Let's wrap up this travel shall we? I apologize again for the text heavy!
The way I deal with the stress of flying is to compartmentalize and set little "goals". Get to the airport, get through security, get on the plane, land, get on the Magical Express etc. So after the little hang up, we are cruising down the ramp and I am comfortable in that we're reaching my next big step of getting on the plane.
Until we stop at the doorway to the plane. The guy/dad from the large family that held us up before is standing there and the flight attendant is asking whether the car seat he is holding is approved for flights.
The flight attendant explains there should be a sticker, but the father is just staring at him. The flight attendant gets down on the floor and is turning the car seat over looking for this mythical sticker, and just keeps saying "it usually is here... or here... hmmm". Meanwhile they're blocking the way on to the plane.
After about 5 minutes the guy's wife shows up (I'm guessing she was wondering why he didn't make it to his seat), and the flight attendant fills her in. But like her husband, she just stands there not even saying a word. After about 10 minutes of this, and the line of people waiting to get on the plane has filled the ramp, what I'm guessing is a more senior flight attendant comes over and the original one briefs her on the issue, clearly now frenzied because he doesn't know what to do. The senior flight attendant calms him down, and then does the unthinkable - she moves this party out of the way so the rest of us can board
. I don't blame them for not knowing about the sticker, but I do have an issue with their complacency and not helping to figure it out. I'm not sure what happened to them, but I'm hoping it did work out for them.
We quickly make it to our seats and get situated, and then the ice that has over taken our hearts quickly thins as we look across the aisle and see a family on their Make a Wish trip. It really put everything in perspective at that moment. K and I are trying to think if it would be appropriate to do something for them (and what could we do) when the senior flight attendant comes over with a few men, telling the family that these guys want to switch their first class seats with them!
The family is clearly moved, and they thank the guys repeatedly, and tell them it's not necessary. They guys (who I don't think knew each other) insist, and then to make it better, start goofing around with the kid on the Make a Wish trip. The one man was a bit older, in a very nice suit and kneeling on the floor playing with this young boy. It was the sweetest thing and got rid of any foul mood we were in!
After this, nothing out of the ordinary happens. The tablet we got C for flights in the past won't charge any longer, so we brought an old iPad with us to watch movies. Apparently though the iPad is too old to download the United app. So instead we watched Zootopia on my phone. After just over two hours, we land in a very rainy and humid Orlando. We quickly make our way over to the Magic Express (after having a girl pass us remark sadly "oh look they're putting on their Magic Bands....". Guess she was heading home). Our bands scan, and they direct us to a row where we're second in line, and before we know it we're on the bus.
So you know how I had my steps? The Magical Express was the culmination of all of them, and last year, I felt such relief and joy getting on. This year - not so much. I think it was the rain, plus worrying about getting the stroller and ECV when we got to the hotel, plus trying to figure out a plan for lunch and meeting K's parents that my mind was just in overdrive. Oh well, soon we were passing under the arch (the windows were so rain streaked that a picture didn't even make sense to try to take), and we first stopped at Boardwalk, then Yacht and Beach clubs, before stopping at Caribbean Beach. (I was taking it all in, so the only picture I took was of the light in the porte cochere (a nice touch I thought!), so the others I borrowed again.)
I know some people say the renovations have lost the Disney touch, and I even read one review that said it looked like any Marriott in the Caribbean. Maybe that's true, but overall I think they did a really nice job. The decor is gorgeous, and I think it has a good blend of being "classy" but welcoming and not stuffy.
Since it was about 12:20 at the point we pulled in, and the stroller and ECV was supposed to be there by noon, we figured we'd go right to the valet to ask about them. After looking through both books where they keep the record, we were told they hadn't received them yet, but would go check in the back.
I of course start worrying because I really don't want to come back to OPR later in the day.
About 5 minutes later, they found the stroller in the back, and then another 10 minutes went by before they came out with the ECV. Just for a little background - K got the ECV after a lot of deliberation because of some pregnancy complications that make walking difficult. When we made our reservation through ScooterBug, we had wanted the Companion model, which is like the mid-tier. It wasn't available until Wednesday though, so we got the Lite model for the first few days. The valet showed K how to use the scooter, and told her it should be more than fine for full park days (interesting is that ScooterBug says to get the Companion model for full days. I already was thinking if we really need the larger model). After a bit of trial and error (and almost only hitting only person), K got the hang of it and we headed into the resort.
Here again, I was very pleasantly surprised by how nice the hotel looked. The holiday decorations in particular I thought were very nicely done and a lot more than I had imagined. One worry I had with a December trip was that it wouldn't "feel" like Christmas, but this started putting those worried to rest. There is ample amounts of seating in the new lobby, and we quickly found a sitting area to put our stuff down so I could go to the front desk and ask about our room.
I didn't receive the room ready text yet, but G&P were in their room and were told we would be in the adjoining room so I figured I'd ask. After a short wait, I spoke to the gentleman at the desk and asked if I could just check if the room was ready. He quite curtly told me that he could check, but if it's not ready that's all he could tell me and he can't give estimates on when rooms are ready. Sure enough it wasn't ready, and he kind of just looked at me waiting for me to move. I was a little taken back by his demeanor, because it was just on the fringe of rude and it was lacking that friendliness that most CMs have. Earlier in the week I had spoken to someone else in the resort (my in laws received an email saying they couldn't find their traveling companions reservation), and they were also quite abrupt and hard to get a hold of. I'm not sure if they're still training new staff maybe, but it did seem off.
At this point we were tired, and honestly getting hangry
so we decided to go to Centertown Market for a quick bite to eat. C still had no idea that G&P were there (after a lot of times of almost spilling the beans - such as "oh are your parents at the hotel yet?"). They were going to surprise her in the lobby, so I took her to order while K waited with all of our stuff. Sure enough right when we order they come, and I tell C to go see Mommy for a surprise. She didn't apparently catch any of our almost tells, and was genuinely thrilled to see them and immediately told G that they had to go on Dumbo together. We made our way into Centertown market and found a table, again fairly easily. While there is ample seating, when they designed this space they didn't really account for ECVs, strollers or the silverware carts, so there were a lot of times we or the workers would have to slow down and take turns with other guests going through. It wasn't bad for us to deal with, but I felt bad for the workers who have to do that throughout the day. (I felt odd taking pictures of other people eating, but those at Disney Food Blog don't!)
After about 20 minutes and not getting a buzz that our food was ready, P and I walked over to the window to inquire. Sure enough they never got our order! They made it up pretty quickly and were very apologetic, but after the valet not having the record of the stroller or ECV, the curt CM at the desk, and the way things went on the phone earlier in the week, I was starting to get a bad gut feeling about CBR at this point. It's a nice hotel, but would we keep running into issues with the staff? I pushed the worry to the back of my mind as I was starving and we quickly
scarfed down our food ate. C got a Cheese pizza, I got the barbeque pork sandwich and K got the burger. I had thought there would be pictures online of the food, but apparently most reviews go for some of the more unique options, so I'm afraid I can't find any
It was all quite good, but I think the pork was the winner.
K and I shared, while we just tried to get C to eat a moderate amount to carry her through a few hours. After we were done, our room still wasn't ready, but we made our way outside to cross the island and hang out in G & P's room for a bit. I thought the grounds were great - Now I felt like I was on vacation!
The Skyliner was not as obtrusive as I had thought it would be. From across the lake you can see it, and from certain points in Aruba and Jamaica you can't miss the poles. But they go so high, and there is so much foliage and the buildings have so many turns that from most points (even in Aruba) you can't see them. When they have the actual gondolas going that might change, but I think it will actually fit with the theme and be kind of fun.
As for the Riviera, that is a different story. That can be seen from almost everywhere because it is HUGE. I'm hopeful that it will be nice when it is finished, but as of now it does look very plain (K first pointed out it looks like any other hotel). I also don't fully understand how it's going to fit thematically since it's modeled after the Mediterranean. This isn't like the Grand Floridian and Polynesian being close, but far enough that their different styles can co-exist. This towers over CBR and it's hard to get a view of CBR without this in your line of sight. I'm hoping Disney can work some kind of magic with landscaping, but I think there's no way this isn't going take away from the "immersive" Caribbean flair of the resort.