CBR Trip Report Day 1/8-26-01

hulabird

DIS Veteran & Planaholic!
Joined
Jul 12, 2001
Messages
1,582
We boarded our ATA flight at 7:30 am CST and arrived at MCO about 10:10 am EST...we started off at the National Car Rental Counter, I had booked our reservation online and had my confirmation info with us (printed from the computer) and even though we had this info in front of the reservationist, she still showed no record of it in her computer, we had to wait about 35 min for her to reenter everything and then get us on our way, very frustrating, but we were soon on our way. The ATA flight was good, but ATA flight crew not very friendly or talktative, I am used to the service i get from Southwest Airlines and prefer them.

We found our way to CBR with no problem, Disney is very organized and its very hard to get lost there if u follow signs. We stopped at a drugstore on the way so I could get some last minute stuff and then we got to Custom House at CBR about 11:45 am, there was a line, but we were to a CM within 15 min.
CBR is so pretty and I knew from the minute we arrived that I would love it. The CM was great, very nice, and because we had paid for a King bed, told us that the request for Trinidad North was unavailable with a waterview (another request) so she said she could give us Jamaica #42, a King waterview, since i already had an idea of the layout and since she wasn't saying Barbados or Trin South, I said Jamaica would be ok. It was ok, its a beautifully refurbished 2nd floor room with a great waterview.
It is a corner room with 2 windows. We didn't actually get into the room until about 2 pm, so we went to OPR for lunch. The walk was about 5 minutes, which I decided wasn't bad, and I loved every inch of CBR! So many ducks and birds! So many beautiful, lush tropical plants, Parrot Cay is so nice to walk through! WE ate a light lunch, I had a cheeseburger/waffle fries and hubby had a turkey wrap and chips, we purchased our refillable mugs then as well, they were worth it. We refilled a few times right there during lunch. Mugs were 8.99 each. I snapped pics immediately, with all of u in mind...we checked out the pools and the dock where u can rent the water mice and boats. We then went to our room, all we had to do was call custom house from a house phone at Parrot Cay to find out if we could get into the room. How easy! We got into the room and then made a plan for this first day. We decided to wash up and to go to the Boardwalk area
for dinner and to just check out everything. Before we did this we went to the quiet pool which is a stones throw from our room, it wasn't too crowded, was very clean and was really relaxing.

We took a bus to the Boardwalk, to do this we went to the bus stop behind our building and then took the bus to Downtown Disney, we transferred to the Boardwalk bus from there. WE waited only 5 minutes for a bus. The boardwalk was so cool, we walked the Boardwalk and checked out the menus of resteraunts and the shops. We walked all the way around by the Swan and Dolphin and Beach and Yacht Clubs....its a fantastic area, lots to do, very beautiful...we decided to eat at Beaches n Cream and used our 10.50 quick n casual lunch/dinner vouchers we bought through connections. We both ordered steak sandwiches which were very good, fries and an orange swirl type of shake, it was delicious, and even though we were full we decided to have a Mickey Mouse Sundae, it was excellent, Beaches n Cream has some good ice cream! After we finished checking out the rest of the area, my husband decided we'd take a boat over to MGM and from there we rode the bus back to CBR. We got back about 9 pm and I decided to walk down to OPR to fill our mugs and get some snacks, it only took me 15 minutes to do all this, and I enjoyed the walk and seeing the ducks everywhere. Since we had been up since 4:30 am CST we went to bed about 11 pm.

Part 2 to follow soon....Our 1st day of WDW touring

HUlabird
AUG/SEP 2001
carib01a.gif
 
Hulabird - thanks for the trip report - day 1.

I'm moving this over to the trip report board for you. You can still use this link to get to it!
 
I'm glad you had a nice trip down. Cant wait to read more.:D
 
Day 2-up super early to get to AK, we got the bus right away and were at AK by
8 am, when we got in the gates we saw a few characters signing autographs,
Rafiki, Chip and Dale (Chip and Dale are always everywhere it seemed) and even
Mickey! We took some pictures with them and then headed for the Safari ride, it
was wonderful, so many animals were out and I got tons of pictures. Our guide was
so cool, i felt like we were really riding the African Savannah, it was hot but not too humid
and we really enjoyed the ride. From here we headed to the train that takes you to Rafiki's
Planet Watch, it was ok, we got to pet some goats and sheep in the petting area and then
we checked out the veterinary areas and sat in a booth they had where u put on headphones
and sit in the dark as someone narrates, the sound effects make u feel like tigers and other
wild creatures are breathing right down your neck, it was so cool and amazing. From here we
went to Kali River Rapids, I was afraid at first because as we rode in this huge round raft and
headed up this hill, it looked as if we'd be taking a big drop like on a roller coaster and i was
going down BACKWARDS! However it just LOOKS that way and there was no real drops to
speak of, however it is tremendously fun and YOU GET SOAKED! We hadn't brought a change
of clothes or a poncho and we were very DRENCHED....but it was fun! We rode twice in a
row because there were no lines! After getting soaked twice we went to get paper towels and
then prayed for the sun to dry us off...we headed for the dinosaur ride next, it was thrilling
and we loved it as well...once again not very crowded, I figured maybe everyone was out
at MK doing EE. We headed for the tree of life next and to see "It's Tough To Be A Bug"
we had no wait time for that either and this was one of our favorite things, it was cute and
full of surprises and I am not going to tell everyone what happened during it because I want u
to be surprised too, but its a MUST SEE because its so cool and entertaining! The Tree of Life itself is something to see, its beautiful. We checked out a few trails and by 12:30 or so we were ready to eat, so it was the Rainforest Cafe next, we had a $50.00 gift certificate from
Mypoints to use and our total bill came to 54.00 w/o the tip. We started with delicious drinks,
I had the Rainbow Colada and it was so Good! DH ordered a chocolate drink that had kahlua
and some other stuff in it, his was good as well...our food on the other hand was "fair" I ordered a cheeseburger that to me tasted extremely bland, my DH had a chicken pizza which
he thought was just "ok". I would not eat there again, but would definitely order a drink!
By the time we looked in the RFC gift shop it was about 2 pm and we decided to catch the bus back to CBR, I noticed that AK was now filling up but it wasn't overly crowded.

Back at CBR we changed into our swim suits and headed out towards the pool. The quiet pool
at Jamaica (our room 4253) was only a short walk away and was never really crowded at any time, the water always seemed warmer however than the main pool at OPR. We had a relaxing afternoon at the pool and then headed back to the room to shower and change to go to MGM for the evening.

We got to MGM around 5 pm,once again our bus was there within minutes of our getting to the bus stop. MGM was not crowded at all and we were able to get on all rides very quickly.
My main reason for going to MGM was the TOT, and we were headed towards it until my husband saw the doors open up on the hotel and saw the people dropping in the elevator,
that was all he needed to chicken out on me...we had a slight arguement at the park because of this, this was the only ride that had somewhat of a wait, about 15 min. I could not convince him to even go as far as the part where u can take the "chicken" exit....so I did not get to go on the TOT :( We didn't do RNR roller coaster either, so I was not very happy. We stayed at MGM until park closing and then took the bus back to CBR. Each night we'd try to get back to CBR to go down to OPR to get a snack and fill our mugs. Tonight DH didn't feel like walking anymore, so I volunteered ro go myself and even bring dinner back along with our mugs!
When I got down there it was alittle crowded, I wanted Bridgetown Broiler (good food) so I got mine first. I had a chicken/rib combo that was so good I couldn't believe it came from a food court! They gave me a big bag to put the order in, next I went to get my hubby a sandwich at Montego's Deli, I added that to the bag. He also wanted pasta, so I had to go to the pizza place to get it, well they were out of alfredo sauce and told me to come back in 10 minutes, so I went to fill the mugs while I waited on that. The whole time trying to make a plan to carry this stuff back without dropping or spilling anything, I found a way to prop the cups up into the bag so they wouldn't tip...then I went to get the pasta dinner, now I had another bag to carry in the other hand. I got it all together and started making my way back through OPR and out to the bridge to head back to Jamaica, on my way 2 ducks decided to follow me and actually got in my way, "move ducks, you can't eat this kind of food" they moved and I headed over the bridge, my hand carrying the bag with the pasta started cramping, and my legs were like rubber from all the walking we did that day, but I made it across the bridge and back to building 42, I made it up the steps, slowly...and then DH met me at the door, he loved all the food I got, and thanked me for going....I was so proud of myself until he said "where's the forks?" as he opened up his pasta (which was fettucine alfredo) "oh no.....I totally forgot!" and I then remembered that OPR has a area with a bin full of forks, knives, spoons and condiments....I bit my lip, put my shoes back on my sore feet and headed back to OPR, so my VACATION AT CBR TIP OF THE DAY IS: ALWAYS REMEMBER TO GET FORKS ETC....AT OPR! Believe me I didn't forget from that night on....and ya know I felt like the ducks were even laughing at me when I headed back to OPR.....when I got back about 8-10 min later I ate every bit of my dinner (and it was still warm!) and even the chocolate cake I ordered, I figured I had enough exercise to burn off that and more!

Coming Soon: Day 3 and MK!


Hulabird

AUG/SEP 2001
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What a good person you are to return for the forks. I think I would have eaten with my hands at that point.:D Looking forward to reading your next installment...
 
Thanks for the great first and second day trip report! I enjoyed reading it!
 
Day 3 MK
I was so excited to wake up this morning because the MK is my favorite place of all time!
Mickey woke us at 7 am, and every morning I made sure that Mickey woke us...I guess that
is the kid in me, but even my DH had to have a turn at listening to Mickey say "Hey Pal...up and adam!" it was cute and added to the excitement of the day. We decided that we would
eat breakfast in the park so we just dressed and headed for our bus stop.

Once again on our way we were greeted by our duck friends, as they made their way out of the finely manicured shrubs and onto the sidewalk...they are so cute! This is another reason I just love CBR! The bus came pretty quick and we were on our way to the home of our favorite mouse! I was very excited especially when we went through the MK gates, and then when we finally made it up to the entrance, a tear did come to my eye, because MK is just so beautiful...and so magical...everything is so clean and perfect...it made me wonder if life really was this perfect at one time, if everything did look so pretty and clean back before we had polution and chemicals etc...ruining our air...way back in the gay 90's or something....

We headed to Tony's Town Square for breakfast...Tony's is an excellent atmosphere, lady and the tramp stuff all over the place...but the breakfast menu in my opinion is not exactly the greatest...the food is good, but the selection is not, plus no pancakes on the menu...breakfast out at a resteraunt to me is pancakes and bacon...Mickey Mouse pancakes would even be better! Instead I settled for french toast and a slice of ham, and DH had the breakfast calzone which he seemed to like pretty well. I will say that the chocolate milk I had was to die for, it was very cold and very tasty! Our bill came to about 24.00 plus a tip. We did leave full, so we decided to take the WDW railroad for a trip around the park before we started to really tour the park. It was a very nice ride and by the time we came back to Main Street we felt ready to do some walking. Main Street is really so cool, and we started by looking in the shops, there are quite a few. We started out in Tomorrowland and headed directly to Space Mountain to get a Fast Pass, there was already a line there, so we grabbed our passes and then headed over to Adventureland, we were able to get on Jungle Cruise pretty quickly and our CM guide was pretty good as she told her little tale as we rode the cruise. This is a very pleasant ride and we really enjoyed it, from here we went over to Pirates of the Caribbean,
another fun ride and such a thing to see, so detailed (the animatronics) and so real looking...
DH really liked this one too. The lines for these rides were not at all long, maybe 5-7 min tops..so that really convinced DH that this is our WDW trip time for next year. By now it was getting pretty hot, and so we stopped to get something to drink, we got dole whip floats at aloha isle....VERY GOOD, and refreshing on a hot day...we both got pineapple/vanilla....by this time it was time to head back to Space Mountain....I was alittle nervous because I have always chickened out on Space Mountain and all roller coaster rides, but today I decided to be brave, and we turned in our fast passes and headed up the ramp to Space Mountain...the LONG walk...but not long enough when u are scared to death....I had to act brave because of how much fun I made of DH when he wouldn't ride TOT at MGM...now I was not about to let him make fun of me...so I rode...it came our turn and I was praying that I would not get the front seat (there are 3 seats in a rocket, its single seats, one in front of the other) and luckily I got the middle and DH was behind me...I got into the car and braced myself...at first it didn't seem too bad, it was fast but very smooth, and going through tunnels of light was kind of cool...but then it changed abit and though I was still a bit scared and holding on for dear life, I had a great time and actually would go in it again with no problem...but yes its very fast, and its still a roller coaster, but I made it through and actually liked it.

By this time it was getting to be after 2 pm, and at 3 pm the Magical Moments Parade would be starting so we did a quick walk back over to Main Street and did some more shopping....the crowds started lining up on Main St and we got a perfect corner stop right near the end of the parade route...the parade was so magical...the main float had Mickey at the top in his sorcerers outfit, and Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and the gang were with him....I took tons of pics and it was so special to see, everyone needs to see the parades, they are really worth seeing. I will post pics as soon as I can.

We left the MK after the parade and I didn't mind because we planned to come back again on Friday. I can't get enough of MK.

Part 4-very soon....

Hulabird

AUG/SEP 2001 (and 8/25/2002!!!!!!)

carib01a.gif
 
Your post reminds me of our honeymoon. We stayed at CBR and loved it. We are so tempted each trip to go back there, but we want to eventually try all the resorts.
Thanks for posting.
(I'd have made him eat with his hands!)
 
My hubby wants to spend an afternoon renting the water mice at CBR. Did you rent those? How much was it? I have a 10 yr old daughter. Can she ride or drive?
Thanks for the info! We will be at CBR for Halloween and can't wait!:D
 
They were about 18.00 and some change per 1/2 hour
to rent, we didn't rent them, I am not sure if a 10 year
old can drive herself, unless a parent is along in the same mouse


Hulabird

CBR-Aug/Sep 2001 (& 2002!)
 





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