Who Invited My Mother In Law? A Moderately Deluxe TR All New X 3 & PTR Link 2/3 !!

[Caretames1]

RAIN!!!

I totally get the "I wanna go to Disney World" remarks from Maddie. The second time we went, Kadence said the same thing while at Downtown Disney.


Here's hoping you stayed somewhat dry!

 

[shan23877]

Yikes. Your MIL had you book her. I love the face next to your I was not too busy statement. She is lucky you did though, since she still needed more info to board. Hopefully Maddie loved the pool even though it was pirate themed.

We did almost no research of CBR on our first stay (also in Aruba). When the CM offered to have someone take us to the room, we declined. Getting all of our bags there was quite a task. On our next stay in Trinidad North, we waited for the ride even though ME still had most of our bags. Luckily (and you know our luck with transportation), the wait was not too long. I was already nervous before you said it started raining. So sorry to hear that.

Yup, my MiL decided that I had more time than her, so I booked her trip. Only took about 4 phone calls and 3 emails to do it. I mean, I didn't know where she wanted to stay, what airline she'd fly, if she wanted DDP, Parkhopper.... GRRRR. It was annoying.

I did some research (mostly I read all of Lisa-Mickeystoontown's old TRs ) so I had an idea that walking it wasn't a great idea, but after all that waiting we'd done it made DH and I feel better to be doing something, you know?

Oh, the rain.

Gosh, sounds like an exciting morning! I'm glad that your flights were OK, and that you both landed on time.

I would have been irritated if at my MIL if it meant I had to wait and wait too! At that point you just want to get to Disney!

Awesome pixie dust on getting the room you wanted! We haven't stayed at CBR in 6 years, but I do have fond memories. I hope that Maddie warmed up to the pirate pool, but I do have to agree that a princess pool sounds awesome!

Oh no rain! I hope you didn't get caught for long!

I was so annoyed!! I had all my stuff taken care of in time, would have been nice if she would have done the same.

I was so excited to get the building I wanted, and it turned out to be a great location.

Maddie thinks that each pool should be themed around a different princess. Not sure what resort that would fit in at, but we'd definitely stay there!

Haven't read anything yet, but just making sure I am subbed to this TR before I get toooo far behind.

Glad you're here!! I won't have my PP CD from DH until tomorrow, so I can't move too fast-don't worry

I'm sorry i know this isn't funny but i died laughing when I read this. That's how my luck would go.

It wasn't funny at the time, but it is now. I don't know why I was surprised, it's totally my luck too

I'm joining in a little late but since technically you haven't even made it to your room yet I haven't missed too much.

Glad you're here! Thanks for joining in. You make a good point. I promise that we'll get to the room in the next update!

OMG!! I can't believe it started to rain on you all. We stayed at POFQ for our first trip in December and loved it. For our trip in August, we were going to book CBR but then I got cold feet. We were going to go back to POFQ but we decided to try out Riverside. Anxiously awaiting more of your TR

We really like CBR, we'd stay at either resort again. I hope that you like Riverside as much as FQ, I wasn't sure that I would. FQ is so lovely!

Rought start. It's a shame that your DD wasn't as excited about some of the surprises as you'd hope she'd be.

I'm glad you got MIL straghtened out and arrived at CBR. Hopefully the trend of being stuck waiting will end soon. I can't say that I was too surprised it started raining just after you started walking. Doesn't it always seem to work that way?

Indeed, it was a rough start. That's the thing with kids isn't it? Just can't make them react the way you want them to.

I'm not at all surprised that it started raining, Murphy's Law at work.

 

[shan23877]

GOOD LORD! 17 ADRs??? How on earth did you do it??

Uh oh... long waits and then rain? I hope everything works out okay!

17. ADRs. It was a lot of food, but it was fun! We'd do it again. I was really hoping at the time that long waits and rain wouldn't be the theme of the trip.

Oh, MILs. Do they just not think? Yeah, you had nothing going on right then. My MIL likes to complain that she never has any money (which is why we paid for her to come with us last time--mistake). She says it to us knowing full well that we have one income, five people in the family, a mortgage, car payments, one of my DD sees FIVE specialists, and I see one. It's just her and her husband at their house, two incomes, no mortgage, no car payments. So just where is her money going?? UGH. She doesn't think. Sorry, that was a little vent and might be off topic...

Anyway, we LOVE CBR. We've done a split stay there before, and we're staying there again next trip (plus one other extra special place!). My girls also aren't fond of pirates (except Jake), but they love the pool there.

Can't wait to see more pictures of the resort! There are never enough!!

I think that our MiLs could be BFFs. Mine has no time. To do anything. She lives alone, has a cleaning lady, a lawn lady, a handyman, etc. Clearly with my full-time job, 5 year old, 2 dogs, husband, house, and lawn to take care of I have tons of disposable time. I think she's made the drive to visit us less than 10 times since Maddie was born. We always have to make the trip, we've got the time!

I think that I'm a CBR devotee now. I loved it there! DH really liked it too, but he's still holding out hope that the BWI or BC magically fits into our budget

Jake is the only pirate Mads likes (and she adores him ), but she did enjoy pool time.

Oh no! Isn't that the way it always happens? Just when you give up waiting, it starts to pour. Can't wait to hear how MiL handles this!

I haven't started the TR yet! As I didn't get Tanny's pics, I only have mine & photopass, so I'm waiting for that to get in, it *should* be here by Friday, fingers crossed!

It certainly sounds like your welcome to disney wasn't as magical as it could have been! That certainly sucks! At least there's nowhere to go but up!

I can't wait to read it! I'll get my PP CD this weekend, so hopefully I can update a little more frequently (plus this weekend is shot--college graduations, proms, and mother's day at a steakhouse all on one weekend, I'll be at work all weekend )

It wasn't the best start, but I wouldn't write a TR if it was terrible!

Oh no!!!! Sorry about tyour MIL not having her reservation number, the long wait for the ME and then waiting for a shuttle to take you to your room at the CBR. Then to top it all off, it rains! I hope things get better from here.

It was so frustrating! I was sooo prepared, and she soooo wasn't. We had no where to go but up though!

Excited to read the next chapter of your trip report! I absolutely loved the last one. And I'm in the suburbs of Chicago too! Love it here, hope you are enjoying your new place and that there are lots of kids in the new neighborhood to play with. Can't wait to hear how your MIL handled the rain...
How awful that it started raining as soon as you guys set off. Hopefully you made it back and caught the shuttle!

Thanks for joining in, and for the nice words! We'll be moving into the new house in 3 weeks. I think we'll like the neighboorhood, and we already love the house It's an exciting time.

Oh the rain. It was interesting...

Oh no, all the hurry up and waiting! And now the rain

So funny that you said that. I use that phrase all the time, because I HATE hurry up and wait! It was killing me!

And then it rained...

Oh no! Not rain!!

Yup, rain. It wasn't that fun.

Oh dear on your MIL! I hope the rest of the day/trip goes up from there! We stayed at CBR for one night in 2009. Our room was forever away from the main building, and we had to go back 3 times to get a room key that would work. Ay yi yi! Can't wait to read more!!

No Bueno!! Luckily we didn't have any business at Custom House until checkout. I would have freaked out if we had to go back there 3 times! I think that's the only bad feature of CBR, that Custom House is so inconvenient. I guess the hope is that you won't have to be there often

Bring on the next chapter! We are going to CBR in September and I can't wait to get your take on the resort. How was your room location? We will have DD4 so distance is a concern. Love your reports by the way. You have a fantasitic sense of humour and great way of expressing yourself.

Thanks so much for the kind words! You win the prize for my favorite post of the day!

We loved CBR, and for my money, Aruba 51 is the place to be. The buildings closest to Old Port Royale are all preferred buildings (aka more moola). For the standard rooms (we did book water view) Aruba was great. We were steps away from the bridge to OPR. I was worried about DD5 and the large resort, but we had a stroller most of the time, and she really loved going to OPR, and walking over the bridge.

This weekend will be rough, but I promise an update as soon as possible!

RAIN!!!

I totally get the "I wanna go to Disney World" remarks from Maddie. The second time we went, Kadence said the same thing while at Downtown Disney.


Here's hoping you stayed somewhat dry!

Rain. It was a bummer.

Maddie never did stop calling MK Disney World. I guess I don't blame her. If I was 5 MK would probably be the center of the Disney universe to me too

 

[MickeyMinnie22]

Suscribed! I loved your last TR! Can't wait to hear about all your ADR's we leave for the world a week tomorrow with nearly as many but only the normal dining plan!

 

[tralin]

Subscribed! We LOVE the invitations Idea. Mind if we steal that one?

 

[shan23877]

Suscribed! I loved your last TR! Can't wait to hear about all your ADR's we leave for the world a week tomorrow with nearly as many but only the normal dining plan!

Welcome! Thanks for joining in!

Wow! how many days will you be there? It was a lot of ADRs,but in the end we'd do it again.

Subscribed! We LOVE the invitations Idea. Mind if we steal that one?

Welcome! Thanks for joining in! Steal away! Maddie really the invitations, and it'd be something fun to have as a keepsake, or if you scrapbook.

 

[MickeyMinnie22]

17 days but doing all the other parks...US/IOA, sea world, Busch gardens, discovery cove in that time as well...it's gonna be a squeeze!! Just checked only 13 ADRs but some of them are worth two credits, may have to try and squeeze in some more!! We'll see!!

 

[clrklady]

Subscribing! Am loving this trip report....don't want to miss a minute of it

 

[havingadisneyday]

subbing, too. I've got almost six months to kill, lol. Can't get enough TRs!

 

[Queenofallthings]

How did I miss that you started this Here now but will catch up and comment later....so sorry to be so late

 

[shan23877]

17 days but doing all the other parks...US/IOA, sea world, Busch gardens, discovery cove in that time as well...it's gonna be a squeeze!! Just checked only 13 ADRs but some of them are worth two credits, may have to try and squeeze in some more!! We'll see!!

Wow! That's quite a trip! Good luck squeezing more ADRs Sounds like the trip of a lifetime!

Subscribing! Am loving this trip report....don't want to miss a minute of it

Hi! Thanks for joining in!

subbing, too. I've got almost six months to kill, lol. Can't get enough TRs!

Welcome! TRs are great for passing time between trips aren't they? I love reading them. Thanks for joining in!

How did I miss that you started this Here now but will catch up and comment later....so sorry to be so late

Yay! Glad you're here Queen! I can't believe that it took you so long to get over here! I mean, you only have a TR and a PTR of your own and a TRIP to prepare for in addition to real life. Sheesh!

Thanks for popping in!

 

[hardingk]

Booked our ADR's thie morning for our November trip! Can't wait to read more about your ADR's to keep me busy waiting till our trip?

 

[partyof2]

Your TR title cracked me up!

I may, or may not, have purposely booked our next trip during boyfriend's little sister's exams so there's no chance of it being hijacked by his mum .

Maddie has grown so much since your last trip, she's definitely on to something with her Princess themed resort ideas though. I'm in for sure!

Looking forward to reading about you guys tackling Deluxe Dining. I soooooo want to upgrade from the regular plan but boyfriend would go nuts at a) the quantity of food and b) being tied down to so many ADRs. (I'm 18 months out and I have already planned where we'll be eating and when!).

 

[DBLGRR]

I can't wait to hear more. Loved the video revealing the surprise. Your daughter is adorable.

 

[shan23877]

Booked our ADR's thie morning for our November trip! Can't wait to read more about your ADR's to keep me busy waiting till our trip?

Welcome! ADR day is very exciting! We'll cover a ton of restaurants in the TR, so hopefully you'll get some helpful info. I think TRs are a great way to pass the time between trips.

Your TR title cracked me up!

I may, or may not, have purposely booked our next trip during boyfriend's little sister's exams so there's no chance of it being hijacked by his mum .

Maddie has grown so much since your last trip, she's definitely on to something with her Princess themed resort ideas though. I'm in for sure!

Looking forward to reading about you guys tackling Deluxe Dining. I soooooo want to upgrade from the regular plan but boyfriend would go nuts at a) the quantity of food and b) being tied down to so many ADRs. (I'm 18 months out and I have already planned where we'll be eating and when!).

Thanks! Glad you joined in!

Excellent planning! We've been to WDW once before with MiL but I was a glowing newlywed, so I was much more tolerant of her then

I loved DxDP, and think that we'll do it again. It is a TON of food. DH didn't want me to "tie us down" with ADRs last trip, but after seeing how much easier having them made things, he let me do what ever I wanted for this trip.

Planning ahead is key! I had my ADRs planned before we knew we'd be going on this trip The DIS is a perfect place for people like us--we're normal here!

I can't wait to hear more. Loved the video revealing the surprise. Your daughter is adorable.

Thanks so much!! Glad you joined in!

More trip coming right up...

 

[IheartDDuck]

I'm joining! I saw the words "Mother In Law", and I figured this would be a good one.

Your DD is absolutely adorable. Also, I'm a Cubs fan too, have been my whole life. It's going to happen.....someday.

Oh man, rain when you're on your way to your room? That sounds like something that would happen to me.

 

[shan23877]

There wasn’t any discussion, we just kept going.

The rain wasn’t too bad at first, just a sprinkle really, but it picked up a little and then a lot.. When the rain really started coming down Maddie asked me to put up the stroller’s sun visor to cover her. That's when I discovered that there was no sun visor. I flashed back to standing on the jetway at MCO watching the airline employees unload the strollers from the bottom of the aircraft. One guy stood on the ground and one guy stood at the top of the staircase. Dude #1 tossed the strollers up to Dude #2, but Dude #1 wasn’t very good at throwing. I watched many strollers hit the ground (he didn’t attempt to catch them after he threw them badly). It looked like our sun visor had been one of the casualties of the super fun game that the AirTran employees played to pass the time. Why after watching that didn’t I carefully check our stroller before walking away? I have no idea. So, I improvised. I took off my sweatshirt and draped it over the handles of the stroller so that Maddie wouldn’t get as wet. Now I was cold and wet, but it’s what we’d all do for our kids right?

Here’s the thing about Caribbean Beach Resort—it’s big. Each section of buildings is fairly large, and when you’re walking in the rain, they seem even bigger.

Finally (it’s only about a 15 minute walk, but at the time it seemed to take forever) we arrived at Aruba. We headed to the farthest building and checked out our room- #5150. I didn’t get any pictures of the room at the time because no one was willing to stand outside any longer than they had to. Spoilsports.

Once inside, we checked to make sure the toilet was functional and got ourselves together for our first park day. Maddie was having a minor meltdown because she wanted to wear her Rapunzel dress, but didn’t want it to get wet. It took some doing, but eventually she believed us that the rain wouldn’t last all day. We changed her into her royal garb, I combed my hair, and we grabbed our KTTW cards.

We stepped outside and discovered that it had stopped raining. It rained for maybe 20 minutes, and it was the last rain we’d see for the entire trip.

DD had calmed down once she saw that the rain had stopped. She finally noticed what color our building was. "Mommy, you picked the pink and purple hotel!" If only it was sparkly too....

Luckily, I hadn’t made any reservations for lunch on our first day since we likely would have missed it. My plan was to do lunch at Old Port Royale before going to MK, and that’s just what we did.

**We got a new camera for Christmas and I was excited to learn how to use it on this trip. From here on out there will be pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. If it gets gratuitous, let me know**

From Aruba 51 it’s a 30 second walk to the bridge that connects the far side of the resort to OPR and the main pool. The walk across the bridge was really pretty. Along the way there are gates leading into the playground area and to other little areas with benches and such for relaxing.



View from the sidewalk in front of the room

Maddie on the brief walk to the bridge

Some flora and fauna (but no Merryweather)

The courtyard outside of Old Port Royale

Left side of OPR

A quick photo shoot before lunch

Maddie was thrilled upon entering Old Port Royal to discover that there was a store with lots of princess toys and stuffed animals. (We’d spend an inordinate amount of time in the OPR gift shops over the course of the trip.) We managed to convince her to eat before we browsed, and then we split up. Maddie and MiL went to the counter where the serve hamburgers and hotdogs and such, and DH and I went to the farthest counter where they have deli-type sandwiches. It was already 12:15, but I’d relaxed a bit. I finally felt like we were starting the vacation.

In the food court area of Old Port Royale

Thanks to the DIS, I've learned to always look up when at Disney

Bryan got the Philly with homemade chips
I had the Turkey BLT, again with the chips
MiL had a Bacon Cheese Burger and chips
Maddie had a Hot Dog and Fries and Grapes

My first time taking food pics! It got less weird as the trip went on

Maddie loved that her meal came in a sand pail. Bryan was less impressed because he carried the sand pail around in the backpack for the rest of the day.

Lunch was really good! The chips were yummy and we spent most of the meal trying to figure out what they were seasoned with (our best guess was brown sugar and chili powder. They were sweeter and smokier than regular BBQ chips). My Turkey BLT was great. Instead of regular mayo, there was a bright pink mayonnaise on it. The sauce tasted too sweet when I tasted it by itself (who wouldn’t try the pink mayo before eating the sandwich?), but it was really good with the salty turkey and bacon. Bryan enjoyed his Philly but wasn’t wowed by it, and MiL liked her cheeseburger too. We paid OOP for the meal, but MiL used a dining credit since she’d only be joining us for 3 days (and no 2 credit meals).

Another quick photo before we headed to the bus stop, a princess must have her photograph taken often.

After lunch we browsed for a few minutes in the shop and then headed for the bus stop at OPR. It was finally Magic Kingdom time!!!

 

[marDgreen88]

My question is how the two AirTran workers didn't notice that they broke a stroller??? That's ridiculous.

So glad to hear that you didn't get any more rain! I think it's awesome that the food court looks like it's an outdoor place and there's a storm brewing. Such amazing theming!

Hooray for Magic Kingdom time!

 

[MrsTeddy]

I love Maddie's rapunzel dress, she is a beautiful girl!

I would be annoyed with the stroller, why are people so careless and lazy?! THis is why we are only bringing an umbrella stroller and not a more expensive one on our trip, I have heard many similar stories!

I can't wait to hear more about MK!

 

[kmedina]

They broke your stoller at the airline. Grrr. That is so frustrating. Us Mamas really do sacrifice a lot for our kids. (Happy Mother's Day). I am glad it did not rain the rest of your trip, but that is horrible that it only rained while you walked to your room with all of your luggage and a stroller with no sun-shade. Bummer.

Your pictures remind me of how much I LOVE CBR. We were in 5408 when we stayed in Aruba. Other than the lack of sparkles, I am glad Maddie enjoyed the resort.

She looks beaautiful in that dress. I know you said it was pricey, but it looks like it was worth every penny. Cannot wait to see what Princess she sees in that lovely gown suited for Princess Maddie.