Into the unknown meets hakuna mattata (I hope)

Hate to hear about the crazy lady… Nice job with the high road. Sounds like you dealt with this much better than I would have.

2 Likes

Wow! 20 years! That’s amazing! It goes by so fast! Congratulations! To think that once upon a time I was so worried she wouldn’t stay! Oh she stayed and what a ride! Yup some folks are powder kegs perfect analogy! Her poor kid. Seems like she is a sensitive soul.

4 Likes

Day 2:
Sat in my beach chair, posted here, read my book and took a nap before sleeping beauty woke up​:joy::joy::joy:got her some Mickey waffles (went for milk for the cereal and got derailed) she was pretty happy with the turn of events! Then off to blizzard beach! Buses we’re easy and on the slides we went! So much fun!!! Loved all of it! Had packed a picnic lunch so didn’t feel bad getting the mini donuts which were awesome! Loved the chair lift and watching other people do the crazy fast single rider slide! Got there around 11:30 and left around 3. Perfect home base in the shade.
Another powder keg story:
As we were waiting for the bus a very shaken up young teen joined us. I think he saw a mother and daughter and felt safe. He had a bad encounter with a middle aged man in line. The guy started yelling and swearing first at his own kids and then at this kid. The poor kid is a foster child traveling with younger sibs and had gone to BB on his own while the rest of the family went to AK and was going to join back up with them later. The encounter rattled him so much that he left immediately. “I know bad when I see it and I don’t want to run into that guy again”. For Pete’s sake what is wrong with people?!?! We ended up having a nice chat. What are the odds of a former foster mom meeting up with a foster kid on a bus ride to AK?!?! Sounds like he has landed in his forever family (same as my DD brothers who were adopted at 7 and 13). He called his family from the bus and they were waiting for him at the entrance.
Quick showers and off to EPCOT. The skyliner is awesome!!! So much fun! We took a million pictures! Threw the plan out the window and just checked wait times. Worked great! First stop was soarin. Love that ride! Standby was 20 minutes maybe waited 10. Then awesome planet b/c LWTL was down, rain? What rain? Ponchos on and over to the living seas!!! So awesome! Enjoyed the aquarium and off to Teppon Edo! Just in time! Had the most amazing drink I’ve ever had: the violet silk martini!!! Aptly named so silky smooth! And beautiful to look at! Sushi sampler and veggie stir fry. It was sooooo good! Everything was mouthwateringly delicious! Downside was we were too full to eat at any of the booths later! I got teary eyed remembering eating at this same restaurant with my family when I was 10. Time flies!
Then off we went around the world! Thought about waiting in line for frozen but it was a 40 minute wait. We lasted about 5. The Mexico pavilion was just as amazing as I remembered and the 3 caballeros ride was a walk on…yes please! So cute! Skipped TT with a 40 minute wait. Then we thanked the Phonecians! Love that ride so much! Back to soarin and LWTL was back up! Soarin was a most awesome walk on. What was not awesome was walking all the way back to the skyliner only to find it was closed and we had to walk to the boardwalk inn to catch a bus! Bus ride was quick and we had a great time! We were both saying how nice it is to just do whatever we want! Our last few trips have been planned for group travel and this is so relaxing. Epcot at night was beautiful and it was nice to experience it mostly empty on our walk out.
Scored a Topolino character breakfast and my kid still wants to do chef mickeys so we are doing both! I’m so happy she wants to still that I’m all in but oh my word; seriously?!?!
I’m loving CBR! So relaxing! Didn’t get what we requested but love the location. Close to the pool, riviera resort and skyliner station.
Today is a rest day so back to blizzard beach for us!!!

16 Likes

Poor kid! I’m glad he found you to make him feel safer. Sounds like a great time at EP! We really enjoyed Teppan Edo.

3 Likes

Love the matching sunglasses! Your daughter is a champ for doing that with you! So glad that young man recognized a safe person/family to comfort him until he could get back to his own! Have fun today!

Oooh! And the Raya shirts! Loved that movie!

2 Likes

(Pardon us for not being more chatty. We are all over in that other thread losing our collective :poop: one way or the other about the nighttime spectaculars announcement this morning :laughing: )

5 Likes

I’m loving your trip report so far! And it sounds like you were placed exactly where you needed to be for that young man - glad he listened to his instincts and removed himself from the first situation and found you and your DD.

Hope you continue to enjoy yourselves!

1 Like

I was glad we were there.

2 Likes

Good morning liners!!! Well today is our 1st HS day!!! My kid is not into Star Wars how that happened I will never know so the plan was to not bother RDing. However she really wants to ride SDD and it is supposed to rain all afternoon so RD it is!!! Rained all evening so we went to bed early. I keep reminding myself that getting her up for RD is actually later than getting her up for school! So far she has slept until 11ish each morning! Yesterday I even took a nap b/4 she woke up!!
So yesterday was our Blizzard Beach day: spoiler I was the one off my game today!
My kiddo woke up around 11:30 had fruit loops (favorite vacation breakfast) and we were out the door by 12. Great luck with buses again and into BB by 12:30. Super fun but the stairs good grief! All was well until my glasses fell out of my pocket on one ride but turns out it is a good thing they did b/c somehow on the toboggan races my tube flipped at the bottom of the slide and I face planted b/4 the water on the slide! The look on the life guards face! It really shook me up but I’m fine. may end up with a bit of a bruise but had I been wearing my glasses it would have been a real mess! We watched other people come down and my best guess is either there was something on the slide or my foot or bum made contact with the slide and flipped the tube. No one else seemed to have any trouble!!! We had done all but one slide at that point so we went and had our picnic lunch. It started to storm and we decided to wait it out. Figured the buses would be a mad house anyway. It was really lovely sitting under one of the little huts watching the storm. After a bit the sun came out but slides still closed so we got the sundae in a pail! Delicious but way too much for 2! Then we got the all clear and were just about to ride when a huge thunderclap sounded! At this point it was 5pm so we decided to leave. A really fun day!
On the bus from AK I heard a lady near me give a very graphic description of how she was trying not to throw up…all I could think was thank god I’m wearing crocs!!! She was really struggling so I told my kid we are getting offf at the first stop! Thankfully we made it off without incident! I didn’t care how far we had to walk! Hopefully her day got better.
Laundry was crazy took me a few tries to find the laundry room (you actually must enter the quiet pool area)! Then I accidentally washed everything in hot! Oops! It’s ok it all cooled down in the torrential downpour! Saved $3 on drying at least! Will get half a Mickey bar today!
Feasted on snacks in the room and called it a night! Love a cozy night with my kid!
Watching the sunrise with a cup of coffee always makes my day but add in the skyliner and the beauty of CBR and wow! Add in the fact that I am no longer responsible for the health and safety of our school and i am truly relaxed for the first time in a long time! So far I have finished 2 books and caught up on some sleep. Reconnecting with my kid has been awesome. Our only point of contention is around bathing suits. I have a firm “rash guards until 3pm” rule and she hates it! I told her when you can pay for vacation you can make the rules but if you burn your bum or your shoulders the rest of the vacation will not be fun. Exactly at 3 each day off they come!! Thankfully she is a good kid so minimal pouting/eye rolling (both of us).
Love the skyliner but really disappointing when it is down! Had I realized how often it would be down I made have chosen a different resort but I liked having a non bus option. For folks planning on BB every day CSR seems like the place to stay. 7am and it looks like it might be running for real now. It’s already run for a bit and stopped. Might wake her earlier!!!
Have a great day everyone!!!

11 Likes

Love every single bit of this.

3 Likes

Good morning everyone!
Just saw the coolest light show from Epcot! Started testing around 5:15-5:20 just as I sat down with a cup of coffee. Must say it made my morning. I love nighttime shows! CBR should be a spectacular place to see it outside of the park.
Yesterday was a liner fail but a mom win. Woke up early for RD b/c it was forecasted to rain most of the day and wanted to be sure to ride SDD. Skyliner from RR b/c it’s closer to our room. No line, easy transfer. Among the first into HS and they started the rides early! Maybe waited 20 minutes and off by 9:20. No line at the num num cookie stand so we get 2! Didn’t realize they were gigantic! Then to TT where my kid took one look at people screaming through open windows and said “no way”! Then looked around at all the people and said no thanks! It was HOT already and it looked like everyone going to HS today decided to RD b/c of the forecast. Looked at each other and at the same time said “pool?”. So we got back on the skyliner and spent 3 hours with the quiet pool to ourselves! It was awesome! Nice picnic lunch. Only downside was no bathrooms so we had to walk back and forth to the room! Then it was time for showers and a nap! Woke up and ordered salads from th quick service at RR they were delicious!!! Greek salad and grilled veggie skewer with quinoa and pita.
Then ready to go back to HS around 3:45. Skyliner was down so caught a bus. Quick ride…this is important later! Saw FEA and loved it! Nothing I love more than permission you sing along! Moderators were hilarious! Eric and Aria. Then to RRC where my kid saw the upside down car and said do you go upside down? Ummmmmm ok fine, yes but it’s quick and really fun! Uh no. Inside my head I’m screaming “please?!?!”. Out of my mouth comes “no worries should we ride SDD again? Off we go but instead do TSM b/c SDD is down. So fun! So we ride it again! At this point SDD is still down and there’s thunder so we head to MMRR. Cute ride! Very pretty. Needlessly rough though.
Ponchos on and get Starbucks with some gift cards then get in line for the bus. After a really long wait we get on a non Disney bus and first stop is at CBR then driver gets lost and drives to the RR then makes a left out of the RR when a lady says are you still going to CBR? He sad yes turns around after a while and drives back to the RR and gets off the bus!!! Hopefully to get directions but that was enough for me! We got off and walked to our room from RR! Mobile ordered dinner on the way and ate while watching Luca! I hope everyone else made it back to the hotel eventually!
Cancelled our HS park reservations for today and instead we will hit MK! Someday I will do all the things at HS but today was really fun! I’m getting a kick out of everyone’s shirts and people watching. Seems like all the littles have decided that 5:30 is a good time to collectively melt down! Poor things! No place to let off steam at HS.
Leaving HS and going for a swim was definitely the right call for us, when we got back later it was cooler and hardly any people. Lines were super short everywhere and had we actually wanted to do anything it would have been great! I honestly thought we would do RRC over and over again!!! At least she likes everything at MK and we still have another AK day!
Have a great day everyone!

9 Likes

11 Likes

Num num cookie! Note to self: Only one num num cookie; those things are huge!

I feel so bad for the bus driver. Disney is huge, huge. Anyone remember when it was just, like, 4-5 roads? That was before the Animal Kingdom … I’m afraid I’m going to get lost a lot.

Still loving this trip report!!! I would’ve ridden RnRC over and over and over if I’d had a chance.

2 Likes

I feel this. I teach in a high school and have said repeatedly that I’m not sure I would’ve lasted the year as the school nurse. Ours is great and handled a lot, but I know there were times she was so stressed that it was hard to function. I’m so glad you are feeling the relief and celebrating that with your girl!

Loving your story and especially the picture of the light show, thanks for sharing!

1 Like

I love your mellow attitude. “Crowds? No thanks, let’s go sit by the pool.” :joy: My instinct when I see a crowd is to rush to the front of the pack to beat them to whatever they’re all doing. lol

5 Likes

We make Toll House cookie pie a lot at our house and for the last 9 years have been making it egg free (lots of trial and error on that one) this tastes a lot like the original! Yes, someday I will do ALL of HS over and over again😀

That exactly summed it up “so stressed it was sometimes hard to function”. It was a full time job added to a full time job. The timing of this trip has been incredible! I thought it might be a good idea and boy was I right! Putting the phone on do not disturb and going to WDW was a way better plan than running it over or throwing it in the ocean!

1 Like

That’s so funny! I loved your trip report i hust don’t know how you did it!

1 Like

Good Morning everyone!!!
Can’t believe we are leaving CBR today! It’s been wonderful! Love the skyliner and the quiet pool, hate the buses! The plan was to not need them but first June in FL means rain and then changed our 2nd HS day to MK. Here is a pic of the beach chair and the view


It’s been great but looking forward to balconies at WL and AKL!
Yesterday was fun! I watched the EPCOT light show testing, read, then took a nap b/4 waking my kiddo for our 12pm character breakfast at Toppolino’s!!! I am so jealous of her ability to sleep! Of course it’s also when I get to read so not all bad! It was amazing! The RR has really grown on me since we have been here. The grounds are beautiful and the kids pool feature is really beautiful. Breakfast was delicious and I had a Bellini. Would have preferred the vodka/pear combo but we were headed to the pool.
There was a little girl sitting across from us who went absolutely crazy for Donald Duck! Cutest kid ever! Almost made me want to travel with a little again! The roasted potatoes were delicious. The view from the terrace is incredible.
Off to the pool and had it basically to ourselves again! I’m such a baby about being cold so the pool temperature in FL in June is perfect for me!!! Then went to get ready for MK but first scared to death by the person doing the room check! She was lovely but was so startled! Lovely CM and ended up having a nice chat! She confirmed what I had been thinking…many of the CM’s are in different roles. It just seemed in general folks are not yet experienced in their roles. When they were hired back the most senior people were able to choose which jobs they wanted first. She went from being a chef at CRT to mousekeeping at CBR. She was totally fine with it but what a strange job shift! Her whole story was so compelling! Really lucky to have been in the room when she came knocking!
Off to MK! Hit the turnstiles at 4:30. So fun to be back!!! Saw Gaston on a horse leading a cavalcade! Straight to SM where after a 30 minute wait the ride broke down just as it was our turn!!! Bet the people who had to be evacuated off the ride have quite a story to tell! Got a FP to ride later and headed to the Barnstormer!!! Always a favorite for us! I was chucking for a while though, not the ride we expected to do first! Then hit Little Mermaid and IASW. Tried to beat the storm to Splash but no luck thunder and lightening started while we were in line! Waited for a bit since we were under cover but finally bailed (should have bailed sooner but hoping it would blow over and we were dry!) did POC without a wait and then made our way back to SM. Learned later that HM also got evacuated so glad we didn’t stop!
The lightening was intense! FP was awesome! Choosing to be in the first seat after knowing it had been evacuated a few hours earlier was not! For the first time ever I was terrified! I screamed the WHOLE time! Can’t wait to see the pictures! My kid thought it was great!
Then to Starbucks where the kiddo behind us almost pulled the fire alarm!!! Thankfully mom noticed just in time!!! We have made good use of our Starbucks gift cards this trip! I rarely go at home so it’s fun to use them!
Ponchos and goulashes have saved up this trip!
The longer trip has been so relaxing! I may be ruined for life! I miss FP but the lines aren’t horrible. The most we have waited is 30 minutes. Some of the queues I haven’t seen b/4 due to FP. I love the details.
Today the plan is to leave the bags at bell services and take the skyliner to HS and from there a bus to WL. We haven’t seen the mosaics at RR yet so should be fun! Then swim and eventually make our way back to MK.
Have a good day everyone!!!

9 Likes

WHAT?! Wow. No offense to mousekeepers in the least - they are vital to the comfort of our vacations - but this seems a huge waste of talent. They need to get more restaurants open and they could use her!

Of course, if they don’t have enough mousekeepers (and the elimination of the option for DVC members to purchase extra mousekeeping days seems to speak to that), perhaps that is part of the holdup in moving forward with reopenings. It’s interesting to get a peek behind the possible domino effect one seemingly small issue can have to the whole thing.

Can’t figure this one out…

3 Likes