Trip Reports

Time of Year: Fall
Travel Method: Personal Car
Resort: CBR
Accommodations
Ages Represented in Group: Pre-School, Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran, Frequent
Comments: Daniel and his wife and daughter (age 4) enjoyed a week long trip in October. Daniel's report is nicely detailed, and he has laced the report with several tips that are helpful to everyone that is planning a trip. During the course of their visit, the Swift's enjoyed Mickey’s not-so-scary Halloween Party and Fantasmic!


Introduction:

Who: Daniel (trip writer, this go round), Angie, the mom, and Ashley, the 4 year old

When: October 23-30

Where: Caribbean Beach Resort at WDW

How: Personal car

Why: This was a spur of the moment trip that we did not decide to take until early September. We had been to WDW and stayed at the Coronado Springs resort in May of 98 with my wife’s parents and aunt. This trip was for the three of us alone. As usual, we picked a time when reservations were hard to come by. A golf classic was happening and I had to call and call and call to finally get 6 nights in the same resort. Resort hopping is ok for some, but I refuse to do it. When I unpack, I don’t expect to pack again until time to checkout and go home. = )

Experience: Angie, first time in 82 for a school chorus trip, two family trips, our honeymoon in ’91, and 5 subsequent trips for a total of 9 trips. Daniel, first time for our honeymoon in ’91 and 5 subsequent trips for a total of 6. Ashley, first trip when she was 8 months old and every year after that for a total of 5. Thus, this would be Angie’s 10th, my 7th, and Ash’s 6th.

Background: Since I am not sure of the particulars of Angie’s prior trips before our honeymoon, I will limit background to our honeymoon and later. Our honeymoon trip, we stayed in Orlando on International Drive. We had still not discovered the ease and convenience of staying onsite. Besides, the options weren’t as many. Dixie Landings and Port Orleans were just opening up that year. We only visited MK for two days and Epcot for one. Our next trip was with Ashley as an 8 month old in 1994. We stayed right outside the park still not knowing the benefits of staying onsite. In 1995, we finally stayed at the All Star Music in the Jazz building and LOVED it. To me, it is worth the extra money to simply be able to park and let WDW transport you everywhere. After this, we were hooked. In 1996, we switched from October trips to April and stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort. Angie was more impressed with this one than I was. (I explain why when I review the Caribbean Beach from the current trip.) In April 1997, it was back to the All-Star Music in the Broadway building. Our room overlooked the make believe Broadway street that ends in the little version of Central Park. I liked this one best of all. It was soooo quiet and secluded. In April 1998, it was Coronado Springs. We had adjoining rooms with the in-laws. Coronado Springs is very nice. I liked it much more than Caribbean Beach. (More on this later too.)

The Trip:

DAY 1 - Friday, October 23, 4am

Everyone up, bathed, and car loaded. We pull out of the driveway at 4:53am. Ashley asleep, I am driving, and Angie already hungry for breakfast. Stop to fill the tank up before we hit the interstate. Angie decides she wants to drive, so I agree and don’t waste any time going back to sleep.

7:15am – Hunger finally overtakes Angie and she pulls into a Cracker Barrel outside of Asheville, NC. Ash and I awaken and we have breakfast. Back on the road at 8:30am. Angie continues wanting to drive, and who am I to argue? We stop a few times for gas and such. Ash naps off and on, and I sleep like a baby. We finally swap drivers somewhere in SC. Drive on to Kingsland, Ga.

3:00pm – Kignsland, Ga. We decide to stop here for the night. We use to do the 11 hour drive in 1 shot, but with a four year old wanting to know every 5 minutes "are we there yet" or" how much farther" we find it easier to stop. We stopped here last year and stayed at a Country Inn and Suites. We decided to do the same. With a coupon we picked up at the Georgia Welcome Center, we got the room for 51.90 (tax included). This hotel is only a year old and very, very nice for the money. The lobby is made to look like the interior of a farmhouse complete with roaring fire. We checked in, Ash and I headed to the pool, Ang headed for the exercise room. We had the pool all to ourselves for about an hour. We went back to the room, got ready and headed out for dinner. Decided to let Ash pick. Guess where she wanted to eat? McDonalds (Ack). They had a huge indoor playland so it wasn’t a bad ideal afterall. Ash got to burn off some energy. Back to the room, everyone asleep by 8. Find out a tropical storm is brewing in the Caribbean. Have to keep an eye on that. Continental breakfast at the hotel (the best continental breakfast I have ever had by the way) and on the road by 9:30am.

TIP – If you plan on driving and stopping along the way to spend a night, pack an overnight bag with only the items you need for one night. This way, you need not unpack the entire car and repack it the next morning. Don’t forget to include swimsuits, health and beauty aid products, and pajamas. Also, take your cameras and camcorders in with you.

We discovered that "someone" had forgotten several items when packing at home, such as a hairbrush and shampoo, so we go on a Wal Mart hunt but finally settle on a CVS Pharmacy to purchase the items.

9:50am: Stop at the Florida Welcome Center for some free orange juice and a picture (a tradition of ours dating from our honeymoon.) Pick up some brochures and hit the road.

12:30pm: Stopped on I-4 outside Orlando for lunch at, you guessed it, Cracker Barrel. We hit the lunch crowd and had to wait 45 minutes to be seated. Left at 2:00pm. Next stop Caribbean Beach.

3:00pm: Arrive at the Caribbean Beach to face a very long, very slow moving check-in line. Once we got to the counter, we got the building we had requested. Martinique 24. Room 2417, corner room facing pool. Our last stay at Caribbean Beach found us in the Aruba section, on the backside of the building, overlooking a highway hidden by some foliage. Aruba was far away from everything! I made the mistake of trying to hike back to the room in Aruba from the food court in Old Port Royal with food and a tired two year old. I still have nightmares. In relation, Martinique 24 was perfect. We were close to a bus stop (Martinique 25 and 26 were a little closer), right outside the quiet pool, and 2 buildings away from the Old Port Royal. Very nice location. ONE of us unpacked the car.

4:30pm – Left the room to head for Downtown Disney. First stop, Disney Village Marketplace and the Christmas Shoppe. Ashley got a little carried away and nearly knocked over a display of glass ornaments. Went inside Wildhorse Saloon to look around. Looked like any other bar/eatery/dance club I have ever seen. The dance floor seemed really, really small though. Visited the Virgin Megastore, very impressive but very overpriced. I would suggest not impulse buying here when you can find most of the same merchandise at any Wal Mart for much less. Caught a parrot show at the Rainforest. SAW the Disney Quest building. I wanted to go in and explore but found out you had to purchase tokens to even enter. Forget it! If I want arcade games, we have those at home. Back to the resort, dinner at the Old Port Royal food court. We realized we had forgotten Ashley’s autograph book and purchased another in the gift shop. Walked around the lake back to the room.

DAY 2 – Sunday, 10/25

6:50am – Wake-up call from Mickey Mouse. This is the first time Ashley has ever answered the phone while we were on vacation. She was elated to hear Mickey on the other end of the line telling her to hurry up for the busy day ahead. Everyone up to get ready for 9:00am priority seating at Park Fair Breakfast at the Grand Floridian. Time changed back to Eastern Standard Time. An extra hour of sleep was a good thing or so we thought. (More on this later)

TIP: If you want to get the Mickey wake-up call, request an unusual wake-up time. For example, if you need to be up by 7, request 6:50. If they are backlogged with wake-up calls, they only play the generic music. Thus, the more unusual the time, the more likely you are to get Mickey. Also, if you hear music when you pick up the phone, give it 15 seconds before you hang up, Mickey may come on the line.

8:00am – Out of the room. We decided to drive to the Grand Floridian, park there, go to breakfast, and take the Monorail to the Magic Kingdom. Stopped by Centertown (aka Guest Relations) to purchase tickets. We had decided to purchase 5 day park hoppers. We used our Magic Kingdom Club card for a 10% discount on the ticket prices. (A neat little card to have even though we didn’t save anything on the room) We were off to the Grand Floridian.

8:40 – arrived at the Grand. Angie checked in and Ashley and I wandered around and took some pictures. This resort is beyond description. Valet parking, doormen, and more. They give visitors a "hint" of what it must be like to stay here and leave you wanting more. (However, the Grand lacks the beautiful grounds that some of the other resorts have, but has to be the most architecturally beautiful.) Mad Hatter was giving autographs in the waiting area of 1900 Park Fare. We got in line for this, but were called to our table before we got to see him. We were seated by 9:10. Once again, this restaurant was very impressive as well. The service was impeccable. The food was delicious. In fact, we all agreed this was the best buffet character breakfast we had ever experienced. Delicious fruits, breads, usual breakfast fare, and even omelette chefs waiting to make your omelette cooked to order. The characters present were Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, Minnie Mouse, Chip, and Dale. Caught the Mad Hatter on the way out. Took the monorail from the Grand to the Magic Kingdom. Tried to ride in the front, no luck. Maybe later, I hope.

10:30am – Arrived at the Magic Kingdom. The ticket machines had trouble with our tickets. CM told us to go on in and have them check our passes at our resort to make sure that they weren’t demagnetized. We found out later on that we got in without a day being deducted from our passes. Took the train to Toontown. Headed for the Toontown Hall of Fame for some autographs and pictures. The "Mickey’s Friend" line was empty. We got in line and saw Donald Duck, Chip, and Dale. Got back in line for the "Hundred Acre Friends." Here we saw Pooh, Piglet, and Tigger. Piglet is a new character addition since our trip in May. Also, here we got to experience a cast member correcting one of those rude people who feel everyone else should wait in line except themselves. I loved it. Ashley and Angie rode the Barnstormer a total of 3 times. This is Ashley’s new favorite ride, I believe.

1:00pm – Headed for the Castle Forecourt stage for a new show. The "Every Day is a Holiday" show is probably one of the better castle forecourt shows I have seen. Ashley and Daniel ate popsicles. Left the stage area and headed for FantasyLand. Ashley and Daniel rode the teacups while Angie took the opportunity to get an ice cream cone. After this, we split up. Angie went to ride Space Mountain (she still swears the left side is the best). Ashley and Daniel went to ride the TomorrowLand Transit Authority and the Carousel of Progress. Ride malfunctioned and we got stuck in the Halloween section for two rotations. Met back up with Angie at the Space Mountain Arcade. Buzz Lightyear open!!! YEAH! Went to ride Buzz Lightyear. Very, very cool ride! Totally interactive and fun for everyone! Ashley was not too keen on the ride at first, but quickly warmed up to it. The loading area is very interesting. Buzz stands there with a ViewFinder as his slide projector to inform everyone of their mission. You ride in day-glo painted "doombuggies" with laser guns and buggy maneuver stick mounted on the front. There are no age, health, or height requirements for this ride. My only problem with this ride is it seems to short.

3:00pm – Back to FantasyLand for the traditional It’s a Small World After All ride. Rode Peter Pan and tried to ride Snow White’s Scary Adventures. No luck, although Ash had been on Snow’s adventure before, she refused to do it again. Settled for Legend of the Lion King show. Stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at the Starlight Café. Back to Castle Forecourt stage to watch the DisneyMania show. One more trip to ToonTown for a Barnstormer ride. It was roughly 6:00pm now and we were discovering the down side to the time change. It had started getting dark and our 4 year old (who has always gone to bed at 8) insisted that dark meant bedtime. Oh boy.

6:30pm – Left the park and took Monorail back to Grand Floridian. Still no luck riding up front. Watched the fireworks from the Grand Floridian boat dock. Picked up the car and back to the Caribbean Beach. Everyone sound asleep by 9:00.

TIP: If you are hopping from Epcot to Magic Kingdom, or vice versa, or simply going to Ticket and Transportation Center, use the monorail designated for the Grand Floridian, Polynesian, and Contemporary Resorts. You get to see these beautiful resorts and the monorail for them is much, much less crowded. It also stops at Ticket and Transportation Center.

DAY 3 – Monday, October 26

Mickey called at 6:40. Ashley jumped up and answered the phone. The morning went downhill from there. We had trouble with Ashley getting ready. She didn’t want to get dressed, brush her teeth or anything else we asked her to do. We finally left the room at 8:00. We were to do the Family Magic tour today. I checked in at City Hall and we waited on the benches outside. While we waited, I presented Ang with the bracelet Ash and I had purchased for her before we left home. Today is our 7th wedding anniversary. I was sooo happy my 4 year old had managed to keep it a secret for so long. = ) We met our tour guide Doug at City Hall at 9:15. Doug was from Ohio. He said there are normally about 14 people in each tour, we were lucky, there was just the 3 of us. We had the treasure hunt and a CM to ourselves for the morning. COOL! We had a coupon for the tour, so this wasn’t costing us anything extra.

We started the tour with a brief overview of the Peter Pan story and some "pixie dust" to throw in the air. It seems that Peter had taken Captain Hook’s hook as a trick. Our first "clue" led us down Main Street, and then, to the Rose path for further information on Peter. From there, we went to Tomorrowland for our 2nd and 3rd clues Doug showed us 2 hidden Mickeys in some art work at the Timekeeper. Next we literally had to hop, skip and jump to the Star Light Café, and sneak past Cosmic Ray and say "hi" to Ray. Boy, did we get the strange looks! Doug gave us a 15-minute break, so Ashley decided to get in line for pictures and autographs with Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum and the Red Queen. Fantasyland is where we received our 4th clue and we caught a ride on Cinderella’s carousel. After our ride we got our 5th clue and we played follow the leader into Adventureland. Everyone had to take a turn at being the "leader". In AL we got our 6th clue and "danced" to the beat into Liberty Square where we were to look for Tinkerbelle. Finally it was time to actually look for the hook. Peter Pan and Wendy (in her bathrobe) showed up with the hook. Ashley had their undivided attention. They talked with her for a long while. We took pictures and got autographs. Hand in hand with Peter Pan and Wendy, she was escorted through Liberty Square into Fantasyland to ride "their" ride. They took us to the head of the line, but Ashley wouldn’t ride with Peter Pan and Wendy. She rode with Mommy and Daddy, and they followed in another ship. Oh well, we got pictures of them on the ride by themselves. Ashley really enjoyed this "treasure hunt". The treasure hunt took approximately 2 hours and was very, very fun. The CM involved everyone. Peter Pan and Wendy were fabulous with Ash. I would consider doing this again on our next visit.

After the Peter Pan ride, we rode It’s A Small World (again). We then left the MK to go to Epcot for PS (priority seating) at the Garden Grill. We took the resort Monorail to the Transportation and Ticket Center. Switched to Epcot Monorail. Got to ride in front as "co-pilots"!!!! There were no special co-pilots’ licenses, like we have read about in other people’s trip reports. Oh well. The driver of the monorail was polite, but not very friendly. We checked in early for our PS. We were seated quickly. We had steak, fish, chicken, veggies, mashed potatoes. The steak was really good. Ashley got chicken fingers, macaroni and cheese and fries. I had cinnamon apple crisp for desert and the girls had worms and dirt. Angie nor Ashley liked it. Characters present were: Minnie, Mickey, Chip and Dale. We love Dale. He has always showed Ash lots of attention. He scores really big in our eyes. After eating we were going to watch Circle of Life, but Angie was too cold to stay inside any longer. We left and went to the Living Seas. Ashley really enjoyed herself here. She even watched the Manatee show to its entirety! We left Living Seas to go to Spaceship Earth. This took some convincing to get Ash to agree to go on the ride. Later on the ride turned out to be one of her favorites. We left Epcot at 4:30 to go back to the room to rest and swim.

Ang and Ash swam from 5- 5:45. Angie complained that the main pool was cold and not very clean. The kiddy pool was pretty clean. Ashley played with some of the kids and we had to force her to get out. She wasn’t very happy. On the way back to the room she really wanted to play in the sand. Angie and Ashley showered and we went back to Old Port Royal to eat dinner. We caught the bus back to Epcot. Our bus driver’s name was Sandy. It is sad to say, but I knew more about WDW than Sandy did. She was giving some people advice on E-ticket nights. They did not have E-ticket night while we were at WDW because of the Halloween Party. I think that they should brief employees about happenings during the week so they won’t give out false information. We arrived at Epcot and rode Horizons. Ashley really liked this too. She said it was like the Carousel of Progress, except the seats move. We then started making our way to World Showcase. We walked by Test Track and found a spot at the Mexico Pavilion between the children’s craft center and the ring maker cart. This turned out to be a fairly good site to view Illuminations from. Ashley made a wreath while we waited. This was Ash’s first Illuminations viewing. She liked it. After the show we waited for some of the crowds to thin and headed out to the fast music. We were back in the room by 9:50. We had a voice mail from a CM stating that the electricity would be our from 1-4am in our building. No explanation was given or anything. I went to get ice for our cooler to keep Ashley’s antibiotics cold. I forgot to mention that the day before we left, we had to take Ashley to the doctor. She has a sinus infection. So, we have to try to remember to give her an antibiotic before she falls asleep.

Day 4 – October 27

6:40 wake up call. No Mickey. Ash and Ang did not budge. I went back to sleep too. We slept until 7:30. We were out the door by 8:30. Walked to Old Port Royale for a quick breakfast. I had a croissant, Angie and Ashley had a doughnut. Waited for what seemed like a long time for a bus to MGM. When one came it was really full. We arrived at MGM at 9:45. I stopped at 50’s Primetime for PS at 1:30. We did One Saturday Morning. Ash was hoping to be picked as a volunteer. I think she is too small. We went to Muppet Vision 3D next. We browsed some shops, ended up in the Toy Story Arcade. Angie won about 300 tickets with 2 tokens. Not too bad! We went upstairs to pick a "prize". Ashley ended up with 560 tickets. She wanted Handcuffs and a smiley face ring. The handcuffs were a BIG mistake. We left the arcade and went to the Hunchback show. This is one of my favorite attractions. This is the first time we have gotten to see the pre-show. After the show we went for our PS at the 50’s primetime. We were seated about 1:40. "Uncle John" was our server. We were seated in the room with newlyweds. Uncle John gave them grief! = ) We quickly ate and were out of the restaurant by 2:40. The Mulan parade was at 3:00. We got really good seats considering we were so late getting out of the restaurant. They were in the sun, though. Angie taped the parade for Ashley. The parade ended, we went to The Little Mermaid. This a really good place to cool off!

TIP: Even if you are not a big Little Mermaid fan, this is an excellent show to sit through and cool off. This theatre is made to seem like you are under the sea and is always fabulously cool in the hot Florida weather. Of course, we love the Little Mermaid and always enjoy this show anyway.

We then proceeded to get some character autographs. Stumbled upon Buzz, Woody, and a green army man with NO lines! Moved on to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Playground and let Ash burn off some energy. Wished I had enough energy left to burn some. Strolled down New York Street, went to Guest Relations to get our passport book stamped. Browsed through Sid Kahuna’s Shop and headed for the Fantasmic! Theatre.

TIP: If you receive a magazine titled "Walt Disney World Insider", take the time to fill out the "Magic Delivery" card and send it back in. This is where we received the free pass for the Family Magic treasure hunt. We had a choice between that and a special seating for Illuminations. It also had coupons for a reduced rate for a sauna/spa treatment at the Grand Floridian and a 20% discount off of lunch or dinner at Artist’s Point. We also received a passport to have stamped at any three of the theme parks. After this, you mail the passport back in and they send you 2 commemorative pins. It also came with a magnet and some other coupons.

Ashley found a platform outside the restrooms off of Hollywood Blvd. She did an impromptu, and rather long, dance recital for all to see. She performed after making the standard announcements of no flash photography, no back lighting, and holding small children by the hand. Luckily, I had remembered the camcorder and got this on tape. What a memory. Got to the Fantasmic! Theatre at 5:55. Show did not start till 7:00. The theatre was already over half full. Get there early! There were CMs all over the place. A "plumber" from the Hollywood Public Works did a comedy routine. A very talented bellhop from the Tower of Terror did a headstand on top of a folding chair balanced on top of another folding chair. He also walked on his hands from the top of the theatre down the steps to the bottom.

The show started with Mickey appearing on stage. He then proceeded to direct the water. Streams and streams of water erupting into the night sky and providing the water screens for the animated sequences. From what I could tell, there really are no bad seats in the place. Live action sequences from Pocahontas and the Lion King followed. Famous Disney characters were displayed in rapid fashion on the water screens. Then 3 barges appear. One with Belle and the Beast, one with Ariel and Eric, and one with Snow White and her prince. Then the evil queen from Snow White appears and declares she will call on her powers to conquer Mickey’s mind. She calls upon various Disney Villains - Jafar, Ursula, Scar, Cruella, Hades, Maleficient- and they attack. First, Jafar turns himself into a large snake, which Mickey overcomes, and then Maleficient does her dragon routine. Mickey manages to overcome the evil and win through a battle of water, lights, lasers, and fireworks. Steamboat Willie appears driving his steamboat with all of the Disney heroes and heroines on board waving scarves and having fun. More characters than can be mentioned. The show lasted 30 minutes and is unbelievable. It cannot be compared to any other show of this type at DisneyWorld. Very well done!!!!

Here goes with my one and only complaint on the Fantasmic! Show. Crowd control when the show was over was horrendous. I have never, ever seen such a chaotic mess at DisneyWorld. People going every which way, children separated from parents, no one knowing exactly which way was out. All the CMs who were present to direct everyone into the show had suddenly vanished. They have to do something about this. I did not think we were ever going to get to the exits. We were back in the room by 9:00. Ash was too hyped up to sleep. Took her to play in the sand and on the playground. Back in the room and everyone in bed by 11:30pm.

Day 5 – October 28

The wake up call came at 6:20. I answered, it was Mickey. We had 8:20 PS for Cinderella’s Royal Table. We arrived at the MK about 7:45. This was not an EE day for MK. We had to wait in a special line for people with PS until 8:00. We got to Cinderella’s Royal Table by 8:05, checked in and we were seated right away. I think we were the 4th or 5th people to be seated. We ordered our food. Angie ordered a traditional breakfast with no eggs. She got waffles instead of eggs. She doesn’t like eggs or waffles. I got the regular traditional breakfast. I do not usually eat eggs either, but I eat them today. We got to see Cinderella, Belle, Snow White, Peter Pan & Wendy. We finished breakfast by 8:50. The Fairy Godmother was downstairs. We tried to keep Ashley busy so she would not see her and we could get in line to get into Fantasyland. It worked! People were lined up through the castle back to Main Street waiting for the magic hour or 9:00. Angie and Ashley worked their way closer to the gate. When the gate opened the crowd rushed in, with my two girls right in the middle. Angie was determined to get to Dumbo and not wait. They did it, and they were in the first group to ride Dumbo. I took the usual picture and waited for them to get off the ride. After Dumbo, we went to Ariel’s Grotto for a picture and autograph of Ariel. No wait!! Woo Hoo!! Then on to IASWA (It’s A Small World Afterall) and Peter Pan. They were walk on, also. From here, we went to Frontierland for Ashley’s first ride on Splash Mountain. She was just barely tall enough. There wasn’t a wait here either, I had the feeling that if we had of had to wait, Ashley would have backed out. She rode in the seat with her Mother, and I rode in front. She held on to Angie the entire ride and they ducked down to avoid getting wet. I got wet, though! Ashley decided that she liked the "big" drop, but not the little ones that were in the dark. We found Brer Bear & Brer Fox at the exit of the ride, we got pictures and autographs. We caught the train to Mickey’s Toontown Fair. Ashley was dying to get wet, so she played on Donald’s boat, Miss Daisy. While she was playing, I saw a man with a T-shirt on from my wife’s company. I didn’t think much about it. I drug Ashley out of the boat area, we changed her clothes and got in line for more autographs. The only one there that we had not seen was Goofy. Ashley decided that she wanted a souvenir from the store. She bought a Rapunzel type hat. She really wanted this hat, until we actually bought it! We then went to Minnie’s house. Ashley lost her headband in here. I went back to look for it, but I could not find it.

It was getting close to lunch time, so we headed to Starlight Café and ate. After lunch we rode Buzz Lightyear, twice. There were no lines! Ashley really enjoys this ride. We then went to Carousel or Progress and the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. By this time it was 1:45, time to look for a shady parade spot. We found a nice spot on Main Street. We usually watch from Liberty Square, but we decided to try something new. I like Liberty Square better. Ashley got to be in the Little Mermaid section of the parade. While we watched the parade, Ang noticed across the street a woman she worked with. I think this is pretty amazing, drive all the way to Florida and see someone from Tennessee that you know. After the parade we headed out, (with everyone else), to rest for tonight’s Mickey’s not-so-scary Halloween Party. We arrived at the room at 4:15. Angie was sitting with Ashley on her lap, the man sitting beside Angie on the bus would not move to let her off, so we missed our bus stop and had to walk from OPR. Are people actually so much more rude at WDW or does it simply appear that way?

We left our room for the party at 6:00. Ashley was dressed as Cinderella, she had a wig and gloves. Everyone we passed on our way to the bus stop, commented on how cute Ashley was. (I thought she was adorable) Well, the wig didn’t make it to the MK. She shed it at the bus stop. The only thing with this party, is the park closed at 6 and re-opened at 7. I don’t think this gave enough time to get people out of the park much less back to their motel. One bus came, too crowded to get on, I can’t expect Ashley to stand up on a bus. In past experiences, there are very few gentlemen that will get up and let a child or woman sit down. Second bus came, this bus was crowded, but more people got off at our stop. I was proven wrong, a very nice couple got up and let Angie, Ashley and I sit down. Next stop, more people got on than off, I got up and let a little girl sit down with Angie and Ashley. Next stop, more people got on, nobody got off. A little boy ended up sitting with Angie, Ashley and the little girl. Last bus stop, nobody could get on, bus was way too crowded. This seemed like the longest bus ride I have ever been on. It was horrible! We got to the MK at exactly 7:00. They gave the children on the bus a bag of candy before we got off.

We waited in line for about five minutes at the gates. When we walked through the gates, the sites were awesome. The castle had a purple glow to it. Main Street had a spotlight with a bat/witch shining up and down the street. There was also a purple/green light on Main Street. In front of City Hall were Pooh, Tiger, Piglet and Eeyore. They were dressed in their Halloween costumes. That was a big hit with Ash, but they would not sign autograph books. It appeared that they were signing books and when Ashley would get her turn, they changed their mind. This really bothered me, but, oh well. Next, we saw Chip and Dale as ghosts. Ashley got her picture made. We walked into Adventureland. Stopped at a Trick or Treat stop for candy. They had craft tables set up. They had picture booths for family pictures. They had face painting, kid costume parades, DJs with street dancing. There was a fire-eater outside the Tiki Room. We watched that for a few minutes and Ashley wanted to go to the Tiki Bird show. She liked it. She wasn’t scared this time, last year she was terrified. After the Tiki Birds we had our picture made. We just got it back in the mail. It was horrible!!

Ashley then wanted to do IASWA, (again). Then Ashley and Angie rode the carousel. Ashley was perched on an outside horse waving very royally and throwing kisses. She was cracking everybody up. A lady standing beside me said that it was very regal. That’s my little ham!!!!! We walked toward Tomorrowland and caught the fireworks. They were awesome. There were fireworks going off all around us. COOL! Ashley made a craft at the craft table. It didn’t survive the trip home. Ashley decided the Teacups are next. Angie gets sick on spinning rides, so I rode with Ash. We rode Buzz Lightyear next. This has ended up being one of Ashley’s favorite rides. We walked to Main Street for the parade. This scared Ashley a little. Angie did the video and I comforted Ashley. After the parade we decided to let the leaving masses leave and watch the Everyday is a holiday show. It just so happened that the family sitting next to us had a daughter 4 years old, named Ashley and dressed as Cinderella. Now, I know that a lot of little girls have Ashley as a name, but… the other 2 things, I just thought that was neat. The girls decided to dance, we taped it and we left at 11:35. The park closed at 12:00am. We were back at the room by 12:10

Day 6 - October 29

We slept in on this day. After a late night we all needed the rest. We were out of the room at 10:00am. We had planned on going to the AK today. We waited forever on a bus. It was about a 30 minute wait. The bus also stopped at Blizzard Beach. We entered the AK gates at 11:15. Right away I remember why I don’t like this park. Granted, it is beautiful, but, the narrow paths, crowds and heat outweigh the beauty. It seems so much hotter here. We went straight for the Legend of the Lion King show. Got there as the 11:30 show was starting. We were among the first people in line for the 12:00 show. By 11:40 people walking by were told that the 12:00 show was going to be full. When we were finally let in, we got excellent seats! I loved this show. It is kind of like a circus. Very fun show. However, I have to disagree with most people, I still think the hunchback show at MGM is just as good. After the show, we hiked over to the Jungle Book show. We got some McDonald’s fries and watched the show. This is a good show, not as good as Legend of the Lion King. After the show, Ang and I did a baby swap and rode Countdown to Extinction. Very cool ride. We did not get to ride this in May. By this time we were tired and wanted to go back home. We were at the AK from 11:15 until 4:00 and only did 3 attractions. I don’t think we will come back until the knew section is open. We were back at the room by 4:30. We napped until 6 and we left to go to the Character warehouse and the Character Premier ant the Belz outlet. Angie caught was beginning to feel sick so we left. Evidently, she was coming down with some type of "virus". We got back to the CB, Angie headed for the room and Ash and I went to OPR for supper and a hair wrap for Ashley. The hair wrap was what Ash wanted to spend "her" money on. There were 6 people in line, it was way past Ashley’s bed time, so I told here we would come back in the morning. We got pizza and headed back to the room. I now have a sick wife and disappointed little girl. Could it get any better? We were in bed by 11:30(or course Angie was already in bed). She was up and down all night, poor thing. This is our last night.L

Day 7 - October 30

6:40 wake-up call. Ugh!!!! I packed up. Angie tried to help, she would pack something and lay down, pack something and lay down. We finally got all packed up. We left the room at 9:30. There was already a line for the hair wrap, but we promised! So, we waited and waited. Finally we were next. Ashley (with her Mommy’s help) picked her colors for the wrap. Royal blue, orange and white. We convinced Ash that these matched her University of Tennessee cheerleading outfit. I thought the wrap was kind of expensive. It ended up being 17.00. Ashley’s hair is chin length and we only had 8 beads at .50 each. Oh well, Ashley loved it. We finally left at 11:00. We had a long drive and Angie was still sick and couldn’t help. We had an uneventful drive home. I got to drive as fast as I wanted. Angie slept most of the way. "We"(Angie decided) that I was too tired to drive all the way home and we stopped in South Carolina for the night. We all slept good that night. I don’t know how Angie is sleeping so much!! We got up at 7:00am and started home. We ate at a Cracker Barrel and I started out driving. Right as we crossed into North Carolina, Angie decided that she was well enough to drive. She drove the rest of the was home. We got home about 10:00pm.

My opinion on the Caribbean Beach Resort

As I had stated at the beginning of the report, we had stayed at CBR once before. I was little impressed with the place. Angie was more impressed. To me, it seemed run-down, too spread out, and generally lacking in that Disney appeal. I felt the All-Stars were much nicer. Angie liked the hammocks and felt the resort simply needed a face-lift.

You may ask why we stayed a second time. Well, we had heard the resort had been remodeled and Angie liked it the first time around so we settled for this room when we got it. Because of the golf classic, we had trouble getting any room and were relieved to finally make the reservations. Yet, once again, I was disappointed. The resort just looked dirty. The room was clean, but could have used a new wallpaper job. The paint was pealing from some of the exterior walls. The grounds had many dead plants covering them. The white sandy beaches were very dirty. The CM service also seems to be lacking (although we did have a very sweet and efficient maid). One or two CMs staffed the Guest Relations windows at most and the check-in lines were slow moving and crowded. I have never experienced this at any other Disney Resort. Perhaps it was simply bad timing on my part. We will never stay at CBR again. I will stay off-site first.

On a lighter note, we have decided to keep our trips in October. The weather and crowds are much more pleasing. The Mickey’s not-so-scary Halloween party is definitely worth a repeat. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me.

P.S. We started planning our next trip the day after we got home.

Daniel Swift

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