"Can We Un-Birthday Yet?" A He, SMEE, & They Sept. 2020 Trip Report *Update 11/21 COMPLETE!*

[CruellaNY]

'm sure the front desk CMs are used to their fair share of people complaining and expecting/demanding upgrades or moves. It was probably refreshing for them to be met with a friendly request instead. Glad they were able to move you!

True. You really have to be calm when speaking with them because it truly is at their discretion as to whether they assist you!

I love your new room and don't even want to think about the dirty two especially when they should be super duper clean what with the global pandemic going round!

That's the thing! In "regular" times it's bad enough; now, regardless of how paranoid/worried/whatever you are or aren't this should not happen.

fingers crossed Chris feels better soon and his hearing returns to normal. Not fun for anyone to have that to deal with.

Thank you So far it appears to be improving with the meds; day 6 with 10 more to go. The ringing has lessened he says.

So sorry about the two bad rooms. Having just stayed at Copper Creek in August, and LOVED it, I couldn't wait to rebook there for this upcoming trip. I'm so looking forward to it, even though I think DH kinda wanted to stay at Boulder Ridge. I loved being in the main lodge (even though our room was a long long walk to the lobby and I got lost at least once) and so I can't wait to return for our 18th and 50th birthday celebration!

We really enjoy CCV! When you can't be at WL it's really the next best thing and almost the same lol. Boulder Ridge was new to us which is why we wanted to try it and for this trip it was the closest we were getting to the Lodge so we took it. Once they update rooms I wouldn't say we'd never stay again but until then, it's a no.

For some reason, BRV has never appealed to me. I'm glad that they were able to move you to CCV

Yes same here simply because it's not in the main building. I may consider it again once updated!

Update: AP discounts came out and CCV studio was not included for our Jan trip. So we switched to YC and saved $520. But I really would have preferred to stay at WL. I hope they open it soon.

Nice move though! I moved a couple people from CCV to Yacht with today's discounts as well I do hope WL opens soon although I have an uneasy feeling. Right now we're actually at Yacht for the 50th next October!

This same thing happened to my best friend. She had a virus at one point and one day woke up with hearing loss. Her doctor said it happens all the time and there's no rhyme or reason for it. The good news is that her hearing did improve with time.

So far it seems the meds are working and no yucky steroid side effects yet!

So happy you were given a good room (third time's the charm).

Maybe if you'd been given a third car

 

[CruellaNY]

I hate that for Chris. Boo! Keeping fingers crossed it can be reversed.

Thank you! So far it's going ok; about 10 more days of meds to go! It's hard getting a straight answer from him as far as improvement on a 1-10 scale but no more complaining so I see that as a big positive.

We have definitely been given rooms (at other places, not Disney) where we HAD to ask for better! It's not fun, but sometimes you really have no choice!

Oh yes us too! It stinks anywhere and if it's like a night stay and not terrible I'll deal. If it's me being picky and not about cleanliness I'll deal. But the dirt/not cleaned.....it makes me think about what hasn't been cleaned that I can't tell hasn't been cleaned

And I'm both surprised and pleased to hear that.

Very pleased indeed! I'm not totally surprised since things WERE getting better in many areas. And lots of "busy" for 2021, people hoping for the best .....

Sending good thoughts that it's just temporary.

Sooooo... what you're saying is it's not worth the walk back to it.

You know?
Um.....
I never thought about doing that

Not cool. I'm always more than a little surprised when I read about these. And this isn't the only time I've seen that happen. I don't get why the room isn't cleaned and then marked as available.

That would make the most sense wouldn't ya think?

Read that review. I wanna go there real bad now.

I highly recommend

Man, hearing loss sucks at any age, but to be so young I can understand being a bit scared. Fingers crossed the ringing goes away quickly and his hearing improves.

It does and I should have thought that way. Instead I tend to measure anything negative against Ricky's 2 ACL injuries a few years ago; "oh this isn't nearly as bad as that" "this is nothing compared to that". I was nervous for him but relieved at the same time that it wasn't severe and had the potential to reverse! Luckily it seems the meds are helping

I’m guessing with the lower capacity it makes finding a new room much easier, a lot more empty rooms.

I think so depending where you are. Like if you're at the 1 currently open value resort possibly not lol! I did expect to be charged the difference since CCV is usually always higher priced than BRV so that was a nice bit of

Can’t wait to read more!!

glad you're here, more coming soon!

 

[CruellaNY]

I know the refurb was supposed to start this year in BRV but with Covid who knows?? I hope they get on with it sooner than later.

I heard that as well. When we were there they were working on the WL upgrades so maybe when they're done there, BRV will start? I hope!

Good for you for speaking up and getting a nice, clean room. That's the very least you should get!

Ugh I had to. I just knew I wouldn't be comfortable. You know how you look forward to returning to your room at night to relax or even mid day for a rest? I knew I would NOT look forward to any time we had to return to the room and I didn't want to spend the whole trip like that.

orry to hear about Chris' hearing loss and ringing. I have had ringing in my ears in the past. I hope the medicine works for him and his hearing is restored. How's it going so far?

It seems to be going in the right direction! Not quite half way through with the medicine yet but he's stopped complaining and says the ringing has lessened; he also is sleeping better. Thanks for asking!

Looking forward to more.

This week has been NUTS I'm hoping to update again soon!

I want to stay at CCV one day. I wish the Discounts were better for it!

LOL but hey, you got a good price with the switch! I know though, it can be disappointing when you have your heart set on staying somewhere. I really want to be at WL next October so I need to keep hoping it opens!

Ugh with the unkempt rooms. I know all about dirty floors, that was how ours was at OKW.

Without carpet they need to do a better job because we SEE the floors better!

I hope Chris feels better. Ringing In the ear not fun at all! Fingers crossed it goes away soon.

Thank you ❤ I think things are going good and it's improving; hard to get a real straight answer from a 15 year old boy lol. But he's sleeping better and not complaining; I'll take it!

 

[pkondz]

And lots of "busy" for 2021, people hoping for the best .....

I'm one of them.

You know?
Um.....
I never thought about doing that

I KNEW IT!!!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Maybe if you'd been given a third car

So true!!!!

 

[footballmouse]

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Yikes dirty rooms are off putting at any time but especially now- you'd expect these things to be triple checked. Glad they were able to move you!

 

[CruellaNY]

What's up all? I'm taking a little "me" time to spend some DIS time getting another update done! But first I need to acknowledge the 15th birthday of my youngest, Chris:



And since I posted a baby-ish picture of him on facebook I'll just post a younger-ish picture of him at Disney!

I

As you see that was November 2012, our first Thanksgiving trip and we went with friends. He was just 7 there!

Also we made big change to your Thanksgiving 2020 trip; oh, had I mentioned we're going for Thanksgiving? With the boys too


We were supposed to stay at Art of Animation in a Lion King suite which would be new to us (although we did stay in a Little Mermaid room before) but not all 4 of us were on board with this. I was kind of excited because they are adorable but the main reason I booked it was because it was the only thing available with my discount that had separate sleeping surfaces. However luck was on our side - I hope I don't jinx myself saying that lol - and we are now in a 1 bedroom villa at BLT!!!!



Much better for the boys because there's a gym and they both go lots of times weekly and if the parks are too busy they'll have that to do. It's no secret I didn't love our stay at the Contemporary but I'm still excited for this. Just about a month till we're off again!


​

Day 2 Part 1: Happy Birthday Sweet 60!

We woke up on this birthday of Steve's in our splendidly clean CCV room after a good night's rest, got dressed, and mobile ordered some breakfast from Roaring Fork. It was quick and easy but as I said in my dining report those Mickey waffles were a disappointment as was all the food that came in the box. We did have a pretty view sitting in the outside RF area:




And our dear friends Mr. and Mrs. @pepperandchips happened to arrive while we were eating! Melinda stopped by to say hello while picking up their own RF order; it was so nice to see her ❤ It had been 8 long months since our last days together in the World! Her DH had to work remotely so we'd be meeting up later as we would be with @Jenny Sanders and Joe.

The birthday boy on the bus to Epcot!



Park hours were 11 to whatever. We didn't rush to get there but ended up walking in around 11:10 and went right to SE since, you know, it's right there!

Our future's so bright
We're still wearing masks..........



Only 1 ride but it was pretty much time to find more food after that and we grabbed some Taste of Epcot eats. In the heat. Like no concerts this year so it's just "Eat in the Heat" rather than "Eat to the Beat'. Yup it just came to me, I'm THAT good!

In case you still aren't sure where we were:



Birthday boy again! With his fancy Mickey mask:




We walked and ate; walked and ate. Saw the Frozen Cavalcade with, um, well, sideways aged Elsa since I can't seem to rotate this one!




I'm sorry but this is far from the best Elsa I've seen! We were actually sitting down eating when we heard the cavalcade so Steve jumped up to go get some pictures. He came back and said "it was that old princess" I mean she is Anna's older sister!

After we'd eaten and drank enough - like these fabulous margaritas



And some tiny festival beers and ciders we went back to FutureWorld for a couple more rides and a walk through Mouse Gears. That's continued in my next post!

 

[CruellaNY]

Day 2 Part 1 Continued

Our first stop was the abbreviated MouseGears where I searched for Granddaughter gifts. I considered one of these:



In the end I went with both Ariel and Elsa because I felt bad for making fun of Cavalcade Elsa. OK that's not why but I did feel bad! But Animator's Collection Elsa comes with a little plastic bed and Hayden loves putting her dolls "night night" so that one was perfect and Ariel is my DIL's favorite princess.

Surprisingly here's where Steve asked to go next, inspired by the construction wall:




And then we rode Livin' With the Land which was my call. I rarely pass this up because I love the changes they make with the seasons:



Speaking of I really enjoyed the holiday lights they added last year for the holidays and I hope they do it this year! Of course we'll be in Epcot before Festival of the Holidays so if they don't start it till the Festival we'll be out of luck.

I thought about doing Soarin' because the wait was showing 25 and I knew it'd be less but Steve really does not enjoy it and only does it when someone begs him. Being it was his birthday I let him skip it! We did a quick walk back through WS for another snack before heading out to get a little fancy for his dinner and to finally see Jenny and Joe at the freshly opened Narcoosee's!



We were so happy to see our friends again and so happy to be eating at one of our favorite restaurants again. I think our reservation was 7:30? We had gotten to Epcot shortly after 11 and left at 5:30 so we had a pretty full day there for not riding much and not seeing any entertainment! We had taken a Lyft to the restaurant but took the @Jenny Sanders up on their offer of a ride back despite their on the smelly side rental car I say that with LOVE and if you're also reading her TR you know what that's all about! I think Steve enjoyed his very first Disney birthday and I'm looking forward to my almost birthday in Disney in February (NOT 60!)

 

[CruellaNY]

I KNEW IT!!!

Hello! Thanks for following and I hope you enjoy!

Yikes dirty rooms are off putting at any time but especially now- you'd expect these things to be triple checked. Glad they were able to move you!

That's it exactly and probably one reason they didn't give us a hard time about moving!

 

[pkondz]

But first I need to acknowledge the 15th birthday of my youngest, Chris:

Happy birthday Chris!

Also we made big change to your Thanksgiving 2020 trip; oh, had I mentioned we're going for Thanksgiving? With the boys too

we are now in a 1 bedroom villa at BLT!!!!

Niiiice!!!

our splendidly clean CCV room

as I said in my dining report those Mickey waffles were a disappointment

I wonder if they're pre making them and reheating them??

And our dear friends Mr. and Mrs. @pepperandchips happened to arrive while we were eating!

Nice! Early morning DISmeet.

The birthday boy on the bus to Epcot!

The birthday boy needs a birthday mask.

Park hours were 11 to whatever.

This is why I come to your TRs. For that hard fact checking accuracy!

Like no concerts this year so it's just "Eat in the Heat" rather than "Eat to the Beat'.

Yup it just came to me, I'm THAT good!

In case you still aren't sure where we were:

Of course! Wisconsin!

Birthday boy again! With his fancy Mickey mask:

That's better.

I'm sorry but this is far from the best Elsa I've seen!

Um... she kinda looks like a guest at the MNSSHP.

He came back and said "it was that old princess" I mean she is Anna's older sister!

But Animator's Collection Elsa comes with a little plastic bed and Hayden loves putting her dolls "night night"

Totally get that. When my DDs were little, they each had two American Girl dolls. I made bunk beds for both of them.

I thought about doing Soarin' because the wait was showing 25 and I knew it'd be less but Steve really does not enjoy it and only does it when someone begs him.

Too bad. 25 minutes!

We were so happy to see our friends again

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Wishing Chris the happiest of birthdays.
Love the look of your BLT room and the fact that your getting to go back again with your boys
EPCOT looks lovely and you guys look gorgeous in your fancy smancy gear. Nothing like celebrating a birthday with friends

 

[Wood Nymph]

Happy birthday, Chris! He looks like he enjoyed his special day.

we are now in a 1 bedroom villa at BLT!!!!

What an excellent upgrade. I would think that it will be perfect for many reasons.

Like no concerts this year so it's just "Eat in the Heat" rather than "Eat to the Beat'.

Good title. I remember the time we met you in Epcot. It was blazing hot. There is too much concrete and not enough shade in that park.

And then we rode Livin' With the Land which was my call. I rarely pass this up because I love the changes they make with the seasons:

We've been going on this ride a lot lately, too. It is a nice relaxing ride with different things to look at every time.

I think Steve enjoyed his very first Disney birthday

How could he not enjoy it when you had friends and good food to enjoy it with. Disney makes birthday people feel special.

 

[vamassey1]

But first I need to acknowledge the 15th birthday of my youngest, Chris:

Happy Birthday Chris!

and we are now in a 1 bedroom villa at BLT!!!!

Nice room!

We did have a pretty view sitting in the outside RF area:

Lovely view!

The birthday boy on the bus to Epcot!

Happy Birthday Steve!

Our future's so bright
We're still wearing masks..........

Let's hope not.

And then we rode Livin' With the Land which was my call. I rarely pass this up because I love the changes they make with the seasons:

Love this ride, so sad we missed it on the last trip.

We had gotten to Epcot shortly after 11 and left at 5:30 so we had a pretty full day there for not riding much and not seeing any entertainment!

You did have a very full and fun day!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Happy birthday Steve!

Our February trip falls over my birthday too! Our current park passes have us in AK for it but I'm thinking eating and drinking around Epcot might be the best way to spend it so maybe I'll have to change that!

 

[CruellaNY]

Happy birthday Chris!

And in typical kid fashion the partying will continue this weekend!

This is why I come to your TRs. For that hard fact checking accuracy!

No laziness here when it comes to being accurate

Of course! Wisconsin!

Say cheese!

Um... she kinda looks like a guest at the MNSSHP.

She does! I do hate making fun because hey, nobody is hiring me to be a Disney princess! But you just kinda assume you'll see......people who look like the princesses?

Love the look of your BLT room and the fact that your getting to go back again with your boys

I thoroughly enjoy our adult only trips especially when we meet up with friends, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I miss going with the boys and really look forward to the rare trips we take together

What an excellent upgrade. I would think that it will be perfect for many reasons.

I grabbed AOA as soon as we decided to go because the boys won't sleep together anymore and I refuse to share a bathroom with them anymore lol. And then the more everyone commented on it the more I tried finding something else but it's all booked up! We're all thrilled BLT showed up especially for the MK convenience.

I remember the time we met you in Epcot. It was blazing hot. There is too much concrete and not enough shade in that park.

OMG I do remember that day! Hots not the word lol!

Nice room!

Can't wait!

Let's hope not

Our February trip falls over my birthday too! Our current park passes have us in AK for it but I'm thinking eating and drinking around Epcot might be the best way to spend it so maybe I'll have to change that!

OK so what are your Feb dates? My bday is the 20th but working around mom being able to watch Chris we'll be there the 13-17th. I honestly don't remember offhand what day we're in what park but I do know I'm going to be switching them around anyway and skipping HS.

 

[pkondz]

And in typical kid fashion the partying will continue this weekend!

But of course. I mean... why would you not????

No laziness here when it comes to being accurate

Say cheese!

She does! I do hate making fun because hey, nobody is hiring me to be a Disney princess! But you just kinda assume you'll see......people who look like the princesses?

You'd think.
And apparently... you'd be wrong.

 

[annie170]

Belated happy birthday to Chris! I hope he had a great day.

That Elsa was...interesting. I've run into a few characters that could possibly have been cast better. I think the one of the funniest photos I have is from about five years ago. My grandson and granddaughter were meeting Ariel in the grotto. Ariel was spilling out of her top and it was really distracting. The poor girl needed bigger shells. My family still laughs about her and wonder how she made it through.

How nice that you'll be in WDW for Thanksgiving! I'm super jealous.

 

[CruellaNY]

Day 3 Part 1: It really WAS so scary

After a really great birthDAY we were looking forward to another good day, this time in Hollywood Studios. This was also the only day we were going to be in the same park as Jenny and Joe although we were spending lots of time with them outside the parks! We had been together in HS in July as well and our day wasn't bad considering the way HS has been since reopening. If you read my July TR you may remember that we did manage to get a ROTR BG - but failed to stay in the park to use it So we were both hoping to get a BG again today!

Jenny and Joe weren't arriving until later in the morning as they've ridden ROTR a few times now but since we needed to be there before 10, we took the bus and got there about 9:30. They had just begun letting guests in and the line at that point was not long. Where did we head first?





But of course! We were only able to ride my #1 favorite Disney ride once in July so I wasn't taking any chances today. And other than this and RNRC all we really wanted to do was ride ROTR, possibly SDD, and see the Orchestra play in the BATB theater (it makes me sad just to write that now that they're gone). The wait said 15 minutes so we thought we might be off by 10 but once we were on line it went SLOW. Not sure if it was due to a cleaning but around 9:57 we were just about to walk inside the hotel lobby so along with about 10 of our closest socially distanced Disney TOT rider friend groups who also wanted a BG, we all stood against the building and tried to get a Rise! Boarding group that is. Alas, the guy 2 people in front of us got one, the couple behind us did, but we along with the guy right in front of us did not. UGH! So frustrating! I tried not to let it bother me while we rode since I'm not a SW fan anyway, I just hated not having the option to ride and didn't think we'd still be there to try at 2
We made it out alive and were starving and technically had 2 hours till our lunch ADR so Steve ran to get a Starbucks breakfast sandwich while I stood on line at the Joffrey's cart located right at the TOT exit for a big pink frosted donut and a morning diet coke. We were hoping to ride TOT again but the line had jumped to 80 minutes as RNRC had gone down. Checking the app EVERYTHING was 80 or above other than Muppets and there wasn't an Orchestra show until the afternoon. Honestly the only ride here that I'd wait even like 50 minutes for is TOT but 80 was a nope. Seriously NOTHING was lower; oh Aliens was at 45 but we don't like that and even if it were ok, it wouldn't be 45 minutes ok or 30 minutes ok. In July we had the longest waits here but did get on MMRR, TOT, SDD and TSMM all before 11:30 with 25 being our longest wait so that was far, far different.

So, at what was not 10:45ish we were standing on Sunset Blvd. with nothing to do. NOTHING TO DO! @Jenny Sanders had arrived to the park and they were just shopping because of the waits; so we did what the 4 of us do best and went to see if they'd seat us about 30 minutes early for our lunch at HBD! Did they?

Joe and his bright shiny drink say YES THEY DID!



This was the perfect save to our day and the first time in forever that I've felt we "wasted" a park day. It's partially because we don't care to ride any SW rides and of course because we didn't get a BG; also since we go so often we do not stand in those lines. It just finally for the first time stunk that we couldn't go to a different park.

But drinking helped!



And as always we had fun with our friends and Steve enjoyed another birthday dessert:




We chose to leave the park after lunch around 1. All the lines were still ridiculous and we didn't want to wait around for an hour to try for another BG. What we did however was take a skyliner ride to the other resorts!

A little ABD advertising at the Riviera stop:




I wanted Steve to see CBR because at that point we were booked there for February and he'd never been. I stayed there for 2 nights last October for work and thought the resort was very pretty although too spread out. I thought he'd be ok because it is nice and calmly themed so we got off there; waited for an internal bus to take us to the main building because it's a far walk and it was 125 degrees out - and after 7 minutes of no bus Steve declared it's way too big and he's not staying here and doesn't need to see more.

So on to the Epcot stop and a walk to the Screen Door Store at the BW!



All by ourselves on the BW at 2pm on a nice sunny day; weird and sad.
Someone who shall remain nameless 🖐 had forgotten to pack bathing suits and this was a problem. After our pool time over at BCV in July we knew we'd want pool time and today was perfect! Lucky for us we found bathing suits that didn't cost as much as a Disney vacation in the store, Lyfted back to CCV and on to our first visit to the Boulder Ridge pool:

Not looking too crowded from our room....



Mask up when you walk to and from, keep your distance and or gosh sakes people, wash your hands regardless of what year it is!



In the middle of the pool with a little waterfall in the area of the steps if you hang over there:



It's quiet there but unlike the quiet pool at BCV there were enough people that it wasn't boring and didn't seem eerie. There were actually quite a few families with kids there so I was thinking the feature pool must have been fairly crowded. Everyone kept a good distance and there were CM's constantly cleaning tables, chairs, and railings both in the pool and around the pool.

One other shot:



It's probably one of the best themed "quiet" pools at a Disney resort since most have no theming or decor at all! It's convenient to many BRV and CCV rooms (not all) and the kids there seemed to be enjoying themselves.

We stayed about 90 minutes before it was time to go back and begin getting ready for our night. First though a quick stop at Roaring Fork and on to another post to continue

 

[CruellaNY]

Any guesses what I got at Roarking Fork?



For the first time in FOREVER (well in 8 months) I had me a Magic Bar!! I couldn't even wait to take a bite before I took the picture! I noshed on this while getting ready for our next big night out which started at one of our all tine DS faves,



We arrived first so I ordered this nice n spicy drink while we waited for for the rest of the gang:



and slowly but surely the all arrived!





The DeVizio's from NY, the @Jenny Sanders and Joe's from near the Windy City and Mr. & Mrs. @pepperandchips from down below but still in the good ol' US of A . We had a great time with some apps and drinks before moving on to our reservation at a new to us and new to Jenny & Joe place just down the road a bit. It was a Melinda suggestion and it came with sangria made table-side by this guy:



Table-side sangria is never a bad thing and our first time here at JALEO did not disappoint! The sangria was for the ladies and BOY was it good! I was seriously looking for more when that pitcher was empty but combined with my more than 1 spicy Anything Goes from Jock's, well, more sangria I did not need. We didn't get "Birthday crazy" like Jenny did in July; it wasn't like these were extra dirty martini's or anything But I do remember having tears running down my face at one point!
I'll put all the food pics in my dining report but let me say that Jaleo was delicious and blew me away! I really had no desire to go here until Melinda brought it up and even then the menu was just "eh" for me. We went to Jock's first because Jenny and I weren't sure we'd find much on the Jaleo menu we'd like and we didn't want to be starving but we were totally wrong! I want to go back and considered taking the boys there next month. Just a peek:









We closed down the place as we pretty much did the night before at Narcoosees, leaving shortly before 11 I believe. Since we were the only ones left outside where we had been sitting we were able to have our server take this shot of us:



I don't know if Steve was holding me up because he needed to lol or because he was unsteady himself lol! Jenny and I didn't get the memo that we were supposed to show leg Tonight we were treated to a ride back to our resort by Mr. P&C himself since they were also at Copper Creek! We don't mind the busses and honestly the few times we've taken them to and from DS since reopening they have not been nearly as bad as they usually are, but taking a bus back to your resort right after closing from anywhere isn't fun. So thanks to our friends who rent and bring cars and offer us rides!

We still had two full days and one half day left filled with parks and friends and food and booze, so stay with me guys!