July 2012. Yes it was hot. Yes it was crowded. Yes it was FUN! ***COMPLETED***

[KatMark]

you are there.

I have to tell you that Muffaletta sandwich looks really, really good and has all my favorites on it (although I would pass on the relish.

I'm so happy MK was the first park...I think that was a wise choice with Dani.

Love the photos of you two with Roy and Minnie.

Can't wait to hear what the first ride will be.

 

[PrincessFendi]

Yay! Your cousins first trip and what a great way to celebrate...Disney! Congratulations to her for being top of the class and a star athlete. You are such a gem for taking her!

My hubby has a used car lot and I help him out when I am not teaching. You are right, I either have a ton of time or NO time at all to sit and catch up on the Disboards. I am excited to read about your trip from last month.

 

[RHMH]

Solana - Your TR makes my TR sound boring..I want to go back now!!!!! If you have POFQ pictures,DD and I may be in them. Who knows!!! Ha, Ha..

I remember the Chicken Ques. and Muffaletta. I wonder if POFQ delivers. Keep the TR coming, DD and I are having withdraws reading.

 

[DMGeurts]

I missed your update today... Sigh - I think I need to be on your text list too.

I loved seeing your first pictures... I sure hope you loved POFQ as much as the girls and I did.

That sucks that your room wasn't ready when you got there - ours wasn't either, but we didn't have to wait long at all.

I loved that photo of you and Danni with Minnie and Roy - super cute photos. Gosh, I ahve been there how many times? And I never even noticed that? Sheesh... OK - definately need to go back now.

Can't wait to hear about the rest of it!

D~

 

[Disneychix]

I"m here to read along! I read your Feb TR with your beautiful family.

Can't wait for more!

 

[solana131]

So glad your first park was MK!!!!! Can't wait to see what her first ride will be...

Like I said....it was the middle of the day at the busiest time of the year....the first ride wasn't a "thrill ride", but it was one of my alltime favorites and she loved it.

Hi, I'm new to the boards and enjoying your trip report! Can't wait to hear what you did first and how you spent the rest of your time at WDW ):

Welcome! The DIS really does take some spare time, but it is SO worth it! I have met some great people on here and found a mountain of information that makes me a smarter Disney Girl

I'm here to join in! Loving it so far, looks like it was an awesome time so far!

Welcome aboard! I'm alwasy glad to have new readers....I would do this TR even if nobody commented, but it sure makes it more fun when I know someone is reading

you are there.

I have to tell you that Muffaletta sandwich looks really, really good and has all my favorites on it (although I would pass on the relish.

I'm so happy MK was the first park...I think that was a wise choice with Dani.

Love the photos of you two with Roy and Minnie.

Can't wait to hear what the first ride will be.

But Kathy...if you take the olive stuff off, it isn't a Muffaletta

So, I have to admit....I didn't realize that wasn't Walt on that bench! Totally see it now, but I just assumed it was him and Minnie.

Yay! Your cousins first trip and what a great way to celebrate...Disney! Congratulations to her for being top of the class and a star athlete. You are such a gem for taking her!

My hubby has a used car lot and I help him out when I am not teaching. You are right, I either have a ton of time or NO time at all to sit and catch up on the Disboards. I am excited to read about your trip from last month.

Thanks, she is a special girl, and I wanted to go this summer anyway but couldn't convince hubby to go. So I went anyway without him
Wow! Your trip is coming right up! Hope it is a little less crowded for you. At least those July Brazilian tour groups will be gone.....I hope. Welcome to my TR!

Solana - Your TR makes my TR sound boring..I want to go back now!!!!! If you have POFQ pictures,DD and I may be in them. Who knows!!! Ha, Ha..

I remember the Chicken Ques. and Muffaletta. I wonder if POFQ delivers. Keep the TR coming, DD and I are having withdraws reading.

Oh Bob, your TR wasn't boring....we just have different styles. I really enjoyed yours too! I only have a couple FQ pictures for some reason. I think it is due to the fact that we didn't have time for a relaxation day and didn't spend a whole lot of time around the resort. It was just too hot for us to walk around and snap pictures. We did hit the pool a couple times, but I didn't bring my camera because I knew all the close seats would be taken and I'm not comfortable leaving valuables in the open out of my sight. So, I got a couple pics the day we walked up to Riverside, and a few of the room, but not much else.

Oh how I wish FQ could deliver....they could make a killing! And to have Kona food up here....

I missed your update today... Sigh - I think I need to be on your text list too.

I loved seeing your first pictures... I sure hope you loved POFQ as much as the girls and I did.

That sucks that your room wasn't ready when you got there - ours wasn't either, but we didn't have to wait long at all.

I loved that photo of you and Danni with Minnie and Roy - super cute photos. Gosh, I ahve been there how many times? And I never even noticed that? Sheesh... OK - definately need to go back now.

Can't wait to hear about the rest of it!

D~

Sorry D~, I don't have a text list. Not cool enough to have hoards of followers like you! You'll have to check your subscriptions like "normal" DISers.

We enjoyed POFQ. Not as much as the Poly, and I hated waiting for buses for EVERYTHING, but it was nice. I would definitely try it again, and I want to try Riverside sometime too, but if my budget allowed, I would be on the monorail trail every time.

That photo spot is easy to miss because lots of times they have characters there. I think this was the first time I hadn't seen anyone there. I just had to get a pic while it was empty!

I"m here to read along! I read your Feb TR with your beautiful family.

Can't wait for more!

Welcome! Glad you liked the Feb TR We had such a wonderful first trip with great weather and low low crowds. This trip......a little different, but still fun. I missed having my little man with me. It felt "freeing" without worrying about him all the time, but you definitely miss a little of the Magic without a small child. Next time he will be there for sure!

 

[anjalee6]

I know how you feel about the water park bus. On the way back to the airport we had a regular non-Disney looking Mears bus. It was so sad. I felt robbed.

 

[RHMH]

I know how you feel about the water park bus. On the way back to the airport we had a regular non-Disney looking Mears bus. It was so sad. I felt robbed.

I hear ya!! We also had a Mears Bus. The only thing thatwas remotely close to any Disney feel was the video. We felt robbed also.

 

[DMGeurts]

Count me in the Mears bus crowd. In all honesty though, we were so ready to go home, I honestly forgot it was a Mears bus until right this minute. LOL

D~

 

[Lidian]

Am I forgiven for being so late to the party?

I am here now! And totally missing my favorite smilies! Ack!

Anyway, anxious to hear about your trip and what you did to beat the crowds!

 

[solana131]

I know how you feel about the water park bus. On the way back to the airport we had a regular non-Disney looking Mears bus. It was so sad. I felt robbed.

I hear ya!! We also had a Mears Bus. The only thing thatwas remotely close to any Disney feel was the video. We felt robbed also.

Count me in the Mears bus crowd. In all honesty though, we were so ready to go home, I honestly forgot it was a Mears bus until right this minute. LOL

D~

We had a nice new regular ME bus on the way back, but like D, I don't really care what I am in on the way home But yeah, I agree with you all...I would feel robbed if it was just a plain old Mears bus!

Am I forgiven for being so late to the party?

I am here now! And totally missing my favorite smilies! Ack!

Anyway, anxious to hear about your trip and what you did to beat the crowds!

Huzzah! Liddy is here! So nice to see you again!

 

[jennyjinx3]

I am tardy too! But I am here now Suzi!:surfweb

 

[solana131]

I am tardy too! But I am here now Suzi!:surfweb

WELCOME! And you are not late. I am so incredibly slow this time around. We are just getting started!


I am so sorry for the slow start everyone! Things have been so busy at work lately and that is where all my pictures are, so I have to wait until things die down here. It feels so slow to me because I popped out my last TR in a week flat But I promise I am still here and still doing the TR....I haven't quit on you. And good news, I got my photopass CD yesterday, so all those pics are coming soon too!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Patiently waiting...

 

[Lidian]

Huzzah! Liddy is here! So nice to see you again!

I'm glad I was missed!

And take all the time you need! I'm still trying to get healthy, so it's one less thread to fall massively behind on.

(No, really, take care of life first! We'll be here when you can spare the time! )

 

[cheekypoppins]

the minute I read the words "food porn" i knew this was a Tr that i would wanna join in on reading,Disney has the best food on earth!!!

 

[solana131]

Patiently waiting...

I think I have time for an update today

I'm glad I was missed!

And take all the time you need! I'm still trying to get healthy, so it's one less thread to fall massively behind on.

(No, really, take care of life first! We'll be here when you can spare the time! )

Of course you were missed! You are one of the first two DISer's I met on here and you have helped me out alot in the planning of my Feb trip!

the minute I read the words "food porn" i knew this was a Tr that i would wanna join in on reading,Disney has the best food on earth!!!

Welcome along! I tried to be a good DISer and take pictures of all our viddles, so enjoy! I had a hard time taking food pics on my last trip because hubby was less than tolerant of the camera, so I made up for it this time with my cuz



Okay, update coming right along....

 

[solana131]

Okay, so when I last left off, Dani and I had just entered the Magic Kingdom. I was right, it was hot and crowded. But since I am a DIS professional now, I knew where to go and a few of the shortcuts to get there....so we were fine. I had told Dani on the flight down that the first rule of the trip was that she had to just take time to soak up the atmosphere and really get into the Magic of Disney. So we just slowly strolled down Main Street and took the time to look at the windows above the shops, watch the Main Street signers...I think it was the Barbershop Quartet, and we stopped for a our first photopass pic of the trip

At this point I saw how crowded it was and I knew we were not going to be hitting any popular rides without an hour wait, so we headed over to TomorrowLand. I snapped another pic on the way

That was the only view of the castle we could get without a hundred people in the background

The wait for Buzz was way too high, and there was no chance for Space obviously, so we hopped on.....

wait for it....

Yep, the PeopleMover! It is still one of my favorite rides in all of Disney. I am a classics kind of girl. But Dani really enjoyed it and I think it was a perfect first ride, because it gave her a birds eye view of TomorrowLand and a little sneak peak at the rides there.

While we were on the People Mover, we got the text saying our room was ready. At this point we knew we would be back to the MK in the morning for EMHs, and we were hot and tired from travelling, so we opted to leave and go get settled in the room before dinner. It was about 1:30ish, so we had plenty of time.

I knew we were going to Epcot later, but I really wanted her to see it for the first time from the monorail because it is just so neat gliding around Future World and next to Spaceship Earth. So instead of hopping the bus back to French Quarter, we took the monorail to the TTC and transferred over to the Epcot monorail. We just rode into Epcot and walked over to the bus stops there. We didn't go through the gates yet....we would be back soon.

Well we just missed the Port Orleans bus (story of our trip) so we settled in to wait for the next one. In front of us a crazy looking bus pulled up and parked. It was some sort of sports tour group....best guess is a boys soccer team. They had the bus radio screaming loud and they were all shouting back and forth. It was kinda sketchy...

It was just about 20 minutes until our bus pulled up, and we were on our way back. We were told at check in that we were in building 2, and we had been texted room 2221. I was so happy we got 2nd floor. I didn't want to be on the ground level because I am petrified of bugs crawling in when the door is open to be cleaned, but I didn't want to have to hike up to the 3rd floor everytime, so this was perfect. Room 2221 was almost the farthest away on building 2 as you could get, but still closer than some buildings. We were on the opposite side as the pool and down on the corner by the river. It was a nice quiet location. This was the building. Our room is in the middle with the red door

And our view

To the right

That is still building 2, so you can see how far down we were.

Continued in next post...

 

[solana131]

Dani checking out the view

And our room (before we destroyed it's cleanliness)

Now, in Feb we stayed at the Polynesian and even though I LOVED that place, I was a little disappointed that it didn't really have a huge Disney feel to it. There was one hidden Mickey in a painting and that was it in the Poly rooms. Well, French Quarter upped the Disney-ness for me. There were hidden Mickey's EVERYWHERE! The bed:

The shower curtain:

The little shelf on the wall:

I was a happy camper! The room was beautiful. The pictures do not do it justice. The colors were rich and bold....purples, gold, blues and greens. Just real comfy and pretty. Our luggage had arrived when we got there, so we unpacked and both took showers. That was the biggest problem with our room...the shower was horrible. And the bathtub didn't drain properly, so by the end of the shower you were standing in 4 inches of soapy dirty water. But I'm sure if I had complained, they would've either switched us or fixed it. And another big change from the Poly was the bathroom setup. The toilet and shower were in their own little room and the sinks and "closet" was outside with just a curtain to close it off. That was a little bothersome for us, since we couldn't really have one person showering and one getting ready. But for a family that isn't as shy...it would work fine. The Poly had the bathroom all in one room. And a real closet would've been better than just the bar across one side of the sink area. I brought a hanging sweater organizer so I would have extra shelves. This was an awesome idea I got off the MouseSavers website. Dani took the 3 drawers and I took the hanging organizer.

Oh, I forgot that we stopped at Sass and grabbed a snack and some drinks before we went to the room. I had sugar cookie with Mickey sprinkles and Dani had a Mickey crispy treat. They were yummy....I guess I don't have a picture of them

So we were rested, changed, and cooled down enough to venture over to Epcot around 3:00. I wanted time to explore a little before our 7pm ADR. What rides did we fit in before dinner? You'll have to come back to check it out

 

[bigsis1970]

Great update!!! can't wait for more.. the rooms looks awesome - i've stayed at CBR, CSR but neither of the POR.. maybe next trip!