Seriously...You're Going Again?! Yep!! The Final Wrap-Up!!! 12.26.13

TinksThree

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Sep 28, 2009
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Welcome to my slightly delayed Trip Report!! I have been contemplating if I would do a report on my latest trip and decided "why not"! I need a little Disney happiness and what better way than reliving a trip to Disney World!

This trip was actually over our Spring Break (March 12-16, 2013). Originally we were going to visit Williamsburg, VA and Washington DC but 2 or 3 weeks before the trip we started getting scared of cold weather and changed our minds. Yes, cold weather can scare us since we live in Mississippi and by March we are thinking shorts, flip flops and sun! Although this year March was just the beginning of our cold weather! :(

My DH actually presented the idea of changing our plans to WDW. This is HUGE! My DH was a Disney "hater" but once he went for the first time in 2010 he has slowly gotten hooked. Now, he suggests we go!

Of course, I had challenges in that this trip was 2-3 weeks out and no ADRs had been made. I got online and started playing around with our options. Soon I had all of our reservations made and rooms booked! For a last minute trip I was very satisfied with everything. I will reveal all of that in time!!:rolleyes1

For now a little background and introductions! My title is a result of the reactions we get when people hear we are going to Disney "again". We have been once a year since 2009 and last year I was lucky enough to get in 4 trips! But those trips have resulted in eye-rolling comments which I found myself apologizing for going again. Eventually, over time, I am getting out of the apology stage. Yes, we love going and it is different every single trip! What does it matter if it makes us happy...right!?

So, just who went along on this excursion?

First there was our DD17, Madison:



Madison will be a senior this coming year and yes I am in denial. :sad: She loves going to Disney as much as I do. I am trying to train her right!! She is a girly-girl who isn't afraid to get dirty and has a little bit of "country" in her.

Next is our DS19, Chris:



This was what we expected to possibly be the last trip Chris would get to take with us for a while. His plans were to join the military full-time. It still may be the last trip for little while, but his plans have been adjusted to Army National Guard and college. He leaves for basic training in September...more denial on my part! :sad: Although sad he will be leaving for a while we are super proud of him!

These pictures are from the kids prom this past March...and here they are together!



My DH, Keith, retired from the Air Force and he says I married him for the benefits and discounts. This isn't true but they certainly are great perks!! We would not go to Disney as often if it weren't for those great discounts!! As I said before, Keith was a Disney "hater" until I forced him to see the light! He may not love it as much as me but at least he "gets" it a little bit now ! He loves Epcot and Hollywood Studios. The Streetmosphere acts are one of his favorite things to see!

And then there is me, Tisa. This trip makes number 10 over my lifetime and it still hasn't gotten old. We always try to add new things into every trip. And there are still things we haven't done! That is one reason I love going back!

Here we are:



As a family, we love dining at the table service restaurants so ADRs and the choices we make are huge! This trip was more budget minded but we were pretty happy overall. We all love Epcot and Hollywood Studios. The kids and I love Magic Kingdom but Keith...well,not so much. And I adore Animal Kingdom but aside from a few attractions, the rest of the family could skip this park.

Port Orleans is our favorite resort so far. We have pretty much determined values are not for us. And, we have yet to try a deluxe although I hope to get there one day! This trip, though,was not at POR or POFQ but a new resort for us: Caribbean Beach Resort. The next post will be pretty detailed on my review of CBR!!

So that is us and the beginning of our Spring Break trip! I hope you will join me as I take a journey down memory lane!
 
So excited to see you have another TR :)

I'm definitely following along.

What an amazing picture of your kids from prom. I love Madison's dress :goodvibes
 

Joining in. I've read some of your previous reports in the past, so I'm looking forward to a new one. :goodvibes
 
Shazaammm!! I had given up hope that you'd do a trip report from your March trip. Very excited to follow along on your latest Disney journey!! Madison and Chris clean up really well! Beautiful pics of both of them!
 
Following along. :)

Welcome!! :goodvibes

So excited to see you have another TR :)

I'm definitely following along.

What an amazing picture of your kids from prom. I love Madison's dress :goodvibes

So glad to have you along! Thanks on the pictures! That dress was very "Madison"! :goodvibes

I'm here! Great intro and pics!

Thank you!! And glad you found the TR!! :yay:

Joining in. I've read some of your previous reports in the past, so I'm looking forward to a new one. :goodvibes

So glad to have you following along!! :goodvibes

Shazaammm!! I had given up hope that you'd do a trip report from your March trip. Very excited to follow along on your latest Disney journey!! Madison and Chris clean up really well! Beautiful pics of both of them!

I did wait a lot longer than normal! I kept thinking I will start it tonight and before I knew it 4 months had passed! :guilty: I am glad to have you joining in again!! I think they clean up pretty nice too...but I am partial!

Following along!

Welcome!! Glad to have you join me! :goodvibes
 
This is one seriously long post! Don't think they will all be like this one!! :crazy2:

I will begin with the driving and arriving!!

We live 11-12 hours from Orlando and driving down has always been our mode of travel. Every time we consider flying, I price the ticket prices and realize that we could almost cover half of another trip for the cost of the four of us flying. :scared1: So we drive! We don't mind driving though so it isn't pure torture!

Keith had to work on Monday, so I rested and got everything ready to go. Chris grilled some burgers and we ate before hitting the road. This really worked perfectly since it saved money plus it was very easy clean up! We were on the road by 6 pm!

The trip down was fine except for rain from a cold front. The cold front made the week in Orlando pretty cool! We had planned on driving until we needed to rest and find a hotel. We managed to take turns resting and not needing to locate a hotel. Finally we were pulling into Orlando and making our way to Caribbean Beach! We decided we would check-in and if there wasn't a room available, we would just hang out at the pool.

Well ,we arrived and were so fortunate! There was a room available! Of course it meant an "upgrade" to a pirate room and although we didn't have little ones, I grabbed it because a warm shower and a nap was sounding very, very good!!!

We get in our room, unpack and rest for a few minutes before deciding breakfast was needed. Keith also realized he had forgotten his swimsuit! So we also went in search of a Walmart. Keith somehow forgets his swimsuit on every trip and now has gotten 3 new swimsuits in the last year! First, though, we head over to Shades of Green to pick up our tickets!!! I am also very thankful that today they announced the military deals are extended another year. As I have stated, we go way more than I could dream thanks to those discounts!!

We very easily find a Walmart and get the swimsuit. Then we set off for breakfast at Denny's. Delirious...Madison and I snap a few selfies:





While Chris and Keith do this:



We are so exciting!! :rolleyes2

There was a lady wandering around making balloon characters so Madison got in on the action and got a penguin:



Breakfast is just typical but filling and good! Soon we are heading back to the resort but unfortunately that rain had caught up with us!

This time I am not driving so I am able to get a picture of this beautiful site!!



And then we finally arrive back at Caribbean Beach!!





Once back to the room, we sleep for a bit since it is raining&hard! And then we go for a swim. We walk to the main pool and I will get to all of that very shortly! The swim was great and energizing! It was slightly chilly since the cold front was moving through and it had been raining the majority of the day. But it was fun nonetheless!!

Touring Caribbean Beach Resort!!

I am going to do a general resort review here which will include almost all of my pictures from each walk we took. So you will see some cloudy and few not so cloudy pictures&dont be confused!:)

This was our first time to stay at CBR. The resorts we have stayed at include 2009: All-Star Sports (just me and the kids). All-Star Sports was fine but overall&eh! In 2010 I was going to book POP Century but when I realized the discount on a mod wouldnt be much more than POP plus the fact that I felt Keith would like the amenities much more. So I changed us to Port Orleans Riverside. And boy was I right! The second we stepped out of the car, he was impressed! That same trip Keith decided we try and extend our Orlando stay rather than going to St. Augustine. POR was booked so we moved to Coronado Springs. CSR is huge!! And in June, it is hot!!! But we really enjoyed it a lot!! The pool is fantastic and the food court was pretty great!

In 2011, we stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter and really, really loved it! It is so compact and peaceful. We also love the boat to Downtown Disney. We didnt like the New Orleans cuisine so much. We go to New Orleans a lot and I grew up not far from Cajun country so initially I thought I wouldnt like Port Orleans due to the likeness. Port Orleans is like home but we just love the laid back feel. The food&well not so much love there! :snooty: But I am only being a New Orleans food snob!

In 2012, we found ourselves back at POFQ in July. In October, Keith and I stayed at POP Century since I was trying to save some money for Food and Wine&that was not a popular choice with Keith and we probably will not do a value again unless it is a huge money saving issue. (I also stayed at All-Star Music during a work trip in December which pretty much firmed up the opinion on the values!)

One night during the October trip, our bus went through CBR and Keith asked why we never stay there. So when I started making reservations in March, I went with Caribbean Beach! Sorry that was so wordy for a background story!

When we arrived at CBR, the person that checked us in was so great! I forgot his name but it was something like Fabio. He was helpful and cheerful for 7:30 in the morning!! Then driving to our room we realized that this resort is massive!!! And the great part of our room being ready was diminished when we realized it was in Siberia&.oh, okay, South Trinidad. :scared: Our room was at just about the furthest point from Port Royale and the pool as it could possibly be! As a result we only ate at the food court once. We drove that one time. We walked to the main pool the first day and it took 15 minutes. We tried riding the resort bus&that isnt much better time wise. We could get to a park in the time it took us to get to Port Royale. Thus, we ate in the food court once and swam in the main pool twice. The commute was just way, way too much!!

Our view from the doorway:








Our door:





Well, saying all of that, that was the cons of CBR-except for the bed size. So I highly recommend paying the extra money for the preferred rooms! And, maybe we are just spoiled by Port Orleans being compact and within 7 minutes we could be from the furthest point to the front bus stop. Regardless, the size kept us (I feel) from really enjoying a lot of CBRs aspects.

The rooms: We had a pirate room and it was very cute!! The floor even looked like wood planks!! The beds were tight though being they are doubles. Maybe the renovations will include adding queens! PO and CSR had queens and that was a huge plus! The rooms were clean and very quiet. Most of the time we felt we were the only ones there!!

This always makes me smile! Love seeing the Mickey head on the bed when I enter the room!!





The beds...



Just like a "real" pirate ship!!









Continued in the following post on Page 2...
 
The plank floors:



The chest of drawers:





The Fridge:





The shower/bathroom:













The pool: We loved the pool! It was wonderful! I only wish it had been closer. We did use the quiet pool and that was nice for a quick swim.



























Continued in the following post..
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Port Royale: The Food Court is very neat and colorful! I really hate we couldn’t utilize this more! The food we ate was great! Had I purchased a refillable mug, I would have been MAD since it would have been a chore to get refills!!

The store is very nice and I really liked the selections they had! I forgot that our final night Madison and I jumped off to pick up a package and shopped one last time…amazing what you remember when you do a TR!!















The resort in general: The landscaping is beautiful and everything is so colorful. It is a cheerful resort and (as you would expect at Disney) clean! The buses were pretty much on schedule and rarely did we have to wait long.













The beach just down from our building:



The different villages:





Continued in the following post...
 


Photobomber: This becomes a theme...a contagious theme! :laughing:





Walking from South Trinidad to Port Royale:









Around Caribbean Cay and the Main Pool:

































Overall: We were disappointed that we were so remotely removed from everything. But would we stay here again? Because isn’t that the real determining factor? Yes, we would but we would definitely pay extra for a preferred room. Port Orleans is still our favorite mod but we would definitely return to CBR!!

Up next: We have driven all night, napped, swam and toured the resort…what does the night hold for us?
 
I'm reading! And AOA is a good value... It doesn't even seem like a value... Just saying!
 
I'm reading! And AOA is a good value... It doesn't even seem like a value... Just saying!

Welcome!!:goodvibes I walked around the Cars section and really liked it! I would definitely give AOA a try. :thumbsup2 I would even go back to POP but Keith is not a fan so it would be a trip without him along! All-Stars I have no desire to return to though!
 















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