The Twelve Days of Swinter: From Castaway 'Key' to a Partridge in a Palm Tree!

[MEK]

I am officially caught up now, which is always strange to do because I have this habit of catching up by reading backwards. No comment!

I do think your DH showed great initiative in getting that throw! Way to go!

Your daughter's tea party dress is so cute. The party looks like a blast. Glad she had such a great job and you got such nice PP pics!

Isn't the GF stunning? I love it there and can't wait until I get a chance to stay DVC there, even if its just for one night!

Your pictures continue to be lovely!

 

[jenseib]

I'm so glad you haven't been updating because I was really far behind...you now have my permission to proceed.

Saw your ADR plan and somewhere a mention of November. We're going Nov. 9-20 then spending a few nights on the beach! Can't wait! it will have been 3 years since our last trip to Disney. Time flies doesn't it? What are your dates? I couldn't find them. Our ADR musts are: Chef Mickeys, Tusker House, Cape May, Coral Reef, T- Rex, Tepan Edo.

Hey!!! I'm going to be there part of that time....I am going on Nov 2-3 to do the last Halloween party, then sailing on the Disney Dream, then coming back to WDW and staying the 8-14. Where are you staying?

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I haven't noticed the mean stuff and I hope I never do, don't want my magic ruined. If ya can't say something nice, say nothing!!!

I hope you don't either, but I have a feeling that means you don't stray far from the TR boards. There is quite of bit of the nastiness out there. And I agree, I don't want to come to the DIS and have anyone rain on my parade. I can go just about anywhere else and find that junk. I come here to get away from all that.

I have been perusing some of the other boards/threads researching Alaska cruises, and restaurants etc. It is definitely not the same. I think with the TRs and how we all kind of follow each other, we've developed relationships that those other threads don't have. So people feel free to say things that don't always come across as friendly and welcoming like we are!

You're right, it's not the same at all. And I do count all of you as friends, but I also never feel compelled to blast someone on the DIS b/c I don't 'know' them. I just don't get it. It's not just here though. I've noticed that any web site where there are places to leave comments, like news stories, etc., someone always takes the low road. I think some people just like to be mean in this type of 'anonymous' environment where they can get away with it. Real bravery there.

Sorry I've gotten so far behind this past month and I still have some catching up to do, but here's my 2 cents:

LTT - I prefer lunch over dinner! There are some seriously yummy choices here at lunch time! One of my fav lunch places.

Tutto - OK. Not on my top 10 list, but still a good meal.

Via Napoli - YUM! and cute waiters! Really cute!

Narcoossee's - Food is OK. There are better siggie restaurants (IMHO) but you can't beat the views and the CM's are really nice.

T- Rex/Boatwrights - Never eaten at either.

Kona - LOVE the Tonga toast

TH - Never had breakfast here - ended up canceling. Someday. Loved lunch!

FF - Loved it! Best scallops I have ever had - anywhere!

Yachtmans / BRG - Never eaten there. Well, I actually ate at a BRG in Nashville and it was not the greatest.

Good luck with you ADRs

Thanks a bunch! Your input really helped. I was on the fence over a few of them and this has helped a lot! In fact, you had me at 'the best scallops ever!' Yep, that was way more important than 'really cute waiters.' I'll give an update on my choices in a bit.

I agree! I only lurk on a few other threads, generally just for information about various things...I once was active in a few "Community Board" threads and I quickly left! TR/PTR Land is my DIS Home!

Mine too! I doubt I'll be posting much anywhere else. At least we still have this area of the DIS to enjoy though!

I have had so little DIS time this week. School is taking up a lot of time, plus I had to fix a TCAP teacher breakfast yesterday, and I've been getting ready for our Chef Mickey's party today. I am ready for a day of rest!

It always feels good to get some spring cleaning done. I went up in my attic last weekend and threw away several bags of junk. Not that anyone can see it, but at least I know the attic is a lot cleaner now.

Have a good Saturday!

Wow! Cleaning out the attic is some SERIOUS cleaning! I need to do that too though. I guess I will when we have our yard sale next month. I hate going up there though. It' just creepy.

Hope you've gotten some rest out of this weekend!

Saw your ADR plan and somewhere a mention of November. We're going Nov. 9-20 then spending a few nights on the beach! Can't wait! it will have been 3 years since our last trip to Disney. Time flies doesn't it? What are your dates? I couldn't find them. Our ADR musts are: Chef Mickeys, Tusker House, Cape May, Coral Reef, T- Rex, Tepan Edo.

Well, right now this trip is VERY much a 'maybe' kind of thing. I'm booked for 10-25 through 11-1 at POR and 11-1 through 11-4 on the Dream. None of it is set in stone though. We may not even go at all. I just wanted to get my ADRs done incase we did end up going. We are debating getting a pool b/c the summers are so long and hot here. It that happens, the trip is a no go. We just can't decide what we want more.

I'm glad to hear you are going back. I know your girls are very excited! All your must-do restaurants sound really good to me. I've always been curious abut Coral Reef. I'd really like to try it but it seems to get a very wide variety of reviews. Seems like people either love it or hate it. I really should break down and give it a try. What do you like there?

Rinky: I saw this this morning, the new Tutto Italia menu, it looks like they took away quite a few offereings, I don't see any of the last 3 items that I've ordered on this menu. Via Napoli might be the better option for you

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2012/04/27/new-re-vamped-tutto-italia-menus-in-epcot/#more-54500

Thanks for that link! I actually ended up scratching that one from my list because I figured it would be very similar to an Olive Garden which we have all over NC. I like to try things more unique to WDW when I go, so that one will have to wait. After looking at the menu, I think I made the right choice.

I'm late to the party but I just started reading and I'm loving it so far! I am so extremely jealous of your cruise! It seems absolutely wonderful. I may just have to book one soon And your DD is the cutest thing I've ever seen!

And I know you've probably been asked 2479 times, but what kind of camera(s) did you use? I would love to get a waterproof camera. All of your photos look so nice!

Thank you and welcome! It's never too late to join a DIS party!

The cruise is great. I don't think you can go wrong with DCL.

My waterproof camera is a Panasonic Lumix TS3. I did a lot of research before choosing that camera and I have been extremely happy with it. It is so light and compact that I find myself grabbing it all the time instead of lugging around my big Canon. I had it in the water a lot on that trip and never had any leakage problems at all. A tip I found that really helped was to put a thin coat of Rain-X over the lens before going in the water. Then when you bring the camera out of the water, you can just blow the droplets off the lens so you don't have water spots on your pictures. I did that and it worked GREAT! I applied it before we left and really wiped all the excess off well with a dry cloth and it lasted for our entire trip. I really love that camera! Here's a link to it:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...ic_DMC_TS3A_Lumix_DMC_TS3_Digital_Camera.html

I am officially caught up now, which is always strange to do because I have this habit of catching up by reading backwards. No comment!

I do think your DH showed great initiative in getting that throw! Way to go!

Your daughter's tea party dress is so cute. The party looks like a blast. Glad she had such a great job and you got such nice PP pics!

Isn't the GF stunning? I love it there and can't wait until I get a chance to stay DVC there, even if its just for one night!

Your pictures continue to be lovely!

Well, I can say that I don't think anyone else has ever told me that they read my TR backwards. That makes you unique and that's a good thing!

My DH was quite proud of himself over that throw. You'd think he had won the lottery when he came out with that thing!

The GF is very nice indeed. I love how white everything is. It just looks so clean and open and airy. I normally prefer color (obvioulsy since I chose CBR) but it just works at the GF.

I'm so glad you haven't been updating because I was really far behind...you now have my permission to proceed.

Hey!!! I'm going to be there part of that time....I am going on Nov 2-3 to do the last Halloween party, then sailing on the Disney Dream, then coming back to WDW and staying the 8-14. Where are you staying?

Well, I am glad to know that everyone has caught up and I can move on. I never did get an update done this week though. We've just been too busy, but it looks like it worked out for the best. I don't like leaving everyone behind.

 

[Woth2982]

I just got back from Europe and I think this was the only TR I wasn't behind on! Lookig forward to what is coming up next!

 

[DirtyDiana]

Thank you and welcome! It's never too late to join a DIS party!

The cruise is great. I don't think you can go wrong with DCL.

My waterproof camera is a Panasonic Lumix TS3. I did a lot of research before choosing that camera and I have been extremely happy with it. It is so light and compact that I find myself grabbing it all the time instead of lugging around my big Canon. I had it in the water a lot on that trip and never had any leakage problems at all. A tip I found that really helped was to put a thin coat of Rain-X over the lens before going in the water. Then when you bring the camera out of the water, you can just blow the droplets off the lens so you don't have water spots on your pictures. I did that and it worked GREAT! I applied it before we left and really wiped all the excess off well with a dry cloth and it lasted for our entire trip. I really love that camera! Here's a link to it:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...ic_DMC_TS3A_Lumix_DMC_TS3_Digital_Camera.html

I finally finished reading all the updates so I'm anxiously awaiting a new one!

Thanks for the link! It seems like a great camera. I have been meaning to research some waterproof ones to look at. Yours seem like a great fit! I might just have to mosey on over to ebay to pick one up And thanks for the tip, I would have never even thought of that!
What model canon do you have? I just love the look of your GF and BW resort pics! (Well, I love the look of all your photos, but those were my favorite!) Gorgeous

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I just got back from Europe and I think this was the only TR I wasn't behind on! Lookig forward to what is coming up next!

Welcome home! One day I'm going to be popping on here and saying that I just got back from Europe! I hope you had a wonderful trip!

I finally finished reading all the updates so I'm anxiously awaiting a new one!

Thanks for the link! It seems like a great camera. I have been meaning to research some waterproof ones to look at. Yours seem like a great fit! I might just have to mosey on over to ebay to pick one up And thanks for the tip, I would have never even thought of that!
What model canon do you have? I just love the look of your GF and BW resort pics! (Well, I love the look of all your photos, but those were my favorite!) Gorgeous

Thank you for the kind words. For the most part, all the 'water' pictures were taken with the waterproof camera and all the others were taken with the Canon. It is a Canon SX10is. I've had it for a few years now so I'm sure there is a new model. I like the Canon, but I don't love it. It has some really nice features like a swivel LCD screen and a 20X zoom, but the picture quality is not always the best. Not sure if it's the camera or the operator though. If I had the money for a camera right now, I'd get an SLR. So I would highly recommend the Panasonic but not so much on the Canon.

 

[pmama]

Hey!!! I'm going to be there part of that time....I am going on Nov 2-3 to do the last Halloween party, then sailing on the Disney Dream, then coming back to WDW and staying the 8-14. Where are you staying?

Sounds like a great trip! We are booked at AoA!

 

[jenseib]

Sounds like a great trip! We are booked at AoA!

Awesome! We are at AoA from the 11-14th!!!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Sounds like a great trip! We are booked at AoA!

I'd like to hear what you think of AoA when you get back. I've been considering staying there. It looks great!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Awesome! We are at AoA from the 11-14th!!!

Since you are going with your family, are you staying in one of the suites? I'm considering staying there but the LM area seems so far from the main building so IDK. All the suites look they are in a great location though.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Wow, it seems like ages ago that I last posted an update, even though it’s only been just over a week. After my working ‘vacation’, I’m very glad to be back here on the DIS! And to try to make up some for lost time, this is going to be a mega update!

Now, if you recall, we had just finished up the Wonderland Tea Party at the Grand Floridian and had taken the monorail back to MK. After much debate, we decided not to go back into the park but spend the afternoon at the CBR pirate pool. I was disappointed at the time because I wanted to stay at MK, but I soon discovered that we had really been missing out on so much fun that was right under our noses.

As we entered the pool area, I was already feeling better about our decision to skip going back to the park.

It took me a while to realize that the palm trees around the pool are fake!

I love a zero entry pool! Although I must say this one needs some new ‘grip’ put into the concrete bottom because someone in my party might have slipped and almost busted her fanny going in… and possibly coming out as well.

As soon as my foot touched the water, I forgot all about the Magic Kingdom. The water was so warm and clean and it was just calling my name!

I really think this is one of the best pools on Disney property. The theming is wonderful, the pool is huge and the slides are great! There are two of them. One is short and open and the other is long and enclosed. It didn’t take us long before we were itching to try both!

And we loved each of them! I lost count of how many times we went down. Great fun!!

Here's a video I put togther of several clips I took that afternoon. Let me warn you though to turn down your volume because there is some hillbilly woman talking way too loud next to the camera the whole time she is taping. And I got a little too up close and personal to DH at the end!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4ZrIbYxS4g

I took my camera up to the top of the large slide to get some ‘aerial’ pictures of the pool.

It was so pretty how you could see both the pool water and the lake water at the same time.

Continued in next post

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Then I took some pictures from atop the shorter slide.

DD being silly…

What kid can resist letting the cannons bonk them on the head?

Like I said… what KID can resist letting the cannons bonk them on the head.

Look, they’ve captured a scallywag!

It was about that time that DH said he smelled smoke, specifically campfire smoke! (Yes, there is a distinct difference in smell between a campfire and other fires.) He got out of the pool and went sleuthing to figure out where it was coming from. A minute later he returned, grinning from ear-to-ear and told us they were roasting marshmallows on the beach! YAY!!! I had been so envious of the Beach Club patrons a few nights before and didn’t even know that my own resort offered the same activity! I think this was the moment that the moderate resorts totally won me over! Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed my stays at the values, and would stay there again in a heartbeat, but I was really pleased with all the little extras we got for the very small amount we paid to upgrade to CBR. It just really put the icing on our vacation cake!

DDs first attempt…

…gave new meaning to ‘well done’…

As many times as that girl has roasted a marshmallow you’d think she would have it mastered by now, but she always seems to ‘char’ the first one!

Now, that’s more like it!

Dueling marshmallow roasters…

It was absolutely gorgeous on that beach as the sun was getting low in the sky. I was in pure heaven. I can’t believe I was pouting earlier about missing park time when that perfect evening was just sitting there waiting for me.

Take one beautiful beach, some absolutely gorgeous weather, a relaxing evening with the ones you love in the happiest place on Earth, and add in two impeccably perfect roasted marshmallows and what do you have…

…BLISS my friends… pure bliss!

Continued in next post

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Ok, how many does that make for you? I think you need to put the stick down and step away from the marshmallows before someone gets hurt!

What a wonderful time we had! But we weren’t done yet. None of us had gotten our fill of the pool, so back in we went.

I had a really good time playing with my camera.

DH would kill me if he knew I posted this picture!

I read a tip before our trip about putting a thin coating of Rain-X on the camera lens and it really helped in the pool. It didn’t matter much with the snorkeling because the camera stayed underwater, but it was in and out of the water the whole time we were in the pool. The Rain-X was great because when I brought the camera up, I could just blow the water off the lens and not have water spots on my pictures. Whoever figured that out was a genius!

Coming off the slide…

Testing her floating skills…

By that point we looked like shriveled up prunes, so we decided to say goodbye to the pool…

… and go get in the hot tub!

CBR has two of those beauties! It was so nice to be able to get warmed up before making the wet trek back to the room.

DD wanted to go in the kid’s spray area for a few minutes before we left.

Unfortunately, the CM working that area would not let her in. She measured DD and said she was too tall. I think the limit was 48” and she was just one inch over that. I couldn’t believe they wouldn’t let her play in there. She’s only 7 years old! I understand why they have the height restriction but it seems a little bit too strict to me. I know my DD would have really enjoyed that splash area, and I don’t think 7 is too old. She’s just tall for her age. And to make matters worse, there was only one little girl playing in there and she looked to be about 7 as well. So then I had to go through the whole, “How come she can play and I can’t?” ordeal with DD.

Oh well, it’s not like we didn’t have plenty of water fun on that trip!

A few last pool pics on our way out…

Continued in next post

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

DD spotted this hair wrapping station and wanted to get her hair done, but there wasn’t anyone working there at the time so we told her we would check back later.

We saw them setting up for movie night and thought that would be fun.

It seems as though I couldn’t pass by that lighthouse without taking a picture of it!

Sunrise and sunset at CBR are not to be missed if you ever stay there. Simply gorgeous!

We made it back to the room and changed into some dry clothes.

Then we headed back across the lake for dinner and a movie!

Continued in next post

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

The movie for the night was Lilo and Stitch.

We browsed the food court to see what our dinner options were.

I was very tempted to get one of the meat and veggie dinners because I am a serious vegetable lover! These were the choices:

It all looked pretty good until I got to this plate…

Why on EARTH did they leave the neck on that chicken!!! I just cannot imagine what would possess someone to do that! YUCK! Somehow I just couldn’t get that image out of my mind so I ended up with…

So much for my veggies...

DH got the meatball sub and DD got the cheeseburger kid’s meal. All of it was good.

I just love the way they served this in a sand pail! So cute!

We really enjoyed eating out on the patio while watching the movie. It was such a great evening!

We did a little gift shop browsing before calling it a night.

These were the coconut postcards that I was looking for, but never found at Castaway Cay.

I’m always drawn to these for some reason…

Loved these cups!

I seriously thought about buying this print for our office, but once again, I left empty handed.

And with that, the eighth day of Swinter was just a memory, but what a fantastic memory it was!

Up next: The coolest interstate highway ever!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Well, that was just perfect! I went out for a walk at lunch and it's kind of cool, breezy and gray outside. I came back in and I get to see sunny CBR pool pictures!!! Thanks! So pretty and I can't believe how few people were around!

I laughed at the look on that boy's face at the top of the slide - "lady, what are you videotaping up here???"

I'm now in the mood for marshmallows...too bad there's none in my lunch!

 

[mickeystoontown]

The latest updates were fantastic! The pictures were so great and you could tell that ya'll were having a wonderful time.

Ummm, I am with you on the chicken. Who the heck leaves a neck on a chicken when they cook it? Seriously?

 

[SoonerGirl]

What a great update! I know it's hard to pull away from the parks, but sometimes the greatest memories can be made by simply taking it easy. I've got a lot more down time planned for September. I figure if I am going to spend the $$ on the BC we are darn sure going to enjoy it's amenities!

I know I've said it before, but I must say again, your DD is absolutely adorable. I love, love, love her freckles!

Ummmm, the chicken with the neck still attached.......ewwww

 

[micandminforever]

I loved all the pool pictures. They made me regret that we did not spend any time at the pool the last time we stayed at CBR.

 

[MEK]

This is such a great picture! I hope you frame it!

What a lovely, perfect afternoon and evening! Wow - it looks like you have the whole place to yourself!

I have to agree with you on your love for the mods! Before I joined DVC I could not think of 4 more perfect resorts. The CBR pool area really is awesome and that hot tub - Score on the marshmellows and movie!