cruisnfamily
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2002
- Messages
- 6,218
Here is a trip report for our family's annual Disney Trip.
A little background: We are FL residents and have been to Disney many times. We used to do lots of day trips and we used to stay offsite. The new plan(as of the last 3 years) is to go once a year right after the kids get out of school (we try to beat all those northerners but it doesn't seem to work). We generally stay 3-5 days and we only stay onsite now. Our goal is to stay at all the Disney Resorts eventually. So far we've stayed at All Star Sports{the kids favorite}, Coronado Springs{my favorite} and on this most recent trip we stayed at Carribbean Beach Resort. We try to revisit our favorites each trip and find one or two new things to do each trip....this trip we did LOTS of new stuff!
The Cast:
Mom (that's me, age 37)
Dad (age 38)
Amanda(Age 10 going on 17)
Billy(Age 7-hates any rides that spin or drop)
We planned to drive up Sun 6/1 and go to Epcot, pool day on 6/2, MK on 6/3 and drive home after that. Well, as the trip got closer and Mom the planner kept trying to cram in more stuff we had to extend the trip.
Now the trip was looking like this:
Arrive Sat 5/31 mid afternoon, check in and shop at DTD
Sun 6/1 Epcot all day, Hoop Dee Doo at 7:15pm
Mon 6/2 Pool and Disney Quest followed by MK fireworks cruise
Tues 6/3 Magic Kingdom all day, Family Magic Tour, lunch at CRT, Fantasmic at 10:30pm
Wed 6/4 Character Breakfast at Cape May, drive home.
So, here we go with Day 1-Saturday 5/31/03
We left between 10:30am and 11:00am and were at The Carribbean Beach Resort by about 1pm. As we pulled up to the Custom House we were amazed by the large crowds of people apparently checking in. Dad parked with the kids while Mom ran in to get on line. The line was LONG! But, it moved very quickly and I was checking in within 15 minutes. Dad and kids came in and I asked Dad to get on the Guest Services line to see if he could turn our vouchers(bought at AAA) in for the Play 4 days passes. Turns out you can't do that at the resort, must be done at the parks, oh well, can't hurt to ask. Well, nobody's rooms were ready, as I waited in line I kept hearing CM's telling the folks to call at 3pm to get their room number. Well, when it was my turn, surprise, our room was ready. Trinidad North Bldg 31 just as requested! Hurrah! We were on the second floor, room 3153.
OK, here' my resort review. We like this place...but we didn't love it. The set up is similar to, but not the same as, Coronado Springs. For some reason CBR just didn't grab me the way Coronado Springs did. Maybe because I'm a FL Resident so the palm trees don't do an awful lot for me. One thing I did like better at CBR is that the Food Court and restaurant were in the same place as the pool, very convenient. At Coronado Springs, they're in different directions however, Coronado Springs sells food by the pool and CBR doesn't, you have to go in to the food court which was a pain if you were dripping wet. Our room was nice and I loved the bright bed spreads. It didn't seem particularly big or small-it was just the right size with 2 double beds, a table and 2 chairs. There was also a bench type of thing which had hooks above it that were really great for hanging pin lanyards, fanny packs, hats, etc. We felt like there was alot of storage space in this room....more than the average hotel room and it helped us stay organized and not trash the room. The curtain to block off the vanity area was great for early risers to start the coffee and wash up without bothering anybody. It was also a good changing area for the modest among us. The pool seemed small and crowded to me. The one at CSR is MUCH bigger. The slide here was fun but nothing special, just a plain old slide. CSR wins the pool and slide contest in my opinion.
Anyway, we had a quick lunch in the food court(Penne Pasta for Mom, Pizza for Amanda, Chicken Nuggets Bucket for Billy, and Dbl Cheeseburger for Dad) Dad also got a refillable mug. Everybody was happy with their food except Amanda...we do not recommend the pizza...we all tried it and everybody agreed with her that it was pretty lousy. She shared bits of all of ours and everybody got fed.
We took the bus to DTD and shopped for a while. Billy got a stuffed Nemo(@$10) and Amanda got Mickey Mouse eye shades($6)(you know, to block out the light while you sleep....don't ask!), Daddy the big Grumpy fan in family found a Grumpy fanny pack he had to have and our purchasing was done for the day.....Mom didn't see anything that grabbed her. We checked out the new Once Upon a Toy toystore and frankly we were unimpressed. Yes, the Mr Potato Head section was cool but for the most part, we prefer World of Disney. After browsing a bit more, it was back to CBR. We got some large(and good) Chocolate chip cookies from the food court and snacked in our room and watched TV. Lights out around 10:30 or 11pm I think.
Tomorrow is Epcot and Hoop Dee Doo!
Edited to add: We did go swimming after DTD, before the cookies. It was great to cool off! Also, the bus service was fine leaving the resort but we did have a bit of a wait coming back.
A little background: We are FL residents and have been to Disney many times. We used to do lots of day trips and we used to stay offsite. The new plan(as of the last 3 years) is to go once a year right after the kids get out of school (we try to beat all those northerners but it doesn't seem to work). We generally stay 3-5 days and we only stay onsite now. Our goal is to stay at all the Disney Resorts eventually. So far we've stayed at All Star Sports{the kids favorite}, Coronado Springs{my favorite} and on this most recent trip we stayed at Carribbean Beach Resort. We try to revisit our favorites each trip and find one or two new things to do each trip....this trip we did LOTS of new stuff!
The Cast:
Mom (that's me, age 37)
Dad (age 38)
Amanda(Age 10 going on 17)
Billy(Age 7-hates any rides that spin or drop)
We planned to drive up Sun 6/1 and go to Epcot, pool day on 6/2, MK on 6/3 and drive home after that. Well, as the trip got closer and Mom the planner kept trying to cram in more stuff we had to extend the trip.
Now the trip was looking like this:
Arrive Sat 5/31 mid afternoon, check in and shop at DTD
Sun 6/1 Epcot all day, Hoop Dee Doo at 7:15pm
Mon 6/2 Pool and Disney Quest followed by MK fireworks cruise
Tues 6/3 Magic Kingdom all day, Family Magic Tour, lunch at CRT, Fantasmic at 10:30pm
Wed 6/4 Character Breakfast at Cape May, drive home.
So, here we go with Day 1-Saturday 5/31/03
We left between 10:30am and 11:00am and were at The Carribbean Beach Resort by about 1pm. As we pulled up to the Custom House we were amazed by the large crowds of people apparently checking in. Dad parked with the kids while Mom ran in to get on line. The line was LONG! But, it moved very quickly and I was checking in within 15 minutes. Dad and kids came in and I asked Dad to get on the Guest Services line to see if he could turn our vouchers(bought at AAA) in for the Play 4 days passes. Turns out you can't do that at the resort, must be done at the parks, oh well, can't hurt to ask. Well, nobody's rooms were ready, as I waited in line I kept hearing CM's telling the folks to call at 3pm to get their room number. Well, when it was my turn, surprise, our room was ready. Trinidad North Bldg 31 just as requested! Hurrah! We were on the second floor, room 3153.
OK, here' my resort review. We like this place...but we didn't love it. The set up is similar to, but not the same as, Coronado Springs. For some reason CBR just didn't grab me the way Coronado Springs did. Maybe because I'm a FL Resident so the palm trees don't do an awful lot for me. One thing I did like better at CBR is that the Food Court and restaurant were in the same place as the pool, very convenient. At Coronado Springs, they're in different directions however, Coronado Springs sells food by the pool and CBR doesn't, you have to go in to the food court which was a pain if you were dripping wet. Our room was nice and I loved the bright bed spreads. It didn't seem particularly big or small-it was just the right size with 2 double beds, a table and 2 chairs. There was also a bench type of thing which had hooks above it that were really great for hanging pin lanyards, fanny packs, hats, etc. We felt like there was alot of storage space in this room....more than the average hotel room and it helped us stay organized and not trash the room. The curtain to block off the vanity area was great for early risers to start the coffee and wash up without bothering anybody. It was also a good changing area for the modest among us. The pool seemed small and crowded to me. The one at CSR is MUCH bigger. The slide here was fun but nothing special, just a plain old slide. CSR wins the pool and slide contest in my opinion.
Anyway, we had a quick lunch in the food court(Penne Pasta for Mom, Pizza for Amanda, Chicken Nuggets Bucket for Billy, and Dbl Cheeseburger for Dad) Dad also got a refillable mug. Everybody was happy with their food except Amanda...we do not recommend the pizza...we all tried it and everybody agreed with her that it was pretty lousy. She shared bits of all of ours and everybody got fed.
We took the bus to DTD and shopped for a while. Billy got a stuffed Nemo(@$10) and Amanda got Mickey Mouse eye shades($6)(you know, to block out the light while you sleep....don't ask!), Daddy the big Grumpy fan in family found a Grumpy fanny pack he had to have and our purchasing was done for the day.....Mom didn't see anything that grabbed her. We checked out the new Once Upon a Toy toystore and frankly we were unimpressed. Yes, the Mr Potato Head section was cool but for the most part, we prefer World of Disney. After browsing a bit more, it was back to CBR. We got some large(and good) Chocolate chip cookies from the food court and snacked in our room and watched TV. Lights out around 10:30 or 11pm I think.
Tomorrow is Epcot and Hoop Dee Doo!
Edited to add: We did go swimming after DTD, before the cookies. It was great to cool off! Also, the bus service was fine leaving the resort but we did have a bit of a wait coming back.
