Impatient Disney Fan
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Sep 22, 1999
- Messages
- 11
Cast of Characters:
Faith - Me! Celebrating my 29th bday this trip
3rd trip to the world!
Alex - 8 yr old DS. 2nd trip to the world!
Room companions/occasional park touring companions
Cathy - Fellow Hoosier , 3rd trip
Stephanie - her 13 yr old daughter, 3rd trip
Spending 8 wonderful nights at CSR!
Day One: Impressions of CSR; Disney Quest
When I left you, we had just arrived at CSR!
It was a gorgeous day out!! We had come from yucky northern Indiana weather (it actually snowed the day before we left!), so it was so great to feel the warm air!
When we walked in to El Centro, I was in awe! The fountain is gorgeous, but it wasn't just that! It was seeing the resort laid out behind the fountain (through the windows), looking up at the ceiling and see the beauty there. Everything looked fresh and new! We had truley arrived at Disney World. Cathy went to check us in (no line!) while the kids (I should probably say kid and teen ) and I looked around the gift shop and then walked down to the Pepper Market. I liked the way check-in/guest services was right there...at CBR it was a totaly separate building, and very out of the way. I enjoyed coming to El Centro and seeing the new people checking in .
Anyway, before we got to the Pepper Market, we had to step outside! We walked out and it was just so lovely! So quiet and peaceful! I was concerned that this resort would not be as relaxing as CBR (coloring), but I was so wrong! We headed to the Pepper Market and we got "To Go" slips (we planned to eat outside) and went to find something to eat. I found the "Food court" to be pricey. We got our refillable mugs, and I went to fill them up. The drink station seemed small and I don't think there were as many choices as there are at CBR. I definately think CBR wins over CSR for food court and drink options (although I like CSR's mugs better). But that's just my opinion.
As we were getting ready to head outside, Cathy met up with us and announced our room was READY!! YEAH!! We got Cabanas 8B, 1st floor, facing the lake (lagoon?? whatever!)...all our request were met.
Now let me add something here...we originally were going to request the Cabanas building closest to El Centro (9B I think). But when we looked at the map, it appeared that the bus stop was a bit of a walk from the building. I knew that being close to a bus stop would be VERY important, so we went with 8B as our first choice. We got off at bus stop 1 a few times, and found that the map did not really give an accurate picture of distance. I am glad, though, that we went with 8B becuase we spent more time at the pool than El Centro.
We ate our food overlooking the lake. It was very peaceful and especially nice because we knew we didn't have to get in the car for many days. Well except to get to our room!
We drove over to our room (opted not to have a bellman help) and unloaded the car. The room was very nice! The colors didn't seem as bright as the pictures I had seen. I really liked the soft colors of CBR, so I was concerned the brighter colors would not be as nice. I can not say that I liked the room at CSR better than CBR. First off...The sink area is bigger at CBR. We could have used the extra space on this trip! I did like the hair dryer being there (I don't think CBR had this). I felt the carpet looked newer at CSR. I like the bench CBR has and I prefer the table style at CBR. I also like the dresser/tv center thingie at CBR better. There were more drawers and I liked the style better. One thing that drove me nuts at night was the ceiling fan!! It made a knocking noise or something that irritated the heck out of me! I like the air circulating, but the knocking...UGH. So I ended up turning it off every night.
Alex and I pretty much dropped our luggage and headed to the bus stop. When I asked him what he wanted to do his first day at Disney, he replied "go to Typhoon lagoon!" Well that was planned for another day, so his second choice was "Disney Quest!" We went to the bus stop and the bus arrived soon after. We got on the bus and I gave a friendly "hello" to the bus driver. He barely acknowledge me! Not going to spoil my day though. The nice thing about CSR is that there is a bus to Boardwalk. The bus we were on went to Boardwalk and then to DownTown Disney. When we arrived at Boardwalk, I noticed the driver did not announce where we were. (It was obviouse since there is this big sign that says "BOARDWALK", but I still expected an announcement). When we went last June, we only went to DownTown Disney Marketplace, so I didn't realize there were three stops for DtD. So after we stopped at Marketplace (again, no announcement), I assumed the next stop was ours. The bus stopped and Alex and I got off, I realized my mistake a few minutes later. By that time the bus was gone. I probably could have jumped on another bus to get to the next stop, but I didn't think it was that much of a walk (boy was I wrong!). I felt that the driver was partly at fault here...he should have announced the stops. Every other driver we had announced the stops we would be making and as we approached each, told us where we were. Maybe he was having an off day!
So we walked, and walked and walked and walked...and finally got to Disney Quest. I purchased our tickets (I think it was $60 for both with tax). I did clarify that Plus features could not be used (just to make sure nothing had changed in the last 48 hours LOL).
We entered the elevator and went to Disney Quest. The layout was a little confusing at first...but we figured it out pretty quickly. The place seemed pretty busy, and I was concerned about spending all afternoon waiting in line! I had not really read much about DQ and was kicking myself for it!
We headed to the first floor and saw the line for the Virtual Jungle Cruise was short. So that was our first "ride". (In June our first ride was the real Jungle Cruise ) It was SOOOO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!! You get in to these rafts and there's a giant screen in front of you, the oars have sensors on them and you go, stop and turn depending on how you move the oars. The raft moves around like you are really on the water and you even get little sprays of water sometimes! The ride was a blast!!!! We got in line for the Pirate ride...it was horribly long and did not seem to be moving. Alex was a bit hesitant because it looked a bit dark (he's not too hip on the real POC), so we left the line and tried to get a spot to do the Inca Treasure thing. It was pretty busy around there too...so I suggested we come back to it later.
We headed up to the 3rd floor and got in line for the Mighty-Duck pinball game. This didnt' look too thrilling to me, so I let Alex do this alone. He thought it was fun. I noticed they had some star wars games off to the side, so Alex got in line to play the Pod Racing game. It's cool because all the arcade games are included in the admission (with exception of games you get the tickets from...we skipped these...can do that at home!). After Alex finished his race, we went over to the Buzz ride. This is a pretty cool twist on bumper cars. Your inside these "cars" and you have to run over balls, which you then shoot out at other cars. If you hit certain spots, the car will go into a spin! We had fun UNTIL our car got stuck! We could not get out!! I was a bit irritated because we were not even offered another ride. Oh well...We were getting hungry, so we went to find some food. We hit the 4th floor food area and found it was the "snack" area. We headed up to the 5th floor and got something to eat. I thought the food was pricey at first...but they prepare it on the spot and the portions are pretty big!I had a chicken sandwich and Alex had a foot long hotdog, we split some nachos and cheese.
After eating, we went to Ride the Comix (no line). This is one of those VR games with the helmets. It was funny watching people, because all the "bad guys" are kind of down low, so you look like your golfing or something!
We headed back to the arcade area and played a few games...unfortunately my fave game, Tempest, was being hogged by two older gentlemen
. Although, if I had a chance to play Tempest for free...I would probably have spent all afternoon there LOL! Alex was ready to do a Rollercoaster, so we went to design one with Bill Nye. At first he was talking about doing all these twists, turns, spins, jumps, etc...but once we started to design it, he made it pretty tame (2 out of 5 consider it scarey). Since it was tame, I decided to ride it with him. The line for this was quite long, but Alex started talking with a boy behind us and they enjoyed discussing their favorite rides and how they designed their coasters! It was our turn and I was concerned about fitting my "Pooh-sized" rear end in to the seat, but I didn't have a problem at all! The coaster was very tame, but lots of fun! I would have loved to go back and design a few more, but the line was just WAY too long!
We got in line for Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride (another VR thing with the helmet). We were in line behind the same kids we were behind at the RC ride. I started chatting with them, and found out that they were with a group that had come to DQ for the day. I believe they were 5th and 7th graders from a nearby private school. They were fun to talk with. The Carpet Ride was ok, but I was not overly pleased with the Cast Member's running it. They were a bit rude and when your ride was done, literally just came up and grabbed the helmet off your head without a word!
We had pretty much covered everything but the Alien ride (no way!), the Pirates ride (Alex was still not interested), and the Inca maze. We headed down to the Maze and there were several stations open. Alex was doing pretty well without me guiding him, but I still enjoyed watching his truck go (this is really cool!). No one was waiting so he went a second time...he was traveling around, when all of a sudden he was blocked by something. There was another truck hitting him repeatedly! He couldn't get out of the way either, because everytime he moved, this truck would hit him. I went to get the number and the guy (maybe mid teens) was three stations down from us. All of a sudden he yells out to us to get out of his way! So I yelled back that if he stopped ramming us, we would get out of his way! He DIDN'T STOP!!!! So I told Alex to just walk away. I'm not sure what this guys problem was...but the whole thing was pretty ridiculous!!
Alex was ready to leave DQ and so we headed out. We walked over to the Marketplace and shopped around the Lego Store. He found a pretty cool Mission to Mars Lego set and bought it (with his money). We then headed back to the resort so we could check out the pool.
One thing Disney did really well at CSR is the pool!!! If you've never seen it, you should search out some sites and take a look...it's really cool!! It's suposed to be an ancient pyramid, and the water cascades down the "steps". There's also a water slide to the right and a sandy play area to the left. As well as a baby pool and a very large hot tub! My one complaint about this area is that everything closes too early (I think around 8pm)! I would have enjoyed coming back from the parks and getting a margarita (without walking all the way back to El Centro) or refilling my mug. There were so many people around most evenings, I'm surprised they do not keep the bar open later! I also noticed that the pool was NOT heated and the hot tub was not very hot! These things did not spoil our good time though.
Alex had a great time at the pool and didn't want to leave! I persuaded him that he would enjoy Animal Kingdom much better if he was well rested. We headed back to our room and both fell asleep rather quickly!
Our first day at Disney was a fun one! I would probably not do Disney Quest again down there (we do have one nearby in Chicago). It was fun...but not so much fun that I'm wanting to go back! There's so much more to do at Disney than spend all afternoon indoors!!!
Coming up next..."yes, you really DO get soaked on Kali River Rapids!!!" and a Fantasmic! evening.
Faith
May 1992 FW Home
June 2000 CBR
April 2001 CSR
DisneyLand Summer 2002
Faith - Me! Celebrating my 29th bday this trip
3rd trip to the world!Alex - 8 yr old DS. 2nd trip to the world!
Room companions/occasional park touring companions
Cathy - Fellow Hoosier
, 3rd tripStephanie - her 13 yr old daughter, 3rd trip
Spending 8 wonderful nights at CSR!
Day One: Impressions of CSR; Disney Quest
When I left you, we had just arrived at CSR!
It was a gorgeous day out!! We had come from yucky northern Indiana weather (it actually snowed the day before we left!), so it was so great to feel the warm air!When we walked in to El Centro, I was in awe! The fountain is gorgeous, but it wasn't just that! It was seeing the resort laid out behind the fountain (through the windows), looking up at the ceiling and see the beauty there. Everything looked fresh and new! We had truley arrived at Disney World
. Cathy went to check us in (no line!) while the kids (I should probably say kid and teen ) and I looked around the gift shop and then walked down to the Pepper Market. I liked the way check-in/guest services was right there...at CBR it was a totaly separate building, and very out of the way. I enjoyed coming to El Centro and seeing the new people checking in . Anyway, before we got to the Pepper Market, we had to step outside! We walked out and it was just so lovely! So quiet and peaceful! I was concerned that this resort would not be as relaxing as CBR (coloring), but I was so wrong! We headed to the Pepper Market and we got "To Go" slips (we planned to eat outside) and went to find something to eat. I found the "Food court" to be pricey. We got our refillable mugs, and I went to fill them up. The drink station seemed small and I don't think there were as many choices as there are at CBR. I definately think CBR wins over CSR for food court and drink options (although I like CSR's mugs better). But that's just my opinion
.As we were getting ready to head outside, Cathy met up with us and announced our room was READY!! YEAH!! We got Cabanas 8B, 1st floor, facing the lake (lagoon?? whatever!)...all our request were met.
Now let me add something here...we originally were going to request the Cabanas building closest to El Centro (9B I think). But when we looked at the map, it appeared that the bus stop was a bit of a walk from the building. I knew that being close to a bus stop would be VERY important, so we went with 8B as our first choice. We got off at bus stop 1 a few times, and found that the map did not really give an accurate picture of distance. I am glad, though, that we went with 8B becuase we spent more time at the pool than El Centro.
We ate our food overlooking the lake. It was very peaceful and especially nice because we knew we didn't have to get in the car for many days
. Well except to get to our room!We drove over to our room (opted not to have a bellman help) and unloaded the car. The room was very nice! The colors didn't seem as bright as the pictures I had seen. I really liked the soft colors of CBR, so I was concerned the brighter colors would not be as nice. I can not say that I liked the room at CSR better than CBR. First off...The sink area is bigger at CBR. We could have used the extra space on this trip! I did like the hair dryer being there (I don't think CBR had this). I felt the carpet looked newer at CSR. I like the bench CBR has and I prefer the table style at CBR. I also like the dresser/tv center thingie at CBR better. There were more drawers and I liked the style better. One thing that drove me nuts at night was the ceiling fan!! It made a knocking noise or something that irritated the heck out of me! I like the air circulating, but the knocking...UGH. So I ended up turning it off every night.
Alex and I pretty much dropped our luggage and headed to the bus stop. When I asked him what he wanted to do his first day at Disney, he replied "go to Typhoon lagoon!" Well that was planned for another day, so his second choice was "Disney Quest!" We went to the bus stop and the bus arrived soon after. We got on the bus and I gave a friendly "hello" to the bus driver. He barely acknowledge me! Not going to spoil my day though
. The nice thing about CSR is that there is a bus to Boardwalk. The bus we were on went to Boardwalk and then to DownTown Disney. When we arrived at Boardwalk, I noticed the driver did not announce where we were. (It was obviouse since there is this big sign that says "BOARDWALK", but I still expected an announcement). When we went last June, we only went to DownTown Disney Marketplace, so I didn't realize there were three stops for DtD. So after we stopped at Marketplace (again, no announcement), I assumed the next stop was ours. The bus stopped and Alex and I got off, I realized my mistake a few minutes later. By that time the bus was gone. I probably could have jumped on another bus to get to the next stop, but I didn't think it was that much of a walk (boy was I wrong!). I felt that the driver was partly at fault here...he should have announced the stops. Every other driver we had announced the stops we would be making and as we approached each, told us where we were. Maybe he was having an off day!So we walked, and walked and walked and walked...and finally got to Disney Quest
. I purchased our tickets (I think it was $60 for both with tax). I did clarify that Plus features could not be used (just to make sure nothing had changed in the last 48 hours LOL). We entered the elevator and went to Disney Quest
. The layout was a little confusing at first...but we figured it out pretty quickly. The place seemed pretty busy, and I was concerned about spending all afternoon waiting in line! I had not really read much about DQ and was kicking myself for it!We headed to the first floor and saw the line for the Virtual Jungle Cruise was short. So that was our first "ride". (In June our first ride was the real Jungle Cruise
) It was SOOOO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!! You get in to these rafts and there's a giant screen in front of you, the oars have sensors on them and you go, stop and turn depending on how you move the oars. The raft moves around like you are really on the water and you even get little sprays of water sometimes! The ride was a blast!!!! We got in line for the Pirate ride...it was horribly long and did not seem to be moving. Alex was a bit hesitant because it looked a bit dark (he's not too hip on the real POC), so we left the line and tried to get a spot to do the Inca Treasure thing. It was pretty busy around there too...so I suggested we come back to it later. We headed up to the 3rd floor and got in line for the Mighty-Duck pinball game. This didnt' look too thrilling to me, so I let Alex do this alone. He thought it was fun. I noticed they had some star wars games off to the side, so Alex got in line to play the Pod Racing game. It's cool because all the arcade games are included in the admission (with exception of games you get the tickets from...we skipped these...can do that at home!). After Alex finished his race, we went over to the Buzz ride. This is a pretty cool twist on bumper cars. Your inside these "cars" and you have to run over balls, which you then shoot out at other cars. If you hit certain spots, the car will go into a spin! We had fun UNTIL our car got stuck! We could not get out!! I was a bit irritated because we were not even offered another ride. Oh well...We were getting hungry, so we went to find some food. We hit the 4th floor food area and found it was the "snack" area. We headed up to the 5th floor and got something to eat. I thought the food was pricey at first...but they prepare it on the spot and the portions are pretty big!I had a chicken sandwich and Alex had a foot long hotdog, we split some nachos and cheese.
After eating, we went to Ride the Comix (no line). This is one of those VR games with the helmets. It was funny watching people, because all the "bad guys" are kind of down low, so you look like your golfing or something!
We headed back to the arcade area and played a few games...unfortunately my fave game, Tempest, was being hogged by two older gentlemen
. Although, if I had a chance to play Tempest for free...I would probably have spent all afternoon there LOL! Alex was ready to do a Rollercoaster, so we went to design one with Bill Nye. At first he was talking about doing all these twists, turns, spins, jumps, etc...but once we started to design it, he made it pretty tame (2 out of 5 consider it scarey). Since it was tame, I decided to ride it with him. The line for this was quite long, but Alex started talking with a boy behind us and they enjoyed discussing their favorite rides and how they designed their coasters! It was our turn and I was concerned about fitting my "Pooh-sized" rear end in to the seat, but I didn't have a problem at all! The coaster was very tame, but lots of fun! I would have loved to go back and design a few more, but the line was just WAY too long!We got in line for Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride (another VR thing with the helmet). We were in line behind the same kids we were behind at the RC ride. I started chatting with them, and found out that they were with a group that had come to DQ for the day. I believe they were 5th and 7th graders from a nearby private school. They were fun to talk with. The Carpet Ride was ok, but I was not overly pleased with the Cast Member's running it. They were a bit rude and when your ride was done, literally just came up and grabbed the helmet off your head without a word!
We had pretty much covered everything but the Alien ride (no way!), the Pirates ride (Alex was still not interested), and the Inca maze. We headed down to the Maze and there were several stations open. Alex was doing pretty well without me guiding him, but I still enjoyed watching his truck go (this is really cool!). No one was waiting so he went a second time...he was traveling around, when all of a sudden he was blocked by something. There was another truck hitting him repeatedly! He couldn't get out of the way either, because everytime he moved, this truck would hit him. I went to get the number and the guy (maybe mid teens) was three stations down from us. All of a sudden he yells out to us to get out of his way! So I yelled back that if he stopped ramming us, we would get out of his way! He DIDN'T STOP!!!! So I told Alex to just walk away. I'm not sure what this guys problem was...but the whole thing was pretty ridiculous!!
Alex was ready to leave DQ and so we headed out. We walked over to the Marketplace and shopped around the Lego Store. He found a pretty cool Mission to Mars Lego set and bought it (with his money). We then headed back to the resort so we could check out the pool.
One thing Disney did really well at CSR is the pool!!! If you've never seen it, you should search out some sites and take a look...it's really cool!! It's suposed to be an ancient pyramid, and the water cascades down the "steps". There's also a water slide to the right and a sandy play area to the left. As well as a baby pool and a very large hot tub! My one complaint about this area is that everything closes too early (I think around 8pm)! I would have enjoyed coming back from the parks and getting a margarita (without walking all the way back to El Centro) or refilling my mug. There were so many people around most evenings, I'm surprised they do not keep the bar open later! I also noticed that the pool was NOT heated and the hot tub was not very hot! These things did not spoil our good time though.
Alex had a great time at the pool and didn't want to leave! I persuaded him that he would enjoy Animal Kingdom much better if he was well rested
. We headed back to our room and both fell asleep rather quickly!Our first day at Disney was a fun one! I would probably not do Disney Quest again down there (we do have one nearby in Chicago). It was fun...but not so much fun that I'm wanting to go back! There's so much more to do at Disney than spend all afternoon indoors!!!
Coming up next..."yes, you really DO get soaked on Kali River Rapids!!!" and a Fantasmic! evening.
Faith
May 1992 FW Home
June 2000 CBR
April 2001 CSR
DisneyLand Summer 2002
