3 Generations Wandering the Wilderness from "Cabin" Camping to Club Level-FW & WL

[hstrickland]

Nope totally serious! I try to make it down about once a year. It's a beautiful spot as you know Good fishing!

Maybe we'll happen to be there at the same time ... ya never know!

 

[FancyNancy]

You would think that one of these times we will either be there or at Disney at the same time!!! We will have to meet up!

 

[hstrickland]

Day 4
Caribbean Beach Resort Sneak Peek
Part 1




We decided to venture over to CBR for a little dinner. I’m always wanting to check out new resorts to see if they might hold some interest for future stays. I’ve always thought it would be neat to stay in one of the pirate rooms. And since we’ve never visited CBR, this was our chance peruse the area.



Instead of riding the bus, we drove…much less time. I wasn’t interested in waiting on buses and then having to switch to another at one of the parks. When we arrived, I told the guy at the gate that we were there to eat and walk around. He mentioned something about driving all the way around to the center of the resort. Apparently I wasn't listening because we made our first stop at check-in.







And if you’ve ever been to CBR, then you know that the food court isn’t here!! It’s strictly “check-in”. Oh well…now we know.









The kids kept asking, “Mom, what are we doing??!!” I really didn’t want to tell them I was a bit lost and had no idea. So, back in the car we go….trying to find the food court!








Beautiful palm trees…very tropical, of course…hence the name Caribbean Beach.


We drove as close as we could so I could get a glimpse of the rooms.







I didn’t realize how big this place was! Holy cow! The layout of the resort kinda reminded me of POR. So far though, I like POR a tiny bit better.


Finally we made it to the food court area!







Disney has a really cool theme going on here, especially if you’re into the whole tropical/Caribbean thing








It wasn’t crowded (probably because it wasn’t the usual dinner time) so it was easy to find a table. Everyone wanted something different to eat, so this was perfect – many places to choose from!!! I didn’t get but one food picture







Stephen had chicken parmesan. He said it was good. Overall, the food was fine – nothing outstanding, nothing bad…just food.



After dinner, we had to stroll around outside. My goal was to find the pool…wanted to see if it caught my eye. Jesse found the fountain which had pennies in the bottom.











And no…we didn’t allow him to take any. Although, he did try



The kids splash area appeared to be lots of fun for the little ones….






The pool looked very inviting, too.







Notice Stephen in the left of the picture…he was on a mission, also. Like me, he wanted to check out every aspect of this pool.







And Stevo gives it a thumbs up! However, I still wasn’t sold





Continued to next post....





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[hstrickland]

Continued from previous post...




Day 4
Caribbean Beach Resort Sneak Peek
Part 2





If you’re into the whole photography thing, there are great places around this resort for pictures It’s very scenic.











Disney never disappoints with the flowers, foliage and décor!











Again…Disney makes you feel as if you’re in the Caribbean!










On our way out, we noticed that they were roasting marshmallows. Without saying, the kids had to have one.







They were a bit confused when there were no graham crackers or chocolate bars….only marshmallows. I roasted only one. Because it was still so hot and muggy outside, a fire really wasn’t on my list of must-dos. I felt so sorry for the CM that had to stand 3 feet from the fire pit to keep a watchful eye on the guest. He had to be dying!!!







So, did I like this resort??? Kind of. I wasn’t completely sold. Not because it was crowded or not themed well or not well groomed…it just didn’t grab me. Not opposed to a short stay, though.



After sweating by the fire , the kids wanted to go back and see Chip n’ Dale. We were also anxiously awaiting Bill’s arrival!!!



Notice we’re not on the front row…







Faith and Jesse still had their chance to get one more pic with Chip.







The movie of the night was Planes! The kids were super excited. Before each movie, they show a little safety video with Timon and Pumbaa…kinda cute.







They decided to brave it and sit on the ground. Hopie and Pop took the benches.



When Bill arrived, I left everyone at the movie and took the golf cart to the very front of the resort and picked him up (he had to park in the main parking lot). And would you believe I didn’t get a picture of him driving in?! I was so excited it completely slipped my mind. We drove back to the movie, and the kids were super happy to see their dad!!!!! The whole family was together again!!!









Up next….it’s time to say good-bye to the Fort and hello to the WL!!!





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[pas130]

YAY Dad's here Everyone is together now

CBR is my least favorite of all the resorts we've stayed in. Again, not bad just not a favorite. IDK if it was the size of the resort or what...you took great pics by the way! Anxious to see CBR rooms post-rehab though. And of course the kids needed to hit the marshmallow roast Two in one day

 

[amandaw]

The pirate rooms @ CBR look so fun but it's just not a resort that grabs me, either.

So glad that Bill arrived safely! Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the trip!

 

[kastoney]

What a great idea to go check out other resorts. I love how your family is truly just relaxing and having good old fashioned fun without the parks, not sure my daughter (or hubby) could be that close to the parks and not go into convulsions if we didn't go, but maybe one day ; )

 

[ProudMommyof2]

Wow! Relaxing at Disney, who knew? Looks awesome and what a treat to take the time to truly enjot the resort!

 

[FancyNancy]

My DD REALLY wants to try CBR. Thanks for the pics!

 

[Wood Nymph]

I'm so glad to see pictures of the CBR. My sisters have stayed there many times but I've never seen the interior areas. My sister and her friend checked in late at night last March and were given an upgrade to a Pirate room - which was funny because they didn't have and kids with them. Their room was just about as far away from the food court as you can get, so they weren't too excited about the free upgrade.

 

[farrahalex76]

I kind of want to try CBR for our next trip. I know my kids would love it I'm just not sure about myself or the DH. We really loved POR and I just feel like if we go there we will be disappointed we didn't go back to POR.

I'm kind of sad y'all are leaving the Fort, I have been enjoying it so much. We went camping for the 4th. My DH has an uncle with a camper that he never uses and lets us borrow it. It's kind of small for a family of 5 so I've got the fever now to get a camper and of course I'm thinking if we get one we can camp at Disney. If I can convince DH about the camper it wouldn't be any debate which resort to stay at.

 

[Pinkocto]

Thanks for the CBR pictures. I've only been there in a DME bus dropping other people off. The pool looks like great fun.

Yeah for Bill arriving!!!! So when you first get to FW how do you get your suitcases to the room? Did you already go over this and I completely forgot? Can you keep one car at the room/lot just not drive it around?

 

[Marsheliz]

Great CBR pics!! We stayed there in 2012 and I liked everything about it, other than the size.. Good heavens, it was big!!

We did love the pool and the pirate ship for the kids! We actually prefer the pool over POR's pool..

Yay for Bill's arrival!

 

[hstrickland]

YAY Dad's here Everyone is together now

CBR is my least favorite of all the resorts we've stayed in. Again, not bad just not a favorite. IDK if it was the size of the resort or what...you took great pics by the way! Anxious to see CBR rooms post-rehab though. And of course the kids needed to hit the marshmallow roast Two in one day

I didn't realize they were getting a refurb?! Nice! And I can't put my finger on why CBR didn't thrill me Guess it's just personal preference.

So nice to have hubby along. While I totally enjoy Disney with the kids and my parents, it just isn't quite the same without him.

The pirate rooms @ CBR look so fun but it's just not a resort that grabs me, either.

So glad that Bill arrived safely! Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the trip!

Stephen really wanted to stay in the pirate rooms, but now our family is just too big. Sleeping on the floor ain't fun any more Maybe one day we can stay there for a night or two. Who knows?!

What a great idea to go check out other resorts. I love how your family is truly just relaxing and having good old fashioned fun without the parks, not sure my daughter (or hubby) could be that close to the parks and not go into convulsions if we didn't go, but maybe one day ; )

For us, it really is fun to check out other resorts. It's one thing to look at pictures on the Dis, but it's even better when you can actually walk around and get a sense of the atmosphere.

Funny you talk about not going to the parks. Several years ago when we did the Disney cruise, we did a few days at the AKL CL. We did go to Blizzard Beach but no parks. So, I thought it would be a good idea to ride the monorail and go by the Poly and GF. Of course if you ride the monorail, you go by the MK. OMG! Worst mistake ever!!! It made me so depressed because I knew I couldn't get in! What was I thinking??!! Never again, I said.

Wow! Relaxing at Disney, who knew? Looks awesome and what a treat to take the time to truly enjot the resort!

Exactly! "Relaxing at Disney"....that really doesn't go together Bill always says he needs several days to recoup after a weeks worth of parks! We actually did try to tone down our trip this time. And we did, kind of

My DD REALLY wants to try CBR. Thanks for the pics!

You're very welcome. When we were there, I thought I was getting tons of pictures. However, after uploading them I realized I didn't!

I'm so glad to see pictures of the CBR. My sisters have stayed there many times but I've never seen the interior areas. My sister and her friend checked in late at night last March and were given an upgrade to a Pirate room - which was funny because they didn't have and kids with them. Their room was just about as far away from the food court as you can get, so they weren't too excited about the free upgrade.

Oh no! An "upgrade" that really wasn't an upgrade! I can't imagine being at the other end of that resort and having to walk that distance to get to the main pool and food court. The place is huge!! I guess is we ever stay there, I will have to request a building next to all the activities.

I kind of want to try CBR for our next trip. I know my kids would love it I'm just not sure about myself or the DH. We really loved POR and I just feel like if we go there we will be disappointed we didn't go back to POR.

I'm kind of sad y'all are leaving the Fort, I have been enjoying it so much. We went camping for the 4th. My DH has an uncle with a camper that he never uses and lets us borrow it. It's kind of small for a family of 5 so I've got the fever now to get a camper and of course I'm thinking if we get one we can camp at Disney. If I can convince DH about the camper it wouldn't be any debate which resort to stay at.

It was kind of sad to leave FW. We had such a nice stay there. Of course I'm always sad to leave any resort

for a camping trip!! Bet the kids enjoyed that!! Ya know, it would be really nice to have a camper big enough for the whole family. And you're totally right, there wouldn't be a debate over resorts! Then the next thing you would have to invest in is a golf cart to go with the camper Bill, for whatever reason, wants to buy a golf cart. He keeps telling me that we can take it to Disney and stay at the Fort Perhaps I should go along with this...it would secure me with more Disney trips

Thanks for the CBR pictures. I've only been there in a DME bus dropping other people off. The pool looks like great fun.

Yeah for Bill arriving!!!! So when you first get to FW how do you get your suitcases to the room? Did you already go over this and I completely forgot? Can you keep one car at the room/lot just not drive it around?

If you aren't driving, they will deliver the suitcases to you like at other resorts. Since we drove, we just checked in then drove to our cabin and unloaded. You can only have 1 vehicle at each cabin plus a golf cart. The car stayed parked at our cabin the whole week. We did use it once when we went over to CBR, but that's it. Lots of people drive to the parks so they don't have to use the buses, also.

Great CBR pics!! We stayed there in 2012 and I liked everything about it, other than the size.. Good heavens, it was big!!

We did love the pool and the pirate ship for the kids! We actually prefer the pool over POR's pool..

Yay for Bill's arrival!

The pool does look much bigger than POR for sure. We only got pictures of the POR pool when we stayed there. Since it was January, it was a bit cool for us. Quite honestly, my kids probably wouldn't care where we stayed as long as there was a water slide

 

[hstrickland]

Day 5
Leaving the Fort
But ...
Checking into the WL!!!




True to form, I was awake at the crack of dawn. Bill and I were going to cruise around on the golf cart a bit so he could enjoy the morning peacefulness of the campgrounds.







I made him stop at one of the comfort stations so I could get decent pictures inside. Quite honestly, if you’re a die-hard camper, this is the place to be! These facilities were really nice!











Each comfort station has a place to do laundry, also.







Bill is completely sold on the whole tent camping thing….me, not so much.



Moving along on our quick tour of the Fort….










I wanted to get a few pictures at the very front, so there sits Bill patiently waiting on me – well, maybe not so patiently. He really was ready to get to the WL.







Since everything was packed the night before, there wasn’t too much to do. We weren’t in a huge rush – just wanted to make sure we got to the WL before the breakfast in CL was done.







When returning the golf cart, you just have to take it back to the front. And there was no charge for this day since we got it back by 8:30ish.







I was a bit sad...saying good-bye to such a great resort is never fun. But on the other hand, I was smiling ear to ear!!! Weird emotions for sure.







Mom, Faith, Jesse and I left before the others. I thought I was going to be smart and leave before Bill and dad so I could stop and get a few pictures. Occasionally Bill gets a bit impatient with my picture taking, so I wanted to head this off.



Little did I know that they were close behind.







I pulled over to get pictures of the WL entrance. Jumping out quickly, I tried to hurry but... out of nowhere, they appeared!!! Beeping the horn! Bill caught me!!!







And it’s hard for me to get good pictures when people are hurrying me along!







Still, I managed even with Bill chanting “Hurry up! Club level awaits!!”












As always, the gentleman at the gate was very friendly and alerted the WL that we were arriving.











This very nice lady was there to greet us and give us a little information about CL. After the vehicles were situated and unloaded, she escorted us to the 7th floor.







The attention to detail is even in the elevators! How cute is this??!







And would you believe…. No pictures of the actual check-in! I guess since dad and I both were busy talking with the CL cast members, Bill and mom were trying to corral the children; they were just a little bit excited. Rosalind and Loyda assisted us with all questions and made the whole check-in experience very easy. Our room wasn’t ready, but they assured us it wouldn’t be long. Not a big deal at all since we were hungry and wanted to have some breakfast first.







Believe it or not, we weren’t rushing around trying to get to the parks….just taking things easy and enjoying the atmosphere of the WL. Before we finished breakfast, Loyda found me and said that one of the rooms were ready! Yay!!! This means we can start unpacking!!!







Weird picture, I know. But, right around this corner was the lounge. And about right where I was standing making the picture is our rooms. Super close!!!! I couldn’t be more pleased!!! Courtyard view, connecting rooms AND in great proximity to the lounge!!! Can you say EXCITED??!!





Up next …. WL/EP afternoon!




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[amandaw]

Your pics of the WL entrance are very pretty! You did great under pressure!

That's good that y'all were able to make it for breakfast in CL. While we may not have loved the rooms @ WL, we do really like the resort. And their CL staff is so nice.

 

[jennyjinx3]

 

[disneyquilter]

Lovely pictures of CBR.

We stayed there for 9 nights in September 2012. We have so far stayed at all the mods but POR and I have to say, that there is nothing bad about CBR, but it isn't our family's favorite. It was clean and we had no issues with our stay, but we weren't huge fans. I don't know what it was, it just was ok. I think the pool was the family's favorite part of the stay. Mousekeeping was fine. Centertown (the food court area) was good. Again, it's not that we didn't like it, it just isn't our favorite resort.

Our favorite mod is still Coronado Springs, with Port Orleans French Quarter coming into a close second.

Your pictures of WL CL is getting me so excited about our trip next year! Keep the gorgeous pictures coming.

 

[hstrickland]

Your pics of the WL entrance are very pretty! You did great under pressure!

That's good that y'all were able to make it for breakfast in CL. While we may not have loved the rooms @ WL, we do really like the resort. And their CL staff is so nice.

Were y'all there before the rooms were refurbed? Or after? The bedding use to be dark, now it's white and brightens the room quite a bit. Their CL staff was the best!! More on that later

More later I hope.

Lovely pictures of CBR.

We stayed there for 9 nights in September 2012. We have so far stayed at all the mods but POR and I have to say, that there is nothing bad about CBR, but it isn't our family's favorite. It was clean and we had no issues with our stay, but we weren't huge fans. I don't know what it was, it just was ok. I think the pool was the family's favorite part of the stay. Mousekeeping was fine. Centertown (the food court area) was good. Again, it's not that we didn't like it, it just isn't our favorite resort.

Disney has done a great job with so many different types of resorts. There's definitely something for everyone, ya know. Guess it just boils down to the theme and what you prefer.

Our favorite mod is still Coronado Springs, with Port Orleans French Quarter coming into a close second.

The only mod we've done is POR and we loved it. While we were there, we walked over to POFQ and thought it looked great, too. I like the fact that it wasn't so big. Would definitely like to try it.

Your pictures of WL CL is getting me so excited about our trip next year! Keep the gorgeous pictures coming.

Lots more pics to come You won't be disappointed with their CL...I hope Guess it can be very subjective...

 

[Pinkocto]

Those comfort stations do look quite nice. Bill can have the tent and you'll stay in the cabin... Tent camping, to me, is too much. I was subjected too many times when I was young.

Love that you still got entry pictures, the topiaries are so cute.

Awesome room location!!!