Disney done differently, (BOG dining updates pages 202 and 203)

[lovethattink]

I am like you with morning meaning early, I would rather leave early so that I can squeeze in as many hours at the parks that I can.


I love the two windows in your room. How nice that you got the building you wanted that is always nice. I love the idea of online check in. They don't have that at Disneyland, or they didn't in February.


You can tell how hot it was from the pictures. Its so hard to have fun when it's hot like that.

Right, early to bed, early to rise.

The windows made the room feel bigger. Definately better lit.

I love hot, the 80's are heaven to me. The 90's not so much! 70's and I'm cool.

 

[lovethattink]

We saw this while in the parking lot at the TTC.

I made it a point to find our room when we got back to the Ranchos. I found the room, but still couldn’t get my orientation straight. While Anakin and Goofy were resting, I took a walk and snapped some pictures.

There was a giant spider web in front of our room. Not sure if I was able to catch it or not.

While I was busy trying to find the right angle, I went and tripped over uneven pavement. My ankle didn’t like that!! Yep, same ankle.

The microwave was in our room now!! I’m not sure if it was bigger than we had in the past, or if it appeared bigger being white against dark wood?

I was able to get my bearings straight. I realized the big building in front of our window was the laundry room at 7B. The quiet pool was on the other side of that. The Dig Site was just a little further down the path. It was soon time for the campfire, and soon time for Grumpy’s football game to start. He would not be joining us until later that night.

I went back to get Goofy and Anakin for the campfire. Walking out of the room, Goofy was checking out the giant spider web. He tripped over that same uneven spot in the side walk too. He said he was ok. We made it a point any time we walked by there to keep an eye on our footing.

Squirrel on the way to the campfire.

Starting the fire

Getting a stick

Roasting

The Dig Site

El Centro

El Centro and the Marina

 

[kaoden39]

Right, early to bed, early to rise.

The windows made the room feel bigger. Definately better lit.

I love hot, the 80's are heaven to me. The 90's not so much! 70's and I'm cool.

I may not get to bed as early as I like but I seldom sleep very late at all. I like the 70's and the 80's.


I saw the spiders web in that picture. I am not a spider fan. It looks like the kids really enjoy the campfire, I think it is such a great idea.

 

[annmarieda]

I'm sorry your dd has a latex allergy. We found out about Grumpy's when he tried to blow up a balloon at Ponderosa. He spent the next 4 days in the hospital, after that, an epipen became his companion. Everything from socks to underware couldn't have exposed elastic. Back then pencils in school were killer. Now most pencils are made without latex erasers!! So thankful Disney was one of the first to do away with latex in restaurants!!

We have been lucky...so far dd has had no respiratory difficulties when exposed. Still, yes... epi for her too. Worst reaction she has had is once she had a cross protein reaction and the white of her eye bulged out of her socket. (it was kinda gross) My husband was so freaked out he was sure she had injured her eye. He took her to the ER and they were going to investigate the eye until I got there and noted the allergy and...yes the hives all over her body. That is when we found out about the cross protein thing. It is rough cause there are so many things with latex...and at school.... those pink erasers are latex, right? It was on the class list and I made them take them off cause I thought they were latex.

BTW, what beautiful pictures of CSR!

 

[DMGeurts]

Thanks for more great pictures... I just love all of the resort photos - you take some gorgeous ones!

I haven't ever heard much about CSR - it looks like a beautiful resort - and the pool looks awesome!

D~

 

[lovethattink]

I may not get to bed as early as I like but I seldom sleep very late at all. I like the 70's and the 80's.


I saw the spiders web in that picture. I am not a spider fan. It looks like the kids really enjoy the campfire, I think it is such a great idea.

Spiders don't bother me, unless it's a brown recluse! We have a crab spider in our pool area. He has been there since summer and Anakin studies him. He is the strangest looking spider with the most intricate web. He seems to know to keep it out of our way too. He is white and red. It looks like he is wearing armour.

 

[lovethattink]

We have been lucky...so far dd has had no respiratory difficulties when exposed. Still, yes... epi for her too. Worst reaction she has had is once she had a cross protein reaction and the white of her eye bulged out of her socket. (it was kinda gross) My husband was so freaked out he was sure she had injured her eye. He took her to the ER and they were going to investigate the eye until I got there and noted the allergy and...yes the hives all over her body. That is when we found out about the cross protein thing. It is rough cause there are so many things with latex...and at school.... those pink erasers are latex, right? It was on the class list and I made them take them off cause I thought they were latex.

BTW, what beautiful pictures of CSR!

Pink Pearl erasers are latex. However, when Grumpy went to take the ACT last year, we discovered that Dickson now makes latex free #2 pencils, but they have pink latex free erasers. So how do we tell the difference between them if they now look the same?? I haven't figured that out yet.

What do you do about balls at school? Handles on things? Stay out of Space Ship Earth. The inner core of the attraction is rubber. My son has a horrible time in there breathing. It took us years to figure it out. We always thought it was the fire from the Rome scene, until an imagineer told us about the inner rubber core.

Here are some websites that have helped us out.
http://www.latexallergyresources.org/latex-free-products
Sub links are on the left column

 

[lovethattink]

Thanks for more great pictures... I just love all of the resort photos - you take some gorgeous ones!

I haven't ever heard much about CSR - it looks like a beautiful resort - and the pool looks awesome!

D~

CSR is the resort where my family feels the most at home!! It's slightly more upscale than the other moderates. The products in the room are a bit better. Instead of the combo shampoo and conditioner, you get separate products. Also you get a moisturizing lotion. But the same face soap and bath soap as the other mods.

There is an option to have a microwave in your room as no charge. This is not an option at the other mods.

There is a spa and fitness ceter too.

The pool is one of the best pools and water slides on property. The only pool I like better is Storm along Bay at the Yacht and Beach Club. There is a 22 person hot tub too.

Without a doubt, CSR has THE BEST play ground on property. There are swings. A preschool play set and a separate older kid play set. 2 sand pits for digging. Table tennis and sometimes fuseball.

The baby pool is one of the worse baby pools on property though.

There are 3 bars, one is a night club, the other 2 are outdoor. There is a cafe, Cafe Rix for quick service food. Their food court is like no other on property. The selection of food is very diverse for counter service. One of the few places you can get steak for a counter service credit. The only draw back is a 10% service charge because you have servers get your drinks.

There is also a table service restaurant called the Maya Grille. We have never eaten there.

CSR definately ranks up there as my family's favorite resort at WDW!!

 

[lovethattink]

Coming up next...House of Blues!!

Found this guy on the way to the car

 

[KatMark]

Great updates, Tink.

I love the corner rooms...although they aren't any bigger, they feel bigger. That microwave also looks bigger than the last one you had.

I'm glad your ankle was okay...and to have something happen to the same ankle twice in one day.

The campfire looks like so much fun. I am so happy to see that they now have this.

I'm going to send you a PM.

 

[lovethattink]

Great updates, Tink.

I love the corner rooms...although they aren't any bigger, they feel bigger. That microwave also looks bigger than the last one you had.

I'm glad your ankle was okay...and to have something happen to the same ankle twice in one day.

The campfire looks like so much fun. I am so happy to see that they now have this.

I'm going to send you a PM.

Read and responded to the PM. Anyway I can help, just let me know.

Our next stay is Pop in Nov. They don't have a campfire there. We will miss it! Although we did get to do POFQ's campfire the day we did the carriage ride, so we didn't miss it entirely that night!!

 

[Lidian]

Lidian!!! It's so great to see you back! How are the kids doing? Anakin still asks when we will see the pirate boy and mermaid.

We ended up loving our room. It was so quiet!! We have heard anyone else. First time ever at a Disney resort. Not even a toilet flush!

Kids are doing great! We'll be back March 4-9 (just booked today!!!). The kids don't know (yet), but I'm sure they'll be asking if they'll get to see Anakin as well!

We never heard anyone else either at CSR. Sooo quiet!

I go picture overboard. When I don't take a picture of something dh teases me.

I do the same thing, but when DH teases me, I put the camera away and miss great shots. However, this next trip, I'm taking pics of EVERYTHING!

[edit]
Sorry to hear about the ankle twist again! I hope it healed quickly!

 

[annmarieda]

Pink Pearl erasers are latex. However, when Grumpy went to take the ACT last year, we discovered that Dickson now makes latex free #2 pencils, but they have pink latex free erasers. So how do we tell the difference between them if they now look the same?? I haven't figured that out yet.

What do you do about balls at school? Handles on things? Stay out of Space Ship Earth. The inner core of the attraction is rubber. My son has a horrible time in there breathing. It took us years to figure it out. We always thought it was the fire from the Rome scene, until an imagineer told us about the inner rubber core.

Here are some websites that have helped us out.
http://www.latexallergyresources.org/latex-free-products
Sub links are on the left column

Zoe stays clear of the balls. (you mean the red playground, balls right?) And handles seem fine at her school. We always have to be mindful, but sometimes we just come across something and then she has some troubles and in retrospect we figure it was latex. And..not always it there trouble. I know some people can't handle bananas and she can eat them like the little monkey she is! Ya know...now that you mention SSE... it seems to me she has made complaints but I just assumed she didn't like the smell of the fires. I will have to watch her and see if that is the case this trip. Question for you... Do you carry the epi on the plane and do they give you a hard time about it?

 

[lovethattink]

Kids are doing great! We'll be back March 4-9 (just booked today!!!). The kids don't know (yet), but I'm sure they'll be asking if they'll get to see Anakin as well!

We never heard anyone else either at CSR. Sooo quiet!



I do the same thing, but when DH teases me, I put the camera away and miss great shots. However, this next trip, I'm taking pics of EVERYTHING!

[edit]
Sorry to hear about the ankle twist again! I hope it healed quickly!

Oh how exciting!! Congratulations!! We are doing a Sunday and Monday night in Feb, no March plans. Monday's are our Disney days now. If you have a Monday during your stay, pencil us in for a ride or two! Hopefully it won't be as cold this year in March!

Where are you staying? Are you starting a PTR?

 

[lovethattink]

Zoe stays clear of the balls. (you mean the red playground, balls right?) And handles seem fine at her school. We always have to be mindful, but sometimes we just come across something and then she has some troubles and in retrospect we figure it was latex. And..not always it there trouble. I know some people can't handle bananas and she can eat them like the little monkey she is! Ya know...now that you mention SSE... it seems to me she has made complaints but I just assumed she didn't like the smell of the fires. I will have to watch her and see if that is the case this trip. Question for you... Do you carry the epi on the plane and do they give you a hard time about it?

You will need to have a separate medicine bag. You can keep both liquid and solid dosage forms in here. They need to be labeled with a prescription label. They do not count towards your liquids or bags, but can only contain medications. I think ds also had his nebulizer in there. He had no problem with the epipens or any other meds in there.

Grumpy can't eat bananas or kiwi. He has also had analphylactic reactions to grapes and peanuts. Last week he had a bad reaction to a chicken nugget at McDonalds. It had to be cross contamination. And at the F&W festival he tried a cranraisin. It said no grapes in it. But his mouth and throat got all itchy so he spit it out right away.

We discovered it's best to talk to the chef at Disney because there have been restaurants where cross contamination happened in unlikely places. For example, the one chef at Pop wouldn't let him eat the orzo noodles because she had used the water from the greenbeens for the noodles too. Who would have thought?! He has to stay away from all legumes, nuts, and tree nuts.

 

[lovethattink]

The time of day we had all anxiously awaited for had finally arrived. I got a text from smileycrissy that she was at DTD sitting on a bench waiting for us. We parked around the back of the West Side. Anakin asked where the House of Blues was. We told him by that water tower.

(borrowed pic)

He took it to mean INSIDE the water tower and he got scared. He thought it would be dark and dirty.

We explained how Disney adds atmosphere to their buildings. That many buildings that look old at Disney are new, but made to look old. He still wasn’t sure about the water tower, but he wanted to see Lisa and Rachel.

The first people I saw were LisaB and Smileycrissy! None of us knew what to expect at the House of Blues because we had never been there. The ADR for my family and smileycrissy was for 7:30pm, but we were already hungry and wondered if that was enough time to be seated before her set. It was before 7pm.

I went inside and was told we could be seated right away. I mentioned that we were there to hear Rachel perform. He asked if we were part of the family. I told him no, we were friends of the family but we had our own ADR separate from whatever arrangements were being made for them. He suggested we wait a few minutes for a closer table to the stage to open up. I said that sounds great. He sent me outside to bring my party inside to wait.

By this time, it was past 7. LisaB remained outside because that was where she and Judy had designated to meet. The rest of us went inside. The noise level of the lobby went up considerable when the family of the hour arrived and we were so happy to see them again!

Anakin was so worried that the girls wouldn’t remember him. They did!! Hugs were exchanged all around. Megan and Anakin distributed goody bags to all the kids. Before we were done handing them out, our name was called.
We discovered the stage was directly behind the podium where you give your name. We were walked towards the back of the restaurant, then she made a turn and we were redirected towards the front. All the way to the front to a table for four!! We were shocked.

Anakin opening his loot:

His loot:

I don’t remember our waiter’s name, but he was wonderful. I had questions about the menu and he was great at answering them. The menu was very large and the outside was wooden. Smileycrissy got a burger, Anakin got the kid’s chicken fingers and fries, Goofy got a shrimp po boy, and I got the crab and artichoke dip with nachos. I had considered ordering the spinach dip with homemade kettle cooked chips. Either way, I knew I wanted to try the banana bread pudding dessert!!

Anakin’s kid’s meal:

My Crab Dip and Nachos:

Goofy’s Po Boy:

The dessert:

Smileycrissy

Rachel and Anakin:

Lisa and Anakin:

DISers (Thanks to Jonathan or whoever took the pictureson my camera!)

Her performance was amazing. I had high expectations for her, and she exceded those!! I heard comments around the room that people were very impressed! This night was definately the highlight of our trip!!

 

[Lidian]

Oh how exciting!! Congratulations!! We are doing a Sunday and Monday night in Feb, no March plans. Monday's are our Disney days now. If you have a Monday during your stay, pencil us in for a ride or two! Hopefully it won't be as cold this year in March!

Where are you staying? Are you starting a PTR?

We will arrive on Sunday and leave on Friday. I can't say more, as I have to save something for the PTR ... but you could check a calendar and see the days from my signature, so there's really no sense in trying to "hide" that information.

If Anakin is up for it, I'd totally love to get together. When it gets closer, you'll know my details, and we can text to see if anything works.

I'm hoping for nice weather. I was worried about the temps being too cool early March, but my options were limited. Cool weather is better than no WDW at all.

Anyway, can't wait to hear more about your trip!

 

[lovethattink]

We will arrive on Sunday and leave on Friday. I can't say more, as I have to save something for the PTR ... but you could check a calendar and see the days from my signature, so there's really no sense in trying to "hide" that information.

If Anakin is up for it, I'd totally love to get together. When it gets closer, you'll know my details, and we can text to see if anything works.

I'm hoping for nice weather. I was worried about the temps being too cool early March, but my options were limited. Cool weather is better than no WDW at all.

Anyway, can't wait to hear more about your trip!

Yay there's a Monday in there!

Let me know when you start your PTR!! You inspired me to do a spread sheet for our Oct trip.

 

[KatMark]

Tink, what an awesome update. We've never been to HOB at Disney (we've done the one in Vegas). I'm so glad you guys got a close table and that the girls remembered Anakin. I love the group shot (and, yes, Jonathan is Marv's son and I am assuming he is the one who took the picture).

 

[lovethattink]

Tink, what an awesome update. We've never been to HOB at Disney (we've done the one in Vegas). I'm so glad you guys got a close table and that the girls remembered Anakin. I love the group shot (and, yes, Jonathan is Marv's son and I am assuming he is the one who took the picture).

Anakin says, "Daddy took it." I'm Dory, but it had to be either Goofy or Jonathan.