I apologise in advance that there are no pictures in this section; you will see that during this time, I was in no mood to pick up the camera, unless of course it was to use it as a weapon
Day 5, Part 1
We awoke at the Caribbean Beach Resort for the last time. Our 3 nights here had been wonderful. This resort had a beauty that I think sometimes goes unnoticed. Although we hadnt looked around here as much as we should have, the parts we had seen were gorgeous. Steven and I had taken a stroll alone, along the beach when we came back from Le Cellier. We ended up curled up on the hammock, talking about the vacation so far and the vacation yet to come. Looking out towards the moonlit sky, it was so peaceful. To be honest I think we fell asleep there for 30 minutes or so, the gentle rocking of the hammock, the ripple of the water and the sweet Caribbean air all had sleep inducing qualities.
I found that Mousekeeping was great; they always provided everything I needed, the room was always clean, they stocked up the coffee with more than required and bothered to make us 2 towel animals for our 3 night stay. Sorry, I didnt take a pic of this last little guy; he was made to hold the pen! So, I have no complaints with Mousekeeping
.
I didnt get the chance to try Old Port Royale and I definitely should have as I heard they did decent breakfasts. Shutters was very disappointing and I definitely would not eat here again, it really was a waste of a TS credit.
We did not try out the pool, but from what I had seen it looked beautiful. The main pool looked like it would always be busy but the advantage of this resort is that it had a pool for each section, e.g staying in Aruba, we had our own pool, Barbados had their own pool, etc, etc.
The staff at CBR are friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and seem to go out of their way to make you feel at home. Every time I passed a staff member while at CBR, I was always greeted with a smile and a hello, these little things are called the extra Disney touch, it may not be much but its always appreciated.
The grounds of CBR are outstanding, there are loads of hidden walkways, romantic settings, lush foliage, and it seems to go on forever.
I would easily recommend this resort to anyone. Even if you choose not to walk around the resort, you can catch this handy resort bus that takes you from area to area. I never utilised this service as I found the grounds so enticing, I WANTED to walk through them.
It was disappointing to be leaving here but I was excited to move on to Port Orleans French Quarter
I had decided several months ago to change my booking and split my CBR stay, 3 nights here and 4 nights at POFQ. Originally Steven wanted to stay at Port Orleans but I had decided to book CBR as it looked more my thing. I felt guilty about doing this and after looking into POFQ and getting glowing recommendations from Emily and Tiffany, I decided to go for it.
I wanted to surprise Steven with this on the day of the move, but when we arrived at CBR, the surprise was ruined as he overheard the conversation I had with the receptionist.
It didnt matter really; I just really wanted to surprise him.
So, it was nearing 8am and I was almost ready. I had suggested we all be ready for 8.30am, as I wanted to move over to POFQ as early as possible. We were going to taxi across, with our luggage, as I didnt want Disney to move and possibly lose my luggage. It was the day before the wedding and I wasnt taking any chances.
We left our room for the last time at 8.25am and with our suitcases we walked slowly to Custom House. We had Express Check-Out, which was great so as soon as we arrived we asked the Bell Boy for a taxi to POFQ. One was hailed and by 8.40am we were on our way.
We pulled up at POFQ at 8.50am, grabbed our luggage and paid the taxi driver $10, our fare was $5. We entered the lobby area and saw a beautiful fountain, we turned right to get to the check-in area and I got my documents ready. We all went up to the check in desk and I told mom to look out her vouchers.
She stared at me blankly and asked, What vouchers?
I showed her mine.
But they are in my suitcase
I told you to keep them on you as you would need them to check in.
I cant remember you saying that.
Of course I did, I told you this morning.
Well I cant remember.
I started to get annoyed and Steven said she would definitely need them, like I didnt know that!
I tell mom to go over to the seating area, open her suitcase and find her vouchers.
She sighs but goes back to get them.
Steven and I make our way up to the receptionist as we are called straight away.
She confirms our check in and check out dates, which are correct; we were due to check out on August 23rd to move to The Grand Floridian! She looks through our reservation and tells us our room isnt ready yet, but they will try their best to hurry it along. No problem.
I ask her to confirm that my reservation had the
Disney Dining Plan attached; she looks confused and states that there is no Dining Plan at all, on either my moms or ours.
I show her my voucher, which clearly states that we have Dining Plan for 15 days, and she agrees that it does say that, but as a
Travel Agent in the UK booked it, there isnt anything she can change.
I show her my cards from CBR that show we have Dining Plan; I ask her if we can use these until the 23rd. She says that our Dining Plan credits will expire midnight of that night, even though our old cards show the 23rd the computer knows that we have checked out of CBR, and will automatically reset our dining credits.
I ask her to check my GF reservation to make sure there is dining attached. She confirms that there is dining on that reservation, but that is because it is over 5 nights. HUH?
She explains to me that Disney Dining only works if you stay in one Disney resort for 5 days or more. As I only stayed in CBR for 3 nights and would be at POFQ for 4 nights, we wouldnt be entitled to the Disney Dining. Really?
This had never been explained to me in the UK and I was fuming. I had specifically asked this very question to my Travel Agent a couple of months before I left the UK. I thought that my dining might expire every time I check out of a hotel. My TA confirmed this WASNT the case and the way that my reservation was linked, this wouldnt happen. I would have 15 days continuous dining.
They were obviously wrong. They had also never shared with me that I had to stay at one Disney resort for 5 days or more for the Dining to work. Apparently the reason I managed to get dining at CBR was because my cards were printed accidentally with a 7-night stay, as this is what had originally been booked. The computer knew we were only staying 3 nights but doesnt communicate this with the card. Our CBR room keys had 7 nights of dining on them, but as we had checked out of CBR, they would vanish by midnight tonight. I was starting to feel like a real Cinderella!
She advises me that until this problem is solved she cannot issue us our room. Unless of course we want to pay for our dining for the 4 nights we are here, keep the receipts and get reimbursed by our TA upon our return home.
NO WAY, I was not happy with this, as there was no guarantee that they would give us our money back.
I had reservations totalling approximately $700 over the next 4 nights; I couldnt see my TA stepping up to pay these charges.
I tell the receptionist, today is the day before our wedding, I know its not her fault but isnt there something they can do? I cant be this stressed the day before my wedding and I need access to my room to make phone calls to all my vendors.
She suggests I call my TA in the UK to try and get this sorted; she apologises profusely and says she would be really mad if this happened the day before her wedding.
She says that she can give me my moms room only, her room is ready and if we do get it sorted she can issue her a new card for the room.
We tell mom we have her room and we need to make a few phone calls once we get there. Steven gives her the low down as we walk and I follow with heavy feet.
Mom is in building 5 on the second floor, she gets a beautiful view of the courtyard and a corner view of the river. Although I can see this place is beautiful, I cant really take any of it in; I am so worried about the dining. I start thinking of all my reservations over the next 4 nights that I so dont want to cancel.
We enter her room and it is really pretty, spacious and light, very similar to the CBR layout, but with more muted tones.
I dont spend long looking around and head for the telephone.
I first try to call the ground agent that I had left several messages with. I call and find that our ground agent is off and wont be back until tomorrow, our wedding day. I ask if there is anyone else I can talk to, as my query is urgent.
I am put through to another woman who although isnt in the same company, works in the same office.
She tells me she knows of my problem as our ground agent has been trying to solve the problem for days. She doesnt know what has been done but obviously, it hasnt been fixed. She says my best bet would be to call the UK and get them to sort it for me. She apologises and says she wish she could help but doesnt know what else to do. I hang up and look out the paperwork to call my tour operator.
My first call long distance and although I grudge doing it, I dont see what other choice I have. I get through to a woman in the UK and I briefly explain my problem. She puts me on hold, 2 minutes later the line goes dead.
I try again and I hear hold music for 1 minute, someone picks up and the line immediately goes dead.
I try again for the 3rd time, getting more and more peeved, that I am wasting precious time and money.
I get through to a guy and I explain my problem. I tell him not to put me on hold as I am calling from the States and this is costing me a lot of money. He tells me that it is Disneys fault even though I explain to him that I have booked everything through a TA, Disney cant do anything nor is it their responsibility to do so.
He says that he will get it sorted for me. He GUARANTEES that it will be sorted before my Wedding. He PROMISES to call me, in my moms room, the morning of my wedding, to say it has been fixed. He says even if they have to add on another nights accommodation to bring it up to the 5 nights required to get the Disney dining, they will fix it.
I hang up, feeling positive that they will sort it and they will call.
I turn to find my mom crying and shouting that my wedding is ruined. WHAT?
I dont understand why she is so upset, its me that is really upset and although I dont show it, I feel myself breaking down. I am ready to punch something, so I grab a pillow and start laying into it.
Steven goes over to hug my mother and tells her everything will be okay, we will still get the dining somehow.
I feel myself getting angry with my mom because she is making me feel worse than I already do. I had planned this vacation for months, I spent hundreds of hours researching, planning, calling etc and I am the one getting jip. I do not need my mother to say things like my wedding is ruined, the day before my wedding. I do not need to have to try and make her feel better when I really need to try and calm down myself. I do not need to be reminded that my dining plans are hanging by a very fine thread indeed and it may mean I have to rearrange, or worse cancel them all together.
She continues on, mentioning that I am crying and its a shame for me. WHAT? I am not crying, I wouldnt give them the satisfaction. I tell her exactly that, but she argues that I am. Oh well, if you say I am, I guess it must be true!
She says that the wedding will have to be rearranged. WHY? She doesnt know but it will have to be!
I breathe very deeply and tell her that the dining and ONLY the dining has been affected. The wedding will still take place as planned, and they have told me it should be sorted, no WILL be sorted by tomorrow. The UK is 5 hours ahead, so 7am US time is midday there; they have plenty of time to fix this!
I look at my watch and see it is now nearly midday here and we had planned on being at MGM by now. I wanted to have lunch at Backlot Express but we hadnt even had breakfast yet.
We go down to reception and I speak to the same girl and tell her at the moment we will have to pay for our dining as the UK are trying to sort it out. She tells me that our room still isnt ready but as soon as it is, she will give us a call.
I tell her we had wanted to go to MGM but as it is getting on now, we really want to get something to eat.
She points us in the direction of Sassagoula Floatworks and suggests eating there. I am in no mood to travel for food, so I just go with it.
We go through and I order a hot dog and fries, Steven gets chicken strips and fries and my mom gets a chicken salad and fruit cup. Steven and my mom get Orange Juice and I get a diet coke.
We use our CS credits, knowing that this may be our last ones for 4 more nights. We find a table and start to eat.
My hot dog is fine, there isnt that much you can say about hot dogs, it was tasty, although it would have been better with onions, I had smothered it with ketchup and mustard which made it much better. The fries were beautiful, very crispy, not greasy and salty without having to add extra salt. We came to notice that these were the fries served throughout the whole of Disney. We ended up ordering fries all the time!
Steven loved his chicken strips, very tender with a slightly spiced breaded coating and big portions; he received 4 chicken strips with loads of fries.
Mom liked her salad, but again, it was a salad albeit a big one. This one did have chicken in it, so I think she was happier with that.
While we ate we obviously talked about the incompetence of our UK TAs. I mentioned the dining and said that even if we had to put the dining on our Credit Card we should and I could just reclaim it when we returned.
Steven flat out refused. He said we had already gone way over budget with this vacation (not the wedding) and he didnt see why we should have to shell out any more.
I told him if we didnt I would have to cancel all my reservations and I didnt want to do that and have to eat burgers every night.
He said that unless our TA fixes the problem we would have to do exactly that. He didnt want to put it on our Credit Card as there was no guarantee they would give us the money back, also he would get loads of interest for every purchase he made
I lost it, my temper tantrum took over and all I could see was red. I knew in a way he was making sense but this ruined my plans, in a big way. I had some wonderful restaurants planned, Jiko, Kona, Raglan Road. I didnt want to give them up! I refused to give them up!
I told him he was being stupid, that we would have to pay either way for our food if this didnt get sorted and why should we have to resort to having burgers every night when it is them thats at fault, They would have to reimburse us as I have proof that we have the Dining Plan, its not my fault they screwed up.
He said he was putting his foot down this time, this one and only time, but No, if it didnt get sorted then I would have to miss the reservations.
He didnt understand, this was a big deal. He didnt know how long I had spent pouring over menus, pictures and reviews before booking the restaurants. He also didnt know that this made our vacation extra special because I had bothered to find places, we would all hopefully love.
But he was happy to disregard all these things, all my planning, because of money, money that I would get back. I didnt want to have any regrets on my honeymoon and I thought he felt the same. We were obviously on different pages this time so I mumbled something to him, and left
Coming up
Do Steven and I make up? Do we get to MGM?
Glad you can follow along with my adventures for now though!
I love it!!! Summer - you are too funny!!!! I can just picture you holding Tinkerbell upside down shaking the "you know what" 
