A Quick Weekend Trip without Parks at CBR

[DisneyFlower]

Just got back from a wonderful 3 night stay at CBR. I had promised my DD10 that we could go to Disney for her 10th birthday. But with DS 7 weeks, we would need to take it easy, so we decided to just do a resort trip - without going to any parks. DD10 said that would be just great as she didn't care if we went to the parks or not - she just wanted to be in Disney! (she takes after me ) We indeed had a very nice, slow-paced trip and we all enjoyed every minute of it!

We got to CBR at about 11pm Thursday night and checked right in - no line. We got all settled into our rooms and got to bed by midnight. Rooms were nice - loved the new flat screen tv's.

The next morning we explored some. Everything looked different in the daylight - and it was a nice, sunny day - perfect temp for a dip in the pool - which is where we were headed.

Here are 4 out of 6 of us on the beautiful grounds at the resort:

Walking along the path that encircles the resort:

Crossing over the bridge from Centre Town to Jamaica and Aruba villages:

The resort did not seem too crowded. It was a very relaxing place - with hammocks and sandy beaches, ducks and turtles. The main pool was fantastic. The water temp was perfect, there were plenty of chairs and towels, and the kids loved the "dark" slide. Here's the pool at 10:00 in the morning:

The pool definitely got more crowded as the day went on but even at 2 or 3 o'clock, you could still find a chair or two.

The food court never seemed crowded - always lots of places to sit. We ate there twice for lunch. I had the spicy chicken sandwich one day and the turkey BLT the other day. They were both good - although I loved the turkey sandwich!

Buses were great. The longest we ever waited was probably 7-10 minutes and the buses were never full - PLENTY of seats - but then again, we were travelling during "off" times during the day since we weren't going to the parks. We usually travelled after the morning rush so I didn't get to see how crowded buses were in the morning. We did travel back to CBR from HS one night at about 10 o'clock (we had been to visit the BC resort) and there were only two other people on the bus besides our family.

Waiting at the bus stop:

Riding the buses:

We spent one afternoon at Downtown Disney. It did not seem too crowded either - just enough people to make it interesting.

We ate at the Earl of Sandwich. It was delicious as usual!

I got a strawberry banana smoothie. Yum!

The main pool is open 24 hours a day. We didn't test it out at 2am, but we did do some night swimming. The evenings were absolutely gorgeous. It was the perfect temperature for me to sit with the baby and watch the rest of the family enjoying the pool. I think I could have sat there all night

continued in next post:

 

[DisneyFlower]

Went to Kona Cafe at the Polynesian for breakfast one day - one of my favorite breakfast spots.

A pic while waiting for the monorail:

Here we are riding the monorail over to the Poly:

I love sitting in the warm colors of the Kona Cafe, sipping my coffee, taking pictures of my gang being silly, and watching all the vacationers walking around the beautiful, tropical lobby.... just have to do this at least once every trip!

DH got the Big Kahuna and I got the fruit plate:

That night, we went over to the Beach Club to eat at Beaches and Cream.
Of coarse, it is so pretty over at BC, that we had to take some pics.

Chillin' on the beach while the kids played in the sand:

So, it was a quick but sweet trip! I had never taken a 7 week old baby before, but it was great! He was so easy, and it was beyond fun having him there with us. I know he didn't realize that he was in Disney and he won't remember being there, but I loved every minute of it. I walked around thinking about how happy I was to have all four of my children and my husband with me in my favorite place and how I'd alwaays be able to look bak and remember how small DS was on his first trip. I came across a number of people who commented on how brave I was when they saw me with my baby, but I didn't quite understand those comments - I didn't think of myself as brave... just blessed

DS spent a lot of time chillin in his stroller:

Leaving day is always so hard We spent the morning swimming, grabbed lunch, and slowly headed for the van and our drive back home. Fortunately we were all a little more rested and a little more mentally healthy after visiting our happy place.
DD got some last minute footage before leaving:

Bye Disney! See you this November!!

 

[kristin t]

It sounds like you had a wonderful trip with your beautiful family!!
CBR looked really nice too. I've often thought that you could take a vacation in Disney and never go to a park - there's so much else to do.
The first time we took our daughter she was 8 months old, and she obviously doesn't remember anything from that trip, but I love looking back at all the photos and seeing how tiny she was on her first trip to the World!!