beattyfamily
DIS Cast Member
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2000
- Messages
- 23,572
This was booked in August because of great Jetblue airfare, free dining and the excuse of celebrating my 5 year old's 6th birthday at WDW!! DH bought it! 
It was just a short trip Fri thru Mon.
It was a girls' only trip. Me and my 2 DDs ages 5 and 9.
This is our 8th trip to WDW. We are DVC members but did the free dining package. We stayed at the CBR.
We had a great time but a few things went wrong!
Our flight out of Boston was delayed by 3 hours so we got in at 1:00a Thursday night.
We got a small size SUV at National's EA but after getting on the highway I realized that the mirrors weren't working so I went back and the attendant drove me over a full size SUV as a replacement. Very nice. We paid $72 for 4 1/2 days.
Got to CBR at about 2:30a. Not impressed at all with the resort. Way too big and spread out for our taste. Worse then when we stayed at Dixie Landings on our very first trip. I would NEVER stay here again. We were in Trinidad South in Building #35. The room was old looking. Way too far from the food court and check in. No pool towels surprised me. Buses were standing room only by the time it picked us up. Didn't buy the mug; we only went to the food court 2 times. I guess we are spoiled by DVC and staying at the CR, GF, BWV and BCV.
Friday, September 30, we did MK early entry. We did quite a bit. Then we went back and swam in the pool.
Friday night we ate at Sci fi for the first time. My DDs shared the Mac and Cheese and didn't care for it. My steak was good. They were running so late it made us miss Fantasmic.
Food was alright. Service was ok. Atmosphere was great. Put a candle in my older DD's dessert for my younger DD's birthday. Not too impressed.
Saturday, October 1, we awoke to my younger DD throwing up. I think it's cause she didn't eat all day the day before and it was hot and she was tired etc... because once she started eating she was better.
We headed out to Epcot and ended up staying all day till our dinner at Le Cellier at 4:30p. This was our first time eating there. On our way in, we saw Koda from "Brother Bear". The prezel bread sticks were amazing. The Cheese soup was ok. I enjoyed my Prime Rib (the Rib eye was no longer on the menu). My DD's shared the Chicken nuggets; nothing to write home about. They bought out the Chocolate Moose for my DD with Happy Birthday on it and had Goofy call her and wish her a happy birthday! I loved the Creme Brulee.
We LOVED Soarin. After doing Soarin, we ran into Nemo!!! Got our picture with him. We also did the free Visa meet and greet photo at Innovations West. That was great. It was Mickey and Goofy. There was a little line but it wasn't bad.
After dinner we went to MGM to try and catch Fantasmic without the package. We got there early so we caught Beauty and the Beast first. We got really good seats for Fantasmic an hour before. It started raining right at 8:00p and within 10 minutes they canceled it so we never got to see Fantasmic this trip.
Sunday, October 2, we went back to MK. Got there right after opening. We did Peter Pan, IASW, Snow White before our CRT breakfast at 10:20a. Meal was fine. Not too rushed. Princesses weren't very talkative but Alice, who was in the lobby was great. She played and talked with my girls. At the end of our meal, she came up from the lobby and signed my DD's birthday certificate. We saw, Alice, Wendy, Mary Poppins, Cinderella, Belle, and Sleeping Beauty. The waitress brought out a small cake for my DD and the certificate was signed by all.
We were able to do the pooh ride and pooh playground and a couple of other rides after breakfast. We also did quite a few more rides and then left the park around 12:00p to run to DTD and then relax, swim and get ready for MNSSHP.
We headed to MNSSHP around 4:30p; arrived around 5:00p. Our ADR was at Tony's at 5:40p. This was our 3rd MNSSHP party. That was our first visit to Tony's. We were pleasantly surprised with Tony's. I got the steak, my older DD got the spaghetti and meatball and my younger DD got the pizza. We all enjoyed our food. They put Mickey confetti all over the table for my DD's birthday and then they announced her birthday and everyone clapped. They also gave her a free sundae dessert. I was going to pay OOP for this meal and save my last 2 credits for PSB on Monday but a guy at another table had extra credits and paid for our whole meal!!!! That was so nice and special! I thanked him several times! So I had 2 dining credits left for our PSB lunch the next day!
MNSSHP was fun but it rained yet again so no Headless Horseman for the first parade. They made a lot of changes from last year; the music in the parade, the floats, the candy was more focused on Goofy rather then Mickey, the Villian Mix and Mingle was nice. It was surprisingly crowded but ride lines weren't bad. The new fireworks were interesting but I preferred last year's better. No witch flew down. They omitted the free photo info from the park map so I thought they weren't doing them this year. By the time I realized they were doing them, the line was SO long. But it did move fast.
We left during the second parade. We had fun but we weren't crazy about the changes. Got to our room around 11:30p.
Monday, October 3, we had counter service breakfast at the CBR food court. I ended up not using about 4 counter service credits.
Then we headed to Epcot again and road Soarin again. Standby wait at 10:30a was 60 minutes. By 12:00p it was 70 minutes. We got the Fastpass around 11:30a and the return time was between 2:15p - 3:15p. Wasn't sure if we'd make it because our flight was at 5:25p and we also had a lunch ADR at PSB for 1:25p. They stopped handing out Fastpasses for it at 3:15p.
While we waited for our lunch (and Soarin Fastpass time) we did Mission Space per my 5 year old's request (I would have picked Test Track myself!) and the wait was about 20 minutes. Then we hung out in Innovations East and did the build a free Robot for the first time. Then it was already time for our lunch. They would only let us check in at PSB right at 10 minutes before our ADR. We were seated about 20 minutes later. I didn't tell my girls that Ariel might be there so they wouldn't be disappointed. My 5 year old is a red head and Ariel is her favorite princess. Ariel was there! She didn't walk around but was standing at the entrance for photos. It was a great meeting between the two of them! Then we saw Cinderella, Belle, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White; Snow White was the best Princess we saw during the whole trip. She was so friendly and talkative and made my girls talk and laugh. She was great!
I actually enjoyed the lunch. I liked the buffet and the lamb I ordered. The dessert was good too. My kids thought it was ok. I know my DH wouldn't have liked it! They brought out a viking hat shaped cookie for my DD's birthday and a birthday card signed by all the Princesses.
Then we RAN to Soarin and got there about 2:45p. We left Epcot and it rained AGAIN at about 3:15p.
I got gas and headed to the airport. Flight not delayed!! Yeah!
All in all we had a great time and did quite a bit in 4 days but had some bad luck with the rain and other little mis-haps.
Can't wait for our Nov/Dec official family trip with DH along! Love the Christmas festivities and we'll be doing MVMCP and CP and celebrating my 40th birthday on November 29!!
Nemo at Epcot:
CRT cake:
My girls at MNSSHP:
Maleficent at MNSSHP:
Ariel with legs at PSB lunch:
PSB birthday card:
PSB Norway birthday cookie:
It was just a short trip Fri thru Mon.It was a girls' only trip. Me and my 2 DDs ages 5 and 9.
This is our 8th trip to WDW. We are DVC members but did the free dining package. We stayed at the CBR.
We had a great time but a few things went wrong!
Our flight out of Boston was delayed by 3 hours so we got in at 1:00a Thursday night.
We got a small size SUV at National's EA but after getting on the highway I realized that the mirrors weren't working so I went back and the attendant drove me over a full size SUV as a replacement. Very nice. We paid $72 for 4 1/2 days.
Got to CBR at about 2:30a. Not impressed at all with the resort. Way too big and spread out for our taste. Worse then when we stayed at Dixie Landings on our very first trip. I would NEVER stay here again. We were in Trinidad South in Building #35. The room was old looking. Way too far from the food court and check in. No pool towels surprised me. Buses were standing room only by the time it picked us up. Didn't buy the mug; we only went to the food court 2 times. I guess we are spoiled by DVC and staying at the CR, GF, BWV and BCV.
Friday, September 30, we did MK early entry. We did quite a bit. Then we went back and swam in the pool.
Friday night we ate at Sci fi for the first time. My DDs shared the Mac and Cheese and didn't care for it. My steak was good. They were running so late it made us miss Fantasmic.
Food was alright. Service was ok. Atmosphere was great. Put a candle in my older DD's dessert for my younger DD's birthday. Not too impressed.Saturday, October 1, we awoke to my younger DD throwing up. I think it's cause she didn't eat all day the day before and it was hot and she was tired etc... because once she started eating she was better.
We headed out to Epcot and ended up staying all day till our dinner at Le Cellier at 4:30p. This was our first time eating there. On our way in, we saw Koda from "Brother Bear". The prezel bread sticks were amazing. The Cheese soup was ok. I enjoyed my Prime Rib (the Rib eye was no longer on the menu). My DD's shared the Chicken nuggets; nothing to write home about. They bought out the Chocolate Moose for my DD with Happy Birthday on it and had Goofy call her and wish her a happy birthday! I loved the Creme Brulee.
We LOVED Soarin. After doing Soarin, we ran into Nemo!!! Got our picture with him. We also did the free Visa meet and greet photo at Innovations West. That was great. It was Mickey and Goofy. There was a little line but it wasn't bad.
After dinner we went to MGM to try and catch Fantasmic without the package. We got there early so we caught Beauty and the Beast first. We got really good seats for Fantasmic an hour before. It started raining right at 8:00p and within 10 minutes they canceled it so we never got to see Fantasmic this trip.
Sunday, October 2, we went back to MK. Got there right after opening. We did Peter Pan, IASW, Snow White before our CRT breakfast at 10:20a. Meal was fine. Not too rushed. Princesses weren't very talkative but Alice, who was in the lobby was great. She played and talked with my girls. At the end of our meal, she came up from the lobby and signed my DD's birthday certificate. We saw, Alice, Wendy, Mary Poppins, Cinderella, Belle, and Sleeping Beauty. The waitress brought out a small cake for my DD and the certificate was signed by all.
We were able to do the pooh ride and pooh playground and a couple of other rides after breakfast. We also did quite a few more rides and then left the park around 12:00p to run to DTD and then relax, swim and get ready for MNSSHP.
We headed to MNSSHP around 4:30p; arrived around 5:00p. Our ADR was at Tony's at 5:40p. This was our 3rd MNSSHP party. That was our first visit to Tony's. We were pleasantly surprised with Tony's. I got the steak, my older DD got the spaghetti and meatball and my younger DD got the pizza. We all enjoyed our food. They put Mickey confetti all over the table for my DD's birthday and then they announced her birthday and everyone clapped. They also gave her a free sundae dessert. I was going to pay OOP for this meal and save my last 2 credits for PSB on Monday but a guy at another table had extra credits and paid for our whole meal!!!! That was so nice and special! I thanked him several times! So I had 2 dining credits left for our PSB lunch the next day!
MNSSHP was fun but it rained yet again so no Headless Horseman for the first parade. They made a lot of changes from last year; the music in the parade, the floats, the candy was more focused on Goofy rather then Mickey, the Villian Mix and Mingle was nice. It was surprisingly crowded but ride lines weren't bad. The new fireworks were interesting but I preferred last year's better. No witch flew down.
They omitted the free photo info from the park map so I thought they weren't doing them this year. By the time I realized they were doing them, the line was SO long. But it did move fast.We left during the second parade. We had fun but we weren't crazy about the changes. Got to our room around 11:30p.
Monday, October 3, we had counter service breakfast at the CBR food court. I ended up not using about 4 counter service credits.
Then we headed to Epcot again and road Soarin again. Standby wait at 10:30a was 60 minutes. By 12:00p it was 70 minutes. We got the Fastpass around 11:30a and the return time was between 2:15p - 3:15p. Wasn't sure if we'd make it because our flight was at 5:25p and we also had a lunch ADR at PSB for 1:25p. They stopped handing out Fastpasses for it at 3:15p.
While we waited for our lunch (and Soarin Fastpass time) we did Mission Space per my 5 year old's request (I would have picked Test Track myself!) and the wait was about 20 minutes. Then we hung out in Innovations East and did the build a free Robot for the first time. Then it was already time for our lunch. They would only let us check in at PSB right at 10 minutes before our ADR. We were seated about 20 minutes later. I didn't tell my girls that Ariel might be there so they wouldn't be disappointed. My 5 year old is a red head and Ariel is her favorite princess. Ariel was there! She didn't walk around but was standing at the entrance for photos. It was a great meeting between the two of them! Then we saw Cinderella, Belle, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White; Snow White was the best Princess we saw during the whole trip. She was so friendly and talkative and made my girls talk and laugh. She was great!
I actually enjoyed the lunch. I liked the buffet and the lamb I ordered. The dessert was good too. My kids thought it was ok. I know my DH wouldn't have liked it! They brought out a viking hat shaped cookie for my DD's birthday and a birthday card signed by all the Princesses.
Then we RAN to Soarin and got there about 2:45p. We left Epcot and it rained AGAIN at about 3:15p.
I got gas and headed to the airport. Flight not delayed!! Yeah!
All in all we had a great time and did quite a bit in 4 days but had some bad luck with the rain and other little mis-haps.
Can't wait for our Nov/Dec official family trip with DH along! Love the Christmas festivities and we'll be doing MVMCP and CP and celebrating my 40th birthday on November 29!!
Nemo at Epcot:
CRT cake:
My girls at MNSSHP:
Maleficent at MNSSHP:
Ariel with legs at PSB lunch:
PSB birthday card:
PSB Norway birthday cookie:
