'm going to hop over and take a look at your trippie!

 

[WishMom09]

I just read your trip report! I love that you are tag teaming it!
We also made reservations for breakfast at Akershus with the princesses.....so glad to hear you like eating there! I have read some mixed reviews!
And so neat we will be there at the same time!

 

[PrincessCaitlin]

I just read your trip report! I love that you are tag teaming it!
We also made reservations for breakfast at Akershus with the princesses.....so glad to hear you like eating there! I have read some mixed reviews!
And so neat we will be there at the same time!

Thank you so much

Yeah really don't worry about Askershus! We did that princess breakfast and the Cinderella's Royal Table one and we preferred the Askershus! The food is so much better and I felt the princesses had more interaction with everyone for a longer time then at the Royal Table where they seemed rushed. I am sure your family will enjoy it.

Yeah I thought that was really cool as well

 

[dawnbu40]

IT'S HERE!! IT'S HERE! IT's FINALLY HERE! After months of the grayest,snowiest, most miserable winter in years it is finally here!! Yes, today is the first day of spring! I even saw a robin yesterday! Up here in Michigan we've had an awful winter so we are very ready for spring! And you know what spring means....birds...flowers..green grass...and most importantly another trip to Disney! Only 6.5 weeks to go! So happy spring to you all!

 

[DisMomAmy]

IT'S HERE!! IT'S HERE! IT's FINALLY HERE! After months of the grayest,snowiest, most miserable winter in years it is finally here!! Yes, today is the first day of spring! I even saw a robin yesterday! Up here in Michigan we've had an awful winter so we are very ready for spring! And you know what spring means....birds...flowers..green grass...and most importantly another trip to Disney! Only 6.5 weeks to go! So happy spring to you all!

I will definitely dance to that!!

 

[dawnbu40]

Happy Monday Morning Dissers! I'm sure everyone missed the Dis as much as we did this weekend! Well we hit the 45 day mark yesterday! The 4/3 package is paid off. In the coming weeks we'll add the DP. (by not putting it in the original pkg it gives extra time to pay it off) I've always read on these boards that the best time to land those hard to get reservations is at the 45 day mark. Well thats true because yesterday we got an adr for O'Hana after weeks of trying! This morning I checked the 4/3 pkg availability online and lo and behold there was an opening at POFQ! Our 1st choice! So Caitlin dialed wdw travel for the umpteenth time and we're in! This is such a relief as I've been so worried about DH at CBR! We've always wanted to try POFQ but its always booked so this is a real treat. Speaking of treats, I cannot wait for those beignets! Last year when we were at POR we picked some up on the morning of Caitlin's surf lesson and ate them on the beach at TL. They are so yummy and count as a snack credit on the DP! Thats all for now. We'll have our Day5 plan up soon!

 

[Disneylove1228]

YAY for getting into POFQ!!!

Mmm i love those, too! I'm from New Orleans! hehe!

So excited for your trip!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Congrats on the resort change!! We were on the fence about CBR vs. POFQ. We ended up with CBR because the rooms are a little bigger and we thought the boys would like the pirate themed pool. Maybe we'll get to POFQ in the future.

 

[dawnbu40]

Congrats on the resort change!! We were on the fence about CBR vs. POFQ. We ended up with CBR because the rooms are a little bigger and we thought the boys would like the pirate themed pool. Maybe we'll get to POFQ in the future.

Thank you! I think you made the right choice for your family though! I think CBR is a perfect fit for a family with young children! The pool and the pirate or Nemo room themes were designed with children in mind and if we had young kids I would want to stay there. I think CSR (where we stayed in Dec) and the POresorts are geared for older visitors. I really like that WDW offers such a variety in resorts. There is something for every family depending on ages and expendable income.

 

[PrincessCaitlin]

Good morning fellow disers!
Sorry I haven't been updating or replying any
I have been soo busy with school, work and thinking about another trip that I haven't had time to spend updating our pre trippie
I will try to make some more time for you guys

Anywho our day 5 trip plans

It will also be Mother's Day so this day is dedicated to my momma

We will be going to Disney Hollywood Studios again!
Oh I can never get enough of DHS
well maybe I can get enough of the Muppet 3d movie (who agrees with me that it's about time disney got a new one?)
We will most likely be riding Toy Story Mania a few hundred times

Then at 4:30 we have dinner plans at Park Fare
We have heard great things about the character interaction with the step sisters so we are looking forward to it

Then we will be going back to DHS for Fantasmic at 9

I absolutely love Fantasmic it is probably my favorite nighttime show at Disney World!
I just love watching Mickey fight the dragon it is soo cool!

So comment away my friends

 

[dawnbu40]

Exactly 6 weeks from today we will be back at "The Happiest Place on Earth"!!I can't wait! We were there in Dec but only for 4 nights and it went much too fast. Also Workaholic wasn't with us so even though a "girls trip" was fun, it wasn't the same without him. We've been together 25 years this June so I'm kinda used to him being around. Anyway celebrating Mother's Day at WDW should be a very special event! I am so looking forward to dining with the Tremaine family. I'm not a big dinner eater, for the most part, so the meal here is secondary. We are going for the entertainment! There is the boat between DHS and the GF so we will have boat rides back and forth that day which is something we've never done! I love trying new things each trip and even though this will be my 12th there is still much I've never done. I guess we have to keep going til we've tried EVERYTHING! That should take the next 30 or 40 years Hitting the 6 week mark means I need to get working on Tink gifts! I started this "new tradition" on our trip last April. We were there to celebrate Caitlin's graduation so each day I had a little gift for her. Well who doesn't like getting presents? So we did this again in Dec and each day Caitlin and her grandma had a suprise. Caitlin is very easy to shop for... since she likes everything! DH is a little tougher to shop for but this morning I was checking out the Disney shopping website and they have tees buy1 get1 free! You know Bargain Betty loves a good deal so I ordered him 2. He's getting the "vintage" Goofy and the "All American" Mickey. They are so cute! I had thought about making him tees (in Dec. I made Caitlin a tee for each day and made the 3 of us 2 different matching hoodies) but our printer is just sucking up the ink and I figured it's more cost effective to buy them. I also have a book for poolside reading and nuts(he always complains that they give out pretzels now instead of nuts) for the plane ride as Tink gifts. I need a couple more things if anyone has any ideas please share them!
Thats all for now. Hope to hear your thoughts on Day5 and ideas for gifts for DH!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Your Day 5 sounds fun! I can't wait to ride TSMM too!! I'm glad they added another ride for the younger set. DS5 will enjoy it.

Dinner at Park Fare sounds great - I've read some great reviews about it! We are going to be taking the boat from The Wilderness Lodge to MK during our trip - it will be our first time taking boat transportation. It'll be fun to try something new and break up the routine of bus, bus, bus.

Dawn - I hope you have a great day on Mother's Day - you'll be spending it in the best place in the world! Have fun coming up with all the tink gifts!

 

[Hallowishes]

GREAT so far!!! i am so excited for you guys! and im kind of living vicariously through your plans since my trip is still like ... 180 days away!! cant wait to hear more!

 

[dawnbu40]

Caitlin's had a rough week,what with finals fast approaching, so we took a little (bout half hour) road trip. Where did we go? Well we needed a Disney fix so we took a drive to.....the.......Disney Store!! We used to have 3 in our area and they closed them all. We had fun chatting in the car and we loved getting there and having that "Disney feeling". I know you guys know that feeling. It's the one you get when you hear the Disney music playing and see all the cute Disney merchandise. The store had a lot of sales going on so we forced ourselves to pick up a few things.Caitlin got a kids (yes she's that tiny) pink Minnie hoodie on clearance for $7.99! They had tees 2 for 20$ so we got one for DH and Caitlin picked out another for herself. (i have a thing about only wearing shirts with collars so i don't wear tees. i know weird right?) They both are Mickey tees. DH's has Mickey through the years and there's a little pic of Walt! Really cute stuff! We also picked up the reusable shopping bags. We got a red Mickey one and a Wall-E one. I'm not sure if I'll use them as gift bags or take them as totes on vacation but they were too cute to pass up! Lastly, we picked up some Disney dollars for our rapidly approaching trip! All in all a very fun way to spend the morning and get a little Disney fix!

 

[PrincessCaitlin]

Today is going to be my absolute favorite day!

First we are going to the Magic Kingdom again!

We will be catching the 9:45 rope drop for ToonTown so we can go see the Fairies

I had so much fun with them last time we went so I am excited to see them I will just have to watch the movie over again

For lunch we will be going to the Plaza

I am looking forward to their banana split

Then for dinner the one dinner I am looking most forward to.....

NARCOSSEES!!!!!
I am soo looking forward to the whole Maine lobster mmmmm

Then we will be returning to the Magic Kingdom for spectromagic and wishes

 

[dawnbu40]

Magic Kingdom Days are my absolute favorite days in WDW! As Caitlin mentioned our early morning goal will be to visit Tink and her pals as soon as Pixie Hollow opens. In Dec. we got to the rope about 9:30 and parked my DM in her wheelchair at the rope and ran over and rode the teacups. (UGH! My head keeps spinning long after that ride ends!) We got back to DM just before the rope drop at 9:45 and followed the CMs to Pixie Hollow and we were done before the 10am posted opening time! I am hoping this plan works for us again! (minus the teacups!!) I love the way they have Tink's area decorated and if you listen you hear the baby laugh!! It's sooo cute! After seeing the fairies we'll look around ToonTown and then head back to Main St for our first visit to The Plaza. The sandwiches there look really yummy and big enough for us girls to share. For dessert we will all share the banana split! Since we have more adrs then TScredits we'll be paying OOP for this adr hence the sharing. After lunch we will visit whatever rides we missed on our first MK day. In the afternoon we'll head back to POFQ to rest or swim and dress for dinner . That evening we will be heading to the GF to try Narcossee's. My family was sold on their menu after seeing it has whole lobsters as well as steak and lobster. We enjoy seafood and love eating at Fulton's but they aren't on the DDP so hopefully we will like Narcossee's just as well or more! I've heard this restaurant has an amazing view of Wishes but there is no way I want to eat dinner that late at night so we will head back to MK after dinner and catch Spectro and Wishes. I love the nighttime parades with all the lights they just look so magical! This will be the last we see of MK until our next trip so I will end that day a little misty eyed but thrilled to have been lucky enough to visit again!