Trip of New Phases, Friends & 40! Updated 8/31 - As If Goodbye Wasn't Enough! The End

Your pics of the CR make me really want to stay there... Sorry for the sprinkles, but it sounds like you still had quite a magical arrival day!! The cake looks huge, what size was it? But it is extremely cute with the monorail on top! :goodvibes
 
I SO understand. I'm sure I would do the same thing! By "seeing the states" I mean the interstate, as we fly through them. :laughing: Must be in Disney ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I had a countdown going the whole time...we have six hours till our ADR, we have 5 hours and 30 minutes....:rotfl:

You've officially made me crave staying at CR even more now!! Ahhh, beautiful pictures, and the video...:lovestruc I did find it slightly humorous how much time of the video was spent in the bathroom. Men and their bathrooms, eh? ;)

I would really like to stay there longer, although I still think the rooms need just a touch more "Disney". And I think we have more pictures of the bathroom than the rest of the room. :lmao:

LOVE THAT CAKE!!! HOW COOOOOOOOL! :thumbsup2 I've never seen such a thing!!! They really did a great job.

I'm sorry to hear about the faux tube of sprinkles! That is a major bummer! Despite all that, this made me laugh out loud...

And I'm still giggling. I gotta explain to DH what is so funny! "Bait & switch" :rotfl: (but really, how awful to have those tubes, but not a selection!!!)

Wonderful wishes magic moment...ahhh, perfect way to end the day with EWP too - I'm a fan! :thumbsup2

The cake was nice and DH was totally surprised. I had just said a monorail theme and when it came and was painted and everything, it was cool.

I'm still steaming about the SPRINKLES. I would not have made it a priority to go there like I did after seeing it. Until there is confirmation they have them again, we'll never go again. :laughing:

And I'm glad to have a fellow EWP fan out there! :hug:

Your pics of the CR make me really want to stay there... Sorry for the sprinkles, but it sounds like you still had quite a magical arrival day!! The cake looks huge, what size was it? But it is extremely cute with the monorail on top! :goodvibes

We did have a very nice day, the evening almost made up for the no sprinkles! :rotfl: The cake was huge, much bigger than I thought - I think it was a ten inch cake. But that's what they made me order if I wanted it customized.
 
Ah...honey...I'm so sorry the sprinkle thing is a fake...:eek:....I'd have been bummed about that too...:confused3

I had to laugh when I saw the monorail cake...(very nice btw...makes you not want to cut into them...) As soon as I saw it I thought...wow that;s a big cake...and I know that from experience because I ordered a Mickey Head cake for DAvid's birthday-which was even smaller-and the four of us had a tough time with that...there is no way the two of you were going to finish that...You should have shared it with your Disboard friends...;) (We had to get rid of ours too...i know what you mean about trying to figure out where...:lmao:)

I love that you stayed at the Contemporary...David wants to stay there now...after he saw it when we went to the Wave and the Pirates cruise...I'll show him your photos/videos...

The room looked very chic...;)

Are those alcoholic beverages in those glasses....;)

I'm so glad you got to see wishes...

popcorn::
 
Ah...honey...I'm so sorry the sprinkle thing is a fake...:eek:....I'd have been bummed about that too...:confused3

I think I ran the gamut of emotions...and remember I was pretty tired as well! I was soooo excited for the sprinkle dessert (doesn't take a lot to make me happy at times! :laughing:), then stunned, shocked, so bummed and sad and then really really ticked off! :rotfl:

I had to laugh when I saw the monorail cake...(very nice btw...makes you not want to cut into them...) As soon as I saw it I thought...wow that;s a big cake...and I know that from experience because I ordered a Mickey Head cake for DAvid's birthday-which was even smaller-and the four of us had a tough time with that...there is no way the two of you were going to finish that...You should have shared it with your Disboard friends...;) (We had to get rid of ours too...i know what you mean about trying to figure out where...:lmao:)

I would have loved to have had a smaller cake, but they would only customize a ten inch or more...I don't know if I expected so many layers though. Now I know for next time! ;)

I love that you stayed at the Contemporary...David wants to stay there now...after he saw it when we went to the Wave and the Pirates cruise...I'll show him your photos/videos...

The room looked very chic...;)

Are those alcoholic beverages in those glasses....;)

I'm so glad you got to see wishes...

popcorn::

Wait till day two - lots more to show David! And yes - those were very yummy alcoholic beverages...just what we needed to start the vacation. :goodvibes
 


Forgot about this picture. It's the one they take of your family outside Chef Mickey's.
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Yes it was cute and they added the Birthday 2009 on it, but I don't know if I'd buy it again. I think it was $35 or something like that. :scared1: I used my rewards card, so I justified that I wasn't using "real" money. :rotfl:

But I guess I have nothing to worry about since we won't be returning anyway to the place that fakes people out! :headache: :rotfl2:
 
We awoke to a bright sunny morning…one of the advantages to having a Bay Lake view, over the MK view.
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And this was the view we had just laying around….
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With the door closed, you couldn’t hear anything. But I we went outside onto the balcony as it was just so pretty and calm. The lifeguards were practicing for all the craziness later in the day (which thankfully never happened!)

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We then took a few more photos
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Continued in next post....
 
Since it was so empty below, which was amazing and had to be that it was early, DH had me run downstarirs to get a few pictures.
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We weren’t sure what we wanted to do today,. We had a lunch at Sci-Fi (have never been there) and then we had no plans until MNSSHP. Although DH had mentioned he wanted to go parasailing.
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He had seen Tiggerbell’s pics of it and wanted to try it. He also thought we should run to the store to get water, beer, and a couple of other little things. Since Sci-Fi was an early lunch and we had been slow getting out of the room, we decided to skip Sci-Fi this trip and go shopping instead. So off we went, and DH then pointed out maybe we should also run to the “indoor/outdoor” outlet mall. It wouldn’t take long this time since we actually knew where we were going. :rotfl: So off to the mall we went.
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We found a few nice things, so after our loot was stashed in the boat’s trunk, back to property we went. And I made a fatal misstep here :sad2:…I said out loud how I was not leaving property for the rest of the trip! I think I said that last time too!:rolleyes:
 


Love your photos...

great views out of your windows...

hmmm...just what were those lifeguards doing...?

Are you seriously not going to leave the property---:confused3

(The resorts are really awesome-you could really stay in and have a good time...but still...:confused3)
 
Love your photos...

Are you seriously not going to leave the property---:confused3

(The resorts are really awesome-you could really stay in and have a good time...but still...:confused3)

We usually don't leave property unless we are headed to the outlet mall or grabbing water which happens the first day or so. We haven't been to Universal at all in our last three trips. We both liked the old Universal and that side of the park just seems to have really gone down hill. That's why I can declare we are not leaving property. Or at least try to say that! ;)
 
Back up to the room, and we found these waiting for us:
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They were on the counter, a birthday card and an anniversary card. We also received a lithograph that hangs in the BLT rooms.
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We also thought now would be a good time to take a few pictures of the room nicely made up, even though our junk was scattered around
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We were also hungry since we had skipped lunch and the room service menu has my very favorite – French Onion Soup. Room service it was. We each ordered a soup and split a burger.
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The soups were ok, and the burger wasn’t that great. It wasn’t the worst we had on property, but it was close. I really expected more (and tastier) from the CR dining. But the fries were good.

And it was during lunch that I finally found a little (Disney) in the room. Hidden Mickey’s in the couch fabric.
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While the CR is super nice, I really think they could put just a small picture up or something to Disneyfi the room a bit. Just like they did at BLT. We then wandered a bit, went swimming again, and soon it was time for MNSSHP and our reservation at CRT. I wonder if DH will get hurt again so we can get to the front of the line…..
 
Oh no honey...I thought you meant you weren't going to leave the Contemporary...:lmao:...

Oh heck we don't leave the Disney property most of the time either-not for years now-although with Harry Potter...:confused3 I think we're going to be tempted...

love the room photos btw...rooms have very New York-urban chic vibe...:cool2:
 
Your view is STUNNING! Wow, what a sight to wake up to each morning. :cloud9: Love the pics of you down below the room - great idea!


I'm SO glad to see they do this on a regular basis! :thumbsup2

Your foreshadowing about going off property again (medicine? :sad2:)...and I hope NOT about your DH getting hurt again...:scared:
 
Oh no honey...I thought you meant you weren't going to leave the Contemporary...:lmao:...

Ok - where's the I'm a dork smiley face...I totally thought you meant Disney property and read that wrong. :rotfl:

Oh heck we don't leave the Disney property most of the time either-not for years now-although with Harry Potter...:confused3 I think we're going to be tempted...

We've never been to Island of Adventure since some coasters and I don't like each other and any type of spinning or eye type ride (like Star Tours) gets DH sick. BUT - for Harry Potter I may just suck it up and make DH do the same thing! ;)

love the room photos btw...rooms have very New York-urban chic vibe...:cool2:

They really do have that NY feeling - that was one of the only things I didn't like. Unless I was staring out at Bay Lake, I didn't feel like I was necessarily at Disney.

Your view is STUNNING! Wow, what a sight to wake up to each morning. :cloud9: Love the pics of you down below the room - great idea!

Thanks Brook - I really thought I was going to regret not having that MK view, but waking up the two mornings we were there to the sunrise on Bay Lake really made up for it.

Your foreshadowing about going off property again (medicine? :sad2:)...and I hope NOT about your DH getting hurt again...:scared:

Stay tuned...although with how I sometimes write, it may be a while before we get there! :lmao:
 
Sorry I missed this Ty and it seems as though we were so close to meeting each other too :sad2:

Wow that was a long drive, it takes me 9.5 hours to fly there but at least I can watch movies, move around and have my meals brought to me :rotfl:

Your room looks lovely, the view is gorgeous and that cake looks so delicious!

Sorry about CM's having fake sprinkle tubes :mad: I always thought they were real too :confused:
 
Sorry I missed this Ty and it seems as though we were so close to meeting each other too :sad2:

Wow that was a long drive, it takes me 9.5 hours to fly there but at least I can watch movies, move around and have my meals brought to me :rotfl:

Your room looks lovely, the view is gorgeous and that cake looks so delicious!

Sorry about CM's having fake sprinkle tubes :mad: I always thought they were real too :confused:

Hi Jo - I thought the same thing about just missing each other when I read your TR. You went the time we've gone the last couple of years, but we went early so we could get a second trip out of our AP's.

The drive was long, but was pretty nice (at least on the way down ;) ) but we'll probably end up flying next year.

And yep - the Chef Mickey's thing is still making me mad :headache: won't be going back there! :rolleyes1
 
We spent the afternoon being lazy and swimming, before heading to the MK. Our CRT reservation wasn’t until 6:30pm so we did not have to rush over. We finally hopped on the monorail (late as usual)
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and I was hurrying DH until we got the park. Then he was ready to rush in, but I made him stop. Had to visit our brick of course!
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Our brick is only two years old and it looks horrible. I have no idea who to call, but somebody really needs to do something about it. Bricks around our have been there for 15+ years and look way better. While I’m grateful I have one at the MK, I still think it should look better.

We then checked in with our MNSSHP tickets and headed down Main Street. We then had to stop and get our first Photopass pics of the trip –
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And it was right after those pictures that the day of the rude people began. No one was ever rude to us (well kind of, but that’s later) but something must have been in the air.

As we walked down Main Street and got to the bridge where you can see Tomorrowland, a mom was just railing on her son. The kid was probably around five and he didn’t want to take a picture. I really thought DH was going to say something to her, which is very unlike him. But she was yelling and poking, yes poking, this kid in the face over and over. I’m not a mom, but I understand when parents punish kids for being bad, even if they are spanking them. But this kid just did not want to take a photo. And why she was poking him and yelling – she was literally causing a scene on Main Street. It was just shocking to see. :eek: So we now have the poking mom rude family.

We finally made it to CRT to check in and it looks like they had a new system. You used to be allowed to walk right in after checking in. Now they made you line up outside before bringing you in as a group. Ok – besides it being hot, it was fine. Only one family was already in line and one was checking in. And guess who was trying to check in…..yep – the I have no confirmation numbers rude family from the night before at the CR concierge desk. I grabbed DH and told him those were the people who claimed they had ADR’s but nothing was in the system and they had no back up.

Once again, they argued they had ADR’s, but had no confirmation numbers. The manager was very nice and kept his cool, and just kept explaining that without a number there was nothing he could do as they were nowhere in the system under any name or phone number and CRT was completely booked if not semi-overbooked for the night. They kept saying then get us in somewhere else, and again he was very calm and explained everything was booked and they would have to eat counter service. I really have to wonder if they kept trying this every day and night. Another CM stepped up and checked us in and everyone behind us as well. And this went on and on while we waited to be let in! I think I was getting a headache!
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We also probably waited about 15 minutes just to be let in…CRT has never run on time, and I think was probably the restaurant that ran the latest in terms of seating for us. So we took a few pictures while waiting outside.
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We were finally let in the doors, and weren’t sure if we should line up or not. A couple people behind us who came in thought it was a good idea and were very nice and said we and the other people should be in front of them since we were first. Good – the evening of rudeness was over. Ummmm no. All of a sudden, this woman comes barreling in and states for the entire MK to hear “WE WERE HERE FIRST!” We were all stunned and looked at each other. She continued “CINDERELLA TOOK AND BREAK AND I TOOK MY DUAGHTER TO THE BATHROOM WHILE MY FAMILY WAITED FOR HER TO COME BACK.” :scared1::scared1: Again, we were just stunned, no one was in CRT when our group was let in and we had already been in the line for about ten minutes when this lady appeared.

I wish you could have seen the look on the faces of the people around us…this woman would just not stop. I will say we then made fast friends with the people in front of us and started calling the rude lady, the big hair rude family (I have big hair too so I can say that!) Think of the bully on the schoolyard and you have her. To try and amuse ourselves away from the madness while still waiting, DH snapped a couple of pictures.
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I made him take a picture of me by the fireplace
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He wanted to know why I was sad by the fireplace. I couldn’t help but laugh at him and I think the mom I made friends with was also laughing. I then explained Cinderella, fireplace cinders…she had to clean them. He then got it. I was just shocked I had to explain it, but it was a good distraction.

Cinderella finally came out and here we go again. The whole line had given in and let big hair rude lady and her family in first, but then we got a whole new round. Well, not us, but my new friends in front of us. The rude lady was literally stepping on one of the nice family’s children trying to get not one, but literally 25 pictures of her child with Cinderella. Nice mom finally said something out loud about the rudeness, but it just went over rude mom’s head. The nice dad had to step in as well and basically tell rude mom off and how she is stepping on her children and everything else. I really wish I had it on video – it was insane. It then became the joke of the line of “excuuseeee me, I’m trying to get this picture – get out of my way.” I swear, half the line was using that jokingly as it became their turn. And rude mom and her family were not called right away, but I have no idea if they knew they caused this new found camaraderie or not.

DH took a picture, and of course, the “official” one you get with your meal.
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Continued in next post...
 
We were eventually called and DH wanted to take the elevator up.
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We were shown our seats which were again, not a window seat. There was confetti on the floor, but not on our table, or well. This is what our table looked like.
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Fernando was our waiter and he was from Italy. This made him an instant friend since I am Italian and had used my last name on the reservation. He took our pop order and then returned and brought us our rolls….I love these rolls. BUT – they changed the butter to just regular butter from the mustard butter they used to have. Fine with me as I was not a big fan of it before, but it was just surprising.
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Our appetizers were brought out, DH had the Corn and Crab Soup, and I had the BLT Salad. The soup had a nice touch on it.
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Both were good, but my salad had shrunk in size since last time we were there. For dinner both had the Prime Rib.
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I have to say, last time it was actually pretty good. This time it was not. It looked good, but was so super dry. It was like eating sandpaper. Not a good thing.

For dessert DH had the Chocolate Cream Cheese Buckle and I had the Sorbet. And yes, we kinda forgot to take the pictures here until we were almost finished! So I can say these were good.
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We were going to go, but then the show with Fairy Godmother and Perla and Suzy started. So we waited, and lo and behold guess what. Rude family reared their heads again. This time even though the handlers were not letting anyone go up to the characters, they quickly pop by you, rude mom’s daughter kept following them around with her camera and tugging on them trying to get them to stop and the handlers were constantly sending her away. I felt bad for her, that either her mom had sent her and she was afraid to go back, or she will now grow up just like her mom as she has already learned the same behavior. But we got over it and DH started snapping away.
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We then tried to flag down Fernando, to grab our check as we wanted to get to the party. But now we knew why he disappeared.

Continued in next post...
 
We couldn't figure out why Fernando had suddenly disappeared...then we discovered why. I got a special birthday treat! :goodvibes
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This brought to an end our CRT experience and also hopefully the end to the rude people! :laughing:

DH put together a video of the whole CRT experience:
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OH and thanks to the DIS I knew to ask about a little refund or gift card for our meal. Since we paid in full up front, and have the TiW card which nets us a discount, I knew they would give that money back. Fernando had a little trouble finding a manager to sign off (they were probably still dealing with no ADR family :lmao:) but eventually did and said they would refund my credit card the difference, which they did. :woohoo: I also asked Fernando how much tip was figured in originally as I think last time it was some amount like 13%. He wouldn’t tell us, but said it was more than enough, so we left him a little more anyway ;) as I didn't want it taken off even more with the money they were giving us back.

It was then off to MNSSHP and I was really hoping DH would not be crabby about going to it like he'd been all day! :sad2:
 
Tracy,

I love this update...the castle looks so pretty inside and your food looks really good too...

I watched the video and was trying to figure out who the rude family was...ot should I saw rude lady...;)

I'm so sorry about the poking mom...what a lousy think to do to any child let alone your own...and its hard to know what to do in those situations because she might just take it out on him later if you saw anything...:sad2:

AS for rude big hair lady at the Castle...)and I have thick curly hair so I'm a big hair lady too...:lmao:...it's times like that that I just wish I had a tazer so I could zap some sense into people...;)

(at least it brought everyone else together...;)
 
Just found your TR and I'm enjoying it thus far. The videos really give the report an extra spark. I like it.

Cinderella's Royal Table looks so beautiful on the inside. I'm really missing it now since I haven't been in years. I can't convince anyone else to go because no one else in my family likes the food or wants to go to a Princess meal. The desserts look great though.
 

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