Jumping, Dancing & Jamming Our Way Through Walt Disney World! I'm With the Band Now!

[MEK]

Hunter does bear a slight resemblance to pee wee herman in terms of his bicycle stunts!

Riding a surrey bike with you guys does NOT sound fun! Being a pedestrian when you are around sounds even worse!

 

[racefanof88]

OK, thanks Lisa!! You have me wanting to change my reservation AGAIN . Looking at your pictures makes me want to change my resort to CBR. I had forgotten just how beautiful the resort is.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hunter does bear a slight resemblance to pee wee herman in terms of his bicycle stunts!

Riding a surrey bike with you guys does NOT sound fun! Being a pedestrian when you are around sounds even worse!

Hunter was doing some mighty fine Pee Wee Herman moves on the bicycle.

We usually have a lot of fun on the surrey bikes....well, our type of fun...but this time was scary!

OK, thanks Lisa!! You have me wanting to change my reservation AGAIN . Looking at your pictures makes me want to change my resort to CBR. I had forgotten just how beautiful the resort is.

Oops, sorry! The CBR really is beautiful and so relaxing!

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

I need to go check out your pictures...especially the ones of POR since we have a one night stay there.

You may also want to look at the POFQ ones to as they are actually connected to each other. I think you can even rent sury bikes at one of them and ride to the other.
I also have some from Castaway Cay too, keep in mind the last time I was there was 2008.
Castaway Cay

 

[natebenma]

What a fun day! Great pictures of the food court- very helpful for people with upcoming stays there.

Love the description of your Surrey Bike Tour. I'm not sure I have read anyone's report about riding the surreys where there was not a near collision of people, animals or a family of ducks.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I always want to rent the surrey bikes but my DH says he will be stuck doing all the pedaling while I am taking pictures! It looks like so much fun though and I really want to do it. Other than it being hard to get started, is it hard to pedal the rest of the time? DH would rather ride the single bikes, but that gets pricey for several people.

Your mom and baby story was hilarious! You guys sound just like us. We can never do anything uneventful!

 

[Caretames1]

Nice bike riding there Hunter! I would have crashed into the nearest tree, because apparently I attract trees like metal to a magnet!

That Mom probably steps out into traffic without looking as well I know that your suppose to watch for walkers, but they need to watch for you too.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Lovely pictures of CBR. What a beautiful resort!

I can just see your family flying down that hill on the surrey bike at top speed! LOL!!!

 

[aprilisis]

Did you realize that the meal you guys had was meat-free?? (aka "aprilisis approved") Your down day at the resort sounds awesome. I think those can be some of the best days of the trip! You always have the best surrey bike experiences, too.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Did you realize that the meal you guys had was meat-free?? (aka "aprilisis approved") Your down day at the resort sounds awesome. I think those can be some of the best days of the trip! You always have the best surrey bike experiences, too.

I didn't even notice that! There are some days at home when I don't cook anything but vegetables and bread.

Our down day was an awesome relaxing day, except for the near surrey bike crash that is.

Lovely pictures of CBR. What a beautiful resort!

I can just see your family flying down that hill on the surrey bike at top speed! LOL!!!

We were doing so well and having such a good time on the surrey bike until the lady stepped out in front of us. She saw us and didn't even care.

Nice bike riding there Hunter! I would have crashed into the nearest tree, because apparently I attract trees like metal to a magnet!

That Mom probably steps out into traffic without looking as well I know that your suppose to watch for walkers, but they need to watch for you too.

Hunter had some smooth bicycle skills that day. It's funny that he wanted to keep riding and riding and riding but at home the boy hasn't touched his bike in months.

I am sure that the "we almost smooshed you flat" Mother is one of those who doesn't watch for traffic even when she's at home. She almost had to pay for her ignorance that day.

I always want to rent the surrey bikes but my DH says he will be stuck doing all the pedaling while I am taking pictures! It looks like so much fun though and I really want to do it. Other than it being hard to get started, is it hard to pedal the rest of the time? DH would rather ride the single bikes, but that gets pricey for several people.

Your mom and baby story was hilarious! You guys sound just like us. We can never do anything uneventful!

We really enjoy the surrey bikes and I highly recommend renting them. Once we got the bike going, it was fairly easy to pedal with the exception of going up that one hill at the CBR. We all had to put our leg muscles to use going up the hill. I remember the bicycle rental being fairly cheap. I'd have to go back and look at my marina pricing picture to see exactly how much it cost.

We can never have just a peaceful, relaxing, nothing stupid is gonna happen day. But, at least we have stories to tell.

What a fun day! Great pictures of the food court- very helpful for people with upcoming stays there.

Love the description of your Surrey Bike Tour. I'm not sure I have read anyone's report about riding the surreys where there was not a near collision of people, animals or a family of ducks.

We did have a fun day notwithstanding the near surrey bike incident. I remember reading Brooke's surrey bike story and her worrying about Henry being in the front and I thought about our story and at least they didn't almost run over someone.

You may also want to look at the POFQ ones to as they are actually connected to each other. I think you can even rent sury bikes at one of them and ride to the other.
I also have some from Castaway Cay too, keep in mind the last time I was there was 2008.
Castaway Cay

I didn't even think about the FQ pictures but I guess I need to check those out as well. If I am remembering correctly, there are bicycles for rent on Castaway Cay aren't there?

 

[mickeystoontown]

Morning all! I had hoped to get another installment posted this morning but the boss decided that today was the day he wanted to get to work early. Hopefully, I can get something posted later today. I really want to get started on my pre-trip report but feel like I need to wrap up this report before I start on it. As many pictures as I take and as "wordy" as I am, it'll probably take me forever to finish this up though.

 

[TinksThree]

I keep wanting to take advantage of the surrey bikes and have yet to do so. Again, maybe I can schedule a free day and enjoy some of the other amenities! Keith would pull something just like John did on the hill. He is such a jokester!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I keep wanting to take advantage of the surrey bikes and have yet to do so. Again, maybe I can schedule a free day and enjoy some of the other amenities! Keith would pull something just like John did on the hill. He is such a jokester!

We have the most fun on the surrey bikes. I guess I should rephrase that...we usually have the most funon the surrey bikes. This most recent ride was a bit scary at first.

John loves to play tricks or joke around with anybody and everybody. Even he was a bit worried about the lady walking in front of us though.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Tonight was one of the evenings that we were all most looking forward to. We were going to see Cirque du Soliel! This would be my family's third time to see it but it would be Mama's first and she was very excited which made us all the more excited as well.

First, though, we had a dinner ADR at The Turf Club at Saratoga Springs. Mama was almost finished getting ready so we stepped outside to take a few pictures:

Mama was ready soon after and we were off to the bus stop. I had done a little research before the trip and it seemed like most had recommended that we take a bus to any park and then a bus to SSR. We decided to take the first bus that came along and that was a DTD bus. I knew that there was a boat from DTD to SSR but I wasn't sure where the boat dock was so we decided to just get off at the Marketplace stop and then hop on a SSR bus. We waited maybe 10 minutes for the SSR bus and got on with four other guests.

I asked one of the other guests on the bus if she knew where we needed to get off at the SSR in order to be close to The Turf Club and she said (insert name of stop here) but the bus driver heard us talking and said that wasn't the closest and to not to get off until he told us to. He'd take us to the closest stop. We made the stops at the SSR and we were the last ones to get off the bus. The bus driver told us what path to take that would lead us to The Turf Club. We thanked him and set off to find the restaurant.

The Turf Club was pretty easy to find and we were soon checking in at the hostess desk. I have to say that the castmember wasn't the friendliest that we've ever encountered. She wasn't really rude or anything but she wasn't exactly nice either. She said that she'd call us when a table was ready which seems a bit odd since we could see all sorts of empty tables and there was only one other family waiting along with us.

After about 10 minutes or so, she called our name and we were shown to a table which looked out at an outdoor seating area and what we assumed was the boat dock. We kept an eye out to see if boats came and went because we intended on taking the boat back to DTD.

Waiting:

Our waitress came around and took our drink orders and gave us a few minutes to look over the menus. Again, we already had an idea of what we wanted to order because I had printed the menus before we left so we could look over them. We place our order when she brought out our drinks, a basket of bread and about 20 minutes later, our food was brought to the table. I am looking at the menu on Allearsnet and don't see the pork chop that Mama and I ordered:

John's prime rib:

Hunter's surf and turf burger which, as you can see, had the "turf" portion on the side per Hunter's request:

Lacey ordered the maple whiskey glazed salmon with a substitute side of fries:

Normally, we try to order different desserts but it looks like this time, we all ordered either the sorbet or the banana flavored dessert (which isn't on the menu any more):

We settled our bill and made our way out of the resort. While we all enjoyed our meals, it definitely wasn't our favorite meal of the trip. John's prime rib was downright bloody in the middle and had a lot of fat on it. The pork chops were a bit dry but the macaroni and cheese was delish! Hunter's burger was, well, a burger. Lacey said the salmon was good but not as good as the salmon at Coral Reef. The desserts, however, were very good especially the banana flavored dish.


**Continued in next post

 

[mickeystoontown]

We walked out of the resort and found signs that led us to the boat dock where we waited along with about a dozen other guests.

After 15 minutes or so after we got to the dock, a boat arrived:

The boat ride to DTD was a lovely one and I took a few pictures along the way over:

The boat dock at DTD is approximately in the middle of Pleasure Island which is a pretty long walk from the Cirque building. We realized that we were cutting it pretty close to show time and put a little pep in our step. When I saw a bathroom up ahead, I told them I was going to stop because I didn't want to have to take a potty break in the middle of the show. Everybody decided to stop too and then we were back to walking.

As soon as Mama saw the steps going into the Cirque theater, she said there was no way that she could climb them all. There were a couple of castmember standing nearby and John asked if there was a handicap entrance that Mama could use. They said that they could take us up in the elevator and it would take us to a point very near our section but we would have to wait just a few minutes before one of them could escort us. We said that would be fine with us if it kept Mama from having to climb all the steps.

The elevators:

The castmember said that she could take us now and used her key to open the elevator doors. She looked at our tickets to determine where to let us off and then we were on our way up. We thanked her profusely when the doors opened and then we were ushered to our seats by another super nice castmember. I could get used to that kind of treatment!

Our seats were fantastic! We were 8 rows up in Category 2 seating and almost directly in the middle. The show started and I think we all held our breath for the entirety of the show. It's absolutely fantastic! I would highly highly recommend that anyone and everyone see it at least once. To us, it's the best money we have ever spent at WDW with the exception of our park tickets.

On our way out of the theater, John found another usher who took us down the elevator so that Mama wouldn't have to tackle the steps. Again, we thanked them for their help. We all wanted to look in the store to see what they had and I think that everybody else who had seen the show was in there too. It was crowded but we squeezed our way in and looked around with the rest of the folks. I think Lacey ended up buying a magnet and I got a CD which is in my car CD player as we speak.

Outside the theater:

There was no way that we were walking all the way down to the Marketplace bus stop so we chose to go to the Pleasure Island stop instead. We passed by Planet Hollywood:

Matching their hands to those of the stars:

Can't really see these too well as they are blurry and dark:

Waiting on the bus back to the CBR:

We didn't have to wait long for a bus and we were back at the CBR in no time. As we had done almost every other night, Lacey, Hunter, John and I went to the beach and Mama went back to the room to hit the sack. Our down day had consisted of a nice lunch at the CBR food court, a wild ride on a surrey bike, a swim in the pool, an okay dinner at The Turf Club and a fantastic show at Cirque du Soliel! Life was good!

**Up next: Our last day at The World!

 

[aprilisis]

I didn't remember that you had seen Cirque before. How long is the show?
I love all of your photos from the boat ride! They are really pretty.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I've only read one other TR that included CDS so it was very interesting to read your opinion of it. The other TR I read was Jenseib's and she said she thought it was weird. So know I have one who loved it and one who didn't. Isn't that the way opinions usually go? I've been interested in going for a while but don't want to spend the money unless I am sure we will like it. Hmmm, maybe I should watch some youtube videos and see what I think. Surely someone out there has taped the show? I don't even have a clue what it is about. Is it an acrobatic show or am I way off?

Yay for nice CMs letting you use the evelvator. I know that was a lifesaver.

Sorry your meal wasn't wonderful. It's always nice to try new places, but that is the risk you take with it. We always try lots of new places on each trip and sometimes it works out and sometimes not so much. But you never know until you go. I just hate spending money on food that I don't like though.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I really want to see La Nouba, but it feels like something I would rather do with someone else rather than on a solo trip.

Sorry your dinner wasn't what you expected, but at least now you know to cross that one off your list for next time!

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

I didn't even think about the FQ pictures but I guess I need to check those out as well. If I am remembering correctly, there are bicycles for rent on Castaway Cay aren't there?

Yes thy have bike on Castaway Cay, I'm not sure if there is a charge to rent them or if they just put a deposit on your Key to the World card, no cash is accepted on the ship or on Castaway Cay only room charges. I'm not exactly sure where you can take them though mostly you see people on the old abandoned runway between the family beach and the adult beach, there is also an observation tower somewhere near the adult beach on a path of it's own.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I didn't remember that you had seen Cirque before. How long is the show?
I love all of your photos from the boat ride! They are really pretty.

If I had the money to go to Cirque every year, I would. It's that awesome! I believe the show is 90 minutes long but it sure doesn't feel like it.

I've only read one other TR that included CDS so it was very interesting to read your opinion of it. The other TR I read was Jenseib's and she said she thought it was weird. So know I have one who loved it and one who didn't. Isn't that the way opinions usually go? I've been interested in going for a while but don't want to spend the money unless I am sure we will like it. Hmmm, maybe I should watch some youtube videos and see what I think. Surely someone out there has taped the show? I don't even have a clue what it is about. Is it an acrobatic show or am I way off?

Yay for nice CMs letting you use the evelvator. I know that was a lifesaver.

Sorry your meal wasn't wonderful. It's always nice to try new places, but that is the risk you take with it. We always try lots of new places on each trip and sometimes it works out and sometimes not so much. But you never know until you go. I just hate spending money on food that I don't like though.

Yeah, Jen did think that Cirque was a little weird. It has an odd "theme" to it but I didn't even care about the theme because the performers are so good. It took us many years and many trips to Disney World before we decided to break down and spend the money to go to Cirque. To us, it's worth every penny!

I like trying new restaurants and go into the meal knowing that it is hit or miss. This year, San Angel Inn and The Turf Club were our "just okay" restaurants and Ohana was our "we gotta go back" restaurant.

I really want to see La Nouba, but it feels like something I would rather do with someone else rather than on a solo trip.

Sorry your dinner wasn't what you expected, but at least now you know to cross that one off your list for next time!

Definitely go to Cirque if you ever get the chance. I don't think you'd even notice you were going solo because the show keeps you so entranced.

Yeah, we won't be going back to The Turf Club any time soon. It wasn't bad but it wasn't fantastic either.

Yes thy have bike on Castaway Cay, I'm not sure if there is a charge to rent them or if they just put a deposit on your Key to the World card, no cash is accepted on the ship or on Castaway Cay only room charges. I'm not exactly sure where you can take them though mostly you see people on the old abandoned runway between the family beach and the adult beach, there is also an observation tower somewhere near the adult beach on a path of it's own.

I need to do a bit more research on Castaway Cay and what's available to see and do.