Disney dangled the visual weinee & Mickeystoontown gobbled it up! 10/26

[dugarner]

Jumping in late, it's great to see a fellow Louisianan! I lived in a city off of I-20 for ten years and just recently moved away, so I loved your I-20 photos almost as much as Disney! When my daughter went on her first Disney trip we told her on the way to the Jackson airport that the Mississippi College arena **was** Disney. For just a second the look in her face was priceless.

I am looking forward to reading all your posts here!

---Sarah

 

[pwdebbie]

Jumping in late, it's great to see a fellow Louisianan! I lived in a city off of I-20 for ten years and just recently moved away, so I loved your I-20 photos almost as much as Disney! When my daughter went on her first Disney trip we told her on the way to the Jackson airport that the Mississippi College arena **was** Disney. For just a second the look in her face was priceless.

I am looking forward to reading all your posts here!

---Sarah

Hey! Welcome to the DIS!

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

Long time lurker here! I followed along on your last TR but never commented so I thought since you're pretty early in on this one I would finally come out of lurker-dom I love your TR's! Your family seems like so much fun!

Sorry the BW was such a bust! We've gone before and seen magic acts, music performers, etc and then some nights it is just dead. Guess it's just pretty hit or miss What a pain though! Glad ya'll finally got something to eat! Looking forward to reading the next installment

 

[Tiggerrn2]

So sorry you had a bummer of an evening. The busses and DTD are very unreliable. Unfortunately, parking at DTD isn't any good right now, either. So sad that you missed the entertainment at the Boardwalk. It is usually quite fun there, but I believe all the action is from 6-9pm. But the Boardwalk games should have been open, and the cart that sells the corndogs also does some other great sandwiches. Disappointed for you.

But you guys are so awesome to see the silver lining in things. Great little snack you found!! Guess it pays to be persistent.

Haven't been to Planet Hollywood in a Looooooooooooonnnnnnng time. But your bruschetta looked pretty good.

Can't wait to hear about your next day.

 

[sherylcin]

Hi Lisa! Enjoying reading all about this year's trip! Your reports are always fun and interesting! I'm so sorry to hear that my beloved Boardwalk was a bust for you guys. We are DVC and have stayed there several times now and there has ALWAYS been entertainment during the evening. There were food stands too with popcorn, hot dogs, etc. all along the way. I sure hope things haven't changed! Plus one of the best times we had at Disney was when we rented a surrey bike one night and all of us rode around the whole boardwalk area. So much fun! If you ever do venture back there, I'd suggest the Boardwalk Bakery (if the pizza window is too busy!) or taking the boat over to Beach Club and going to Beaches & Cream. Yummny ice cream and burgers! I do have to say though that I think I would have been cranky just from a 2-hour bus ride from DTD! Oh my word! That is unbelievable!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Oh my word, what a long night! And it was your arrival day to boot!

DTD just seems like madness right now. Construction everywhere, parking lots closed, and now the PI bus stop is no longer running. Nusto.

2 hours on a bus is just too long. And then to have no entertainment on the Boardwalk. If it weren't for bad luck....



I'm glad there was some restaurant open for you all to eat at. Eating cereal in your room at midnight probably wouldn't have been the best birthday memory taken away from the trip.

It was a loooooong day and night, that's for sure!

It was crazy that when we took the CBR buses to and from DTD, it wasn't as bad. The stopping at four resorts before getting to the Boardwalk was just plain old dumb.

Yeah, I wasn't happy when it looked like we'd be eating Cocoa Pebbles at Midnight.

Great CBR pics!! I could go for a walk around CBR right now- listening to the island music and all. When we go for our Feb/March trip with our friends that have never been- we are debating between CBR, POR or maybe even the Wilderness Lodge- depending on the price.

That is a bummer that no one was out at the Boardwalk. I wanted to go visit that area the other weekend, but we just didn't have time..

Also, a bummer that all the restaurants were closed.. That's insane. DTD was a mess the other week.. Just all the construction and parking was terrible. Plus, the buses had to drop us off at the front of DTD and wouldn't you figure we would have to walk all the way to Quest. Terrible.

The naked man.. Now that is funny... Definitely not for my littles' eyes for sure.. LOL

We once had Wilderness Lodge booked and was excited about staying there but my mind made me change back to the CBR. It was going to be $1,000 more to stay at the WL and I just couldn't make myself do it. Plus, after this last trip, we visited the WL and the bus stops are odd. Two are covered and the other is just out in the open on a sidewalk. Just a little sidewalk?

" and sister from another mister "

Or, it could have possibly be a brother from another mother. I'm not really sure.

Great details about CBR. I am sure they will be very helpful for those planning a stay there. We are returning in October and staying at CSR but your pictures have me second guessing that!


I would love to hear what you think about the CSR. It (along with the other moderates) have been on our radar for years but we can't make ourselves change from what we know we love.

I think all DTD traffic right now is a total mess BUT that ride sounds ridiculous! I will say that the amount of Epcot resorts that share a bus is crazy! We did have several issues with buses this trip (stayed at BC). One hint is to get off at the first stop (Swan/Dolphin) and head back to the Boardwalk area and walk it. Will save tons of time....only reason to stay on the bus is if you are too tired to walk. Thankfully with EP/DHS in walking distance there are days where you don't rely on the buses but still it can stink for sure!

I wish that I had thought of that when I was sitting on that crowded bus.

How odd that nothing was happening at the Boardwalk. It seems like they were always out for us....so much so that I avoid it if possible because my girls always want to stop and watch for forever. Maybe you were a bit late?

Can't wait for more updates!

From what everybody is posting, it seems like the entertainment at the Boardwalk is hit and miss. Some say they see them adn some say that they don't.

Joining the fun!

I absolutely loved reading about your road trip to Disney. I'm from the UK so it was really fun to see the pictures from your journey.

CBR looks like such a great resort, so bright and airy. I'd love to stay there sometime but my OH's heart lies with POR.

So great that you could all laugh about poor Hunter's blow out of a birthday evening.

Welcome! I always like reading about other people's travels too. One of our fellow Disers lives in Austria and I love seeing pictures of her country.

We walked around Port Orleans Riverside this last trip and it was beautiful. I can see how it has your OH's heart.

Well, after lurking during almost all your trip reports, I'm finally commenting!! I'm trying to be better about commenting on all the TRs I follow, so a new TR from your family is a great place to start!

Yay! I'm glad to have you and that you came out of lurkdom!

What a great start. There's something so great about driving under the "Pearly Gates of Disney" and on to the property. We'd stayed off site the first two trips I had, and once we stayed onsite, it was totally a "NEVER AGAIN!" experience!

If the only way that I could go to Disney was by staying offsite, I'd do it but I sure wouldn't want to.

We are POR loyalists, by my dad's friend is a CBR loyalist and is trying to sway us for our January trip. I'll have to check out your CBR thread to get some more info on it. From the pictures you've taken in your TR's the grounds look beautiful!

I just posted a lot of pictures over on the CBR resort info thread. Take a look at them when you have a minute.

We aren't looking foward to the construction at DTD. We love taking the boat from POR, but if there's masses of people and wall, I'm not going to be up for going there more than 1-2 times.

Can't wait to read more!

I took the boat from Port Orleans to DTD twice (I did two walking tours of the resorts) and the crowds right around the DTD boat dock weren't that bad. But, when we got further into DTD, they were

Hi Lisa! So glad I stumbled on your report. I've read all your others and feel like I know you. I'm going back to start reading so I can join in the fun.

Welcome! So glad to see you!

I am one who is soaking in the detail about CBR! Thanks!

I think the Boardwalk has entertainment on the weekends, and special occasions, but I am not exactly sure how it all works. We did go one time and it really wasn't that late, but the entertainment was ending already...so maybe it's done early.

You know how I get when I am hungry....I would've been dying!!!!! LOL
I am so glad you did find some food though. That is the bad thing about Disney, especially those without a car. If you don't find food before it all closes, you are going hungry!

Jen, I posted a bunch of pictures of the CBR over on the CBR resort info thread. Most are the "informative" type pictures but still pictures.

Girl, I know you and you would have been a raging bull that evening. I say that in the most kind of ways.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Love reading about your adventure! Lol..

I'm also in Louisiana (about 30 min west of New Orleans). Do you find it super hot in May at Disney? Or the same as our humid summers?

Welcome fellow Louisianaian! (spelling?) We actually didn't find it too terribly hot when we were there. It certainly didn't equal what it was feeling like at home. There were only two days that we mentioned being hot and that was on our second day at Hollywood Studios and one other day. Other than that, we were fine. Now, that doesn't mean that I don't mention seeking out an air conditioner.

I don't take tons of pictures right after arriving either, I think for the same reason. You're just there soaking it all in, happy to just have arrived!

Disney bus means you're there! It's always exciting!

Oh believe me. Don't get me started on the Deluxe bus issues. Bahahaha. We're DVC, and it's a frustration with many of the resorts like Boardwalk and Beach Club that we have to share busses. It makes no sense at all.

Oh my goodness, I can't believe none of the entertainment was out on the Boardwalk! That's just insane. There's normally a ton going on there.

I'm so sorry that your night went that way! Ugh, I've totally been there before though.

The Big River Grille and Brewing works on the Boardwalk is always a nice option. It's the opposite direction of the ESPN Club, and it's normally pretty easy to get into.

I know that everybody pays X amount of dollars for their resort and everybody is entitled to good transportation. But, the Beach Club, Boardwalk and Yacht Club cost a lot of moolah. You'd think that they'd have better bus service. I know that they are within walking distance of some parks and there are other modes of transportation sometimes but 2 hours from DTD is ridiculous!

Jumping in late, it's great to see a fellow Louisianan! I lived in a city off of I-20 for ten years and just recently moved away, so I loved your I-20 photos almost as much as Disney! When my daughter went on her first Disney trip we told her on the way to the Jackson airport that the Mississippi College arena **was** Disney. For just a second the look in her face was priceless.

I am looking forward to reading all your posts here!

---Sarah

Welcome to the Disboards and to my report! How cool that it sounds like we were semi-neighbors! That is too funny that you'd tell your daughter that the arena was Disney.

Long time lurker here! I followed along on your last TR but never commented so I thought since you're pretty early in on this one I would finally come out of lurker-dom I love your TR's! Your family seems like so much fun!

Sorry the BW was such a bust! We've gone before and seen magic acts, music performers, etc and then some nights it is just dead. Guess it's just pretty hit or miss What a pain though! Glad ya'll finally got something to eat! Looking forward to reading the next installment

Hey there I Am No Longer A Lurker! Thanks for posting!

Ugh! You saw what I wanted to see at the Boardwalk! I don't know that I'll ever talk my gang into going back and trying it again.

So sorry you had a bummer of an evening. The busses and DTD are very unreliable. Unfortunately, parking at DTD isn't any good right now, either. So sad that you missed the entertainment at the Boardwalk. It is usually quite fun there, but I believe all the action is from 6-9pm. But the Boardwalk games should have been open, and the cart that sells the corndogs also does some other great sandwiches. Disappointed for you.

But you guys are so awesome to see the silver lining in things. Great little snack you found!! Guess it pays to be persistent.

Haven't been to Planet Hollywood in a Looooooooooooonnnnnnng time. But your bruschetta looked pretty good.

Can't wait to hear about your next day.

We were so disappointed that there was no entertainment out at the Boardwalk. There were just a few games open and one cart that sold snacks but that was it.

John and I hadn't been to Planet Hollywood in a few years (the kids went while John and I went on a date night to another restaurant). We actually went twice this one trip.

Hi Lisa! Enjoying reading all about this year's trip! Your reports are always fun and interesting! I'm so sorry to hear that my beloved Boardwalk was a bust for you guys. We are DVC and have stayed there several times now and there has ALWAYS been entertainment during the evening. There were food stands too with popcorn, hot dogs, etc. all along the way. I sure hope things haven't changed! Plus one of the best times we had at Disney was when we rented a surrey bike one night and all of us rode around the whole boardwalk area. So much fun! If you ever do venture back there, I'd suggest the Boardwalk Bakery (if the pizza window is too busy!) or taking the boat over to Beach Club and going to Beaches & Cream. Yummny ice cream and burgers! I do have to say though that I think I would have been cranky just from a 2-hour bus ride from DTD! Oh my word! That is unbelievable!

Hey! Welcome! What the heck? The more that I read, the more that I think the entertainers saw us coming and ducked for cover.

 

[melnbil]

I scoured all of my pictures and didn't find the naked man. We were there about 5ish so maybe the urge to be prompt hadn't hit them yet.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I scoured all of my pictures and didn't find the naked man. We were there about 5ish so maybe the urge to be prompt hadn't hit them yet.

I'm betting that they were trying to get all of us late night diners out of there as quickly as possible.

 

[jane2073]

Seriously? We were that close to each other and didn't even know it? Oh gracious! Okay, since we are shadowing each other...what are your dates for next year? Maybe we'll finally get to say hello.

Most likely it will be May 28-31.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Most likely it will be May 28-31.

Staying at the CBR? Our dates will be May 22nd to June 6th.

 

[jane2073]

Yes! We really love it there! Perfect place to celebrate the end of school and the start of summer vacation!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Yes! We really love it there! Perfect place to celebrate the end of school and the start of summer vacation!

Cool! If you start a pre-trip report, let me know. I usually do one but it will be quite some time before I start.

 

[mickeystoontown]

The bail money is in the safe and the key is in the drawer! Remember that!

After our late night/early morning “celebration” and I use that term loosely, there wasn’t even a discussion about whether or not to sleep in. Heck, I don’t think that there was much discussion at all once we got back to the room. We all fell in bed and were fast asleep in the blink of an eye and stayed asleep until mid-to-late morning. Those 9ish hours of sleep were just what the doctor ordered.

My pictures from this day are lacking but I do know that we all ate something from our Garden Grocer order (I had ordered a lot of stuff...cereal, cereal bars, oatmeal, trail mix, milk, etc.) and sat around like a bunch of bums. I can only take so much lazing around in the room before I start going stir crazy. I told the guys that I was going to take a walk and take a few pictures along the way.

Let me stop a minute before I continue on. As I mentioned earlier, one of my Dis friends, Steph, was at the resort and had reported several days before our arrival that the room refurb had started in full force. Also as I mentioned earlier, the construction stuff was set up in the parking lot. What I believe that I forgot to mention is the fact that I had already gone snooping around a little bit to see if I could get a glimpse of one of the new rooms. However, what I encountered, was security personnel walking around the building and a construction supervisor/foreman. It appeared that there would be no sneaking a peek.

Having said all of that, I wasn’t giving up. I’m very active over on the CBR info thread and had promised that I’d keep an eye and ear out on the refurb and, by golly, I was going to keep my promise. If I went down, I was going down camera in hand and in the name of my fellow Disers!

Now, back to our “sleep in” day. I was getting a little stir crazy just sitting around in the room and had informed the guys that I was going for a walk. John and Hunter knew what I was up to. I wasn’t just going for a walk. I was going to try and get pictures of the construction. John even commented that I was going to go to Disney jail if I didn’t stop snooping around and trying to take pictures of what Disney was keeping under wraps. As I was walking out the door, camera in hand, I said “The bail money is in the safe and the key is in the drawer! Remember that!”

Off I went to see what I could see. While looking around before, the security truck had been parked in the Jamaica loop that goes in front of Jamaica 41 and 42 so my first thing to do was to look and see if it were there today.



Nope, no security truck there today. Goody! As you may be able to see in the above picture, the pathway was blocked off by the signs saying “Pardon Our Dust” or something similar so I turned back around and went between the buildings. That’s when I saw the security guard walking the beat. Yeah, just waiting to use that billy club on anyone who got too close. He was giving me the snake eye. I hid the camera and took the stairs just in case he was thinking about coming after me.

Okay, so I’m being a little bit dramatic in my storytelling. Seriously, though, I did see a security guard walking around the building and he even directed somebody coming out of building 42 around the other direction to keep them away from building 41. And, I did take the stairs. I continued walking as did the security guard. When he went around the corner, I took the following pictures:





Those are work permits and they were posted in almost every room in that building. You can’t see if from the pictures but the rooms looked as if they had been gutted. There was a toilet that appeared to be just sitting there alone. The walls looked like they had received a new coat of paint too. Other than that, I couldn’t see any real progress.

I decided to talk a walk on the promenade and go towards the village of Trinidad South. That would take me by the lake side of Jamaica Building 41. I hoped that I could possibly take one of the pathways to the building and get a better look. I turned right on the promenade and there it was. The security guard’s paddy wagon. Okay, again, I’m sounding dramatic. The security guard’s little cart, buggy, whatever it’s called was parked alongside the promenade. The guard himself was standing there talking with another guard. They were ganging up on the unwanted guests. Drat! I gave them both a little wave and continue walking. No more refurb pictures today.

My walk took me across the bridge and to Trinidad North. I must have kept my camera in hiding because I don’t have a picture from the bridge nor of the Trinidad North quiet pool. I do have this picture and I don’t really know why:



Looks like I made a trip through some of the Trinidad North buildings and back out to the promenade:



Oh wait! I remember why I went through Trinidad North! Someone on the CBR thread said that they had seen just one room that had already been redone and it was in Trinidad North. I had gone looking for that elusive room. Told ya I wasn’t giving up.

I made a right and went towards the main pool:







At that point, I went through the island and back to our room. The guys were still lounging around doing a bunch of nothing. There was a bit of talk about whether or not we were hungry. John and I weren’t really but Hunter was so he and I went to the food court to get him a pizza.



In the food court at Caribbean Beach, there’s a small station/table set up with to-go boxes, plates and lids. We stopped and got a cover for the pizza and a small bag and set out walking back to the room. There are picnic tables in the courtyard that have a great view of the buildings across the lake:



Back in the room, Hunter ate his pizza and we flipped channels while John and I ate a few snacks from our Garden Grocer order. After a while though, we were all ready to get out of the room and do some more exploring. Only where would we go?

**Up next: That’s a mighty fine hat you got there Mister! Not as fine as my shirt!

 

[Connie96]

Hi Lisa. I have read MANY of your trip reports. Not sure if I've ever stopped in to say "hello" or not so,

I just stumbled across this latest report and I'm all caught up. Can't wait to read more.

 

[KatMark]

You crack me up, Lisa. And I can just see John and Hunter giving you grief that you are going to get locked up by the Disney police or in trouble with them like on your cruise.

But you are a GOOD DISer trying to get those pictures for your readers. Too bad the Disney police prevented you from getting much.

After your evening before, it was a good idea to sleep in and take it easy.

Can't wait to hear what you do next.

 

[ddstratton]

Sounds like a nice, relaxing morning. Well, apart from hiding from security...

 

[goofy's_gurl]

Lisa, Lisa, Lisa! I am glad you did not get thrown in Disney jail! Probably John and Hunter was glad too. They had security there because they knew you were coming to town to snoop. Didn't you see we made you a website called Lisa: The Disney Detective?

 

[Mndisneygirl]

You are a good DISer - willing to go to Disney jail to take pictures for your fellow CBR fans!

It looks like a really nice day - was it hot and humid yet?

Love that Hunter got pizza again! Did you count how many times he got pizza this trip?

 

[MEK]

All I can say is, even as crappy as the parking is at DTD and BW, I bet you wish you had driven. That two hour bus ride sounds like pure torture. And I am seriously shocked that there was no entertainment outside on Memorial Day weekend. There really are limited food choices. Next time you get stuck there (if you ever venture forth again) and you are starving, hit the Captain's table at the YC. You can always get seated and they make a good burger. Wow - what a frustrating evening.

Glad you finally got some food in your stomachs.

Back to read you next update.