Hi everyone,
On a previous board(closed now) we always used to say, first trip report, then laundry, so here I am with my sort of report and unpacked bags.
Just got back last night.
We stayed there 9/2-910 but it felt very short because my mother and I stayed the whole time but my DD was there only 9/6-9/10 because of her job, so first couple days without my DD did not really feel like vacation. We stayed at CBR, Aruba 51. We had lots of fun however there were some disapointments as well. Basically in each category I describe, I have both bad and good. I did not have outstanding moments but I also did not have bad enough moments to complain or to have vacation ruined. So consider it observations.
MAGIC EXPRESS:
Waited about 15 minutes for a bus, ride to CBR exactly 35 minutes. However when my DD arived they put her and 2 other families on a wrong bus, they ended up at Poly. They brought them back but it took a while.
CHECK IN:
I did not do online check in because I was not sure how to deal with my DD joining us later. Line to online check in was pretty long while regular check in had only 2 people and I waited about 2 minutes before I was called. So check in time was GOOD. However, I placed request to 3 buildings, Jamaica 45, 46, Aruba 51. We were offered Aruba 53 instead which is a bit longer walk to food court. I refused and asked if anything in buildings I requested is awailable. They said, no, everything is booked, then checked again and found Jamaica 45 which will be awailable only at 5PM, I refused and then they checked 3rd time and found Aruba 51 awailable right away( we were there around 2PM). So I understand that requests are nothing but requests but why not to check what I was asking for first and then if nothing is awailable, go from there, and how come Aruba 51 was booked and then free 2 minutes later, and in addition, rooms from both sides of our room were empty the whole time, how come they did not see them, just weird.
ROOM:
At first everything was fine, checked beds, bathroom, was fine. When we were about to go to sleep however, noticed a dead fly on sheets and requested to change bedding. It was around 11:30PM and they showed up in less then 5 minutes, excellent. Later noticed some dirty spots on shower curtain, they looked like they were washed before but you could still see them. Carpet and walls were still in great condition, sheets had many yellow spots, furniture missed top wood at some places and you could definitely say what was new and what was old in a room. BTW, whoever going to CBR, do yourself a favor and pack some cheap pillows. They used to have 2 good pillows per bed, now they have 4 but tiny, difficult to sleep on them. Overall room was fine, not great but fine.
Mousekeeping:
This is something I will write in my survey for sure. If they cleaned room, they did a good job, except that they always forget to put a plastic bag for ice and no towel animals but overall good job. But the key word is "IF". First day I saw a bag with towels at the door at around 11AM( I was sleeping and had "do not disturb" sign, but seriously at 11 AM they leave me towels, how about comming back later. Second day I was about to leave my room at 10:30 AM and mousekeeping knocked on a door. I opened and she already had a bag to hang on my door. She asked me, if I need service or she can just give me towels,
did not I pay for service??? I told her that I need service and I will leave room in couple minutes. As I left, she was pretty far already and rooms had bags on doors. I let her know that I am out and she can clean it. We were back to room around 2PM, nothing. Then later my mom heard her passing our room again and pretty much made her clean. First, I thought that maybe it was result of cuts and she had so much to clean that she was looking for any chance not to clean but I had no problem with other mousekeepers. Next day when mousekeeping knocked and I was still sleeping, she asked me when to come back, did not even mention just giving me towels. I did not pay attention to first mousekeepers name, but I will mention dates and room in survey, she was lazy.
Food:
We ate at Tokio Dining, great as usual. They give you a survey to fill out for a manager as you walk in. Food was amazing, service was out of this world. Every couple minutes we were asked if we need anything else, our glasses were refilled, she changed plates when we ordered more, tons of smiles, tons of great experience. This is our usual place, we eat there every trip and this time was just as good as every other time.
CBR restaurant was pretty good. I ate there before and did not like it but gave it another chance and was surprised, it was pretty good.
We also ate at DTD, do not know name of the place, it is on a water, bar, couple tables, guitarist, what else to ask for. We loved it.
Quick service meals were as usual except I do not like those new buns.
Dole Whip, finally tried it and love it. Had all kinds of floats, love them all.
CMs:
Many indifferent CMs, not rude, not nice, just there. I was conducting an experiment with 2 CMs at CBR store. They were standing and talking about something, I was walking around them and no reaction, zero. I believe one was teaching the other one and they were doing that while customer is right infront of them. The manager noticed that and told them to stop having fun and asked me if I need any assistance. On my way out they were still paying no attention and as I walked by I heard one said to another, lets take a break and they just left. I saw many CMs with blank expression on rides, even on HM where they usually play with guests. I saw however some very nice CMs, mostly at the gate and cleaning CMs, they always said hello and asked about my day, very nice.
Cleaniness:
Saw some garbage at MK. Bathrooms, some were spotless, one next to Japan was a mess, my DD refused to use it. Bathroom right next to Epcot bag check smelled outside. We did not even go in, we just walked by and it smelled badly like some public bathroom that was never cleaned, shame.
CBR was constantly fixed, saw people fixing walking path, repainting rails, fixing plants, so no complains, CBR kept very well.
Rides:
Had virtually no waiting for any ride except Toy Story. 5-30minutes on any ride, mostly 10 minutes.
Did not get TSM, seriously what a big deal. It is a good ride, even so I like Buzz more but 2 hours wait, 1 hour during evening extra hours with a rain when park was practically empty.
I got to DHS on 9/6 when my DD was arriving to get FP. I was at openning and got 1 FP, got into stand by line(40 min) and by the time I could get a second pass(10:50AM), FPs were completely sold.
A nice CM(forgot to mention earlier) still let us both ride it with 1 FP. But really, why this ride is so popular to wait so long...
Guests:
Saw 2 Brazilian tour groups, behaved pretty normal, families however, not so much. I cannot say for sure, Brazilians or not but they spoke Portuguese. One family rode with us on ME, plane has bathrooms, airport has bathrooms but for some reason they needed to use bathroom on a bus while people sit right next to it, why? Had interaction with same foreign family (since I am not cpmpletely sure of their origin and they spoke very little English). At MK, on a 3D show, we walk and I sit and then an old woman starts screaming at me and shows me that she holds seats for her family, 4 seats, not kidding. She outstretched her hands and held 4 seats, 2 on both sides right in a center of theater. Her multiple family then joined and they were getting to her while everyone was sitting already. Then they clapped and screamed every time a scene was over. As we left, we went to carousel and my DD rode a horse and I set on a carrige/slide, whatever it is. Right infront of me is again the same family with very active grandma. They got all horses in a row. A baby with mom next to him, a father next to baby, a preteen with grandma taking pictures and 2 teens on a same horse. To entertain a baby, father started hitting horse with his foot to shake it, wonderful behaivor. Also saw many nice foreigners so I believe bad behaivor is exception not a rule. Saw line cutting(joining a family) on a 5 min wait ride. A family cut right in front of me as we walked to Buzz and then as we were almost there(2 min later), 2 other family members run through line, basically cutting everyone. What puzzles me, why can't you wait for your whole family when it is only 5 min wait?.. Another woman elbowed my DD to get infront of her in a second room of Stitch, when we were entering the main room, why? We are there anyway, do you need a better seat? Those 2 I described were not foreigners BTW. The rest of the guests I met were pretty normal.
Merchandise:
I could not find anything to buy. Everything is generic except RNR store. I could find same things at every store, nothing unique to parks. Even at Epcot you can see much less unique merchandise then used to be. I never heard of sales at Epcot before. At China, my mom asked about a vase and lady told her it used to be $200 but it is $120 now, interesting. Christmas store at Germany, MK and DTD had nothing interesting, tons of birds, Mickeys heads and princess line ($40) ornaments. I used to buy at least 1 ornament each trip but this time I found nothing. I still bought some things, a little bag at Japan(no big bags anymore), 2 tshirts at Planet Hollywood for my DD, parfume for my DD at DTD, Sushi book at Japan, some magnets at DTD and Minnie towels and mitten for my kitchen.
Fireworks:
Yes, I give it a separate category because it is very important to me. I remember someone mentioned before that Illuminations are less then used to be. It is actually a sad truth. It has less fireworks and it is really noticable. I remember during grand finale sky used to be light because of all the fireworks, not anymore. It is not as spectacular as it was. Of couse for someone new, it will still be amazing show but those who saw it before like me, can see difference right away. I was so disapointed that second day at Epcot we did not even stay for Illuminations, we left hour before it. Wishes still good, I did not notice change if there is a change.
Constructions:
Why there are so much construction going on at MK, not related to expansion. Whose brilliant idea was to have all those walls and huge posters with pictures of a building behind it, while there are expansion walls. BTW, they should make a higher walls for expansion, I could see some construction, it is not magical, just cover it higher.
Overall:
It was a good vacation, we had lots of fun. We did not do much of parks, did not even do it every day and only few hours each time. We spend more time at DTD and resort just relaxing. I wish I could go again today, I did not unpack yet However I think next time, I will buy less days for parks, after all there is nothing new so far and spend even more time at resort or even rent a car and finally explore life in Orlando outside Disney.
Thank you for reading this very long post and feel free to ask questions.
On a previous board(closed now) we always used to say, first trip report, then laundry, so here I am with my sort of report and unpacked bags.
Just got back last night.
We stayed there 9/2-910 but it felt very short because my mother and I stayed the whole time but my DD was there only 9/6-9/10 because of her job, so first couple days without my DD did not really feel like vacation. We stayed at CBR, Aruba 51. We had lots of fun however there were some disapointments as well. Basically in each category I describe, I have both bad and good. I did not have outstanding moments but I also did not have bad enough moments to complain or to have vacation ruined. So consider it observations.MAGIC EXPRESS:
Waited about 15 minutes for a bus, ride to CBR exactly 35 minutes. However when my DD arived they put her and 2 other families on a wrong bus, they ended up at Poly. They brought them back but it took a while.
CHECK IN:
I did not do online check in because I was not sure how to deal with my DD joining us later. Line to online check in was pretty long while regular check in had only 2 people and I waited about 2 minutes before I was called. So check in time was GOOD. However, I placed request to 3 buildings, Jamaica 45, 46, Aruba 51. We were offered Aruba 53 instead which is a bit longer walk to food court. I refused and asked if anything in buildings I requested is awailable. They said, no, everything is booked, then checked again and found Jamaica 45 which will be awailable only at 5PM, I refused and then they checked 3rd time and found Aruba 51 awailable right away( we were there around 2PM). So I understand that requests are nothing but requests but why not to check what I was asking for first and then if nothing is awailable, go from there, and how come Aruba 51 was booked and then free 2 minutes later, and in addition, rooms from both sides of our room were empty the whole time, how come they did not see them, just weird.
ROOM:
At first everything was fine, checked beds, bathroom, was fine. When we were about to go to sleep however, noticed a dead fly on sheets and requested to change bedding. It was around 11:30PM and they showed up in less then 5 minutes, excellent. Later noticed some dirty spots on shower curtain, they looked like they were washed before but you could still see them. Carpet and walls were still in great condition, sheets had many yellow spots, furniture missed top wood at some places and you could definitely say what was new and what was old in a room. BTW, whoever going to CBR, do yourself a favor and pack some cheap pillows. They used to have 2 good pillows per bed, now they have 4 but tiny, difficult to sleep on them. Overall room was fine, not great but fine.
Mousekeeping:
This is something I will write in my survey for sure. If they cleaned room, they did a good job, except that they always forget to put a plastic bag for ice and no towel animals but overall good job. But the key word is "IF". First day I saw a bag with towels at the door at around 11AM( I was sleeping and had "do not disturb" sign, but seriously at 11 AM they leave me towels, how about comming back later. Second day I was about to leave my room at 10:30 AM and mousekeeping knocked on a door. I opened and she already had a bag to hang on my door. She asked me, if I need service or she can just give me towels,
did not I pay for service??? I told her that I need service and I will leave room in couple minutes. As I left, she was pretty far already and rooms had bags on doors. I let her know that I am out and she can clean it. We were back to room around 2PM, nothing. Then later my mom heard her passing our room again and pretty much made her clean. First, I thought that maybe it was result of cuts and she had so much to clean that she was looking for any chance not to clean but I had no problem with other mousekeepers. Next day when mousekeeping knocked and I was still sleeping, she asked me when to come back, did not even mention just giving me towels. I did not pay attention to first mousekeepers name, but I will mention dates and room in survey, she was lazy. Food:
We ate at Tokio Dining, great as usual. They give you a survey to fill out for a manager as you walk in. Food was amazing, service was out of this world. Every couple minutes we were asked if we need anything else, our glasses were refilled, she changed plates when we ordered more, tons of smiles, tons of great experience. This is our usual place, we eat there every trip and this time was just as good as every other time.
CBR restaurant was pretty good. I ate there before and did not like it but gave it another chance and was surprised, it was pretty good.
We also ate at DTD, do not know name of the place, it is on a water, bar, couple tables, guitarist, what else to ask for. We loved it.
Quick service meals were as usual except I do not like those new buns.
Dole Whip, finally tried it and love it. Had all kinds of floats, love them all.
CMs:
Many indifferent CMs, not rude, not nice, just there. I was conducting an experiment with 2 CMs at CBR store. They were standing and talking about something, I was walking around them and no reaction, zero. I believe one was teaching the other one and they were doing that while customer is right infront of them. The manager noticed that and told them to stop having fun and asked me if I need any assistance. On my way out they were still paying no attention and as I walked by I heard one said to another, lets take a break and they just left. I saw many CMs with blank expression on rides, even on HM where they usually play with guests. I saw however some very nice CMs, mostly at the gate and cleaning CMs, they always said hello and asked about my day, very nice.
Cleaniness:
Saw some garbage at MK. Bathrooms, some were spotless, one next to Japan was a mess, my DD refused to use it. Bathroom right next to Epcot bag check smelled outside. We did not even go in, we just walked by and it smelled badly like some public bathroom that was never cleaned, shame.
CBR was constantly fixed, saw people fixing walking path, repainting rails, fixing plants, so no complains, CBR kept very well.
Rides:
Had virtually no waiting for any ride except Toy Story. 5-30minutes on any ride, mostly 10 minutes.
Did not get TSM, seriously what a big deal. It is a good ride, even so I like Buzz more but 2 hours wait, 1 hour during evening extra hours with a rain when park was practically empty.
I got to DHS on 9/6 when my DD was arriving to get FP. I was at openning and got 1 FP, got into stand by line(40 min) and by the time I could get a second pass(10:50AM), FPs were completely sold. A nice CM(forgot to mention earlier) still let us both ride it with 1 FP. But really, why this ride is so popular to wait so long...Guests:
Saw 2 Brazilian tour groups, behaved pretty normal, families however, not so much. I cannot say for sure, Brazilians or not but they spoke Portuguese. One family rode with us on ME, plane has bathrooms, airport has bathrooms but for some reason they needed to use bathroom on a bus while people sit right next to it, why? Had interaction with same foreign family (since I am not cpmpletely sure of their origin and they spoke very little English). At MK, on a 3D show, we walk and I sit and then an old woman starts screaming at me and shows me that she holds seats for her family, 4 seats, not kidding. She outstretched her hands and held 4 seats, 2 on both sides right in a center of theater. Her multiple family then joined and they were getting to her while everyone was sitting already. Then they clapped and screamed every time a scene was over.
As we left, we went to carousel and my DD rode a horse and I set on a carrige/slide, whatever it is. Right infront of me is again the same family with very active grandma. They got all horses in a row. A baby with mom next to him, a father next to baby, a preteen with grandma taking pictures and 2 teens on a same horse. To entertain a baby, father started hitting horse with his foot to shake it, wonderful behaivor. Also saw many nice foreigners so I believe bad behaivor is exception not a rule. Saw line cutting(joining a family) on a 5 min wait ride. A family cut right in front of me as we walked to Buzz and then as we were almost there(2 min later), 2 other family members run through line, basically cutting everyone. What puzzles me, why can't you wait for your whole family when it is only 5 min wait?.. Another woman elbowed my DD to get infront of her in a second room of Stitch, when we were entering the main room, why? We are there anyway, do you need a better seat? Those 2 I described were not foreigners BTW. The rest of the guests I met were pretty normal.Merchandise:
I could not find anything to buy. Everything is generic except RNR store. I could find same things at every store, nothing unique to parks. Even at Epcot you can see much less unique merchandise then used to be. I never heard of sales at Epcot before. At China, my mom asked about a vase and lady told her it used to be $200 but it is $120 now, interesting. Christmas store at Germany, MK and DTD had nothing interesting, tons of birds, Mickeys heads and princess line ($40) ornaments. I used to buy at least 1 ornament each trip but this time I found nothing. I still bought some things, a little bag at Japan(no big bags anymore), 2 tshirts at Planet Hollywood for my DD, parfume for my DD at DTD, Sushi book at Japan, some magnets at DTD and Minnie towels and mitten for my kitchen.
Fireworks:
Yes, I give it a separate category because it is very important to me. I remember someone mentioned before that Illuminations are less then used to be. It is actually a sad truth. It has less fireworks and it is really noticable. I remember during grand finale sky used to be light because of all the fireworks, not anymore. It is not as spectacular as it was. Of couse for someone new, it will still be amazing show but those who saw it before like me, can see difference right away. I was so disapointed that second day at Epcot we did not even stay for Illuminations, we left hour before it. Wishes still good, I did not notice change if there is a change.
Constructions:
Why there are so much construction going on at MK, not related to expansion. Whose brilliant idea was to have all those walls and huge posters with pictures of a building behind it, while there are expansion walls. BTW, they should make a higher walls for expansion, I could see some construction, it is not magical, just cover it higher.
Overall:
It was a good vacation, we had lots of fun. We did not do much of parks, did not even do it every day and only few hours each time. We spend more time at DTD and resort just relaxing. I wish I could go again today, I did not unpack yet
However I think next time, I will buy less days for parks, after all there is nothing new so far and spend even more time at resort or even rent a car and finally explore life in Orlando outside Disney.Thank you for reading this very long post and feel free to ask questions.
Glad you had a good trip. I hear you on the line cutting. We returned 9/2...really no more than 5 min waits in the line & still got cut. I noticed so many times a tiny kid running through the line up between us & the family in front of us...& then a whole family would "catch up" to the 1 kid who was unsupervised & cut! 
