TUT TUT...It Looks Like RAIN! A Nikki and Tom August Adventure! BABY PIC pg. 23!!! :)

[ShortStuff]

Woo hoo!! After the shocking start of walking in to an occupied room, it sounds like you are off to a wonderful start!! Awesome that you got a water view room also!!!

I love bringing people to WDW for their first visit! I think it's awesome you brought Brianna along!

Looking forward to more!! :

 

[heatherlekay]

Yay!!! I'm in! Loving it so far! We loved CBR last visit!

 

[netnurse31]

OMG, you must have been shocked when you walked into that room and realized it was occupied! We stayed at CBR last year and although we had a great time I'm not sure we would go back there either. The resort itself is beautiful! The rooms seemed a little worn to me and DD and DD is the one who insisted we try a different resort this year. We are leaving in 3 days and staying at POR which I've heard very good things about. We booked a Royal Guest Room! Hoping that the weather cooperates and we make it down on Tuesday as scheduled.

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

 

[smile4stamps]

I followed you over from your last TR!!

Ugh! I can't believe how often it seems they mess up putting people in occupied rooms! Hopefully since we are checking in after midnight that won't happen to us!!

We stayed at CBR in '09. We liked it there but this time I have us reserved at CSR! I thought trying someplace new would be good! Hoping we enjoy it there!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Woo hoo!! After the shocking start of walking in to an occupied room, it sounds like you are off to a wonderful start!! Awesome that you got a water view room also!!!

I love bringing people to WDW for their first visit! I think it's awesome you brought Brianna along!

Looking forward to more!! :

Thanks for reading! Yeah it was really great to see it again through a newbies eyes!

Yay!!! I'm in! Loving it so far! We loved CBR last visit!

Glad you're here!

OMG, you must have been shocked when you walked into that room and realized it was occupied! We stayed at CBR last year and although we had a great time I'm not sure we would go back there either. The resort itself is beautiful! The rooms seemed a little worn to me and DD and DD is the one who insisted we try a different resort this year. We are leaving in 3 days and staying at POR which I've heard very good things about. We booked a Royal Guest Room! Hoping that the weather cooperates and we make it down on Tuesday as scheduled.

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

I really was shocked!

Oh POR is our favorite and we haven't even been since the refurb. Totally agree about the room being a little dingy and the beds were NOT comfortable. They are in need of a refurb for SURE!

I followed you over from your last TR!!

Ugh! I can't believe how often it seems they mess up putting people in occupied rooms! Hopefully since we are checking in after midnight that won't happen to us!!

We stayed at CBR in '09. We liked it there but this time I have us reserved at CSR! I thought trying someplace new would be good! Hoping we enjoy it there!

I'm sure it won't happen since you are checking in after midnight! We completely expected our room to NOT be ready so early in the morning but we did NOT expect that! I can't wait to hear how you like CSR. I kind of want to try that one out at some point.

 

[ronnmel]

Even though I can see the pictures on facebook, I want to hear the story that goes with them.

 

[mouseketeer70]

Hello Nikki! This trip sounds fun! It's always exciting taking newbies although I agree it is different. I'm always afraid I'm going to overwhelm them! Or they won't like it (HORRORS!).
Oh, and I wouldn't have taken the later flight either. Time is previous at Disney!

 

[Cinderella909]

Yea!!! A new trip report! Too bad about the room, but sounds like everything worked out well.... and off to a great start! Love it when you recognize someone. In July, we recognized our favorite photopass photographer and she was delighted that we remembered. We even took a picture with her!

Can't wait to read more! Karen

 

[LifeIsDis]

I am here and can't wait to hear about your trip!

I will get caught up in the morning

 

[Deemarch]

Love your trip reports!

 

[Nermel9]

Hi Nikki, I'm here! I cheated, I looked at all of your FB pictures, but from those and your updates while you were there, I know this is going to be an awesome TR!

How early was your flight? OMG I can't believe you got to CBR so early in the morning! That's nice that your room was ready, but ew, I can't believe it was occupied! That's like when we stayed in the WL last year and there was luggage in our room that wasn't ours!

Yay, I'm glad you got to see your favorite CM from the Adventurers Club! I wish I went there, I just started going to Disney with Brandon when Pleasure Island closed, and obviously, my parents never brought my sister and I there when we went as kids! I really wish they would reopen some of those clubs, it would be nice to have some adult places in Disney again!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Even though I can see the pictures on facebook, I want to hear the story that goes with them.

Haha! Yes, you need the stories behind them!

Hello Nikki! This trip sounds fun! It's always exciting taking newbies although I agree it is different. I'm always afraid I'm going to overwhelm them! Or they won't like it (HORRORS!).
Oh, and I wouldn't have taken the later flight either. Time is previous at Disney!

Yes it was definitely a different experience but a lot of fun!

Yea!!! A new trip report! Too bad about the room, but sounds like everything worked out well.... and off to a great start! Love it when you recognize someone. In July, we recognized our favorite photopass photographer and she was delighted that we remembered. We even took a picture with her!

Can't wait to read more! Karen

That's great! I saw a photopass photographer that we had an encounter with in October. We also saw the CM that gave Tom the free ice cream because of his tee shirt in February! It is very cool to have those encounters.

I am here and can't wait to hear about your trip!

I will get caught up in the morning

Yay!!

Love your trip reports!

Thanks! Glad you're here!

Hi Nikki, I'm here! I cheated, I looked at all of your FB pictures, but from those and your updates while you were there, I know this is going to be an awesome TR!

How early was your flight? OMG I can't believe you got to CBR so early in the morning! That's nice that your room was ready, but ew, I can't believe it was occupied! That's like when we stayed in the WL last year and there was luggage in our room that wasn't ours!

Yay, I'm glad you got to see your favorite CM from the Adventurers Club! I wish I went there, I just started going to Disney with Brandon when Pleasure Island closed, and obviously, my parents never brought my sister and I there when we went as kids! I really wish they would reopen some of those clubs, it would be nice to have some adult places in Disney again!

Can't wait to read more!

Haha! That's okay, I would've cheated too. Our flight was at 6am! It was great to be there so early. Wow, someone else's luggage?! Actually, I was afraid that our luggage would've been delivered to the original room we were assigned and that someone else would get our bags. Luckily, that did not happen.

I love how you said "obviously your parents didn't take you there" because my parents did!! I had been going there since I was a kid! Pleasure Island used to be so different back then. I think only Mannequins you had to be over 21 to go into. All the other clubs you could go in as long as you with an adult. Actually, you couldn't even enter the island itself unless you were over 18 or with an adult. You used to need a ticket JUST to get on the island. Then they changed it and opened the island and a ticket to get into the clubs - which was the beginning of the demise of the island. UGH! Don't get me started, I could go on and on!!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Day 1 - Thursday August 16

After my awesome encounter with my favorite Adventurer, I was definitely feeling the Disney spirit! We asked Bri what she wanted her first ride to be and she decided on Haunted Mansion. Sounds good!!

Tom suggested we walk through the castle and head there through Fantasyland.

As we came out of the other side of the castle, I was amazed at the progress that had been made on New Fantasyland since the last time we saw it in February. They put up an entrance (still behind the walls but you can see it) that looks like an extension of the castle. It's going to be so awesome! It was great to see the guys working on it.

I took a similar picture later in the week of that exact spire and you can even see in just a few days how much had been done. See where the guy is standing how it's all that teal color and even some open space? By the end of the week, the guy was painting "bricks" in that spot.

Haunted Mansion posted a 10 minute wait, I think but it went very quickly. We went through the graveyard line and Bri needed to be pushed along because she wanted to stop and look at everything!! She rode with Tom and I rode solo. We all loved it!

After our ride, we were all very hungry. It was only about 11 but Columbia Harbor House was ringing their lunch bell. Tom wanted to eat there but I didn't really like anything on the menu so we all went to Pecos Bill instead, where they were also ringing the lunch bell.

It was pretty crowded and it took Bri a minute to figure out how the lines work. A LOT of people don't know how the lines work - ya know, on both sides. People all line up on one side and then I swoop in on the other side and they wonder why I'm getting served first! Suckas! Anyway, we all got burgers.

The burgers were not delicious. Very "hot lunch" like. I do love the fixins bar though because a pile of pickles makes every burger better and I especially love the cheese sauce for my french fries. YUM!

It was pretty crowded in there too, for being so early. Tom went to find a seat while I got the food and it took me a while to find him. He actually had to go ALL the way to the other side, closer to Tortuga Tavern to find a table.

Since we were right there, we decided our next ride would be Pirates. Surprisingly, there was a line weaving outside of the building and the posted wait time was 20 minutes.

After Pirates we went to get a FP for Big Thunder Mountain. If you are friends with me on FB, this was the point where I went on a rant about how stupid people are! The standby line had a posted wait time of 60 minutes. The FP return time was only 35 minutes from that moment! Why on earth would you wait on a 60 minute line when you can get a FP, hang out doing something else for just 35 minutes and then ride with no wait!? THINK PEOPLE!!

Since we had some time to kill, we wandered over to Tomorrowland and rode the TTA. It was really humid that day. Not super hot temperature wise, but the humidity was out of control! Even a spin on the TTA didn't seem to cool us off.

We had about 10 minutes until our FP time so instead of just going back to BTMRR, I thought we should hang around until we were able to get another FP. So we did a little window shopping in Merchant of Venus then when it was time, I made a run to Space Mountain with all our passes to get some FPs.

After that, we went back to ride Big Thunder. It was great but it was at that point we all started to realize how gross and tired we felt. None of us had showered that morning and we had been up since 4am.


Now, it just so happened that I had family that was in Disney World the same time and they were also in the MK that day. I was texting back and forth with my cousin to see if we were ever in a spot where we could meet and say hello.

We were joking with Bri for a while that she had to ride Small World so we decided that would be our last stop before heading out.

While we were in line for Small World my cousin texted that they all just got in line too. Great!

After the ride, we made a bathroom stop and then headed back to the exit to see if we could meet up with my family. It was my dad's brother - Uncle Bob and Aunt Claudette, their daughter (my cousin) Kim, her husband Brian and their two kids, Chris and Samantha. Their son (my cousin) Peter, his wife Jill and their baby, Julia.

After about just a minute, I spotted them all. My cousin Peter and his wife had a baby in November who I had never met so I was so happy to see her! Immediately, she practically jumped out of Peter's arms into mine and everyone was pretty surprised until we realized, she was after my sparkly ears!!

After a little, "hello, how's your trip, isn't it hot, etc" it was time to leave the MK.

We were going to go back through the castle but it was closed off so we went to the left and passed by the Merida meet and greet. Loooong line! The parade was going on (which helps me know that it was around 3!) so it was a bit of a struggle to make our way down the sidewalk of Main Street. When we got to the bottom hub, there was hardly anyone there so we stopped for a minute to catch the end of the parade.

We exited and found our bus back to CBR.


(So sorry for the lack of pictures! I promise it picks up as the trip goes on. It really was just awkward to have another traveler with us, we were not in our normal picture-taking groove!)

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Day 1 - Thursday August 16

It felt so great to get back to the room and shower and lay down for a few minutes! I was very happy to find our luggage there waiting for us. I was worried that it would be delivered to our originally assigned room so that was a relief.

We all quickly decided that it was too early to call it a night and how about we go to Downtown Disney and eat at Raglan Road! I was very happy with this decision because I had wanted to try to squeeze a Raglan Road meal in at some point during the trip so doing it the first day was fantastic! We all showered and Bri wanted to take a nap so I went onto my Mobile Magic app and made a reservation right there for 7pm!! Perfect!

Since we had some time to kill, Tom and I decided to hit up the Banana Cabana for a much needed drink while Bri slept.

We talked a lot about how awkward the day was with an additional traveler that we were sort of responsible for. I was also thrilled that my throat seemed to be handling this frozen drink very well! If you remember from my previous TR, I was having trouble swallowing frozen drinks without it being extremely painful and I was worried what kind of an effect that would have on my Disney drinking!

At around 5:30 I'd say, we went back to the room to get Bri up so we could head to DTD.

We went in a few stores but it was really crowded. We then headed to PI and checked into Raglan Road. We had to wait quite a while, even though we had a reservation. There's really no place to sit and wait so it was pretty uncomfortable. My lower back started hurting at this point just from standing so much and didn't stop pretty much the whole rest of the trip - unless I was sitting down. It was fine once I was sitting down and I could bend it the other way.

Anyway, we were eventually called and had a strange seat at a high table with other people. There was some sort of separator though so we weren't actually eating with them.

Last time we ate there, I had something called "drunk chicken" from the appetizer menu and it wasn't there!! I asked about it and she said they change the menu every once in a while and that had been on it forever and was just taken off. Boo!

So after getting a few beers, I ordered a ceasar salad with chicken.

Hail Caesar - Classic caesar salad with prosciutto crisps, grape tomatoes, croutons and shaved parmesan. $12: Add chicken or shrimp for $5

Tom got bangers and mash.

Bangers and Booz - Guinness and onion bangers on mash, topped with caramelized onions and beef stew $18

And Bri got an appetizer sampler.

*Appetiser D'Lirrah for Two - our Dalkey Duo, Scallop Forest, Heaven on Earth, and Drunk Chicken Skewers $26

That description isn't totally accurate because the chicken skewers are no longer on the menu - instead it was chicken wings I think.

Dalkey Duo was battered sausages and heaven on earth was baby back ribs.


We all really enjoyed our meals and the atmosphere. Bri loved the band so much that she bought one of their CDs from the gift shop when we left.

We then strolled through PI, which don't get me started! But I did of course take the obligatory picture of the Adventurer's Club. So sad.

Then we walked to the West Side just to pop into the Vinylmation store for a minute and made our way to the PI bus stop.

And that was it. That was Day 1. We took a total of about 20-ish pictures. Weird! But don't worry, like I said, there's WAAAAY more to come!!

 

[Mindy5767]

I'm here!! So glad you started, but that probably mean I should get started considering I went the week before you...but as usual, I am having trouble beginning. I didn't take any notes... did you? or did you start writing during your trip? I just have the time-stamps on my pictures to tell me where we were at any given time.

You must really have loved the adventurer's club to still pine for it so! I wish I'd ever gotten to any of the clubs. By the time I knew anything about what Disney had past the parks and was a regular vacationer it was already shut down. It probably was there during our first family trips... 2000, 2005 and 2007, but we had little kids with us, and I don't even remember knowing anything about it. Now I know I missed something great

Oh yeah... another thing I thought of when you were talking about the room being occupied. What if someone comes into YOUR room by accident and you don't even know about it... maybe it could be prevented if you make a door magnet like people do for DCL. It could say "Welcome to the Glinski's Vacation Home" or something like that. I have a graphic someone made for me from a Thanksgiving DIS board planning thread from a few years ago...it has a Lime green Mickey head turned into a Turkey and says Disboard Turkey's. I think Amber made it. Anyway, I put it in a magnetic plastic thing on my door. Maybe I'll do this for every trip. At least if someone is approaching your door..it says "occupied".

 

[LifeIsDis]

Wow, I can’t believe how early you were on the ME and to Caribbean Beach!

Walking into a room that was being occupied must have not been a pleasant surprise!

Ohmygod your cousin’s baby is SOOO CUTE.

I have never tried Raglan Road but I do now since your food looks so good!

 

[jenseib]

I am so sad you didn't like Pecos burgers. I ate there last March and it was definitely the best burger I have ever had on disney property. You must've hit a bad day.
How fun to meet up with some family. I wondered who the baby was in the pictures I had seen on facebook.

Dinner looked delicious

 

[OThopeful35]

Your little cousin was adorable! She wanted those ears Great TR

 

[smile4stamps]

I wish I was your FB friend while you were there! I love to follow people as they are in the parks! Makes me feel like I am there!!

Too funny that the baby went right for you because of your ears! We all love sparkly things!

Wo-Hoo on the frozen beverage not causing pain!

 

[Reberella]

I'm following along! Sounds great so far, can't wait to hear more!

p.s. i sent you a PM