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

[CruellaNY]

Wait! What? I am fist? Always follow but rarely post but I can't resist now!

Well see?? It pays to follow so you can eventually be first! So for that you get a HUGE , very glad you posted and I hope you keep on doin' it!

I'm looking forward to your 2020 trip #3 report.

Hey Sue! I know we're lucky to have 3 under our belt in 2020 and I'm looking forward to our 4th coming up since the boys are coming on that one

Following!

Yay Thanks for following along, hope you enjoy!

I'm here too! I guess this also means you aren't doing an early November trip if you are doing Thanksgiving now huh? Guess we'll have to try to meet up sometime in 2021!

Hi Dina! It's almost time for your next trip 🛩 I do hope your plane is a little more updated than that one lol. And yeah, no early Nov. trip now for a few reasons. Hopefully we overlap in 2021! All of a sudden it hit me that Ricky is home for 2 months when he gets home for Thanksgiving and he'll have all that time to see his friends here rather than just a few days under "normal" times. So I asked him if he wanted to go and he was like "yeah"! And another Thanksgiving trip was born!

Page 1 woo hoo Let's get Steve's party started!!

We didn't wait too long believe me lol!

I'm here!!!!

Well you have to be since you'll be all over this thing soon lady

I'm here but need to get caught up.

Hello! And welcome back! You take your time I'm just glad you're here And I hope you had a great trip yourself!

I'm here too!

Hello and I hope you enjoy my report!!

Looking forward to hearing how September was in the parks Three trips in 2020 so far?
So jealous and looking forward to living vicariously through yours

LOL I do know we're lucky! We went 8 times last year and expected to have gone like 6 so far this year but, yeah, we know what went down. We had a trip to Uni in June as well! I hope before too much longer everyone who wants to get to Disney can get there

 

[CruellaNY]

Welll after completely missing your last TR, I am on Page 1 of this report! I am still reading your July one, about half way though now - I’m enjoying it of course, just only so much Dis time these days. Looking forward to following along with this one “in real time”.

Hey Jeff, but see the important thing is you're here NOW But proud of you for making headway with the July one lol! Enjoy your weekend and enjoy this report too!

Joining in, excited to hear about your trip and some of my favorite Dis friends!

Hey Caroline! DIS friends bring something special to our trips don't they?
Hopefully we'll be reading a new TR from you soon too!

Following along. Looking forward to reading more about your adventures!

Hey there Always good to see you on my reports

Yussss… page 1.

WHO's the man???

All her DIS readers hold their collective breaths and wonder what her next screen-name will be...

Because it's funny but true! Maybe I should start a contest. Or you know, just post the next name here so everyone has a head's up!

Hooray! Can't wait!

Whoo hey Katie!! You have good reason to spend more time on the boards now!!!

Count me in!

Hey Chris! Hope you and the family are well Thanks for joining in again!

Yeah! I can't wait to read about all your adventures!

Hello and again! Good to see you here; inching closer and closer to YOUR trip!

Happy Birthday to Steve!

So happy to be here and enjoy every minute of your time "home"!

Hi Susan, it's always good to have you here

Can't wait to read all about it!

Hi there and welcome to my newest report! Hope you enjoy all the fun!

Hiya I'm here for the birthday celebrations and the craic of which I've no doubt there will be plenty

Hey Moira I've been waiting for ya NOW I can get started lol!

I can't wait to hear all about it.

Hello there! Good to see you, thanks for following along!

 

[annie170]

I'm here! Even though it doesn't sound like there will be any drunken debauchery with Jenny Sanders this trip, I'll read about it anyway!

 

[pkondz]

WHO's the man???

I's the man!!

Because it's funny but true! Maybe I should start a contest. Or you know, just post the next name here so everyone has a head's up!

 

[Lsdolphin]

Yeah!!! Loving a new trip report

 

[QueenJen]

Yay for another TR. Found it early enough to follow from the start.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I'm here! Can't wait to hear all about it!!

 

[CruellaNY]

Well! Thank you so much for joining me here, I love seeing all the comments and it makes me so excited to get started! Speaking of getting started while thanking you I also want to apologize for NOT getting started yet and tell you I hope you stick around through this slow beginning When I started this Wednesday I had every intention of doing the first updated at least by Friday and then BOOM! Stuff................ I mean first it was work exploding which is never a bad thing for me especially this year! But it does cut in to DIS time lol. And then we had some unexpected doctor appointments for Chris; some LONG appointments, and it turns out he has a slight hearing loss in his left hear. Totally surprised by this and he did not initially take it well at all. He's my super dramatic one to begin with, and it's just a scary thing to be told when you're 14. Luckily it really is mild, the hard part being a constant ringing in his ear for the last week that some medication will hopefully clear up. All the doctor can really say is it may possibly be the result of a virus Chris had recently? If he did indeed have a virus recently, to our knowledge he did not. It's mild enough and early enough that a reversal of the damage is possible but he'll be happy to just be rid of the ringing. Fingers crossed the ringing gets better so he feels better, and I can add some DIS time in between my work time! Hope you guys enjoyed your weekend!

NOW let's get this started; I have so much to share about our Sept. trip and then some!

Day 1 Part 1: Fly Us to Copper Ridge Lodge!

Our trip started in the late afternoon on Sept. 22nd with a thank goodness on time flight out of Newark:



Just as an FYI Ricky gave the thumbs up on this shirt I found at Target because it's "simple; not loud Disney". Thanks Rick, wouldn't have gotten it if you didn't approve . We were in Orlando at 5:30 and at our resort by 6:15:



Ugh this is always like the hardest thing to get a good shot of! It's also, if you don't know, my absolute favorite resort. It's also, if you don't know, technically not open with no published reopening date and that's very sad. On our first return visit after COVID in July we stayed at BCV and now we were both so happy to be returning as best we could to this resort with a booked stay at Boulder Ridge Villas, and it would be a first stay there for us!

We had gotten our room # while in the Lyft so went right there and things were lookin' up. 6:15ish, dinner reservation in DS not till 7:45.

Until we get to our room of which I have no pictures. Guys, most of you know me to a point and know I go often. Many of you know what I do for a living ✈ I do not complain often about resort rooms and have not asked to move since the great 2015-BWV-sewage-through-the-floor debacle. I knew going in that the BRV rooms needed updating but the room was not clean. The wood floor when you first walk in was unswept to a bad degree and there was dirt in the shower. Plus well, yeah the rooms are in DIRE need of upgrading. If it had been clean we would have dealt even with the shower curtain skimming the toilet but I cannot abide by dirt, so we left our bags there and walked back to the desk. We left our bags because we had 6 of them-yeah yeah 6 for 5 nights leave me alone - and we had the room farthest from anything other than that WL sign in the picture above.

The CM was so sweet and gave us another room in BRV so back we went to move bags, not thinking about the fact that now we couldn't get in to the old room! We decided to look in on the new room and as long as it was ok, ask them to move our bags because now it was like 7 and we wanted to get going to dinner as hanger was closing in. Well, I wasn't feeling room 2 either and it wasn't because I'm not nice. The cleanliness wasn't there! It just had not been swept. I think I was also soured on the first room combined with the need for the refurb and had set my mind on not staying there if being honest. We went down to the desk AGAIN to tell her we couldn't get our luggage; she asked how the new room was and I asked if they could possibly sweep/vacuum as it was Steve's 60th birthday trip and we had dinner to get to. Again she was so nice and said they'd clean and move our luggage so at 7:20 off we went to DS.

Our 2nd "new to us" came by way of eating at Terralina Crafted Italian for the first time:




We ate outside not because we aren't OK eating inside but because they asked if we wanted to sit out there and it was a nice cool night. Bottom line we loved our server and our meal; if you want more details and haven't already taken a look feel free to go over to the dining forum and read up on my dining report (link in signature)!

It was almost 10 when we finished and as DS closes at 10 we really couldn't do anything else. Terralina stops (or did at that time) seating at 9; Paddlefish right across the way was stopping at 8. A few stores were still open as we walked out at like 9:50 but most were already closed. We had bused there so we bused back. So one thing we discussed at dinner was how I really wanted this trip to be great for Steve's birthday and how I already knew I would not be looking forward to returning to our room each night at Boulder Ridge. Being who he is and knowing me like he does, Steve was on board with my asking at the desk to be switched to Copper Creek. Which, I'm happy to say, we were at no charge!











Oh man did I feel relief when we walked in here. I also felt a little bad for complaining but not that bad since I kept it friendly and didn't insist on anything. For those of you who like or own at BRV I of course think the location is wonderful and since it's part of my favorite favorite resort I can't hate on it. But I don't think we'll be going back until they update it.
Our room at CCV was just a studio which is what we'd booked at Boulder Ridge and it was fine. The 4 of us stayed in a studio here back in 2018 and lucked out with one of those corner rooms that's more like a 1 bedroom so regardless I knew we'd be happy with the decor as long as it was clean and it was. We also had a nice view of the BR pool:



In which we spent more time than I think we've ever spent in any Disney pool! This pool was open till 11pm and as you see there's one lonesome soul still out there at was was near closing time this night.

I didn't really unpack since it was on the late side and we weren't getting up early the next day. We chilled a bit and went to sleep, looking forward not only to spending Steve's birthday in the World for the 1st time but also to seeing a few of our wonderful DIS friends again!

 

[CruellaNY]

I'm here! Even though it doesn't sound like there will be any drunken debauchery with Jenny Sanders this trip, I'll read about it anyway!

LOL well gee thanks! Jenny did control herself real well this trip; I was on the edge one night but kept it clean We gotta pace ourselves so we don't get banned from any of our favorite spots! Glad you're here

I's the man!!

Yeah!!! Loving a new trip report

Yeah happy you're here! I hope you enjoy this one!

Yay for another TR. Found it early enough to follow from the start.

It's always nice not to have to play catch up isn't it lol? Well thank you for joining and I'm glad you're here!

I'm here! Can't wait to hear all about it!!

Hey Courtney, as always I'm glad you're here! Hope all is well down there on the Island

 

[missjackiemcg]

What a bummer (and SO un-Disney) about the unclean room not once, but twice!!! I'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!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

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!
Terralina sounds lovely too

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

 

[kittylady1972]

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!

 

[Wood Nymph]

I feel better about our upcoming trip knowing that you have already been there twice and plan to return, in spite of the Covid-19 restrictions.

I hope Chris gets better and his hearing improves on its own. The ringing in the ears sounds really annoying.

Oh man did I feel relief when we walked in here. I also felt a little bad for complaining but not that bad since I kept it friendly and didn't insist on anything.

For some reason, BRV has never appealed to me. I'm glad that they were able to move you to CCV. We booked a CCV deluxe studio with the walk in shower for our January trip.

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.

 

[Jenny Sanders]

OMG! I had no idea about Chris. I'm so sorry. 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 happy you were given a good room (third time's the charm).

 

[kclark9830]

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

I'm glad you were given a room you could be happy with. 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!

 

[pkondz]

I also want to apologize for NOT getting started yet

Yeah, lady! What gives!!!

I had every intention of doing the first updated at least by Friday and then BOOM! Stuff................

ah. That gives.
Totally okay, of course. Life happens.

I mean first it was work exploding which is never a bad thing for me especially this year!

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

And then we had some unexpected doctor appointments for Chris; some LONG appointments, and it turns out he has a slight hearing loss in his left hear.

Oh!

the hard part being a constant ringing in his ear for the last week that some medication will hopefully clear up.

I sure hope so.

It's mild enough and early enough that a reversal of the damage is possible

Sending good thoughts that it's just temporary.

Just as an FYI Ricky gave the thumbs up on this shirt I found at Target because it's "simple; not loud Disney". Thanks Rick, wouldn't have gotten it if you didn't approve .

But of course!

Ugh this is always like the hardest thing to get a good shot of!

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

It's also, if you don't know, my absolute favorite resort.

It's also, if you don't know, technically not open with no published reopening date and that's very sad.

Yeah, that is.

I knew going in that the BRV rooms needed updating but the room was not clean. The wood floor when you first walk in was unswept to a bad degree and there was dirt in the shower.

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.

we had 6 of them-yeah yeah 6 for 5 nights leave me alone

A girl's gotta have her duds!

The CM was so sweet and gave us another room in BRV so back we went to move bags, not thinking about the fact that now we couldn't get in to the old room!

Whoopsie!

The cleanliness wasn't there! It just had not been swept.

Again?!?!?!?
Man, if I'd been the hotel manager, I would've been mortified!

Our 2nd "new to us" came by way of eating at Terralina Crafted Italian for the first time:

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

Steve was on board with my asking at the desk to be switched to Copper Creek. Which, I'm happy to say, we were at no charge!

Yuss!

Accurate portrayal.

 

[eliseisawkward]

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.

As disappointing as a dirty room is, it sounds like it was a blessing in disguise since you got to move to a more recently updated room. I’m guessing with the lower capacity it makes finding a new room much easier, a lot more empty rooms.

Can’t wait to read more!!

 

[suse66]

When I started this Wednesday I had every intention of doing the first updated at least by Friday and then BOOM! Stuff................ I mean first it was work exploding which is never a bad thing for me especially this year! But it does cut in to DIS time lol. And then we had some unexpected doctor appointments for Chris; some LONG appointments, and it turns out he has a slight hearing loss in his left hear.

Oh no! So sorry to hear about Chris! Hopefully the medication will help with the ringing and the loss will be temporary.

now we were both so happy to be returning as best we could to this resort with a booked stay at Boulder Ridge Villas, and it would be a first stay there for us!

We had gotten our room # while in the Lyft so went right there and things were lookin' up. 6:15ish, dinner reservation in DS not till 7:45.

Until we get to our room of which I have no pictures. Guys, most of you know me to a point and know I go often. Many of you know what I do for a living ✈ I do not complain often about resort rooms and have not asked to move since the great 2015-BWV-sewage-through-the-floor debacle. I knew going in that the BRV rooms needed updating but the room was not clean.

That is too bad.....a dirty room is just not acceptable. 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.

The CM was so sweet and gave us another room in BRV so back we went to move bags, not thinking about the fact that now we couldn't get in to the old room! We decided to look in on the new room and as long as it was ok, ask them to move our bags because now it was like 7 and we wanted to get going to dinner as hanger was closing in. Well, I wasn't feeling room 2 either and it wasn't because I'm not nice. The cleanliness wasn't there! It just had not been swept. I think I was also soured on the first room combined with the need for the refurb and had set my mind on not staying there if being honest. We went down to the desk AGAIN to tell her we couldn't get our luggage; she asked how the new room was and I asked if they could possibly sweep/vacuum as it was Steve's 60th birthday trip and we had dinner to get to. Again she was so nice and said they'd clean and move our luggage so at 7:20 off we went to DS.

Yikes!! What was going on??? Two rooms not taken care of? I would not be happy at all!

Oh man did I feel relief when we walked in here. I also felt a little bad for complaining but not that bad since I kept it friendly and didn't insist on anything. For those of you who like or own at BRV I of course think the location is wonderful and since it's part of my favorite favorite resort I can't hate on it. But I don't think we'll be going back until they update it.

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

 

[vamassey1]

Sorry 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?

Not clean rooms are just not right. Happy you got moved to a better room and dinner was good.

Looking forward to more.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Ugh with the unkempt rooms. I know all about dirty floors, that was how ours was at OKW. I want to stay at CCV one day. I wish the Discounts were better for it!
I hope Chris feels better. Ringing In the ear not fun at all! Fingers crossed it goes away soon.