When I last left off we were pulling out of the shuttle parking area
On the bus ride over to the World I made one of the biggest mistakes EVER! They were, of course, playing the "arrival to the World" video; however, the sound was so low I couldn't hear. So, I decided to read along with the wording to follow along with the storyline. Nevermind the fact that I pretty much know it by heart already
Well, I normally start to feel nauseous if I read in a moving vehicle. This time though, I felt so sick I literally thought I was going to pass out. I felt nauseous, got dizzy and felt like it was a hundred degrees on the bus, broke out in a sweat and all. I'm not sure if it was overinduced from the excitement or the pregnancy but it was not a fun start to the vacation
I turned sideways with my back against the window so that I could put my head between my knees, did some deep breathing while Candi rubbed my neck and felt better after about 10 minutes.
Oh, and that awesome sign picture I'm still trying to get ....
One of the worst ones I've gotten yet
Our first stop after entering Disney was All Star Sports and about two thirds of the bus got off; including all the hockey players. The next stop was our stop and by this time I was feeling MUCH better and so excited to check out our home for the next two nights. I'm going to be honest, I was also slightly worried. I hate to sound like a snob, but we have only stayed in the deluxe hotels at Disney World and I wasn't sure if I would like the moderates. Some of the things we were worried about were:
1. The noise since the doors to your room are outside and generally next to courtyards, pools etc
2. The size of the room
3. The bathroom (this is always a HUGE make it or break it for me)
4. Cleanliness (this was ONLY a concern because we had read some not so great things about housekeeping in the moderates on the Dis)
So, where was this home away from home that we were so anxious to see
We spent a lot of time comparing the moderates and had chosen CSR based on the pictures we had seen. The beds looked super comfy, the decor was definitely right up our alley (we are from the Southwest
) and the grounds looked absolutely breathtaking.
As we were pulling up to the grounds a huge storm looked like it was rolling in, so I took as many pictures as possible from the bus just in case I had to put my camera away when heading to our room.
So far, we were beyond pleased with what we saw. Really, how could we have doubted Disney to begin with
The bus pulled up to the stop and in typical Florida fashion a few drops of rain fell and then the storm started to roll away. We both had to laugh as we walked over to the registration center ... it was like a big 'ol "Welcome to Florida"
When we arrived at registration there were only about 4 families ahead of us, but for some reason it took a really long time to get through the line. They did have a Manager going through and talking to everyone which was thoughtful, but we never could figure out what was taking so long. By the time we got called up to check-in we had honestly been in line for almost 30 minutes!
I really wish I could remember who did our check-in because she was absolutely fabulous! She was super friendly, apologized for the wait and proceeded to get us all checked-in and settled. Within a couple minutes she had our packet ready to go complete with Anniversary buttons
She also let us know that we had been "upgraded" from a parking lot view to a courtyard view (WAHOO!) and that 1 of our 2 requests had been granted. We had requested the Casitas section with a top floor room. They weren't able to accommodate the top floor but were able to put us in the Casitas section. I was perfectly happy with that! We understand that a request is simply a request, and were thrilled about being in Casitas. When looking at all the different sections over on the resorts thread our favorite was the Casitas followed by the Cabanas and lastly the Ranchos. Nothing against the Ranchos, but Candi's Dad owns a Ranch and that looked a little "too close to home"
After leaving registration we followed the route on the resort map that the CM had highlighted for us to our room. I'm not going to lie, we did get a little bit lost. The buildings are all numbered in each section, but don't actually go in order. We considered it the "scenic route"
and did eventually find our room.
A few observations while walking around to find our room
* The grounds were absolutely breathtaking (don't worry I'll have pictures later!)
* We loved how all the little courtyards had different themes to them and we adored all the fountains everywhere
* All the CMs we passed were very friendly offering a "Happy Anniversary" or "Have a great day" etc
* There was some wear and tear that we saw on the actual buildings; the railings to the stairs were very rusty in certain spots and several doors to the rooms were in need of re-painting
After we found our room, we took a deep breathe before unlocking the door and then walked in to this
The beds were just as comfy as they look - you literally sunk into the blankets and pillows when you laid down.
We didn't utilize it but, in our opinion, there was more than enough storage space in the dresser under the TV. Speaking of TVs ... this one was even better than the one we had last year in the Wilderness Lodge Villas. It was a HD flat panel and worked great! The desk was great to have for balancing the bank account each night and setting up the laptop to empty the memory cards for the camera.
We both loved the sliding doors to separate the vanity and bathroom area from the bedroom area. The only time I am ever up early on my own free will is on vacation. Of course, this is the only time Candi is ever capable of sleeping in
So, it was great to be able to begin to get ready in the morning without feeling like I was disturbing him!
A pretty basic vanity area. To the left there was a closet type area (minus any doors
) that had a bar to hang clothes, also had an iron and ironing board, the cable to hook up to the internet and was also the area for the safe. To the right was the actual bathroom. This would be one of my only complaints of the room. The bathroom was itty bitty! The tub was a decent length but was quite narrow. There were also quite a few chipped tiles on the bathroom walls and a few moldy mildew spots along the tiles.
Overall, we were satisfied with the room. We weren't completely blown away like we were with the Animal Kingdom Lodge, but that's like comparing apples to oranges ya know? Besides the bathroom the only other uncleanliness we noticed were 2 or 3 Q-tips left on one of the beds. They didn't look like they were used and we didn't fret over it. The room was more than sufficient for the stay and we were still glad we switched to save the money!
Oh, and what about that view we were upgraded to?
We were never worried about having a parking lot view, especially since the rooms don't have balconies to sit on or anything. However, it was still beautiful to see every time we left the room or came back from somewhere!
)
stuff the mailman has delivered. As Candi pulled into the garage I flipped through the mail .... bills, junk, bills, junk, bills, bills, junk, card from parents. Oooh, mail that really is fun! Inside the card was a check for our Anniversary, so I told Candi to turn around and go to the bank to cash it - Thank you Mom and Dad!! Well, while sitting in line at the bank we were talking and realized that neither one of us really felt like getting dressed up. We were both just doing it because we thought that's what the other one wanted to do.
Our wedding anniversary was May 23rd, a day before yours. Hope you don't have a lot of morning sickness. It's the pits!
Congratulations!! 
, so no waste there. I must tell you that you should write a book. Whether it's about Disney or something else doesn't matter because your writing is clever, witty, and immensely entertaining. Can't wait to read more about your adventures!
I honestly just write it the way I remember it. If it was great then I elaborate how great it really was ... if it wasn't that great, then I try to explain why without being too big of a downer 
This year, however, we decided to go with the theme of RELAX and didn't book a flight until 9:30 a.m. I know, I know, that's still a morning flight, but we usually fly out around 6:00 a.m. This meant we were arriving at the airport 2 hours later than we are usually already up in the air. I was super glad we did this, we woke up at our normal "time to get ready for work" time ... only this time it was "WAKE UP YOU'RE GOING TO DISNEY" 
. Even before the baby news we had been discussing if it was worth it to pay this much for two nights. After all, the Beach Club is a hotel with Villas that we can stay at on points during a future vacation. Once we realized that we definitely need to start saving our pennies for all the baby stuff it was a no brainer. I called and switched us to a moderate hotel .... Total Savings? $200!
Luckily, I am an over planner and had printed out every single reservation prior to leaving (plane, hotel, Magical Express, cruise, restaurant etc). It took a few minutes, but they finally got everything squared away and ensured us our luggage would be delivered as normal.
go to Walgreens and buy some Sea Bands. It puts pressure on a point in your wrist. I don't know why it works but it does.. and last but not least keep some saltines by your bed and chew on some before you get up it will help! 
