2nd trip for Just Mom & 2 little boys 6/5-14, Star Wars, CBR, DxDP, Character Meals

[MJAJmom]

This is the second trip for just me and my 2 little boys, DS4 and DS6. We planned to be there for the last 2 Star Wars weekends. DH was at home working. We stayed at a pirate room at Carribbean Beach for 9 nights, June 5-14th, using the Buy 4, Get 3 Free deal and also tried out the Deluxe Dining Plan. We saw lots of characters, dined at almost every character meal, and tried out some new rides and shows.

For introductions, there’s me, a stay-at-home mom. I’m a mega planner and just love all the info here on DISboards. I think Disney is such a fun place to bring my boys. It’s so special to spend the visit with just. I’m looking forward to staying at CBR, want to find Daisy Duck, and see how we like the Deluxe Dining Plan.

MJ my DS6, just finished kindergarten, so I guess you could say that’s what we were celebrating. He wants to try Tower of Terror this trip, can’t wait to see the Star Wars characters, wants to swim in the pirate ship pool, and absolutely must see the UP characters. He’s pretty easy going and thankfully behaves very well.

AJ, my DS4, is very spirited, loving and high drama. He’s full of hugs/kisses, but then is hitting and stomping his feet. He wants to see Buzz/Woody, ride TSM and POTC. I’m hoping for not too many melt downs. We’ll plan to come back after lunch for swims and naps to let him rest.

Here we are from our trip last October to see MNSSHP. The link to that trip report is in my signature.



Here is our schedule of park touring:

Fri - arrive late, check-in and bed
Sat - DHS for Star Wars Weekend
Sun - DHS for Star Wars Weekend
Mon - Epcot
Tues – Animal Kingdom, DTD
Wed – Magic Kingdom
Thur – Magic Kingdom, early EMHs
Fri – DHS for Star Wars Weekends, early EMHs
Sat – GF pirate cruise, MK
Sun – check-out, a visit to the Orlando doctor’s office, fly home

With our Deluxe Dining Plan, we scheduled lots of TS and character meals:

Sat - H&V bfast, 50’s Prime Time lunch, Mama Melrose dinner
Sun - Cape May bfast, Sci-Fi lunch, Toy Story Planet Pizza dinner
Mon - Akershus bfast, Teppan Edo lunch, Garden Grill dinner
Tues – Tusker House bfast, Yak & Yeti lunch, Wolfgang Puck Express dinner
Wed – Ohana bfast, Liberty Tree Tavern lunch, 1900 Park Fare dinner
Thur – CBR OPR bfast, Crystal Palace lunch, CBR OPR dinner
Fri – CBR OPR bfast, Brown Derby lunch, CBR OPR dinner
Sat – 1900 Park Fare bfast, Plaza lunch, Chef Mickey dinner
Sun – Boma bfast, Captain’s Grill lunch


Wonderings – How will we feel about the heat/crowds in June?? What’s the CBR hotel like, it’s our first time in a moderate?? Will Star Wars Weekends be insane?? Can we do Tower of Terror?? Will the boys survive princess character meals??

Ready? Let’s begin…..

[jacksonfarms46147]

Can't wait to read your report..especially on CBR as we changed from Pop to there for the Pirate room for Sept.

Jodi

[Angies1274]

My son just finished kindergarten as well and both my boys loved the UP movie (me too!) They can't wait to see the characters when we go back.I'm anxious to find out how you liked CBR as we are considering a moderate for next year's trip. Can't wait for more.......

[MJAJmom]

We flew out on JetBlue on Friday afternoon June 5th. There’s only one flight coming/going to Orlando out of Austin and that’s in the mid-afternoon. So we had the morning to pack up and get ready before heading to the airport. I love flying JetBlue because it’s a nonstop flight, they don’t charge for baggage, they have great snacks and each seat has their own TV screen. It keeps my boys occupied the entire flight. The only downside is that the flight arrives at 7:10pm, so by the time we get our luggage, get our rental car and drive to the hotel, it’s already 9pm, dark and time for bed.

Check-in at CBR: The Custom House was not busy at all. With all the talk about how far away the pirate rooms were in Trinidad South, I had requested Building 34, ground floor on my reservation. Unfortunately they assigned me Building 39 which is THE furthest building away from OPR and the main pool. Bummer!!! They said they were completely booked and could not switch me (the disadvantages of arriving late at night). So I asked if maybe they could switch me tomorrow. The CM checked and said a room was available in Bldg 34 on Sunday, so I said OK let’s set I up. Figured I could change my mind later if I thought it was going to be too much of a hassle to transfer. Since this was our first stay at CBR and our first try at a moderate hotel, I just wanted it to be perfect.

I also asked that my park tickets be put on a separate card from my room key/dining card. I was planning to upgrade my 4/3 tickets to an Annual Pass later in the week and read that this would make things easier. That took a while because I had to go over to the concierge to have them separate the tickets. I also picked up my double stroller at Bell Services which I rented from Orlando Stroller Rental. I rented one from them on our October trip last year and it was fabulous. This year I also rented a stroller cover from them for an extra $10.

CBR is a pretty big resort so you drive a while before you hit Trinidad South. And yes, Bldg 39 is way in the back, and our room was the 2nd to last room at the back, but right next to the parking lot for easy in/out.

Pirate Rooms – Wow!! The room is amazing with all the pirate decorations. The boys are thrilled !!! They love the pirate headboard and the pirate skull curtain that closes off the bathroom. It’s just an awesome room for 2 little boys who love Jack Sparrow. Everything in the room is themed. The night stand is a pirate barrel. The carpet is designed to look like wooden planks. The table has a compass on it. There’s a large wooden storage chest that has a pullout drawer for lots of storage. And 4 drawers in the wooden dresser that looks like 4 stacked boxes. Very well done. I’m so glad it’s such a nice room. The boys will love it here for 9 nights!! I’ll save my observations and comparisons about a Deluxe vs Moderate for later. Here are a few pictures of the room:



Since the plan was to transfer rooms in another day, I didn’t unpack and just took out what we needed for the next day. So we are now off to bed and anxiously awaiting our first day at DHS and Star Wars Weekend. The day will start with a character breakfast at Hollywood and Vine at 8:10am. I’m so excited!!!

[MJAJmom]

Originally Posted by jacksonfarms46147

Can't wait to read your report..especially on CBR as we changed from Pop to there for the Pirate room for Sept.

Jodi

Hi Jodi, thanks for coming along!! I think you're really going to like the pirate rooms, especially if your kids are big pirate fan like mine are. The theming is amazing. Everything was fresh and new. My kids also loved the kiddie pirate ship pool that had some small water slides and lots of squirting water.

Originally Posted by Angies1274

My son just finished kindergarten as well and both my boys loved the UP movie (me too!) They can't wait to see the characters when we go back.I'm anxious to find out how you liked CBR as we are considering a moderate for next year's trip. Can't wait for more.......

Welcome Angies!! Kindergarten was such a fun year for us, hope your son enjoyed it, too. We just went to the UP movie again yesterday. It's such a cute movie. My boys loved Russell and Dug. We bought a talking plush Dug dog at World of Disney. I've got a bunch of comments and observations about the hotel that I'll share later.

[MJAJmom]

It’s a partly cloudy morning and time to start our Star Wars day. The weather forecast says a quick rain shower will hit around lunchtime, otherwise party sunny and warm. One great thing about CBR is that it is SO close to DHS. It’s less than a 5 minute drive to get there. With an early ADR before the park opens, you can an up close parking spot!! There’s 5-6 people waiting in line already for early breakfast entry. There’s several Star Wars posters at the ticket entry. The Star Wars music is playing and lots of kids have light sabers and star wars shirts. The boys are excited about bringing their light sabers to the park. Here we are waiting in line to get into DHS.





Once we get into the park, I took a picture of Mickey’s Hat while the park was empty.


We check in at Hollywood and Vine and get seated very quickly. The place was not even as busy as it was during our last October visit. AJ loves Little Einsteins so this meal is really for him to see June and Leo. The buffet food is pretty good. All the hot foods, fruits, waffles and breads you expect. The characters circulate several times, plus they are very playful with the boys. First was Goliath, then Leo, JoJo and June.





Leo is very interested in checking out MJ's fan. June tried to help me get AJ to smile more for his picture.







Every time we are here, the characters circulate several times around. And because it was not busy, we got to see all the characters twice.



I printed out autograph cards from several designs on the Creative DISsigns board, so I'll add those for each character meal.


After breakfast, we are first at the ropes for rope drop. Our plan is to head straight to Toy Story Mania, ride it and then get a FastPass. Following the mob of people, we are practically first to ride TSM. It’s such a cool ride. I barely had time to snap a picture of Mr. Potato Head. The line to get a Fastpass is about 5 minutes long. With TSM out of the way, now we can work on finding Star Wars characters. We start with finding out were Jedi Mickey is….

[goofygal531]

I just love your TRs with your two little boys!

Our trips overlapped. We were there 6/12 to 6/19.

I spotted the orange double strollers everywhere and thought of you!

Count me in!

Mare