Who knew choking each other would earn us fastpasses?

[mickeystoontown]

Let's continue on shall we.......................

The bridge that crosses over the lake, through the island and on to Old Port Royale:

Well, hello there my fine feathered friends. Didn't I just see you a couple of days ago? Don't blame you one bit for making your home right there. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't mind joining ya:

Looking back at the island:

The first part of the wooded walkway:

When I got to the next wooden/wooded section, I saw this:

They were doing refurbishment on this section which meant that we wouldn't be able to rent a surrey bike and take a spin around the resort. That was one of the things that we were really looking forward to doing with Mama. I made a mental note to ask a castmember when it would be reopened. We had another "down day" planned and I hoped that it would be open by then.

I took a little detour around the closed off pathway:

I cut through the village of Barbados and through the parking lot:

I saw this as I was about to cross the road to the Custom House:

Continued in next post

 

[Bethislucy]

Yay for the extra day. We've tacked on a extra day to the end of our stay. We are also going to add one to the begining, but my aunt doesn't know that. She was worried she woulnd't want to do anythig but rest the first day. So we aren't stopping 2 hours out like she thinks we are. She won't know till we get closer that we are going on to Disney property. I think we are going to take her to Movies for that night and the rest or our stay will be at pop, unless they come out with a deal.


Oh I need to share this with you (non disney) but thought you would enjoy it. We had talked before about me working at the Court House in the real est part of the clerks office, well I am going back to school for paraleagle. My boss and the lady under her are both talking about leaving in a few years and I'm hoping that will give me a edge for one of those jobs.


Ok now back to read the update.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I made it to the nice cool Custom House in no time at all even though I had stopped quite a bit to take pictures. I hopped into the Concierge line and waited behind just one couple who were finishing up. I was called to the desk and told the castmember that I was there to pick up our Hoop Dee Doo Review tickets as well as my mother's. I handed over the cards and the tickets were printed in just a few minutes.

I almost forgot to ask when the promenade would be reopened but remembered at the last minute. Unfortunately, he didn't know but said I could stop at the marina to ask. I thanked him and set back out into the Florida sunshine.

I cut through Barbados again and decided to take a left towards Martinique so that I could take pictures of the entire resort (again):

I decided I wouldn't stop at the marina right then but would wait until later to ask about the promenade. I guess I didn't take any pictures of Old Port Royale or of the main pool during this walking tour. I walked over the bridge to the island:

You can see from the picture above that the shrubbery was pretty small. We saw several landscapers removing the existing plants and replacing them with all new ones. It was a bit of a shame because I had gone on and on to Mama how pretty and big the landscaping was before we arrived. Oh well, we'll get to see how much it's grown when we go back in May.

I reached the next section of the bridge and had to take another picture, of course:

And, one more picture before arriving back at our building:

When I got back to our building, I stopped at Mama's room first to give her her Hoop Dee Doo Review ticket and her card back. She had gotten dressed, had talked to my older sister, her cousin and her sister. She had burned up the phone lines while I was gone and I wasn't gone very long either.

Up next: A trip to Downtown Disney

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hi Lisa!!

I've gotten so behind again. But...I wanted to pop in and say Hi!I also saw that you got a new ticker!! That's so exciting to be able to try out another resort plus you get to stick with your favorite as well. The pictures that I have seen of Port Orleans Riverside look beautiful. I love the fact you can take a boat over to DTD! It's high on the list of resorts we would like to try as well.

I hope you had a nice holiday!! I'll be back to catch up on your TR really soon...I promise!!

I was thinking about you the other day. How is the family? I bet the boys have grown a foot since you posted in your trip report.

Do you have any Disney plans in the works?

I am pretty excited about trying a new resort. I don't know if I'd be as excited if we had changed for the entire trip though. I'd be more nervous than excited.

Yay for the extra day. We've tacked on a extra day to the end of our stay. We are also going to add one to the begining, but my aunt doesn't know that. She was worried she woulnd't want to do anythig but rest the first day. So we aren't stopping 2 hours out like she thinks we are. She won't know till we get closer that we are going on to Disney property. I think we are going to take her to Movies for that night and the rest or our stay will be at pop, unless they come out with a deal.


Oh I need to share this with you (non disney) but thought you would enjoy it. We had talked before about me working at the Court House in the real est part of the clerks office, well I am going back to school for paraleagle. My boss and the lady under her are both talking about leaving in a few years and I'm hoping that will give me a edge for one of those jobs.


Ok now back to read the update.

Congrats on adding more days too! I know your aunt is going to be so surprised that you're going to have some time onsite to rest and relax before hitting the parks.

Yay for going back to school! I often say I want to be something else when I grow up but I have too many years of legal work under my belt to start something new.

I sure hope that you get one of the other ladies' jobs when they leave. Several of our ladies in the Clerk's office were able to retire well before retirement age because they have such good benefits and retirement plans there.

 

[Kelrykengab]

That is exciting that you are trying another resort! For us, staying at a new place is half the fun of WDW! And so far, I love them all .

 

[natebenma]

Thanks for the gorgeous photo tour of the resort. Beautiful!!!

So what time is it that there are ZERO people in your photos? I think I saw one dog walker and a couple of peole on a beach, but other than that it looks like the place is desserted!

 

[Bridora]

Adding another day to vacation? Awesome! I think you enjoy Port Orleans Riverside. We stayed there in 2008. I thought the resort grounds were beautiful! (And you know we really love Caribbean Beach, too!) It wasn't a bad walk over to POFQ. We wandered around there one day and also went there to use to pool and slide we'd heard great things about. The kids liked it, but ended up liking the slide at Riverside better!

I loved your walking tour to the Custom House. Caribbean Beach was our 1st moderate and I just loved it there! Looking at all your pictures brings back great great memories!

I just booked our ADRs today (late, I know!) I'm getting so excited!

 

[ddstratton]

I really enjoyed that tour around the Caribbean Beach!!! We're going back for my 40th, in October. We've stayed at the CBR once before, in October 2008, but we never did get to exploring the whole resort. That will be rectified this time around.

We stayed at POFQ in May 2010, and really enjoyed it. I think you'll like POR. It's not the same as CBR, but it's a nice resort on it's own. Woo Hoo for an extra day!!!

 

[Bethislucy]

I was thinking about you the other day. How is the family? I bet the boys have grown a foot since you posted in your trip report.

Do you have any Disney plans in the works?

I am pretty excited about trying a new resort. I don't know if I'd be as excited if we had changed for the entire trip though. I'd be more nervous than excited.



Congrats on adding more days too! I know your aunt is going to be so surprised that you're going to have some time onsite to rest and relax before hitting the parks.

Yay for going back to school! I often say I want to be something else when I grow up but I have too many years of legal work under my belt to start something new.

I sure hope that you get one of the other ladies' jobs when they leave. Several of our ladies in the Clerk's office were able to retire well before retirement age because they have such good benefits and retirement plans there.

Yea we have a nice one here too. You can retire after 28 years. Which is kind of cool in away because in June I will have been here 10 years and I will only be 31. Not that I'll get to because I haven't even started a family yet but it's nice to know just the same.

I hope she enjoys it. This will be her very 1st trip to Disney so she's already escited.

 

[Bethislucy]

One day I'm going to stay at CBR. You make me want too even more with the picturs, the plan was the next time we went we were going to stay but my aunt couldn't go if we stayed their so we picked Pop for this coming trip. Which it's new to us too. But 1 day I am staying at CBR.

 

[deedeew80]

Thanks for the insight of going in May, Lisa! Still unsure about it all though! We are even thinking of April. I don't know. This is a total last minute thing! Things have been crazy around here anymore & we just want to get away. Haven't been on a vacation since our Honeymoon in 2008! We really need it & don't want to wait till the Fall like we were going to. It just seems so far away. But we have to crunch some numbers & all that good stuff to see what we can do! I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but also not trying to get my hopes up too much!

Glad to hear you decided on Port Orleans Riverside! On our honeymoon, DH and I did a carriage ride throughout Riverside and it was so pretty! I always say I want to try it one time, but you know how it is trying to part with CBR! Maybe one day!

 

[mickeystoontown]

That is exciting that you are trying another resort! For us, staying at a new place is half the fun of WDW! And so far, I love them all .

I've always wanted to try something new but then I'd chicken out.

Thanks for the gorgeous photo tour of the resort. Beautiful!!!

So what time is it that there are ZERO people in your photos? I think I saw one dog walker and a couple of peole on a beach, but other than that it looks like the place is desserted!

The CBR provides so many picture taking opportunities because it's so pretty. I don't know where everybody was that day. I remember it being mid to late morning so maybe everybody was at the parks.

Adding another day to vacation? Awesome! I think you enjoy Port Orleans Riverside. We stayed there in 2008. I thought the resort grounds were beautiful! (And you know we really love Caribbean Beach, too!) It wasn't a bad walk over to POFQ. We wandered around there one day and also went there to use to pool and slide we'd heard great things about. The kids liked it, but ended up liking the slide at Riverside better!

I loved your walking tour to the Custom House. Caribbean Beach was our 1st moderate and I just loved it there! Looking at all your pictures brings back great great memories!

I just booked our ADRs today (late, I know!) I'm getting so excited!

I am so happy that we've decided to add another day. If I could get away with two whole weeks I would!

We have always hesitated on booking a stay at Port Orleans because we are afraid it will feel too much like home....Louisiana, that is. Hopefully, we won't be disappointed.

So the walk from Riverside to French Quarter wasn't bad? I'm glad to hear that.

Let me know if you start a pre-trip report. I can't seem to get this darned report finished up so I can move on to one.

 

[charming23]

Great Updates!! I love the Luau and CBR pics. Mom was drolling over the food pics from the luau and has stated that when we go again she is going, lol.

Can not wait to hear more and I hope Mama got her voice back.

 

[MissLiz]

Great pics of CBR, Lisa!!! I love that resort.

We haven't stayed there in a few years, but the Aruba beach will always hold a special place in my heart. My DH proposed on our first trip there as we relaxed in a hammock.




Side note: We just booked for September! Yay! We decided against May again because DD has a week break in Sept and we are already going on a trip in April.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I really enjoyed that tour around the Caribbean Beach!!! We're going back for my 40th, in October. We've stayed at the CBR once before, in October 2008, but we never did get to exploring the whole resort. That will be rectified this time around.

We stayed at POFQ in May 2010, and really enjoyed it. I think you'll like POR. It's not the same as CBR, but it's a nice resort on it's own. Woo Hoo for an extra day!!!

Definitely build some time to explore the resort. It's so pretty! If you have the time, you should rent a surrey bike and take a spin around the promenade. We usually rent one for 30 minutes and are able to make two loops around.

I can't remember.....was the new pool there when you last visited the CBR? If not, then you're in for a treat.

I told my husband that I needed to go back and look at your resort pictures again. While we will be staying at Riverside, I am sure we'll want to walk over to the French Quarter and have a look around.

Yea we have a nice one here too. You can retire after 28 years. Which is kind of cool in away because in June I will have been here 10 years and I will only be 31. Not that I'll get to because I haven't even started a family yet but it's nice to know just the same.

I hope she enjoys it. This will be her very 1st trip to Disney so she's already escited.

One day I'm going to stay at CBR. You make me want too even more with the picturs, the plan was the next time we went we were going to stay but my aunt couldn't go if we stayed their so we picked Pop for this coming trip. Which it's new to us too. But 1 day I am staying at CBR.

The Clerk of Court here is a royal pain in the behind and everybody who works in the Clerk's office lives in fear of him. No wonder a lot of the ladies retire early! Seriously though, it's a nice job with great benefits! I wish you a lot of luck.

We have waivered back and forth about staying in a value for many years now. John just doesn't like the whole one bus stop/no cover situation. I know that's a strange thing to worry about but that's his number one drawback. Now, if we hadn't stayed in a moderate before and started out with a value, then we wouldn't have known any better.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Great Updates!! I love the Luau and CBR pics. Mom was drolling over the food pics from the luau and has stated that when we go again she is going, lol.

Can not wait to hear more and I hope Mama got her voice back.

Have you ever been to the luau? If not, you should add it to your list of "things to do while at Disney". I wouldn't go every year simply because it's pretty expensive out of pocket and requires two table service credits on the dining plan. The food is excellent and, while the show is a little corny at times, it's great.

Great pics of CBR, Lisa!!! I love that resort.

We haven't stayed there in a few years, but the Aruba beach will always hold a special place in my heart. My DH proposed on our first trip there as we relaxed in a hammock.




Side note: We just booked for September! Yay! We decided against May again because DD has a week break in Sept and we are already going on a trip in April.

Awwwww! How sweet! No wonder the Aruba beach is a special place. I'm gonna tell John he needs to repropose to me next visit.

I forgot to look and see if you've got a ticker. Where are you staying?

 

[MissLiz]

I don't have a ticker yet. I just finally talked DH into going.

We are going to splurge and stay at CR since the deal we made was that if we went this September, we wouldn't go in 2012.

 

[mickeystoontown]

After I had gotten the Hoop Dee Dee Review tickets and checked on Mama, we decided that a trip to Downtown Disney was in order. John and Hunter finished getting ready since they were slacking in the getting dressed department that morning while I chatted with Mama. She still insisted that she didn't feel as bad as she sounded. She did want to see if she could find some peppermint or other kind of mints to keep her throat from feeling so scratchy.

Once we were all ready, we walked down to the bus stop where we experienced the longest wait of our trip....20 minutes for a DTD bus.

While we were waiting, Lacey called. I walked over to the side of the bus stop so I wasn't disturbing the other people waiting for a bus.

Lacey had good news and she had bad news. I hate it when a conversation starts that way. While Jesse hadn't formally proposed to her (John never formally proposed to me either....just asked me one day if I wanted to get married.....such the romantic! NOT!), they had discussed getting married months before and now they were talking details. Like, where they were going to get married, who was going to marry them, etc.

We chatted about the good news for a little while but, in the back of my mind, I wanted to tell her to give me the bad news. But, I didn't want to spoil her fun of wedding talk.

Finally, she gave me the bad news. She and some of the other Mission students had traveled to South Carolina to see the SC Mission students graduate from the Mission. They had all met at the church and then traveled in one or two vehicles. While they were gone, someone had broken into Lacey's Jeep and had stolen her CD player, her speakers and even the car battery. They had trouble getting the battery out, so the cut some of the hoses, wiring and cables just to get it out. Crap! I knew the bad news was going to be bad!

There was more good news though! Mr. Rick, a wonderful gentleman at the church was already starting to repair the damage underneath the hood and was working on getting her a new battery. Thank You God for Mr. Rick!

I told Lacey to tell Mr. Rick that I would call the bank and send money to her if he'd let me know how much to send. She said that she had already told Mr. Rick that and he had refused any money. Again, Thank You God for Mr. Rick!

Just as we were finishing up the conversation, the DTD bus pulled up and I was actually thankful that we had a longer than normal wait so I could chat with Lacey. I told Lacey that I'd have her daddy call her a little later and that I wasn't going to say anything to Mama yet because she'd be worried to death.

Once we were on the bus, I filled everybody in on the good part of the conversation with Lacey and left out the bad. I'd tell John the "bad" later on when we were out of earshot of Mama.

The bus ride to DTD wasn't too long so we were soon being let off at the DTD Marketplace bus stop. Our first picture was of Hunter with the Christmas setting:

Our first store to visit was the Christmas store. Mama was on the lookout for a wooden ornament to put on her tree. Many years ago, she started collecting wooden ornaments and, now, everywhere she goes, she looks for one. Some pictures I took inside the store:

I could have sworn I took more pictures but I can't find them right now and they aren't on photobucket so.......

We found a few things in the store. I found a pretty gold bracelet that I just had to have. Mama found a new Christmas ornament. Not a wooden one but one that looked like wood.

Our next stop was in Mickey Mart. I found all sorts of goodies in there! I remember some of the items I bought were the black totes that were on sale for $7, a Mickey Indiana Jones baseball for Hunter and a couple of cookie cutters for my Dis friends. I know that we bought a few more items but I don't remember what they are right now. I do remember that we had two big bags and my total was a little more than $50.00! Gotta love Mickey Mart!

Hunter was just itching to get over to Once Upon a Toy to build a new lightsaber. Ya'll already know I am not a Star Wars fan and know nothing about it but I do know that lightsabers are something every little boy just has to have. So, we set off for Once Upon A Toy:

I don't think you can see it in the above picture but there was a vendor to the left who was selling all sorts of little Disney souvies. I picked up a Queen of Hearts button (not the kind you wear but a big one that you sit on your desk that looks like a paperweight but is a push button) that yelled "Off with your head!" and a Scar button that said "I'm surrounded by idiots!". They were only $5.00 each so I bought one of each for my boss. He's always muttering something similar under his breath. Now, he could just push a button and somebody would say it outloud for him.

We made it over to Once Upon A Toy and Hunter and John immediately went to the lightsaber building station. I, of course, took pictures:

By the time Mama and I walked over to see how Hunter was doing, he was finished and ready to check out. Man, that was fast!

Up next was a visit to World of Disney. I absolutely love that store. I could wander around in it for hours and hours and not get enough of it. Since I was too busy shopping, I didn't take too many pictures.

I have no idea how long we stayed in World of Disney. I know that, at a couple of points in time, we were all separated from one another. Now, I know going in, that John, Hunter and I will be separated. Hunter knows to stick with one of us. Mama, however, didn't know that Hunter knew that and I think she was watching for him the entire time. I finally convinced her that Hunter knew the drill and was definitely with John since he wasn't with me or her.

I bought my niece's Christmas present while in the store...a pretty blue and white sugar and creamer set. I bought a necklace and earrings and Mama bought a ring.

After our shopping was done, we were all starving. It was still a long time until our Planet Hollywood ADR and we didn't want to wait. I suggested we see how long we would have to wait on a table at T-Rex. I figured there was no chance in heck that we'd be able to get in but it was worth a shot.

I got to the podium and asked how long it would be if we waited on a table and they said "maybe 10 minutes". I gave them my name and we waited. The Disney gods were shining down on us, that's for sure. We maaaay have waited 10 minutes before our name was called. We were shown to the Ice Cave and given menus.

Hunter already knew what he wanted so I gave him the camera so he could wander around and take pictures:

**Continued in next post

 

[mickeystoontown]

Looks like I'll have to finish up T-Rex and Downtown Disney later. The boss just called. He's in depositions and needs me to make a bunch of copies for him. Duty calls!

 

[brookelizabeth]

I as a few updates behind - I really enjoyed all your pictures of the luau. The food looks really tasty and your description has me putting that on our To Do list!

I sure hope Mama continues to feel alright and her voice comes back!

Wonderful, wonderful pictures of the resort!!! Soooooo pretty. I think that will have to be on the "resort hopping" list, we've never been there other than in a bus to drop off on ME. I want to see all the beauty myself!

Can you believe I've never been in Mickey Mart? I always forget about it! I gotta check it out next time.

Looking forward to hearing all about T-Rex!