middlesista
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2011
Welcome to my first trip report! I was/am a Johnny or rather middlesista come lately to putting this trip report together. I had not planned to write a trip report but on our return I thought that I would like to share some of the lessons that I learned and experiences that we had along the way.
We are not new to Disney, we have been going on and off since 1975. We went before we had children, then with the children and now with the grandchildren. Wow, almost a lifetime in just one sentence!
Initially, when we went to Disney we did not plan we just sort of went with the flow and we flowed right past a whole lotta Disney. That was until I happened upon this site in Sept of 2011 and it was a wonderful thing! After spending a ridiculous amount of time trying to come up with a moniker (I went with the obvious, and yes, it is a sensitive subject, being a middle child is no easy thing, but I digress) I dove into all that DIS had to offer. What a gift! Because of the information that folks are so wonderful about sharing we no longer had to stay off campus, there were so many options and offers out there to make Disney a bit more affordable for us.
My husband and I know how fortunate we are to have been able to share Disney with our children and now our grandchildren. It is not just the parks, or the food (although the food can be WICKED AWESOME) or the entertainment or the rides, it is families and friends sharing moments together. Not to get all gushy so early on but the Disney experience IS truly magical.
When we first went to Disney in 1975 it was just the Magic Kingdom and we were thrilled with just that. Disney has certainly changed over the years although we have stayed exactly the umm the same. Oh well, time marches on as must this trip report!
DATES: January 25 to February 8th 2014
RESORT: Port Orleans French Quarter
TRAVELING WITH: Husband: Known for perusing Disney food web sites prior to vacation to make sure he knows exactly what to order, also known for snoring.
Daughter: Known for attention to detail, making ADR’s and skills maneuvering a carriage through the streets and shops of Disney much to the awe and delight of those around her.
Son-in-law: Known for his organizational skills in packing his back pack, his appetite and his ability to retrieve the infamous autograph books from the depths of that back pack.
Granddaughter #1: Known for her love of Belle, her love of mac and cheese, her “snacks” and finding “boyfriends” at Disney she is five.
Granddaughter #2: Known for her “me too” “me do” persona and her love of Mickey, Minnie, Ariel, Tinkerbelle and apples. This child loves apples she is a year and nine months and yes, I worry about her choking on those apples so I cut the apples up in itty, bitty, tiny, pieces and I watch her eat them and remind her to “chew” over and over until the apple pieces are gone. It is painful to watch and my daughter is a lot less fanatical about apples than I am or that child would have a lot less apples to eat and if I had my druthers it would be applesauce for her.
Although our flight did not depart until 1130am my daughter and I felt it important that we have an early departure from home to allow us to fully soak up the airport atmosphere, so we headed to the airport at around 6AM, yes, we are those people. My husband and I were running a few minutes late since I had to stop for my Dunkin Donuts iced coffee. My DD options would be nonexistent in Disney and these few last exposures to DD would be vital.
The girls were still in PJ’s when the van came to pick us up, we loaded everyone in and took the 45minute drive to the airport. Check in was painless and we headed for the gate listed on our tickets.
The girls were playing with the IPAD we had brought until it was light enough for them to look outside at the planes. After about 1 ½ hours into our 3 ½ hour wait to Board the flight my husband learned that they had changed the gate so we gathered our belongings and headed to our new gate, it was not very far and there was a DD close by so it was all good.
As the time drew closer to board folks began jockeying for position. True, seats on Jet Blue are reserved but overhead bin storage is not reserved. Not to be left out of this maneuvering, I eased my way over to where folks were lining up. Having a double seater carriage and two young children was a definite benefit in this regard. Granted, we were not first, I did not want to be that pushy but, just saying, we were able to place our carry ons directly over our seats! After checking to make sure we all had our various good luck/safe flight items on us, we were ready to go. The girls slept most of the way and I kept an eye on the progress of the flight on the online map so that I could update my husband who was not the least bit curious of where we were at any given time or of the speed and altitude of the plane, go figure.
We landed a bit earlier than expected, collected our belongings and after bidding farewell to the flight crew we headed to the Magical Express. We had studied up so knew exactly where to go but truly the signs make it very easy to head in the right direction. We were a bit disappointed since we had one of the Mears Buses and not a true Magical Express Bus but we decided we would probably have a Magical Express for the ride back to the airport and all would be fine. Besides, it is only a bus, we did not have to drive, we were in Florida and heading to Disney, and the girls were oblivious to details such as bus hierarchy PLUS the first stop would be POFQ!!
Now that I have set the stage I do hope that some folks decide to join me for my first ever trip report! I did ask for some advice before starting out, IHeartDDuck came to my rescue and suggested that I “Just dive on in” so here I go!
CONTINUED IN NEXT POST
We are not new to Disney, we have been going on and off since 1975. We went before we had children, then with the children and now with the grandchildren. Wow, almost a lifetime in just one sentence!
Initially, when we went to Disney we did not plan we just sort of went with the flow and we flowed right past a whole lotta Disney. That was until I happened upon this site in Sept of 2011 and it was a wonderful thing! After spending a ridiculous amount of time trying to come up with a moniker (I went with the obvious, and yes, it is a sensitive subject, being a middle child is no easy thing, but I digress) I dove into all that DIS had to offer. What a gift! Because of the information that folks are so wonderful about sharing we no longer had to stay off campus, there were so many options and offers out there to make Disney a bit more affordable for us.
My husband and I know how fortunate we are to have been able to share Disney with our children and now our grandchildren. It is not just the parks, or the food (although the food can be WICKED AWESOME) or the entertainment or the rides, it is families and friends sharing moments together. Not to get all gushy so early on but the Disney experience IS truly magical.
When we first went to Disney in 1975 it was just the Magic Kingdom and we were thrilled with just that. Disney has certainly changed over the years although we have stayed exactly the umm the same. Oh well, time marches on as must this trip report!
DATES: January 25 to February 8th 2014
RESORT: Port Orleans French Quarter
TRAVELING WITH: Husband: Known for perusing Disney food web sites prior to vacation to make sure he knows exactly what to order, also known for snoring.
Daughter: Known for attention to detail, making ADR’s and skills maneuvering a carriage through the streets and shops of Disney much to the awe and delight of those around her.
Son-in-law: Known for his organizational skills in packing his back pack, his appetite and his ability to retrieve the infamous autograph books from the depths of that back pack.
Granddaughter #1: Known for her love of Belle, her love of mac and cheese, her “snacks” and finding “boyfriends” at Disney she is five.
Granddaughter #2: Known for her “me too” “me do” persona and her love of Mickey, Minnie, Ariel, Tinkerbelle and apples. This child loves apples she is a year and nine months and yes, I worry about her choking on those apples so I cut the apples up in itty, bitty, tiny, pieces and I watch her eat them and remind her to “chew” over and over until the apple pieces are gone. It is painful to watch and my daughter is a lot less fanatical about apples than I am or that child would have a lot less apples to eat and if I had my druthers it would be applesauce for her.
DEPARTURE
Although our flight did not depart until 1130am my daughter and I felt it important that we have an early departure from home to allow us to fully soak up the airport atmosphere, so we headed to the airport at around 6AM, yes, we are those people. My husband and I were running a few minutes late since I had to stop for my Dunkin Donuts iced coffee. My DD options would be nonexistent in Disney and these few last exposures to DD would be vital.
The girls were still in PJ’s when the van came to pick us up, we loaded everyone in and took the 45minute drive to the airport. Check in was painless and we headed for the gate listed on our tickets.
The girls were playing with the IPAD we had brought until it was light enough for them to look outside at the planes. After about 1 ½ hours into our 3 ½ hour wait to Board the flight my husband learned that they had changed the gate so we gathered our belongings and headed to our new gate, it was not very far and there was a DD close by so it was all good.
As the time drew closer to board folks began jockeying for position. True, seats on Jet Blue are reserved but overhead bin storage is not reserved. Not to be left out of this maneuvering, I eased my way over to where folks were lining up. Having a double seater carriage and two young children was a definite benefit in this regard. Granted, we were not first, I did not want to be that pushy but, just saying, we were able to place our carry ons directly over our seats! After checking to make sure we all had our various good luck/safe flight items on us, we were ready to go. The girls slept most of the way and I kept an eye on the progress of the flight on the online map so that I could update my husband who was not the least bit curious of where we were at any given time or of the speed and altitude of the plane, go figure.
We landed a bit earlier than expected, collected our belongings and after bidding farewell to the flight crew we headed to the Magical Express. We had studied up so knew exactly where to go but truly the signs make it very easy to head in the right direction. We were a bit disappointed since we had one of the Mears Buses and not a true Magical Express Bus but we decided we would probably have a Magical Express for the ride back to the airport and all would be fine. Besides, it is only a bus, we did not have to drive, we were in Florida and heading to Disney, and the girls were oblivious to details such as bus hierarchy PLUS the first stop would be POFQ!!
Now that I have set the stage I do hope that some folks decide to join me for my first ever trip report! I did ask for some advice before starting out, IHeartDDuck came to my rescue and suggested that I “Just dive on in” so here I go!
CONTINUED IN NEXT POST