That Mickey sure is one smart cookie!! May 2011 CBR TR (update 08/13)

[DisneyMomma09]

Wow! That pool looks great!

We are staying at a moderate in August after staying only in deluxes for the last several trips. I'm glad to hear you survived the adjustment well! I'm also glad to hear there was pleanty of room for the crib since we will have one as well!

Looking forward to hearing about dinner!

 

[lbuzz52]

See, that's just wrong. The only time someone should intervene is if someone is going to get hurt (verbal, mental, physical - whatever). That wasn't the case and he shouldn't have been a tool about it. Sounds like he needs to see his supervisor for some customer service training. Lifeguard or not, he's not there to parent anyone. He's just there to make sure no one gets hurt or drowns, make sure pool rules are followed, etc. Parenting is certainly not in his job description.

Now that I think more about it, I really think I would have noted his name and reported him. Not to be mean towards him, but he really needs to know that its not okay to interfere with parenting.

Some kids just need a bit more coaxing from mom/dad before they're ready for something. And I truly believe that sometimes, its not okay to drop the topic and come back later. You know your kids best, and you know when its time to drop the subject and when its okay to keep pressing.

If she was doubled over in hysterics and you were yelling at her trying to force her in, sure, he could intervene then. But not trying to talk her into something.

Okay, someone needs to take this soap box away from me. My fingers don't know when to stop.

DS asked repeatedly to visit the pirate pool this year, but he loved the slide at CSR, so it was a good trade off.

well, that's basically what i was trying to say.. sometimes it takes me a while to get there. intervene if someone is going to get hurt, and i tend to jump in to defend my child a little quicker than i probably should.

Wow! That pool looks great!

We are staying at a moderate in August after staying only in deluxes for the last several trips. I'm glad to hear you survived the adjustment well! I'm also glad to hear there was pleanty of room for the crib since we will have one as well!

Looking forward to hearing about dinner!

i looked at it as sort of a different type of vacation. we were sacrificing extra room- but we had more to do at the resort and a better food court, etc.

 

[lbuzz52]

i'll be working on a new update on my lunch break soon...

but i wanted to ask if any of you saw the show Turn My Backyard Disney this week?

We watched it as a family and it had all of us commenting. i'm pleased to say DH asked how we get on the show! Maybe that means Disney isn't too bad for him We decided we'd go for a Mickey shaped pool- one ear a hottub, one ear a shallow wading area.

What would you do?

 

[lbuzz52]

Tues, May 10th cont.

When we last left off, we were on our way to our dinner ADR at Ohana




We tried to walk out the door, but were met with our Garden Grocer order. I'm not one to drink curdled milk, so it had to be put away before we left. We had ordered the bare minimum in beverages and breakfast stuff. Milk, monster energy drinks, ice tea, coffeemate creamer, yogurt, fruit, nutrigrain bars, peanut butter crackers. We had brought individual cereal boxes and planters nut mix in our suitcase.

I found a high shelf to put all the dry goods on and them went to load the other items into the mini fridge. It didn't seem very cool to me. I had read somewhere that it worked a little better if you took it out of it's cabinet so I made Chris do that.



Finally, we were on our way to the bus stop for our first park bus ride of the trip! And on the way we saw three more bunnies. I'm no bunny expect, but if I had to guess by the size, I'd say it was a momma and babies.

We caught the bus quickly and were on our way to the Magic Kingdom! We had three internal bus stops and the bus ended up pretty full. I was surprised as it was 5:45.

James fell asleep on the way, so it must have been a pretty exciting trip! I'm surprised Maya and I didn't wake him, because we both screamed with excitement when we came upon the Magic Kingdom sign just a few moments later! Soon we were dropped off at bus stop 16- almost the very furthest stop.

It was hard not going inside the park but we knew we would have our chance in the morning.

The walk from the bus to the monorail was long, as was the wait. i took the opportunity to snap a couple pictures. Actually, 47. Apparently i had the setting on continuous and had 44 pictures like the one directly below.

view of Poly from the Monorail waiting area

Someone had just woken up

MK monorail station​

We weren't sure the monorail would ever come. I was this close to picking up Maya just so i woudln't have to hear, "sweetie, please dont lean on the gate" another time. Finally it arrived and we made it to the Polynesian.We didn't go to the Poly on our last trip, but as soon as we stopped at the monorail station I was hit with a feeling of nostalgia. I stayed here a couple times as a child and it was still familiar. I couldn't believe that I remembered the lines for the monorail, the building, the pool and beach area.

By the time we made it to check- in at Ohana we were almost 10 minutes late! I started to panic when they said there was no reservation under my name.

Luckily i had brought my confirmation. I pulled out my paperwork, they checked the computers, and immediately I felt like an idiot. I started my Disney account long before I was married.... all my adr's were under my maiden name. Apparently I never changed it. I'm not sure how i managed to do that because the room was under my married name.



I was given a pager and we made our way over to the little shop next to the waiting area. Maya's fever was starting to come back and we had left the ibuprofin in our room. There were two choices of medicine- infant tylenol and adult Tylenol. We stood there for a minute thinking we must be missing something. The CM came over to see if we needed help.

"We are looking for children's medicine"

"There is the kids stuff"

"No, that is only good for children under 22lbs. My daughter weighs 50 lbs."

"Why don't you give her a double dose?"

"Why? Giving children the incorrect doasage is exactly why these medicines were recalled to begin with. I suggest you stop giving suggestions that could harm someone."

Chris thanked her for trying to help, and told me to get out of there. She was only maybe 16, and surely didn't want the lecture on child medication she was about to get.



By the time we made it back to the waiting area, our pager was going off. We were led to a nice large round top fit for 5.

(Sidenote- i made my ADRS on different days, each time putting in the age of the children. Yet for some reason, many showed up as 4 adults. )

I was so excited to be here. I'd been waiting for this meal for almost 2 years. For those of you who have not read my last trip report, I had this meal scheduled for our arrival day. The night before we left, I stayed up packing until 4am. I thought Chris had set the alarm when he went to bed; he thought I would set it when I came to bed. We managed to oversleep and miss our flight. We caught a flight later that day but didn't get off ME until after our ADR time. For the longest time, Maya thought that taking a flight meant you had to wait at the airport for hours

So we were seated and soon our server team came to take our drink order and explain the meal to us. The meal is a family style/all you can eat/ Brazilian steakhouse style place. And they keep it coming!


First they brought out warm bread.

James, Chris, and I tried a bite but knew not to fill up on it.

Maya wanted nothing to do with it. Odd coming from a child whose 4 food groups are bread, chocolate, cheese, and candy.

Then came a salad, noodles, dumplings, wings, and broccoli. They also brought around three dipping sauces. One was peanut, one was mustard based, and the third escapes me.

salad with honey lime dressing

chicken wings

pork dumplings

broccoli

noodles​

We sampled everything while we waited for the meat. By the menu descriptions, the salad was the one thing I was unsure about. It was by far the best thing! I loved it! I had to have seconds! Chris liked the wings, and James loved the dumplings. Again, Maya didn't want to try a thing.

This was not a good sign; she typically belongs to the "Are you going to finish that club?". I sent Chris back to get the infant Tylenol. Maya looked miserable. I just gave her the largest infant dosage on the package. I'm paranoid about overdosing; I figured even if it helped a little it would get her by for dinner.

At this point the entertainer came out to teach the children the hula and give them leis. I turned to ask Maya if she would like to participate and saw she had fallen asleep.

I was thinking of going back for yet more salad when the meat started coming. There was steak- this was done more than we like but still very tasty. There was no need to ask for a piece that was less done.

Then came pork. This was a bit dry for me. I skipped this.

Next came the chicken. I'm not a big fan of chicken unless it's in a salad or casserole or something like that. This chicken was so juicy! I asked for seconds on this.

Finally the shrimp came around! They were quite yummy as well! I split a second round of these with James. And just a note- don't create more work for yourself like I did- peel, clean hands, use fork for something else, peel, clean hands, etc etc. Just peel them all at once. I think I had about 2 left by the time I realized this lol.

A meat filled plate- it all came at the same time. ​

Then, the moment we had been waiting for- DESSERT! That bread pudding was tasty but the real winner here is the topping. They bring you a small carafe of sauce to pour over your bread pudding and ice cream. Oh, that warm caramely banana sauce. I could have eaten a bowl of just the sauce. As it was the three of us finished every bite of this, fighting for each and every banana slice! This dessert is currently ranked as tied for my #2 favorite sit down dessert. (I need a taste-off!)

We woke Maya and made sure she didn't want anything to eat before we left. She didn't. She immediately felt guilty and apologized for falling asleep. Poor thing, it had been a long day.

The server brought our bill and we settled up to our dining plan. I didn't think about it until now, but he had charged for Maya, who had not eaten a bite. James more than ate her portion though, and as a Disney "infant" he is free.

The bill would have been around $90.00. We used 2 adult and 1 child dining credits.



We walked around the hotel for a bit- not because we wanted to, but because my 20-something year old memories weren't as sharp as they once were

We were headed towards the far monorail station when Chris' stomach got upset.

(From childhood i remember that there was a monorail stop at the edge of the property that could be quicker to walk to depending on room location- am I thinking of the TTC?)

Maya and I sat outside and waited. She was very quiet. But after a few minutes, she begged me to never stay at the Polynesian. It's my splurge hotel- the one monorail must, so I had to know why.

Any guesses?

 

[Lidian]

i'll be working on a new update on my lunch break soon...

but i wanted to ask if any of you saw the show Turn My Backyard Disney this week?

We watched it as a family and it had all of us commenting. i'm pleased to say DH asked how we get on the show! Maybe that means Disney isn't too bad for him We decided we'd go for a Mickey shaped pool- one ear a hottub, one ear a shallow wading area.

What would you do?

I've never heard of the show! But your idea sounds great!

(What channel does it air on?)

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Excellent food pics!

Poor Maya!

 

[lovethattink]

Love the food pics! Looks like the menu has changed since we ate there years ago. I don't remember dumplings, broccoli, or noodles. Was the shrimp the sweet and sour kind?

Was it the Tikis that made Maya not want to go back? Or was it feeling sick?

 

[DisneyMomma09]

Yummy! We love Ohana! We are eating there our first night in August! I can't wait!

Poor Maya! I hope she starts feeling better!

 

[Moira222]

Maya and I sat outside and waited. She was very quiet. But after a few minutes, she begged me to never stay at the Polynesian. It's my splurge hotel- the one monorail must, so I had to know why.

Any guesses?

I am really enjoying your TR - took me a while to catch up.

I am guessing the Tiki Guys/masks scared her?

Reading through I feel bad for Maya...I hope she gets better by the next day....reading between the lines I am guessing she feels really tired and run down from travel + fever. poor baby. And Chris too? over eating maybe? (hopefully?)

I am intrigued by your description & photos of CBR. At first your description of your room location had me thinking I'd be lost every time. Is it a similar construction/layout to Coronado? The pool looks fantastic.

I can't resist commenting on the whole life guard comments.... My thought was give the guy a break. I know that before we left for our trip, I said to my DH .... "we need to keep each other from being too hard/ too high expectations from Katie while we are down there". now I didn't mean letting her act like a brat, but what I did mean was our insisting on her acting the way we THOUGHT she should act as opposed to letting her be herself. things like insisting she wait in a character line or err get in the pool before she was ready (they dont' have an icon for shut me up ).... it seemed to me that the lifeguard was just trying to head off a bull run (don't shoot me!)

Can't wait to see how the rest of your trip goes!

 

[LeeLee'sMom]

Thinking maybe she is relating not feeling well and dad not feeling well to the Polynesian??? or could be the tiki statues...Yes really liked the My backyard goes Disney show. I absolutely loved the teapot and swing...Leah wanted it all. My wish would be to make a small scale cinderella's castle, some glass slipper slides, etc...

 

[lbuzz52]

thanks to all who were concerned about Maya

Excellent food pics!

Poor Maya!

Thanks! i wish i could say i always remembered to take them. Chris was happy when i forgot, he doesn't understand photographing our meals. And i've even emailed him the food porn thread!

Yummy! We love Ohana! We are eating there our first night in August! I can't wait!

Poor Maya! I hope she starts feeling better!

I think Ohana is a great start to the trip! wish we were going with you!

I've never heard of the show! But your idea sounds great!

(What channel does it air on?)

The show is on HGTV. Last Monday was the first episode. A family lived next to grandma, and they tore the fence down and connected it with a train! They added a few other major Disney elements. It was really neat! i'd tell you more, but i dont want to spoil it. I looked it up, and it is repeating on Sunday in my area.

 

[lbuzz52]

Thinking maybe she is relating not feeling well and dad not feeling well to the Polynesian??? or could be the tiki statues...Yes really liked the My backyard goes Disney show. I absolutely loved the teapot and swing...Leah wanted it all. My wish would be to make a small scale cinderella's castle, some glass slipper slides, etc...

I absolutely love your idea! Glass slipper slides would be beautiful! Maya just said she is going to your backyard for the next vacation!

I am really enjoying your TR - took me a while to catch up.

I am guessing the Tiki Guys/masks scared her?

Reading through I feel bad for Maya...I hope she gets better by the next day....reading between the lines I am guessing she feels really tired and run down from travel + fever. poor baby. And Chris too? over eating maybe? (hopefully?)

I am intrigued by your description & photos of CBR. At first your description of your room location had me thinking I'd be lost every time. Is it a similar construction/layout to Coronado? The pool looks fantastic.

I can't resist commenting on the whole life guard comments.... My thought was give the guy a break. I know that before we left for our trip, I said to my DH .... "we need to keep each other from being too hard/ too high expectations from Katie while we are down there". now I didn't mean letting her act like a brat, but what I did mean was our insisting on her acting the way we THOUGHT she should act as opposed to letting her be herself. things like insisting she wait in a character line or err get in the pool before she was ready (they dont' have an icon for shut me up ).... it seemed to me that the lifeguard was just trying to head off a bull run (don't shoot me!)

Can't wait to see how the rest of your trip goes!

its so hard to stay caught up!

Chris was just overeating, i believe. He generally doesn't eat much until about midnight, so he was really off the whole trip.
Maya was getting rid of a virus, so the traveling really wore her down. Luckily she'll be done with it soon (in the TR)

I've never been to Coronado, so i can't really answer your question. But CBR was't confusing to me, i probably just explained it poorly. All the villages were around a lake, and there was a big bridge to get to the other side of the lake. most of the building in each village were surrounding a courtyard. I'll see if i can find a map to help me explain. one of the paths was the sidewalk around our building (see the blue line on the second picture below), and the other took us to the various places (the black line on the second picture below). the pink glitter star is where our room was.

no worries on the lifeguard thing! i understand it from both sides. For me personally, i get bothered when family members tell me how to parent, but it doesn't bother me as much when strangers do it. but you hit the nail on the head with a bull run! my daughter (and my boss) do things much more quickly when it is their "own" idea, so usually i get the best results when i plant the seed and then leave her alone to make up her own mind.

i agree, the vacation goes much smoother if you are realistic. I had to remind myself several times that the kids were hot or tired and it made the day much nicer than if i snapped at them.

Love the food pics! Looks like the menu has changed since we ate there years ago. I don't remember dumplings, broccoli, or noodles. Was the shrimp the sweet and sour kind?

Was it the Tikis that made Maya not want to go back? Or was it feeling sick?

the shrimp were peel and eat, and if they had any seasoning it wasn't strong enough for me to notice. they definitely weren't sweet and sour. what did they have three years ago? i think its good if they change the sides every so often. as long as they dont change the dessert

 

[lbuzz52]

To all of you that guessed... i *think* you are right.

To tell you the truth, i'm not exactly sure what they are called. She called them the men in the bushes!

But yes, if you are referring to the tiki statues that i tried to photograph in the bushes here than you are correct!

I had hoped to finish up the first day today, but its going to be tomorrow, i promise. i'm ready to get to the parks!

 

[lovethattink]

the shrimp were peel and eat, and if they had any seasoning it wasn't strong enough for me to notice. they definitely weren't sweet and sour. what did they have three years ago? i think its good if they change the sides every so often. as long as they dont change the dessert

The first few times we ate there, the shrimp were plain peel and eat shrimp. The next 2 times we ate there, the shrimp were peel and eat, but in a gooy sweet and sour sauce. My son ate a ton of them! We were so messy after eating them!

I think we had mixed grilled veggies for a side. There was some kind of tossed greens in a vinegette dressing.

The fist couple times, the dessert was a pineapple that was sliced with caramel sauce for it. It was yum! But I really like the bread pudding one too, though.

 

[pinkxray]

Aw, poor Maya. I hope she was just tired and felt better the next day.

Great pictures from your meal. I love the food there. We agreed to skip it next time since we have done it twice. It will be hard not to go back. Everything is so good and it just seems so Disney to eat there for some reason.

 

[lbuzz52]

The first few times we ate there, the shrimp were plain peel and eat shrimp. The next 2 times we ate there, the shrimp were peel and eat, but in a gooy sweet and sour sauce. My son ate a ton of them! We were so messy after eating them!

I think we had mixed grilled veggies for a side. There was some kind of tossed greens in a vinegette dressing.

The fist couple times, the dessert was a pineapple that was sliced with caramel sauce for it. It was yum! But I really like the bread pudding one too, though.

Maybe they were sweet and sour? They were definitely sticky. I just didn't really taste a flavor on them. We ate a bunch of those too! The salad description said honey lime dressing; again, not a strong flavor or either. I definitely didn't taste any vinegar. i really liked it!

the pineapple sounds interesting!

Aw, poor Maya. I hope she was just tired and felt better the next day.

Great pictures from your meal. I love the food there. We agreed to skip it next time since we have done it twice. It will be hard not to go back. Everything is so good and it just seems so Disney to eat there for some reason.

it is so tasty! I think we will definitely go back! James is such a meat eater that i'm sure it will be just as much a financial decision for us LOL. If we ever switch it up i'd like to stick to another monorail meal though- it was a nice start to the trip.

 

[lbuzz52]

When we last ended, Maya was freakin out about "the people in the bushes" at Ohana.


9:00 p.m was approaching. Originally, we had thought we would stay and watch Wishes from the beach. At this point, I was the only one up for it. We compromised by deciding to ride the ferry over to MK instead of the monorail. (As if our car, the airport shuttle, the strollers, the plane, the faux monorail, the magical express, the Disney bus, and the monorail weren't enough for one day!)

We turned around and walked past the pool to the boat area. There was a setup ready for a movie on the beach. That went on our list of things to so on a future trip- it looked like so much fun!

We boarded the boat at a great time- 8:51. James took in the lights and sights with wide eyes. I'm relatively sure he was too young to remember his last boat ride.

Polynesian​

The captain pulled us into the MK just as Wishes was starting. I tried my best but have not perfected the moving night time lights and fireworks pictures on my point and shoot.

We quickly walked to the bus stop as Wishes was completing. The next boat may have had better Wishes viewing, but we beat the majority of the crowds coming out of the park. Still, the lines were long for our resort and almost non existant for most others. (This seemed to happen frequently.) We barely made it on the first bus but I was able to get a seat with the kids. Throughout the week, we were luckily to ride with countless generous men and even women. I can't recall a time where a seat wasn't at least offered to those standing who had children.




By 9:30, we had made it back to the room, stopping to chase a frog on the way. Thankfully, we had no neighbors at this point, because Maya let out quite the squeal when she realized someone had been in our room while we were gone.

Mickey had come to leave a surprise for the kids, and had brought Rapunzel with him.

A table full of surprises

James' Welcome letter from Mickey

Maya's Welcome letter from Rapunzel

James and his goodies someone get that child a haircut LOL

Maya with her surprises​

Each was given a welcome letter, a new pair of pajamas, 2 kooky pins, a new autograph book, and a new lanyard with pins. The pins were a mix of old ones from our last trip and a few new ones from eBay. James also had a second autograph book. The new autograph books have spots for pictures next to the autographs, but only have about 15-24 pages each. We also brought Maya's from our last trip, which still had a few pages left.

Maya was beyond estatic!

"Boy, Rapunzel and Mickey must be so glad we are back. They must have really missed us to bring us all this stuff!"

It was absolutely sweet and I took it as appreciation for all my hard work and preparation for the visit.

Once the excitement died down, we noticed that there still was not a crib in the room. A quick call was made, and a few minutes later maintenance showed up with a pack n play. I was in the restroom. (you know there is a switch on the door right, everytime you close the bathroom door the phone rings or there is a knock at the door or the kids need something...) I heard Chris tell him again- we need a crib, not a pack n play. Maintenance then told us that they no longer have full size cribs, due to safety issues with the slats.

I wasn't sure why I wasn't told this at check- in, or when i called a minute ago, or even when I made the request on my reservation. While I understand why they did it with all the recent recalls, there is a serious lack of communication with the information.

Nothing we could do about it tonight though. We would try the pack n play tonight. If that didn't work we would try him sharing a bed. And if worse came to worse, we would rent a crib. At home, James still sleeps in a crib. It's partially because he will not sleep in a bed anywhere near anyone else. And it's partially because he can't get into anything from a crib. He hasn't tried to climb out so we aren't switching him until he does!

Everyone was exhausted at this point, but nothing had really been organized or unpacked. I moved everyone's clothing into their own drawer, threw all the room and park stuff into one suitcase, and called it a day.

Bedtime routines completed, we put James and Pooh Bear in the pack n play. He quickly realized if he laid diagonally then he wouldn't have to bend his legs. Maya was dosed with Ibuprofin, and the she and Rapunzel climbed into their own bed. They decided the best parts of the day were the monorail and the pool.

James must have gotten a second wind because he laid awake singing for a long time. Chris fell asleep immediately and started snoring I HATE snoring. I can't fall asleep when Chris is snoring, and it takes me a good thirty minutes ususally to get him to stop long enough for me to crash. I elbow, push, call his name, pull his pillow out from under his head. He ignores it all, or even worse, throws a dead weight leg on top of me. All the time i'm muttering, "please wake up, i really don't want to sleep on the couch". By the time he finally notices and rolls over, I'm surprised he isn't bruised Add in the fact that there is no where to escape in this tiny 10 ft room and it feels more like a prison than a vacation!

James is usually exempt from this torture. Not tonight though, and it meant plenty of entertainment from a child who is fighting sleep. I couldn't help but laugh once James started mocking him. Have you ever heard a 2 year old pretend to snore? It's quite hilarious!

Finally it was my turn to fall asleep. It had been a great day!




Next up: We finally make it to the park! How will James do after being up until almost midnight?

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Ah, the dreaded snoring, it is my enemy as well.

 

[pinkxray]

Ugh, I can't fall asleep with others snoring. Luckily using all I have to do is shove or kick DH and he stops long enough for me to fall asleep. Caitlin on the other hand, will not stop no matter what you do. Next trip she gets her own room. I feel sorry for whoever has to share a room with her in the future.

Great job on the surprises for the kids. It looks like they enjoyed them

 

[Lidian]

Ugh, I can't fall asleep with others snoring. Luckily using all I have to do is shove or kick DH and he stops long enough for me to fall asleep. Caitlin on the other hand, will not stop no matter what you do. Next trip she gets her own room. I feel sorry for whoever has to share a room with her in the future.

Great job on the surprises for the kids. It looks like they enjoyed them

My DD was a snorer. At a well-check a few years ago, her pediatrician asked if she snored. She said it was because of her allergies, put her on meds, and she sleeps peacefully now. Perhaps checking with your pediatrician to see if there's something that can ease it might make nights more peaceful for everyone.