What exactly DID you do at Disney? May 2011 TR (TR link pg 44)

[pinkxray]

Diane, we have never stayed at the CBR (as you know, we always stay at the CSR), but we have visited it a number of times. It really isn't as big as they say it is (I've had a longer walk from my room to the pool at the Contemporary as I have walking from one end of the CBR (the pirate rooms) to the pool; the biggest difference is the walks are outside (which we actually prefer). My son stayed at the CBR two years ago and he had no issues with it at all.

I am happy to hear CBR isn't too big. People make it sound awful, but I am sure we could manage for one day. After seeing how long our walk was in AKL I no longer worry about it. I think the walk will be much more enjoyable if it is outside too.

for picking your resort! I've thought about staying there also...especially in the pirate room. Reid would probably LOVE it! In fact, he's sitting next to me right now & was all excited when he saw the pics you have posted. I've thought about changing our reservation for Oct 2012 from CR to CBR w/a pirate room. I think y'all are really going to have a fun get-away with the cruise & the MNSSHP. I can't wait to hear about the party. I'm really looking forward to going to it next year.

Okay, I'm having some second thoughts. DH has mentioned he doesn't plan any going back more than once in his lifetime. That has me thinking I should just pick the hotel I want to stay in the most. Problem is... where is that?

we really enjoyed CBR and will gladly stay there again. The pirate rooms arer a bit further away but would'nt be a problem at all with a car. I'm so glad you still get to do MNNSHP! My dh says he dislikes Epcot too but he confuses me. At home he likes to watch all the stuff on the history channel, but when i suggest that sort of thing at Epcot he says it sounds boring. wouldn't you like it there if you like it at home?

Yay, I am glad you liked CBR. No one seems to mention in much.

DH doesn't drink or really care about food so I can see why he doesn't like Epcot but I thought he could at least enjoy the scenary. I guess not.

I think CBR looks like fun! I bet you will enjoy it!!!!

CBR does look fun. I am thinking of changing though. Hopefully by the time I finish this TR I will know for sure where we are staying.

CBR looks so beautiful! And that Pirate room looks like tons of fun, I bet it will be hard to leave it and actually go to the parks

CBR does look pretty. I am probably going to switch though. CBR isn't my top pick and I have realized my Disney trips will be limited for the next few years. This time I am picking the resort I want with absolutely no consideration for what DH or DD wants. They are already getting there Atlantis waterpark day so I am taking our WDW stay as my day.

I hope you have a great trip. I loved the CBR when we went last year but I also had a room close to the pool and bus stop. Not that this will change your mind but I have seen and heard a lot of complaints on the Pirate beds. I have heard they are really uncomforatable. Something to do with the mismeasurement of the bed and having to make the mattress equivalent to half a mattress with no box springs. Something like that. So hope you don't have back problems. But I think they look super cool to stay in.

I am going to have to say my decision to switch resorts is all your fault! I hate uncomfortable beds. Okay, maybe I had other resorts for switching but I did use your reasons to convince Caitlin to switch. "Caitlin, I heard the pirate beds are very uncomfortable. You don't want to sleep on an uncomfortable bed do you?" And nope, she doesn't. Now I get to pick the resort

We stayed in a pirate room last year with my friend that we took. It was REALLY nice!!! We found the walk to the main area to be nice, cause it's along the water way. I'd stay there again, but definitely with a car. The busses were always crowded!! We had 2 rooms, so driving was not as easy for us. It was fun, that's the ONLY main pool I've been to at a resort!! The slide is nice, but it did get crowded. The hot tub was nice!! I always love visiting the hot tubs!! LOL You'll like it!!

I love hot tubs! I am kind of thinking of staying at the Poly but there is no hot tub. Then again, do I really need a hot tub for a one night stay?

CBR sounds like a great choice. I've always thought those pirate rooms look really cool.

It's good to know that the others don't enjoy WS. Your plan for next time should make Epcot a lot more fun.

The pirate rooms do look cool. I like regular rooms too. They look very relaxing.

We will definitely have to do Epcot differently. We always had bad days in Epcot.

Those long trips are definitely good. We do a few things in the morning, enjoy shopping, resort-hopping, and pool time, get good naps and rest times, and then go back out refreshed in the evenings. It's the best way to do it for us.

We keep saying we are going to do some off-property things, but we keep putting it off. As much as we want to take the girls to Sea World and other places, once the Disney stuff has been paid for, it's hard to think about going and spending a bunch more money somewhere else. I think we will make it to Sea World within the next two years, at most, though, because I know Brooklynn and Bella (especially Brooklynn) would love seeing all the ocean animals. We haven't been there Since Jill and Trent were little. They were probably about 6 and 3 when we went last.

CBR is such a pretty place. Their food court is very good, and the pool is awesome. Nice choice!

You have plenty of time to move onto offsite things. I would enjoy Disney as long as I could before the girls get older.


We went to Seaworld last year and had a bad visit. It seemed dirty and the workers were awful, but it could have been a bad day. DH and I went in 2003 and it was an amazing day.

Picking a resort is always the hardest part! Hoe you guys like CBR!

It is the hardest part. I can't seem to stick with my decision. Changes will most likely be made.

yay! That pirate room at CBR looks awesome!

It does look cool. I'm just not sure if I want to stay there now. I am getting a bit tired of just thinking of what DH and Caitlin want. I am thinking of just picking my top choice and letting them suffer.

Wow, CBR! I have never really considered staying there either. My girls are too girly to choose a pirate room - maybe when DS gets older. I think the pool looks really cool and well themed.

The pool does look cool. I do like the tropical theme too. It is still in the running but I am not sure where we will end up now.

 

[ksl5f123]

Caitlin's sundae looks like so much fun. My girls would love that. Captain's Grill has never made it on my list, but your food looked pretty good.

I am glad your DH liked the Yacht club. It is one of the top resorts on my "dream list".

I am thinking of just picking my top choice and letting them suffer.

It is only one night - they will live. If you have a place you really want to try, you should just go for it!

 

[All7OfUs]

Slowly trying to catch up once again- no, I haven't abandonded you

I'm so glad your dinner at CG turned out so well! I admit, it's never been on my list, but the food did look super! I'm also happy that your server was so friendly and helpful- always good to earn that tip!

Nice that you could all spend some pool time together too. Caitlin looks like she was having a blast; and I love your pix of your hubby chillaxin'.

That is bizarre about hte little girl all alone. Odd!

 

[Queila]

That meal looks soooo good it made me hungry.

Stay safe!
Q

 

[basketkat]

Oh those pictures of your meal make me sooo hungry! It looked great!!!

The fireworks pictures are neat! And it sounds like you had a nice evening swimming! Well...minus an unattended little girl! How scary! But you all look relaxed!

 

[TinksThree]

Wow the food from CG looks really good!! Sounds like a nice, relaxing evening and I think the view of illuminations was pretty good!! Especially since you could here the music as well!

Stay safe this weekend and hopefully it will weaken and not be too bad! We experienced Katrina and had no electricity for 2 weeks...and we live 150 miles inland!! We never had experienced anything like that and had just done our basic prep stuff like making sure loose items were taken care of outside. We did not have sufficient batteries, non-perishable foods and water and no cash. Also we only had half a tank of gas in each car. We were not prepared but never in a million years would we ever have considered it as bad as it was so far inland! We had trees down everywhere and did not know what was happening further south since we had no tv. When we were able to see tv coverage (finally)...it was hard to imagine! Had Jim Cantore not pointed to the Treasure boat (a casino) on the Gulf Coast and said that it would not be there after the followign Monday, we would not have taken the little precaution we did. And that boat was totally destroyed. Nothing is th same down there...

Okay lots of babbling but even now with the 6 year anniversary this weekend the memories and the lessons we learned were unforgettable! So many prayers and good wishes to anyone in the eye of Irene!!

 

[amandaw]

What a really great night y'all had! The dinner sounds like it was really good. I think you made a good choice for your family to just go to the pool & view the fireworks from the resort. I can't get over that little 5 year old girl no one was watching!

Praying for everyone on the east coast to stay safe through Hurricane Irene. Being in south Louisiana, I've been through many so I know how nerve-wracking they can be. When Reid was 5 1/2 months old, Hurricane Gustav hit. Now, at the time, Reid had his very first 2 teeth coming in & he had a stomach virus! When the hurricane hit, we lost power for over a week. Our phone line went down the 2nd night & about 5 days in we lost our running water. That's when I made Ed shut off the generator & got us out of there until everything was restored! Hope everyone is prepared as best as possible & I'm praying for the best!

 

[Vwdiva93]

Your dinner at CG looked so yummy. And that sundae looks like a lot of fun, I can see why Caitlin loved it!

I'm glad you all got to relax in the pool for awhile and at least see/hear some of Illuminations. That seems like it was a really nice way to end the day

I hope you stay safe as well this weekend! I left for college 2 weeks ago and I'm already back home because my school evacuated yesterday for the hurricane. I really hope it doesn't cause too much damage and just gets out of here quickly!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I'm glad you enjoyed your dinner and got to have pool time and see the fireworks at the same time, a win win situation!

 

[tinacaplan]

Hey...I think I'm still not completely caught up, but I did read the last few installments. First of all, congrats on the October plans. You must be so excited! I think we'll actually be able to go back in February, which I'm super excited about, for several reasons.

I know what your husband was saying about shorter trips, actually. We went for seven nights/eight days in July and we were so done by the end. If we go back in February, it will only be Monday-Friday or Tuesday-Saturday. Still plenty of time to have a great time.

And I know what you mean about wanting to stay together, even if it means nmot doing some things you want to do. There were a couple of times I could have gone off alone and I just didn't want to... its supposed to be a family trip for a reason, right?

And we loved swimming at night at the BC. So much fun.

 

[KatMark]

Diane, your review and pics of Captain's Grill have me very excited about our meal there in 30 days! Thanks for sharing the pics and review.

I have a question for you? Does your DH ever eat anything but cheeseburgers? It seems you are the only one who ventures outside the burger thing and usually it is more of a man thing with steaks.

Your firework pictures turned out reallly well from the balcony.

 

[bouncycat]

Glad your DH was in a good mood, and had a good CM for dinner!! That steak looked REALLY good!!! So did Caitlyn's dessert. What was that other dessert?? It looked pretty good too!!

I hope you guys were safe with Irene, and not get too much flooding!! We got wind and rain here, but nothing compared to what we're used to. My pool is overflowing tho, I haven't been able to get in it since I had the biopsy in my left breast on Friday. You're not on FB, so you probably don't know....had a regular scheduled mammo 2 weeks ago, and they found something. Did the biopsy last week, so now I'm waiting. I'm alright, will probably start getting more anxious as the week goes on. LOL

 

[lbuzz52]

that meal looks pretty tasty!
I think your choice to stay at the pool was a nice alternative. You got to cool off, see part of the show, and miss the crowds!
hope all was safe this weekend.

 

[PirateKate]

I love how you could see Illuminations from your balcony! Watching from the room was a great idea, since it allowed you all to be together. And how often will you have an awesome balcony view for Illuminations?

Swimming looks like it was a lot of fun, too. I can just imagine the quiet, peaceful pool at twilight. Great way to spend your evening!

 

[Donald Duck888]

Just wanted to say as a fellow New Englander, I hope you made it through Hurrican Irene in good shape.

We did ok up here in NH most of the flooding was NW of us and we only recorded winds around 65mph.

Hope you made out ok as well.

 

[pinkxray]

Caitlin's sundae looks like so much fun. My girls would love that. Captain's Grill has never made it on my list, but your food looked pretty good.

I am glad your DH liked the Yacht club. It is one of the top resorts on my "dream list".


It is only one night - they will live. If you have a place you really want to try, you should just go for it!

Captain's Grill isn't mentioned much. I guess with all the other options available people don't make it over there. I don't know if I would make a special trip there but I would definitely there if we stayed in the Epcot area again.

I would love to stay at YC. The beds look so comfortable. I am just afraid Caitlin will mess up the pretty rooms. Those white comforters won't stay white long with her around.

Slowly trying to catch up once again- no, I haven't abandonded you

I'm so glad your dinner at CG turned out so well! I admit, it's never been on my list, but the food did look super! I'm also happy that your server was so friendly and helpful- always good to earn that tip!

Nice that you could all spend some pool time together too. Caitlin looks like she was having a blast; and I love your pix of your hubby chillaxin'.

That is bizarre about hte little girl all alone. Odd!

I am so behind on everyone TRs. I can't wait for Caitlin to go back to school so that I can catch up.

That meal looks soooo good it made me hungry.

Stay safe!
Q

It was very yummy. The pictures were awful since somehow my camera got on a manual setting. They all came out blurry until dessert when DH was able to get it back to the auto setting.

Oh those pictures of your meal make me sooo hungry! It looked great!!!

The fireworks pictures are neat! And it sounds like you had a nice evening swimming! Well...minus an unattended little girl! How scary! But you all look relaxed!

It was a lovely night.

There was a set of parents around but they didn't seem to be paying attention to the little girl. I am guessing they were her parents but I never saw them glance in her direction. They had another boy with them and he never looked at her either.

Wow the food from CG looks really good!! Sounds like a nice, relaxing evening and I think the view of illuminations was pretty good!! Especially since you could here the music as well!

Stay safe this weekend and hopefully it will weaken and not be too bad! We experienced Katrina and had no electricity for 2 weeks...and we live 150 miles inland!! We never had experienced anything like that and had just done our basic prep stuff like making sure loose items were taken care of outside. We did not have sufficient batteries, non-perishable foods and water and no cash. Also we only had half a tank of gas in each car. We were not prepared but never in a million years would we ever have considered it as bad as it was so far inland! We had trees down everywhere and did not know what was happening further south since we had no tv. When we were able to see tv coverage (finally)...it was hard to imagine! Had Jim Cantore not pointed to the Treasure boat (a casino) on the Gulf Coast and said that it would not be there after the followign Monday, we would not have taken the little precaution we did. And that boat was totally destroyed. Nothing is th same down there...

Okay lots of babbling but even now with the 6 year anniversary this weekend the memories and the lessons we learned were unforgettable! So many prayers and good wishes to anyone in the eye of Irene!!

Ugh, I know what you mean about not being prepared. The storm wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but I need to build up a better emergency kit. We lost power for a few days but both my mom and mother in law who are only a couple of miles away had power. Plus all of the fast food places in town had power. It did make me think of how bad it would have been if we didn't have any available.

What a really great night y'all had! The dinner sounds like it was really good. I think you made a good choice for your family to just go to the pool & view the fireworks from the resort. I can't get over that little 5 year old girl no one was watching!

Praying for everyone on the east coast to stay safe through Hurricane Irene. Being in south Louisiana, I've been through many so I know how nerve-wracking they can be. When Reid was 5 1/2 months old, Hurricane Gustav hit. Now, at the time, Reid had his very first 2 teeth coming in & he had a stomach virus! When the hurricane hit, we lost power for over a week. Our phone line went down the 2nd night & about 5 days in we lost our running water. That's when I made Ed shut off the generator & got us out of there until everything was restored! Hope everyone is prepared as best as possible & I'm praying for the best!

That sounds awful.

I am guessing the little girls parents were around but no one seemed to be paying any attention to her. Maybe I am just too much of a helicopter parent. If Caitlin goes near the hot tub either someone goes with her or we at least take a seat near the hot tub and watch her.

Your dinner at CG looked so yummy. And that sundae looks like a lot of fun, I can see why Caitlin loved it!

I'm glad you all got to relax in the pool for awhile and at least see/hear some of Illuminations. That seems like it was a really nice way to end the day

I hope you stay safe as well this weekend! I left for college 2 weeks ago and I'm already back home because my school evacuated yesterday for the hurricane. I really hope it doesn't cause too much damage and just gets out of here quickly!

It was a great night, even if I didn't make it back to the park.

I hope school is going well. I haven't heard much about Virginia getting hit too much so I am hoping you had no issues.

I'm glad you enjoyed your dinner and got to have pool time and see the fireworks at the same time, a win win situation!

Being about to see the fireworks was great. I would love to stay at the Poly one day so we can see Wishes from the resort. We never seem to make it back to MK so that will be a great alternative.

Hey...I think I'm still not completely caught up, but I did read the last few installments. First of all, congrats on the October plans. You must be so excited! I think we'll actually be able to go back in February, which I'm super excited about, for several reasons.

I know what your husband was saying about shorter trips, actually. We went for seven nights/eight days in July and we were so done by the end. If we go back in February, it will only be Monday-Friday or Tuesday-Saturday. Still plenty of time to have a great time.

And I know what you mean about wanting to stay together, even if it means nmot doing some things you want to do. There were a couple of times I could have gone off alone and I just didn't want to... its supposed to be a family trip for a reason, right?

And we loved swimming at night at the BC. So much fun.

I wouldn't mind shorter trips if they were just Disney trips. DH insists on 2 Universal days and now one Discovery Cove day. If we only go for 6-7 days we have only one day for each park. Now DH and DD want to hit the waterparks next time.

I can't believe you are going back in Feb. I am so jealous that you are staying at CR. It will be great to be able to walk to MK.

 

[pinkxray]

Diane, your review and pics of Captain's Grill have me very excited about our meal there in 30 days! Thanks for sharing the pics and review.

I have a question for you? Does your DH ever eat anything but cheeseburgers? It seems you are the only one who ventures outside the burger thing and usually it is more of a man thing with steaks.

Your firework pictures turned out reallly well from the balcony.

I would say DH picks a burger about 4 out of 5 times when we go out. Once in awhile he will get a chicken sandwich. He rarely orders something like steak which is very annoying. I see people mention that they have a steak and potatoes type of guy, but DH is more of a burgers and fries type. At least he is cheap to take to dinner.

Glad your DH was in a good mood, and had a good CM for dinner!! That steak looked REALLY good!!! So did Caitlyn's dessert. What was that other dessert?? It looked pretty good too!!

I hope you guys were safe with Irene, and not get too much flooding!! We got wind and rain here, but nothing compared to what we're used to. My pool is overflowing tho, I haven't been able to get in it since I had the biopsy in my left breast on Friday. You're not on FB, so you probably don't know....had a regular scheduled mammo 2 weeks ago, and they found something. Did the biopsy last week, so now I'm waiting. I'm alright, will probably start getting more anxious as the week goes on. LOL

My dessert was a turtle cheesecake. It was pretty good.

Have you heard anything? I would not be able to stand waiting. I hope all is well.

that meal looks pretty tasty!
I think your choice to stay at the pool was a nice alternative. You got to cool off, see part of the show, and miss the crowds!
hope all was safe this weekend.

I am happy we stayed at the resort. It did make me realize that I can enjoy just relaxing. It beat fighting the crowds at Epcot.

I love how you could see Illuminations from your balcony! Watching from the room was a great idea, since it allowed you all to be together. And how often will you have an awesome balcony view for Illuminations?

Swimming looks like it was a lot of fun, too. I can just imagine the quiet, peaceful pool at twilight. Great way to spend your evening!

I am guessing we won't stay in the Epcot area again so I figured I might as well enjoy the view while I could. We can see Illuminations at Epcot anytime.

The pool was so relaxing

Just wanted to say as a fellow New Englander, I hope you made it through Hurrican Irene in good shape.

We did ok up here in NH most of the flooding was NW of us and we only recorded winds around 65mph.

Hope you made out ok as well.

Glad to hear you made it through okay. The hurricanes are just starting and I am already so tired of them already. They are looking at another one coming up

 

[bouncycat]

Hey Girl!!! We've missed ya!!! That turtle cheescake did look really good!!

I saw that other one out there, looks like we're in for a doosy of a season!!

Haven't heard anything yet, been exactly a week, I go to get my pills refilled this morning, so hopefully will hear something then. The wait is killing me!!

 

[pinkxray]

We made it through the Hurricane okay. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be be but we did end up losing power for a few days. The power went out sometime early morning Sunday and finally got turned back on late afternoon Wednesday.

Thankfully it was only about 1/2 the town that lost power so it wasn't too bad. My mother still had it so Caitlin and I would spend a few hours there each day. For some reason none of the fast food places or restaurants lost power so we never had to worry about food. It did make me think about how unprepared we would have been if the whole town had lost power and I'll have to do better next time.

Caitlin was supposed to start school Aug. 31 which was Wed. They cancelled the first 3 days and she is now going back on Tues. Sept 6. I was so looking foward to some alone time. I was looking foward to getting back to running in the morning and not having to drag her around to shop. I am kind of bummed that I took this week off from work to get back into the school routine and now I am just sitting around with Caitlin.


I have been having issues with our resort pick for the night. Going back and forth has been giving me a headache. I picked up some OT for working extra hours during the hurricane and I told myself if that happened I would book the Poly. I changed it to the Poly but since there is no discounts available I just don't think the price will be worth the one night.

I am torn between Pop and Poly. I don't like that Poly costs so much and there is no hot tub but I can swing it. However Caitlin wants to go to Typhoon Lagoon and there is no reason to stay at a deluxe if we won't be there at all except to sleep. I just got off the phone and switched to Pop. I don't love that there is no hot tub or slide but that won't matter if we go to TL.

I feel like a moderate might be a better choice but the only one I would really like, POFQ, is full. I don't really want to stay at CBR, DH doesn't like the look of CSR and we have stayed at POR.

Sorry for the venting, DH has been no help and all Caitlin seems to care about is hitting the wave pool at TL. I am just not sure if I want to spend the afternoon at TL when we are going to the MK at 4. I have a feeling DH and DD will be tired and not up to staying through the night until 12. I fully plan on making it the whole night at MK.

 

[pinkxray]

Hey Girl!!! We've missed ya!!! That turtle cheescake did look really good!!

I saw that other one out there, looks like we're in for a doosy of a season!!

Haven't heard anything yet, been exactly a week, I go to get my pills refilled this morning, so hopefully will hear something then. The wait is killing me!!

I can't believe you are still waiting.

Why did I book a cruise during hurricane season? Fingers crossed Oct. 20-24 is storm free.