Where are we, Jersey? Bye, Phoenicians! An August 2017 TR * NEW DINING/TR LINKS*

[ariane37]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with friends and family
Going to do a short but sweet update on our Nov. trip-
​

November 6th

We woke up on our 2nd full day and weren't in a huge rush. We had FP's at HS but didn't need to get there until close to 10, so we got breakfast at Pepper Market and then went right over. I did take a couple pictures as we walked over; I think CSR is such a pretty resort:




Um..... sorry about the size difference?? I thought I took a picture of some of the construction by us (which didn't affect us at all) but I guess not. We were in Casitas 3 and they were till working on Casitas 3 but the other side. It was closed off over there and a couple big machines stayed put outside so we always passed them and when we'd return to our room during the day the guys would be working, but we heard nothing from inside our room.
We got to HS and it was all decorated for Christmas And I'll tel you, as I sit here typing this on Thanksgiving night I really, really miss not being down there now as we were the past 2 years. Anyhoo I took a couple pictures of the decor like this retro billboard I liked:



We used our FP's for RnRc and TOT which had a ridiculous SB line, like 90 minutes at 10 and it didn't go own while we were there. First trip in ages I only got to ride once which I wasn't happy about! However we did see the Beauty and the Beast show for the first time in a couple years; love it!



Steve was pointing out how the actor who played the Prince in the beginning had about 3 other roles during the show.
We were getting hungry and debating lunch; I suggested the Brown Derby Lounge since it was almost noon which is when they open, but my husband had an even better idea so we jumped on the app and booked a 1:20 reservation for Tiffins. On our way out I took a couple more HS decor pics of the store windows, like this:



Santa Goofy was in another window and I tried to get a picture but the sun glare wouldn't let me.
We took the bus from HS to AK. We did this back in August also and I have to say, for whatever reason the park to park buses seem to suck-they take so long to come! Bad idea cancelling Express Transportation, Disney
However going to AK was totally worth it as you'll see if you read or have read my dining report; our lunch there was out of this world! I'll share our after-meal gifts with you though:



Sorry for the side view. Everyone (I believe) gets a print after eating there, or at least everyone did when they opened and they were still giving them out now. Our server asked which one we had from our previous visit and made sure to bring us a new one. We also got some awesomely delicious dark chocolate bark "because you're returning guests", which was great!

We used an EE FP we'd made when we decided to go to AK and then went back to CSR to chill for a bit for our big night out on the town - or should I say 'round the world - with Kari @kastoney and her DH Jason. We met over in WS around 5:30ish and began our jaunt around the countries. At one point we ended up in the Craft Beers building:



And after we'd had our full of F&W we walked over to the BW and sat outside Abracadabar and had a drink. Very nice night and good laughs with some very nice friends

I know this update was quick but I'm shopping with my sister tomorrow morning super early, so I need to try to rest. I absolutely love Black Friday shopping, call me crazy Be back with Nov. 7th soon.

 

[thumper*]

We got to HS and it was all decorated for Christmas And I'll tel you, as I sit here typing this on Thanksgiving night I really, really miss not being down there now as we were the past 2 years.

I've been thinking about those trips this week.

our big night out on the town - or should I say 'round the world - with Kari @kastoney and her DH Jason.

Yay sounds like fun.

 

[Jenny Sanders]

You know what I loved about CSR...I loved the views/landscaping. Despite all the construction, it's still a beautiful resort. I can't wait to see what it looks like when everything is complete!
I hope you had a lot of fun Black Friday shopping today!!! I did some online shopping. I DEFINITELY see Disney jammies in my future (and Joe's, and Timmy's)...LOL!!!

 

[MeghanEmily]

I thought I took a picture of some of the construction by us (which didn't affect us at all) but I guess not.

Glad to hear it didn't affect your stay at all! We didn't have any issues either.

However we did see the Beauty and the Beast show for the first time in a couple years; love it!

Yay! Good show!

Sorry for the side view. Everyone (I believe) gets a print after eating there, or at least everyone did when they opened and they were still giving them out now. Our server asked which one we had from our previous visit and made sure to bring us a new one. We also got some awesomely delicious dark chocolate bark "because you're returning guests", which was great!

I love this! Maybe we'll get some returning guest gifts...hmm....

 

[kastoney]

Hi everyone, hope you all had a good weekend! Ours was kind of quiet; Ricky stayed home to rest which has seemed to pay off as he's doing SO much better!

Awesome to hear!!!! Glad he is doing bette.r

Well, this was a story that started circulating most likely here on the boards a few years ago that was actually not true at all. But, because it caught on and so many people started looking for the ring in the HM queue and and asking CM's about it, Disney put a ring in the concrete in the queue a year or two ago

That is so cool. I'd never heard that story before. Where is this in the queue?

Sorry for those, just wanted to show the refurbed room. We LOVED it, especially with the king bed there was tons of room to move around.

I don't know too much about CSR, but those refurbed rooms look great. Disney is stepping up their moderate game.

We were supposed to meet around 5 since Jenny and Joe had a 6pm Citricos reservation, but we were moving kind of slow and then the monorail moved slow so unfortunately we didn't get there until closer to 5:40. We didn't have much time together but were having so much fun talking, before we knew it the time was 6:15! Joe went to check them in for dinner and we said our good-bye's. Three great DISMeet's down!

Wonder who number 4 is gonna be?

If you're never seen this, they swing gates shut on either side of the pathway so you can't continue walking. Then once the globe is out of the way, they push a little button, lower the bridge, and let you through again

I remember you describing this but didn't realize how close to it you actually got. That is so very cool.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with friends and family
Going to do a short but sweet update on our Nov. trip-

And gobble, gobble to you. Hope your day was great!

We got to HS and it was all decorated for Christmas And I'll tel you, as I sit here typing this on Thanksgiving night I really, really miss not being down there now as we were the past 2 years. Anyhoo I took a couple pictures of the decor like this retro billboard I liked:

At least you got to experience a little bit of it though. And if you're anything like me, it just made the Xmas season start all the earlier this year! Think we are gonna get our tree tomorrow.

We used an EE FP we'd made when we decided to go to AK and then went back to CSR to chill for a bit for our big night out on the town - or should I say 'round the world - with Kari @kastoney and her DH Jason. We met over in WS around 5:30ish and began our jaunt around the countries. At one point we ended up in the Craft Beers building:

Best night of our trip!!!!

I know this update was quick but I'm shopping with my sister tomorrow morning super early, so I need to try to rest. I absolutely love Black Friday shopping, call me crazy Be back with Nov. 7th soon.

CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[chunkymonkey]

I was a little behind but I'm all caught up!

We rode some rides and I actually tried the fruit and nutella waffle from Sleepy Hollow for the first time (which I forgot to mention in my dining report). It was good! Strawberries and bananas were fresh although there were 3x as many strawberries as bananas, and the waffle was super good.

I love this waffle! I have to remind myself I have to get it again!

But, because it caught on and so many people started looking for the ring in the HM queue and and asking CM's about it, Disney put a ring in the concrete in the queue a year or two ago

That's so cool!!

We had some great eats and drinks which you can check out in my dining report if you're interested and this is also when we saw Su-Lynn and Steve again!

Aww we're such Disney Fashionistas...even the guys!

We were in Casitas 3 which is where we were on our first stay and we also lucked out and got a refurbished room!

Looks awesome!

We LOVED it, especially with the king bed there was tons of room to move around. If you remember from earlier in this report I didn't like the hardwood flooring in the new YC rooms but it didn't bother me as much here; maybe because the boys weren't with us to make as much mess? Whatever the case we both love the way the new rooms look and were hoping to switch our March Pop reservation here (but right now we have something I think is even better )

Love the refurbished rooms! This is definitely a place I want to stay at in the future!
Can't wait to hear what you have planned in March!

If you're never seen this, they swing gates shut on either side of the pathway so you can't continue walking. Then once the globe is out of the way, they push a little button, lower the bridge, and let you through again

That's so cool!!

However we did see the Beauty and the Beast show for the first time in a couple years; love it!

Me too! I hadn't seen this for a few years and then saw it in May and loved it and I had to see it again in November!

Sorry for the side view. Everyone (I believe) gets a print after eating there, or at least everyone did when they opened and they were still giving them out now. Our server asked which one we had from our previous visit and made sure to bring us a new one. We also got some awesomely delicious dark chocolate bark "because you're returning guests", which was great!

I think everyone gets a print but not everyone gets the bark!! Glad you enjoyed Tiffins again!!

We used an EE FP we'd made when we decided to go to AK and then went back to CSR to chill for a bit for our big night out on the town - or should I say 'round the world - with Kari @kastoney and her DH Jason. We met over in WS around 5:30ish and began our jaunt around the countries. At one point we ended up in the Craft Beers building:

I love this picture! You guys look great!

I know this update was quick but I'm shopping with my sister tomorrow morning super early, so I need to try to rest. I absolutely love Black Friday shopping, call me crazy Be back with Nov. 7th soon.

Hope you got some great deals! I did most of my shopping online!

 

[oceanmarina]

Hi Ariane,

Just binge read your trip reports, am enjoying both of them!

So glad to hear Rickey is healing, was so sorry to read he got hurt

When I hear you describe Chris, I think of my own 12 year old, ah, the joys of having a middle schooler. my youngest is in 4th grade and I'm cherishing every day she's in elementary school!

It seems like last week when we were both at WL in August! I booked a bounce back for next August,the last week before labor day. Will be staying in WL again. We loved all the changes - with the exception of roaring forks. Was my favorite quick service. And they ruined my flatbreads, sigh

Tuvalu is great, we stayed there back in 2010. We had a 3rd floor room which had an exotic view with the tops of the palm trees .

Was great to read about in living color - we are the same age, so hearing about that band took me back to my glory days!

Anyway, can't wait to read more, Marina

 

[wdwnut61]

I’m so glad Ricky is doing better and back to school.
We just got back from 10 wonderful days at the BC.
Love your latest updates and pictures. The new rooms at CSR look great.

 

[docsoliday1]

If you're never seen this, they swing gates shut on either side of the pathway so you can't continue walking. Then once the globe is out of the way, they push a little button, lower the bridge, and let you through again

That was our night! Two more full days left to go on our Food and Wine trip!

That's pretty cool! I thought the globe just stayed in the lagoon all the time. Might need to try to catch this in February.

 

[Melissa Thors]

Hey,
Just joining in to your TR. Caribbean Beach Resort looks beautiful can't wait to read more about your wonderful trip.

 

[Tracy161]

Bad idea cancelling Express Transportation, Disney

Agreed!

We also got some awesomely delicious dark chocolate bark "because you're returning guests", which was great!

Yum! What a nice touch!

our big night out on the town - or should I say 'round the world - with Kari @kastoney and her DH Jason.

Can't wait to hear more about this!

 

[KathyM2]

However we did see the Beauty and the Beast show for the first time in a couple years; love it!

I haven't made it to this show yet...one day lol The times just never seem to work out.

Hope you had fun Black Friday shopping!!

 

[ariane37]

I've been thinking about those trips this week.

We were sad campers Thanksgiving morning. I think the one thing that made it not so bad was knowing that even if we'd planned to go, we would have had to cancel due to Ricky's injury.

You know what I loved about CSR...I loved the views/landscaping. Despite all the construction, it's still a beautiful resort.

I agree, it's a gorgeous resort which is a huge plus for a moderate! I believe it'll be our go-to when we don't do deluxe.

I can't wait to see what it looks like when everything is complete!

Me neither! They had an artist's rendering up in the lobby and it looked very interesting and modern.

I DEFINITELY see Disney jammies in my future (

lol I bought myself some from Kohl's

I love this! Maybe we'll get some returning guest gifts...hmm....

I hope you do! I'm sure the print will be definite but I'll cross my fingers for the chocolate

Awesome to hear!!!! Glad he is doing bette.r

He's doing fantastic (knock on wood). Surgeon visit yesterday was great, went to school today sans crutches. Of course I texted him every 45 minutes to make sure he made it to the next class without falling lol. Back to P/T next week

That is so cool. I'd never heard that story before. Where is this in the queue?

It's almost behind a garbage pail when you round a corner very close to entering the stretching room. After you've passed the grave digger's entrance to the cemetery on the left side where the doggie door is that most people don't notice......I know I'm not helping lol. I'll take better pictures when we're there in March and make you a map; you should be good at reading maps now that you guys are full-fledged pirates

I don't know too much about CSR, but those refurbed rooms look great. Disney is stepping up their moderate game.

Yup, other than not being able to walk or boat to any parks I didn't miss being at a deluxe at all.

Wonder who number 4 is gonna be?

Think we are gonna get our tree tomorrow.

We stopped getting real trees last year and now we have two fake ones. I just scentsicle the hell out of them constantly so I have the aroma of fresh cut trees lol.

Best night of our trip!!!!

I was a little behind but I'm all caught up!

I think I just wrote something similar on your TR

Aww we're such Disney Fashionistas...even the guys!

I have to try hard with my Steve and it doesn't work often; your Steve really does Disney well in the fashion dept!

Love the refurbished rooms! This is definitely a place I want to stay at in the future!

Like I said above to Kari, except for not being able to walk or boat to any parks I didn't miss being at a deluxe at all and I'm pretty sure Steve didn't, either. The grounds are really pretty and with newly refurbed rooms it's a classy place for non-class people to be!

Can't wait to hear what you have planned in March!

I can't wait to see what I have planned for March either No park days planned out or ADR's made yet, I'm ashamed of myself. I do know we're going to TIFFINS though!

I think everyone gets a print but not everyone gets the bark!

Very special people get the bark

Hope you got some great deals! I did most of my shopping online!

I'm doing more shopping online this year than I normally due just because of time constraints. I love shopping as much as Kari @kastoney hates it so I enjoy Black Friday shopping. I wasn't looking for anything in particular this year but I did find some good deals!

 

[ariane37]

Just binge read your trip reports, am enjoying both of them!

Well thank you!! I love writing them, I'm just slower with this and my current dining report than usual. Life has gotten in the way of my DIS time more than I like!

So glad to hear Rickey is healing, was so sorry to read he got hurt

And thank you again Not going to sugarcoat it, it was rough, but things are really looking up and we're all feeling so much better that he's moving forward now

When I hear you describe Chris, I think of my own 12 year old, ah, the joys of having a middle schooler.

lol! He's such the opposite of how Ricky was at this age! He makes me laugh and 10 minutes later I want to kick him out of the house, and sometimes out of the car. But regardless he's mine and I have to let him live here until he's 18

It seems like last week when we were both at WL in August! I booked a bounce back for next August,the last week before labor day. Will be staying in WL again. We loved all the changes - with the exception of roaring forks. Was my favorite quick service. And they ruined my flatbreads, sigh

Ah, my WL So exciting you'll be back in August! There's a very good chance we'll be in Disney in August, late August, but I don't know where we'll stay yet. We're trying CCV for our March trip and that's good enough for me! I totally agree about RF though, not thrilled at all with the changes. Luckily we love all the rest. And even though there are still resorts we haven't stayed at and I want to try, I can't see any of them replacing WL as my #1!

Was great to read about in living color - we are the same age, so hearing about that band took me back to my glory days!

I was happily surprised to see so many hard core fans there! I mean, completely rockin' out I wish we were close enough that when the Eat to the Beat and Garden Rocks concerts are announced we could just go down last minute because there are usually multiple 80's bands I want to see. I'd love to catch Dennis DeYoung!

We just got back from 10 wonderful days at the BC.

I'm glad you guys had another wonderful trip!!

Just joining in to your TR.

Thank you so much for joining in Melissa! Normally I'm a quicker updater lol, and I'm going to try to do better

Yum! What a nice touch!

So far I've only heard of us and Su-Lynn getting the chocolate so I think they only give it to the coolest of people And you KNOW I look cool when I scarfing that entire bag of sugar down my throat!

I haven't made it to this show yet...one day lol The times just never seem to work out.

Oh,definitely make a point to see it! I agree though the shows at HS are hard to fit in, especially if you try to see more than one in a day. That's kind of why we hadn't seen it in a few trips until now.

Hope you had fun Black Friday shopping!!

We did!!! We went at 6 a.m. and shopped till 1 p.m. Got some good deals and spent quality time with my sis before she went back to Georgia on Sunday!

 

[docsoliday1]

We were sad campers Thanksgiving morning. I think the one thing that made it not so bad was knowing that even if we'd planned to go, we would have had to cancel due to Ricky's injury.

I had thanksgiving with my family in FL. It wasn't Disney, but at least it was warmer. Sorry your thanksgiving was sad.

I agree, it's a gorgeous resort which is a huge plus for a moderate! I believe it'll be our go-to when we don't do deluxe.

I almost reserved CSR for our last two nights in February. Now I'm wishing I had. Will need to be on the list next time, although I'm stoked about two new resorts for us (CBV and BWV).

He's doing fantastic (knock on wood). Surgeon visit yesterday was great, went to school today sans crutches. Of course I texted him every 45 minutes to make sure he made it to the next class without falling lol. Back to P/T next week

So happy for all of you (especially Ricky). Younger folks heal quicker and it's astounding how quickly they can bounce back. Just caution him not to overdo...don't want him to re-injure in his youthful zeal.

It's almost behind a garbage pail when you round a corner very close to entering the stretching room. After you've passed the grave digger's entrance to the cemetery on the left side where the doggie door is that most people don't notice......I know I'm not helping lol. I'll take better pictures when we're there in March and make you a map; you should be good at reading maps now that you guys are full-fledged pirates

What are you saying...those are the best directions ever. Considering I don't think I have noticed the doggie door, I'm still lost.

Yup, other than not being able to walk or boat to any parks I didn't miss being at a deluxe at all.

I think the one major exception is AKL. We stayed there earlier this year and the bus service was horrible. Technically, we could have walked to AK, but it was well over a mile, so not the walking distance of others like BLT/BCV/BWV/YC. My favorite (WL) is not really walking distance, but the boats are convenient.

Very special people get the bark

I didn't get the bark and momma always told me I was special. Oh wait, I guess you're not talking about THAT kind of special.

I'm doing more shopping online this year than I normally due just because of time constraints. I love shopping as much as Kari @kastoney hates it so I enjoy Black Friday shopping. I wasn't looking for anything in particular this year but I did find some good deals!

I guess I missed that comment from Kari, but yeah, I stay as far away from any shopping venue on Black Friday. There is no deal that is worth camping out overnight or getting into a brawl with someone or the other nonsense that happens on Black Friday. I guess part of it is I'm a guy and don't like shopping on any other day of the year either.

 

[anjackson1003]

Got all caught up on this report. Love the Food and Wine sidebar. My favorite event of the year!

 

[ariane37]

Guess who has not forgotten about her TR? At least I've updated my dining report fairly regularly! I'm going to finish up our quick Nov. trip and get back to our August trip, after I figure out where I left off with that one
​

Tuesday, Nov. 7th

This was our last full day unfortunately, but we had much to do! We went to El Centro for something I can't remember and I took some pictures before we went out to catch our bus:





I think pretty much every area of this resort is so pretty, hope that stays the same after all the refurbs are done. The bus we were catching brought us to a park I normally like to visit on our last park day and on to a ride that I was ecstatic to be catching again this year, Jingle Cruise!!!





Hi Trader SaMta

We did a couple more rides including a favorite:



Said a sad good-bye to the MK and then went to say our final farewells to the F&W Festival.



One thing we did while there was go into the Festival Center again, this time to see the chocolate sculptures. I thought there'd be more than there were but they were so cool! I have pictures of 4 out of 5 on my dining report; here's my favorite (ALL CHOCOLATE!!)



I hate the glare on Beast's nose but how incredible is this??? I cannot imagine the time that goes into this.

Reluctantly we made our way to the buses for the last time; it always sucks leaving your last park, but at least we had a fun night ahead of us! But first some relaxing at the resort where we walked around the lake and I took a few more pictures of CSR:


Somewhat freaky and possibly off-putting to children statue in the playground area:



And some construction. This is between El Centro and Cabanas and we could see the crane from outside our door on the 3rd floor, but honestly it didn't impact us at all. And yeah it's not pretty and when you take the bus and pass by this area, you can see through the fence and it's messy, but it's not a big deal and it has no effect on any amenities nor does it affect the beauty of the resort.



However, it's gonna be there for a LONG time!

I think we had just over an hour before we had to leave to meet our dinner party over at the Grand Floridian. Would we make it in time? Would we make it at all? If you're reading my dining report you already know the answer Our evening continued as fast as I can type!

 

[xlsm]

I didn't notice your shirt before! It's like my F&G one! Cute!
And Kari looks soooo much like the mom of one of my former Odyssey of the Mind/Quiz Bowl kids that I always do a double take when you post her picture

I think pretty much every area of this resort is so pretty

This would be my Mod of choice besides POFQ. I think it's beautiful!! I"m glad you took so many pictures b/c I never see many outside of a room shot here and there, and of course the super cool pool!

 

[ariane37]

November 7th, con't

So, now on to our trip over to the GF. Feel free to skip this part if you've already heard it. Since we were going to have to take a bus and then a monorail, Steve decided we'd take a Lyft instead and after asking me what resort we were going for dinner he ordered the car. And it came. And we met our past-65 year old driver from Bangladesh (nothing at all wrong with being over 65!). He was very friendly and got into a lively conversation with Steve; I was half listening and half on my phone, including texting our dinner companions to let them know we were on our way.

OR WERE WE.........

After about, I don't know, 15 minutes? Steve looked at me and whispered, "um, where are we going?" At which point I looked up and saw this on my right:



Some of you may know- that's not on Disney property! Steve asked our driver where we were going and he excitedly responded, "to the resort you said you were going to, the Grand Resort and Spa!"

Do you think I was excited? Happy? Glad we were in a Lyft car rather than a Disney bus or on the monorail? The answer to all those questions would be a resounding NO. I texted Kari and told her we may or may not be joining her for dinner, depending on what state we ended up in. Because although we straightened out with our driver where we actually wanted to be, he insisted on following his GPS tracker and not changing the destination so we went to the ever popular Grand Resort and Spa. And then, we headed back to Disney property and took the scenic route, right through the very, VERY back of the HS parking lot which of course is necessary to get to the GF, right? OMG I was not impressed (with my husband!) Needless to say we did eventually amke it to our destination and our driver got a HUGE tip. We had an awesome dinner with the @kastoney family; I won't post our pose pic again since I've done that like 2x already but I will say if you don't actually travel down to Disney with friends or extended family, it sure is nice to meet up with people you have lots in common with to share some of your trip with
Oh, and for those of you not familiar with Citricos, while the view isn't that of California Grill or Narcoossee's you CAN see HEA from the restaurant:





I know we took a couple more pictures after dinner but I don't seem to have them. I do have one of the GF gingerbread house, which was in the process of going up:



Luckily we had a most boring Lyft ride home. And that was it! I think it was close to 11 when we got back to CSR so we finished packing up. Our flight the next day wasn't until 11:30, but of course we had to leave by 8:30. We had time for a quick breakfast at Pepper Market and we were off. That's it for our quick F&W trip! I'm so happy we went and very happy we had all our DISMeets. If it works out I'd love to go again next year, but then again I want to go for F&G next year, and MNSSHP.......
Thank you guys for letting me go off topic from August to relive our November trip!

NEXT UP: BACK TO THE SUMMER!

 

[disneyAndi14]

I enjoyed your November trip report! Sorry the Lyft driver took you to the wrong place, once you got there it sounds like a great time.

We are thinking of doing a trip in April before our AP expires, what would you suggest, WL or CSR. CSR is about $400.00 less than WL. Do you think the $400. Savings is worth a moderate instead of Deluxe? I can’t make up my mind. Both would be standard. Was your room standard at CSR? How far where you from buses and main lobby? Thanks for the advice. CSR looks really nice from your report.