The Whole Enchilada - a 2 week CSR trip & food report combo

[momof2disprincesses]

Hello Dis Friends! Welcome to my latest trip report.

This was our family's 33rd trip to Disney and this is my 5th TR.

TR's are a great way of preserving those precious family memories.

If interested, here's a link to my other TR's:

Christmas 2012
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3041567

Mini TR from Old Key West Summer 2013
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3133369

October 2011
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2833437

Combo cruise/birthday trip 2008
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1732222

The cast of characters for this trip included our family of 4.

DH (David) - LOVES Disney as much as I do. I guess it all started with our magical honeymoon almost 25 years ago

Me (Jodi) - I'm the trip planner, Mom, photographer and all-around AVID Disney fanatic!

DD21 (Amanda) - The first of our 2 Disney princesses (reference to my screen name). She's a senior in college. Since I will use pretty much any excuse to take another Disney trip, you could say she's the reason we took this trip. I theorized that it was her last year as a student and when else will she have 2+ weeks off again?

DD17 (Kaylee) - The second of our 2 Disney princesses. She is a senior in high school. She is my inspiration for writing this TR. She still goes back and reads my old ones and gets all nostalgic about all of our fun family memories at our favorite place in the world.

Here we all are (Amanda, David, Kaylee, Jodi)

We left on Friday, Dec. 20 and returned home on Saturday, Jan. 4. In between, we stayed 13 nights at CSR with the free dining plan.

Here's just a sampling of what's to come:

• A sad start to the trip
• 2 LONG 24 hour drives
• 13 nights of FREE dining
• 1 tiny but very full room at Coronado Springs Resort
• 1 brother and family and 1 set of friends who pop in
• 2 rainy Candlelight Processionals
• 4 parks in 1 day challenge!
• the best place to volunteer!
• All the wonderful and magical extras that come with being at WDW over Christmas and New Years!
• and much, much more!

I hope you'll take this journey with me as I stroll down memory lane and re-live this truly glorious trip.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Joining in! Looking forward to hearing all about your trip and am anxious to hear your food reviews.

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Some might think we're crazy, but we love to drive to Disney. It is 1350 miles from our house to Mickey's house and it usually takes us about 24 hours to drive each way.

The nice thing about having older kids is they can drive too! With 4 of us driving, it really isn't so bad. Plus, there are wonderful perks to driving. You can pack as much stuff as you want and you have a car once you're there.

Our DD21 lives and goes to college in Minneapolis. We live in Appleton, WI so before we left, we needed to get her home. She had finals at school until Thursday, Dec. 19 and we planned on leaving our house around noon on Friday, Dec. 20.

Unfortunately, something very sad and unexpected happened on Thursday, Dec. 19.

Our sweet 20 year old cat died at home. Here is DD21 pictured with our dear Holly.

DD21 picked out that kitty when she was just 2 1/2 years old and DD17 has never known life without her. As it is with all pets, she was very much a part of our family and it was so sad when she died. The only nice thing about it was, she was absolutely fine up until she died. The evening of Wednesday, Dec. 18, she was in the kitchen pestering me for food when I was making dinner (like always) and then sometime that night, she went off to die. The next morning, we knew something was wrong when we couldn't find her. We all looked and looked until we absolutely had to go to work & school. I even came home from work during the day to look for her more.

The awful part was DD17 finally found her when she got home from school. She has crawled deep under one of our couches . The whole ordeal was just awful.

Also, DD21 had her last final on Thursday night so we didn't want to tell her until that was over. She called us right before her final to go over final details of coming home. It was so hard not telling her. We held off until after her final and then we called her and all had a good cry.

The other blessing to Holly dying before we left was that my Dad was coming over to take care of our 2 cats occasionally while we were to be gone and I don't know how he would have dealt with it all, so I'm glad we were able to take care of things with her before we left.

Anyway, I don't want to bring everyone down.

The happy news is because DH had to work so much over-time the week before we left, he was able to take Friday morning off. I already had it off and we called in DD17 for school since she was only missing a half day. DD221 arrived by like 9:30am (she left Minneapolis at the crack of dawn).

Once she arrived, we finished getting everything done and we were on the road to Disney by 11am, an hour before we hoped to leave.

The drive was pretty normal. We hit a little snow and rain but overall, the weather was fairly good and we arrived at Coronado Springs by 11:45am on Saturday, Dec. 21, ready to check in and have a great adventure!

Stay tuned for details from check in, hotel room photos and much more! Food porn is coming in the next thread!!!

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Saturday, Dec. 21

As I mentioned, we arrived at CSR around 11:45am. We had done online check in, so we only had to wait in a very short line (I think there was one family in front of us).

Our CM at check in was super sweet and very friendly and fun. We joked and laughed with her. She assured me that all of our requests had been granted but our room was not quite ready. We had asked to be in the Cabana's section, first floor, by a pool.

She said our room would be very close to the main pool and suggested we hang out there until we got our text with our room number.

She had us all put on our magic bands and she made sure they were all set and we had our packet of info and set off to have some lunch at the Pepper Market.

We very staying for 13 nights with FREE dining! That meant we had 52 credits of each category: snacks, quick service meals and sit down meals. WOO HOO! We were so excited to get started enjoying all that delicious food.

Even though we are DVC members, I've always been a sucker for free dining because it's such a good value for our family of all adults. We did have to pay $15/night extra for having a 3rd "over 18" adult.

Here are some photos of the check in area and main building.

Lobby (check in is on right, concierge is on left):

The fountain as you walk in the resort lobby:

The store in the lobby:

Loved this case in the lobby:

Cafe Rix (as you can see, they must have just mopped the floor and then set out like a dozen caution signs )

First we stopped and got our refillable mugs. They only had green and purple, so we took 2 of each. That CM was also super sweet and offered to check to make sure all of our magic bands worked. She said one of our magic bands was not working, so DH and DD17 headed back to talk with the CM who checked us in and got that straightened out in minutes.

We filled up our drinks at the Pepper Market and went off to explore our options for lunch.

We decided to share 2 meals as we weren't super hungry.

We got 1 build your own burrito with the black beans on the side. DH and I shared this. It was very yummy!

We also got 1 chicken quesadilla that our 2 DD's shared.

We also got 2 bottled waters for to put in our room fridge and 2 M & M cookies.

We weren't sure how it would all work with the ddp when we checked out being that we were 4 people using only 2 credits, but they had no issue and soon we were on our way to the main pool.

It was about 89 degrees out that day and it felt WONDERFUL compared to our icy, cold, snowy home in WI.

We quickly changed into our swimsuits and jumped in the pool. It was very crowded but so enjoyable. Obviously the photos below were not taken on this day. I took these later when it was chilly outside and no one was in the pool.

Here are some photos of the gorgeous main pool at CSR.

Hot tub:

Up next - Saturday, Dec. 21 continued and room photos.

 

[scottny]

Joining in.

Sorry for the loss of your cat. It is so hard when a pet dies.

Driving could be fun.

CSR is a gorgeous resort. The quesadilla looked good.

 

[Wyndale]

OK I'm in!

Sorry about kitty, I know it can be hard.

We are thinking about CSR, and so far the photos are great!

Eager to read more!

 

[mike the canuck]

Following along

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Thanks so much to those who are following along.

Saturday, Dec. 21 continued...

After 24 hours in a minivan, that pool felt like HEAVEN!

Even though it was hot outside and the pool was somewhat crowded, we easily found a table. You can fill up your refillable mugs at the pool bar. One note on that though - I felt bad for the bartenders. They have to fill up your mug for you. We chatted with a few over our stay and expressed how much better it would be if they had a self-serve drink station. They all whole-heartedly agreed and we promised to express that sentiment to management on their behalf. Also, in bad weather, they close the bar and so you cannot fill up your mug. So, hopefully that could get changed in the future.

We swam for about an hour or so and then DH checked his phone and our room was ready. So we decided to face the task of unloading our very full minivan.

Our room was #8152. The CM who checked us in was right that we were very fortunate to get a really great location. It was so close to parking, a bus stop and the main pool. We were thrilled with this location and very grateful.

Here some photos of the room before we filled it up with all the stuff we brought.

As you can imagine, with 4 of us for 13 nights, we used every nook & cranny in that room for our stuff. We unpacked in one of the most organized ways we ever have so it worked well.

Here were my impressions of the room:

• LOVED the solid sliding door between the room and bathroom area!
• The beds were super comfy!
• We wished it would have had 2 sinks like most mods do
• Liked the dresser/TV stand with shelves - gave us lots of room to put our stuff
• BIG closet area - we used every inch of it and the shelf on top and space below...you get the idea!
• We liked having a desk instead of a table. It was very convenient for our Christmas tree and photos/computers, etc.

As I said before, we are DVC members and almost always stay in studio villas. This was comparable but of course smaller and no kitchenette.

After 33 Disney trips and lots of tips from the disboards, we've learned a few tricks along the way.

We bring an over-the-door shoe holder. That was so helpful this trip for all of our excess toiletry items and miscellaneous things. We also have a small, zippered bedding bag that we bring whenever we travel and in it we keep 2 pop-up hampers, a fitted king size sheet (Disney does not use normal fitted sheets on their beds and we prefer having one and having our own), an extension cord and a power cord for phones & other electronics.

One story I'd like to share about our unpacking experience shows the first-class customer service at Disney that we all love.

As I said, we brought a little Christmas tree for our room. We have it in the original box it came in because we typically use it when we travel. DH took the box outside and took the tree out and shook it off so we wouldn't get the "snow" and stuff from it in the room. He set the box down, brought the tree in, put the little ornaments on it and less than 3 minutes later, went outside to get the box. IT WAS GONE! A CM must have walked by, thought it was garbage and took it to throw away. DH had to go in search of it and did find it. Luckily, we did get it back.

Gotta love how clean they keep things at Disney!

Up Next ~ Our Christmas gift to DH ... 4 parks in 1 day. Can it be done?

 

[momof2disprincesses]

The end of Saturday, Dec. 21

As you may recall, Sat. Dec. 21 was our check in day after driving 24 hours to arrive at WDW. So, after we ate, swam, unpacked and relaxed a bit, it was time for a quick dinner and early to bed.

We decided to use 2 CS credits to get a full-size pizza to go from the Pepper Market. So the girls drove down there and got it.

For 2 CS, we got 1 pizza, 2 desserts and 2 beverages.

Some kind of coconut chocolate thing. It was good!

A cinnamon roll saved for breakfast the next morning.

For the beverages, they got bottled water and we saved that in our fridge.

We were in bed by 7pm. All 4 of us fell asleep pretty much immediately and slept really well!

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Sunday, Dec. 22 - 4 parks in 1 day!!

It has always been DH's dream to do 4 parks in 1 day. Myself and our girls were not nearly as excited about a challenge like this. It just sounded tiring to us.

We tried it last June when we stayed at OKW, but with the summer heat, we only made it to 2 parks before us girls quit and hit the pool.

So we had discussed it and decided to do it at Christmas when the heat wouldn't be such a big issue and we could make it a Christmas gift to DH.

Well, we planned it for this day because it was our first of 14 days at Disney and we figured we wouldn't be tired "yet" and also because if we did it before Christmas, the crowds might not be as bad. The only thing we didn't count on was the heat! It was in the upper 80's that day. So we didn't escape that part, but we were committed!

Luckily going to bed at 7pm made it much easier to get up at 5:30am. With one bathroom and 4 of us needing it, we needed to get up 2 hours before we wanted to be at our first park.

By 7:30am, we were walking through the main entrance at Animal Kingdom!

I believe it was EMH from 8-9am that day. We also had to upgrade our 10 day base tickets we had bought with our free dining package to DVC AP's.

Unfortunately we got a CM who didn't seem to know what he was doing. It took over 40 minutes for the upgrade and him having to go back and ask for help multiple times. Fortunately I had figured out at home exactly how much it would cost and we had gift cards purchased to cover the upgrade. At first, he quoted me a price DOUBLE what it was supposed to be. I questioned it and told him to talk to a manager because it should be X to upgrade each ticket.

Anyway, after a long and frustrating experience doing that, we had the upgrade and it was the cost I expected and we were entering park #1 for the day.

We rode the safari, Everest & did It's Tough to be a bug. By that time, it was about 10:30am and we had to leave to get to our ADR at 11:05am at Beaches & Cream.

We arrived at the Beach Club and took a few minutes to admire the gorgeous Christmas decorations. Here are some photos of the chocolate carrousel in the lobby.

My awesome family!

Up next, lunch at Beaches & Cream and our 4 parks in 1 day continues!

 

[scottny]

The rooms there are very nice and the beds are comfy. Funny about the box and glad you got it back.
I have always wanted to do all parks in a day but never got past 2 either.
Great update and pics.

 

[Wyndale]

Love the carrousel photos!

Someday I want to visit during Christmas. I'm working on trying to convince DH. He only goes every 10 years...and we were there 2 years ago. But I have powers of persuasion, , so who knows?

Can't wait for more!!

 

[momof2disprincesses]

The rooms there are very nice and the beds are comfy. Funny about the box and glad you got it back.
I have always wanted to do all parks in a day but never got past 2 either.
Great update and pics.

Yes, the rooms at CSR are very nice. We have stayed at many WDW resorts and really liked CSR. We were originally a little worried about how big it was but it was easy to get around and we loved our location so much! Even during the busy times of Christmas & New Years, the parking lots were only half full at best - not the case at other resorts we've stayed at during this time of year.

Doing 4 parks in 1 day - it's fun to say we did it, but I won't be up for the challenge again too soon.

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Love the carrousel photos!

Someday I want to visit during Christmas. I'm working on trying to convince DH. He only goes every 10 years...and we were there 2 years ago. But I have powers of persuasion, , so who knows?

Can't wait for more!!

Someday I hope you get there for Christmas. It is so extra magical for sure.

 

[momof2disprincesses]

4 parks in 1 day continued...

When last I left you, we were in the lobby of the beautiful Beach Club. I LOVE the Beach Club resort. It is one of my favorites by far. We've stayed there twice before.

The first time was for 1 night before a cruise in 2008. We arrived to check in and the CM was acting strange. She kept excusing herself and coming back and it was taking a long time. I had booked that one night on Expedia and I was worried something was wrong because of that. Finally she comes back with a huge smile on her face and she says "we have a special surprise for you". They upgraded us to the Club Level!! It was amazing!

The second time we stayed there was at Christmas a few years ago, as DVC members in the Villas. Again, a fantastic time and wonderful stay.

Next June, we are staying in the Beach Club Villas again for 5 nights before our 7 night Fantasy cruise! I'm very much looking forward to being there in the summer and having some great pool time!

Here is a photo I snapped of the gorgeous pool!

It was quite warm that day, so I was surprised the pool was so empty!

On to lunch!

We made a couple of last minute changes to our ADR's a few weeks before our trip, so I stumbled upon the fact that Beaches & Cream was now accepting ADR's even before the dis announced it.

Since we like B & C and visiting the Beach Club, we decided to snag a 11:05am ADR for this date. It worked well into our 4 parks 1 day plan.

I believe this was the very first day of the new system though. All the CM's seemed very confused and there were at least 2 manager level CM's there training everyone. That might have been why our server was just plain grumpy!

She pretty much said the bare minimum to us. We are not new to the ddp but we hadn't used it in awhile and never with the magic bands before, so we would have appreciated a little explanation of what we could get, how payment would work, etc. but oh well.

Here are our drinks! Cherry cokes & a cherry sprite. MMM

3 of got this:
Bacon Angus Beef Burger - with smoked bacon, blue cheese, barbecue sauce, onion rings, cheddar, lettuce and tomato on a fresh-baked bun $15.49

I got mine with onion rings instead of fries. DH and I subbed cheddar cheese for the blue cheese it was supposed to come with.

DD17 got this:
Grilled Cheese and Tomato Bisque $8.99

One of my all-time favorite desserts at WDW:
Classic Banana Split - ripe banana, three scoops or ice cream (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry), pineapple, strawberry and marshmallow topping, finished off with hot fudge, butterscotch, toasted almonds, whipped cream and a cherry $8.49

Both girls got:
Fudge Mud Slide - A gooey chewy Brownie covered with Hot Fudge, Three Scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream, Oreo Cookies, topped with Whipped Cream and a Cherry $8.49

DH got cookies & cream ice cream (I know, how boring! WHAT was he thinking!)

After we were done eating, we wanted to get going. Again, our server was acting very grumpy and she pretty much ignored us. Us 3 girls finally left to go to the bathroom and DH eventually got her attention and figured out how to pay the bill.

We then went and took a friendship boat to Hollywood Studios. We were about to use our very first fp+s! That's coming up in the next post.

Thanks so much to those who are following along!

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Back to our 4 parks in 1 day!

Last I left you we had done Animal Kingdom and lunch at Beaches & Cream. Now we were off to Hollywood Studios via the Friendship boats.

Here's our view of the beautiful Boardwalk area before loading onto the boat:

View from the boat:

The Christmas tree at Hollywood Studios (I've tried to turn it but can't, sorry about it being sideways!):

This was going to be our first opportunity to use our fast pass plusses! We had set them up 2 months before after I did online check in. So this was prior to the tier-thing with attractions they are now doing with popular attractions.

The first ride was Rock-n-Roller coaster. DH and DD21 rode this and DD17 and I gave them our magic bands so they could ride it twice. DD17 was not feeling like a roller coaster after our big lunch and I DO NOT ride this attraction anymore. I used to love it but a few years ago, we were loaded into our vehicles and something went wrong. They made us sit there for about 20 minutes all strapped in. I am pretty claustrophobic and basically was quietly FREAKING OUT when that happened!

I kept asking to get out and said I didn't want to ride anymore, but they would not let me out. It was an awful experience and one I won't soon forget so I DO NOT ride that one anymore.

Regardless, DD17 went off to the restroom and to look in the shops while I waited outside the ride for DD21 and DH to get off the first time. While I was waiting, I couldn't help but overhear a Mom and daughter conversation of the people next to me. The daughter was about my DD21's age and she was quite upset. She left her Mom there and went to check out the FP times for later. She came back and told her Mom it was like 9pm that night (it was about 1:30pm at this time). About this time, DD21 and DH came back. I quick asked DD21 if she would take this girl for the 2nd ride with our magic bands and of course she agreed. I told them what we would like to do to help them out and the Mom looked so relieved! The girls introduced themselves and went off to ride the ride. My DH and I stayed and chatted with this Mom. We made fast friends! We only chatted about 20 minutes or so but WOW!

All I can say is that was a diving intervention. First, the Mom was so happy her daughter got to ride. She explained they were only in Orlando for a few days and she hates rides but her daughter loves them and is always willing to go by herself. But she didn't want to wait the 70 minutes posted (I know I could have told them about the single rider line but inviting her to ride with DD21 seemed better in this situation).

During our talk, we found out both girls were seniors in college. This Mom also had an older daughter who was in Cambodia working for a mission organization my DD21 is VERY interested in. By the end of the conversation, we had exchanged email addresses and she encouraged my DD to email her DD about possible internships/jobs with this mission. My DD21 LOVES to travel the world and literally just did a semester abroad in India and is very interested in mission work abroad after graduation.

The girls came back - really too soon. I was so enjoying talking to this Mom. They bonded too over the ride and had a great time. We were so glad that happened!

So that was a lovely interruption in a busy 4 parks 1 day adventure!

After that, we were seeking WATER. It was really warm by then - upper 80's. But we knew we were on a mission and had to continue on, so after 4 free ice waters that we sucked down in minutes, we were off to use our second fast pass plus for the Great Movie Ride. That was wonderful - the line was VERY long and we basically used what is normally the handicap entrance. We were on within minutes.

After that, it was time for our final fast pass plus of the day for our favorite ride in WDW - TOY STORY MIDWAY MANIA!

DD21 and I rode together and she beat me. Here are our scores.

One of these days I'm going to get a CAT. Everyone else in my family always gets one except me. I'll keep trying!

By the time we were done at Hollywood Studios, we were HOT and TIRED. It was so very tempting to say the challenge was over, but we were doing this for our beloved DH.

So, we pressed on! We got back on the boat and headed to Epcot - park #3! That's coming up next.

 

[momof2disprincesses]

4 parks in 1 day continued

So we were hot, tired and not feeling as up to the 4 parks in 1 day challenge as we were when we got up that morning, but we decided we WOULD visit Epcot but we'd just make it a quick stop.

We boarded a Friendship Boat and headed that way. Honestly, sitting on the boat, enjoying a breeze helped rejuvenate us a little.

We entered Epcot through the International Gateway and proceeded over the bridge to France.

We'd seen the new bakery but never gotten anything to eat there, so that was our stop.

Do you know they have two 1 stall bathrooms in the new area? Why, oh why oh why would they have not put in multiple stall bathrooms in a super popular area? One of the two bathrooms was out of order too! I know we could have walked to another bathroom, but instead, we waited in line (for a LONG while).

After that, we went into the new bakery - LOVE this compared to the old set up. We got ice water (did I mention it was HOT) and these yummy treats to share amongst us.

1 ham & cheese croissant and 1 Roule Lard & Fromage - bacon and cheese roll

Can't remember the name of this one, but it tasted like a chocolate chip bagel.

Another ham & cheese croissant and a yule log cake (specialty for the holidays)

Everything was very delicious and the ice water helped cool us off.

After our treats, we watched the movie in France. For some reason, my DD17 and I were being very giggling (probably from exhaustion) and we were being silly during the movie and got "shushed" by the people behind us. What got us started was when they showed the first castle and DD17 whispered to me "that's my summer house." So every castle after that was something - my vacation house after my summer house, etc. and then when they showed the dogs running in front of a castle, she said "that's my dog's house!" Sorry, I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

After our shushing, we behaved ourselves and sat quietly.

After the snack and movie, we were in desperate need of some R & R, so we headed back to CSR and took naps! We arrived back at the room around 7pm and our plan was to leave for Magic Kingdom no later than 11:30pm (it was open until 3am with EMH).

We all slept for between 2-3 hours and by 11pm, we were headed to Magic Kingdom. We arrived just as the crowds of other guests were leaving. It was a good plan!

By then, we were hungry and got 2 CS meals at Casey's and shared them.

DH and DD21 shared the Barbecue Slaw Dog - topped with pulled pork, cole slaw and barbecue sauce $9.39 (cole slaw on the side).

DD17 and I were not as adventurous and shared a plain hot dog with cheese sauce and fries. Hit the spot! All was MMMMM!

After our quick dinner, we were able to walk right on to pretty much any ride in the park. We enjoyed PhilHarmagic, Haunted Mansion, Small World and I think a few other things (sorry, I didn't take good notes on this night).

The wrap up of our 4 parks in 1 day adventure will be in the next post....

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Around 2am, we were leaving a pretty empty Magic Kingdom and stopped to use 2 snack credits at the Plaza ice cream place. There was NO line! Not one guest inside. I don't think I've ever seen that before.

We shared these:

Waffle bowl hot fudge sundae:

Ice cream cookie sandwich with chocolate chip cookies & vanilla ice cream:

Then it was back to our beckoning beds at CSR.

Overall impressions of our 4 parks in 1 day adventure - it was a long & busy day, it was tiring, it was hotter than it was supposed to be BUT DH loved it and we all had a good time rising to the challenge.

I doubt I would do it again soon, but I'm proud to say we accomplished this dream!

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Monday, December 23

Since we were out very late the night before, we enjoyed sleeping in today. DH and I got up around 10:30am and had a quick breakfast in the room and hit the pool.

The girls slept in until about noon and then drove down to the Pepper Market and grabbed some lunch. They brought it back to the room.

They got:

A burger and potato wedges with a chocolate chip cookie & bottled water:

A chicken sandwich and fries with a German chocolate dessert (DD21 must have loved this because it's the same dessert she got before , so it's pictured earlier) and a bottled water:

We all took our time getting ready and relaxing. Around 3pm, we headed to Epcot for the rest of the day.

We used our FP+'s for Spaceship Earth and Soarin'. We had FP+ for Test Track too but none of us wanted to ride it.

While down by Soarin" we stopped and got this snack. It was not included on the ddp so we paid oop and it was yummy and hit the spot!

After that, DH and I decided we'd wait in the stand-by line to see the Candlelight Processional with Steven Curtis Chapman. He is one of our favorite singers and we saw him do the CP once before and it was so meaningful and he did a beautiful job.

The girls decided to venture off and tour the World Showcase. We were all going to meet up for dinner at La Hacienda de San Angel for our 8pm ADR.

I snapped this picture while we waited in line:

We waited about 45 minutes in the stand by line and then were able to sit on the far left side when facing the stage. We were in the first row behind where the reserved seats were for CP dinner package guests.

The CP started and it was so wonderful as usual. Here are 2 great pictures I got before the rain POURED down!

YES, unfortunately about 15 minutes into the performance, the skies opened up and it POURED rain. I mean, downpour. Everyone pretty much went scurrying for shelter, including us.

They did continue the show and we could hear it from a distance but almost the entire audience had left. I felt so bad for Steven and the other performers!

DH and I were completely soaked to the bone.

We called the girls and asked if they wanted to meet us a little earlier at the restaurant. They were fortunate and were inside the Mexico pavilion when the rain hit, so they stayed nice and dry.

We hoofed it over to Mexico and joined the girls. By then of course the rain had stopped!

We checked in a little early for our dinner and were seated right away.

Up next, our wonderful dinner and watching Illuminations from the restaurant!