The Great Adventure of 2004! About This Page:

[Desiree]

Well everyone, after reading all of your great reports, I'm inspired to contribute one of my own. I'll get the ball rolling with a brief tale of how this trip all came about...







Adventurers: Me, Desiree, 25 & Rob, 24

Dates: October 14 – 19, 2004

Place: WDW, of course! We reserved a king room at the CBR (using code BAT) for 5 nights – we’re celebrating our anniversary 



After a one day surprise visit to Disneyland last January, I was severely bitten by the Disney planning bug, and began to dream of taking a nice, long (well, as long as we could afford) trip to “The World” sometime this year. After reading thousands of posts on the boards and looking over our calendar, I called WDW one day not so long ago and made our reservations… we had hoped to stay at AKL, but had no luck with either code BAT or AAA rates, so we settled on CBR. On our last trip – way back in 2001 – we stayed at PO-R for a few nights, and while we liked it, wanted to try something new. Once Southwest came out with their sale, it was a done deal - we were flying out of Hartford, CT on a Thursday night and would return the following Tuesday afternoon, just right for a short, but sweet, little dose of Disney magic. The PS planning went into overdrive, we purchased 4 day hoppers at the local Disney Store and somehow, the time to depart finally arrived!



Coming up: Hooray, it’s Thursday!

[Colexis Mom]

Great start Desiree! Hurry back with more

[luvnwdwgal]

Great start! Looking forward to more!!

[pparm]

Looking forward to hearing more!
Paula ºOº

[mousestruck]

Great start.... keep it coming!

[Desiree]

Thanks for all of the encouragement - here's the next installment Hopefully, I can start adding some pictures...



Day 1: Let the adventure begin!
Thursday, October 14


As soon as school ended ( I am an assistant in a small preschool/kindergarten classroom), Rob and I headed straight to Hartford to catch our flight. I had packed a few hummus sandwiches and carrots for a healthy dinner on the go, though Rob opted to supplement his meal with a burrito from Baja Fresh – he said it was very good 
We had a direct trip to MCO via Southwest. The flight went well – we had a very funny flight attendant – and I’d definitely fly this airline again. We arrived just about on schedule (8:50 p.m.) and found our driver from Quicksilver. After a quick grocery stop at Publix for water, power bars, cream for our coffee, etc., we pulled into the CBR right about 10:00.
As we had paid for a king bedroom and initially requested Jamaica, but then in a later fax, dropped all mention of Jamaica (no pool during refurb.!) and mentioned that a waterview would be nice, I wasn’t sure where we’d end up… I stepped up to Guest Services with a big smile and was helped by the nicest man – can’t remember his name now – who put us into a king room in Aruba. We quickly hopped into a shuttle and were on our way to our home for the next five nights!
As we pulled up to our building, my face fell a bit – although we had a corner room, we were right by the road – no water in sight, just the parking lot. My smile dampened a bit more when we swung open the door of our non-smoking room and smelled stale cigarettes. However, Rob was beaming and we were just so glad to be at Disney (and tired!) that I just said “Well, let’s give it a try!” We unpacked and threw on our swimsuits for a quick dip in “our” (Aruba’s) pool - it felt great to finally be on vacation. A whole year’s worth of planning and waiting had come true – we were at Disney!!! Before we jumped into bed, we called for a wake-up at 7:00 – big doin’s in the morning – MK for rope drop and breakfast at CP 

[DrDolphin]

Sorry to hear the room wasn't exactly what you'd hoped for. Hopefully you stopped by Guest Services and mentioned the smoke smell in a non-smoking room (that would have been enough to send me back for a new room).

[Colexis Mom]

Great start Desiree, except for the smoke in the room and all

Hurry back with more

[TiggerTails]

Hurry back with more!!!
Jan

[luvnwdwgal]

Looking forward to reading all about your MK visit!

[pparm]

I hope everything turned out okay with the room (smell).
Paula ºOº

[Desiree]

Thank you, everyone, for your kind words of encouragement – and, as you will see, the smell really didn’t turn out to be much of an issue – we loved our trip 


Day 2: Our first “real” day!
Friday, October 15

Up an at ‘em nice and early – Mickey called and woke us at 7:15, which is actually pretty late for me! We wanted to be at the MK for rope drop at 9:00, so we got the ball rolling right away. As dedicated coffee drinkers – we like it strong, and organic! – we had brought our own coffee, which we had ground up fresh Thursday morning, purchased all natural cream the night before, and tucked our travel mugs in our suitcase… what did we forget? Filters!!! I tried to concoct a serviceable one ( I emptied out the two complementary pre-filled bags and made a ‘nest’ for our grounds), but needless to say, we were drinking what we call “cowboy coffee” – grounds and all! Mugs in hand, we hit the trail with our new 4 day hoppers in hand, leaving enough time for a brisk stroll around the CBR loop. We are pretty active people, and one of the reasons we were excited about CBR was the beautiful walking trail. Every morning &/or evening, we took a lap around - it was great!

*** I can’t forget to mention this – as soon as I woke up, I went to put on my trusted sneakers – ugh – can you believe it? I forgot them!! No running for me this trip – good thing I have a pair of trusty old Birkenstock sandals and my “teacher shoes” – Dansko clogs. Between these two pairs of shoes (and a pair of strappy sandals for Jiko and CA Grill!), I got through the vacation fine – whew! But of all the things to forget ****

Back to our morning – between enjoying the CBR grounds and a long, slow bus ride (I’m a HUGE fan of public transportation, but I was just so excited – I wanted to be there right away!!), we got to the MK a few moments after it opened. We zipped up Main Street – it was hard, but we had a mission – and grabbed FPs for Buzz, then hopped in line for Space Mt. I was a little anxious, but the ride was nothing but pure fun. I am not a fan of roller coasters, but I love Space – if you are unsure of how you feel about “thrill rides,” I’d suggest trying this first and seeing how you feel… Anyhow, after coming back to earth, we meandered around Tommorowland for a bit before deciding to just hop in the stand-by line for Buzz. After a 5 minute wait, we stepped up to defeat Zurg. My score was not so hot (9,500), though Rob did much better (around 350,000, I think?) - can you tell who plays video games around here By this time it was edging up to 10:00, and we were due to head over to the Crystal Palace…

Coming up next – Pictures of us with Pooh and the gang!

[Colexis Mom]

Another great start Desiree! Can't wait to hear all about breakfast with Pooh! Hurry back

[LizardCop]

[img]http://smileys.*************.com/cat/23/23_28_100.gif[/img]

Waiting for MORE

[luvnwdwgal]

So glad you're enjoying the grounds.....as in CBR.....not the coffee! Bring on some more.....please!