9 days in August! That glare is coming off our Dream Fastpasses! (With pix.)

[BuzzandAriel'smom]

We just got back from our longest trip yet! Here is our cast of characters:

Me:30 Disney Planning Enthusiast. Doesn't do heat well.
DH:31 Disney lover and thrill ride seeker. Says heat is just a state of mind.
DD: 5 Princess lover and loves riding roller coasters.
DS: 3 Was scared of every character last year and anything in the dark.
DMIL: Likes disney, loves us. Also doesn't do heat well.


DAY ONE: We left Chicago on a cloudy muggy day. A tornado had come through the night before. We flew Airtran and they were right on time.

Smooth flight. Happy kids. Happy mommy and daddy.

Then after getting right on a Magic Express Bus we sail on through to CBR. This is when things get a little choppy! I waited maybe 3 or 4 minutes and then take my smiling little face up to the window and start the check in process. The girl at the window says "Oh I see you need connecting rooms with your MIL, and umm, yep, looks like we can do that! You are rright next to her! Let me get your keys made." I'm thinking, "Great!" then she says "oh no!" the key maker won't work. So we wait there for 35 minutes. Finally she talks her boss into giving us temporary keys that we can use for our room and get the real ones at Old Port Royale later. And she gives us free one day passes that we can use anytime in the next 14 years. So we are on our way to WALK to Jamaica. Not a good idea! It was so hot and so far that I wish I would have just waited for a bus. But we finally arrive and find that our room is not connecting! So I call the front desk and the lady says, "I see nothing about connecting on your reservation. You have ADJOINING rooms. That is the best we can do. Have a magical day!"

At this point my MIL is calling and says should I go ahead and check in? I say not until I get there! So I run, yeah run in the heat back to the front desk. Long story short, we couldn't get connecting rooms. But here are some pictures of the room we had.

It turned out fine, just not what I had wanted. The kids wanted to share a room with Nana so they still could, it just wasn't as easy.

That night after the kids settled in with Nana, DH and I went to MK for 2 hours in a thunderstorm and rode 1 ride. BTMRR is my all time favorite and we waited 45 minutes but it was fun. I had never ridden it in the dark.

We got back to the room, exhausted from waiting for the bus and the long day we had already had, and we crashed.

Tomorrow... Magic Kingdom, Dream Fastpasses, Crystal Palace waiting nightmare and a visit from the paramedics!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Sounds like you are off to a good start. I am on the fence about staying at CBR so I look forward to hearing how you liked it.

 

[BuzzandAriel'smom]

Lifelong Dreamer:

I like the resort, just maybe not when it is SO HOT! My biggest complaints are the ones you hear all the time, it is so spread out and the service is not so great. We had problems with getting our groceries delivered and our luggage took 5 hours. Bell services seemed understaffed considering the travel time they needed to make all their deliveries. If it were any other resort I would just walk my little heinie down to the service desk and get what I needed. But it was far, and hot and my little heinie was tired. So I was at their mercy.

The rooms were QUIET! The beds were very COMFY! And the resort was beautiful. Unfortunately the negative things stand out as more of a nuissaince.

 

[BuzzandAriel'smom]

Day Two:

EMH at MK.

Straight to Fantasy land. Waited 5 minutes for Dumbo. DH ran over and got Peter Pan FPs.

Then we went to ride Pooh and Mickey's Philharmagic. DS was scared of these last year but this year he loved them! Yes! Then onto Tea cups, no wait. And by that time Toontown was open. We head straight for barnstormer. This is another test for DS. We were waiting to see how he did on this one to determine what he will be able to handle this year... and he loved it! Another score! We rode it 2x in a row and as we were exiting some nice people in white vests were handing out Dream fastpasses for everyone! The fast passes had tabs on them for the following rides: SM, Splash, BTMRR, Peter Pan, Buzz, Jungle Cruise, Stitch, Mickey's Philharmagic and Pooh. We were so excited, but I was a little worried. We had planned to go back to the resort after lunch and take a break from the heat. How would we ever use these? They are only good for that day.

Anyway, off we went to Peter Pan which we all love and small world. Then it was time to head over to CP for our lunch reservations and I couldn't wait to gt out of the sun. When I say it was hot, I mean like if you were trapped inside a crate with no air holes lying on the equator. That's the heat of which I speak.

When we get to CP there is a procedure that I wasn't aware of. You wait get in line to check in, you get a pager, you wait outside until you are called. Now like everyone else I was told to arrive early to the podium. So we did. And we waited 40 minutes in the blazing heat with about 150 of our closest, sweaty, pals.

Finally we get in and all is well. Food was pretty good and we saw the following characters.

DS obviously is not terrified of the characters any more!

After lunch DMIL says, "I'm out!" and DH says "We gotta try and use these Dream Fastpasses!" So I go along with it. We hit Buzz. And that was good.

Then Pooh, and I am feeling the heat. Then after Peter Pan I say, "we need water. Let's go to Pinnochios. So I wait in line for water and literally almost passed out. I felt awful. I ended up lying down on a bench while my DH went looking for someone to call a medic. The paramedics came and said you need to get home and get out of the sun, you have heat exhaustion. I said, "I know but I'm in the back of the park and I know I can't make it up to the front and wait for a bus." That's when the manager stepped in and said he would get us a ride out of there. So we got a disgusting look at what is behind the Magic Kingdom and in the tunnels. We finally made it out to a van where the driver installed a carseat for DS where he slept on the way back to CBR. By this time I was feeling a little better but needed some rest! Not a good start to our vacation but a wake up call to me to listen to my body!

Next ... EPCOT, Princesses and the downtown disney bus fiasco.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

That is too bad that your day had to end like that. I'm really glad that Disney was able to help you get back to your hotel. Hopefully you recovered quickly and were able to enjoy the rest of the trip without anything similar happening.

 

[Cory's Gal]

Loving your TR! Sorry that you had heat exhaustion! That's a bummer! Your kids are so cute, and that is so cool the Rabbit was at CP, we didn't see him when we were there! Can't wait for more! Hopefully you got some good rest!!

 

[BuzzandAriel'smom]

Day Three:

So I recovered and was feeling good as new and ready for EPCOT and my all time favorite ride: Soarin'! So we got there for rope drop and went straight to the Lands and we all rode Soarin'. Everyone loved it. When we came out DH said he needed some OJ because his throat was starting to hurt. Rewind to the plane ride... there was a lady hackin' up a lung behind us and guess what? That's right every 2 days one of us came down with a sore throat and a cough. Luckily it didn't slow us down.

From there we went to the Seas to do the clam mobile. It wasn't there when we went last year and the line for Crush was outrageous so this time we were so excited that we didn't have to wait for either one!

We loved the ride and crush. It was fun and not crowded at all!

From there we went to Norway to our lunch reservations. Once again you checked in at an outside podium and waited there. So the kids, heat-intolerant Nana and my pitiful self went into the shop while my big strong man waited in the heat and waved us in.

We saw Belle first:

Then after we were seated the rest of the princesses came around.

After a nice lunch with okay food we got the heck outta dodge and back to some A/c and swimming.

That night was supposed to be me and DH's night out at EPCOT but it was so hot and he wasn't feeling perfect so we went to downtown disney instead. We waited FOREVER for the bus. It was ridiculous! When we finally got there we went to WP Express and actually got a table inside and the food was yummy! I had the bbq quesidilla and DH had the bbq pizza.

As if the bus ride there wasn't bad enough we had to stop at PI and TL on the way back. We got back around nine and hit the sack. The next day was MK again and we needed our rest.

Next... BTMRR x3, Splash, Pirates and Aladdin all before 11 am!

 

[ClaraBug]

We were there about the same time you were, but we stayed at the Pop.

The heat was brutal!!!

 

[BuzzandAriel'smom]

Day Four:

We got up early and got to MK for the opening ceremony, "Good Mornin' to you and you and you and you!"

Then we went straight to Frontierland and rode Big Thunder Mountain 3x in a row! The kids had never ridden this one before and they loved it! Then we hit Splash Mountain. I really remembered the drop being worse than it actually is. The kids loved this as well. Then we stood in line at Pirates for 20 minutes and that one caused DS to close his eyes a little. Then we flew on the Magic Carpets of Aladdin and decided that we'd better go to Casey's to eat and get in line before it opened. So we got a table inside and Nana and I went to get in line. We were first when it opened. The hot dogs were great as usual and it was so nice to not have to sit outside in the blazing heat. So I left after lunch to get the kids Mickey Ice cream bars. They have been looking forward to these for a while now. Here are some silly pics of them eating them.

After that we went back to the hotel through the shops and we swam and hung out and got ready for dinner at KONA!.

Great dinner! DH's favorite by far.

Next... MGM we saw the cars and picked up trash!

 

[BuzzandAriel'smom]

Day five:
Now on this particular day we were supposed to go to MGM in the afternoon to see the parade. Well, plans change! I just couldn't bear the thought of waiting in the sun for the parade so we went for the opening instead. First we saw some characters:

Then we went to the Voyage of the little mermaid. DS had to close his eyes a little on this one as well. Then everyone went to ride Star tours but DS was a little scared so we went to the arcade while they rode the ride. Afterwards we saw Kim Possible and Ron Dangerous.

The Cars were driving by so our interaction with them was a little distracted as you can see!

Then we found out that Lightening and Mater would be in SanFrancisco on the hour so we went back to the arcade and saw...

Then we went back to wait for Cars and there was a group of CMs there that were dropping fake fruit on the ground and having kids pick it up with a mechanical picker-upper.

Then came the Cars! They were really loud. I was nervous that there would be a free for all but the CM had everyone lined up and it was very orderly! Nice surprise!

Then we had lunch at Toy Story Pizza Palace and played some arcade games. On the way out we got to see Sully who was so cute and friendly. He was dancing around in between pictures.

And that was MGM. Not our favorite park and even though we love Fantasmic! it just wasn't worth the heat.

That night my DMIL wanted to see downtown disney for herself so I went with her and braved the buses. this time it was actually worse! On the way back our bus broke down at Trinidad South and the parking brake wouldn't release. We finally got out of there and I decided that if I never go to Downtown Disney again it will be too soon!

Next... Animal Kingdom, did I survive the heat without medical intervention?

 

[Cory's Gal]

Loved your new installments!! Your pictures are wonderful!! Can't wait for more!! Other than the bus to DTD, how was your stay at CBR??

 

[BuzzandAriel'smom]

Well I am zooming right through this so I will add another day or two.

DAY SIX:

This was AK EMH. I know how hot AK is. I got heat exhaustion there on our honeymoon 8 years ago. It's Africa hot. So we decided to go during EMH so we got there early. We rode Everest which I was nervous to do but it wasn't too scary. DS isn't big enough so we had both kids sit it out with Nana in the gift shop. Then we went on the safari. Yeah, no A/C starting to get to me. Then we were waiting for the train to go to Conservation Station when it hits me... what if I start feeling worse and can't get cooled off? I will be stuck at conservation station and will most likely die!!! Okay maybe not that but I didn't want to find out so DMIL and left DH with the kids and later he told me that there was only one place with A/C back there and I would have been miserable. So here are some pics that DH took while I pouted in the hotel room.

So they returned with just enough time to get ready for our 5pm reservation to Chef Mickey's. this was alot of fun and the best buffet food we had.

Donald was spinning DD around

DD was very happy to be there!

Next... we braved another AK day and changed some plans was it for the better?

 

[BuzzandAriel'smom]

Day Seven:

Today was supposed to be go to AK at opening ride rides, see shows, got to AKL and hang out and have dinner at Boma. I thought it was a great plan... at home. Now I wasn't so sure. So DH and I revised the plan. He took DD to ride Everest and Kali and we would meet them in line for Nemo the musical. Then we went to Rainforest Cafe.

This worked out great. DD was thrilled to do this with daddy and the musical was wonderful! Lunch was great too.

Then we decided to go to the Beach club and get ice cream. When we finally got there we were pleasantly surprised to see Lilo and Stitch in the lobby playing games with the kids for over 30 minutes! NO posed pics or autographs but they played all kinds of games and it was a great interaction.

Then after Beaches and Cream, DD needed some more Yeti so they went back to AK and DMIL, DS and I went back to the hotel.

It was a long day but everyone got what they wanted.

Next... last MK day and another dream fullfilled. Say it ain't so!

 

[BuzzandAriel'smom]

Day eight:

Today is our scheduled Tomorrowland day. We got there at rope drop and headed for Monsters Inc. It was funny and my kids laughed even when they didn't get the jokes. Then we headed over to SM and 3 of us, DD, myself and DH rode it and did child swap with Nana and DS. DD loved this ride. I thought it was much jerkier than I remembered. I turned 30 this summer so that must be it! Then we swapped and headed over to Toontown because DD hadn't seen Snow White. So the girls got in line while the boys rode Barnstormer where they were given another set of Dream Fast passes! Without knowing it, a few minutes later, us girls went on Barnstormer and got them too! So now we had another set of Dream fastpasses which is where we got in trouble on the first day. So we made a decision. We would go and ride Peter Pan and Mickey's with our passes since Nana loves those and then we would rest after lunch and come back at night.

So we went to our lunch at Concourse and it was good as usual. And we went back to CBR to rest. That went okay. DD needed cold medicine for her throat but she didn't let that keep her from going back at night.

When we got to MK that night around 6pm it became quite cloudy and looked like rain. So we took the train to Frontierland and hopped on to Splash. The wait was 90 minutes and we waited about 15! Then we did BTMRR. Once again 60 minute wait everyone else, 15 for us! Then we boarded the train again for Toontown/tomorrowland. We decided to split up and have DH and DD go to SM and DS and I did Buzz and then we all met for ice cream. Then we did Monsters one more time. This is what my kids looked like at 8:45 (their usual bedtime is 7-7:30)

After that we tried to leave via the train but it had just stopped running because the parade was going on. We then got very stuck and very frustrated. It took us another 1 hour and 45 minutes before we were at our hotel again.

Long day.

How did we spend our last day???

 

[BuzzandAriel'smom]

Day 9:

We went to EPCOT to ride Test Track. The wait was 20 minutes and then we let the kids play in the fountains. After that we rode Ellen's Energy Adventure. We had never done this and it was enjoyable. Then it was time for lunch and we ate at Electric Umbrella. DH and I split the double cheseburber with the extra bun and the kids split the chicken. Speaking of food and money, we did not do the dining plan. We wanted a little more flexibility and didn't want to gain weight during the trip. For 10 days the dining plan would have been $1000. Our final bill with room charges including food and a few extras was $700! Not too bad! And we did not go hungry by any means! We did have about $100 in groceries delivered but that was mostly water, beer and cereal.

After lunch we walked through Innoventions and explored there for a while. Then we took the bus to AKL to show my DMIL around. I love that resort! I love the way it looks, smells, feels, sounds, well you get the picture.

After the kids went to bed that night, DH and I went to dinner at Shutters. It was good. We got appetizers for our meal and that was plenty.

The next morning we fed the ducks and turtles the rest of our bread and cereal as we walked the promenade up to the customs house.

All in all it was a great trip. I did realize that I will never go in August again. We will not stay at CBR again. We didn't hate it, we just would rather stay so many other places. I'm thinking a villa, DH wants CR. We'll see.

I hope you have enjoyed my TR. I will be happy to answer any questions.

Thanks for reading. Now I have to go !!!

 

[shannon47142]

it sounded like you guys had fun despite the heat!!
The summer months can be brutal!!

 

[I Run Long]

Loved, loved, LOVED your report. We're going for the first time at the beginning of September. I just hope we don't face the kind of heat you did. I don't do too well in the heat and throw in the humidity . . . . . .well let's just say it won't be a pretty site. We plan on spending the mornings in the parks and afternoons at the resort. Thanks for posting!

 

[Cory's Gal]

Wonderful ending to your trip! Dream Fast Passes twice must have been awesome!!! August seems to hot for my blood too!! Thanks for sharing your trip and your pics with us!!